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Everything Is Looking Up....by Alan Cheeseman
We are off and rolling for 2010. All five lodges are open. All of our remote cabins are open. All three float planes are in service. Scores of guests are in the wilderness. Our Master Angler list grows by the day. Our very low lake and stream levels are rising. The weather is improving. Oh oh...What can possibly go wrong? Ever have that feeling that things are just going too darn good? Today we want to salute two persons who create the reasons things ARE going well. Marg and Bill Carroll.  They are starting their fifth year with us at Striker's Point Lodge - as managers - and from the first day they arrived the improvements have just kept coming.They live out in Roddickton, Newfoundland from November through April, and it was there they heard about Wilderness North from other employees of our company who also live "on the rock". That was 2006 - and they have made Ontario their summer home ever since. We value their dedication and hard work.  Last week, we heard excellent comments about Striker's Point Lodge from Jim Moran. Jim is the publisher of Badger Sportsman, and took his first American Plan Trip to Ontario at Striker's Point. Jim is an experienced walleye angler and shared his thoughts with us in the first of two podcasts this week that we call: "First Timers". Click here to listen to Jim Moran's comments. The second podcast introduces two brothers who visited Ontario's wilderness for walleye angling for the first time... and how they became Master Anglers on their first cast, all while fishing with Bill Carroll's nephew, Bernard Carroll, on the Albany River out of Makokibatan Lodge. Click here to listen to their story. I always value hearing from you, and answering your questions, so drop me an e-mail by clicking here.
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 Master Anglers Add Up at Striker's Point Lodge
...by Katlyn Johnson
The Stanford
group from Madison, Wisconsin had an amazing week at Striker's Point Lodge with four master angler pike!
Matthew Stanford takes credit for the largest at 46", but he had lots of help
from his family! His siblings Jason and Amy were jigging for walleye in the
river channel when Matthew and his wife, Cindy, decided to join. 
Jason
mentioned that a giant northern had surfaced about 50 feet from the boat, and
jokingly suggested that Matthew try and catch it. Using a casting rod with a
red Buck Tail, Matthew cast in that direction, and wouldn't you know it - he
caught that giant northern!
The fish hit about 25 feet from the boat, and
fought for about 7 minutes. Wife Cindy netted the fish (it was only her second
time EVER netting a fish). Matthew also caught a 40" northern.
One hour after Matthew's catch, brother Jason Stanford managed to reel in a 41"
monster in the same spot. Cindy Stanford also has some great memories from her
first fishing trip in Canada with a nice 40.5" catch! The family reported LOTS
of walleye all over, and especially at the falls, as well as lots of moose
sightings.
Peggy and Monty Cabe from Naples, Florida are avid fly fishers, and had lots of
success on their trip to Striker's Point Lodge. The couple managed to bring in
over one hundred fish in total (which is no easy task on a fly rod!). Because
of the early spring this year, the fish have already moved into deeper waters -
however, they are still biting on the fly! The Cabe's had LOTS of action with
smaller pike in shallow water less than 5 feet deep. Their favourite fishing
spot? The pools below the rapids! Peggy and Monty were fishing from shore,
wading out to a depth of about 1 foot. They had a lot of luck casting near
submerged trees.
At one point, Peggy was fixing a tangle in her running line. She let out about
10 feet of fly line out the tip of her rod and left it drifting in shallow
water. When she looked down, she could see two pike hovering just below the
fly, as if debating whether or not to bite. Finally, the smaller of the two
fish lunged for the lure. What an interesting catch - and a great story to
tell!
Bill Thorsness and his sons, Jonathan and Robert, from Chicago, Illinois, turned
their fishing adventure into a little family competition. Jonathan won for the
largest walleye - a 23 incher caught just off an island point at the mouth of
the Ogoki River. Ironically, he also won the contest for the smallest catch of
the week, a 9 ¾" walleye. With 70 fish, brother Robert caught the most fish
from the group. On the first day alone, after a late morning start, the group
still managed to catch over 100 fish combined!
The Thorsness group lost a monster pike (at least 48" according to guide Ryan
Lacey). The fish had clamped on to a walleye that was already on the line,
but was lost when they tried to net both fish at the same time - because of a
hole in the net! Luckily, this happened twice more and they were able to net
both fish on both occasions (with a new net of course). The group also learned
an important fishing lesson - it pays to use the right size jig! One
particularly cold and rainy morning, they tried using larger jigs (with frozen
fingers they were easier to tie on the line). However, even though they still
had about the same number of bites, they were not able to set the hook. They
found the best jig size to be 3/8 of an ounce.
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Week Two at "Makok" - And The Fishing Stays Strong
...by Meryl and Bernard Carroll
It was our second full week with guests in camp. The
weather was mostly great. The fishing was even better. In previous years the
water at Makok was very high, while this year we are experiencing a large drop
in water levels but much improved cast to catch ratios. The weather is becoming
a bit more seasonal after that very hot first week. And, yes, the levels are
coming up a bit. In fact 16 inches - since we arrived in late May.
Our guests are really showing their true colours as
anglers. Your may recall, Michigan's
Gildea group went home with big smiles and seventeen Master Angler pins last
week. Sixteen walleye and
Pete's 40" pike caught while walleye fishing on jigs with minnows and
leaches. The Janis and Polakivich group - also Michiganders - had a great trip in
which both their sons became Master Anglers. Charlie had seven big walleye and Max had six. Both were
using white jig heads and Gulp minnows. Bob Polakovich totaled three Master Angler walleye.
