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Bird Blogs from the Boreal
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You may recall that Dr. Jeff Wells was at Miminiska Lodge and exploring the the boreal birds of the Albany River last year about this time. His research was chronicled in the Audubon Magazine in February. You can read the article by clicking here. Most recently Matt Medler, from the Cornell Orinthology Labs was up on Whitewater Lake, microphone in hand. And despite the high winds (we all know what that sounds like) he did get out to capture a few calls, and discover again the rich resource that, as Dr. Wells calls it, is the "last vast wilderness of North America." It the last hope for birds and birders alike. Since Matt's visit two great blogs have been posted and you many find them interesting by clicking Here for Blog #1 and Here for Blog #2. Providing trips, boats, and accommodations to scientific research is one more way to put into action our words of commitment to keep the wilderness pure and unspoiled.
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Say Cheese !
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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 our 2010 calendar. 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 using 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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More Trophys at Whitewater Lake
...by Tyler Lancaster
The Landheer group of 10
from Grand Rapids, Michigan joined us on Saturday July 18th at Striker's Point Lodge and brought the nice
weather with them. So we are finally blessed with blue skies, warm rays,
and gentle breezes. The Landheers got off to an impressively quick start
on their first evening out. Dave Landheer tied into a 44 inch
northern while pitching a classic red and white Dardevle down river towards the
rapids. Young Ben Landheer ventured into the "Llama" on day two
with his grandfather and skillfully caught and released a chunky 42 inch
slobby girl. The "Llama" is found off the north shore of the
narrows between Striker's and Whitewater and has been kind to the Landheer group
in the past. The youngest member of the group, Nathan, caught his largest
fish to date there on last year's trip, a hefty 41 inch.
Also joining us last week was Ortonville, Michigan's Alan Visgar and his fiance
 Kathleen from Indianapolis, Indiana. I had the pleasure of fishing with these
wonderful people and also landing Alan's 40 inch trophy (photo in header and to the right). We were
trolling Williams Whitefish spoons down river in about 11 feet of water when
Alan's copper spoon was smashed. Kathleen was a pleasure to fish with,
just watching the complete excitement on her face for every fish she caught,
made my day. Alan was able to deliver a second large pike, a 38 inch
also down river. We wish Alan and Kathleen absolute happiness as they tie
the knot this coming September. Congratulations guys!!
Father and son Doug and Eric Busch joined us for a seven night stay and had a
great time exploring this "new to them" lake and catching walleye and pike
while doing so. Eric planned this trip for his father Doug's birthday. They did manage to perform a rare feat while jigging for walleye in the
late afternoon on their last day. First Doug's rod doubled over and not a
second later, Eric's did as well. I was watching both rods to see which
one looked heavier, trying to make the decision on which one to concentrate on
landing first. Both rods seemed to be in unison and as I saw the shape of
a pike emerge from the depths, I noticed Doug's jig hooked snugly in one corner
of Mr. Northern's mouth and Eric's in the other. This pike had little
chance of shaking that double hook set.
I will get back to you next week with the outcome of the Landheer's trip.
Tight Lines,
Tyler Lancaster
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Big Brookies, Big Wind, and a Mouth Full of Walleye
Meryl & Bernard Carroll
Two motors rumbled and four men hummed and hawed as the waves crashed over the dock at Makokibatan. That was how the fishing trip of a lifetime began. It wasn't exactly ideal weather but the boys toughed it out and hit the water. With three foot swells on the open lake, fishing in the back lake made a lot of sense. The wind wouldn't quit and neither would the Hill and Fecker clans.
Jake and Daniel Hill found themselves landing perfect eating size walleye and earned a master angler walleye at 27 inches.
The Feckers reported back that the walleye population and size were the best they had encountered. The sun finally decided to make an appearance as Steve and Alec hit the Lake with guide Matty Sobiera. It was the first cast of the day that Steve Fecker found himself hooked up with the legendary Albany River brook trout. "My heart still pumps hard every time I see one come to surface," says Matty. "They are simply the most beautiful fish that I have ever had the pleasure to see." Not only are they beautiful --- they're plentiful and sizeable. Numerous trout were landed that day with the lure of choice being a red on white Little Cleo. Average length trout landed was 16 inches with the fish of the trip going to Steve with a 19 inch Brookie. |
 My Turn to Fish !
...by Tristan & Jasmine Yuswak
Well, it was sad to see the nine Blokes and one Shelia leave from
Project Healing Waters, but it allowed me to have a day of fishing out on the
lake with Wilderness North Marketing Director Wayne Blackmon.
I hadn't
christened my fly-rod yet, and hadn't really had the chance to get out there,
so Wayne guided me to some of his favourite spots. We hit it big at the Keehzik River mouth, me fly-fishing with a pike fly, snapping up plenty of big fat
healthy walleye, all over 18 inches and some Northerns in the 23-25 inch range.
Wayne was having so much fun watching the pike and walleye hit his top water
lure - the famous Zara Spook. Wayne said he had never seen walleye hit the
big profile top water lure before. It seems that the walleye in this region are
so feisty that they are going for anything that moves, which makes for quite a
break-in period for a new fly-rod. Wayne said it was his exceptional presentation skills that caused the hits - well he is a marketing guy!
The Beringer family from the US state of Ohio made the trek
up this week and have been enjoying some beautiful weather and fishing. Susie
landed herself a 25 inch walleye in the first outing and was just short of 26
inch master angler status. The rest of the gang have been landing a big bag of
fish, with Nancy almost managing to get a huge northern into the boat, but he
broke off at the last minute.
 The healing waters guys managed to tap into the brook trout
spots with Ferris Butler landing himself a nice brook trout up at Snake Falls,
only to be outdone by the Videographer, Dave Clement, (photo right) who just for fun threw a
jig head and twister-tale into the water and landed a 24 inch brook trout
football. Ferris almost threw his fly rod into the water for that one. There
were plenty of late night trips looking for old man brookie, but no one else
seemed destined to get one this trip, with the may flies all over the place,
the fish can afford to be a bit picky when it comes to what you throw in front
of their faces.
Hoo-roo for this week. |
 Summer Time Warm Up?
...by Graham Saunders
Last week in review:
Cloud with minor rainfall amounts and cool temperatures prevailed earlier
last week. The weekend brought mainly sunshine although temperatures
continued to be slightly cooler than seasonal. Windy conditions, prevalent
in recent weeks, were not a concern during the past seven days.
The Forecast: Yesterday's showers and unsettled conditions are likely to be replaced with a mix of sun and cloud through today and into the weekend. Brief, occasional showers are likely. Expect cloudy skies and some moderate rain showers beginning on Sunday and continuing on Monday.
Long-term temperature records confirm that the coming week is typically the warmest of the summer. The catch is the word "typically." Temperatures are likely to continue cooler than average in the coming week.
The first half of the summer has often been unusually cool and unsettled. The reasons are complex, although a major contributor has been frequent positioning of a trough of low pressure over central Canada. This atmospheric pattern results in flow of northern air and, as important, a
reduction of warmer air from the south.
Graham Saunders is professor of climatology and meteorology at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.
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Next year he will be known as Mark -Bullwinkle - Snyder, with the truth being the only thing he has ever fought was a bad cold. None the less, our Canadian soldiers gave him the honour - all in good fun.
Diane Cochran of San Antonio, Texas. Listen to her story by 
to be in camp when the soldiers are here. Our guests tell us how much they enjoyed sharing the time and the waters with each soldier. And the soldiers tell us - in so many ways- how much they value "Healing On The Albany."