Pike are spawning, everything else seems finished

Ben and I paid a trip to the falls yesterday to retrieve my trail camera. I had left it there for several days, hoping to get a photo of a bear fishing for spawning fish. All I got was a couple of pix of the rapids when it seemed something, probably a bear, bumped the tree the camera was attached to. I also got this artsy photo of Ben as I took the camera down.
Ben rolled over some rocks in the fast water and collected the debris in a rubber net. He found fish eggs that are either walleye or sucker and several dead smelt which also were loaded with eggs.
Other people have seen suckers spawning in creeks around Red Lake. They are usually the last fish to spawn in the spring.
However this year, with our topsy-turvy ice-out coming six weeks earlier than normal, it seems the usual order of fish species spawning has been turned upside down.
It now looks like the walleye spawned weeks ago and perhaps, most of the suckers and the smelt.
Northern pike, usually the first fish to spawn, are doing it right now. We've seen them in their spawning areas thrashing around.
The pike are more-or-less right on time, at least as far as the calendar goes. Perhaps they are most sensitive to the photo period. Walleye, smelt and suckers must go by the time of ice-out and not the length of daylight.
In other news, we've had a cancellation for June 9-16 for a cabin for four. If you've been wanting to come in June but couldn't get a reservation, here's your chance. I updated the Availability listing today.
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Here's another unique eatery in Vermilion Bay

The Comfort Table Bakery is across the highway from Busters BBQ and toward the Northside Motel in Vermilion Bay.
It features gourmet coffee and delicious, unusual items such as carzones along with more common cinnamon buns and the like.
It is open at 7 a.m. for breakfast.
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Big "thumbs-up" for Vermilion Bay's Busters BBQ♦

We stayed in Vermilion Bay on the way up to camp with the staff and had supper at Busters Barbecue.
We all had rave reviews for this restaurant and its award-winning blueberry barbecue sauce.
The restaurant is next door to Famous Bobby's tackle shop, on the west side of Vermilion Bay, right on Highway 17.
Incidentally, many people have wondered if the gas station-restaurant has been rebuilt on the corner of the Red Lake Road and Highway 17. It has not. This popular stop for anybody coming up the Red Lake Road burned down a couple of years ago.
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Early spring scenes along Highway 105

Brenda and I made a quick trip down to Thunder Bay and back to pick up our staff: Ben, Jenn and Steph.
I snapped these pics on Highway 105 -- the Red Lake Road -- on the way.
The moose was drinking the salty water that accumulates along the roadside. Note the extreme light colour of moose at this time of year. They always look very scruffy now, mostly because they are shedding their nearly-black winter coats. Also, many times, they have large bald spots caused by the irritation from moose ticks.
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Something spawning at "the falls"

We took a boat trip to "the falls" yesterday and although we didn't see any spawning fish, we did see lots of bird droppings and what looks like bear activity along the banks of the stream.
I also saw some fish parts on the bottom in the rapids but couldn't tell what type of fish they came from. Presumably it was walleye as they are the first of the bigger fish to spawn in fast streams.
I also saw one dead smelt on the bottom. Smelt spawn in fast streams too but of course they are much smaller than walleye.
There were several eagles hanging around, probably eating spawning fish but also there is an eagle nest right there.
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Pike not spawning yet; loons just arriving

Brenda and I checked pike spawning areas a few days ago and didn't see any spawning activity yet.
Also, there were no loons when we got here a week ago but every day since we see another of the usual pairs showing up.
The water is still icy cold. How cold? Well, on a morning trip to town a couple of days ago I encountered new ice that had frozen overnight. The ice nearly spanned the entire Forestry Stretch which is a couple of miles wide. Fortunately I was able to find an open lead. The Lickety Split is capable of breaking a little ice but I wouldn't want to plow through miles of it.
The photo shows the ice pans in the open lead off of St. Paul's Bay.
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Check out Super 8 Motel and TIm Hortons

Tim Horton's restaurant greets visitors as they come into Red Lake on Highway 105. Right next door is the new Super 8 Motel, still under construction.
Remember, if you need to reach us at Bow Narrows Camp for the next week or so, call and leave a message or send an e-mail. With only Brenda and Sam and I at camp, we are not running our generator except for a few hours each day. No generator, no telephone or e-mail. We check our messages and e-mail each day when the power is on.

