New for 2008: If you are flying into Winnipeg or Canada for that matter, it is mandatory to have a passport in order to get back into the U.S. Please take the necessary steps to acquire a passport if you haven't already got one for your trip with us in 2008! If you're driving, you'll likely have until 2009 before you'll need a passport. It takes a few weeks to get a passport, so do not wait until the last minute! If you have a passport and you're driving I recommend that you do not use the passport because it may reveal an indiscretion from your past which may preclude you from entering Canada. The rules are ridiculous and do not do anything to protect Canadians as it's often a DUI from years past that keeps people out of Canada. It also seems to depend a great deal on what mood the border guard is in and when they've made up their minds there's nothing you can do to change it. If you believe there may be an issue getting into Canada, we recommend Canada Border Crossing Services in Winnipeg to help you resolve any problems. Their number is 1-800-438-7020 or you can visit their website at www.bordercrossing.ca
May 4th, 2008: I've just returned from
some more freight hauling into the lodge, now all the motors,
new life jackets, new boat seats, beer, pop, water, wine, beans,
corn, moose head, lumber for Aswap, carpets for the cabins, tackle,
Bolton Lake clothing, and miscellaneous items for the season have
been flown in. Now we just have to wait for Calm Air to put their
bulk fuel tanks back into the Hawker so that we can do our fuel
haul. Unfortunately we're ready for them, but they're waiting
for other camps to order fuel so that they're not just putting
the tanks in for us because it takes 16 man hours to do the job.
Hopefully the price of fuel doesn't jump another 20 cents per
liter (80 cents per gallon) before we get the job started.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the weather up north has not been conducive to melting, we've barely made it over the freezing point during the day and it gets to an average of -10 Celsius at night so we haven't done much melting over the past couple of weeks. The forecast is not looking good either, it's snowing right now and temperatures are still barely getting over the freezing point. My new predicted ice out is May 21st assuming we start to get some better temperatures to melt that ice. On the bright side when we're drilling holes in the ice the bottom foot of ice has water soaked into it which is a sign that it's deteriorating from the bottom up.
If you booked your airline ticket well in advance you should be able to still bring 2 pieces of luggage and a rod case but there have been changes to the airlines policies on baggage allowances so be prepared to pay a bit more to bring in extra gear. I'm planning to have more rods and reels available for rental in order to help out with those who don't want the hassle and cost of bringing their own gear.
April 29th, 2008: I've been to the lodge a couple of times in the past few weeks and things are looking pretty good. We have a crew of 6 guys working on building a new dock at the lodge and bringing firewood to the shorelunch spots. Almost all the snow is gone around the camp and on the lake but the ice is still very thick, I'm predicting ice out on May 20th but if we get more cold weather I think it will be later then that. We have not been able to do the fuel or freight haul yet although we've been ready for almost a week, the charter company does not have an airplane available to us for another 10 days or so. I'll be back at the lodge again this week to bring in more supplies for the season and to work on the runway for the freight planes so I'll be able to test the ice a bit more. The guys say that it's now just the full length of the auger to get through so we've lost a few inches of ice over the past 2 weeks.
Bookings have picked up in the past couple of weeks, people are making their last minute plans so we've lucky to fill in some of the holes in the schedule.
April 8th, 2008: Well we're finished all our shows for the season, and we're getting right into spring already! It still looks an awful lot like winter up at the lodge and there's still a lot of ice down south so we're worried about it being a late thaw this year. We have guests booked as early as May 18th, which is normally safe and should give us a week of open water before the first guests arrive, but so far this year there has only been a couple of days where there has been some melting up north. Our fuel haul in March did not work out, there was just too much snow on the runway to get it opened up for the freight plane to come in. Myself and a crew of guys will be going to the lodge this weekend to get the runway opened for the fuel and freight haul at the end of the month and to build a new dock at the lodge. Then we're hoping that the ice lets out early enough so that we can get into Aswap to build a new full bathroom on the cabin, I have all the materials, we just need to get in there and get it done.
We've had a number of disappointing cancellations over the past 2 weeks, it reminds us that we have to be much more strict about getting deposits from groups so that we do not end up having holes in the schedule and wasting thousands of dollars at sportshows telling people we are booked. For those who cancel this late and have a deposit in, there's not much we can do to refund the deposit, there's really no point in taking a deposit if we can just allow you to cancel at anytime without penalty. If we're able to fill in your date without having to discount it, then we can help out with the deposit by applying it to next season.
On the bright side, we've been able to resell all of the outpost dates that have become open again except for the late May date at Aswap. I will keep this list updated on the rates page.
Also, we have almost all our staff hired for this season! We have a great chef lined up who has some good ideas and the experience at some high end restaurants. Our new pilot also has some great experience flying floats in the Rockies, so this should be easy for him! And, we've found some great new guides with some more new ideas and fishing techniques to bring to the table.
We're still looking forward to a great season despite the cancellations, it won't be quite as full as last season, but last season broke a 6 year record and this year the American economy could be much better, so all in all we can't complain. On a real positive note, we're not only going to get through these tough seasons with the dollar at par, but we're still able to put more back into the lodge like last year with the new cabin, new boat seats, new equipment for the outposts and this season with a new dock, a new bathroom at Aswap, new boat seats and other equipment for the outposts and we'll likely rebuild the cabin at Kitchi Lake this year because I think the outposts are going to be even busier next season. All this and we're paying down our debt to the bank from purchasing the lodge in 2006. We're in a much better position than many of our competitors, three of which in Manitoba alone have gone bankrupt over the past couple of years. So your deposit is safe when booking with our lodge and outposts!
