End of July camp update

Hey everyone!

We just had another great week out at the lodge with two large groups.  One from Missouri (very close to our old stompin' grounds) and the rest hailed from Wisconsin.  All of them talked about how hot and dry it is back home.  Here we are thinking we have had a warm summer, but we are definitely not experiencing the heat levels that most of our guests are trying escape.  We had temperatures in the 80's  this week, but it dipped into the 50's at night which is AWESOME!  We also had some rain on Wednesday which was much needed.  We even mowed, ah-hem Travis mowed, on Thursday.  The camp looks super nice thanks to that sweet husband of mine :)

Here are some photos, most of which are from this past week.  They all had a great time and caught some nice fish as well!

All those nice looking fish were caught and released during this last week.  Thanks again to everyone who practices catch and release angling!  

These guys below were up two weeks ago and the guy in the middle is actually a co-worker of Travis' in the winter time.  It was great to have them up and Travis got to get out on the water with them a bit - tough job, but someone has to do it, right?  They emailed us these pictures once they got home.  A BIG thank you to everyone who remembers to email us photos.  We LOVE getting them and sharing them with everyone else.

We only have six weeks left of the 2012 season.  How is that possible?  It goes by so fast!  Please remember to let us know your preferred week for 2013, as we start to look forward and schedule for next season.

Have a great weekend and stay cool.

Maple Creme Cookie Caboodle

Many of you know we have a pretty serious addiction to Maple Creme Cookies at Eagle Falls Lodge.  We always have a jar filled and judging from how frequently we refill it, some of you have an addiction too. 

After taste testing every brand of cookie we could find, one was far superior - Manning's Cookie Shop. They are made by a company called Commercial Bakeries out of Toronto.  The problem we run into is the only place we have been able to find the cookies in Red Lake is the Bargain Shop and they aren't stocked regularly.  After going without them for the first three weeks of the season we decided it was time for action.  

Commercial Bakeries politely declined to sell cookies directly to us after contacting them.   A list of distributors lead to a series of dead ends as it seemed no one could keep the cookies in stock.  Finally a tip from a company employee on an internet forum lead us to Great Lakes Wholesale in Michigan.  

They had the right brand in stock and the only hang-up was it would take 17 cases of cookies to fulfill their shipping minimum and they didn't ship to Canada.  A little funny considering these cookies are made in Canada.  With the help of our customs broker we were able to eventually get them shipped to Red Lake Marine after only a month.  Well worth the wait if you ask us!  

Yes, that is me posing with all 6,528 cookies.  If you haven't made the trip up yet this summer we'll send some cookies home with you.  

Shore Lunches & Limits

There seems to be some confusion this year regarding shore lunches and how they affect your limit.  We thought we'd try and help clarify some of the questions that come up frequently.

The most important thing to remember is that your limit whether it is a sport license (4 fish) or a conservation license (2 fish) is a daily limit AND a possession limit.  That means if you have a conservation license you can only kill 2 fish each day and never have more than 2 fish in your possession.  At the end of your week if you choose you are allowed to take home your daily limit of either 2 or 4 fish depending on your license.  For the purpose of this post let's say we are specifically talking about Walleye although the same things apply to Northern Pike as well.  

When you eat fish for a shore lunch they are no longer in your possession so you are permitted to go out and replace those fish provided that you do NOT exceed your daily limit also.  Where some guests seem to be running into trouble is doing a shore lunch on the last day of the week (Thursday) and then trying to catch take home fish after lunch.   

Let's try an example to help.  Say I have a conservation license and I have one fish in the freezer from earlier in the week to go home.  It would be ok for me to keep 1 fish, eat it for lunch, and then go and catch another fish to take home.  The last fish would be my 2nd fish to take home.  As long as that fish was caught after I ate the first one I would be fine because I never exceeded my possession limit (2 fish) or my daily limit (2 fish).  Any fish in camp in your name + any fish on your stringer count against your possession limit.  

So what if you already have two fish (Walleye) in the freezer and you have a conservation license?  You can continue fishing provided you immediately release all Walleye you catch.  You could NOT keep any Walleye for lunch on the last day if you already have your full limit in the freezer.  If you kept any other Walleye you would be exceeding your possession limit and could be fined.  

Now let's say you have no fish in the freezer and it's Thursday.  You have a conservation license and decide to keep 2 Walleye for lunch.  That's great, but since you killed 2 fish and hit your daily limit you can NOT keep any more fish to take home after lunch.  

If you're still confused please ask and we'll try to help.  If you're thinking no one will know what I ate for lunch think again.  Conservation officers can check lunch sites and issue a ticket if you exceeded either your daily limit or possession limit.  An average fine is $250.00 so it's worth being informed.  A shore lunch is a great way to enjoy fresh Walleye, but plan your lunches accordingly if you plan to take fish home too.  

Fantastic Family Fishing Week

Last week we hosted a full camp of family & friends.  Walleye fishing was terrific.  Most in the group had never been fishing in Canada and all together twenty-six walleye measuring 20" or greater were caught and released.  The biggest fish of the week was a 26.5" walleye caught and released by my cousin Megan.  Not bad for a bunch of rookies!

The fish were surprisingly shallow for mid-July.  We did the best in 7-11 feet of water and caught big fish in areas that we usually target in early June.

Here are a few pictures from the week - we have several more to collect yet that we hope to post later.

Claire's 22.5" Walleye 

 Erin's 22" Walleye

July Fishing Update

Happy Canada Day and 4th of July!  We can't believe it's already July.  The rain finally ended and the lake is high, but it has stabilized.  The mayflies hatched out on Red Lake last week and on Parker Lake the week before that.  Combined with some sunny, windless days the fishing was the toughest we've seen in several weeks.  Despite all that though, several nice fish were caught and released toward the end of the week.

Austin Katzfey landed a 37.5" Northern Pike.

Rick Smith landed a 39" Northern Pike.

Deano Kunze tied the Parker Lake record set in 2010 with a beautiful 18" Smallmouth which was the first of the season.