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We are in camp

 

♠

We got into camp on Thursday after waiting out another snowstorm, this time in Dryden.
The only ice in the lake was right where we dock at Red Lake Marine.
Camp was in good shape after the winter.
Temperature is below freezing at night but warm in the day.
There are already minnows around the dock.
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Spring storm delays us getting into camp

This is the scene out our front window in Nolalu, ON today, Monday, April 16.
We hoped to be on our way out to camp this morning but delayed our departure from Nolalu when we saw the weather forecast.
Red Lake missed the snowfall which measures about three inches in Nolalu and is twice that in other parts of Northwestern Ontario near Thunder Bay.
Highway 17 -- the Trans-Canada Highway -- was closed between Thunder Bay and Ignace this morning.
The main reason for the highway closure was freezing rain that fell ahead of the snow last night, creating treacherous driving conditions.
Meanwhile, up at Red Lake, the last of the ice has floated into Howey Bay and is jammed at the south end of the bay, right where we dock at Red Lake Marine. We could have avoided the jam by launching at St. Paul's Bay landing but there is also a -9 C temperature with a stiff north wind that makes the wind chill near -20 C.
We're not in that big of a hurry!
So, now our plan is to get to Red Lake and out to camp on Wednesday.
The weather is supposed to gradually keep warming up for the next few days and then be very nice next week.
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How big a fish can a northern pike eat?

It would seem that a northern pike can eat a fish that is up to 25% of its own body weight!
That means that a 20-pound pike (44 inches in Red Lake), perhaps like this one caught and released by Bow Narrows angler Paul Heneise, could eat a five-pound fish.
Often these really big meals are other pike. Northern pike have no qualms about cannibalism!
Although pike do eat walleye, they are almost always smaller ones. A 20-pound pike probably wouldn't consider a five-pound walleye. The walleye's dorsal fin is a formidable weapon against predators chomping down on it. Northern pike always grab their prey right in the middle and then swim off with them crossways in their mouths. After a few minutes it will release the fish and in a flash grab it headfirst. It needs to swallow it headfirst so all the fins collapse against the prey's body on the trip to the stomach.
Lots of our guests have northern pike attack the walleyes they are reeling toward the boat. These walleyes are almost always small ones, say, about a pound (12-14 inches). But rarely they can be as large as three pounds. I don't believe I have ever heard of a pike attacking a five-pound (25 inches) walleye.
When we clean northern pike caught in Red Lake, the most common bigger fish we find in their stomachs are, in order:
northern pike, white suckers, whitefish or tulibee (a type of herring).
Smaller prey found in the stomachs are, also in order: crayfish, perch, northern pike, walleye, smelt, rock bass.
Of all things found in Red Lake's pike stomachs, the most numerous are crayfish. This could be explained by the fact it takes a long time for the pike to digest the crayfish with their armoured shells.
Perch, usually about 4-6 inches long, are the most common fish found.
Common-size walleyes found are eight-to-12 inches.
Rock bass, although a widespread small fish, reaching lengths up to eight inches, are rarely found. This could be due to their own spiny dorsal fin.
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We got the call we've been waiting for!

Hugh Carlson of Viking Island Lodge and Outposts called this evening to say he flew his Cessna 180 on floats over Red Lake today and except for a bit of ice near town, the lake is open. So are all the other lakes around the west end including Douglas Lake where Viking Island Lodge is located. That's the lake that feeds the creek and rapids that we fish at the end of Trout Bay.
Hugh even went open water walleye fishing. Normally he goes ice fishing for walleye on the last day of the season, April 14.
You can check out Hugh's trip on Enid's blog.
Since most of the ice broke up on April 7, that is the day Hugh considers the official ice-out.
This beats the previous record of April 20 by nearly two weeks!
Hugh says, we could make it by boat the 20 miles out to Bow Narrows Camp if we skirted some ice off the Forestry Point and also right in Howey Bay, where we dock.
It should be long gone when Brenda and I get to Red Lake on Monday.
It was beautiful everywhere in Northwestern Ontario today with highs in the mid-teens C.
A rain system is moving in for the weekend and temperatures will fall but no snow is predicted.
The rain is welcome. Last year was extremely dry and there was little snow over the winter.
We need the rain to replenish the water table and prevent a bad forest fire situation from developing.
One of the worst times for forest fires is in the spring before the trees get their leaves.
Despite all the warm weather we've had this spring, the trees look more or less normal for this time of year. Leaf-out might come as usual in mid-t0-late May.
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Ice nearly out of Red Lake; we're ready to go

