Fish and Hunt Crystal Beach Resort

Happy New Year from Crystal Beach

2012-01-11T11:38:00.000-08:00

Tonya and I would like to wish all who read our blog a Happy New Year for 2012 and are looking forward to another great summer here at Crystal Beach. This is already going on our 9th summer even though it seems like we just got started!!
We don't have any large plans for 2012, with the exception of some maintenance projects on some of the cabins and finishing off the hunting cabins we put up down by Flanders Road this past fall. We did expand our tackle inventory quite a bit this winter so it will be stocked full for next spring.
Ice fishing here has began, we have about 8-10 inches of ice on most lakes, with some having a bit more. Early ice fishing has been pretty good so far. This past week we were doing some walleye fishing a couple of nights, landed about 15 each evening and the action was great. Lake trout opened on the 1st of January and we have been out only a couple times so far as the ice wasn't real safe up until now. The past couple mornings we were out and pulled in a couple nice lakers each morning. I will be getting out a lot more in the next couple of weeks. We still have a lot of openings for Jan and Feb ice fishing/snowmobiling, but March is starting to book up with the 2 cabins we have winterized for the winter enthusiasts.
Just a quick memo to anyone planning a trip to visit us this summer, you may want to reserve dates soon as June is mostly filled, and August and July are starting to get reserved. Contact us if you have any questions about any dates and we would be glad to get back to you.
Until next update, Good Fishing and Happy New Year!

NEW TACKLE SHOP

2011-06-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

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

Walleye opener update

2011-05-23T06:59:00.000-07:00

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!

ICE OUT 2011!!!

2011-05-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

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

Early May update 2011

2011-05-01T23:24:00.001-07:00

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

April Update 2011

2011-04-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

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

Late Winter Update

2011-03-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

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

Happy Holidays

2010-12-03T07:06:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note to give a quick update on what has been happening.
We made it through November, having a decent hunting season this year. We shot a few real nice bucks and some of our hunters did miss some real nice deer. We have some new photos posted on our site at www.ontariofishingresort.org under the deer hunting. Still have a friend who has a couple tags left and I plan to go out tomorrow morning and do a little more hunting here in December to finish up the year.
All the smaller lakes have froze over, ours is almost ready to freeze over with ice forming all around the shore lines. It has been cold enough, but the deep trout lakes are always the last to freeze over here in December. Has been snowing a lot lately, about 2 feet or so on the ground right now. We already have had to plow snow more often than all last winter combined.
We would like to wish all our guests Happy Holidays moving on into the Christmas season and look forward to seeing most of you again this new year.
Jody and Tonya

End of year report!!

2010-10-25T09:29:00.001-07:00

Well, this year went by real fast again. The season is already over and we are looking toward the ice fishing season to begin in a couple of months already. We would like to thank all of our guests from this season. We had another busy summer and appreciate all our guests new and old. One of the highlights for me this past summer was being able to fish in the Atikokan Bass Classic tournament with a friend of mine from Eau Claire Wi. Austin was also in the tournament and fished with his grandpa, which I think was his highlight of his summer vacation as well. We had a great time and are looking forward to fish in it next summer as well. If any of our bass fishing fanatic guests are interested in fishing it, get in touch with us and we can get you all the information you need. It is a great time, and a chance to pay for your vacation while you are here!! It is around the second week of August.
Our last group of moose hunters left this past week and now we only have one more group of whitetail hunters coming up from southern Wisconsin to finish up the season. Our hunters did manage to harvest a couple nice bulls, and one of our archery groups arrowed a large cow as well.
Fishing this year overall was very good. We had a couple weeks where it got to be hit and miss due to changing wind conditions, but everyone still caught fish. This past spring was one of our best ever, probably due to the early ice out and fast warm up we had. We are hoping for another good spring next season.
Lake trout season opens in January, and can be good throughout the winter. If anyone is considering an adventurous ice fishing trip, I would recommend March and early April for the best big pike and walleye action. Unfortunately, we had to cancel a couple of trips from last April due to early ice out condtions. Generally, we can always fish the first week of April, and usually well into the second week.
We wish everyone good luck going into the holidays and good fishing all the time!!!
Jody and Tonya

July update!!