March 4th, 2008: Sorry for the lack of updates, I didn't realize it had been so long. Most of the Sportshows have come and gone with just a late show in Minneapolis early April to finish off. Many people asked us at the shows why we were there since it looked as though we were pretty booked up but we managed to fill a few holes in the schedule and do some work for 2009. Most of the time we were sold out of outpost dates, but we've had a couple of groups release their spots since the shows so now we have to resell the dates. We have managed to sell 3 of the 4 open spots so there's just one to go now and that's July 20 - 27 at Aswap Lake. Please see our rates page for last minute holes to fill.
I've been working on getting my commercial pilot's license over the past few weeks. I've been wanting to get it for a number of years so that in case our float plane pilot is sick or if he has to leave for any reason, then I can fill in. It will also give me more freedom to go to the outposts myself to make sure things are working properly.
We're planning our fuel haul a bit earlier this year. March 15th is the projected date so we're going to the lodge on about the 10th to clear the snow from the runway to allow the Hawker to come in and land. We're hoping to get the fuel in without waiting for spring when the runway can be soft and wet from the thaw. Once the fuel haul is completed we're going to start to build a new main dock system. We've had a floating dock for a few years at the new lodge but when that wind comes up the dock and the boats take a beating. We're going to build a crib dock which will be permanent and will protect the boats a lot more.
We're planning to run our Moose and Bear hunt again this year. Please click here to see the new hunting page.
December 27, 2007: It's been a busy fall for Jodi and I! We built a new garage on our property at home near Winnipeg in order to store stuff for the lodge and to make room for some of my ice fishing gear! We made some time to take a vacation for a week in Cuba so we'll have some cigars available at the lodge this year. We had a great Christmas with a lot of family visiting and Jordan really liked seeing her grandmas, grandpas, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends.
Tom and I will be doing the shows together again this year, please check out the dates and locations on the following link (sportshows) and be sure to notice the location change for Indianapolis! We've had a good off season of hunting and fishing, I landed a large 29.5 inch Walleye on the Red River and Tom shot about a 150 score Buck! I had a shot at a nice buck but missed it clean. We're fishing for Crappies tomorrow, should be fun!
Bookings for 2008 are looking great! We're working on collecting some more deposits before we hit the shows or while we're down in the U.S. just so that we know that a spot is sold for certain and we don't turn away any potential guests. Thank you to all those who have sent in their deposits already!
Enjoy the Holiday Season, we look forward to seeing you in the New Year!
October 16, 2007: The lodge is officially shut down for the season! The bear and moose hunt was very successful this year, and we're excited to show some great pictures! The hunt started off with Tom and I going to Aswap Lake to practice calling, see what the moose were doing and to see if we could take a nice bull or a calf for meat for the winter. We spent 4 days running around the lake looking for tracks and attempting to call a bull out. We found incredible amounts of tracks and other sign showing that they were in the area but we couldn't get them to make a sound. One evening we went out to a spot where we had found some very fresh tracks. Tom called a cow and a calf to the waters edge and waited to see if a bull was going to come out, but it never did. The next night we went to another spot with some very fresh tracks. We did a bunch of calling but we did not get any replies. We were a long way from camp, so we decided to pull out a bit early and after we rounded two bends in the creak a bull, cow and calf were standing on the edge! I killed the motor and drifted to shore as Tom let out a couple of calls so that the moose wouldn't leave right away. I took 2 shots at the bull moose and he went down. Tom was thinking about taking the calf but we decided that we had a full night of moose cleaning ahead of us already! It would have been nice to hear the moose call back to us, but at least we knew we were getting through to them and they were coming towards us.
Once the guests arrived at Bolton Lake Tom took the moose hunter out and Jotham (guide) took the bear hunter out. The bear hunter (Marty) sat in the tree stand that first evening for about 3 hours before a nice bear came out. He took the 350 pound bear in 2 shots, but the first shot was all he needed from the wounds we found. The moose hunter (Jim) traveled the lake for a few days from dusk til dark, he sure put in a great effort. The weather was switching around quite a bit so it was not easy to be out there all day. Winston (guide) and I went out one evening to see if we could help them spot a moose and report back to the guys so that they would have more of a chance. We cruised around the lake and tried calling in a few places. We came around a bend in Moose creek and there was a cow on the water's edge. We killed the motor and started to call so that she wouldn't leave again. The cow ignored us and just kept walking the shore line and eating. I tried calling for another 10 minutes and she barely noticed us. When she looked up at us at one point after calling her, I took my paddle and made it look like I had a small rack on my head. She really took notice of that and started to come towards us. The next thing we knew she was coming across the river to us. We didn't quite know what to do, so we just kept quiet and hoped she'd go back to her side of the river. I was really just trying to get her to call back or get a bull who might be nearby to give us a grunt to let us know he was there. After she went back to her side of the river, we quietly left the area to find Tom and Jim to let them know about the cow.
