Do northern pike suspend? Yes, sort of.

I'm sure Bow Narrows angler Carl Cieplik didn't catch this beautiful northern pike by trolling over deep water. He almost certainly was casting along the shoreline and weedbeds.

But I have known of other anglers who "accidentally" caught pike, including some whoppers, by doing that very thing -- trolling lures that run just below the surface in waters that were 20-100 feet deep.

Usually these fishermen never expected to catch anything in these conditions; they were just moving from one island to another and didn't want to reel in all their line.

I don't know of anyone who caught many pike at one time doing this. Usually it's just the one.

So while its not a recommended way of fishing for pike -- just about all of them are along the shorelines or at least are on the bottom in deeper water -- it is possible.

In a way, I don't think these fish are suspended. Rather, they are cruising just below the surface.

Many times on dead calm days I've seen schools of fish, some of them pike but mostly lake trout, whitefish and tulibees, that have "pinned" a cloud of baitfish against the surface.

This phenomenon is called a "bait ball" by ocean fishermen.

There are also usually sea gulls, terns and loons taking part in the action. In fact, that is what you'll notice, all the bird activity out in the middle of the lake. They will spook when you are about a hundred yards away but you can then cut your motor and idle or paddle up to the bait ball. Usually you can catch three or four fish before either you scare everything away or you lose the location in the featureless center of the lake.

If you want to try something new when fishing at camp next summer, try trolling out in the big water on a day when the lake surface is like a mirror. Let out a lot of line, 100 feet or more, and use a shallow running stick bait such as Rapala. Try something that will stay within 12 feet of the surface.

You might just find a school of fish or big loners that are looking for bait fish that show up easily from below against the mirror surface.

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Scene helps deal with loss of our friend

We just learned we lost a good friend over Thanksgiving.

We're getting to an age now where we've lost quite a few friends as well as all of our elders.

That doesn't make it any easier.

I find some solace in this photo of a stump behind our home.

Where once a mighty tree had stood, now a young sapling grows. Life didn't end here.

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New Invisaswivel might be useful for walleye

A new, fluorocarbon swivel could be handy when walleye fishing this summer.

Called the Invisaswivel, it is said to be clear and strong.

Walleye are spooked by just about anything metal so I'm thinking this product could be just the ticket whenever you need to use a swivel such as when trolling walleye spinners.

You can also eliminate line twist when jigging for walleye by putting a swivel a couple of feet ahead of your jig.

Check out the Invisaswivel yourself.

The website is: http://www.aquateko.com/

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Village Corner in Vermilion Bay is no more

If you're like me you always made a stop at the Village Corner in Vermilion Bay on the way up to Red Lake. It was on the corner of Hwy. 17 and Hwy. 105 (the Red Lake road).

Well, the Village Corner caught fire and burned down last fall. I haven't heard if it will be rebuilt but I imagine it will, probably not before next spring, however.

The Village Corner was a busy place. It had a gas bar, terrific tackle shop, restaurant and some other shops. It was also the bus stop and a favorite truck stop.

If you need to get gas in Vermilion Bay now, you need to go farther west on Hwy. 17. Famous Bobby's sells gas and is also a great tackle and bait shop.

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Our 2011 fishing package rates same as last year

Here's some good news!

Our fishing packages in 2011 will cost the same as they did in 2010. In fact, they haven't changed for the past three years.

Our goal is to always offer a premium-quality vacation at the most affordable price while still making continuous upgrades and improvements to camp and our equipment.

In 2011 we will have all electric-start Honda outboards and a couple of new Lund boats.

Last season we installed a massive state-of-the-art septic system for the entire camp that uses peat moss as a biofilter. We also rebuilt all of our crib docks.

The year before that we put in a large water filtration plant that provides delicious safe drinking water to every tap in camp. We also rebuilt our boathouse.

We've got some cabin remodeling in mind for this coming season.

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How big a tree will a beaver cut down?

Our grandsons Quillan and Raven marvel at the work of North America's largest rodent near camp this fall.

The beaver that had been working on this quaking aspen was going to need more than one night to do the job.

These animals only eat the bark from the trees and prefer the new growth on the limbs rather than the tough bark on the trunk. This tree just had a few branches, probably 60-70 feet off the ground.

