Guest and long time friend Carl made it up, bringing a new crew this year including his Dad. Let me clarify we are not offering American plan, but if we were, I would want Carl and Murph to be our camp chefs- from steaks to surf and turf fried rice, Italian, and the potluck stuffed mushrooms, I think I gained 5 pounds while they were here sharing some of their fare. Carl's enthusiasm for the Wabaskang is evident in this sound byte (click on arrow above) I caught as he walked down the steps to the docks one morning. He was so giddy describing getting to the spots he had only seen on a computer doing 9 months of Google Earth research- "There it is- I can't believe we're actually here". He was rewarded with some huge smallmouth and some good times.
And when Ryan's friend left, my dear friend and former coworker Linda and her fishing mate Bruce joined us. Her first night here she said the sky was like a "sunset on steroids":
Water temps are warmer than normal, in the low 70's. It hasn't stopped the walleye from biting, but in general fishermen are working catch them. The weeds are starting to emerge and depths caught at have ranged from 6-12 feet. Some parts of the lake system have slowed, but now that the sanctuary zones have been lifted and musky opener has begun, we'll see if there are some new stories to be told. Already seeing some mayflies in lake 1.
Yes, this guy was back and was often mingling with guests in the fishhouse more than he was out on the lake. But he did manage to get some quality fishing trying new spots:
Finn and Dad, Chris, made it up again and Finn definitely has the fishing bug- asking lots of questions among guests and soaking up the answers. He nabbed a nice 24" walleye among many others. The love of learning about fishing is a joy to see:
Skip brought many of the same guys back including son Wil:
with the addition of a couple new guys, Mark and Paul. Paul had fished Wabaskang in 1961 (back when you could just pitch a tent and camp out on the lake) but then got into fly fishing and so fishing trips and life took him elsewhere. He said he was impressed with the health of the fishery this time and not surprisingly, remembered some of his spots from back then and they still produced.
Ronan, celebrated graduating high school on this year's trip and caught this smallmouth giant:
Jerry brought buddy Matt along this year and they just had a ball on and off the water catching such quality fish. (We missed you Anne!)
Matt got a little spoiled catching big ones like this on his first trip up:
Brad Harris got into some nice fish despite being a Cubs fan:
Pics came in from our new Scrapdaddy crew that learned the Wabaskang program in no time and were so fun to get to know:
Another staple of the Canadian experience, Earl caught this bear sighting; nothing gets past him:
The comraderie among fishermen here has been outstanding. It's so neat when repeat guests like Jerry Fiene and the Mintas reunite on the docks after a year and are excited to see one another. A couple cabins may have been a little slow gettin out in the morning cause they got to hangin with guys from the cabin next door. Our most recent potlucks have been the biggest turnout I ever remember. During the pre-dinner social, a guest described fishing is like a puzzle. The pieces are all there- the wind and depth variables, the choice of bait/tackle/color/size, countless "spots" to try, and even speed. Some days the puzzle is easy to put together, and some days the pieces just don't seem to fit; but the challenge is always there and never gets old.
Cheers Dr. Bob:
It's been those fishin off the docks sprinkled in with bags, some live music, kayaking, and watching the sunset kind of weeks. Though we've needed rain badly, guests have taken advantage of the beautiful weather:
Ryan and I feel very lucky to be surrounded by such positivity. Earl is doing cartwheels half the time, Patsy has been a huge help with housekeeping, and the locals have come through when we've been in a pinch. Thanks to Vance at Pearson's welding some lower units so we could get them back on the water right away, as well as Lakeside Marina sending parts on moments notice, Whiskey Jack and Leslie's offering such great food to our guests, and Clarks has been coming through with our minnow orders every time. It takes a lot of collaboration to run a seamless (I use that word very loosely) operation, and we appreciate all those that help make that happen.
Woohoo- we surpassed 100 Facebook followers lol. We'll eventually get back to where we were at- thanks to those that switched to our new active page- here's another link to it to follow us here
Our library continues to grow! Thanks to those who have donated- we gotta find room for another bookshelf. We feature Bob Allen's children's book- a favorite for any kid fishing Canadian waters. Bob, the author, does the sports show circuit and autographed our copy:
And here's a quick video on how to net that huge pike- congrats to Steve's son Luke on this 40 incher:
At the end of week 3 here was the leaderboard:
And at the end of week 4, here's their leaderboard:
And props to Rich Simonson and Dave Woulfe on landing a 28" lake trout that hadn't been put up there for the week. And just before publishing, Ryan informed me that Dan from Illinois caught a 26" walleye to take the official lead for the week.
And finally happy Father's Day to all the men out there. So many fathers, sons, grandsons, and grandpas up here it warms our hearts. We love it that at Tall Pines men can be men, and boys can be boys! In a world where wokism tends to condescend masculinity, we love it that there is no PC police up here, and men and fathers are celebrated. Thank you Dads- you are simply the best!