We met up with Tom and Jim about 5 miles away and I jumped into the boat with them to take them back to the spot where the cow was hanging around. We got back and found the cow just a bit further up Moose creek. We called to her again but she still would not reply. After about 5 minutes of watching her we let out a couple more calls and then heard a bull grunt back. He was further up the creek and he was angry! He grunted, raked his rack in some bushes, broke a lot of branches and let us know he was coming for a fight. It was getting darker all the time, but we still had enough light to see well enough if the bull would get to us soon. He was getting closer and closer and we spotted him along the creek edge about 500 yards ahead of us. It was very intense hearing the bull come towards us and making his threatening sounds. Eventually he was right across the creek from us but there was just not quite enough light to get a clear shot. Through some very expensive Zeiss binoculars we could see him clearly, but without them he disappeared into the background. The bull knew something wasn't quite right so he eventually left our sight. We heard the cow call him and heard him call back to her. We had been grunting like a bull to challenge him to a fight over the cow and when he left us he would no longer reply to that call. After about 10 minutes we tried a cow call and got him coming back towards us, but we knew it would be impossible to get the shot. It was just exciting to try the different calls to get the bull to respond.
The next morning, Tom and Jim went back to the same area to see if they could get him out again. Tom could hear the moose back in the bush and they did not seem interested in coming back out. They came back in for lunch and then back to the same area again. Once again Tom could hear them so he moved to the area he thought he'd be closest to them. After waiting around for half an hour he tried calling again. Right away he heard the reply and knew the bull was coming towards them. He told Jim to get ready and steady himself for his shot. A couple more challenging bull calls (we called them "I'm going to steal your girlfriend" calls) the bull and cow came right out on to the shore. Jim took his shot and the bull ran about 50 yards and dropped into a bit of a hole. Another nice moose down! The rest of us were called out to help get the moose out of the hole and skinned out. It was a great afternoon of celebration and moose cleaning.
For the second week of the hunt we had Dan and Tom come up to try their luck. Dan teamed up with Tom (the guide) and they hunted with a rifle. Tom (the guest) teamed up with Jotham and Tom hunted with a bow. The moose were much more vocal this week, the guys were hearing them in all corners of the lake and they were getting great responses. I went for a jog to our gravel pit about 2 miles from camp and climbed to the top of the gravel hill. From there I spotted 2 moose in the back of a bay. When the hunters got back I told them of the moose and that's where they started the next day. Tom and Dan spotted a cow moose near the area, and they called to her for a while. There wasn't much going on until all of a sudden a bull answered back. Tom told Dan to get ready and steady himself for a shot. A small bull came out into view on the shore. Tom asked Dan if he wanted to take this one and Dan said absolutely! He took down the bull while Tom was calling him towards them, even after a couple of missed shots, the bull kept coming to Tom's calls! Jotham and Tom were not far away in another boat so they came along to help the guys clean the bull and get it into the boat to bring back to camp. Dan went back out that evening after buying a bear tag and sat in the tree stand for a few hours. Dan took a nice bear that same evening! Tom and Jotham worked hard every day trying to get another bull moose to come out for a shot with the bow but never had any luck. They had some calls and knew they were in the right spots, but the bulls were not as aggressive and wouldn't come out of the thick bushes. Every other tag sold this season was filled this year, so this was our best year yet! Tom (the guide) played a huge role in getting all 3 moose, Jotham (the guide) did a great job with the bear baiting, cleaning the animals and trying to get Tom his moose with a bow and Cindy's cooking was great!!
Here are the pictures from the fall, the fishing was pretty good too:
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Marty with a 350 pound bear taken on the first night of the hunt. Jim with a great moose with a 46 inch spread across the rack! |
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Dan with his bull and bear shot on the same day this fall! |
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Trevor and Tom with a great bull from Aswap Lake. Winston with a 45 inch Pike caught in mid September on a great fall day! |
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Dan and Marty with Lake Trout at the East rapids both about 33 inches. |
September 5, 2007: The outposts and the lodge are just about done for the season. Tomorrow we take out the last group from Joint Lake and do the shut down, then on Sunday we take the last group out of Aswap and shut down that cabin.
We took the boats and motors out of the Brook Trout River and here's a link of some of the fun we had that day: It's myself, T2 (Trevor the pilot) and Tom is running the boat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evX3GecfClw
The last group to come out of Aswap did quite well; 9 trophies, 2 40 inch Pike and 20 - 30 more that were 35 inches and bigger. Not bad for a group of 4! Here are their pictures along with a picture of a lynx that the chef and I took while cruising down the north channel:
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Paul with a 42.5 and a 41.5 at Aswap in September. |
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Paul with a 41.25 and a 42 from Aswap! |
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Larry with a 40 and a 43 inch Pike at Aswap, they figured the 40 inch Pike weighed over 25 pounds! |
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Jessie with a 42 inch Pike followed by the guys enjoying the new deck on the cabin at Aswap. |
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The Lynx swimming across the north channel, who said that cats don't swim? Tom with one of our many 18 - 20 inch Brook Trout caught and released that day! |
August 16th, 2007: Things are starting to wind down at the lodge now, we still have about a week left before the lodge is emptied out, then the outposts empty out by September 10th and then the moose and bear hunters come in for a couple of weeks at the end of September. The weather has been a bit cool and windy for the first half of August, but the weather is supposed to start improving tomorrow and stay sunny for a few days. I've had a few guides off the water for a few days and we've been able to get some projects completed. The new deck on cabin 1 is complete and we've expanded the deck on cabin 2 and 3. We have more lumber coming in to build a deck at Aswap and we've spent a couple of days at Joint Lake painting the floor, fixing a leak in the roof, fixing some boards on the dock, fixing the front step and doing a bunch of other maintenance. We're also going to paint the exterior of the cabin at Joint Lake when the new stain comes in later this week.
