Tuesday 24 June 2014

Indian Lake Chain - Shore Lunch

Last Friday, Jimmy planned a shore lunch for both camps on the chain, Clark's Camp and K.C.'s Landing Resort. He invited me to come along as well! It had been years since I'd been in a boat on the Indian Lake Chain so I was very excited.

Ted & his Son, Anthony.
Nice Walleye for Lunch!
We took off around 10:00 a.m. and cruised along from lake to lake. I had almost forgotten how beautiful each and every lake is on that chain. Jimmy said the guests had been doing fantastic this year. Lots of walleye caught just on Edward and Indian Lake alone, without having to travel far from camp. That day, however, our shore lunch was going to be on Boulder Lake, so we continued all the way down to Cobble to do a little fishing.

Fathers & Their Sons... New to Camp!
Jimmy and I tried a couple of his favourite spots on Cobble Lake. Within a couple of casts, we were boating some nice walleye. We caught up with the other boats from camp and showed them our spots and told them to each keep a walleye or two for lunch. The walleye were still very shallow and were biting on a 1/8 oz. jig with a minnow.
Catching Some Walleye on Cobble
One of Jimmy's Favourite Spots
Beautiful 25" Walleye Caught & Released on Cobble!
Everyone had a great morning of fishing. There was not much of a wind that day and around noon the sun came out. It was the perfect day for a shore lunch.
Myself Cleaning the Fish
Jimmy Getting the Fire Going
We filleted the fish and Jimmy got a fire going. Jimmy cooked us a wonderful lunch of walleye, fries, and beans. He cooked over the open fire on a huge cast iron fry pan. Walleye somehow taste better when cooked on the shore over a fire.

Anthony Breading the Fish
Jimmy Cooking Up a Delicious Lunch
Everyone enjoyed their lunch and swapped stories about their time spent at Clark's Resorts. The next day, everyone would be starting their long drives home. It sounded like everyone had a great week fishing the chain and very much enjoyed their time spent at Clark's. It sounded like Jimmy took good care of everyone as always! The young kids were trying to talk their Dads into staying another week... no such luck I guess... I'm sure they will be pushing for two weeks next year!

Swapping Fishing Stories
Thank you to Jimmy for a wonderful day on the water! It was much appreciated by myself and the guests!

Until next time,

Meagan

Tuesday 17 June 2014

More Outpost Fishing Reports for First 2 Weeks of June 2014

Hello everyone!

I have some more outpost fishing reports and pictures to share with you. Thank you so much to those who write reports and share pictures!
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Here is one that I missed from the week before last:

Fawcett Lake "Home of the Flying Eyes" June 1st - June 7th

Excellent, gluttonous, over the top fishing. Landed 2,154 fish. Largest "Eye" was 28". Largest Pike was 40". Total weight - 2 tons. Super service. See you next year.

-Kirsch Group
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Here is a great report from the Voelker group who stayed at McVicar from June 7th to the 14th. Love the detail in this fishing report and really appreciate the feedback!

McVicar Lake June 6th - June 14th

Our intrepid group of eight experienced six days of outstanding fishing. Walleyes topped the list, but Northern Pike accented each day with takes of 36-40 inch fish most days. Weather impeded our efforts on Thursday, but an afternoon outing proved entirely successful. Minnows on slipbobbers proved to the the most productive method for harvesting both Walleye and Northern.

All members of our group took advantage of the opportunities to explore and fish all of the lakes in the McVicar chain. However, more information/history of the various sites mentioned on the map would be greatly appreciated. The areas labelled on the maps to identify fishing areas were helpful, but we all tested new areas with substantial success. A message board could be a great tool to pass along info and tips to subsequent groups. We harvest no fish over 18" and consumed all fish that were harvested.

Several of the group members had fished these and nearby waters over the past 20 years and all agreed this was the most enjoyable and productive trip ever (thanks primarily to the good luck I brought the group).

- Dean Knight

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Here is a report that I received from a "regular" Kapikik crew, who was anxious to get back to the lake after there being no cabin there for a couple of years.

Kapikik Lake June 7th - June 14th

Absolutely superior (microwave, toaster, etc) generator is great, really appreciate the water and spacious cabin. Wayne finally delivered the steak knives as we were getting ready to cook steaks - great week of fishing and being back at Kapikik made the week fantastic. Loved the place and the week of fishing! Thanks to Wayne, Karla, Meagan & others.

- Bertinetti Group


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Lastly, a report from one of our "regular" groups. Sounds like they had another great trip with us! :)

Antenna Lake June 7th - June 14th

We fished Antenna Lake last week and it lived up to its reputation for Big Northern's. Caught numerous fish over 34" with the biggest being a 44" (20+lbs). Even better was all the walleye's we could catch right off the dock. Caught hundreds during the week after our evening dinner. Great service once again from the Clarks.

We fished Grace Lake last year and had the same great fishing and service. Talked to several other groups at the dock who were coming and going to other outposts it is obvious you can not make a bad decision on any of their lakes.

- Theisen Group










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Until next time,

Meagan

Thursday 12 June 2014

Fishing Report for May 25 - June 7, 2014

Between Cedar Lake, the Indian Lake Chain, and our fly-outs up North... this has truly been an incredible spring for fishing. Many of our "regulars" claim this is one of the best years yet. Catching and releasing hundreds of fish daily, and boating a couple of real trophies - this has been one year for the books!

