|
Clemmons Wins Cabela's Tourney $30,000 and A New Ranger Boat
|
|
Chris Clemmons of Newark, Illinois, our
Wilderness North Resource writer, and frequent guest at Striker's Point Lodge with his tournament fishing
partner Bob Hausler of Plano, Illinois brought in a tremendous 28.59 pounds of walleye last
Sunday - giving them a two day tournament total of 48.12 pounds to take the
crown at the Cabela's National Team Championship on Devil's Lake in North Dakota.
The photo above shows them with the $30,000 check for the
big payday. "We're overwhelmed,"
exclaimed an excited Clemmons. "We combined a little luck with a little
skill and it worked out great for us."
Clemmons and Hausler's 28.59 pound basket was the biggest one day basket of
the tournament. The Illinois twosome used some traditional Devil's Lake
tactics to raise their winning fish.
"We were using bobbers in the trees
and pitched the occasional jig out. With all that timber we ended up
going through a lot of rigs." However, you can buy a
lot of bobbers and jigs for $30,000.
Congrats to our friend and guest.
Chris - We are proud to know you.
|
|
It's a what?
|
|
It is the little fingerling you see in the photo from the Miminiska report and it called the burbot. And they can get mighty big - although we have not seen a big one at any of our destinations.
The
burbot (Lota lota), is the only freshwater cod-like fish.
It
is also known as the lawyer, and
(misleadingly) eelpout, and closely related
to the common ling and
the cusk. It's the
only member of the genus Lota.
The
genus and species name "lota" comes from "la lotte," the old French word for codfish.
The Inuktitut / Inupiag word for burbot
was used to name the recently discovered extinct transitional species.
In
1994, the World Record burbot was caught on Lake Athapapuskow, Manitoba, during
the Flin Flon Fish Enhancement Society's Burbot Derby, by Vaughan Kshywiecki.
The fish weighed 22 pounds 8 ounces and measured 42 1/2 inches long
You may learn more about this record fish by clicking here.
|
Say Cheese !
|
|
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.
|
The Beauty of the Boreal
Summer is a naturally beautiful time in Ontario. Taking a walk from our base camp on Waweig Lake toward Armstrong in the pre-dawn hour can pay very big visual dividends.
The fog on the lake.
The wild flowers.
It is all part of the unique place we call the Boreal Forest and it is all yours for the viewing when you bring your camera to Ontario's remote and remarkable wilderness.
|
|
Each year we prepare and mail to our friends and guests a wall calendar featuring photos like those above. If you want to make sure your get your 2010 calendar free just click here to send us your address.
|
|
|
The Mid Summer in Ontario
...by Alan Cheeseman
We have
finally come to the time of year when we get a bit of a breather. And while the
Master Angler count goes up (Whitewater, Dawn and Opichuan) so do the
temperatures. Summer has finally arrived, although it is still rainy and cooler
than normal.
Joe Pichey
had the chance to chase after the Makokibatan brookies, and gives us a report
from his trip and an update on our outpost destination groups. And for the
record, just because a destination is NOT mentioned in his report, does not
mean fishing is bad - it really means that for the past week no guests were
reporting in from that destination.
Tyler
continues to chronicle the power of Whitewater Lake. While new guests have
arrived at Makokibatan  Lodge - we'll have their story next week - the Miminiska
staff has had a break, allowing Manager Tristan Yusak and a few of the team
members to angle a bit on their own. Plus his report has a photo of a "mystery"
fish that Gord Ellis (left) has identified for us as a Burbot. We have caught them ice fishing at Waweig Lake, but not that often.
And finally,
congrats to Chris Clemmons, who together with his fishing partner won the
Cabela's International Walleye Tournament this past weekend at Devil's Lake in
North Dakota. The official news release is at our download page or you can read the sidebar
summary story of the event on the left. Chris also sent us a brief column abou t this exciting event which you find at the bottom of this newsletter.
And in
our "for the fun of it," category: camouflage has a new look called Fishoulage, click here to learn more.
And don't
forget - if you have a Canadian photograph you would like to submit for
consideration for our 2010 calendar send it in right away, along with your name
and phone number. Information about what is required in the sidebar below.