Brenda, our dog, Sam, and I will head to Red Lake this weekend.
Enid Carlson reports on her Viking Island blog that the ice on Red Lake is breaking up. It probably would have disappeared on Monday except the weather took a turn for the worse with cold and snow flurries.
Still, by all reports, there is a lot of open water around the sides of the ice and that always means the lake is within days of opening up. And the forecast is for near-normal temperatures which should mean a record-early breakup. The previous record was April 20 set just a few years ago. The average ice-out is May 8.
We will get to camp a couple of weeks ahead of the staff.
I'm sure everyone will be delighted to learn that Ben, Jenn and Steph -- our wonderful staff from last year -- are all returning this season.
They are sure a skilled, hard-working and fun group to work with.
It may be a little difficult to reach Brenda and I for the first couple of weeks once we are at camp. We probably won't run the generator full-time when it is just the two of us (and Sam). However, we will check e-mail messages every day or so and will also check our telephone messages. Call the 807-727-0439 number and make sure you leave a message and we will get back to you. You should also be able to reach us by calling our winter number 807-475-7246 as these calls will be forwarded.
We've had some new information from our IT representatives about e-mail for our guests this summer. The upshot is it is going to cost $3 (not $1 as previously reported) for guests to pick up e-mails using our computer and $5 if they access Facebook or any other social networking site. The reason is the extra data that is transmitted in photos on Facebook-type sites. There will be absolutely no downloading of videos allowed. We will have a laptop computer for guests to use in the lodge.
Our e-mail connection is not like what you have at home. It is all done on our cell phone minutes and our company does not offer an unrestricted data plan. Text messages use little data but images use a lot and video way too much.
We will once again try to create the connection where everyone can use their own cell phones at camp this summer. Last summer we installed the system but it never worked correctly. This winter we had all the equipment checked out -- it all seems fine. So we will give it another try but I wouldn't hold my breath. We did a pretty thorough job of trying every configuration for the system last year with no success.
Remember, you can always use the lodge telephone to make calls. And they only cost $3. That is probably far less than what it would cost on your cell phone anyway. But I understand that people would like the convenience to use their own cells and so we're working on that. If we get the system running it will mean there will be a small area in camp, such as the lodge porch, where your cell phones will work. They will not work in your cabins or out in the boats.
I've been asked to do an update on the lake trout population and study but I've been holding off because I think there may be some news from the Ministry of Natural Resources on this coming in the near future.

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If a lake leech gets on you, don't worry

You know why?
Because you would already be dead! The leech would be the least of your problems!
Lake leeches, like the one on a boat seat in the photo, are scavengers; they only feed on dead matter.
And it has been my experience that they make exceptionally poor bait. I think fish find them as appetizing as we would a vulture.
The good leech species for bait are the ones you get at the bait shop, are only a few inches long, are usually black but sometimes can be brown. They work excellently for walleye, especially when the water is warm.
Incidentally, leeches in bulk are sold by the pound, and one pound is about right for four anglers for a week.
The lake leech is probably eight inches long, when swimming. They sometimes have fluorescent spots on their backs and are really quite beautiful. They usually travel alone and their undulating, ribbon-like swimming motion always makes me think of some creature from Star Trek.
I have never seen the good bait type in the wild. They apparently only come out at night, and only in marshy areas. The prospect of trying to trap leeches at night in swampy (read this buggy) areas makes me appreciate the bait vendors.
Bait leech collectors everywhere -- thank you!
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A Tale of Two Lures -- Perfection or Misfit

