Whirlwind...

July?... what happened to May and June?...

To say that the start to our 2027 season has been a whirlwind would be an understatement.

A harsh winter and slow-to-warm spring led the ice to linger at camp far longer than normal, and far, far longer than myself and our first week guests would have liked.

Finally enough open water to land!

In a typical year, the ice gives way to open water in the first or second week of May. We usually plan to arrive on May 15 and that gives up a solid week or more before our first guests arrive.

Not this year.

Lots of back and forths with groups who were supposed to be our opening week guests finally led to forced cancellations for the whole week of 5/24 – 5/31.  

Maria was making daily flights over camp and we finally got a window on Wednesday, 5/27 when there was enough open water in front of camp to get ourselves in.

A Superior Airways Otter was only a few hours behind us. But, in the meantime, ice to the south had drifted into our “runway” and required me to deploy our ice breaker: the SS. 1986 Lund Garbage Boat.

The strategy worked, and Maria, myself, and new pilot, Paul, along with 2000 lbs of supplies were all in camp by late afternoon on 5/27.

Easy enough to tip them back up, the door 
repairs were another story...

The next week’s guests were all still green lit for a Sunday flight in. This left us with 4 camps to open in 3.5 days.

The openings, albeit rushed, were otherwise unremarkable. Things weathered the winter in good fashion. There was just one exception: Apparently a bear decided to forage in the cabin at Southwest for a final meal before his winter’s nap late last fall, or broke in in a fit of rage and hunger pangs early this spring, and got into arguments with several items in the cabin in his journey. He ripped out every screen in the building, knocked over and ripped the doors off the fridges and freezers, then chewed through aerosol cans of bug repellent and oven cleaner. Thankfully those must not have tasted great and he left what was remaining of the cabin alone.

Lake levels were incredibly high to start the season. Obviously water temps were COLD.

Everything fishing behavior-wise has seemed to be about 10-14 days behind "normal" . Guests through about June 12 were finding still milting / egg laden and then post-spawn walleyes. The action was a little slow as the fish had other things in mind, but those wrapped up with the spawn congregated near any moving water in great numbers, as the high water swept down all sorts of forage. Some big pike were found co-mingling with the walleye and some whitefish too. 

To be fair and descript: the Big Hook definition of "a little slow" was 2419 fish for a group of 6 June 7 - 14. But that is down from their recent trips here. 

Contrary to what one might expect, many early season guests were saying fish were most responsive to BIGGER presentations. Using 4-5” tails was secret for some.

A few notable lures that produced: last week’s group at West Lake caught a 44” pike on the trusty yellow and red “5 of Diamonds”. A group previous to them at West boated a 27” walleye on a slightly modified, and no longer produced lime green Erie Dearie. And a mid-June group at South boated 20walleyes over 26” all on 1/4oz jigs tailed with Powerbait Ripple Shads.

As of writing the fish seem to be finally catching up, grouping up, and moving to humps and submerged boulders.

Weeds and grasses are beginning to develop, but still fairly stunted for early July.

Mayflies are yet to make and appearance, but mosquitos sure have. Guests with an upcoming trip are urged to take any and all mosquito measures possible.

We’re so excited to be in the full swing of things up here and settle in a little (finally).

A happy Canada Day to all those north of the border and happy 4^th of July for all of those south!

Good times and good fishing to everyone, R. 

Careful What You Fish For…

Central Lake Hog!

Greetings from dreary, ol’ Ontario. It has been a wet, wet week up here at Big Hook with 3” of rain in the gauge and counting. But, this rain was much needed and much hoped for. Our water levels have been historically low and the wildfire situation around Canada has been terrible, as most everyone is aware. Thankfully, the rain hitting us now is covering giant swaths of the prairie regions and NW Ontario. The fires across much of Canada have been nearly licked. This week’s guests at Big Hook are certainly putting their rain gear to the test, however.

