Happy New Year 2010

We would like to wish everyone a prosperous and Happy New Year for 2010.
January is already here and we will be getting our first ice fisherman soon. We have finally moved into the new house and everything seems to be working out. Sure seemed to be a hectic summer and fall though! We look forward to getting through the winter and seeing our regular open water fishing groups again once the ice is gone. Ice fishing is a blast, but you can only put up with so much of the cold balmy weather! Check your dates to be sure we have you down if you plan to come this spring or summer. June is already starting to fill up, so if there is specific dates you are interested in coming, please contact us asap. We still have a good number of openings for July and August, but they will tend to fill as winter progresses as well.
We will update the blog occasionally throughout the winter and give updates of the big fish caught, so don't be afraid to check in periodically. Otherwise, everyone take care and again, Happy New Year!

ICE FISHING 2010

Well, our first moose hunters of the season pulled in early this morning preparing for this weekend's rifle opener. For the most part, our open water fishing is about over and now we look forward to the groups of ice fisherman that we will be having come stay with us.
This post is just a reminder to anyone interested in coming up this winter, to be thinking about some dates and get them confirmed as soon as possible. We still have most of the winter open, but by Jan 1, we start getting filled up, especially for March and April. Also, we plan to attend an ice fishing show in December, and that will fill some dates as well.
Jan 1 is lake trout opener, and we mainly get trout fisherman until later in February which is when I recommend to come for the big northern pike and better walleye jigging.
This will be our 2nd year of ice fishing, and our first one turned out to be a very successful season. We ended up getting a lot of 38-45 inch northern pike, and a good number of walleye this past season.
Anyway, if you are considering doing a little ice fishing in Ontario, or want more information on it, just send us an email or give us a call and we should be able to answer your questions.

One of 700

Congratulations to Jeff and Tina, who did happen to catch one of the 700 smallmouth the ministry tagged from this year's Atikokan Bass Classic tournament. It was a nice 18 and a half inch smallie, and of course, was released to fight again. They landed the fish off an island on Marmion Lake while doing a little prefishing for next year's tournament. I will attach a picture of Tina holding the bass with a small yellow strap on its dorsal fin. 700 fish sounds like a lot to be tagged, but to catch one is actually quite a feat considering there is probably a half a million or so bass in the Floods and Marmion Lake. Good job Tina! ~ and Jeff for being the Net Man!

End of year fishing update

Well, the past month and a half flew by so fast that I didn't realize I haven't updated the fishing report lately.
While the summer was way below average temps, we are finally now, in mid September, getting the summer we missed. Looks real good for another week or so yet too.
We want to thank all of our guests from this summer's fishing season. We had a great year, considering the shape the economy is in. Hopefully, most of you can make it back for a fishing vacation next season. We are now transitioning into the hunt season with moose hunters arriving in early October, and deer hunters coming late October and into November, then we will be winterizing everything for another glorious winter already!!!
Well, the June fishing was real good, the bass didn't turn on quite as good as they normally do, with the exception with an excellent week in mid August, the weather warmed up and the bass did go wild for a short period. That is the type of bass fishing we typically have after July 4 as the water warms. Walleye were quite steady in July and August, with some days being much better than others. All the small fronts that were moving through kept the fish fairly moody. The guys that were fishing the walleye were catching them though.
Lake trout turned on real good the second half of August, and are still biting quite well for the guys that are fishing them. Season does close at the end of this month for the trout.
Some real big pike have been caught recently, one 41 inch and one 43 inch in the past week and a half.
I was out last Saturday and we did boat about 40 smallmouth bass, some very nice fish, but we did have to finesse them as they weren't chasing steady.
Anyway, in summary, the fishing was still pretty good this summer, but the cooler weather and all the rain fronts did have them stirred up much of the season. The groups that have been coming regularly were still able to find plenty of fish, even though the conditions made it a bit trickier.
We will be starting our ice fishing in December, and we will be giving occasional updates as the season progresses. So for now, good fishing.

