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Time To Talk To The Experts
....by Alan Cheeseman
From time to time we all sit back and look at our businesses,and for that matter, our lives. We ask a lot of questions about the paths we have chosen. In some cases, we turn to the "experts" to help us see the future through
another set of eyes. Today, our management team is thinking
about ways to make 2011 and beyond better for our guests. Here's where the experts
come in. Who are these experts? YOU! If you have been a guest of Wilderness North in the past few seasons, we want to hear from you. And there
are two ways to participate in our research. First - just drop me a note - click here to start an e-mail
to me - answering two simple questions. 1) If you owned Wilderness North what
would you change at once to make sure guests get a greater value for their vacation
dollar? And 2) If you owned Wilderness North - what was so good - that you would
NEVER change it. Second: Type "I want to talk about
it" at the end of your e-mail. We have some ideas for changing our company and
how we serve guests in the future. Your note will create a phone conversation - maybe a half
hour in length - in which we share these ideas with you, and you do the talking. We do the listening. I hope you will participate...it means a lot to all of us that
you have chosen Wilderness North as your adventure partner, and we value your
input. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - They say: A picture is worth a thousand words. Well here's 6000 words
from guests who have chosen to send in their adventure photos for consideration
for our 2011 calendar.  Thanks Dan Heyer from Grand Rapids, Michigan for the header photo this week.
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 A Bountiful Fishery on The Albany
...by Meryl and Bernard Carroll
Hello from 51 degrees north at Makokibatan Lodge and outpost cabin. Like many of you reading this report each week...we continue
to be astounded by the productivity of this remarkable fishery along the Albany
River.
To prove the point, let's start from The Outpost Cabin: This
week we welcomed the, Ciriacks family from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, (photos below) Master Anglers
all: There was Thomas with a
27-inch walleye caught and released on 3/8 chartreuse jig with leeches, and
then there was Patrick with his 30-inch walleye caught on 1/4 oz jigs with
white tails and night crawlers, and finally Kevin with a 28-inch walleye
caught on 1/4 chartreuse jig and tails w/leeches. Issac Nate guided the boys
and prepared shore lunch and provided them with what they called the "highlight" of their trip.
From the lodge: The Donaldson group from Baton Rouge, Louisiana with one Master Angler, Rafael Bermudez with a 26-inch walleye, had a very exciting trip.
We had Wilderness North's Joe Pichey and former college chum Mitch Kennedy from Mississauga, ON this week for four days and Joe's report (below) has the details of their fabulous trip.
We also welcomed the Cipressi group from Depew, New York. Don Gallo the musician of the group entertained us, and caught two Master
Anglers 26 and 27-inches. George Cipressi had two as well with a 28-inch and 26 1/2,
Michael with a 26-inch, Frank Cipressi a 26-inch and last but not least Joe Lewandowski
with a 27 incher, the group used jigs and night crawlers.
Issac Nate and Erroll Coaster, two of our native guides also took these boys
down river for brookies and had a successful trip...Frank had three brookies and
Michael had two - and the shore lunch, as they described it, was
GREAT. The group reports that on the first day they caught 250 walleye
- EACH - and the second day was 300 plus.
We can't leave the main man out of the report, Chief Guide Eli
Baxter. This was the Cipressi's first trip back to Makok in 20 years and Frank
said Eli improved his guiding by far in the last 20 years. Can he get
any better? Eli took them to a favourite fishing spot and they caught 100 plus
over 20-inches.
And finally, here's a nice note from Paul Shanahan from Milford, Michigan checking in
after getting home: "Our
biggest walleye was only 24-inches...too short for the books. As you know I was
teaching and guiding so my hook was only in the water about 10% of the time.
Our guests absolutely LOVED the 'Makok' experience. They were meeting
this morning to share pics and that is all they talked about. They called ME and
told me that. How cool is that? My goal was to make sure that they all had a
great time and they did. Thanks to your great personalities, the beautiful Albany
River scenery, and the great weather...the trip was great!"
And this final thought: We always talk about the big
one's, well there's a small one this week, a 3 1/2 inch sturgeon, released and
still alive.
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Back From The Albany's "Makok" Lake
by Joe Pichey - Outdoor Specialist
I have heard that to catch big fish, you need big baits.
I've had several groups tell me this and never gave it much thought, because as
you know, us fisherman like to throw a "little extra something" into each story
to "one up" the other guys. I'd heard this from groups heading into Makokibatan
Lodge and outpost all season long followed by fish stories almost too good to
be true. Well, I decided to head up to the Albany myself and see if these
guys were "full of it" or telling the truth. All I can say is WOW!! Makokibatan is home to some
of the largest "average size" walleye I have ever caught. It is hard to
find an "eater" for shore lunch on this body of water. Granted, we took in
some large minnows (5-6 inchers) and were hunting for large fish and large fish
only. In fact, it was Chris Clemmons who once told me that if you
are hunting trophy fish, you need bigger bait, so we followed his advice. Drum Roll Please: After only 4 hours on the water on day one, we had landed three 26-inch plus walleyes. And by the end of the day, we
had caught and released five Master Angler walleyes from one island point. This
pattern continued for a few days until the cold front moved in and slowed things
down. After three days, with big minnows, we had landed eleven Master Angler walleyes
ranging from 26 to 30 inches with several hundred between 20 and 25
inches. The average size of these fish is simply amazing! Congratulations
to Mitch Kennedy from Mississauga, ON my former college roommate, on taking home the trophy this
year for largest fish. Mitch's 30" Walleye  | His 30-inch fish came up from the deep and shocked us
both. After I yelled at him to "GET THE NET, GET THE NET" loud enough for
everyone in Canada to hear, I realized that I was the net man. If I knew
it was going to be the winner, I might have been a little slower reaching
for the net. This lake has some of the best trophy walleye fishing that we offer, as long as
the weather cooperates. The staff is also top notch and makes life in
camp a lot of fun. Thanks again to Meryl and Bernie and staff for a great
time. Make sure to ask Meryl about the "Quarter to 6" breakfast special
when you head up. We also had some great outpost fishing to report from last week. Malcom
and Julia Yaryan from Jasper, Missouri headed into D'alton Lake and boated a beautiful
27-inch Master Angler walleye using a jig and minnow. This is a long time coming for the Yaryan group. Over the last 3 seasons, they have had to cancel their trip plans due to work and
other conflicts. They are sure to be back next year in search of an even larger
walleye. As always, I look forward to hearing from you. Send me an email.
