May 24th – First day in camp half decent day sun and cloud. Water is up at least 2 1/2′ from last year. Louise and I are back at the camp this year along with camp cook Colinda and guide Anthony Monger.
25th – The morning was nice but it rained all afternoon and night. Bear guide Scotty and housekeeper Kathleen came to camp.
26th – It rained all day! Bear guide Randy showed up and started to set some bear baits with Scotty.
27th – It’s a cloudy misty day and there’s a lot of mud around camp due to the wet conditions. Makes it hard to keep the cabins and main lodge rugs clean! Bernie has been checking out some fishing spots and caught a couple nice Northerns. The Lyons group from Florida are here at the lodge. There’s a real strong north wind so they’re staying in camp to have a few cocktails. Guide Jarret showed up this afternoon and is helping with the baits and getting his boat ready for tomorrow.
28th – Strong north wind again today and cloudy and rainy for most of the day. The Florida bunch in Cabin 1 and 2 are out with their 4 guides. Greens in cabin 7 arrived, and Gage and his bear hunters showed up. Poor fishing due to weather. Few pike caught with the largest being 24″. Lots of walleye caught, several around 17″.
29th – The north wind won’t let up. Some bear hunters went out fishing caught several northern with the biggest being 37″. The generator transfer breaker kept tripping so hooked direct line to the main panel. The Lyons group are in from fishing and caught several northern with a 35″ and 36″. Lots of walleye caught for a shore lunch. The Randleman and Eidsvold groups came into camp. One of the bear hunters got a nice 300# black and another drew back but decided to wait for a possible larger one.
30 – Woke up to beautiful sunshine! Lots of walleye being caught today, but having a hard time finding the northerns with the high water. Only 1-32″ pike was caught today, as well as lots of small ones.
31 – Another beautiful morning! The fish are starting to wake up! The guests report the walleye are biting and Ralph measured a 42″ northern and Howard a 32″ before lunch as well as several other smaller ones. After lunch, the Lyon’s group caught and released a bunch of walleye and pulled in a 36 1/2″ and a 37″ northern. The other 2 groups catching lots of walleye but no large northern.
June 1st – The Lyons group got up early and were picked up with Gogal’s 2 helicopters by 6:45 a.m. as they had an early flight to catch out of Winnipeg. We enjoyed having these guys. Lots of laughs, fish and overall a great group. Lots of walleye being caught. Bernie caught a 44 1/2″ pike and Randy’s Randleman’s boy Cabin 3 caught a 32″ northern.
2 – Rained over-night and that slowed the fishing down a bit. Still lots of walleye for shore lunch. The group of bear hunters from Florida left with 4 nice bears.
3 – The Alexander group caught 3 northern over 30″, a 34 ½” and a 37″. Ralph Green landed several over 30″ and some walleye around the 20″ range. The Randleman group also had several pike in the 30″ range. Mark Alexander missed his bear. Rob and Jason Brosmer showed up today for a bear hunt.
4 – Everyone in camp says the walleye are “biting every cast”. 100’s of fish being caught and released. The Alexander group caught several northern over 30″. Ralph and Frank also said they caught 4 between 30″ and 40″. They said it was the “best fishing they ever had!” Tanner Fisher got a beautiful bear 220#.
5 – Another beautiful day! Randleman and Green are heading home this morning in the Beaver and helicopter.
Comments from the Randleman group – “the staff are great and the lodge is a real nice place we had a great time”.
Comments from the Green group “had a wonderful time thanks for everything the staff is the best”.
The Alexander group hit the northern today a 39″ 32″ and 7 more over 30″. Andy from the Alexander group got a nice bear early in the evening and then went fishing. The group caught a pile of walleye again and had a great shore lunch.
6 – It rained over-night, but cleared up about 10:00 a.m. It turned out to be a beautiful day. Guide Bernie had 2 guests with him and caught 7 northern over 30″ and lots of walleye. Ron Brosmer got a nice 235# bear with guide Randy.
7 – It’s a beautiful day today! We need the sun and heat to dry up the mud around the camp. The Alexander crew and 3 of our guides flew out this morning.
Comments from the Alexander group- “we had an awesome time already thinking about coming back”.
