Post-Opener Update

Now that the ice is out and we are well into our first week of the season, I thought I would do another update. As you know, the walleye fishing season opened on Saturday. Our drive-in guests arrived Friday afternoon and Saturday morning filling up most cabins at our three drive-in resorts. For the first time in 30 years, our guests arrived to find ice on the lakes, no boats in the water, and no docks set up. They were pre-warned, but most decided to come anyway with hopes that the ice would melt within the first few days of their stay. The following three pictures were taken the morning of walleye opener at Northern Lights Resort on Cedar.

Thankfully, at Northern Lights Resort on Cedar lake, the ice went out on most of the lake by Saturday evening. Our guests were able to get out fishing by Saturday afternoon and despite the unseasonable spring, the fishing has been absolutely fantastic! They've been having to dodge a few ice bergs, but the fish are biting so that is all that matters. We had our first camp cookout at Northern Lights Resort last night and all of the guests had nothing but good fishing reports to share. They are catching and releasing hundreds of walleye daily, mainly in shallow water they said. A couple of people even caught a couple of 28" and 29" walleyes.

At Clark's Camp and K.C.'s Landing on Edward Lake, the ice hung on a little longer. Most of the lake was ice-free by Sunday evening and the docks and boats were put in the water on Monday. The guests were happy to finally be able to get out on the lake and the fishing on the chain has been excellent as well. Our first camp cookout of the season is happening right now at K.C.'s Landing so I will be anxious to hear what the guests had to say about the fishing.

Our fly-out guests were slightly delayed as well, but not as much as we had originally thought they would be. The two parties that were supposed to fly out on Saturday, flew out Sunday to Otatakan and to Antenna. The ice was only half-out on Otatakan and on Antenna there were still ice chunks around the shore. The ice didn't matter to them - they were so excited to get on the lakes and start chasing those big Northern. Our next fly-out group is patiently waiting here at Northern Lights Resort today for the fog to lift so that they can fly to Meen Lake.

If the late ice-out wasn't enough to set us back, the fog for the last two days has sure put a hold on our operation. No flying, means to minnow trapping, and so our minnow orders are piling up. Up until yesterday, we had been able to keep up with the minnow orders, so hopefully after today we can start delivering again and get back on track. The forecast is looking pretty nice after today... we sure deserve some sun and warmth! Another thing that has been slowing us down with the minnows is a shortage of airplanes. Three of our planes are still iced in in Red Lake. Howie Bay is still iced over, but we are hoping to be able to get the planes in the next day or two.

This late spring has certainly set us way behind and it will be very hard to catch up. A lot goes into getting these camps (and fly-ins) running and there are so many chores and projects that we'd like to get done over the summer. Luckily, we've got a great team of workers at all of our locations and so we know we will get caught up eventually!

Until next time,

Meagan

Northern Lights Outposts Buys L&M Fly-In Outposts

We have some very exciting news to share with our existing guests and "social media followers" as well as our NEW L&M GUESTS. Northern Lights Outposts has recently expanded by another 7 lakes! During one of the craziest weeks of the year as we were getting ready for opening weekend, a deal was finalized to sell L&M Fly-In Outposts to Clark's Northern Lights Outposts.

After being in the business for 28 years, it was bitter sweet for L&M to pass on the torch, however they are confident in our ability to carry on the excellent service that they have been providing for many years. We are so excited to be able to pick up where they left off and still get the guests of L&M to their favourite lakes this season to enjoy a fishing trip of a lifetime!

If you are an L&M guest, thank you for visiting our Blog, and thank you for trusting us to fulfill all of your fishing vacation dreams & expectations. You have received outstanding service from L&M in the past, and you can expect nothing less from us. We are no strangers to this business as we operate a top-notch fly-in business of our own, Northern Lights Outposts. The outposts acquired from L&M will be added to our Northern Lights Outposts business giving us a total of 17 lakes for our guests to choose from. These are some of the best fly-in fishing lakes in Northwestern Ontario! 

Aside from operating Northern Lights Outposts, we also operate 3 Drive-In Fishing Resorts: Clark's Camp on the Indian Lake Chain, K.C.'s Landing Resort on the Indian Lake Chain, and Northern Lights Resort on Cedar Lake. Along with Outposts and Resorts, we also run two retail stores (Eagle Junction & Sunset Baits) and a very large live bait business. We have been working in the tourism and bait sector for 30 years. We are not afraid of hard work and we are so passionate about what we do.

For our guests at both the Resorts and the Outposts, we do everything we can to make their fishing vacations the best and keep them coming year after year. Along with first class facilities and excellent customer service, we offer live bait (minnows, leeches, worms) to all of our guests at no extra charge. We are happy to be able to offer this to our new L&M clientele as well. To our all of our Outposts guests, we also offer mid-week camp checks (replenishing the live bait), and we supply bottled drinking water at no extra charge.

