All About May

Welcome to the 2026 fishing season! Wow- it's been a whirlwind since we got up to camp about 5 weeks ago. In this first blog of the season, you'll see everything happening at Tall Pines in the month of May- opening week fish pics, and a look at the late ice-out pre-season activities.

Opener week started off very strong, and we are glad our anglers were awarded for putting up with some colder than normal temps, and some added nervousness due to such a late ice out. The water temps started in mid 30's! and creeped to the low 40's by the end of the week.

Opening Day was epic for some- Bob Paterson came in with a fun story on catching a 30" walleye, and I'm sure he was thinking that had to make the leaderboard:

And that would have topped the leaderboard for all of the 2025 season. Except Brian Garett caught and released a 26" walleye in the morning, and then caught and released a 31.5" walleye later in the same day!

And Brian's buddy Johnny had some first timer's luck with his own 30 incher:

Previous Tall Pines owners Steve and Andrea braved the cold and also caught a mixed bag last week too:

Our Eagle's Nest crew had fun reeling in so many different species. They also won the award for cleanest cabin for the turnover! Jay and Paul sent in some of their pics:

Frank caught a thick 23.5" walleye while Bender landed a nice 22.5" whitefish:

Our Bear's Den crew caught and released so many quality female walleye. Love seeing the smiles on their faces:

They also got into some nice northern and smallmouth too:

So after a very competitive week1, here's the leaderboard:

A glimpse at the crisp, calm morning stillness before the anglers' stir:

The first half of May was quite busy too! If you follow our Instagram, Facebook, or Tiktok page you've probably been seing some videos of how we entered camp with about 3 feet of snow. And then, after a couple nice weather days in early May, the temps dropped and simply stayed cold.

We also had the latest ice-out on lake 1 since we've been around. The last two years it went out May 2 and May 8th, and this year it didn't go out until the day before guests arrived, May 14th about 5PM.

We even attempted to put in the docks while there was still ice in front of camp! A great example of just how good people are up here...Nick from Wine Lake was waiting to get to his camp, and saw us with the docks floating near the falls, and so he used his boat to break up the thicker ice in front of camp so that we could get the docks in.

It was pretty surreal to watch. (Fortunately for him, his worker (Rob) snowmobiled to Wine Lake a couple weeks before so they were able to get everything ready for Saturday's opener).

With the accumulated snow slow in melting, many of our pre-season set up was made into a challenge. We went through our firewood in no time, and had to find more. The wintery overnight temps prevented Ryan from getting water to cabins, so I had to carry pails of hot water to each cabin to do final spring cleaning. (It makes me extra grateful I did a deep clean in the fall). We had to shovel pathways free of snow to get into buildings such as the Bears Den where we tackled some bathroom improvements:

But we still took moments to take it in...

The momma moose and calf trying to cross the ice near camp

the otter poking through the ice near shore; the countless ducks that chose to wait the ice out right in front of our camp

Eagleman and friends doing daily flyovers as if asking "What's taking so long?"; and more grouse than usual- claiming territory smack in the middle of the driveway. There are a couple days that were so incredibly peaceful due to the stillness- the quiet- that time when the ice is still thick and you don't hear a sound- not even the wildlife nor the waterfall in the distance. The occasional firepit and cocktail hour breaks on the decks.

The nights where you pass up watching the White Sox win because the sunset view demands your attention.

And after the sunsets, when cabins were full of guests and we were fast asleep, guest Craig Tebon used his photography skills to capture these moments that are magical:

And many of you have heard by now that our former dockhand Earl retired. After helping countless of you with your boat anchor, it was time that he dropped his anchor back home in Fortune, Newfoundland. His decision did not come lightly and we appreciate all the nice comments on his farewell collage video on Facebook.

With enough notice, earlier this year we were able to search all over Canada for the perfect someone to fill the void and serve you. What we found was a Newfoundland couple TEAM, and we are loving all the ways they are already elevating the Tall Pines experience! Meet Gerry and Shiann MacPherson:

Gerry and Shiann have so much life experience they brought with them and their motivation to serve our Tall Pines guests stands out. And they also brought their adorable dog May. She loves belly rubs and is taking in all the scenery and smells.

We have a feeling it's gonna be all about May :)