Despite some inclement weather, the fishing since our last report has been stupendous. There have been dozens of trophy fish of both primary target species caught and released… and one trophy clam I am told.

Water temps seemed to have peaked sometime in late July or early August in the low 70’s. With the rain and cooler than seasonal weather, the surface temps are now about 66 degrees and trending downward.

2x's Trophies at South

Fish have been fairly deep – about 10 – 15’ is where most are finding walleye, but a few deeper holes have been holding some big and hungry fish. A recent group at South Lake boated an amazing DOZEN walleye over 25” in one DAY!

Pike fishing has been on fire too with a recent Central Lake group that couldn’t keep big fish off the line - boating 12 fish over 36” during their trip. Trophy reports also came out of West, Cocos, and Burnt Lakes.

The days are getting noticeably shorter as we are losing about 6 minutes of daylight each tick of the calendar. I am excited to take in some northern lights whenever the rain clouds subside. The fall-like weather notwithstanding, it is hard to believe that we only have 3 weeks left of our operational season. Summer is very short around here. But very sweet also.

One housekeeping note, our 2026 calendar is filling up quickly! If a trip to Big Hook for 2026 might be in the cards, please reach out
soon to get your choice of week / lake.

All Smiles!

Savor summer while you can – it’ll be over before we know it.

Till next time, R

Fireworks!

            July is a special time of the year for many.

West Lake Football

            The gathering of friends and family and celebrations continue to peak here in Opasquia. This week will likely be our busiest of the summer with several groups in camp that are dear friends, many mulit-generational family trips, and some honoring those that can no longer make the journey – bringing granddad’s cooler or tacklebox and some photos of the “old guys” in the “old days” to share also.

It’s an important time for the local eco-system too, as the sun’s energy is turned into biomass at an amazing rate. You can almost watch the trees, shrubs, and grass grow. I’ve had to trim the trees on some of our walking paths several times of the past few weeks - they just keep growing back. The weed beds in the lakes have bloomed like crazy. Every member of the food chain seems ravenous, as many are aware this peak won’t last
long.

To say the fishing has been "great" wouldn’t do it justice. Stories of incredible catches abound from all our locations. I got a hug the other night from a group at Central after they boated their 8^th trophy pike in just two days of fishing.

Central Lake: fish longer 
than the fisherman

Reports of trophy walleye and pike from all the camps seem to be the norm. South Lake boated a 28.5” walleye yesterday. West Lake’s outbound group said their biggest pike was just under 40” and they had numerous 22 – 28” walleyes. I didn’t get tallies from Cocos, but that group of regulars mentioned that “it just keeps getting better.”

Top water lures have taken over as the favorite bait for our pike fisherman with several stories of leaping fish smashing buzz baits and Whopper Ploppers. The old, trusty Silver Minnow has gotten a lot of attention too.

Folks targeting walleye have been finding them in 10 – 15’ of water and have been using medium depth crank baits and jigs / twister tails with great success.

We are fortunate to not have any active fires currently in close proximity to any of our locations, but many fires continue to burn across Canada and a perfectly clear day has been rare as of late. It just depends on which way the winds are blowing as to what fire(s) we are getting smoke from. Hoping for more rain for all of northern Canada sometime soon.

Lake levels have held surprisingly steady. I would say low, but still in the “normal” category.

A hog out of the Fishbowl

            Our mayfly hatch this year was sporadic with the first waves coming much earlier than I expected (end of June), and hatches here and there that lasted for about two weeks. With how spotty they were, fishing did not seem to be affected much.

It’s hard to believe that we are now in the last week of July. Enjoy the peak of summer while you can, everyone – many of us wait all year for this!

Till next time: good fishing and good times, R.

South Lake Sunset

Revved up…

West Lake walleye!

As we stare down the third week of June, we now have all the camps open and full. It’s always a good feeling when the opening work is done. Now we can transition to upkeep and improvements - and maybe sneak in a little fishing ourselves.