There are 2 bear hunters left in camp, Jason and his father. The Mallons – Phoenix, brother Tristin, sister Jordyn and grandparents. Bernie our fishing guide “fish nut” continues to look for and catch the northerns. He brought in a 41″, 36″ and 32″ today.
8 – Another beautiful morning! Pretty quiet in camp as Bernie is out looking for big ones he brought in a 30″ and 39″ northern. Grandpa and Grandma Mallon are walleye fishing and catching/releasing several with Jordyn apparently having the lucky rod! Phoenix saw a cinnamon bear but it wouldn’t give him a shot. Randy and Rob had a scary experience. They were going down the lake to go visit Phoenix and hit a log or something in the water that threw them both out of the boat into the water. Luckily Anthony was just ahead of them and turned around to help get them back in the boat. Nobody got hurt. The only thing that was lost was Randy’s hat.
9 – Another beautiful morning for most of the day. The Romanians from Chicago arrived about 4:00 p.m. in the 2 helicopters. As soon as they got out of the helicopter they got their rods ready, had a quick bite to eat and headed out fishing in the rain. Everyone in camp caught all kinds of walleye and John caught a 41″ northern. Unfortunately, he had a picture but with no tape in the picture. Not bad for a few hours fishing.
10 – The Mallon’s and the Brosmer’s are heading out today. Its overcast, raining and windy.
Grandpa Jim Mallon comments – “we had a wonderful time here with the grandkids and the staff are the best. Very accommodating and that’s what brought us back”. “Randy is a great guide and we enjoyed our time with him”.
As the day wore on, the wind went down and it turned out to be a nice afternoon. Kevin from the Capalnas group caught a 43″ northern. They also caught several 30″.
11 – Today is a bit overcast. Brad Gogal showed up at 7:00 a.m. with the 185 and Liam (his helper) for the day and took Bernie in as he has a 12:00 p.m. flight out of Winnipeg. The weather was decent for most of the day but a heck of a storm passed through just before Brad and Larry brought the Manness group of 6 to camp. The Chicago group caught all kinds of walleye and northerns. Daniel the new member of the group caught a 34″.
12 – Sunny but windy in the morning, beautiful in the afternoon and evening. Brad brought a guy from Brandon to meet up with the Manness group. Randy and Anthony are guiding this group. No big northerns caught, but lots of walleye for that group. Josh from the Capalnas group picked up a 32″ and a 35″ northerns while everyone caught lots of smaller ones and as John said “hundreds of walleye”.
13 – The Capalnas group reported several 29″ to 35″ northerns but can’t seem to come close to Kevin’s 43″. Hundreds of walleye!
14 – Cloudy in the morning and light drizzle all day. The Hartney group caught lots of pike between 25″-30″ range. The Capalnas group caught several between 29″ and 35″ but. Both groups caught a lot of walleye’s. The high water this year is having an effect on the pike. A new group the Sonnenbergs arrived by helicopter about 9:45 p.m.
15 – Another rainy windy day. Everyone went out and brought back walleye to have a shore lunch in the gazebo. The hard-core fisherman Capalnas group went back out in the rain after lunch. Kevin had the hit pole again and brought in a 40″ pike. The Capalnas group caught several around 30″ in size. Comments from Peter the Capalnas group – “you guys treat us like kings!”
16 – Another rainy day! Grrrr! We don’t need any more rain! The Manness group left this morning by helicopter and 185. The Capalnas group and the Sonnenberg group went out in the rain. They caught some pike in the 30″ range and hundreds of walleye. The Evans group and the Sneddens group flew in on the two helicopters. After dinner the Evans group went out to the orange rock and caught 51 total walleye in 1 1/2 hours!
17 – Rainy most of the day today. The Capalnas group flew out this morning with the helicopter. The Evans group fished hard all day and their running total is 238 fish with biggest pike being 32″. The Kerbow’s and the Yetsko’s flew in with the helicopters. Larry then carried on to Pukatawagan and picked up a couple guides Murdoch and Marcel.
18 – A little cloud today, but for the most part a beautiful day. The Evans group caught 300 fish today and are up to 587 fish with Anthony as their guide. Their biggest pike was a 30″. The Snedden group caught hundreds of walleye and a few nice pike with guide Randy. The Kerbow’s and Yetsko’s caught enough to eat with Mr. Kerbow catching a 30″ pike. The Sonnenbergs went out fishing this morning and caught a lot of walleye before heading home.