Here are a few pictures from the past week or so:
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The new deck on cabin 1 and the expanded deck on cabin 2-3. |
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Cole and his two biggest so far, a 38 and a 41, but I'm not sure which is which. |
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Don and Tom with Don's trophy Pike. Followed by the Johnson brothers who brought a lot of life to the camp while they were here. Thanks guys! |
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A 45 inch Pike caught at Joint Lake this week followed by a cow and a calf swimming near the old lodge site. |
August 9th, 2007: We've had another great run of trophy fish lately, but for early August the weather has been very unpredictable. Normally we can count on warm days with the occasional thunderstorm, but we've been weathered out for flying already twice this month and the forecast is calling for rain almost every day this week. Fortunately we were still able to move all our guests, but there were some delays and some missed flights departing Winnipeg. Some guests even opted to stay in on a couple of windy/rainy/cold days and I don't blame them! We had a group of 12 guys come in who lost some fishing time on the first day because the flight was delayed due to weather, then they stayed in the last day due to weather so they only had about 3 and a half days of fishing. On the bright side, when they went out, the fish were biting!! They landed 13 trophies during their stay and I lost track of the number of fish they landed that were just under the trophy size of 41 inches. One of our best days of the season was just last week when we landed 7 trophies in one day!
Another group of 5 who were here at the same time landed 4 trophies in 3 days, so it's been great lately!
Please send in your pictures so that I can get some more posted on the site! Here are a few of the trophies we landed within the last week or so.
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Andrew and Yvon with one of Andrew's trophies. Followed by Jan with her trophy Walleye. |
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Duff and Willie with Duff's trophy Pike. Followed by a sow waiting for shore lunch. Her cub was not far behind. |
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Paul and Scott with a trophy Pike followed by Greg with his trophy Pike. |
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Paul with 2 of his three trophies! |
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Bill and Tom with Bill's trophy Laker, followed by Steve and his trophy Pike. |
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Steve and Tom with a trophy Pike. Followed by Steve and Tom with Steve's 20 inch Brook Trout. |
July 30th, 2007: It's been a hot couple of weeks with the weather and the fishing!!! So many big Pike, so little time! Today alone there were 4 trophies and one 40 inch Pike, and the day isn't over yet! More great family stories to be told. Robin and her husband Bob along with her parents Ed and Leonora came up and landed a bunch of trophies. Robin had 2 trophy Brook Trout and a trophy Pike. Bob landed 2 Brook Trout and 2 Lake Trout trophies, Leonora landed a trophy Walleye and a 44 inch Pike but Ed was not as lucky :(
The father and son combo of Lou and Craig landed 6 trophy Pike, Lou with 5 and Craig with one. This was at least the 6th trip to Bolton for Lou, but Craig's first so it took him a bit of time to catch on.
The temperatures reached high into the 90's last week, and it was miserable! At night the temperatures were dropping into the 70's but it took a while to get the heat out of the cabins. Luckily we're now running the generator 24 hours and we've put fans in every cabin. The ice production slowed considerably but I had just enough with the emergency stock I build up in my freezers. It's supposed to be about 90 degrees again tomorrow but there's a breeze and some rain expected later in the day so I'm sure it will be more comfortable than last week.
More pictures:
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A couple of Bull Moose spotted this week. Moose hunting season is looking good!! |
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The cinnamon bear hanging around near a shore lunch spot. Craig and Winston with Craig's first trophy Pike! |
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Lou and Craig followed by Winston and Lou with 2 of Lou's trophies. |
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Winston and Lou with 2 more of his 5 trophies! |
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Bob and Tom with a trophy Brook Trout followed by Robin and Tom with her trophy Brookie! |
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Bob and Tom with Bob's 36 inch Laker followed by Robin and Tom with Robin's trophy Pike! |
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Jodi and I with Jodi's 25 inch Walleye, followed by Regi and Jerry with Jerry's 42 inch Pike! |
July 16th, 2007: The weather has finally turned to summer here, it's about 75 degrees and sunny with just a little breeze! They're calling for nothing but sunshine all week, so everybody is happy, especially the guides who have been out in a lot of nasty weather this year. There have been a bunch of trophy Pike and a few trophy Walleye caught over the past week including 2 more 45 inch Pike. Last week I reported about a few families and some husband and wife teams who were doing very well in the trophy department. Tim and Rick were here with their wives and showed them how to catch big Pike. The wives were quick learners, Pam landed a 39 inch Pike and Ginny got a 41 before the 5 day trip was up!
We had our best day of the season on the Brook Trout fly out last week. The two guests landed 18 Brook Trout and 3 were trophies! This time last year we were getting similar results, so I'm sure the next few groups will do just as well.
Here are a few more pictures from the past week:
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Rick with his 41 inch Pike followed by his wife Ginny and Cedrick with her 41 inch Pike! |
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Joe and Jim with Joe's second trophy of the week. Followed by Mike and his trophy Pike. |
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Jeff with a 28.5 inch Walleye followed by his fishing partner with a 29 inch Walleye. |
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The cinnamon bear that's been chasing the guests away from shore lunch. Followed by Regi and Earl with Earl's 45 inch Pike. |
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Tom and Jerry with a 21 inch Brook Trout followed by Jim and Tom with a 20 inch Brook Trout. |
July 10th, 2007: The weather has been pretty good lately, we're still getting a fair bit of rain but the temperatures and the winds have been good. The fishing has been quite good lately, there have been a lot of trophy pike and a few Walleye, Lake Trout and Brook Trout mixed in as well. Not to mention, yours truly was blessed with catching a 21 inch Sucker!!
