Ice fishing Luxury!

Another satisfied Piker!

Another satisfied Piker!

T-REX of the H20!

T-REX of the H20!

Whopper!

Whopper!

Satisfied Fisherperson!

Satisfied Fisherperson!

Not a bad day out!

Not a bad day out!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

NEW TACKLE SHOP

Just putting the word out that we have greatly improved out tackle selection at our office, and carry a good number of different tackle items at great prices, some lower than Gander Mountain!!
We have jigs, spinnner rigs, weights, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, some in line spinners, hooks, and a bunch of different plastics mostly for the avid bass fanatic.
We also have crawlers, leeches, and minnows for sale at the tackle shop.
Tonya improved the clothing wear section so bring a few extra bucks to pick up a nice tshirt or sweat shirt too take home to your sweetie so she will let you come see us again next year! Or better yet bring her with if you don't already!!
I also have some spare tires, wheel bearings, and some electrical stuff for boat trailers on hand, so if you run into an issue just let us know and we may be able to help you out.

June 1 fishing update

This past week we have seen the walleye bite pick up significantly. Every group focusing on walleye is doing pretty good now, and it should keep getting better going into the next couple weeks. No huge walleye caught yet, some in the 25-27 inch range though.
The pike are quite aggressive now, we had a guest catch a very nice 42 incher yesterday, along with numerous other pike. It should be no problem for anyone pursuing mister toothy to catch numerous handfuls of them. Be sure to bring a mouth spreader for them though!
Bass are just starting to establish beds and protect them. A lot of smallies are hanging just a little deeper off the edge of their spawning territories waiting for the temps to rise just a bit. Most days have been warming up, with the exception of the last two, but the nights are dropping into the 40's yet, slowing the bass spawn. Within a week they should be very aggressively making and defending beds.
Lakers have been biting a bit for the few who are going after them. This past week, most of our guests have been pike and walleye fishing, so no good reports on lakers as of now. I am sure they are still in the shallower water yet, as water temps are still in the low to mid 50's and the lakers tend to hang in the shallower areas until the water rises above 60 on the surface.
I plan to go out this coming weekend to do a bit of fishing myself, and will be able to give an update report again sometime next week. Until then, Good Fishing, or better yet Great Fishing!!
Jody

Monday, May 23, 2011

Walleye opener update

Just wanted to give everyone who is checking in a fishing update now that opening weekend for walleye has arrived.
I was out the past two days myself and overall did quite well. Saturday seemed a little slow, we ended up with 7 nice eating size walleye, about a dozen smaller ones we through back, half a dozen big smallies, and about 15 very aggressive pike in a little over half a day of fishing. The fish were scattered a bit, but we found a few almost everywhere we stopped.
One of our cabin groups was out lake trout fishing on Friday, and did very well, caught about 8 of them over 7 pounds, some being 9-10, and one approaching 15 lbs they released. They were relatively shallow yet, about 15-30 feet of water.
Sunday, the walleye picked up quite a bit. We were up on the floodwaters and landed approximately 25 walleye in about 3 hours of fishing, most of them being around the 15 inch range. We found that gold or brass spinner rigs with bottom bouncers, about 3/4 ounce were catching the most fish, sticking in a about 12-15 foot of water near spawning areas. The big females are just off spawn, and are a little dormant yet, but anticipate them starting to feed within the next 1-2 weeks. June should be quite good as the weather has been quite stable for most of May.
One of our other groups on the floods did quite well too, once they found the fish. They landed about 30 nice walleye in a few hours time.
The big smallmouth seem to be moving in to the shallows in most of the lakes feeding for prespawn. All of June should be very good for the smallies.
The water levels are normal or just a bit higher than normal.
I will post again towards mid June for another update.
Good Fishing until then!

Monday, May 9, 2011

ICE OUT 2011!!!