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
|
|
Six More Master Anglers at
Striker's Point Lodge
...by Tyler Lancaster
What a great week we had up
here at Striker's Point Lodge. We entertained the Landheer group of ten coming
out of Michigan. We were also pleased to welcome John Chilleri and Ed Nubiac
who made the long haul from Moosic, Pennsylvania. Our other group of four
consisted of father and son Mark and Daniel Weber from Minnesota and father and
son Doc and Jay Syers out of Washington, D.C.
The weather was finally co-operative which allowed for long days and nights of
angling, which in turn resulted in large numbers of fish being caught including
some real nice trophies.
Ben Landheer ended up with a 40 and a 42-inch pike, one taken on a jointed
Rapala in five feet of water and one on a "Williams Whitefish" in the "Bay of
Pigs," also in relatively shallow water. Dave Landheer tallied 38 and 44-inch
beauties, both of which were taken on "Williams Whitefish" down river. Dave's
future son-in-law fell just shy with his 38-inch northern, which surprisingly
also came on a "Williams Whitefish."
John Chilleri and Ed Nubiac found that sucker minnows rigged with stinger hooks
on jig heads really pay off. John had a great night out at the "island" when he
caught a 27-inch "walter" and a 36-inch fatty northern. The next day he captured
another master with a hefty 2-inch porker. We are glad you guys had such a
great trip and look forward to seeing you again next year.
Daniel Weber found some time away from his intense music studies to join his
father Mark for their annual wilderness getaway. Mark's old college buddy Doc
Syers and son Jay have also been taking part in the yearly excursion for some
time now. The group really enjoyed their first trip to Striker's and ended up
with great results. Daniel caught his largest pike to date with a wild 40-inch
pike slamming his reef runner while trolling just inside the river mouth.
With us now are our good friends, the Shiree's, who are here for their second
trip of this season already. We will see them still one more time in late
August as well. Lets hope this great weather sticks around for awhile and the
fishing continues to be fantastic.
Tight Lines,
Tyler Lancaster
|
Makokibatan Lodge
...by Meryl & Bernard Carroll
Things sure are getting done here at Makokibatan Lodge!
This past week, with no guests in the lodge, we took some time to
spruce the place up a little. The lodge building received a new coat of stain.
We battled the bugs and the rain and now the building looks great. Thanks to
Boyce and Alma from Mojikit who came in and helped - it was a pleasure having
you guys here!
Bernard and Matty have also done some brush cutting and dropped a
bunch of trees at the front of the property. Now we have a great view from the
lodge.
Eli Baxter, Sr. came back into the lodge this week as well. He
escorted Bernard and Joe Pichey on a river trip for brookies. Bernard had a
blast! Joe will be sharing more details about it in his report below.
We have the Majka group in this week and look
forward to hearing their tales of the lake and river.
|
 Miminiska Lodge On the Albany
...by Tristan & Jasmine Yuswak
Well, it
has been our mid-year maintenance week this week, up here at Miminiska Lodge,
dolling this place up and giving the fish a bit of a rest from everyone seeking
that trophy or two - well, almost a rest.
In
between painting and working we have been sneaking up to the Keehzik River
mouth, just a short boat ride away, and boy-o-boy have we been hitting some
fish! Rob, our dockhand hauled in a 23-inch walleye on his first cast, coming
from the previous day, where all he was getting were Rock Bass (rocks) haha. I
had my fly-rod, trying not to be out fished, and hauled in a 24 ½ inch walleye,
just to show Rob who really is boss up here. I brought that walleye in on a
5-weight beginners flyrod with big pike flies and let me tell you, it was
almost put into retirement. Even the Miminiska girls were scoring big and we
had a great day of catch and release walleye fishing, we actually had to leave
the river mouth to have some down-time, so we could relax. Every time you put
the line in the water it was like you were hitting the fish on the head or
something, they snapped it up straight away.
Last week a guest brought in this photo - and asked me what the heck it was. I did NOT know, but the column on the left "It's a What?" introduces me - and perhaps you - to the Canadian Burbot.