Most all of our cabins and facilities wintered well. Southwest, the last to open, came with the most challenges. An angry bear seemed to have taken out his angst on the cabin, tearing out every screen and also a good portion of the plumbing and sewer lines. Mother nature (at least I hope it was wind and not the bear) also toppled over a giant tree that we found leaning in the path the airplanes need to taxi / dock. Fortunately, all were fairly easy fixes and with a few swipes of the chainsaw and some replacement pipes, all our camps were fully operational.

The weather has been all over the place since my last report (it was snowing at that time). We’ve had hot, cold, mist, snow, wind, calm, smoke, clouds, and sun. What we haven’t had much of is rain. Fortunately, there is some in the forecast, which would be very welcomed.

Adam considers a jump into the lake. 

I’ve fielded several inquiries about the fire situation up here. As many may have read about in the news, Sandy Lake was evacuated due to a fire that started near Deer Lake, another First Nations community about 40 miles SW of Sandy Lake. That fire traveled very quickly and burnt more than 700 square miles of terrain. Fortunately, it stopped just a few kilometers away from Sandy Lake, which was evacuated as a precaution. While the fire isn’t completely out it is substantially subdued, getting just enough precipitation and favorable winds.

Closer to home, we did have a fire that started due to a lightning strike just outside the SW boundary of Opasquia Provincial Park. It was nearest to our Burnt Lake cabin. That fire gave myself and a few guests at Burnt a little bit of a fright, but again, we thankfully received just enough rain to tamp it down and winds that have not allowed it to travel any closer to our camps.

Toothy smiles!

Significant rain is expected in the next few days and will hopefully put out both fires entirely.

The fishing hot spots have been slightly unpredictable, but after a little searching, the catches have been predictably outstanding. With low later levels a lot of the small feeder creeks, typical June go-to spots, have not been producing quite like they normally do. With the water temps still pretty cold (surface temps are just starting to break 60F), fish are still relating to shallow mud flats and large boulders that soak up the sun. Most are being found in 4-8’ of water.

Some highlights so far include a 43” pike and several more in the upper 30’s at West Lake. A few 27” walleyes were boated at West Lake also. This week’s group at South Lake already has 10+ trophy walleye, the largest measuring 28.5”. A 40” pike started the tally at Central on week one, and since, guests have pulled in several around that length and at least one 28” walleye. This week’s guests at Southwest lost count of their fish by Sunday afternoon (their first day on the water). Cocos also had a few large pike on the “brag board”.  

Sunny skies and walleyes...

Hot baits and lures have included: Mepp’s Black Fury Spinners, orange jig heads tipped with Berkley Power Minnows and Ripple Shad, and Storm Hot N Tot’s in metallic gold and chartreuse.

I’ve only gotten a handful of photos back from guests so far this year. If you were recently fishing with us and want show off a fish or two, I, our incoming guests, and those that can no longer join us, love seeing your photos! Please don’t be shy 😉.

It’s great to be in the full swing of things and looking forward to most of the summer ahead. We have had a few random cancelations, so if you are thinking of a late hour trip, please reach out and we’ll see if any of them might suit.

Otherwise, have a great summer and good luck on the water everyone!

 

  

And so it begins!

The countdown to Big Hook’s 2025 season opener is down to the single digits (8 days)!

I was able to make into camp on May 15th and was welcomed with freezing rain, sleet, and snow.

Central Lake seems to have wintered well, and the power, water, woodstove, and internet all came online with ease. The sauna is the next facility to get up and running. I am taking a break from outside tasks and warming up inside in the meantime.

There have been several folks asking about how things look, so thought I’d take advantage of a little office time and get out a report. 

I can’t offer details on the fishing – I’ll need a helping hand to get some boats in the water (Maria and Adam are stuck and waiting on the weather in Winnipeg and Red Lake respectively). But, the trees are starting to bud (usually a sign that the walleye bite should commence shortly) and with warmer, more spring-like weather in the forecast, I have to believe the fish will be active and hungry once we get a little sunshine.