19 – Woke up to glassy water. It’s a little overcast but nice morning. The water level has gone down about 14″ so far. The pike are starting to wake up! The Evans group are up to 952 fish 365 today with 3 pike – a 30″, 34″ and a 32″. Brian lost a monster pike (fish story) with Anthony as their guide. The Texan’s, Gary and Jeneane with guide Murdoch caught all kinds of fish with Jeneane catching a 31″ pike, 1″ longer than Gary’s! Guide Randy and his group caught several hundred walleye and some northerns, with Maureen catching a 36″.
20 – Beautiful morning and evening with a and a few showers in the afternoon. The Evans group caught 322 fish today with their 4 day total 1274 fish! They also caught 2-35″, 1-33″, 1-32″ and a 30″ pike today. The Snedden’s caught hundreds of walleye and a nice 30″ pike. Gary and Jeneane concentrated on fishing for walleye and caught a bunch. The biggest in the pile was a 27″ with a few more just a tad smaller. John and Phyllis caught a bunch of walleye and Phyllis caught a 33″ pike and John caught a 34″ pike.
21 – It started out to be a beautiful day but around noon it started to rain periodically. The Evans, Snedden’s and Kerbow’s are leaving this morning. Brad is making 2 trips.
We received a lot of nice comments from the Evans group –”can we take the cook home with us!!?”
The Sneddens comments – “the food was delicious and you guys have a beautiful place here! The staff are excellent!”
The Kerbows comments – “we had a wonderful time and you will see us again”. Tonight was a million dollar sunset!”
Randy and Cathleen are heading out today. Cathleen for a few days and Randy back to his regular job. John and Phyllis were out and caught several pike over 30″ with the biggest a 34″ as well as lots of walleye. The rain chased John and Phyllis off the lake at noon and they came back to the gazebo to do their shore lunch of walleye.
22 – It rained over-night and is drizzling this morning. It poured buckets in the afternoon, with a few gusts of wind. The Wricks and John and Phyllis stayed out until 5:30 p.m.. Everyone came back to the gazebo for shore lunch. John and Phyllis’s boat caught a 33″ pike and everyone caught all kinds of walleye.
Comments from John and Phyllis – “we are very happy with our guide, great beds, great food and awesome accommodations”.
The only complaint from John is that he “can’t do up the button on his pants!!” (Ate a little too much home cooked meals).
Guide Anthony took me out to cut wood at a few of the shore lunch spots and fished at some of his favorite spots. I showed him how to catch walleye!!!! Ha ha!
23 – Another rainy day! John and Phyllis left today in the 185. Varley and Diane went out in the rainy weather and came back wet and frozen. They went straight to their cabin and Louise took her hot chocolate. I went out fishing for 30 minutes and caught 1 fish and had a couple bites.
24 – Varley and Diane are the only ones in camp. They caught 1 walleye before noon in the Burntwood River and had to come back to the lodge for soup and sandwiches. Anthony and I went to the river to check it out and caught all kinds at 2 spots. Varley and Diane went around the lake and did better in the afternoon. They are fishing at the orange rock this evening.
25 – Varley and Diane hired Marcel as their guide today. We told them we would cooked them shore lunch for their last day. The Pelafas’s (Bill and Phyllis) and the Honas’s (Rubber, Erin and Clay) are coming in this evening. The 3 guys went out and Erin Honas caught a 40″ pike first cast with a #5 Mepps. Windy during the day but turned out to be a nice evening. Bill Pelafas got off the helicopter and the first comment was “the place looks real good!”.
26 – Beautiful sunny calm S.W. breeze. The Honas group decided to get a guide so Anthony is taking them fishing. Rubber caught a 30″ as well as the group caught lots of pike. The Glasseys and the Butlers are coming in this afternoon. Turned out to be a great day. Guide Aldon Kowalchuck and Cathleen came in today as well. The Butlers and Glasseys went out in the evening and caught some fish but not a lot.
27 – Erin Honas caught a nice fat 32″ and lots of walleye. Bill and Phyllis were out and Phyllis caught a 36″, as well as a pile of walleye and smaller pike. The Butler group caught a 28″ and several smaller pike as well as hundreds of walleye with guide Anthony. 5 year old Aiden Glassey caught a 30″ pike as well lots of walleye within the group. Aldon had the Berg’s out and caught enough to eat and a 29″pike.
