May 3rd, 2010: We’re about to get started with another great season of fishing, fun and food! Our next big project is the fuel and freight haul as well as getting the camp open and ready for business. Later this week I’m going to Flin Flon to get trained on the Cessna 206 so that I can fly the float plane this summer. We’re going to have a pilot hired to do 99% of the flying but I’ll be ready in case we need a back up plan.
On Sunday we’re going to rent a 5 ton truck and drive it to Norway House with a load of supplies. We’re going to charter a Cessna Caravan to fly in our beer, pop, canola oil, the new toilet system for Joint Lake, a new lawn mower, all the propane (approximately 60 cylinders) and miscellaneous supplies and food. The same Ag Tractor (crop duster) we used last season will make 12 flights between Norway House and Bolton Lake with approximately 800 gallons of fuel per trip. It should take us 3 or 4 days but after those few days we’ll have almost 10,000 gallons of fuel, 10,000 pounds of propane (it’s heavy because the cylinders weigh so much), 8000 pounds of beer (good times!), 5000 pounds of pop and food (just a start), and a few more thousand pounds of miscellaneous equipment, supplies and gear. I have Willie, Tom, Dillon and Cary all set to help me move all our supplies and as we’re waiting for planes to arrive at the lodge and in between flights, I’ll be setting up the water system and opening up the cabins and the lodge. Once the big haul is done we’ll get the float plane over to the outposts to install the new toilet system at Joint Lake and get those cabins open and ready for guests.
The big news is that the ice is off Bolton Lake already! I have not heard about Joint or Aswap but it’s safe to say that those lakes will be open as well because all our lakes go within a day or 2 of each other. Once I get to the lodge early next week I’ll report on water levels and update our progress but this year will be a cake walk compared to the years we’re fighting with late ice. It’s amazing how the ice can go 2 weeks late one season and then 2 weeks early the very next season!
We have some late May dates open for this season due to some unfortunate cancellations, with the early ice out these will be very good dates for Pike, Walleye and Lake Trout!