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Real Heroes - Really Here
....by Alan Cheeseman
So who is a hero? Maybe it's easier to say who is NOT a hero. Sports Stars. Rock Stars. TV and Movie Stars. You get the idea. Then who is a hero? For starters, it seems it is never someone who makes a lot of money. Teachers. Fire Fighters. Police Officers. Nurses. And you guessed it - Soldiers. That's why we provide a Hero's Welcome to the ten soldiers who are our guests each July at Miminiska Lodge. These soldiers have had the misfortune of being injured in battle. Some have lost limbs, and for a little while - lost hope. But not for long. The same bravery that led them into battle...has served them well in leading them into healing. So when we heard about Project Healing Waters, we agreed. Heroes they are...and deserve to be treated as such. Tristan's report on this year's event from last week follows this column. This past week they - the five US and five Canadian soldiers- came up to Miminiska Lodge for our third annual Healing On The Albany event. It didn't cost them a penny. We opened our doors and our hearts to them. But another group of heroes joined them. Two pilots from Chicago who volunteer their time, their airplanes, and their care to bring up the US group. And there were other volunteers who have helped along the way to smooth out the path for these brave veterans - young and old alike. Many of you gave money to defray the real costs of tackle, travel, and other items in making this dream come true for those who have lived a nightmare. That makes you a hero in out book.  And Mark Snyder, who introduced us to Project Healing Waters, and carefully orchestrated our event again this year. He is a great believer in the value of fly angling as a way soldiers can regain strength - physical and mental - in moving past their injuries. Every year we find out once more how much we learn from these brave men and women. It refreshes us to hear them laugh, watch them fish, partake in their fellowship. We truly gain more than we give. Heroes. They are ours...and we hope you save some time and resources to join us in sponsoring our annual "Healing On The Albany" event. I always value hearing from you, and answering your questions, so drop me an e-mail by clicking here. Alan
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Time Sure Flies When You're Tying Flies
...by Tristan Yuswak
Okay I'm not a stand-up
comedian...but this week has been a fly-fishing extravaganza with the blokes (8) and sheila's (2) from Project Healing Waters for our third annual Healing On The Albany event.
These wounded warriors from
the armed forces of both Canada and the USA have been our guests to experience
world class fishing in the boreal forest home to the only Orvis endorsed lodge
in Ontario...our own Miminiska Lodge.
And a big thanks to Orvis
for providing the fly fishing gear for the soldiers to use.
The weather was challenging
last Friday when the five US and five Canadian soldiers first arrived, but
their enthusiasm couldn't be curbed. They were all out in the boats as soon as
they completed their first helping of Miminiska hospitality and a big lunch.
Saturday brought on a bonanza of pike and walleye as they were hitting the
flies like mad.
The better weather created
even better fishing, with two teams heading out for a bit of a contest: Team Number 1 headed to the top of
Miminiska Falls, smashing into the pike and wearing themselves out. Darryl (the
Slayer) from the Canadian forces took the podium after catching over 70 fish
fly-casting from the banks of the Albany River. Team Number 2 headed through the
Petawanga portage targeting the pike and walleye hard, finding the typically
fat and juicy fish that seem to dwell at the bottom of the falls.
With fly-tying and rod
building classes each night, the gang really built up their knowledge of their
new found hobby - all part of the plan for their rehab and our way of saying
thanks for standing up when others stood back.
We take our hats off to these recovering soldiers and their
efforts deserve a bloody big pat on the back. My father, a Vietnam veteran from
Australia, flew over to assist with the event and help out these brave souls.
The fishing was
magnificent, the people were magnificent, with one of our Chicago
based volunteer pilots winning my coveted Kangaroo Big Jumper Award for taking
off most (thank goodness not all) of his clothes and entering the water to drag a boat off a
sandbank.
The 2010 event has been a huge success. Now these blokes and sheila's
head for home after having had a bloody good time at a bloody good spot.
And we
begin planning for Healing On The Albany 2011.
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Strikers Point Lodge Guests Strike Master Angler Gold - Again!
...by Ryan Lacey
The Taylor group from Florida - mentioned in last week's report finished up
their adventure with us here at Striker's Point Lodge, and what an adventure it
was. They managed to catch lots of walleye with most of their luck coming from
down (eastern) river where Alan
Taylor was able to land a great looking 41 inch master angler (top photo) northern pike,
using a Lucky Craft perch coloured crank bait. He also caught lots of small northerns
on many different lures, varying in colour and styles.
Klaus and Kyle Henke from Chicago, Illinois enjoyed
some great fishing during their stay. I guided them on their second day and we caught 70 plus walleye, the
biggest reaching up to 21 inches. The Henke's were fishing in the narrows using
gold and silver Williams whitefish spoons. I got snapped off by something that hit hard.
Thinking optimistically, they decided one more  drift through was in order, and
on the last cast Klaus was able to hook into a 38 inch northern. (Second from top photo.) He then passed
it off to his son Kyle to enjoy the fight. The pike was successfully netted and
was still full of energy once released.
Father and son, Dan and Jake Hill, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, experienced
Whitewater Lake for their first time, and did very well. The avid pike
fishermen landed a gorgeous - master angler - 44 inch northern pike on their second
day here. (Third pic from top.)
