December 19th, 2006: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!! We're looking forward to our first Christmas with baby Jordan, we have a lot of visiting planned over the next week so it should be a lot of fun.

The shows are coming up quickly so we'd like to get the groups who are booked now to confirm with their deposits. There are a couple of early season dates still open at the lodge and more in July and August at the lodge and the outposts, so if you haven't booked yet and you'd like a few options to choose from, give us a call to set it up. We're expecting a great show season this year to fill in the holes that we still have open, so please don't wait until after the shows!

Here's the picture of the wolf shot with a bow this past fall.

November 29th, 2006: Winter has hit Winnipeg all of a sudden! This week the temperature has dropped to near 0 degrees Fahrenheit and we got about 8 inches of snow yesterday. Last week I was hunting deer with Tom (2 year guide at Bolton) and we had to take a few layers of clothes off in the afternoon because it was getting very warm. It was my first real hunt, although I've shot many problem bears, skunks and squirrels at the lodge and now I'm sold on hunting! Tom set me up in a blind with his Remington 270 and all I had to do was wait for a buck to come through. I passed up a doe and two fawns hoping that a buck would be on their trail and got lucky enough to take a shot at a very nice buck. He ran a short distance and then collapsed near a field. By the time I walked over to him he was dead. It was a lucky shot that went right through his shoulder, then through his heart and out the other side. I'm looking forward to next season when I plan to take a bull moose in the fall at Bolton. Kelly Ross will not be available to guide next year, so Tom and I will spend the fall season scouting out moose territory, practicing calling them in and video taping what I expect to be some great footage of some big moose! Then in 2008 we will be ready to take guests moose hunting again. The spring bear hunt we have planned for 2007 will continue as planned as the baits were being hit very regularly last season, the stands are set up and there are an abundance of bear that need to be culled out.

Tom and I will be doing the bulk of the shows together this season as Jodi will have to stay home and take care of Jordan. Please take some time to come and see us at a show near you! This year it's especially a good idea to come to the All Canada shows because they have a booth set up to help you with your passport which is mandatory this year if you're flying into Canada. If you're driving, you probably have another year to get a passport. This is not a Canadian regulation, it's to allow you back into the U.S. on your way home.

Here are some pictures from my hunt and of the bear Kelly shot last spring at Bolton Lake at one of the bait sites.

October 10th, 2006: Sorry for the lack of updates, it's been a hectic fall with shut down and getting into a new routine with the baby. We have now completely moved into our home office so please see the address below and on our contact us page. The newsletters will be mailed out at the end of the week, we're taking a drive down to Grand Forks, ND to save on some postage and to do a bit of shopping while the Canadian dollar is strong.

The Moose, Bear and Wolf hunt was very encouraging. On the first night one of the hunters shot a wolf, on the second they shot a bear, on the 4th day they shot another bear and it was huge! Unfortunately both bears were only wounded and were not found. They saw 9 moose including 2 bulls but didn't get a good chance on one and the hunter passed on the second as it was only 2 or 3 years old. I'm hoping to get some of the footage of the smaller bull as it's nature show quality footage since the moose was only a few yards away and he stood there posing nicely for the camera. There were quite a few wolves around, the bears were hitting the baits well but the moose were not in full rut while we were there. We plan to push it a week later next season, it may be a bit cooler, but it should result in better success.

Jodi and Jordan are doing very well. Jordan is nearly 4 months old now but I can't get her to say daddy yet. We feel very fortunate to have such a healthy, happy baby and it's sure nice that she's been a good sleeper too!

Bookings for 2007 are going very well. I've been waiting to hear from some of the groups who were with us in 2006 before I sell their spots, but I'm going to start making a lot of calls in the next few weeks to start filling the holes and confirming the groups we have booked now.

Here's the new address:

Our 1-800-665-5321 has not changed, but our local number is now (204) 757-7442 and if you'd like to send a fax, call first and we'll hook it up.

August 8th, 2006: We've had a run of pretty good weather lately and the big Pike are still hitting in hole number 2, the airport patch and a bunch of other nice weed patches around the lake. The eating size Walleye have been cooperating very well almost every day, but the larger ones have gone into hiding. I think there have only been a few trophy Walleye in the past couple of weeks. The Lake Trout are down deep, but we're still catching some nice ones down there with downriggers and weights.