The water levels look average to slightly above for this time of year. The ground was saturated prior to the storm. Now, with probably near an inch of snow / water equivalent, I expect them to come up a little more as this precip. all melts and finds its way into our waterways. A good start.

There have been several forest fires already in NW Ontario. None of them are close to our operations (nor should impact guests traveling thereto), but unfortunately have affected some communities and outfitters elsewhere in the region. Hopefully this same weather extinguishes, or at least significantly tamps these down.

Good luck to those braving the elements on the Ontario fishing opener today – we’re looking forward to joining you shortly!

We’ll be busy with the business of opening all the camps through the next few weeks, but hopefully I’ll have a more substantive fishing report soon.

Happy “summer” everyone!

Ryan 

Warmth in the forecast!

Ripp adding to the downed lumber
on the boardwalk. 

CATCH you later....

It’s hard to believe, but we are wrapped up for the 2024 season at Big Hook!

Texas takes on Central Lake

It seems that summer always goes too fast; the later half of this one felt like a time warp. I guess it’s also true, time flies when you are having fun.

And it was a very fun late season, with just one caveat – the fire that continued to burn for weeks on end, threatening both the Burnt Lake and Cocos Lake cabins. Fortunately, both were sparred thanks to the hard work of the Ontario MNR firefighters and a little luck / help from up above. Quenching rains came just as the fire was about a mile southwest of Cocos and nearing 50,000 acres.

August often brings northern light shows

The extremely dry weather this summer led to lake levels at record lows – down about 4’ from normal at all our locations. Hopefully it’s a snowy winter in NW Ontario so we can start off 2025 closer to average – it will make the snowmobilers happy in Red Lake and Sandy Lake too.

Fishing remained outstanding through the end. Maria, Adam, and I were able get out and test the product some as we pulled portage motors, buoys, and the windsock at Central and found dense schools of walleye. It was easy work pulling in the last, unlucky, to-be-fried fish of the summer. Late season guests did well with both walleye and pike, as their metabolism is still peaked and they put on lbs. for the cold months ahead (the fish, not the fisherman).

In late August we saw a few days with heavy winds. During this cycle, the pike seemed to be relating to rocky points, probably hunting weary and tired prey fish worn out from fighting the currents. I witnessed one trophy fish being pulled up on a ½ oz. bucktail jig. Before and after the wind event, top water action was busy as ever.

West Lake 30"er!

Several trophy pike were boated in early September at West Lake on green and red Rapalas and June Bug spinners.

As noted, the walleyes were grouped up in massive schools and feeding heavily. One group at Central reported floating atop a gentle drop-off leading from a sheltered bay to bigger water and catching “hundreds of 18”- 20” walleye” at about 20’.

Several moose sightings were reported at Southwest, West, and South Lakes. On one of our forays around Central, Maria, Adam, and I spotted a wolf walking the shore – a first for me in Canada!

With the closing of the camps and the departure of our last guests comes a lot of projects that have been on the to-do list. The foundation at Burnt Lake kept us busy for a few days. Frost heaves there shoved the cabin forward – as if the threat off fire wasn’t enough. It’s better than new now, however. West Lake saw a new set of stairs and new chimney pipe installed. Southwest Lake got a new refrigerator, some power system upgrades, and brush cutting. Cocos also got a lot of brushing work done in addition to a heli-pad for the MNR helicopters (so they didn’t have to continue hovering on our dock - see pic). And, the solar installation at South Lake is now complete, making all of our locations operate primarily on renewables (there’s still a generator backup at each location too). The last northbound planes heading up to fly out our final guests of the year delivered several brand-new outboards that we will be eager to fire up in 2025.

MNR firefighting helicopter at Cocos

My most sincere thanks to all our guests and my staff that made this summer possible. It was one for the memory books. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for all of you.