Last week we had a group of 3 fishermen who wanted a fly out for Pike. I told them the only lake I had with boats was Kitchi Lake but I wasn't sure what the fishing would be like since it has been untouched since 2005 because of a forest fire which shut the fishing down. They were happy to take their chances and see some different waters, and they made out quite well. The 3 of them fished from about 8:30 a.m. until about 5:00 p.m. and they landed over 200 fish and the largest was 42 inches!! They found some spots completely full of Walleye and others that had a bunch of Pike, so they were quite pleased with their fly out and so am I since we're planning to reopen the camp in 2008!
Over the past 2 weeks there have been some great stories of families fishing together and getting some great fish. Judge Buffy and his son caught 2 trophy Pike one after another on the first night that they arrived. Yvon was their guide and they landed a 41 and a 42 inch Pike, the younger generation with the 1 inch lead! Then the three Terlep brothers came in and each landed a trophy Pike, Peter with a 44, Tom with a 41 and Mickey with a 45! Unfortunately, dad was beat out again, but I'm sure he was happy to see his boys with their huge northerns. Joe Danes Jr. and Joe Danes Sr. also caught trophy Pike on the same day but this time the older generation came out ahead by half an inch with a 43 compared to a 42.5! Then Ron showed his son Jeff how to land 42 inch Pike and 20 inch Brook Trout, a father's work is never done!! But it's not just the fathers and sons with all the glory, there have been a few husband and wife combinations getting in on the action as well. Shannon showed Mark how to catch a 28 inch Walleye, Tim and Rich showed their wives Pam and Ginny how they come to Bolton Lake every year and land 41 inch or bigger Pike!
Here are a few pictures: Unfortunately Ron's Pike and Brookie are not here, Judge Buffy and his son's Pike are not here, Tim and Rick's Pike are not here, and Mickey's 45 inch Pike picture was lost. If any of you are reading this, please forward me the pictures, thanks!
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2 Great looking fish from Aswap Lake! The Walleye are getting bigger over there! |
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Peter, Tom and Tom with 2 of the Terlep boys' trophies! The 44 is the one on the left. |
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Joe Danes Jr with Jim and Joe Danes Sr. with Jim with their trophies, one from the morning and the other in the afternoon on their first day! |
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Kip and Trevor with a 23 inch Brook Trout followed by Ron and Kim with Ron's 41 inch Pike! |
June 26th, 2007: Sorry for the lack of updates, it's been suggested that I call them bi-weekly updates! The weather and the fishing have been up and down lately. We seem to be getting rain every other day which I guess keeps the grass green and the forest fires away so we can't complain too hard. It's a bit cooler today with a north east wind and it's suppose to rain at some point in the day but it hasn't started yet. We've caught some really great fish lately including a very healthy 45.5 inch Pike and Manitoba's third largest Whitefish ever at 27.5 inches. This also beat out our earlier records of 26 inches at Bolton and 27 inches at Joint Lake.
I have heard lately that if you're in the process of getting a passport but you have not yet received it, you'll still be allowed to travel! This is mostly unconfirmed, but I've heard it from more than one source so I believe it's true. There are massive delays with passports being processed so that's why they're allowing people to travel.
Here are some more great pictures!
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Kevin with a 45 inch Pike caught on the fly at Joint Lake. A hungry bear chases the guys away from shorelunch a bit early and gets a free lunch. |
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Cody and Chris with a couple of nice Pike from yesterday, a 39 and a 41. |
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Jotham and Dave with Dave's 42 inch Pike followed by Devon and Jim with Devon's trophy! |
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Eric with his record setting 27.5 inch Whitefish followed by his wife Karen and her trophy pike. |
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Karen and Eric's son Joel with his trophy followed by Cedrick and Don with a 45.5 inch Pike caught on Sunday. |
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Steve and Yvon with a trophy Pike followed by Steve and Trevor (pilot/brookie guide) with a trophy Brook Trout. |
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Eugene and Cedrick with a trophy Lake Trout followed by Cedrick and Judith (Eugene's wife) with her trophy Walleye. |
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Jerry and Robin with a trophy Walleye followed by Dave with a 28 inch Walleye! |
June 12th, 2007: The fish are really starting to bite now. Last week we had huge success with Pike, Walleye, Lake Trout and Brook Trout! The big Pike were really feeding hard despite some rough weather and quite a bit of wind. One angler managed to land 4 trophy Pike himself using the big Bulldawgs! Normally I use smaller lures at this time of year but they were hitting the big stuff right away.
The weather has been fairly typical for this time of year. One day it's cold and raining and the next it's warm and the winds are calm. Today it should be in the 80's and we're likely to get a couple more thunderstorms.
The chef has been getting very good reviews from the guests! His muscle appetizers, home made apple pies and prime rib have received the highest compliments, and his ribs are great too! The staff is working out quite well this year, all the new guides are learning our lake quickly and implementing some of their own experiences to help our guests catch fish. We're excited to be getting Cindy back on Thursday to waitress and bar tend.
Perimeter Airlines is working out quite well. Their Dash 8 is comfortable and they're well set up for handling guests, gear and freight at their terminal in Winnipeg. Other than some weather issues, (which I'm working on controlling) things have gone very well with the planes we've chartered this year.
Here are a ton of pictures from the past 10 days.
