Make-A-Wish

Good afternoon everyone,

Just wanted to check in and say hello!  This is a little bit of a different post for us, but something we are really excited about.  This winter Travis contacted the Make-A-Wish Foundation to see what steps needed to be taken to be included on their "wish-granting work" lists.  The mission of the Make-A-Wish Foundation is to "enrich the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions by granting wishes for those kids."  Even though most kids probably have more interest in going to Disney World, meeting their favorite athlete, or something more mainstream and grander in scale, we found out that there have been some hunting and fishing trip wishes in the past.  We are officially on the list and will be able to grant a wish for someone in the future!  How cool is that?

If you would like to learn more about the Make-A-Wish Foundation, you can visit their site here.

Anyway, we were excited to share that with everyone.  We will be back at the end of the week with a fishing and weather report.

Take care!
Carrie

Week Four Update

Hello everyone!

Isn't this a good looking bunch of guys?  

We got this group packed up to head home to Wisconsin, Missouri, and Arizona this morning and thankfully the rain has FINALLY stopped for at least today.  These guys battled some wet weather during the last 7 days.  They caught loads of really nice eater sized fish this week and had fun fishing below the falls now that it has opened back up.  We had another nice walleye come off of Parker Lake - 27 inches!  

We also celebrated Father's Day with a bunch of great guys this past weekend and made these super tasty fish cookies to celebrate.

We are hoping to get out on the water ourselves this afternoon while the sun is shining (YEA!) before our next crew arrives tomorrow.  Can't believe June is almost over!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Big Fish Bar Inches Higher

Last week we endured rain almost every day.  The new battery powered bilge pumps came in handy since the boats were filling up with water about as fast as we could pump it out.  The rain cooled the water off significantly.  We saw surface water temps drop from the mid-60s to about 59-60 degrees and the water level came up almost a foot.  The guests (which included several family members) enjoyed an excellent week of fishing.  

The big fish bar was pushed higher thanks to their efforts and all of the fish mentioned and pictured were released!  My uncle Terry tied Brenda Holiski with a big 42" Northern Pike.  My sister Whitney came in just behind with a healthy 41.5" fish seen below.               

My dad Tracy landed a nice 28" Walleye seen below.  

My brother Carson caught another lunker Musky - this one measuring 42" seen below.  

Carrie celebrated her 26th birthday with a key lime pie (her favorite, and no - she didn't have to make it).  Also, I handled breakfast duties to allow Carrie to sleep in for a change.  She says thanks for all the birthday wishes!  

  

Water, water, everywhere...

Hello everyone!

We welcomed our third group to camp yesterday in the midst of some wet weather.  The fish must have been thirsty because we had 18 walleye measuring 20+ inches yesterday afternoon alone.  I am happy to say that all of those fish are on the catch and release board!  We celebrated tonight with a special turkey dinner.  Travis' uncle Terry from Iowa deep fried two turkeys and we had all the fixings to go with them - including pumpkin pie!

Last night we had lots of heavy rain, along with thunder and lightning.  Lets just say we spent a fair amount of time dodging raindrops as we pumped out all our boats this morning.

In other water news (is that cheesy enough for ya?) we got our first water sample results from our new fancy water system a few days ago and we passed with flying colors.  Woohoo!  You may remember that we upgraded our system earlier this spring to better match what is recommended by Ontario's provincial health unit for lodges, camps, & outfitters.  We will continue to get the water tested on a regular basis throughout the summer.

This is excellent news for three reasons.  First of all, we can now use water straight from the tap out at camp for everything without any worries.  Secondly, our fancy new water has a much improved taste.  Third of all, we can (and will!) strongly encourage people to leave their cases of plastic water bottles at home.  This will help cut down on our recycling shuffle.  So consider this your official invitation to bring a canteen or reusable water bottle during your stay at Eagle Falls Lodge this summer.

First Muskie

My brother Carson caught and released the first muskie of the 2012 season.  He portaged the new kayak at Eagle Falls Lodge to Paulore lake.  The last cast of the day yielded a nice 39" muskie pictured below.  The lure used was a Mepps Musky Marabou with orange, green , & chartreuse coloring.  This fish proves once again that the next big lunker could be just one cast away.