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  January 12, Words From The Wilderness  
Alan's Message

A new year, a new season, and what a great season it's shaping up to be! With several new developments I'm confident that this year's wilderness adventure will be one to remember.

 

For those of you traveling from the Chicago area, United Airlines now offers direct flights from Chicago into Thunder Bay Ontario. I was just on the united.com website and the posted rate is $457 return, with all taxes in. It's only a one hour and forty minute flight. That's a far cry from the usual all day trek through Minneapolis, not to mention the 15 hour drive. We will take care of things once you arrive in Thunder Bay. Book early and be sure to mention your flight plans to Krista and Meryl or if you would like assistance, please don't hesitate to ask. To further take the stress out of planning your next wilderness adventure you will notice that many of our packages include one night's accommodation prior to your departure at all our major departure points (Thunder Bay, Armstrong, and Nakina). We will take care of the hotel / motel bookings and this information will be included on your confirmation reports.

 

Speaking of new developments, I am starting to plan a few wheel /ski flights, one is to Zigzag, in late February. We are updating the kitchen area and doing some painting and other maintenance tasks. I expect we will find lots of slush this year on the lake and that can make it a bit tricky for taking off. You will notice in Graham's weather report below we are experiencing some unusually warm weather. The ice on the lakes up north is not as thick as it usually is. Here in Thunder Bay there is still green grass visible with only a few small snow banks around the edges. Farther north, a foot of snow fell last night, which adds considerable weight to the top of the ice that has formed on lakes and results in a layer of water creeping up between the snow and ice creating slush. When slush is "really bad" a ski plane will sink a foot or two through the top layer of snow to the ice surface once it slows down. You can imagine this is a bad situation when it comes time to leave, especially when the cold night air freezes the water around your wheel skis, similar to a well anchored popsicle stick. Thankfully, we have a few seasoned bush pilots on staff that know the tricks to avoid these sticky situations. Many years ago I was involved one winter in "freeing" a Cessna 185 from slush. After chopping all of the ice around the landing gear we cut an enormous amount trees and froze them into the top layer of snow in front the plane so it could build some speed. It is one of those experiences you never forget and forever try to avoid being involved in again :) If you have any input on things we could do to improve Zigzag, I would love to hear from you.

 

Many of you may not be aware, but McKenzie Lake cabins received some major upgrades this past season. I am confident you won't find a nicer place to spend the night prior to departing for your wilderness vacation. Here are a couple of pictures; we will share many more with the launching of our new website in a couple of weeks. Be sure to book your trip early, the cabins hold groups from 6 to 10 but ... there is only two of them!

 In our last newsletter I mentioned Tyler Lancaster was returning, and here he is this week with his first posting of the 2013 season. As some of you know Tyler brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the angling world. His expertise will go a long way in helping us to continually offer the best adventure possible to our Wilderness North guests. Other posts this week feature another great recipe from KC, a Newfie word to unravel, and a great clip from the Fly-fishing Film Festival. Enjoy! 

 

 
As always, it's great to hear from you! 
Alan and KC at WN

 Sincerely,

Alan Cheeseman

President, Wilderness North
1-888-465-3474

 

 

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Tyler's Thoughts
Tyler

With great excitement, I would like to announce that I will be rejoining the Wilderness North team for the start of the 2013 season. I'd also like to take this opportunity to wish all new faces and old friends a blessed and enjoyable New Year.

I hope you all had a chance during Christmas and New Year's to finally relax with loved ones and good friends. In this fast paced world that rarely coughs up such opportunities anymore, holidays like these give us a chance to take in all that the year behind us has brought. And, of course, it is a time where we begin looking forward to the spring with much anticipation. It is often a time when fishing trips are coordinated amongst friends and the "hard-core" begin formulating their plans of attack for the upcoming season. This is also when the extended fall steelhead season ends, and I hesitantly hang up my chest waders and centre pin outfit in hopes for solid ice on the lake. Looking back on 2012, I am truly grateful for all of the experiences the past year gave me.

 

I am thoroughly pleased to be returning to Wilderness North. I look forward to working with some truly remarkable people once again, and devoting myself to helping our guests make their dreams of northern adventure a reality. During the last few years I have had a chance to test some new waters, so to speak. I ventured west for a while, guiding on famed Lake Athabasca for a season in pursuit of giant Lake Trout, Pike, and Arctic Grayling. With the booming oil industry and abundant employment opportunities in Alberta, I soon found myself settling in Fort McMurray. Most winter mornings meant a two hour drive to work, despite the fact that I lived only 10 km away. The city just cannot keep up with the influx of workers and congestion is rampant from the corner stores, to the shopping malls, to the streets. This was a far different atmosphere for someone who is used to boating to work. Needless to say, I soon began to miss working in the serenity of the outdoors.