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Yvon and Al with his 37 inch Lake Trout and turtle cheese cake for dessert. |
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Yvon and Mitch with a trophy Lake Trout and Al with a trophy Walleye. |
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Willie and Joe with 2 trophy Pike |
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Joe with 2 more trophy Pike, yes, he's the one with 4 in the same week. |
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Charles with a trophy Pike followed by Scott and a 27 inch Walleye. |
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Tom and Cora with a near trophy and Willie and Suzy with a 41.5 inch Pike. |
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Robin with the T-Bone Pike on Walleye and Tom and Steve with a trophy Pike. |
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Tom and Tom with a 22 inch Brook Trout followed by Tom and Robin with a near trophy Laker. |
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Tom and Robin with a 42 inch Pike followed by Tom and Linda with a 41 inch Pike. |
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Robin and Tom with a trophy on the fly followed by Bert with his 28 inch Walleye. |
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Pat and his son Brady with a 26 inch Walleye and a 44.5 inch Pike caught at Aswap Lake. |
June 1st, 2007: Less than 2 weeks into the season and we're already settled into a nice routine! Our new chef is getting very high praise and we were very happy to hear more compliments from the 2 new groups we had in last week. Most of them couldn't believe how friendly our staff was and how they had never had better shore lunches.
Our first ever spring bear hunter was landlocked with a nasty storm of snow and wind for nearly 3 days, but he was still able to shoot what he estimated to be a 300 pound bear. I won't post the pictures of the snow because I don't want to scare anybody off! We're continuing to bait the sites to get the bears used to finding easy meals in the spring so that we can have a successful spring hunt again next year.
The fishing has picked up quite a bit since the snow storm and we're averaging 4-5 trophies per day now. There have been some trophy Walleye, Pike, Brook Trout, Lake Trout, Whitefish and even a Sucker caught already this season! The guys at Joint Lake have 4 trophy Walleye and a trophy Whitefish so far. Between the 2 different groups at Aswap so far, they've landed 5 trophy Pike, one trophy Walleye and a trophy Sucker. Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks:
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Harold and John with a couple of nice Pike, one from Bolton and the other from Joint Lake. |
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A cow and calf walking near the shore. One group spotted 5 moose that day! |
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John with his bear taken from the West River and brought back to the lodge for some pictures. Followed by a 35.5 inch Lake Trout caught by Richard on Bolton Lake last week. |
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John with a nice Brook Trout caught on the fly last week. Followed by Winston with an early spring Pike in Mink Creak. |
May 22nd, 2007: We're officially under way with our first guests!! On Sunday 6 guys went into Aswap, 4 into Joint Lake and 7 guests came to the lodge. Tomorrow we have a full camp! The weather has not been cooperating as it did in April and early May, but we're still making the best of it. We've had some cooler temperatures and some rain over the last couple of days so the fishing has been okay but not incredible yet. We set up the Brook Trout flyout yesterday and I had to train the pilot and another guide (Willie) how to run the rapids and where to catch the Brookies....it was really nice to get out and have a bit of fun for a few hours. That was the first time that I wet a line since the ice has come off the lake, it's been tough looking at that open water and not getting out fishing, but there was a lot of work to get the camp ready and there wasn't any time for fishing.
As mentioned in a previous bulletin, we have some very nice St. Croix rods and reels to rent at the lodge this season. If anybody would like to rent just the rod but use their own reel, that's certainly an option. All the rods are spinning rods but if I get enough guests who would like to rent baitcasting rods, I can order some of those as well. Please let me know your opinion on this.
We have our first spring bear hunter in camp right now. Our timing has not worked out very well to meet the bear at the bait site, but the bear has been captured on the trail camera at least 5 times now. There are a couple of bears hitting the bait site, one that's estimated to be about 300 pounds, the pictures are below. With some patience and some luck I'm sure by Sunday he'll get his shot.
May 7th, 2007: The season is off to a great start!! All our fuel (almost 10,000 gallons), all our freight including beer, pop, beans, corn, water, canola oil, propane, outboard motors and miscellaneous supplies have been flown into the lodge. We also passed a runway inspection, although that was no surprise since the Hawker was landing at over 42,000 pounds and he came in 9 times with all our supplies. The runway inspection was required in order to ensure that we'd be able to use a new air service this year because Voyaguer Air with their Dash 7 will no longer be in Winnipeg to service our lodge. In stead we have Perimeter Air now lined up to transport most of our guests with their Dash 8's, below is a picture.
The ice is just about gone off of Bolton Lake! It really opened up with a big south wind the other day and the weather really was unseasonably warm over the past 4 weeks. Hopefully we'll get more of the same during the fishing season to make it easy for the guests and planes.
I've bought some very nice St. Croix Rods and good reels to match in case any guests would like to rent some equipment from me at the lodge. The airlines are getting more and more strict about bringing extra bags and oversize items like rod cases. I'm renting the rods and reels for $12 per day so you can have a light St. Croix rod and Fluegger reel and a medium heavy St. Croix rod and reel for a total of $24 per day. The line will also be included with the rod and reel combos.
Here are a couple of pictures from the lodge. I just got back yesterday and took the aerial shot as we left from the lodge.
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A view of the ice from the plane. This shows hole #2 and beyond that is the main body. The black ice can be driven through with a boat but the ice on the main body looks like it will be there for a couple of days. The second picture shows the open water in front of the lodge towards the airplane dock. My best indication of water level is this dock and the water level should be normal or even a bit high if it continues to come up. |
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The first picture shows the ice from the deck on the lodge. Plenty of room to land a float plane but we won't be able to access the rest of the lake until Friday I'm guessing. The second picture is the Dash 8 that we'll be using this summer. It's as nice as the Dash 7, but it's just a bit shorter and has 2 fewer engines. We'll be able to take 29 guests and their gear with this plane which means we'll have to put some outpost guests on another plane to get to the lodge. |
April 27th, 2007: I'm at the lodge right now working on the new cabin and packing the runway for the Hawker to come in with our freight and fuel for the season. We're expecting the fuel and freight haul to go quite well next week as long as the weather continues to be as nice as it is right now. The forecast is looking very good so we're very optimistic.