We had a guest who came up with a group of guys who didn't have much fishing experience. One guest in particular named Clint had never fished before but wanted to join the group and be here with them. Clint surprised us all by catching a monster Pike in hole number 2 with just a bit of coaching from his guide Tom! Please see the picture below of Clint, Tom and a very healthy 42.5 inch Pike.

		Sharon with her 2 trophies caught with her favorite guide, Yvon.
		John with a giant 45 inch Pike that he worked very hard for, followed by Vince and his 43.5 inch Pike caught near the Trout Pond.
		Fred and Cindy with Fred's 42 inch Pike caught yesterday afternoon, followed by Roger and his his near trophy in #2.
		Thomas and Brian with Thomas's 41 inch Pike. Followed by the "rookie" Clint and guide Tom with Clint's 42.5 inch trophy. From rookie to 'Master Angler' in one trip to Bolton!!
		Rick with his trophy Walleye caught while fishing for big Pike followed by a bull Moose swimming in Winston's Bay.

July 26th, 2006: It's going to be a hot one today, it has to be in the 70's already and it's only 9 a.m.!! Tomorrow looks like rain and temperatures falling into the 50's. It's like they say up here 'if you don't like the weather, wait an hour and it will change.

We've been catching a lot of big Pike in the weeds lately, 10 feet and weeds right to the surface. It's not the easiest way to fish, especially when your lure gets caught in the weeds and when the Pike take a run into the weeds and wrap themselves up, but it's been successful. Heavier line and some other hot baits like the mepps giant killers and other large spinner baits are recommended.

Tomorrow Jodi and Jordan along with some more family come to visit, I've been counting down the days!

Here are a few more pictures from the past couple of weeks.

		Bob with his 43 inch Pike followed by Regi and Helene with one of her trophies.
		Cindy with her 38.5 inch Lake Trout followed by Perry and his trophy Pike.
		Jim and Tom with Jim's trophy Brook Trout followed by Stu and his trophy! The Brook Trout have been hot this year, in the past 2 days we've landed 30 Brook Trout, 9 were trophies with only 2 guests fishing on each day!!
		John and Winston with John's new favorite trophy, the "Wolf pack of the North"! Followed by Matt and his trophy Pike.
		A Pike on Pike T-Bone at Aswap followed by Kevin and his trophy Pike (not the same fish)
		Ken and Jim with a couple of great fish from their trip.
		The hungry squirrel at East Island shore lunch spot, he's getting be more tame than we'd like, eating off your plate!   Followed by Winston sinking the tractor! We put a propeller on the power take off so that he doesn't get stuck like this again.

July 11th, 2006: It's been a bit cooler and wet for the past few days, but it's probably better than the stifling heat we had just before that! Even with the heat and now the cloudy, cool days were still managing to catch a bunch of trophies! Just yesterday there was a 45.5 inch Pike caught straight out in front of the lodge at the 'airport patch'! The hot lures lately continue to be the BullDawgs. If you don't know what this is, here's a link to the Bulldawg site: http://www.muskyinnovations.com/ I also have them for sale at the lodge but my stocks are starting to dwindle.

Bookings for 2007 have been incredible lately, please contact us if you're planning to fish with us again next season to book your spot!!

		Annette and Regi with 2 of Annette's 3 trophies for her trip!
		Jon with his trophy Pike and trophy Brook Trout caught on the same day!
		Jim and Tom followed by Tom and Tom with their 2 trophy Pike!
		Tom and Tom with their trophy Laker followed by left over shore lunch enjoyed by our friendly bear!
		Steve and Rick with Steve's trophy Lake Trout! Followed by a really cool underwater Walleye shot!
		Louis with 2 of his trophy Pike guided by Winston!
		Paul Mauer and guide Willie with a 45.5 inch Pike followed by David and his 45 inch monster Pike!
		Joseph with his trophy Walleye followed by Robert holding a guests' trophy.

June 28th, 2006: The weather and the fishing have been just great lately!! Not much rain and pretty warm temperatures have made it great for spending lots of time on the water and catching lots of fish! The outpost camps are also doing fantastic with a ton of trophies and the new equipment is doing great! The new propane fridge at Aswap apparently needs to be fully stocked or stuff starts freezing!