28 – Rained all night and its noon right now and still raining. The Honas group went out about 9:00 a.m. in the rain to try their luck and came back wet and cold with 4 walleye. Hap flew in with Chuck and Gerri and after settling in they took their guide Anthony and went out for a while and caught a bunch of fish. The Berg group also went out and caught a few. The 2 Butler groups went out to the orange rock to try their luck and caught a pile. Bill and Phyllis were out most of the day and caught lots of walleye but no big pike. Bill wanted to go out in the evening so I went out with him but never caught to many.
29 – Still raining all night and drizzled all day but the pike are back in action! The Berg group guided by Marcel and Murdoch landed a 35″, 32″, 31″ and 3-30″ers. Liam Glassey caught a 39″. The butler group caught a 28″ and a 33″. Bill and Phyllis were out and caught a bunch of walleye as well Bill caught a 31″ and a 38 1/2″. Chuck and Gerri guided by Anthony caught a bunch of walleye and pike but nothing big. The Honas group caught a bunch of walleye and everyone had a great shore lunch in the gazebo. Hap flew the guides Marcel and Murdoch home to Sherridon and I went along for the ride.
30 – Hap spent the night and the Berg’s flew out with them this morning. Anthony and the Harrell group went out and Chuck caught a 41″ pike and Gerri caught a 35″ as well as lots of smaller pike and lots of walleye.
July 1 – Lots of walleye but no big pike for anyone. The Blumes (John and Ilene) flew in and after supper went out for a while. They caught 1 pike and 1 walleye. This is John and Ilene’s 18th year coming to the Lodge! Some years they come twice!
2 – Bill and Phyllis are headed out today as well as the Glasseys. Nice looking morning and nice all day. John’s complaining that he isn’t catching the big one! Anthony is guiding Chuck and Gerri and the biggest they caught was a 28″, as well as lots of walleye. John is happy tonight as he caught a 37″ and Ilene caught a 37 1/2″ – Way to go Ilene! Your catch is once again bigger than Johns
3 – Nice day today! Chuck and Gerri with guide Anthony caught a bunch of fish but the biggest pike was a 28″. Chuck and Gerri were sitting in the lounge after a day of fishing and they made the comment “we have been to 5 lodges and this is the most relaxed”. Ilene caught a 35″ – not too many walleye.
4 – Nice day again! Chuck and Gerri’s last day of fishing and the biggest pike was a 28″ lots of walleye and other pike. John and Ilene caught lots of fish but nothing of any size.
5 – Chuck n Gerri left this morning with the 185. John caught a 30″, 32″, and a 37″ northern as well as a pile of walleye. It was a terrible windy day from the N.W. The Conklin group showed up a day early and came in at about 8:45 p.m.
6 – Another nice day! Anthony is taking the Conklin group out for a day. They caught a 39 1/2″ pike and his tip for the day was $30.00 total, not even 10 bucks each. They also caught a pile of walleye and we cooked them a shore lunch at the lodge. The Blume’s caught some walleye and the biggest pike was a 28″.
7 – Blume’s last day today. Turned out to be a nice day except for the wind. John caught a 35″ and Ilene caught a 33″. The Conklin group caught lots of walleye but nothing big for pike.
9 – The big group of 22 (Wegleitner’s) arrived at the lodge today. They came in the two helicopters, the Beaver and 185.
10 – Lots of walleye’s but no big northern. We did a big fish fry in the gazebo, everyone enjoyed the fish and each other’s company.
11 – Lots of walleye caught! We did another fish fry in the gazebo.
12 – Lots of walleye and did another fish fry in the gazebo. A few of the guys from the Wegleitner’s group caught some nice fish today. Rob caught a 44 1/2″ and Tim caught a 40″. Unfortunately no pictures with a tape measure.
13 – 7 boats left to go fishing at 5:30 a.m. We are having breakfast at 9:00 a.m. and dinner at 5:00 p.m. No big pike caught yet, but lots of walleye today. A couple of the guys report that while bringing in a walleye and huge northern t-boned their walleye. Had a walleye feed for dinner in the gazebo. Everyone thought it was fantastic!