We are now taking reservations for all of 2025! There are some great weeks still available for the second half of summer. Please reach out you’d like more details. “Quit wishin’ and come fishing“ as they say. Thanks again everybody for an outstanding 2024! We’re looking forward to 2025 already. Have a happy fall and winter in the meantime, Ryan

Another hog from South Lake

Final flight of the year for the 2024 Big Hook staff

Awesome August...

It’s been go, go, go since our last post with nary a rainy day to hunker down and write a proper report. 

The second half of summer has been hot and dry with high chances of heavy fish.

Central Lake Trophy Walleye

Lots of great specimens have been boated since our last update. A 44” pike among other tanks out of West Lake, several 40+” pike and football shaped walleye out of Central, photo worthy fish and huge numbers at Cocos and Southwest, and at least FORTY trophy walleye (and several trophy pike) out of South Lake in the last month! Needless to say there’s been lots of big smiles.

The fish seem to be everywhere. Reports of gangbuster catches in anything from 3’ to 28’ of water for both walleye and pike have come in. Walleye have been found on shallow reefs, deep holes, and in the weed beds too. I can attest to the same after getting on the water yesterday afternoon – I was sight fishing walleye on a mid-bay hump in 3 – 5’ of water and then caught them at 22’ a short boat ride away. We also had top water walleye strikes while throwing bucktails and buzz baits for pike. The walleye are hungry! The pike were incredibly aggressive too, latching on to every 4^th or 5^th cast. A pair of brothers at Central last week boated both of these monsters. 

You’ll notice Burnt Lake is left out of the reports. Unfortunately, we’ve had to shut down operations there for the past few weeks as a large wildfire has picked up in intensity nearby. The cabin looks to be safe, but the shoreline that burnt in 2011 (taking the old cabin with it) has reburned along with several thousand acres to the north along the Manitoba border. We are hoping the weather pattern will change by next week and we will start to get some precipitation. Pilot Adam spent much of yesterday washing and waxing the airplane to try and coax in a sprinkle. Also of note, the water is down in all lakes about 4 feet from normal – currently the lowest I have ever seen it.

Central Lake Trophy Pike

The dry weather has led to a bumper blueberry crop, but the raspberries have been almost non-existent.

Numerous wildlife sightings continue with the moose starting to move. Bears have been seen (thankfully) far away from camp munching in berry patches. A troublesome squirrel with a sweet tooth has been harassing anyone with a candy bar at West Lake (rehoming efforts are currently underway). We got a great show of the blue, super moon last night, and northern light sightings are starting to become more common as the days grow a little shorter (current sunset at 8:30 pm with darkness setting in around 9:00pm).

It's hard to believe we only have another few weeks of the season to go. BUT, we’ll look to savor my favourite time of year up here with gold leaves beginning to emerge, some fantastic fishing no doubt, and (hopefully) a few rainy days to quench the fire.

Smoke rises from the Burnt Lake fire. 

Good luck and happy fishing,

Ryan

Mid-July, Oh My!

It’s hard to believe the most patriotic of both Canadian and US holidays have come and gone, but what a month of fishing!

30" Walleye South Lake

There are some absolute hogs being boated at all our lakes and the numbers are out of the park too (well actually IN the provincial park, but you know what I mean).

The last group out of South Lake reported several walleye in the mid to upper 20’s with one breaching the 30” mark.

Burnt Lake beat up on the big girls too with both trophy pike and walleye in the boat. Last week’s group also got into a mess of perch.

West Lake has seen several trophies of both species also.

Recent groups at Southwest reported a few mid-20’s walleye and one recent group caught 550 fish in just two hours (2 boats) and more than 3000 through the week!

I missed a report for the outgoing Cocos group, but we’ll try to catch up with the current guests later this week.

Suffice it to say, though, the fishing has been gang-busters!