What is the first thing we all learn about predators? They prey on the sick, the weak and the injured, right?
Which wildebeest gets picked off first by the lions on the Serengeti -- it's the newborn calf or maybe the old animal with the gimpy leg. That's common knowledge. A little kid knows and understands it.
Easy prey mean easy meals for predators.
So why do we fish with lures that are the image of perfection, that look and swim just like the perfect baitfish in its prime? We are trying to entice predators, in this case predatory fish, with replicas of prey that exude strength and confidence, that boast they are going to be anything but an easy meal.
Have you ever noticed that the older a lure gets, like the beat-up black-and-white Dardevle in the second photo, the better it works? Its raggedness is a turn-on for fish. It looks weak and injured.
Lure manufacturers should be making baits that don't track correctly, that start to swim forward and then turn to the side and go upside down, just like a dying minnow does.
Did you ever have aquarium fish that got the disease Ich? Their back halves usually turn white. Their tail fins rot off and they can just wiggle but not swim forward much. Wild minnows get a similar disease. Boy are they easy meals for a walleye or northern pike.
It's unlikely lure makers are going to follow my suggestion though. After all, their products don't need to catch fish, just fishermen, and people aren't as apt to buy a lure called the Sick Minnow as a beautiful Perch or Rainbow Trout.
But you can doctor your own lures to get the desired effect. By bending the fastening ring on stick baits like Rapala you can make the bait pull to one side. If you pause on your retrieve when it does so, you imitate a dying minnow. If you squish the loop so that it isn't round and bend the whole works downward, you make a greater wobble in the lure. It might imitate a fish missing its tail.
A file can quickly rub some of the paint off a new spoon, giving it the lived-in appearance of an old lure that has taken a lot of strikes.
When adding a trailer such as a plastic twister tail to a Johnson Silver Minnow or a Mepps Spinner, you can nick the grub with a knife in a few places, again, making it look less than perfect.
Give it a try this summer. One person in the boat can fish with a perfect lure, the other with a misfit and see who does the best.
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Whitefish Lake ice-out today, April 3, 2012

Here's the scene today at Whitefish Lake, near our home in Nolalu, Ontario. The lake was shore-to-shore ice yesterday.
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Roll out those lazy days of summer, Sam dreams

The sun and rain finally took away the three inches of snow we got on Friday.
After the incredible warm temperatures of two weeks ago, the weather has turned back to more-or-less normal.
It still looks like a record-early ice-out for all the lakes of Northwestern Ontario. In the Thunder Bay area the small lakes are already open and the big ones probably will join them in a matter of days.
Up at Red Lake we have heard the ice disappeared last week from the little lakes along the highway, just south of town. The usual rule-of-thumb is for Red Lake to follow two weeks later.
So despite the return of normal, cooler, temperatures, we can still be looking at an ice-out on Red Lake of approximately April 15.
It can't come soon enough for Sam and me. I'm always itching to get to work on camp, remodel cabins and make repairs before the guests arrive. Sam looks forward to using this mobile dog bed that is just perfect for him to keep watch on the place, when he isn't napping, that is.
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How did everything get to camp without a road?

We are asked this question all the time.
It's true; there are no roads here. Eventually it dawns on just about everyone who comes here that the logistics of getting things out to camp must be incredible. You look at everything that is at camp -- all the buildings, the fuel, the equipment, the golf cart, the diesel generators, the food -- and it seems there must be some trick involved.
"Ahh, I know," you think, "they brought it over the ice in the winter! I've seen the Ice Road Truckers show on TV. That's how they must have done it!"
It's a good guess, but it is incorrect. It is possible to drive big trucks over the ice on Red Lake but it is very risky to do it where camp is located. The problem, you see, is the current in the narrows. Actually, you have the same problem in many of the narrows, all the way back to town, 20 miles away. The current isn't even discernible in the summer but in the winter it is enough that the ice doesn't freeze deeply. In fact, the ice might not even be able to support a man's weight in spots. Many people have died this way over the years -- broken through the ice and drowned.
No, nothing at camp got there by truck.
How about helicopters then? Nope, it would just be too expensive to do it this way.
In fact, everything got to camp by boat and with only a few exceptions, it was the same boat that brings out our guests. The exceptions were a few trips using a small barge and a pontoon boat.
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Why do moose swim in the lake?

