Thanks to our gracious guests we had another great year of fishing even though we got off to a late start. Like many, we received more than our fair share of snow last winter, followed by an extremely late Spring causing us to cancel guests scheduled for opening week. Fortunately, some of those that got iced out were able to reschedule to later dates while others were forced to forgo their 2013 trips. When the snow and ice finally melted we were able to get the camps ready for guests arriving the following week.

Even though water levels were very low the previous Fall, we started out in the Spring with high levels. Through much of June and July we received above normal amounts of rain and water levels stayed high. Each time it rained people would comment that they had never seen it rain so hard. On a few occasions we saw water levels rise a few inches in a matter of minutes and a few feet within a day or two of the rain ending. One of our biggest challenges this past year was keeping up with the grass that would not stop growing and keeping the camps supplied with dry firewood. This was an abnormal year and we should not expect to see similar weather next year.

We are commonly asked “what will the water levels be like in the Spring?”. Before winter arrived and the lakes froze over, water levels were about normal. We anticipate water levels to be normal in the Spring.

As many already know, in the Spring of 2012 we purchased Armstrong Outposts and added their 6 fly-in camps to our existing camp operation. All of these lakes proved to be a great addition, offering truly spectacular fishing and additional choices for those wanting to try new lakes. Since taking over these camps we have made a number of improvements including new and larger motors at some, new docks at a few and new outhouses at all of them. This coming season we plan to continue to upgrade each of these camps with more new docks, new motors and at some locations larger boats.

At the remainder of the camps we hope to construct new fish cleaning houses at the few that still do not have this upgrade as well as new 16 foot boats at some.

Over the past few years, increasing numbers of guests are going to Google Maps or other similar web sites to plan their journey to our base. This has lead to an inordinate amount of confusion to many. Firstly, if you are navigating with a GPS or getting driving directions from the internet, we are located in Armstrong Station, Ontario which is the full name of our community. By using Armstrong, Ontario only, you will be led to an even smaller town in Eastern Ontario by the Quebec/ Ontario border. Also, these websites most often grossly overestimate the driving time. We are 145 miles north of Thunder Bay which is at most a 3 hour drive. In many cases Google Maps will tell you that it will take 5 hours. Please phone or email if you need any assistance finding us or want our opinion of the best routes to take and how long it should take.

At this point, we have camps available anytime from May 17th, when our fishing season opens in 2014, until late September. Please phone or email and we will be happy to send you a list of all openings at each camp.

For those planning a moose hunt, we still have adult bull, adult cow and calf tags available. The hunt for 2014 starts Saturday, September 20th for Ontario residents and Monday, September 22nd for non-residents.

 

Air Service News (Wabakimi Air)

In the Spring of 2012 we decided to lease our aircraft to another company and contract them to do all of our flying. Unfortunately this was not one of our better decisions. This air service was unable to meet our requirements, on numerous occasions leaving guests waiting lengthy periods for flights. They also damaged our Otter on a remote lake, hitting a submerged rock while landing. The Otter was eventually flown out by helicopter and spent the next 10 months in an aircraft maintenance facility where it was overhauled and received a new paint job. This past season we decided to go back in the flying business and are again operating our own aircraft and air service.


The Otter with one wing resting on the bottom after hitting a submerged rock on Whiteclay Lake in July 2012.


Returning home to Mattice Lake by Helicopter in October 2012.

Over the past few years, one of the most common questions that new guests ask is “can we drink the water?” All of our camps have running water which is pumped from the lake and is not tested and not considered potable by the Ministry of Health, however it is safe to drink the water if it has been boiled first. Even though this water is perfectly safe, many prefer using bottled water which they bring along with them. Water adds a considerable amount of weight to customer baggage which poses a weight problem when loading the airplanes. To partially alleviate this problem, this past season we flew cases of bottled water to the camps prior to a groups arrival. Groups contacted us in advance with the number of cases they required. We plan to provide the same service for 2014. There will be a charge of 12 dollars per case which will include tax and delivery to the camp. We can also deliver other beverages (beer and soda) in advance of a groups arrival.

We are not always the best at keeping the page up to date, however many of our guests regularly post pictures and comments.
Click here to visit our Facebook Page

This winter we will be attending the following three shows:

 

Our 2014 Brochure has descriptions of each camp. Please let us know if you would like maps of any lakes that are unfamiliar to you.

Information is also available on our web sites:  
www.walleye.ca which has information pertinent to all camps or www.whitewaterlake.ca for Whitewater Lake and www.ogokireservoir.ca for the Ogoki Reservoir. Walleye.ca also includes links to local weather forecasts, hunting/fishing regulations, Canada Customs regulations, Google driving directions, etc. 

“Best wishes to you and your family for the Holiday Season”