The Malcoun Brothers, Michel from West Bloomfield, Michigan and Ray from John's Creek, Georgia...were really quite excited on what was their
first Ontario walleye fishing trip ever. Ray caught a 26 inch walleye on his very first cast guided by
Bernard...(we never did figure out who was the happiest between the two of them.)
The Malcouns tallied six Master Angler walleye from their four day trip. Plus, Eli Baxter guided them on a river trip for Brookies, a trip of a
life time. We chatted on tape with them on the second day of their trip for this PODCAST. Click here to listen to their story.
William and Michael Hooper from Wasaga Beach, Ontario were with us last
week as well. It was Michael's first fishing trip ever and one for which he
will hold great memories. He was
excited to spend time with his father - who gave him  the trip as a Christmas gift - as well as to catch his first fish - a 26" walleye Master Angler. We are
truly hoping to see them back again next year for another exciting trip.
This week we'll have 22 guests in camp and beautiful
weather and the Master Anglers are rolling in. So there will be lots of walleye
sampler trays like the one that Linda Gillard of Roddickton, Newfoundland is holding here, to prepare for "happy half hour" every afternoon at 5:30 pm!
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 G'day G'day from Miminiska
...by Tristan Yuswak
It's
the Aussie in the great pozzie signing in for 2010 up here on the Albany River
at Miminiska Lodge. Well, a lot has happened in the last year, my wife (that's
her on the right) gave birth to our daughter Julia and they are both back in
Australia while I am up here in the magnificent boreal forest. Fishing is off to a great start this season. With two groups in camp, the lodge has
been full of the sounds of bloody good people having a bloody good time.  The
Jordahl group out of Fargo, North Dakota had their first taste of the Albany River this
year and loved every minute of it. The three adults and three kids arrived on a windy
day and before I could rub two sticks together the kids were all rugged up and
down in the boats ready to go, tough buggers! They started
off well, really hitting the walleye hard and MJ Lepine snagged himself a 36
inch pike just before shore lunch. The wind was strong enough to blow a dog off
its chain, but the kids were loving every minute of it...really, really tough
buggers! They averaged
70-90 fish per boat and with the help of our expert First Nation guides they
had the fishing trip of their life. In the kids own words, "we would
recommend this place to anyone." Thanks for coming you great Blokes and
Sheila's. The
Kammerer group, Mike Kammerer from Montgomery Texas and Bill Bale from North Bay, Ontario started off with some amazing fishing,
snagging over 100 walleye in the 19-20 inch bracket in their first afternoon of
fishing. Orange twister-tails seemed to be the preference. The next two days were
followed up by repeat performances with too many fish in Mike's words. Haha!
Crikey, never too many fish! Well,
with some big groups coming in this week, we are looking forward to even more great action and hope to see you all up here soon. Hoo-roo
for now. |
 Red Hot and Solid Fishing at the Remote Cabins
...by Joe Pichey
As we push deeper into the
first month of the season, the fishing remains red hot at all locations.
We have had Master Anglers at almost every remote cabin as well as huge daily
numbers of fish reported. The walleye seem to be everywhere from 3 feet of water down to 28
feet. Ol' toothy is not far away as they have started to go deep to find
that tasty food source. Be prepared to try different presentations while
you are here fishing. We are seeing everything from a pink jig tipped with a leech
to a 1 oz Mepps Syclops bring in master angler walleye. The large pike
are chasing minnow baits as well as big shiny spoons at all depths. The Skeens
group from Gassaway, West Virgina, fresh off their state title in baseball, reported losing several
"monster pike" at Opichuan that would have challenged our 53 inch record from
years back. We know they are out there and this group of great guys may
have found a few in Opich. The Furjanic group from Lombard, Illinois reports that the fishing at
Musgrave was "simply outstanding". This two lake system has some of the
best overall trophy potential. Not only do we see 45 inch pike come from
both locations, but the 28 inch walleye can be found each season. Our groups heading into Ogoki Lake (the Dyer's from Eastman, Wisconsin, the Dennis' from Rochester Hills, Michigan and the Heubner's from Woodstock, Georgia) are
also reporting great numbers of daily fish as well as the occasional 40 inch pike.
The big walleye have not turned up yet here, but they will. These
"gi-normous" pike do not reach 50 inches by eating a steady diet of minnows.
They get this way by eating walleye, BIG FAT walleye. As
always, ZigZag and Dawn are on target to have huge seasons, but this is not
news. These locations are full every week for a reason. Big fish and
big numbers are a great combo! We have our first groups of the year heading into Arril Lake and Machawaiain
Lake remote cabins. These fisheries are always solid and should produce some great
stories for next week's remote cabin report. Love to hear from you... send the e-mail here.
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 Seasonal Temperatures Expected
...by Graham Saunders
Last week
began with cool temperatures, featured a recovery to seasonal and sunny
conditions, then settled into mainly cloudy and cool days. Rain days were more
common in more southerly Wilderness North lodge and remote cabin locations. Winds
were relatively light throughout the week.
The Spring season started out hot
and dry, with concerns about drought and forest fire for the entire region.
Moderate rains have eased concerns to the west, but fires are still burning to
the east. Be careful with campfires.
Expect seasonal
temperatures most days. Cloud cover will be key here. Afternoon temperatures
will often reach 75 to 85 F (24 to 29 C) under clear skies, but clouds and
occasional showers will keep temperatures 10 to 15 F cooler. It looks like
another week with mainly light winds and infrequent thunderstorm activity.
Water levels are coming up, especially along the Albany River, from recent rains in the western areas of the drainage basin.
Wilderness North Weatherman Graham Saunders teaches weather at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, and writes a weather column for the Thunder Bay Chronicle.
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