There have been some major changes in the ice and snow since I was first up here 2 weeks ago today. There's a fair bit of open water around the shore and the rivers and streams are all open. I expect that there will be almost no ice left here when I leave next Saturday. I'm sure there will be a good chunk of ice out in the main body of the lake but we should be able to access most of the lake by then.
Unless the forecast changes quite drastically, we should have a normal or even a bit of an early ice out. I'll post again when the fuel and freight is done late next week.
April 17th, 2007: I just returned from a trip into the lodge over the weekend and have a few things to report. There were 8 foot high snow drifts around the camp and at least 36 inches of solid ice in just about every place we augured holes. On the bright side, since we arrived on Friday afternoon at least 16 inches of snow has melted and there isn't much snow left on the ice. The weather report is very good for the next week and the runway is almost clear of snow already. Yvon, Winston and Tom are at the lodge finishing the new cabin and giving me daily snow and ice reports. There's a lot of melting that needs to take place but if the weather stays warm like this then it won't be a problem. Another cold snap or snow fall may delay ice out, but the weather looks good for a while. Once all the snow is off the runway and the sun has had a chance to dry it up a bit then we'll get on there with the packer to make it a bit more solid for the bigger planes to land and bring in all our supplies. Our new motors, pop, beer, furniture, siding for the new cabin and 12,000 pounds of other miscellaneous items are all in Thompson waiting to be flown into the lodge when we have the runway ready. The fuel will also be flown in around the same time as the freight.
There was a group of 15 Caribou on the ice near the lodge that we spotted with the ski plane that flew Winston and Yvon in and took me out. That was the first time I've ever seen something like that before! Tom took some pictures after I left so I'll have to get them from him next week when I go back to work on the airstrip.
Here's a picture of the lodge on Sunday April 15th. Hopefully it will look very different in a month!
April 4th, 2007: I've been told that it takes up to 10 weeks to get a passport now, so please do not wait any longer if you're flying to Canada this year and you still do not have a passport. We're going to have our busiest season since 2001 so we're very excited about this season. In 2008 we're planning to reopen Kitchi Lake provided the cabin, boats and fishing are all still good at the camp. We'll be taking groups into Kitchi to test fish it throughout the season so that will be a new fly out available to the guests this season.
It's looking as though it might be a late spring this year. It's a bit early to call but there's a lot of snow and ice up north so we need warmer temperatures than we're getting right now. The weather is supposed to improve next week but the long range forecasts are a bit of a guess. We'll be going up to the lodge next week to attempt our fuel haul on the frozen runway. Last season we waited until the end of April and the frost had already come out of the runway when we were there so it needed a lot of packing before we could bring in the Hawker which delivered 1600 gallons of fuel on each trip. When things go well we can get up to 5 trips in one day which would give us enough boat gas and almost enough Av gas for the season. We're also planning to bring in all our freight including 65 large propane cylinders, pop, beer, beans, corn, a new fridge, more building supplies, all the new motors, a few barrels of used canola oil for bear baiting, and a bunch of miscellaneous purchases we've made throughout the season for the lodge and outposts.
Jodi and Jordan are doing great! Jordan crawls and makes a lot of baby noises and she likes the dog better than any of her toys. Poor Niko is taking a lot of abuse from Jordan, but she's very good with the baby. It will be great having the girls at the lodge with me again this season, I know I wouldn't survive without them there.
If you're not already booked or if you're looking for a second trip this year, please check the rates page for the updated open dates.
February 13th, 2007: Well most of our sport shows have come and gone with only one left in Cleveland and another in Minneapolis. It's going to be a very busy season this year so we're really hoping for great weather and great fishing! Our new motors are on order, most of the staff is hired for next year (it's easy when you treat them right and they come back year after year), the lease for the float plane will be signed next week and we're going to be working on ordering the building supplies to finish up the new cabin and to put a couple of new decks on some of the cabins. I've bought a bunch of Lowrance X96's locators for the guides this year and I'm going to be sending the older units to the outposts so if a group doesn't own a locator, they can have something to give them their depth.
It's cold as heck in Winnipeg, too bad there are no shows in Florida for me this month! It's supposed to warm up this weekend so I might be able to take out my snowmobile and go ice fishing somewhere nearby. Please check the rates page for updated availability at the lodge and the outposts.
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:
Bolton Lake Lodge 36 Foxgrove Trail St. Andrews, MB R1A 2T3Our 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.
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Sharon with her 2 trophies caught with her favorite guide, Yvon. |
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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. |
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Fred and Cindy with Fred's 42 inch Pike caught yesterday afternoon, followed by Roger and his his near trophy in #2. |
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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!! |
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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.
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Bob with his 43 inch Pike followed by Regi and Helene with one of her trophies. |
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Cindy with her 38.5 inch Lake Trout followed by Perry and his trophy Pike. |
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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!! |
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John and Winston with John's new favorite trophy, the "Wolf pack of the North"! Followed by Matt and his trophy Pike. |
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A Pike on Pike T-Bone at Aswap followed by Kevin and his trophy Pike (not the same fish) |
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Ken and Jim with a couple of great fish from their trip. |
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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: 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!!