This
Aussie is starting to regret that the season only holds another 5 weeks up here
at Mim, this place is just so beautiful and breath-taking, its hard to imagine
how to spend the rest of the year, although we are heading to Thailand to sail
around the remote islands with a nice rum in the hand for six months, but I
will still miss this place and the great mates we have made since being here,
every group has been special and all of you cobbers* are bloody good Blokes and
Sheila's.
Hoo-roo
for this week and looking forward to our next lot of mates coming to Miminiska
Lodge.
*Australian
term for a pal
|
Great Angling at Makokibatan
...by Joe Pichey
After seeing group after
group come back from Makokibatan Lodge along the Albany River bragging about
their many trophy walleyes, I had to go check it out for myself. I have heard
from numerous guests that this is the very best overall fishery that we have on
our list of great lakes. And now I can  see why they think this. Not only did
Eli Baxter (Native Guide) show Bernard (MBL MGR) and myself some of the secret
walleye holes that he located over his 40 seasons of guiding on this large body
of water, but he also took us down river for some unbelievable brook trout
fishing. These little "rod benders" put up a great fight in the current and an
even better show when they dance completely out of the water. The river trip is
a must for all guests as you get a chance to catch all 3 species in the same
area. You can bounce a jig/worm combo down the rapids and haul in a 40-inch
northern, a 26-inch walleye and a nice fat 20-inch brook trout all in the same
hour. Eli also pointed us in the direction of "Bauer's Bay", which is 10-minute
portage that holds what he calls "monster" walleye. This little lake has not
been fished in over 3 years and is just waiting for someone to give it a try.
When Eli thinks a fish is a monster that is saying something.
We have also had some great action over the
last week with our returning outpost guests. Both Opichuan and Dawn lakes
produced some good numbers of better than average fish. The Long party's Kent
Long landed a 43-inch trophy pike along with some nice 23 and 24-inch walleye. While
the Stapleton group came up just short with a 39 incher at Opichuan, they also
reported countless numbers of double headers while trolling for ol' tasty.
Congrats also to Terry Rowland for his 44 inch pike from out at Dawn Lake.
|
 Summer Stability At Last
...by Graham Saunders
Temperatures were generally near average during the last
week. An obvious exception was Friday when cloud and showers combined with
temperatures that struggled to reach the mid-60s. Conditions in recent days
have been warmer, although still below average for this time of the year.
The next seven days are likely to feature similar weather to
yesterday: mainly cloudy with occasional to frequent sunny breaks. Showers are
likely during most days, especially in the afternoon.
In Northwestern Ontario, June, July and August average about two
thunderstorm days per week. Relatively quiet weeks this summer switched to
considerable thunderstorms in recent days, although most were brief in duration
and not accompanied with severe weather. A similar pattern is expected to
continue in the coming days.
Graham Saunders is professor of climatology and meteorology at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.
|
|
So How Did You Do It?
...by Chris Clemmons
Thanks to
every one who has written or called about last weekend. Most have asked, "So
how did you do it?"
We had never seen or fished Devil's Lake before.
The lake is a 122,000 acre monstrosity with tons of flooded wood rimming the
shoreline. With the lake being that big, we decided to concentrate more of our
practice efforts in one bay which was 5 miles long and 2 miles wide. We kind of
looked at the bay as if it were it's own lake.
However, the key to our success was when we started thinking of this bay as if
it were a Canadian lake (like Whitewater). When we considered the time of year
and looked at our map, we figured the larger walleye would be relating to
points, near deep water, like they often do in Canada this time of year. In
other words, even though Devil's Lake looked much different than Whitewater
from the water's surface, we looked for similarities below the surface. What
brought it all together was when our point, near the deep water, had hundreds
of trees on it. The big walleye would come up out of the deep water onto the
point, to feed in the timber. (I even thought of the Ogoki Reservoir while out
there and if the structures and presentations would be similar.) I imagine they
probably would be similar and some future Ogoki guests could take
advantage of some of the things Bob and I learned while fishing the timber.
But still folks want to know how we figured it out. So here's the truth: what
just happened was 1 part skill, 2 parts luck and 3 parts help from the Big Guy
upstairs. It truly seemed beyond our control and things just fell into place.
|
|
|
|
|