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Summer Sizzles - So Does Fishing on Whitewater Lake
...by Ryan Lacey
Hello from Striker's Point Lodge. This week we have had some beautiful summer weather,
hot temperatures and mirror like waters. The Weber group from Minnetonka, Minnesota joined us for a return fishing adventure,
and what an adventure it was. On their second day, Mark Weber got into some large
walleye - pulling in a very respectable 26.5-inch Master Angler trophy walleye, and
soon after, friend "Doc" caught and released an estimated 25-inch glass eye while trolling the
north shoreline of Caribou Bay - also getting into some aggressive northern pike,
the biggest reaching 35-inches.
They enjoyed fresh shore lunches daily, while chatting with our staff here at
Striker's Point Lodge. 
Father and sons the Cannings of North Andover, Massachusetts returned for
another trip to Whitewater Lake. Ken, Keith, and Scott had no troubles
remembering the hot spots and finding the fish. The guys enjoyed their
successful angling, and the great summer the weather. In addition to catching
their daily shore lunch fish, the guys got into some very aggressive pike.
Keith was happy about his 32-inch northern, and will have something to brag
about back home in Boston.
The "amazing" Detjen group from Berlin, Wisconsin flew in ready for the fish. Ron Detjen, Jim Koziol and first
time fisherman to Striker's, Leon Petig and Terry Hendrickson, had an amazing
trip. Overall, they estimated that 1500 plus walleye were caught by the two
boats over a four day span, and from what I've seen, I don't doubt it one bit.
This is especially remarkable with the still waters and hot temperatures. Fishing
with various jigs tipped with a live minnow, they caught shore lunch fish
within minutes and had double, triple and 4X hitters. Fishing the favourite spots as well as
discovering new honey holes, most of their time was spent in the eastern
river outflow. Jim Koziol managed to get his trophy northern. Measuring in
at 44.5-inches, the huge pike was caught near the rockwall down river on a 1/8 oz.
jig and banjo minnow. I am always amazed by the fantastic fisherman, it will be
hard to beat this year's trip but they will give a shot next year, and we look
forward to having them again.
Randy Oldenberg and son Jason from Minneapolis enjoyed
they're first fly-in fishing trip. Their quick three day trip went by fast spending
most of their time fishing main lake island points with good luck.
But now the weather has changed, we've been having some cold windy days on the
lake with the familiar walleye chop.
To Clear the Record: Last week I mentioned that a 46-inch northern was our best of the year so
far - OOPS. Larry Blankenship reminded me of his
reported 50 and 1/8 incher...and this 47-inch beauty caught by Mike Mullins. Larry's group was here the last week of May - which today seems like a lifetime
ago. Sorry, Larry...and "now you know the rest of the story."
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A Bit of a Calm- Here on the Albany!
...by Tristan Yuswak
This week we had our Canadian friends from Niagara Falls
back, Mike and Liz Melnychuk. This was their second trip of the season in which they fly in
to Miminiska Lodge in their own plane. This year as the fishing was so good the first time, they
thought they couldn't resist another crack at the action.
They slammed the walleye and the pike, finding the "walleye mine" and Mim Falls
to be some of the best action. Their First Nation expert guide Thomas Nate,
helped put them into his secret holes that come from a lifetime of fishing this
magnificent place.
With two weeks to go, we are starting to feel a bit of the fall weather, will
this bring in the fall fish feeding frenzy for an all out bloody bonanza here?
Only way to tell is to get out there on the water.
Hoo-roo
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 Rainy and Chilly Now...but Warm and Dry Is On The Way.
...by Graham Saunders
Most of the summer has been
warmer than usual but a cool change this past Sunday resulted in afternoon
temperatures in the 60s, rather than 80s. An intense low pressure system and
associated cold front brought some moderate to strong winds throughout the region.
Today - August 18 - will feature cool - but mostly sunny - conditions with a few scattered showers
possible in the late afternoon. Winds will be much lighter. A climb to average
temperatures (72) continues
tomorrow.
A high-pressure ridge will define weather conditions in the next few days. Over
the coming weekend southerly wind flow and temperatures in the low 80s
and considerable sunshine are expected.
This summer has featured a number of persistent ridges. They usually drift
slowly eastward but sometimes can stall for several days. The day-to-day
weather remains remarkably similar in these "blocking" situations.
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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