Red Lake is one of the best places in Ontario for seeing moose in the summer. Anglers at Bow Narrows Camp often get great viewing opportunities and photographs like this one by Jane Bechtel.
Why do moose swim in the lake anyway?
These largest members of the deer family are superb swimmers and think nothing about swimming miles across a lake. So sometimes when we see them swimming they are just traveling. This is especially true in the fall during the mating season.
During the last two weeks of May cow moose come right to the narrows where Bow Narrows Camp is located and swim out to small islands to give birth. I believe this is a defence strategy against black bears which are likely the greatest predators of moose. The bears are ravenous after spending all winter in hibernation and are on the prowl for newborn moose calves. There is evidence that they may kill as many as 50% of the calves. Although they are powerful enough, they rarely kill adult moose, seeming to do so only when they find them in vulnerable situations, such as giving birth or sleeping.
We have seen the cows with newborn, yellow-coloured calves swimming away from islands while a black bear was swimming toward the same island from the other side.
One year the cows and calves were obviously using the lake to get away from wolves as well. Our guests could hear the wolves howling all week at night and in the daytime would see the moose on the shore of the narrows and observed they were reluctant to leave the safety of the water. Mostly though, wolves prey on moose in the winter, not the summer.
Starting in early June and throughout the summer the moose also come to the water to feed. As soon as the water weeds start sprouting at the bottom of what will become weedy bays and creeks, moose will wade out in these areas and pluck the weeds off the bottom, often staying submerged for lengthy periods.
Moose seek out the water vegetation because it is higher in sodium than are terrestrial plants. All winter the moose have browsed on woody stems that are high in potassium and low in sodium. Animals need a balance between these two minerals for their bodies to function properly. So when spring comes the moose are craving sodium. This is why you see them so often in roadside ditches. They are lapping up the water and eating the plants that are growing where all the winter road salt has accumulated.
Moose will also travel long distances in the spring to mineral licks which are usually seepages where the water and soil have just a few parts per million of sodium and calcium.
Another reason moose come to the lake is to get away from flies. Deer flies, horse flies and black flies can torment these big herbivores. During bad fly times the moose will seek out windy areas along the shoreline and will wade out so that just their heads are above water and then they will dunk their heads under too.
Finally, moose will come to the water just to cool off. We have seen moose that hang out all summer on beaches, just like people do. They will lay down in the water for hours.
If you see moose on your trip to camp this summer, remember to keep a respectful distance. We share the lake with these neat creatures. Stay far enough away that you can observe without scaring them.
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How will early Red Lake, ON ice-out affect fish?

It looks certain like a record-early ice-out on Red Lake, Ontario this year.
Summer-like temperatures have wiped out the snow, rain has softened the ice, and ice-out should occur probably no later than April 15. The previous record was April 20 and normal ice-out is May 8.
So how will all the warm weather affect fishing?
Well, at Bow Narrows Camp at least, we can expect walleye fishing to be going gangbusters right from day one, which is May 19.
Walleyes at the western end of Red Lake bite the best when the water is warm. There is so much deep water at our end of the lake -- 100-plus-feet deep -- that the water never gets too warm. In fact, our walleye always prefer the warmest, shallowest, bays right until the water begins to cool off, normally in late-August. Then they move to the deeper water. We still catch them but our locations change.
The spawn for both walleye and northern pike should be long over by the time the season opens. Northern pike start spawning just as the ice is melting around the shorelines and walleye spawn as soon as the ice is off.
We're assuming the weather is going to continue warm through the spring but that may not happen. There's really no predicting what can happen anymore. But the odds are the water is going to be warmer than usual first thing this fishing season.
Northern pike are likely to prefer artificials rather than dead-bait this year. The dead bait works best when the water is cool.
Lake trout will likely have gone to deeper water than normal when fishing season opens. They like the cold water.
As far as the summer goes, my guess is it is going to be a block-buster for fishing. If the warm trend continues the fish are going to be more active than ever. Minnows and other food sources are going to reproduce like crazy and the fish are going to be feeding, feeding, feeding.
Warm weather is a good thing for us.
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Call him the Bow Narrows Camp dog whisperer

Bow Narrows angler Brett Styve had quite a following at camp last summer, a canine following.
The dogs were, Ben's black lab Buck, Janet Schonewille's golden retriever Scout, and our chocolate lab Sam.
Janet worked at camp for seven years but was just visiting last July. She used to be our outside worker who, among other tasks, cleaned everybody's fish. Now she is a teacher. So what does a former fish cleaner do on her holiday? Yep, goes fishing.
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