PHW
Soldiers Arrive This Week
Ten Soldiers - Five US and Five Canadian arrive at - Miminiska Lodge on the Albany River this Saturday.
The event
is called "Healing On The Albany" and opens the door to the boreal forest of Northwestern Ontario to these soldiers
recovering from battlefield injuries.
 Two generous private
pilots from the greater Chicago area, will fly the US soldiers up,
after American Airlines flies them at no charge to Chicago from:
San Antonio,TX,
Hickory, NC, Roanoke, VA, Pittsburg, PA, and Washington,
DC.
The Canadians, are coming from British Columbia, Manitoba,and
Saskatchewan.
All of the gear - donated from Orvis the big American Fly Fishing
Company - has arrived, and travel arrangements have been finalized. We
are now ready for each soldier's July 10 arrival - and then a flight up to
Mim on the 11th.
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Healing on the Albany
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The Bird Brains are Back
Oh Oh ?
No - that's a good thing.
He is Matthew Medler - Audio Archivist and he gets up long before the crack of dawn to actually transport digital recorders into the bush and tape bird songs.
No - you won't hear the songs on Casey Kasem's American Top 40 - but you will hear them on the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology -
Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds website.
Just last July, Dr. Jeff Wells (photo above) joined outdoor writer Eddie Nickens to explore the boreal forests along the Albany River. The trip was the feature cover story in the Audubon Magazine this past winter.
This month, audiologist Matthew Medler will be stationed at Striker's Point Lodge - on the Ogoki River from July 9th through the 19th, microphone in hand to tape even more bird songs here in Northwestern Ontario.
This area is considered one of the most renowned bird breeding destinations in North America.
We'll keep you up to date on Matthew's activities, and for guests who will be at Striker's Point in the next ten days, Matthew promises to conduct Birding 101 classes, as well update them on the progress of these very clever works of a Bird Brain- whose proud to claim the title.
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Say Cheese !
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We are in the early planning stages of our 2010 wall calendar and we need your help. If you have been a guest of Wilderness North, at any of our remote cabins or American Plan Lodges, we would love to consider your photos for inclusion in the project. It's simple to help. Click here to open an e-mail, on to which you can attach up to three digital images. The bigger and higher the quality - the better. If we select your photo to be included, we'll call you and chat about the place and date you captured the image. Your scenery, your fishing, your general beauty shots - - - are more than welcome. Make sure to include your phone number and name when you submit the photos.
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Big Winds & Big Fish at Whitewater
...by Alan Cheeseman
Wouldn't you know it. This past holiday weekend Krista, the girls and I decided to head out to Whitewater Lake - stay a couple of days at Striker's Point Lodge and enjoy early summer in the boreal forest. Well, mother nature had something to say about that and whipped up some wind, rain and cold temps, that would make you think it was late April. (Graham Saunders explains in his weather story below.)
However, Chris Clemmons and his group of 17, were in camp, and they didn't let a little "less than perfect" weather stand in the way of catching some great Master Angler walleye and pike. (That's Chris in the header photo - right with his own 29 inch walleye. And fellow angler "Oats" Sanders - on the left- with one of two 40 plus inch pike he caught and released.) Again,Tyler Lancaster played an important role, as guide, and by introducing the Williams Warbler lure to the group. Listen in on Chris's recap of a remarkable trip by clicking here.
Early July is also the time of year that things slow down a bit, making it a perfect time for us to roll out the red carpet to the soldiers of Project Healing Waters who will be our guests this coming week as part of Healing On The Albany. Thanks to the gifts from many of our guests and friends, American Airlines, and the Orvis Company, there will be ten soldiers, five each from the US and Canada, heading up to Miminiska Lodge for a week long vacation. These nine guys and one woman are all recovering from injuries of battle, and next week our fishing report will profile a few of them for you.
Returning this year will be Bill Johnston of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania- a veteran of the Vietnam war - our most senior member of the group - and a special inspiration to his fellow soldiers - and frankly to all of us as well. Take a few moments now to listen to this podcast from 2008 so that you can learn more about this remarkable soldier and PHW. Click here to listen.
Talk to you next week - and as always feel free to drop me an e-mail by clicking here or by phone at 888-465-3474.
Alan
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Group of 17 - Catch Plenty of Master Angler Pike and Walleye
...by Tyler Lancaster
We have finally emerged from our week long stay in a wind and rain infested cloud bubble here at Striker's Point Lodge. We bring great news with us. Guests visiting at Striker's tallied eight more master angler fish last week. All should be given credit for persevering through some very tough, wet, and cold conditions.