Heck of a stinger out of SW

I haven’t heard of anything wild or new in the favorite lure category, a lot of silver and gold colored spoons, 3/8 oz jigs, and crankbaits are listed beside the trophy fish on the brag boards in camp.

Summer is in full swing with hot temps and (usually) brief afternoon thunder showers almost daily. Fortunately, they have been all benign save one big wind event we had three weeks ago.

With the hot temps, we are starting to see a mayfly hatch at Central, and presumably our other lakes too. I think they should be in full force the next few days with continued warm weather. It is usually a remarkably brief affair lasting a week or less. They are quite prolific, however, covering everything from the boats, motors, grills, cabins, to the airplane. They are supposed to be a strong indicator of a healthy ecosystem, so I guess we have that going for us. Which is nice.

We’re now staring down the back half of summer. The walleye should creep down deeper and form some dense schools. The pike will claim their turf in the weedbeds and cabbage – top water fun will ensue.

We did have one recent and unfortunate health related cancelation that frees up a week at Central,7/28 – 8/4. There is also one more opening this summer at South Lake: 8/18 – 8/25. Please reach out anytime if a last minute trip is in the cards for you.

South Lake 37"

Thanks so much for everyone that shared trip reports and photos. And thank you for reading and happy summer, everyone!

Time for shore lunch!

It's Summer (right?)!

It’s been a busy month since we first arrived at Central Lake to kick off the 2024 season at Big Hook!

We have been hard at work getting the cabins, boats, and equipment prepped for our guests – the first of whom often arrive within just a few days of us.

Winter was relatively kind to all our locations with the exception of Burnt Lake. Large frost heaves there necessitated some foundation work before we could even get in the cabin.

Things otherwise turned on and opened up well, and before we knew it, the business of reassembling the cabins was over and the lakes were buzzing with outboards and fishermen.

The spring weather has been another story. It has been a very cold and wet start to our season. We even got a good shot of snow! Just three weeks ago, we woke up to several inches blanketing the whole park.

Fortunately, the pattern seems to be changing and we are now parked under some high pressure with blue skies and (moderately) warmer temps. Upper 70’s are in the forecast by next week. It will feel good and maybe the chainsaw can have a rest.

The camps are now all open and busy. Reports have been coming in and the consensus is that the fish and bugs seem a little confounded by the weather too. There have been reports of white hot bites in 3’ of water. Other groups were working a little harder for their fish and finding them deeper (9-10’). Some this week reported walleyes still milting or egg laden (about a month late). Guests last week reported a spotty mayfly hatch (about a month early). Confusing.

Many of our regular guests that return to the same lake, same week are simply stating that the fish are busy and active, but just not where they have found them in year’s past. 

I’ve only had the chance to wet a line a few times myself, but did make it out for an hour or on Wednesday in preparation for the weekly Central Lake fish fry. I took Maria and new pilot, Adam, to a spot right near camp I have caught an easy supper at in mid-Junes gone by. Nothing. I cast a little closer towards shore and my jig was immediately slammed. We moved the boat a few feet from the rocks and caught the 5 we needed for dinner in about 5 minutes.

In addition to our stringer full, there have been reports of lots trophy fish being boated too. South Lake reeled in a 28” walleye on a hot’n tot. Cocos lake has a 27.5” and a few more at 25” on the board too. The current Central Lake group also has a walleye tied largest to date at 28” (3/8 oz jig). We’ve heard about several pike in the upper 30 – lower 40 inch range. At least one pike in the 40’s was boated during West Lake’s opening week 5/26-6/2 and “lots of northerns from 33"-41" the week after. Some successful lures were a 4” 5 of Diamonds and a twister tail tipped silver minnow.