2010-07-23T22:44:00.000-07:00

Just putting in a quick update on the fishing from this past month. Time has been flying by, and I see it has been early June since my last post. Thanks to some of our guests for reminding me to get to the blog to update it!!!
Fishing this July has been good and steady. All of our groups are catching fish. The lake trout bite has been pretty good the past week and a half now. Everyone fishing them have been pulling some in. They are sporadic feeders, and they do turn on and off throughout the day. Jigging has been very effective for them lately.
Walleye have been steady all summer long. Austin and I were out today and landed about 25 walleye in about 2-3 hours of fishing, the largest just short of 23 inch. Dragging spinner harnesses with bottom bouncers has been producing quite consistently. Jigging is always a good standard way to pull some in as well. Some groups have been catching them as shallow as 5-8 foot along the weeds. Today we were pulling most of them out of 12-20 feet of water along rock drops.
Smallies have been good and steady, but not fantastic yet. The cooler nights we have been having throughout July has kept the morning topwater action to a minimum. When we have had the warmer nights, the action has seemed to pick up significantly. We are still landing 30-70 bass on outings now with some effort. I was with a group yesterday and we pulled in about 40-50 bass and pike in about 6 hours of fishing. The largest was about 19 inches, with a good number of 14-17 inch fish. Still waiting for the phenomenol topwater action that we always seem to get by early August.
Pike have been steady, as they normally are, no matter what. We were out 3 days ago fishing pike and pulled in about 35-40 fish in a little over half a day of fishing, with 3 slot sized fish, and one about 13 pounds, just barely 35.5 inches. Most of the northern we landed were nice, girthy fish. Spinnerbaits, spoons, and spinners like the larger Mepps Minnow have been doing well, along with some deep diving crankbaits.
We are looking for some of the best fishing of the season to arrive as August and September come along. It is hard to believe the summer is already basically over half over!!!
Good fishing until next update!
Jody

June 6 Fishing update

2010-06-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

All of our fisherman the past couple weeks have been having very good luck. The walleye are picking up better every day, and larger fish are starting to bite. No super hawgs caught yet that we know of, but a good number of walleye 17-24 inch range.
The bass have been hitting good for most who are fishing them. They haven't spawned quite yet on most lakes, but they are on and near their beds. They have been hitting most lures being thrown at them from plastics to french spinners.
Northern pike are still hitting good and steady, a few nice fish have been caught in our area lakes, with large numbers of smaller pike. They are tending to be shallow, around the 3-10 foot range.
Not a whole lot of guests have been pursuing the lake trout yet, but the ones who have been are catching them. On calmer days, a jig and a minnow can be very good for them, otherwise trolling with a downrigger is always good as well.
Water temps on most lakes are in the mid 60's. The river systems are still low, although we are receiving some measurable amounts of rain the past day and a half, so that may help the levels come up.

Fishing Update

2010-05-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post a quick update about the fishing since opener on the 15th.
We have had very warm temperatures lately and the surface temps are approaching mid 60's and even warmer on some area lakes. Today it reached 90 degrees air temp!
The fishing has really picked up the past few days, especially the walleye. If this keeps up into June, we are looking forward to an excellent June walleye bite. Last spring was so cold it took a while for the walleye to really get going.
The smallmouth have moved onto their beds as well and are starting to defend them, usually attacking any nearby bait thrown at them. The females should be moving onto the beds in the next couple of weeks to spawn.
Weed growth is way ahead, of course due to the hot temps we have been getting. Smallmouth bass fishing, along with the walleye and pike, should be exceptional this early summer.
We did receive a good rain fall today, hopefully with a few more we can get our water levels back up to near normal for this time of the season.
Keep checking back for updates, as we will be posting more in the weeks to come.
thanks
Jody

Walleye Opener 2010

2010-05-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

Well, walleye season has finally arrived after a quick ice out this spring. The weather has been excellent for the past two to three weeks. We have our first few groups of fisherman currently in camp now, with more to come by the coming weekend. Reports from the walleye opener is that the bite is still just a little slow. Had a couple reports coming from guys fishing up on Lac De Mille Lac and they said it was slow there as well this past weekend. We were out for a while on Saturday on a small lake about 40 minutes north of here and caught 4, one walleye was a nice 26 incher, along with a 37 inch northern on the same lake. The good news is that the walleyes always start feeding best as June arrives and the best bite goes well into June.
The smallies have moved shallow, and our guests are catching some good sized bass, and have had reports of some big northern being caught in the area, so they are finally turning on as well.
Water levels on the river systems are still quite low, hopefully they will come up for June. Our lake, being spring fed, is only less than a foot below average water levels.
I was on Marmion this past weekend and the bass were in the shallows their, along with tons of whitefish. Caught some nice whitefish, up to 5 and a half pounds.
Will update the blog again in about a week and a half, should have many more fishing reports by then.

License/ Outdoors card reminder! ... spring update

2010-04-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

A reminder to everyone coming up this season to bring along the Outdoors Card you received this past winter. If you don't have it with you, we will have to charge you an additional $9 charge for another application prior to purchasing your license. Unfortunately, non-residents can not purchase their fishing license online as of yet, the Ministry of Natural Resources is aiming to have that going for next season. They do have a 1800 number you can call and purchase a license, but it does take 4-6 weeks to receive the license, so most of you are probably best to just buy your license once you have entered Ontario. We do have licenses at here at the camp, or there is a few spots you can stop on the way to pick one up.
Our first trout fisherman arrived yesterday afternoon, unfortunately it looks like a poor weather forecast for the days they are here. They should still be able to land some trout if they can tolerate the rains. (which we do badly need however!).
The water levels on all the river system lakes are extremely low, the floods is approx 7 feet low. The upper launch is still okay to get into with larger boats, you just have to back out about 50 feet further than normal. Have not been into the lower landing lately to see how accessible that is. We still have 3 weeks before walleye opener, which is a lot of time to get some significant rainfalls to help bring water levels back up. We will post about the water levels again before walleye opener.
The smallmouth are just starting to move shallow and become slightly more active. We were out last Saturday and caught about a dozen bass and a dozen northern pike. Seen a lot of fish, but the water temps were just a bit cool yet and the fish were not real aggressive towards artificials and we did not bring along any live bait. Surface temps are ranging 45-48 degrees right now.
If anyone coming up has any questions at all, please feel free to contact us anytime through our email, or call direct if you need to talk in person. Otherwise, good fishing until we see you next!

