The start of a new season begins now!
An early season lake trout is fooled by a shallow running Rapala Husky Jerk…but eventually back to the lake with perhaps a valuable lesson learned…at least till next time!
It’s another spring without the prospect of guests in camp till possibly later this summer. We do see light at the end of this tunnel and it will likely be a shocker to all of us when things do get back to normal. In the meantime we continue with our usual preparations with an addition of more than usual personal fishing time for Susanne and I. Let’s have a look at some of what this May has been all about, shall we?
The early season lake trout action is always enjoyable, especially when they are up cruising the shallows on Eagle as well as on Clearwater Lake. With all that has been going on we have yet to make it back across the portage trail to test our skills on Clearwater….that is for my next blog post. Overall it was a cold spring and surface temperatures remained quite cold for an extended period. What I thought was going to be the perfect window of opportunity for shallow cruising fish turned out to be more of a challenge. Perhaps too much cold water was turning them away from their usual patterns. While I was concentrating on the upper 10 feet of water, reports of fish being caught trolling the 30 foot range seemed to confirm I was missing the boat…and I sure did. While I did encounter several fish it was very spotty. A less stubborn angler might have been more flexible in his approach. Apparently that isn’t my style. Oh well, there is always next year!
Since this darn virus thing started last year we have suddenly been “free” to fish opening day. It was kind of like back in our early years of the camp, when things were not so busy, we often took the opportunity to head out on the lake. Seems we are full circle…
Our opening adventure to Blind Bay was partially a chance to have a scenic boat ride to what can be a popular spring destination. If there were 8 boats on the lake that day, most of them showed up there at some point in time. Closer to home it’s been pretty lonely in terms of other boats and fishermen. I’m not complaining, other than my guests, I prefer it that way.
It seems walleye are moving way back into the bays to feed on bug larvae. We did well trolling shallow running raps in less than 6 feet of water. Water temperatures in the 60 degree range.
We’ve installed some nifty window awnings on cabins 7 & 8 to keep the interior cooler and to provide a bit of cover while lounging on the deck. Another addition was a deck awning on the lodge…..keeping things cool and extending right over the deck…
We also replaced some of the older floating docks this spring. While they still need some fine tuning I think they will be a good improvement…
Our “hot spot” from last spring has yet to produce, but we gave it a shot last evening, and things are slowly turning on…
I know everyone is tired of the uncertainty of when / if trips can be taken. I know I am. There’s only so many blog posts I can create with Susanne and I fishing….or is there? Perhaps a cooking segment? Dogs fly fishing?
The point is to show our guests, and remind ourselves, of what a great spot this is and why we all enjoy it so much. Does it fill the void? Probably not but let’s not be overly pessimistic. We keep hearing encouraging reports, generally followed by negative ones….that suggest some movement on reopening the border will take place in the near future. Manitoba, our neighbor to the west seems to be in a dire predicament in terms of being the highest number of cases per capita in North America right now. Seems they were less than serious up until this point. I seem to be using the word “point” a lot….but what is the point?
Bottom line is at some point (damn that word!) things will return to normal. Till then hang tight, plan accordingly and watch for the signs…
On behalf of the Boyes Group, I would like to pass on our sincere thanks for hosting the Muskie Madness Week and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at VBL and had a great time!! This was our 7th year on Eagle Lake and we have stayed at a few other lodges but VBL takes the cake hands down! You can definitely count us in for next year. I’m happy to see you post some of my pics, they turned out well. Thanks again Gord for a wonderful week of fishing and your stellar hospitality, you run a first class operation, we look forward to seeing you next year!