The Clemmons group out of Illinois mixed things up with 3 master walleye and 4 master northerns. "Oats", who is sometimes referred to as Scott Sanders, had two personal bests on the same day when he landed a 27.5" walleye and a whopping 43" northern. The walleye came on a live sucker rig down river and the northern came while trolling the trusty silver Williams Whitefish in the narrows. Oats added to his pile of trophies with yet another Williams caught 41" beauty. Boat partner Chris Clemmons produced an enormous 29" walleye at the same location also on a live sucker rig. They were two of the largest walleye I've seen in a good while. Chris's brother Brad heard the news and had his boat down to the same location later that evening. Brad also tied into a 29" walleye. Joining the group were brother John and Drew for their first trip up to Striker's Point. These guys had a good knack for finding large pike. Drew landed a 45" monster while brother John boasted 42" and 46" behemoths. Listen to a trip summary from this group of great anglers by clicking here.
Tim and Loni Meininger finished off their week with much success. Everywhere these two went the walleye turned on. I told you about Tim's 42" pike last week. That was enough pike for him for one week. These two had fun exploring the lake and catching huge numbers of walleye doing it.
The Shiree group had a longer than expected stay due to the foul weather. These guys thoroughly enjoyed hitting their favourite hotspots all week and having great shore lunches daily. We look forward to seeing them back here in just three short weeks.
Tight Lines,
Tyler Lancaster
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G'Day G'Day From Miminiska Mates
...by Tristan Yuswak
Talk about a fishing bonanza, this week at Miminiska Lodge we have seen some
exceptional fishing both on fly and spin cast. Dan Wegner from Wisconsin was
still around and out to beat his 28 inch walleye. He and his mate Bill took the
opportunity to switch to the fly rods and head up the Keezhik River to take on
some trout. Dan landed 2 big brookies, 19 and 18 inches a piece, and then
snapped on a couple of big walleye up in the rapids as well.  Dan, you're a
cracking good sport mate, and come back you blokes, you were a riot! Bill was
almost carried away by the mozzie's*, but still loved the experience of that
amazing area.
Mike and Liz Melnychuk our new mates from Niagara Falls, Canada, flew in to a warm
welcome from the walleye clan here, quickly notching up a nice feed to get them
in the fishing mood. I am actually starting to get a bit of a craving for shore
lunch now, so I am always trying to work my way into some of that delicious
food, just can't get enough of it. Austin Rowell from Tennessee knows exactly
how I feel, huh mate?
On their first afternoon of fishing Mike and Liz tired
themselves out pulling up pike and walleye, and we had a bit of a repeat
occurrence, where Liz pulled up a 32 inch northern on an ultra-light rod, 6
pound line with a jig and twister-tail, seems to be a new fetish up here for
the northern. They must be sitting under the water saying: "Watch this one
mate, let's see if I can break this rod!" But they do actually build the rods
better than they used to now, so these northerns aren't getting away without a
photo shoot.
The weather has been a bit rainy and blowy up here, kinda
reminds me of the Indian Ocean, where I belong, sailing the seven seas aboard our
sloop Eloise. But it is going to be a
tough call heading home after a summer of this amazing boreal forest
and the fishing up here. My mates back in Oz, just cannot believe the amount of fish
being brought out of the water here, so I think you should come up and give me
some more statistics to go home with!
Hoo-roo for this week.
*mosquitoes
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Small Group - Big Walleye!
...by Meryl and Bernard Carroll
We had a group of four in camp - a bit of rest from the large groups we have had throughout June. The Wilson's - Ronald and Phyllis - from Toronto and The Kuhnes - Paul and Mona - from Spring Hill, Florida.
The couples had a four day fishing trip here at Makokibatan Lodge and managed to fish for two of their four  days, since the weather was a challenge with high seas and rain and cold up here on the Albany, just as it was throughout the area. Paul reeled in a 26" walleye at the back cut. So despite the smaller number of anglers and tough weather conditions - "Makok" lived up to its reputation as a master angler walleye destination.
Talk to you next week.
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 Unsettled Weather?
Good Choice of Words!
...by Graham Saunders
We had another fairly abrupt change in the weather on the
weekend. Temperatures on Saturday were in the low 70s, almost average for this
time of the season to cooler with very strong winds on Sunday. The new air mass
can only be called "cold". Temperatures in the last days have struggled to make
55 degrees.
It changes again today, but only briefly. Expect sun and temperatures in the
low 70s in the south and probably a little warmer - mid-70s around Miminiska.
Thursday to Saturday
Expect unsettled weather: Showers and cool temperatures. The sun returns on
Saturday with more sun and warmer conditions on Sunday and early in the coming
week.
The hesitant summer
Recent weather has been cool and changeable, more like late spring. People,
including those with lots of experience with camping, talk about a "summer
pattern". Summers do not have the same pattern for 3 months and changes
every few days are usual. Blocking highs that feature warmth and sun stop
this usual parade of systems although they are a little bit like a recession.
You are in it before you can say you have one.
Graham Saunders is professor of climatology and meteorology at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.
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