I knew a wildlife researcher who was able to show that beaver are able to calculate the work that must go into cutting down a tree compared to the nutrition they will gain from it. When beaver first move into an area they cut down small to medium-sized trees, bypassing big old trees like the one in this picture. Eventually, when there is almost nothing left, they take the time to gnaw down the big projects.

They will go about 100 feet away from the water to get trees. In this photo all the smaller trees in the background are white birch. These aren't favored by beaver as long as there are aspen, alders and willows to eat. But when it takes too much work to get their favorite food, they'll turn on the birch too.

Beavers are as common around camp as are robins in other parts of the world. We see them every evening swimming around the docks.

Although beaver run afoul of humans because of their tree cutting, many other creatures appreciate the beaver's hard work.

They create clearings in the forest where new growth will sprout and provide food for herbivores like moose and deer. Ruffed grouse like to eat rosehips that grow on wild rose bushes in these spots. In winter, snowshoe hares nibble on the stems of the young aspen that will spring up from the roots of the old tree.

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A great day to take a ride aboard the Lickety Split

These were the views out the bow and stern of our camp trip boat, the Lickety Split, during a calm day on Red Lake, Ontario, last summer.

Such mirror-like water is a pleasure to make the 20-mile journey in although it's not a favorite with our fishermen. They prefer a little "walleye chop."

The Lickety Split can make the voyage in nearly all weather. One type of weather system we do avoid is the thunderstorm. If we encounter one during the trip we simply go to the safety of the shoreline and wait until it passes. But normally we can time our departure at the dock to avoid thunderstorms altogether.

"A sudden storm is soon over," is the old adage and a good one. Waiting-out a thunderstorm normally means just a 15-to-30-minute delay.

In most conditions the Lickety Split can take nine people and their gear to camp or back to town in just 35 minutes. In rough water, however, the trip can take twice that long as it is necessary to slow down and sometimes to follow alternate routes.

We always see loons and eagles during the voyage and sometimes are lucky enough to spot swimming moose, deer and black bear as well.

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I've got to get one of these 'diesel deer forwarders'

Our son Matthew uses his diesel Kubota tractor to take out a nice buck from the woods.

My brother-in-law Ron got this 10-pointer.

I've been concentrating on deer hunting since we got home from camp and have seen a bunch but I'm waiting for "Mr. Big."

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The beauty in small things

This fritillary butterfly resting on the weathered wooden step of one of the buildings at camp caught my eye this fall.

It's amazing the detail delivered by the macro mode of small pocket cameras. I used an Olympus FE 340 which is about the size of a deck of cards.

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How to temporarily paralyze a walleye

Gently push forward the walleye's pectoral fins (they're the ones on the side near the head) and a walleye absolutely cannot move. It's as if the fish was paralyzed. It will sit motionless on your hand until you allow the fins to flip backwards again.

You can use this little trick to amaze your friends next summer.

First say that you are going to put the fish into a deep trance.

Look deeply into the fish's eyes, all the while saying the magic words, "balloon ball, balloon ball."

Then stretch the fish out on on your palm (with the fins pushed forward).

Incredibly it will lie motionless.

Then, with the other magic word (and a slight shifting of your hand away from the fins), "Shazaam," and the fish comes back to life and jumps into the water.

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Walleyes brilliantly colored in 2010

Not only were walleyes especially plentiful in 2010, they also seemed exceptionally beautiful.

Check out this beauty held by Bow Narrows angler Jason Pons.

Was it just me or were the walleyes actually a deeper hue of gold last summer?

Comments anyone?

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Great feeling to have next summer's wood ready

Our son Josh was at camp for a couple of weeks this fall and he managed to split, stack and cover what should be next year's supply of firewood.

Here he stands amid some of the 10 cords of aspen firewood.

The trees were felled by the crew that installed our new septic system last spring. September was the first occasion we had to buck-up the trees into stove lengths.

In the Boreal Forest we don't have the great firewood species of trees that most of our guests from the States enjoy. We simply burn whatever is available. For years following a spruce budworm infestation, we burned balsam fir because there were dead, dry balsam all around the camp. It has about the lowest heat value but the standing trees are an extreme fire hazard so we had to get rid of them.

When we go looking for firewood by boat we usually get dead standing jackpine or white spruce.