 

Ontario reclaimed me in the summer of 2011 and I have resided in Port Dover, a small town on Lake Erie's north shore, ever since. It has been great to reconnect with old friends and family, being that I grew up in another small town not far from there. As my love for fishing, the water, and the outdoors is always calling; I have spent the majority of the last two years enjoying Lakes Erie and Ontario, as well as several of their rivers and creeks. The Grand River and I have become quite well acquainted thanks to an old friend. Steelhead guru of the Grand, Jason Forde, has been kind enough over the last two fall seasons to share his 15 years of experience on the river with me. His in-depth approach to everything from the science of the river to the smallest of technical details has been inspiring to say the least. In fact, our last outing of the season was an epic one: with me setting a new personal best for steelhead, and Jason catching the surprise fish of the year -a hefty 28" walleye. What a great way to end 2012! Seeing that beautiful Walleye come out of the water really began the transition for me to once again return to the wilderness of Northwestern Ontario. I know there are plenty of those beauties waiting under the ice on Whitewater Lake, eager to chomp down on the first offerings of spring.

 

I look forward to keeping in touch with all of you as we move closer to the 2013 fishing season. I have some exciting ideas to share with you in my upcoming columns on how I plan to make your adventure vacations a success, and of course, forever memorable.

 

 Stay tuned!

Tyler Lancaster
Krista's Corner

Happy New Year, Everyone!

This past week Meryl, Bernard, Alan and the girls, and I headed to Mud River (on the north end of Nipigon) for the day.

Located on the CN Rail line as well as the Pikitigushi River, Mud River is a small community that was quite hopping in its day. It's location on the river, makes it a gateway to the mighty Lake Nipigon. Most people know Lake Nipigon as the monstrous body of water we see on the right as we head north in a plane from Armstrong.

 

It was freezing cold (-31C!) but we hiked in, explored, and then enjoyed a hearty boil up. A boil up, you say, what's that? A boil up is when out on a snowmobile ride, hike, or other outdoor adventure you cook up a bunch of food ovBoil Uper a fire. In our case, due to the extreme temperatures, we were fortunate to have the main building at the Mud that had a wood stove and we used that to not only cook on, but to keep warm as well. Our boil up consisted of toutons (newfie fried bread and this week's recipe), corn fish (salted cod) which we cooked in tin foil, beans, drawn butter (butter thickened with flour and onions), and tea made from the melted snow outside. It was a feed fit for kings.

 

You could say that a boil up is the Newfie equivalent to a shore lunch. When we go home to our cabin in Newfoundland, we have at least a couple while we are there. While I am on the topic of shore lunches, it reminds me to let you know that this year; we will be featuring a new SHORE LUNCH stamp to put in your WN Passports. For those h eading to lodges, the stamp will be there. If you are headed to the outposts, you will need to stop in to see Meryl and I to have us stamp it :)
  

As always, I enjoy hearing from you all.

Any requests or recipes you would like to share would be greatly appreciated!

Be sure to check out our FaceBook page and feel free to post your comments there. 

Happy Cooking,

Krista

Boil Up 2
Newfie Toutons   
Ingredients

1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 (16 g) packet traditional yeast

1 cup milk
½ cup oil
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 tablespoon salt
5 -6 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Dissolve 1 tbsp sugar in lukewarm water, sprinkle with yeast and let stand for 10 minutes, stir briskly with a fork.
2. Scald the milk then add oil
3. Add cold water, salt, and 1 tsp sugar.
4. Make sure that the milk mixture is lukewarm then add yeast mixture.
5. Stir until well blended.
6. Add 2 cups of flour and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.
7. Gradually add more flour until you have moist dough that no longer sticks to the bowl.
8. Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead for 10 minutes.
9. Shape dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl, turning the ball to grease both the top and bottom. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm, draft free place until it has doubled in size.

(I put mine in the oven with the oven light on)

10. Punch down the dough and squeeze off large pieces of dough (approx 1/3 cup), flatten to approx 1/2" circular or triangle shapes.
11. Fry toutons in oil until golden on both sides. Serve with molasses, cheese whiz, butter or jam. YUM!!!
By the Way...
2013 Fly Fishing Film fest
2013 Fly-fishing Film Fest
I'm no expert ice fisherman, but I'm pretty sure this is why hardwater guys always have a few premium beers mixed in with the Pabst and Bud Light. My ice fishing buddies are all a twitter because apparently it's go-time here in Jersey. The ice is ready...so they say. Hopefully some of you are getting out on the ice, too. Have a great, safe weekend....»
  

To keep up with this week's unplanned innovations theme, check out the video below of the WilCraft. This, I think, could gain some traction in the market, because not only does it make ice fishing easier, it'll save your life. Where are the ice guys? Tell me what you think. Have a great weekend.....»

