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Tuesday June 3, 2008
June 2008
 It was a snowy winter as we waited for spring to arrive. Mother Nature took it's time with a surprise 1.5 feet of snow on April 26, so we waited for spring to arrive again. The ice finally melted here at the airbase on May 8 so we were busy moving the docks into place to accommodate the arrival of the airplanes.
The Cessna 180 is kept in a hanger at Baudette, MN for the winter. Mike flew it back to the airbase on May 9. The Otter is kept at the maintenance Facility at Selkirk, Manitoba. The mechanics said it was ready to go so we could bring it back. On May 10, Mike and Tristan flew the Otter back to the airbase.
 With only 7 days until the opening weekend (May 17) and the planes sitting at the dock ready to go to work opening camps and hauling supplies, once again we waited for spring to arrive. We kept our fingers crossed that Mother Nature would pull through and melt the ice at the outposts.
On May 14, the ice finally melted so we could begin opening the camps. Mike and a helper, Ron, flew up to the cabins and opened them up, turning on the water and making sure everything worked. They were busy cutting firewood for the cabins and opening the portage trails. Tristan followed in the Otter with motors and supplies for each camp. We were able to get everything done for the opener. We took our first guests in on May 17.
Late ice out means one thing...lots of BIG PIKE in shallow water. Many of our groups are reporting catching trophy Pike (over 40") while they are fishing for walleyes. In many cases if you boat into a small bay and watch with your polarized sunglasses you can see the toothy critters sitting like logs warming up in the sun.
Early walleye fishing started out slow but as the water warmed up they started to break loose. Kenoji and Oliver were the first lakes to open up because of the flowing river system. Because Wabakimi and Smoothrock are large bodies of water, they remained frozen the longest. Even though there was ice still on the lake, as the bays and inlets opened up, the fish went wild. Coles Lake, being our farthest north outpost, opened up last but warmed the quickest because of the dark stained water and flowing river system.
 The Tim Williams group tapped into some nice walleyes in the 6-7 lb. range, along with Bob Rybinski's 42" Northern at Kenoji Lake. Mike Seramur released a 42" northern and a 27" walleye as well.
As the water warmed up at Coles it also produced some nice walleyes. The Laird group had walleyes in the 25"-26.5" range. Marvin Griffin's party tagged into some 4-7 lb. walleye on Coles as well. Marvin said they were sitting by the falls one afternoon catching walleyes when Mitchell Blair, the youngest in the group, pulled up, dropped a jig and caught a 27" walleye, weighing in at about 7 lbs. Way to go Mitchell...
Kevin Kohl and Ken Cosby both released a 40" Northern at Wabakimi. While fishing Sock Bay at Wabakimi, Denny Sauer released a 42" Northern. This group also released some nice 4-5 lb. walleyes. Bill Littell's group arrived back at the airbase and were very enthused about the early season Pike fishing. Ron Tillery, a fly fisherman, released a 38", 42" and a 45" monster pike. Two of his three trophies were caught on flys...fantastic!
Michael and Glenda Fogarty returned from Oliver and reported the fishing was great. They released many walleye and northerns on a jointed Rapala in the 17-22" category. He also used a method we call snap jigging to catch some nice walleye. He mentioned that he went out by himself fishing and brought a huge walleye up to the boat but was unsuccessful at landing it.
Joe See's group returned from a five day trip at Smoothrock and reported the walleye were alittle slow but they had released seven pike over 40":
Luke Krumenauer - 43"
Joe See - (2) 42"
Dave See - 43", 41.5", 40"
James Apple - 40"
We haven't seen a late spring like this for awhile, but it normally means one thing...the PIKE are on the prowl!
Until next time...great fishing!
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