We had about a week of scorching hot weather, which brought our water temperatures up a little. The weather has cooled off now into the 50's and 60's and looks like it will be cool for another week at least. There is lots of rain in the forecast, which will make it interesting with our already very high water levels. On average, the water temperature is below normal. The cooler water is keeping the walleye shallow and active coming off of their spawning beds. The fishing will be good still - just need to bundle up and wear those rain suits!

Smallmouth Caught on the Indian Lake Chain
On Cedar Lake we've had guests catching lots of walleye in the upper twenty inch range. One guest caught a really nice 28" 8-pound walleye last week. Fishing on the chain has been very impressive this year as well. At K.C.'s Landing Resort on Edward Lake there was a 32.5" walleye caught off the dock and a 44.5" muskie caught on a fly rod off the dock. There were multiple 28"+ walleyes caught off the dock as well just this year already.

Filleting Some Nice Walleye At K.C.'s Landing
Here are a few written reports that I have received from some fly-in groups:

Meen Lake May 26 - May 31, 2014

Great hospitality, accommodations, and fishing. All supplies, gas, and equipment worked fine. Fishing was good, but the big fish sure were not biting yet - one more week for that to happen. Caught 650 fish.

- Snover Group

Antenna Lake May 25 - June 1, 2014

The cabin was very comfortable. Even thought the temperatures were 80+ degrees, it stayed cool. The windows provided great ventilation. Everything worked great. The shower was wonderful! The fishing - ice had gone out the previous week. Fishing started slow, but each day it improved. We caught a total of 324 fish (201 Walleye and 123 Northern) with 100 fish caught our last day. The service provided by Northern Lights Outposts was excellent. We hope to return. We have been on over 20 outpost fly-in trips. Antenna ranks as one of our best!

- The Morben's

Pusher Lake May 29 - June 7, 2014

Walleye fishing was excellent! Caught roughly 2,000 Walleye, 3-4 hundred Pike, Largest Pike was 33" and largest Walleye was 26". Fished points and shoreline. Beautiful lake, great time!!

- The Missouri Boys

In general, talking with the groups as they are flying in, it sounds like the fishing has been exceptional. We have almost a full change-over this weekend for the fly-ins, so we are gearing up for a very busy Saturday. I am looking forward to talking to everyone as they get back from their fly-ins. I will try and check back in a week or two as I have more to report!

Here are some groups that left last Saturday:




Good luck on the water, everyone!

Until next time,

Meagan

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Summer is Here!

June is here and it's so nice not be talking "ice-out" any longer. Lakes are open and the weather is hot! My Mom's birthday was on Sunday (June 1st). We had cake tonight at cook-out for her. She doesn't look (or feel) a day over 29!

Happy Birthday, Mom!
We have a full camp this week at Northern Lights. The fishing has been phenomenal. I spoke to one of the guests last week as he was filleting his Walleye, and he said that they'd been catching about 300 per day on Cedar. He thought that the spawning was just finishing up and that the walleye would be leaving their nests soon. I wondered if that meant the fishing would get a little trickier? Apparently I was wrong! Speaking to the guests at cookout tonight, it sounds like the fishing is incredible this week too!

Having a Good Time at Camp Cook-Out
As for the outposts, all cabins are now opened-up and most have had guests in them already. I had the opportunity to fly to Bertrand with my Dad and stay over at the minnow cabin the other day. On the way, we stopped to check in on the guys at Kamungishkamo and Bertrand and both groups were having a great time. They were doing very well and catching lots of fish. They were surprised at how much the water had warmed up already. Chris just got back from camp checks today at Otatakan, Pusher, and Upper Wapesi, and he said the fishing at all three lakes is just crazy right now. They are catching 200-300 Walleye in one evening. He said everyone was 100% happy and couldn't have been doing any better.

Our Group at Pusher Lake this Week.
We are getting into a good routine now. Our original Northern Lights Outpost guests have been flying out of Northern Lights Resort on Cedar. It is so much fun talking with the groups that are anxiously awaiting their flights and also greeting the groups that are coming back from their outpost vacation.

The Second Group to Stay at Kapikik
Kamungishkamo Bound!
I had the chance to talk briefly with the first group that stayed at Kapikik. It was so exciting to hear how the first trip was after working on that cabin all winter. The guys had nothing but rave reviews over the cabin and the fishing. They had been following my blog this past winter so it was a neat experience for them as well to be the first group in.

It has also been so much fun and truly a pleasure to meet our new L&M guests. On their way to the new airbase, they have been stopping in to meet us at Northern Lights Resort. All have been very understanding and cooperative through the transition and we are so thankful! Those that have already returned from their trips had a great time. I will try to get some fishing reports together and write about each lake soon.

An L&M Crew Getting Ready to Fly To Meen Lake
It is so great to be in the swing of things now. Summer is really here with the warm weather, airplanes flying in and out, and the guests milling about camp. Meeting new faces and greeting the return guests, talking fishing, and making everyone's vacation the best that it can be is what it's all about. Not to mention, we are caught up with the minnow trapping, which takes off much of the pressure. There are lots in the tanks and minnow orders are going out daily. Everyone is busy, busy, busy!

The Maule in Action
Just because we are busy here, doesn't mean we don't take the time for a little after-work fishing off the dock. We've caught our dinner a few times right in front of camp!

Erin with a nice Walleye
Relaxing After a Long Day of Work

Until next time,

Meagan