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Annette and Regi with 2 of Annette's 3 trophies for her trip! |
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Jon with his trophy Pike and trophy Brook Trout caught on the same day! |
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Jim and Tom followed by Tom and Tom with their 2 trophy Pike! |
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Tom and Tom withtheir trophy Laker followed by left over shore lunch enjoyed by our friendly bear! |
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Steve and Rick with Steve's trophy Lake Trout! Followed by a really cool underwater Walleye shot! |
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Louis with 2 of his trophy Pike guided by Winston! |
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Paul Mauer and guide Willie with a 45.5 inch Pike followed by David and his 45 inch monster Pike! |
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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:
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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. |
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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! |
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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! |
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Winston and Robin with a near trophy Lake Trout, followed by Ed with his trophy Walleye. |
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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! |
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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! |
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I had to add a picture of my trophy!! Jordan and Jodi are doing great...I'm looking forward to seeing them again soon! |
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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!!
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Jodi and I with baby Jordan followed by Jordan looking her best! |
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Tom and Daniel with a trophy Brook Trout followed by Mike and his trophy and Dan Jr. with his trophy. |
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Al with his 40.5 inch Lake Trout and his 37 inch Lake Trout. |
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Linda and Robin with her 35.25 inch Lake Trout followed by Judith with her 37 inch Lake Trout. |
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Larry and Dave with Larry's 45 inch Pike followed by Steve and Dave with Steve's 41 inch Pike. |
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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.
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Kermit Farrell and grandson Seth with their trophies during their 4 day stay! Yes, Seth out fished his grandfather the whole time. |
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Tom and Don with their trophy Brook Trout! |
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Tom with a trophy Pike followed by James with his 42 inch Pike! |
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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! |
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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.
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Karl Hunter with his guide Jim with a 41 inch Pike, followed by Dustin Daniels with a 44 inch Pike! |
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Kevin Malloy with a 38 inch Lake Trout followed by a great looking pair of bears spotted at the West River. |
September 10th, 2004: Sorry for the lack of updates, we have been busy with shutting down and taking short.....
August 8th, 2004: It's been hot and sunny here for the past few days, but today it's cold raining and windy...
July 23rd, 2004: I've been away for a few days on a great adventure down the God's River so I have not.....
July 12th, 2004: Jim Florczak and his guide, Marcel landed a huge 48 inch Pike last night!!....
July 6th, 2004: Finally some nice weather!! Although some of the guides and guests claimed to have seen some snowflakes...
June 25th, 2004: We're still waiting for summer here this year...it's been raining and cold for just about the entire month......
June 19th, 2004: Once again the weather was nothing like the forecast. We had snow, wind, hail, rain and down right cold......
June 16th, 2004: These updates are in high demand, I get more emails about keeping them coming than anything else.....
June 9th, 2004: I thought this picture was worthy of being shown right away. We've had some very nice looking bears....
June 7th, 2004: The ice is gone and the fish are biting!! We have not had a day without at least two trophies!....
May 30th, 2004: We have a full camp and all three outposts are open, but the ice is still not all gone.....
May 23rd, 2004: The weather and the fishing has been exceptional lately, but the lake is still frozen.....
May 20th, 2004: Yesterday was pretty good, between the 9 anglers they managed 4 trophy Pike, a trophy Walleye and...
May18th, 2004: The fishing is improving for my hardy group of anglers who have a two week fishing trip.....
May 16th, 2004: We were suppose to be welcoming our first guests this morning, but instead we got snow....
May 11th, 2004: Things are looking a bit grim for opening the camp early this year. We have guests arriving on.....
May 3rd, 2004: I was at Bolton and Aswap Lake yesterday bringing in more supplies and checking on ice conditions.....
April 13th, 2004: It's starting to look a lot like spring here, but the temperatures are still a bit low.....
March 22nd, 2004: The shows are over and we're just finishing up the preparations for the season.....
February 10th, 2004: Jodi and I just returned from an "All-Canada Show" in St. Louis.....
January 28th, 2004: We're half way through the Sportshow season and we're back in Winnipeg for a short break.....
December 19th, 2003: Jodi and I just returned from our annual vacation to somewhere hot.....
November 26th, 2003: Happy Thanksgiving to all our American Guests!!! .....
November 20th, 2003: Not too much new going on lately. We're getting ready for the Sportshows........
November 4th, 2003: It's been a very busy fall, sorry for the lack of updates.........
September 25th, 2003: We're back from closing up the camps. I have a few days to get.......
September 2nd, 2003: The season has just about come to an end at Bolton Lake..........
August 20th, 2003: Sorry for the lack of updates, I took a few days off to catch my breath and.......
Later on August 6th: Bryan caught a 36 inch trophy Lake Trout today bringing his total to 6 trophies in.......
August 6th, 2003: We're in the middle of another fantastic week of fishing here at Bolton Lake...........
July 29th, 2003: The weather has been so hot lately that staff and guests are swimming just about every night.......
July 19th, 2003: What a great week we just had!! Two 46 inch Pike, a 45 inch Pike and a 30 inch Walleye......
July 15th, 2003: Good fishing today! One guest came in reporting two forty inch Pike within..........
July 11th, 2003: The weather has turned back to normal and so has the fishing!! It took a ..............
July 7th, 2003: I should watch what I ask for... the weather has turned quite miserable. It's raining.........
July 2nd, 2003: I've been waiting for a day of bad weather to sit in the office and update the site.........
June 23rd, 2003: So much to report, where to begin. It took longer than expected, because ........
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