For folks tracking other seasonal patterns up here, the black flies have come and gone – a very short season for them. The mosquitos are fierce right now, but seem stunted in their growth. What they lack in size, they certainly seem to be making up with in numbers. The pollen has come off the pines (it looked like a dust storm early this week). All the deciduous leaves are popped and trees are looking full. Lots of wildlife are out and about; several black bears and moose have been spotted. Water levels started off much higher than I anticipated (the second highest I have ever seen when we first arrived), but have been going down quickly despite all the precipitation (I wonder it some trees fell or ice blocks formed a damn below Cocos which have since given way). And, there has yet to be a wildfire in Northwestern Ontario (knock on wood).

We’re looking forward to settling in to what should be an outstanding summer.

I will do my best to keep updates and fresh reports coming for those with travels pending. There are one or two open weeks towards the end of our season if anyone is thinking of a trip still. For those that have recently been to Big Hook, please don’t be shy about emailing us some pictures – we love to share them.

Thanks so much for reading and happy summer everyone!

All she wrote...

 

C-FXZK soaks in the Northern Lights

Our 2023 season at Big Hook is officially a wrap!

    It was an outstanding one by all measures - probably my favorite to date. But with fall in the air, one needs to know when to say “when,” and the time has most certainly come.

    We were in the full throws of autumn when Ripp and I departed Central Lake for Winnipeg last week. The leaves were peaking, birds heavy into their migration, and the fish chomping away trying to put on a few more ounces each before the colder months really set in.

    I was fortunate to spend the last week with just the dog and I as the only inhabitants of Opasquia Park – at least the only (semi) domesticated ones. We ticked away at some projects, got a lot of overdue office work done, and snuck in some fishing for ourselves too.

The final fish of 2023

With the declining water temps, the fish had moved a little shallower (8 – 12’) but continued to be voracious. We caught supper in no time – one evening we never left the dock!

    High winds kept me from casting my fly rod for pike, but our final guests of the year reported continued fast action with at least a few trophies out of Central and West Lakes. A perch colored spinner bait was their hot lure.

    Before Maria and Peter departed, we ticked of several bigger projects including leveling and straightening the foundation piers at Burnt Lake and constructed a new motor shed at Central.

    The business of closing down all the camps is always a little somber, but freshly painted floors and heaps of cut firewood will be waiting for our season opener in 8 short months.

    I will look to send out our annual holiday card in the coming months, but hope to do a bit of a season recap by the numbers (fish caught, lbs of potatoes consumed, beers crushed, etc…). Please let me know if you / your group has any special stories that should be included. Please also send me any pics that
you’d care to share – we love seeing them!    Speaking of, we got a big batch of historical photos from one of our longtime guests now into their 4th generation of Big Hook’ers. Thanks so much, Matt, for sending in those gems.

Central Lake 1986

     With the season officially wrapped up, I want to extend my most sincere thanks to everyone who came to visit us this year. It was a great summer, and, I for one, am already looking forward to next!

    Speaking of, our calendar is down to just a handful of open weeks. If you are thinking of a trip to Big Hook, please reach out asap so we can be sure to get you on the calendar. Enjoy the colder months everyone!

Till next year Big Hook,

Ryan

Ripp helps lookout for geese

Everyone is hungry!

Beautiful fall

Where does the time go...

Where does the time go…

    It’s easy to fall into a groove up at Big Hook: fish, eat, sleep, repeat… For our guests, the weeks are almost always too short. For our staff, it’s the same story with the whole summer. We have just a few precious weeks of our season to go. Boy it’s a magnificent time to be up here, though – we will savor it.

    The weather has been near perfect. Highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the upper 50’s have meant comfortable weather on the water and about the best sleeping conditions in the evening that one could ask for. Our days are getting noticeably shorter with real darkness setting in around 10pm now. The stars here never disappoint – they are as vivid and bold as I have seen anywhere. We’ve gotten a few glimpses of the northern lights too.

    We’ve been fortunate to have a few great family groups in recent weeks – it’s so fun watching kids getting HOOKED on fishing and the outdoors. And, often times, they catch the biggest fish of the trip!

    Speaking of fishing: it has been great!