Here are some more pictures:

		Karen and Chris with her near trophy followed by Byron with his 41 inch Pike. It's amazing how a great hold can really show off the size of a fish.
		Chris and Bobby with Bobby's 43 inch Pike followed by Roman with his 41 inch Pike.   Chris really has a knack for holding those big Pike!
		Tom and Scott with Scott's first ever trophy Pike! Scott has been fishing in Manitoba for a long time, but this was his first visit to Bolton. I had been trying to convince him to come for a while, now he's convinced! Followed by Rob and Rob with another nice trophy! Hole number 2 is heating up, both of these trophies were caught there!
		Winston and Robin with a near trophy Lake Trout, followed by Ed with his trophy Walleye.
		Liam and Dave with a 27 inch Walleye. Not pictured is Liam's 27.5 inch Walleye, he really put on a clinic in hole #1 that day!! Followed by Tom and Charles with his trophy Brook Trout. We're getting at least 2 trophy Brook Trout with every visit!
		The meals have been complimented by every rotation of guests we've had all season! Many are saying this is the best we've had in all the years that they've been coming, which in some cases has been over 10 years! We are delighted to have such a great chef this year and we're hoping that Jason will be returning next season!
		I had to add a picture of my trophy!! Jordan and Jodi are doing great...I'm looking forward to seeing them again soon!

June 18th, 2006: We have a baby girl!! Jordan Alexa was born on Thursday afternoon after a bit of a difficult labor but both Jodi and Jordan are doing great!! I was able to spend a few days with the girls before coming back to the lodge where I could do my update. It was high on my priority list as I've been asked daily about the baby. Finally she is here, 12 days late and 9 pounds 15 ounces!!

There are also some great fish pictures from the last 11 days, enjoy!!

		Jodi and I with baby Jordan followed by Jordan looking her best!
		Tom and Daniel with a trophy Brook Trout followed by Mike and his trophy and Dan Jr. with his trophy.
		Al with his 40.5 inch Lake Trout and his 37 inch Lake Trout.
		Linda and Robin with her 35.25 inch Lake Trout followed by Judith with her 37 inch Lake Trout.
		Larry and Dave with Larry's 45 inch Pike followed by Steve and Dave with Steve's 41 inch Pike.
		Eugene with a 44 inch Pike followed by Tom with his 29 inch Walleye.

June 7th, 2006: Still no baby news and already 4 days late! The fishing and weather have all been fantastic lately!! Here are some more pictures.

		Kermit Farrell and grandson Seth with their trophies during their 4 day stay! Yes, Seth out fished his grandfather the whole time.
		Tom and Don with their trophy Brook Trout!
		Tom with a trophy Pike followed by James with his 42 inch Pike!
		Don and Tom with another trophy, this time a Lake Trout measuring 36.5 inches! Followed by our newest guide Lyndsay and her trophy Whitefish!
		Lyndsay and a trophy Pike eating the Walleye on her stringer (the pike was released with the Walleye and part of the stringer still in it's belly). Followed by Lyndsay preparing some Walleye for lunch. She only guided for a few days this season, hopefully she will be back again next year to guide some more.

May 29th, 2006: The season is well under way and we have a full camp of cold, wet but happy customers. We have not seen the sun much this month so the Pike fishing is a bit slower than normal for this time of year, but we're still managing to catch some trophies. A 30.5 inch Walleye was caught at Joint Lake last week to set the bar high right from the start. We've had a handful of trophy Pike, a couple of Walleye and a couple of trophy Lake Trout up to 38 inches. The beauty of a true multi species lake, is you can go for whatever is biting!!

They say we'll have sun in a few days, but they've been saying that for a couple of weeks now. But, on the bright side, the water level has come up a bit and I think it will continue to do so for the month of June.

Even though we're only a week into the season, I can already tell by the number of compliments we're receiving from both the guests and staff that we really got a great chef this year. The Duck he served the other night was one of the many highlights so far! I'm also extremely pleased with the other new staff including Kelly my new assistant manager, Morgan our new pilot and Gary and Jake our new guides this year. Despite the less than favorable weather conditions, which seems to make everything more difficult, all the staff and guests are staying positive and having a good time. It's a great way to start the first season of owning the lodge on our own this year, I just wish Jodi could be here to enjoy it with me. No news on the baby yet, but it can literally happen at any time now as she's due on June 3rd. I look forward to posting a picture of us with our first child.

Here are a few shots from this past week of fishing...I wish there was some sun in the pictures, but as you can see the anglers are still happy.