Quaking aspen such as the huge pile split up by Josh burns about as well as pine or spruce. But it always must be cut green and then split and dried. You never find a dry aspen on the stump. Dead trees are always punky.

White birch is our species with the most heat value but it also must be cut and dried for at least six months before using. The birch bark is very resistant to rot and is also waterproof (that's why it was used by the native people for canoes.) You can find hollow lengths of birchbark in the forest where the tree has fallen down, it's inside rotted away and nothing is left but the bark.

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Thanks to our great staff of 2010!

The Year of 2010 was one the busiest seasons we have ever had; yet, it went off like clockwork thanks to our talented and hardworking staff.

This photo was taken as the three staffers left in late August. I was unable to upload it to the blog at the time due to our Internet connection problems.

The three staffers in the Lickety Split with Brenda and I are Landon Broennle, Kristina Belanger (next to Brenda) and Emilie Godin.

The trio were on their way to catch a Bearskin Airways plane for Thunder Bay.

You can't quite see it in the photo but Kristina and Emilie were wearing black rubber boots. That was because they had reached the airline's baggage weight (and space) limit and they still hadn't packed their trusty boots. So they simply wore them home, even though it was a pleasant day!

That kind of aplomb was typical for these three. Nothing got them down or frustrated them.

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The season is over and we're home

Brenda, Sam and I are back home again.

We pulled out of camp a week ago and spent most of last week in Dryden where we attended the annual conference of Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario (NOTO).

We also had to make two trips to our home in Nolalu and one extra trip back to Red Lake to ferry all of our belongings including a bull moose and a wood chipper.

Now that I'm back in the world of high-speed internet I find I can upload photos to the blog again. It would seem our clunky telephone connection at camp was finally just too slow to communicate anything other than text. This may mean we will need to install a satellite system next season.

Anyway, we're home now and I can update the blog regularly again.

The photo above was taken the morning we left camp. I think sunrises are even more beautiful than sunsets. Their color changes by the second.

It was good we left camp when we did because the next day saw something resembling a hurricane strike the entire region. There were winds of 80 kmh (50 mph) and rain that came down in sheets for the entire day. We could barely stay on the road as we drove the moose meat down to Nolalu.

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Lake trout spawning project a success

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources crews left here yesterday after gathering 100,000 or so lake trout eggs. The eggs will be raised in the OMNR fish hatchery in Dorion, near Thunder Bay, and the fingerlings released back to Red Lake in 18 months time.
I believe this is the eighth year of this project which is intended to ensure Red Lake continues to have a viable lake trout population while researchers determine why the fish cannot successfully regenerate in Pipestone Bay.
It still isn't clear why they cannot reproduce there. So far we've learned that the fish are healthy, the water is pristine but there seems something about the sediment that kills the trout eggs. It was thought that manganese, a naturally occuring metal that is present in the very rocks where they spawn, might be the culprit but that is now not so certain.
Even if it was the problem the scientists are stumped why it didn't affect the trout eggs in the past. There is also some evidence that the problem might be slowly going away. Many of the fish being caught for the spawning project are relatively young, perhaps 8-12 years old. The poor spawning record of the trout seems to have begun in the 1980s. The presence of the young fish means trout are successfully spawning somewhere. But the lake trout population continues to be just a fraction of what it was 20 years ago.
Fishing regulations require all anglers to immediately release lake trout on Red Lake. They must also use lures with single, barbless hooks when targetting trout. Barbed and treble hooks are OK when fishing for other species.
Although the bulk of the OMNR spawning crew left camp on Thursday a small group stayed behind to catch more trout whose eggs will be reared in incubation boxes that are placed in various locations around Red Lake. The eggs inside the boxes will hatch this winter and the hatchlings can swim free out into the lake. It is hoped they will imprint on the shoals where the boxes were placed and come back there to spawn when they become mature. In this way the trout could be encouraged to spawn somewhere other than Pipestone Bay which is the only location they are unsuccessful.

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Sleet, snow and high winds -- brrr!