    I have had the chance to get out on the water quite a bit the past two weeks. We hosted Troy Lindner and a production of his show, The Canadian Experience, last week. We fished lots and had an all-around spectacular time. The episode will air this spring and should be available on the Sportsman Channel, The World Fishing Network, and YouTube. I will look to get more details in time for our holiday mailer and make sure to post a head up on our social platforms too.

    We banged up on the walleye for sure and boated some nice pike also. Most of the walleye were caught snap jigging 1/4 – 3/8 oz jig heads with 3” swimbait tails – orange, purple, and perch colors were particularly productive.

    For the northern, a white Bucktail spinner was the favourite, and definitely got lots of attention; the skirt on his first was cut so short from all the pike in the first two days that it definitely would have been sent home from Catholic School. As a few other guests have noted, pike were not as interested as usual for top water lures for reasons unknown.

    Other guests had great luck with spoons like 5 of Diamonds and Johnson silver minnows in Red / White and Gold.

    Several 40” ‘ers have been reported including the last pike that Troy and I caught which was right at the mark.

    We did get a full, and much needed, day of rain Wednesday – I am estimating a full 2 inches, although a more precise measurement is not available due to a dog vs. rain gauge fight here at Central. It turns our Ripp still has some puppy in him. The rain brought the water levels up some, but they are still low. It seems that most of it soaked right up in the soil – it was getting pretty dry around here previously.

    We’ll hope for some more soon (just not during your stay for our customers with a remaining 2023 reservation). Hopefully that will give me the chance to get out one more update before we wrap up our season.

    It’s crazy thinking about 2024 already, but that calendar is filling up fast. Now’s the time to start thinking about Big Hook ’24. Please reach out by phone or email if you have any questions or would like to make a reservation.

    Thanks so much and happy August everyone!

Full Swing...

    Summer is definitely in full swing up at Big Hook: The temps (both lake and air) are comfortably warm. The springtime insects have moderated – I can’t remember the last time I put on bug spray. Weed beds are developing and starting to reach the surface in areas. AND, the fish tallies are REALLY adding up.

South Lake Tank!

    Since our last report, guests have boated dozens of trophy fish, including many pike over 40” and our first walleye over 30” on the year.

    That tank, pictured here, was caught on a 2” rainbow colored Hot’n Tot trolled over a gentle rise at South Lake.

   First time guest, Sam, boated this beauty 42.5” pike on a Mepp’s Giant Killer at West Lake. The same group boated more than a half dozen other trophies with several walleye in the upper 20's and pike right at the 40" mark. 

    Guests across our locations have noted the mayfly hatch is already on the tail end of the event. It’s the earliest I’ve ever witnessed the phenomena. It apparently didn’t slow down fishing much. The outgoing group at Southwest, a couple from Minnesota, caught more than 3000 fish during their two week stay. For those that don’t want to get out their calculators, that’s an average of more than 100 fish / person every day for 14 days (and I know they enjoyed plenty of time off the water too)!

West Lake 42.5"

    With the mayflies having come and gone, the fish should be ravenous the next few weeks as they have expanded their bellies and need to refill. We’re sure to get into mid-summer patterns too, with walleye schooled up on deeper reefs and northern staking out their territory around the weed beds.

    I’ve gotten lots of questions about the wildfire smoke up here. We’re very fortunate to have had just 1 or 2 semi-smokey days. The smoke from the big fires out west gets swept down to the Great Lakes region and Midwest by the jet stream, so really doesn’t affect us. There are a few smaller fires closer to Red Lake and Sioux Lookout that has made for some hazy days further to our south but none of that has drifted up here yet. Unfortunately, all reports are that the situation is much worse for many of our guests back home, south of the border. Come up to Big Hook and get some fresh air!

    I can’t believe we’re staring down July already. Happy Canada Day to all the locals and happy 4^th of July for all our American friends. ALSO, a huge thanks to our guests that sent in photos from their trip!

Till next time,

Ryan

Central Lake Gator!