		Karl Hunter with his guide Jim with a 41 inch Pike, followed by Dustin Daniels with a 44 inch Pike!
		Kevin Malloy with a 38 inch Lake Trout followed by a great looking pair of bears spotted at the West River.

May 3rd, 2006: I just returned from Bolton Lake after completing our fuel and freight haul. The ice should all be gone this week as most of the lake was open when we left and there was only ice remaining on the main body of the lake. We could access any part of the lake if we had wanted to except for the West river because the wind was blowing the ice in that direction. Joint Lake had one sheet of ice remaining on the lake and it was relatively small. From what I could see of Aswap Lake, it appeared to be completely free of ice, but even if there was a bit left, there won't be any in the next couple of days which will be the same on all our lakes.

The fuel and freight haul went extremely well. The warm dry weather helped the airstrip maintain it's form even with the heavy aircraft coming in to deliver the fuel. We also brought in a bunch of supplies including a new tow behind mower, a new pressure washer, 2 new washing machines, some new decorations for the lodge, and a handful of new motors. We also brought in our beer, pop, water and other supplies for the season. For Aswap Lake we brought a new refrigerator and battery and solar system along with a couple of new toys for both Aswap and Joint Lake. Those will remain a surprise until the groups arrive.

Jodi is still feeling great, but her back is starting to get a bit sore from carrying our baby around. She's due on June 3rd, but we're ready anytime the baby is ready to make his/her appearance! I think the baby will be a bit late since this is our first so my guess is June 10th. We hope that Jodi and the baby will be able to visit in August, but that will depend on how both of them are doing.

This is going to be a great season based on how well the fuel haul went and how beautiful the weather was while we were there for the week!

March 9th, 2006: Only one show remaining for this season, only one outpost spot to sell and only 2 and a half months before camp opening!! We're gearing up for one of our most hectic seasons with a new addition to our family, the new responsibility of running the lodge on our own, a new assistant manager, a new chef and a new way to fly in all our supplies. Fortunately, almost all the other staff including the girls who clean the cabins and serve the meals along with the majority of the guides will all be back next season. Having a seasonal business creates a bit more than normal turn over in staff, but we're proud to say that a lot of our staff have been returning for over 7 years, and very, very few only do one season with us! The new chef we've hired has some great new ideas for breakfast, suppers, appetizers and deserts and he has some great experience working with some of the best chefs in Winnipeg so we have very high hopes for this year.

The last outpost spot for the season is a new one at Joint Lake. August 2nd - 8th (Thursday - Wednesday) is now open for up to 8 guys. For a group of 4 or more the special rate for this 6 day spot is $999 per person, for 3 guys the rate is $1249 per person, for 2 guys the rate is $1499 per person.

February 1st, 2006: We're in the middle of sport show season and we have 4 left to do. This weekend we leave for Indianapolis, followed by St.Louis then DesMoines for a new show. Please click this link for dates, locations and a coupon to a sport show near you. Then we'll only have Minneapolis to do at the end of March.

We are not planning to build a winter road this season as the weather has been much too mild. In the past we've trucked a ton of motors, gas, propane, and other supplies to God's Lake over the winter road and flew everything from Elk Island over to Bolton. By using the all weather roads that go to Norway House we will be able to fly all our supplies into Bolton in the spring and it's only about 10 miles further by air from Norway House to Bolton compared to Elk Island to Bolton. I have ordered my motors, propane and many other supplies already, but this year it's nice to have some time to get everything.

The season is shaping up very nicely, there are only 2 weeks left to sell at the outposts and limited space at the main camp. We have created a number of 3 day spots on the schedule that are a bit harder to fill than the longer trips so we're offering a special rate for any 3 day spot of $1500 per person. May 28 - 31, July 22 - 25, July 16 - 19 and July 27 - 30 are all open for that special rate. Joint Lake is open July 2 - 9 and Aswap is open July 16 - 23. If your group is looking specifically for big Pike, then Aswap is the spot. If your group likes variety and larger Walleye, then Joint Lake has it all to offer with nice Pike, Lake Trout and some of the best Walleye fishing around.

We look forward to seeing you at a show in the near future or to hear from you on the phone...we're almost always available on our toll free number which rings to our cell phone when we're not in the office. Evenings and weekends we're available when you have time to plan your next trip.