Officially the ice went out on Crystal on the evening of May 7, totally all out on May 8. That is quite a bit later , actually one full month, over last year, but it is the start of a normal spring anyway.
Not a lot of fisherman coming through yet, but a few early anglers were out this past weekend, catching some lake trout on our lake, along with some huge smallies, and another group did good on another local lake just 10 minutes down the road. The lake trout should bite good until late June in fairly shallow water.
We are planning to put the docks in this week sometime, and get the camp officially opened all the way up for the season within a week. We look forward to all guests arriving for the upcoming season. I will try to keep posting fishing updates for the less fortunate who can't take off all summer to be here, but don't worry, I will do my best to catch a few extra walleye to cover for all who are missing out!!!
Good fishing,
Jody

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Early May update 2011

Just wanted to put in a quick early May update for all who are checking in periodically. It is the 2nd of May and Crystal is still totally covered with ice, however, some small pockets just started opening up today. I am guessing the ice should be out by the end of this week, or mostly out anyway. That is pretty close to a normal year, as last year was an exception with it being out by April 6 on our lake. Some of the smaller nearby lakes just went out today, or nearly out.
We do have a couple guys staying in a cabin and were on a local lake where they could cast to the edge of the ice and did manage to land a 7 lb laker, in less than 5 foot of water. Also, they landed two nice pike, one just over the slot and one in it. Not bad considering the wind was blowing about 25 mph today and it snowed a good portion of the day with highs in the low 40's! This week we are supposed to see the sun come out though, so that should dissipate the ice quickly. At least the snow has all gone away now with the exception of a few small piles where we plowed.
Water levels are looking good going into the spring season, and with good luck the walleye should bite as good as they did last year. I will put another update in toward the end of the month for all the June guests coming up, hopefully it should be filled with walleye stories!
good fishing
Jody

Monday, April 18, 2011

April Update 2011

Well, winter was almost over up until two days ago when we got dumped on by 6-10 inches of snow! Green grass was showing almost everywhere, and the lakes were just starting to get unsafe to travel on until winter decided to set back in. Everything is blanketed in white and it still looks like the dead of winter as of today. Hopefully, by the end of the week, the snow melts and we get back on track to getting to the open water season again.
We had a good turnout for spring ice fisherman overall. Caught some nice pike with the largest being 43" this winter, some nice walleye when they did decide to bite. Some days were a little tougher than others, but we did have a few days of walleye catches around 30-40 fish. Some nice 5-6lbers were caught and released. The weather and wind was changing a lot so we didn't really get into some good steady bites as every second day it seemed like we would have a different wind. This is kind of the reports I have heard across Northwest Ontario, with the fish bite being unpredictable and turning on and off regularly.
Trout were overall pretty steady. We did have numerous days where we would get catches of 10-20 lakers per group. Lots of fish being marked on the sonars, (vexilars/marcums), but many of them were lookers chasing the lures but not taking as often as we fisherman would like to see! Some nice fish up to 10 pounds were caught and released again this spring.
On to better news, walleye opener is only about a month away and it is looking like we will be having another pretty good season. June is almost booked full, with a very limited number of cabin openings, and July and August are starting to pick up. If there is any certain week anyone is interested in coming, please let us know and we can sketch you down to hold it. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing all the regular guests along with some new ones to start rolling in towards the third Saturday in May. Travel safe this summer and if you have any questions pertaining to anything about a trip, please just email or call and we will be glad to answer them!
Good Fishing,
Jody and Tonya

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Late Winter Update

This winter has been a little tougher than some of the recently past ones. We had a lot of snow early, and then the cold weather came. We are thinking ice out will be in early May as opposed to the super early ice out last spring in early April. I guess with all the snow we do have on the ground, there should be a good run-off amount to fill the lakes and rivers right away this spring so we won't be dealing with the ridiculously low water levels we had last year. It took half the year last summer to bring water levels up to normal.
Ice fishing is starting to pick up a bit now. The walleyes are slowly biting more and more steady as spring approaches. We have caught some nice pike, no huge ones yet, but really haven't fished for them too seriously yet. March is the time for that. Lake trout have been good and steady. They usually continue pretty good right through into early April, and sometimes the bite even picks up later March.
Ice conditions right now, as of March 3, are very good. You can go anywhere with a snowmobile with no slush concerns. I am sure we will hit a short period in later March where it does get a bit nasty though, as always. About 20-24 inches of ice on most our area lakes.
Our summer fisherman have been making reservations quite steady for 2011, so if anyone has any dates in mind, they may want to contact us as soon as possible to be assured specified dates. We already have a few weeks throughout the summer that all cabins are booked full.
Summer is just around the corner, we are looking forward to seeing all our return and new guests in the upcoming 2011 summer season!! Good Fishing to all!!
Jody and Tonya