14 – A group from Dauphin are in today. It is a little drizzly out today, but nothing we all can’t handle. One of the ladies sat in the lounge while the others went out fishing. She reclined in the sofa and I got her a blanket she thought that was first class. They like to have a glass of wine after fishing. Louise took wine glasses over to them and they thought that was the best. She will continue to take their wine glasses to them daily.
15 – The Wegleitner group left today. They’re a great group and left a generous tip for the staff and guides.
Some of the comments from them –
“You guys run a first class place, thanks for looking after us cooking a walleye shore lunch for us every day it was great!”
“You guys went overboard looking after us”
“Were already planning on coming back next year and our wives would love it here too”
“The food was fantastic”.
We did have a complaint about the food (sort of). One guy complained that it was so good that he couldn’t do the button on his pants! Another said he already put on his fat pants the second day! HA! Sorry guys!!!! Old Dave and Barb Jenson came in today and was happy with the new boat and lifejacket that we had for him. Mick and Mick’s grandson Gage came in as well with their dog Minnie. Dave was going to the ice machine with a bag and I asked him what he needed the ice for. He said he liked ice in his beer. I told him, tomorrow there would be a small cooler with ice in his cabin for his beer. His comment was “boy you guys are spoiling us”. That’s the way we do it here Dave!!
16 – Real windy day. Anthony guided and caught quite a few walleye but no big pike. Mick and Gage didn’t catch anything big. They had a shore lunch today. Barb and Dave caught a few.
17 – The group from Dauphin left today. They said the place looks a lot better than the last time they were here. The Kramer group caught 2 fish today, 1walleye and 1 pike in some of the same places Anthony took them.
18 – Half decent day with a little rain here and there. The Jenson’s caught a few walleye. I had messaged Brad last night saying Anthony should take the Kramer group out because of their poor catching the day before and they tried several spots finally finding them over by Larry’s hole. Anthony caught a 30″ pike and later in the day while they were on their own one of the young guys Tim Kramer with little to no experience caught a 30-1/2″ pike and was real happy. They thanked us for getting a guide today.
19 – Not a bad day, but lots of wind. The Dealy group from Dow Lake Outcamp show up today and the Kramer group leave. Anthony took the Dealy group out and showed them a couple walleye spots. Anthony caught a 38″ pike. Barb and Dave were fishing at Larry’s hole and caught a few walleye and Dave had a small walleye on and a Pike t-boned the walleye and Barb was able to net both of them. The northern was 33″. Mick and Gage caught a few walleye’s but no big pike.
20 – Beautiful day! Everyone caught lots of walleye!
21 – Nice morning! Sunshine and a bit of fog. Lots of walleye and northern but nothing big. 2 from the Eason group and Jeremy Davis came in today. Scott from the Eason group caught a 36″ pike as well as lots of walleye..
22 – Mick, Barb and Dave Jenson, and the Dealy’s left today and the rest of the Eason group came in.
23 – Everyone went out this morning nice warm day. Jim Gibson with guide Jarret caught the biggest for the day with a 38″ northern. Father and son Perry and Lucas with Warren as their guide caught 2-30″ and a 34″ northern. Jim Eason pulled in a 34″ northern.
25 – Donny guiding Jeremy caught a 34″ northern on his fly rod. Perry and Lucas caught a 31″ and a 32″. Jim Gibson caught a 35″ and Kurt a 38″, Paul a 32″ Jim P a 36″
26 – Anthony guided and his guests caught a 32″, 34 1/2″ and a 35″ northern. Jim Eason guided by Aldon caught a 36″ northern.
28 – Anthony guided Rick and caught a 30″ 31 1/2″ and a 38″ northern. Dan with guide Aldon caught the money fish of the week, a 40″!! Thunder guiding Scott caught a 32″ northern. Jim Gibson caught a 33″ northern and Jeremy caught a 33″ and a 32″ northern.
Some of the comments from the groups during this final week of fishing:
“the food is excellent, we have been to a lot of places and this is the best as far as food”
“the guides were very accommodating and the shore lunches were great!”
“the staff waited on us hand and foot”
“the cabins were always cleaned, boats were clean and the motors worked great!”
Camp Manager,
Jim Schollie