The Gilling group of Tulsa, Oklahoma came up for
another fishing trip on Whitewater Lake. They had lots of success on orange and
pink jigs, dressed with leeches. They had most of their luck fishing down river
near the large grass island in the center of the outflow river and at the top
of the pool near the eastern most rapids. Fishing just north of Best Island, Paul
Gilling had been bitten off by a large pike, but later Eric Gilling was able to catch it with Paul's
jig and leech still hooked. A 20 inch walleye was also caught soon after.
The Mullally group AKA as "The Mullally Boys" from upstate New York came over for
their fifth straight fishing trip at Striker's Point. Everyday they caught loads
of fish, mostly coming from down river. Young Zac had a great time and had no
problems catching fish and keeping up. Their favourite spot this fishing trip
was the rock wall down river, as well the classic island straight out from the
lodge. On their last day, Pat was able to land a healthy 38 inch northern (bottom photo) and
Tim a 34 incher. They had another great trip here at Striker's and we all look
forward to seeing Mike and the boys back next year.
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 More Masters at Makok- For Young and Old Alike !
...by Meryl and Bernard Carroll
This week things are little quieter here at Makokibatan Lodge on the Albany. We had the Wukich group in from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the US for
their 10th return visit. That's right three generations of Wukich folks. These half dozen
anglers did lots of exploring about the lake. Their week started with Grandpa
Dan's 26 inch walleye, caught near shore lunch island on their favorite tackle,
the now famous "Hot-n-Tot", so Grandpa
Dan let his grandson hold the walleye for the pic.  That's Craig with the 26 1/2 inch
walleye holding it proudly for that great shot on the right...Craig took along his
son Mike for the fishing trip and now have lots of great fishing memories.
The Bald family group from the east coast of states (Maryland, New Hampshire,
Maine, and North Carolina) joined
us later in the week and are already master anglers even though this is their
first time on the lake. Frank Bald joined a day later after flying in his own helicopter
and they have scheduled a river
trip today and I'm sure everyone in the boat will enjoy every moment with 87 year old native guide Eli
Baxter. Earlier this week Eli took out the senior members of the Wukich group
and commented, "What am I going to do if something happens? I'm was the youngest in the
boat." Eli went on to say, "I feel like I'm 45 when I get in that boat heading down river, that is, until I hit a
rock." - LOL
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Slip Bobber? Oh Yeah!
...by Joe Pichey
We are now in the middle of the annual July heat wave and the "toothy
and tasty" combo have gone back to school. We are seeing typical summer
patterns emerge on the outpost lakes as the fish are schooling up in search of
the cooler oxygen rich water. Dave Mapes of Cheyenne, Wyoming made his annual trip to
Wilderness North and chose ZigZag this time around. He was not
disappointed ( no shocker here) and found big schools of fish in the deeper
water.  These are the types of things you will see throughout the summer
in all lakes as walleyes will be in search of bait fish. The bait fish will be in
search of the cold waters. And we all know who is lurking close by when
you have bait fish and walleye together. I have spoken with several groups
in recent weeks that have found fish schooled next to steep drop-offs during
the heat of the afternoon, but they cannot get them to "turn-on." We have
found that these fish will move up into the shallow water (next to the
drop-off) a few hours prior to dusk and feed. Typically, this time of the
evening is a bit calmer and offers some great "kick-back" time. This is a
great time to throw a slip bobber tipped with a nice fat-n-juicy leech and let
them work their "wiggly" magic. Please check out Chris Clemmons' article on how
to make slip bobbers work for you. Click here to read and download the article. Slip bobbers can be a very productive technique and may
give you that little edge needed to win your "boat bet". FYI: We here
at Wilderness North do not in any way endorse "On the Water" gambling ;) The Hilliard group that chose Ogoki #3 for their fly in adventure had another great trip hauling in 3 monster pike totaling 130 inches and a little over 85 pounds. Mark Hilliard of Ramsey Minnesota, netted the largest big girl at 44 inches. Nathan Hilliard of Minnetonka, Minnesota landed a 43 inch, 28 pound beauty while Ryan
Hilliard tricked a 43 inch, 28 pound girl on a Mimic Minnow. This is the
typical type of report from Ogoki as the monster pike are starting their mid
season feed which should continue for the remainder of the season. Let's keep
our fingers crossed. Have a great week and we will chat next week! I look forward to
hearing from you all soon! Send me an email. |
 Flash-Boom-Bang !
...by Graham Saunders
Seasonal temperatures have prevailed during the last seven days. The
last week also featured a number of thunderstorms. Most of these were of the
"pop-up" variety, formed by daytime heating in the afternoon and generally of
brief duration.
Today
and tomorrow promise much of the same - pleasant temperatures and scattered
thunderstorm activity. Less cloud and warmer temperatures are likely in the
following days.
Most
of us are quite familiar with classic summer storms - darkening sky, abrupt
freshening winds, quickly followed by flashes of lightning. Counting one
thousand, two thousand and so on, (one mile for every count) gives us an estimate of how far away the strike was and how fast the storm is
approaching. HINT: If you are on the water, it is time to seek safety on land.
Lightning is awe inspiring although the power and consequences can be
ferocious. It can convert trees into shrapnel and in an average year starts
more than 4,000 forest fires in Canada. Lightning can be fatal, although of the
110 people struck by lightning in Canada in a typical year, about 90 percent
survive. However, it is said that most survivors are never the same again.
Lightning
travels through the sky at about one thousand feet per second. At 50,000 F
(28,000°C), lightning is considerably hotter than the surface of the sun
causing air in the immediate vicinity of the strike to expand rapidly. This is
immediately followed by compression and creates the sounds that we hear as
thunder which travels outwards from the flash.
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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