I had the roughest trip of the season yesterday getting back to camp from town.
High winds straight from the west made big waves for the entire trip. To make matters worse it began sleeting and there were even some big snow flakes coming down.
The temperature was in the 40s F or about 8 C. Truly nasty weather.
The weather has been "going out" now for a couple of weeks.
It's the kind of conditions that should send the geese streaming south but we've only seen a couple of flocks, probably because the wind direction has been wrong. The geese here fly mostly east to west in the fall, from Hudson Bay to Manitoba. We've had a lot of westerly winds so they would have flown into a head wind if they tried.
Fishing is about as tough as it can get, except for lake trout. The trout are right on the surface and are on a feeding frenzy in preparation for spawning in a week of two.
All trout here must be immediately live-released.
There is only one way to fish for walleyes in these conditions: anchor or drift and use minnows for bait, either on a hook and sinker, a spinner or a jig.
Trolling at any speed is just too aggressive for these fish.
Probably the best way to catch northern pike is to fish for walleye. They are down there eating them.
You can get a few pike by casting but the fish are almost entirely in deep water now.
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2011 reservation availability is on the air

Next year's fishing reservation availability is now online.
Just go to the website and click on Availability.
We will be in touch with guests with existing reservations in about a month asking for deposits to secure those reservations. This is earlier than in the past but reflects a trend in vacation planning.
Many people are inquiring right now about coming to camp next summer.
We're still having a tough time getting on the Internet here at camp. I hope I can get one of my computer-savvy brothers-in-law to figure out the problem when they come moose hunting in October.
I still cannot upload or download photos, not even small ones. That's a real bummer because I have some great photos I would like to share.
If nothing else, I will be able to get full Internet access once we return home in November.
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Rotten weather impacts the fishing

There's nothing anybody can do about it, of course, but crummy weather like we had last week really does hurt the fishing.

The weather went from bad to worse ending up Friday with a horrendous downpour, gale-force winds and plummeting temperature. Earlier it had only been windy and rainy.

Except for Friday, most everybody was able to get out fishing despite the inclement conditions.

They mostly found the walleye lethargic at the beginning of the week and then biting well by Thursday. Pike were hardest to get but Thursday, which was sunny, was also the best day.

Several people caught and released lake trout while walleye fishing. The trout have been shallow all summer, I think because their former forage fish, smelt, have all but disappeared.

Smelt are an exotic species that somehow got into the lake about 20 years ago. Their numbers exploded and they became a favorite food fish for all species because they are rich in calories. They mostly existed in the deepwater, the same location as the trout.

The smelt largely displaced native ciscoes also known in Red Lake as tulibee. Then the smelt population crashed two years ago. No one knows exactly why but it happens every time they invade a new lake. Their numbers skyrocket, then crash, and finally reach an equilibrium which will be just a tiny fraction of what it once was.

We are seeing signs of a comeback of tulibee now that the smelt are gone but it will take a couple of years. In the meantime the trout don't have much to eat down in the depths and are coming shallow looking for the same food the walleye are gorging upon: shiners, daces, other minnows, perch, etc.

The "eats" in the shallows are apparently very good indeed. Walleyes and northern pike are the chubbiest we've ever seen them.



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Computer-Internet woes continue

Sorry about the lack of blog activity.
I have had a terrible time connecting to the Internet and once I do, for some reason, cannot upload photos to the blog or download e-mails with photos.
Also I just don't have the time necessary to solve the situation. I get a couple of ideas and try them and when they don't work, don't get another chance to try something else for several days.
The weather has turned cool and damp. Fishing has been slow although some people have no problem catching walleye. Most folks, however, are struggling.
The key, it seems to me, is to anchor, not troll, and fish on the bottom with a hook and a sinker. Sliding sinkers are probably best as the fish cannot feel their weight when they pick up the bait.
You absolutely must be able to keep your bait on the bottom or you are wasting your time. With that in mind, you need sinkers from 1/2 oz to one ounce. Pretty heavy stuff but as long as your line slides through the sinker the fish don't know it is there.
Minnows seem to be working best now.

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Northern pike seem to like the unruly weather

Anglers are doing quite well on northern pike this week.
All four fishermen in one cabin, for instance, have joined the "Over-40-inch Club."
The weather has been very unsettled with lots of high wind and cold fronts.
This has made for tough walleye fishing, at least for the big ones. We're still getting lots of smaller walleye -- up to 23 inches -- but the really big ones are either lethargic and not biting or have moved.
We've also caught quite a few lake trout while walleye fishing.
We heard the first sandhill cranes migrating yesterday-- a sure sign of fall.
Incoming anglers are reminded to bring excellent raingear and rubber boots.
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