2010 Season Begins!!!

2010-04-09T10:25:00.001-07:00

Believe it or not, the open water season for 2010 has begun. All the lakes have opened up and Crystal is loosing it's last bit of ice today. We were out yesterday after the kids got home from school and trolled for about an hour, caught one nice laker, lost a couple more, and one good bass. Water temp was 35. The trout have been biting quite well most of the winter and still are going into the open water fishing. If any one wants some excellent trout action, plan an April or very early May trip! First time ever we have been able to fish out here in a boat in early April . Ice out is about 3-4 weeks ahead of time. Unfortunately, unless we receive a lot of spring rains, water levels are going to be down a bit due to little snow run-off this spring. A record winter for us as I only had to plow snow 2 times!! Usually it is 2 times a week.
Well, for all our return guests, our new office is in the new house that we have been picking away at for 6 years! We finally completed it last fall and moved in before Christmas. We did add nice little tackle shop, and what we are doing as a special promotion is anyone that refers a new group that books with us, we will give them a $50 credit good for any fishing tackle in our office. If you refer two groups, you will get $100 credit!
Moving into our new house allowed us to open up our old residence (number 1) as another cabin rental unit. We are, however, starting to get fairly booked up for this upcoming season, so if you or anyone you know of may want to come up this season, please contact us as soon as possible to reserve a date.
We are looking forward to another good season this upcoming summer. Thank you to all guests that have reserved dates for 2010 and to all our past guests as well that may not have the opportunity to come up fishing this summer.
Well, I have to go to get my walleye gear ready for this upcoming weekend, I am going to do some open water jigging before the walleye season closes the 15th. This is the first year we are ever able to try for some winter wallys from a boat!
Jody

Tribute to Jack

2010-04-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

This is not a blog entry we ever look forward to enter, but we just wanted to let all our fishing friends that have been coming to the camp over the years know that Jack Switzer, the big old guy that was always helping out around the camp passed away earlier this spring. Jack was a good friend of ours that helped us through our learning curve of operating the camp the past 6 years. He was also a good friend of many of our fisherman, as Jack owned and operated the camp from the 70's to 1989. Some of our long time return guests were actually coming to Crystal Beach when Jack owned the camp. Jack will be sadly missed, but much of his craftsmanship has been left in the buildings and on the property here at Crystal Beach. Rest in peace Jack.

March Fishing

2010-03-10T12:14:00.000-08:00

We are now getting well into March, and have had a steady flow of our March ice fisherman. The big northern are just starting to bite, nothing over 40 inches landed yet this spring. Walleye have been as good or better than average the last week and a half. I was out a couple of times and we ended up with about 15 walleye each trip, along with a dozen or so northern each time. Lakers are getting better as well, a couple of our recent groups have caught 6-12 trout each trip out, and some around the 10 pound range, with many 5-8 pounds. Snow is melting fast, and not sure how long the ice will hold out this year. Usually we fish to the 15th of April, but if it keeps up like this, we may be done at the end of the month. Today, and the next 3 days, are supposed to be in the 50's !! Feels like summer already. We still do have a couple of openings for the end of this month, so if you get an urge to hit some fantastic fishing, perhaps the best of the year, get in touch with us.
Jody

Fish Bite and Lake conditions as of Feb.

2010-02-08T08:05:00.000-08:00

Snow conditions/ fishing

Here is a quick update on the ice conditions for mid winter. We have received less than normal snow falls so far as of early Feb. The ice conditions are excellent and right now there is no slush on any of the lakes. About 18-26 inches of ice everywhere.
We have been getting a few groups coming through, doing mostly lake trout fishing. They have been biting good and steady, much better than last season at this time. Can expect to catch 2-10 fish each time out. Most have been good eating size fish, with a random larger one every now and then . A couple of our groups have trekked to some of the remote walleye waters and have been doing okay considering it is mid winter. They have caught walleye pretty much every trip. Looking for later February and March to pick up as always though. Check in later and will have a March update on the ice fishing.
Looking to be a good summer here at the camp, bookings have been coming in fairly steady. Look forward to seeing all our regular guests and the new ones that will be coming for the first time this summer!

Happy New Year 2010

2009-12-29T12:40:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-07T06:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-07T20:51:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-05-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-21T07:07:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

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!!