 

The SmartRod: Because Learning What a Bite Feels Like is a Hassle

It starts with a smart rod that knows the difference between the tap of a fish and getting moved by the wind, and before you know it, John Conner is on your front lawn holding off an advancing wave of Terminators. Listen to the way the guy in the video throws around phrases like "this technology could realistically become the new standard of fishing." by clicking here. ...»

 

Sight fishing is top of the game for me. And I'm a big believer of using polarized glasses for this type of fishing.I think being able to see what you're after is the key to catching. Even when you don't see the actual fish, polarized glasses cut the surface glare in ways that allow you to see your flies or strike indicator better. This ultimately leads to great drifts, good presentations, and improved odds of detecting strikes.For those of you who use polarized glasses, do you buy into the notion that different lens tints are necessary for different conditions? Sure, I see the value of yellow lenses on a heavy overcast day, and mirrored lenses are great on bright sunny days. But you could go broke buying different glasses for every situation. I think it's better to wear one tint consistently to train your vision to adapt in various conditions.Copper or amber is my go anywhere, fish anything tint-from trout rivers to bonefish flats. But everyone sees differently. If you had to pick one shade and fish that everywhere you go for a year, what would it be?...»
 
Danielsson reels are about to make a big splash on the American fly-fishing scene. This brand is already wildly popular in Scandinavia, where 90 percent of professional guides use them. I believe they'll take off once more Americans who appreciate the combination of form and function become familiar with them.These reels are made of premium aluminum. They're light, but not flimsy. Spools are easy to change, and switching the cranking motion from left to right or vice versa is simple. And they gather line quickly and neatly.Most importantly, Danielsson reels have a completely sealed, self-lubricating, service-free drag system (you never have to open the drag). The drag setting is easy to adjust and offers one of the smoothest start-ups I've felt. Granted, I have yet to tie it to a motorcycle (see video below), but I did the next best thing: I caught a 14-pound brown trout (in Argentina) during my initial "test fish." The trout made three spectacular jumps and erratic, violent runs; the reel proved to be a critical factor in landing the fish.Danielssons are also some of the most aesthetically interesting reels I've seen in a while. Costs range from $200 to $1,000. Click here for more information....»

 
Learn to Spey Cast and Steal Your Buddy's Fish

Try as I might, I have not yet managed to master spey casting. And it drives me crazy because I know, at least in certain situations, the benefits are tremendous and you can catch a lot more fish. Every time I give up in frustration, I find another reason to start practicing again. In the video below, guide Tom Larimer explains benefit 452 of spey casting. I'll call it long distance mugging....»

 

Guess dat Newfie Word B'y
How's ya gettin' on, me duckies?! Happy New Year to ya.

 I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I spent the holidays with my daughters and their families, travelling back home to the Rock as well as Kitchener to do so. I am back in the office though and am looking forward to helping you plan your next 2013 fishing adventure with Wilderness North.

Last newsletter, the Newfie saying was "Long may your big jib draw"-Not only a famous salute among "Trekies", but also a good wish for the future which I extend to each and every one of you for the upcoming year! Many people were close in their guesses about it. Keep those responses coming in! And don't forget, those who respond will be entered into a draw.

This week's word is: Ballycatter

If seasonal temperatures return to Thunder Bay, we might see some ballycatters due to open water in the harbour.

Send your responses to me by email or like us on FACEBOOK and put your responses on our wall.

I loves to hear from ya!

Graham's Weather Outlook
Grfaham Saunders
January, The Coldest Month of the Year?

It is a January thaw! Almost everyone in this part of the world appreciates a break during what has traditionally been the coldest month of the year. It is almost a rite of passage for Canadians and people in the Midwest to brave the harshness of winter. But, like most "rites" comes with myths and adjustments. These thaws do not happen every winter and, depending on latitude, sometimes sunshine and almost melting temperatures have to suffice.

 

Okay, but this thaw is different. The first 12 days of this year have been balmy, averaging 5 to 10°C (8 to 16°F) above seasonal. The warming began in December and the continued temperatures suggest an early April, confirming the "thaw" part of the equation.

 

While some of us are enjoying the warmth, that expression, "be careful what you wish for" may apply to others. The tradition of "winter roads", using frigid winter temperatures to construct transportation routes, to deliver bulk cargoes to the far north, almost certainly has to be abandoned. Recent winters have featured shorter durations and lighter loads. This January thaw is over as winter storm warnings are in affect from Fort Frances to Moosonee, but even a return to average conditions will not be enough to create thick ice over lakes and safe roadways over the normally frozen landscape.

 

Graham Saunders

Wilderness North Weatherman Graham Saunders teaches weather at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, and writes a weather column for the Thunder Bay Chronicle.