That’s a Wrap!

It’s said often, but really, “where does the time go?”

Fishing under a rainbow at Southwest Lake

To say our summer, 2026 flew by is an understatement.

We said farewell to our final guests of the season a few days ago. It’s always a bittersweet inflection point; feeling blessed for a safe and successful summer season, thankful for the wonderful memories made, eager to tackle the closings and some camp updates and improvements, and filled with anticipation of future seasons to come.

Since our last update, the second half of summer was marked with great times, dry and warm weather, and monster fish.

I don’t believe that I have seen such a huge swing in water levels – going from a near record high this spring, to marked lows currently. Water surface temps. ran warm, but with significant stratification – dropping 10 degrees or more in just a few feet. Temps. have remained relatively warm, but are sure to drop precipitously with fall weather on the way soon.

Full sized pike at West Lake

Weed growth was slow to develop with our late, cold spring, but caught up by mid-late July.

The mayfly hatch was sporadic and didn’t have a notable effect on fishing – definitely not on the biblical scale it can be some years.

Guests relied on a lot of old, faithful presentations including jigs and plastics, crankbaits, and crawler harnesses to put up some impressive numbers and sizes of walleyes. Spoons, swimbaits, and rooster / bucktails where the dominant big pike lures.

The days are getting noticeably shorter which has led to some spectacular stargazing and northern lights viewing. We’re starting to see some hints of yellow in the birch trees also.

And the mosquitos are all but gone. They seemed to be in step with the water levels through the summer – some of the biggest hatches I have seen up here early in the summer and slowly dwindling ever since. They won’t be missed.

Fat fish!

We had many, many current and former guests reach out regarding the forest fires in Ontario and northern Minnesota during July and into August. Thankfully these were all far away from our locations. Folks’ concern was heartwarming, however, and it was a good excuse to be in touch with some guests we hadn’t talked to in a long while. Our hearts certainly go out to those businesses, individuals, and communities that were impacted.

Maria, pilot Paul, and I have another week or two to spend on the above-mentioned projects. It’s a busy time, but it’s nice not to have hard set pace and deadlines as often is the case with the openings. A little extra effort this time of year goes a long way towards smooth openings next spring, so we’ll be sure to get things taken care of properly and look to depart when the time is right. We usually get to sneak in a few days of fishing ourselves, and a final fish fry or two also. It always gets the gears turning with anticipation of next summer – something to look forward to for certain.

Dandy walleye...

Speaking of, our 2027 calendar is filling up quickly! If you have thoughts about a trip to Big Hook for next summer, please reach out asap for the best possible availability. We’ll be counting down the days and weeks with you.

Our most sincere thanks to all that joined us for our 2026 season! We’ll hope to see all of you in 2027!!

Smiles all around!