July Fishing Report

Well, July is almost over with. Thanks to all the fisherman who have already came for the season, and we look forward to seeing our August and September guests who are yet to come.
We have had a lot of family groups lately, like usual for July. Some of our serious fisherman are showing up, however, and are doing very good overall. The late Mayfly hatches have been making the fish bite off and on sporadically, depending on the hatches, but our fisherman are still managing to pull in some nice fish. A good number of 24-26 inch walleye have been caught in July, along with some good numbers of walleye on certain days. The random, cooler, weather we have been experiencing has also influenced the fishing. Overall, we have had a cooler than normal summer, with a lot of cool (50 degree) nights, and the water temperatures are definitely hovering lower than normal for this time of the year.
Our bass fisherman have been doing good most of July as well, we have had some 20"ers being landed and one that was 21". A good number of 17-19's as well.
Pike and lake trout have been good for the fisherman that are pursuing them. We have not had many guests fishing lake trout lately, but earlier in the month everyone who did, did manage to do pretty good. A lot of good 3-6 pounders have been caught, which are the best for the pan anyway.
Just a quick note to anyone coming up here in August, there is road construction going on on a 15 kilometer stretch of road starting at the Atikokan turn off and going west. By mid August, it looks like they will have it all paved though. Expect some short delays during daytime travel, and possibly some travel on gravel prior to them completing the paving.
Good fishing to all, and to all a good night as I am posting this at midnight!!! (after a long day running to Fort Frances today!!!)
Jody

Fishing update 6-24-09

Just a quick post updating our recent fishing activity. Overall, it has been a good spring. Some recent groups have done excellent on big walleye, and others just getting good pan fryers. Many 23-27 inch walleye have been caught and mostly released the past few weeks, the largest to date is a 29 inch caught just this week by one of our new guests who came all the way from Kansas to show us how to do it. Some nice pike have been taken, with the largest I heard of so far being a 44" which was also released. The bass have been very active, everyone fishing them is catching numbers of them, with a lot of larger bass being caught. They should be spawning in about a week or so, many bass are on beds now.
Everyone fishing lake trout have been catching them. Some of our new groups that have never fished lakers before are going out and doing quite well. Today a new group from WI went out and landed 5 nice trout before 9 a.m. I went out today and we caught a total of 8 trout, with the largest being about 8 and 1/2 pounds, and some 15-20 inchers which is a good sign for the future of the fishery in our lake. Until next time, keep on fishing!

Fishing Report 6-7-09

Just another quick update on the current fishing in the area. Water temps are warming slower than normal, due to such cool evenings and nights. Everybody is catching some fish though, some groups are doing very good on walleye, others are struggling a bit. This past week we had some cold, windy days which made fishing for anything tougher than normal. This weekend, the weather finally straightened out and the bite picked up. I was out yesterday and today for a bit, landed about 18 walleye each time in a couple hours of fishing. Today we caught them right at high noon! Vertical jigging with live minnows seems to be working the best. Regular flourescent pink, orange, and chartreuse jigs work well 1/8 to 3/8th, and smaller tinsel tail jigs have been very good too. The bass are really turning on good as the shallows are warming, near 58 degrees surface in some of the bays, and spawn period is approaching. Everyone fishing for smallies is getting them. Some groups are landing 75-100 fish per day. The northern bite is steady, some 36-40 inchers caught and released recently, with two 37's landed and released today. White plastic flukes twitched along with no weight in the 5-6 inch size seem to be working great, along with minnow baits as well. Trout are somewhat steady, with some groups doing quite well trolling deeper water with crankbaits and spoons, flat-lining straight back. Very few trout are still shallow. With the weather forecast looking to steadily warm up, the fishing should get better as June progresses.

Moose on the Loose!

Quick note to all our fisherman travelling to and from camp this spring. Please be cautious and watch out for moose and bear when travelling up this spring. There has been numerous spottings, including some big bulls. Many moose have been on the highway so be on the lookout day and night when travelling. Also, there is a bit of road work near the 502 turn off, on the way here from Fort Frances. There may be a bit of flagging operations ongoing during the week, but it hasn't delayed anyone long yet. The road crews have not been working on the weekend yet. They are repairing and re-paving about 20 kilometers if road between 502 and Mine Centre.
Drive safe and arrive in one piece!