We are contracting our L&M flights through Kay Air Service (www.kayair.com) and so our L&M guests will drive to Ear Falls to catch their flight. Kay Air has been in business for a long time with Outposts of their own and are a very reputable & safe charter service. We understand that the extra 1.5 hours of travel time is going to be an inconvenience, but we hope that the free live bait and camp checks will make up for the extra travel time. We are doing everything we can to make this transition as smooth as possible.

Overnight accommodations can be made closer to the new airbase. A few options include: Northern Lights Resort, the Trillium Motel in Ear Falls (807-222-3126), Hotel 105 in Ear Falls (807-222-3374), or you may be able to stay right at Kay Air, depending on cabin availability. We hope this information has eased the minds of the L&M guests and helped them to modify their travel plans.

We are so excited to now be able to offer our guests such a huge selection of amazing lakes. With 17 lakes in total (15 operational for this season), you can surely find what you are looking for. You can learn more about our lakes and what we have to offer by visiting our website and also L&M's website. At www.clarksresorts.com/northern-lights-outposts you will find information on the following lakes: Antenna,  Bertrand, Grace, Kamungishkamo, Kapikik, McVicar, Pusher, Shabumeni, and Upper Wapesi. At www.lmflyin.com you will find information on our new lakes: Austin, Dobie, Fawcett, Meen, Otatakan, and Wright.

Please contact us anytime for further information or if you have any questions. You can call us at 1-866-744-2154 or email: info@clarksresorts.com. Or contact us through Facebook at www.facebook.com/clarksresorts.

Thank you everyone for your patience and understanding during this transition! We are looking forward to a great season!! We can't wait to see all of our existing guests and to meet MANY new faces!!!

Sincerely,

Karla & Wayne Clark (owners & operators)

and Meagan Stansfield (daughter, operations manager, and marketing consultant)

Ice Conditions as of May 14, 2014

It's been a few days since my last ice report so I will let you know what has been going on. We have had terrible weather... two days in a row (Tuesday & Wednesday) we woke up to snow! Both days the snow melted by the afternoon, but this weather certainly didn't us any favours as far as the ice conditions go! Having said that, there was just enough open water in front of Northern Lights Resort on Cedar Lake yesterday for my Dad to take off in his airplane. He was able to get a better look at the area and he has concluded (as of yesterday) that most lakes in our area are still about 70% ice covered. Cedar Lake is about 50% ice covered. The ice that is left is very thin and very black. We predict (and we really hope we are right) that the ice will be out by Saturday or Sunday on our lakes and most area lakes. The fly-in lakes up North will follow a few days later. Bring on open water fishing season!!

Until next time,

Meagan

Ice Update on Edward and Cedar

It is getting down to crunch time, so I will try to keep the ice updates coming!

Spring arrived this weekend with only 6 days to go until opener! Better late than never...?

Yesterday was warm and sunny all day and reached 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit). Today is supposed to be almost as warm.

On our lakes, Edward Lake & Cedar Lake, the ice is mostly black. It should go pretty quickly now as long as the weather cooperates this week!

Here are some pictures taken yesterday morning at K.C.'s Landing Resort on Edward:

Here are some pictures taken yesterday afternoon at Northern Lights Resort on Cedar:

10 Days Until Opener

Hi everyone! It's been a little while since my last ice report, so I thought I would check in. Unfortunately, when it comes to the ice conditions, there isn't a whole lot of news to report. A couple of weeks ago, when I did my first ice report, we were on track for the ice to be gone by opener. The ice had deteriorated quickly in a short amount of time and all we needed was some warm spring days to take it away. Unfortunately, the weather has not been cooperating the last couple of weeks. Although we had some very windy days, the temperature never rose to that 10-degree minimum that we needed and the sun barely came out.

They are calling for rain today, Thursday and Friday, and very warm temperatures for Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully the rain will do some damage and those warm temperatures will carry on throughout next week. If the weather cooperates, there is still a chance that the ice will be gone by opening weekend on some of the smaller lakes as well as lakes that are connected to river systems. We will know a lot more by Sunday evening after this rain and warm weather plays out and we can see May 17th in the seven-day forecast.

The airplanes are off the ice now and work at the outposts is on hold until the ice is gone. Work at the drive-in resorts is now well underway. There is lots of grounds-keeping, cabin maintenance, cabin cleaning, and dock building to keep us busy while we wait for the ice to melt. Last week, the guys wrapped things up at Kapikik for now. The cabin interior is finished and the outhouse is almost complete. Once Dad can fly up there on floats, he will finish up with the outhouse and fish-cleaning house and any final touches that need to be done.

It's amazing how fast time is flying by now after such a long winter. There is so much to do and get ready for the busy season ahead of us and time is ticking... The ice situation is beyond our control and all we can do is stay optimistic and stay focussed on getting the camps ready for opening weekend! We will keep everyone updated on the ice conditions at K.C.'s Landing on Edward Lake and at Northern Lights Resort on Cedar Lake. I will take pictures of the lakes in front of the camps this weekend.

Keep your fingers crossed and send us some warm weather!!

Until next time,

Meagan Stansfield

Below the Damn on Wegg Lake Friday, May 2

Below the Damn on Wegg Lake Friday May 2