Past year's photos

We welcome any of our guests to send us recent or old memorable photos from their years of fishing at Crystal Beach, even if they are from years way before Tonya and I operated the camp. We will get them out to our web master and he has been doing an outstanding job at getting them posted on our web. I can also put them on the blog right a way as well. We would greatly appreciate all photos of fish, big and small! Or some other meaningful photos of fish frys, wildlife, or whatever you may have captured on film or disk over the years. Please send your photos to crystalbeach@xplornet.com and let us know if you want a caption with it. thanks

Memorial weekend fishing report

The fishing has been picking up significantly with the water starting to warm. Surface temps on most lakes in the area now are 5o to 52 degrees, and raising a bit everyday. Walleye are picking up, with most everyone getting their limit when going after them. We have had some 25 to 27 inch fish caught this past weekend, and a good number of eating size fish. Groups have been doing well on Sapawe, Marmion north of town, and the Floods in spots. One group caught over 80 fish on Monday, consisting of walleye, bass, and northern pike. Other groups reporting catches of over 5o fish some days of mixed bag. Trolling and jigging have been working well. Lakers on Crystal have been a bit slow this past weekend, although some are being caught. Some big pike have been spotted in the bays on Crystal, none reportedly being caught as of yet though. The pike should start biting better this coming week on Crystal, after recuperating from the spawn. Island Falls has been getting better for walleye as well with the warmer temperatures. Road up to the Floods in decent shape, no log trucks have been running it at all yet this spring, probably won't be for quite awhile. The fork up past Mercutio going North does still have some water across it in spots, Ministry has travel at own risk signs out, but it is still open. The Seine River system is still probably about 3 feet high yet, but seems to slowly be going down. More next week, good fishing until then!

What's happening at the camp

We have added a few new things for this season. We have been updating our rental boats and have aquired some nice new deep and wide Lunds for anyone that may need to rent a boat. We understand most of you like to bring your own rig, and that is fine, we have just noticed a need for a few more rentals for guests that either don't have their own boat, or don't want to tow one up with them.
We also put in a new aluminum Voyageur Dock at the landing to replace our old floater. We plan to try this dock out for a few years, and if we like it, we will be replacing our other large floater with a large roll-in aluminum as well.
Tonya and I just finished renovating the last two bathrooms in the cabins, so they all have been updated with new tile and a bit of a new look for the 2009 season.
We are adding a new swingset/ playset for anyone bringing their kids up to enjoy a summer vacation this season.
Our last big project for this summer is to finish our new house which we have slowly been working on the past 5 years. Hopefully we can move into it by this fall, which would open up one more rental unit in our duplex.
That is about all that is on our plate for this season, along with minor improvements around the camp. We are looking forward to another busy summer.

Opening weekend fishing report, May 2009

Just giving a weekend fishing update report from this past weekend's opener. The bass was slow over the weekend, just starting to pick up after today's 80 degree temps. Saturday we had a major blizzard move in, and a couple of nights this past week below freezing. We did have a 25 inch and 27 inch walleye caught, both on the Floods, and some limits of walleyes being taken, but not exceptional catches as of yet. The trout have been hitting steady in shallower waters, and the northern pike are just now starting to pick up. This weekend should be quite a bit better, as water temps are approaching the low 50's now. This past weekend, they were running around 45-48. Water levels are currently very high due to the spring runoff, as can be expected with a year with a lot of snow.

Welcome to Crystal Beach Resort

We would like to welcome everyone to our new blog site for Crystal Beach Resort. We will be updating the site from time to time with fishing and hunting reports, regulation changes and updates, weather conditions, and camp updates. We hope you enjoy browsing through our camp reports, and if at any time you want to contact us for additional information, you can go to our web site at www.fishcrystal.com or email direct at crystalbeach@xplornet.com and we will get back to you. Good Fishing!!