Walleye, Walleye

Just returned from another ice fishing trip. Whether was beautiful and the ice is not going to last much longer. Still 3 feet though but it goes quick. Limits of Walleye were easily acheived today as well as Saugers. I had the largest northern pike of my fishing career hit my bait today. It kind of woke me up from a mid afternoon daze. A good thing I was holding the rod because he just grabbed it and ran peeling line that I was sure I'd run out. Standing on my snow machine to try and gain leverage and keep my balance the battle lasted 10 minutes. My auger cuts a 10" hole and I couldn't get the fish through the hole. I reached to grab his gill but he looked at me laughed shook his head and he was gone for another day. You have to like it when that happens.

Fishing, Fishing, Fishing

Wow. I must say that today was certainly enjoyable. Spring is definetly in the air. We saw our first skunk of the year today which is about three weeks earlier than normal. It was just a beautiful day in the North today with the sun shining all day, the warm temperatures and the sun burns to top it off. Just a fabulous day of fishing. We venutred off to two lakes today and limits were easily acheived. Todays fish included numerous Lake Trout, Walleye, Northern Pike and Sauger. The walleye didn't reach any great lengths with the average being 17 inches but that fits perfectly in our frying pan. We were able to snap a couple pictures early in the day but were tied up running from line to line and forgot to take more. Needless to say four dozen minnows was not enough to end the day and we had to cut short our little adventure but a good time was had by all. Its hard to beleive that you can catch all these species within a 10 minute radius. Access was by sled today and a friend decided to pop in out of the sky to see what all the comotion was about. Hopefully we are out tomorrow for some Speckles (Brook Trout) and Northerns before heading to Toronto for the Sportmans Show.

Cedar Ridge Lodge

Outdoor Adventure Show

Currently -21 degrees and windy. Can't wait for spring that is suppose to arrive this month. Went on an awesome backcountry sled ride last night through 3 feet of fresh white powder. I'm glad to have a 20" long track though. Nothing like being in the backcountry with no one else around for miles and just you, the moose and the wolves to keep you company. With no leaves you can see for miles up into the hills and into the next townships. Truly beautiful. We just returned from the Advil Outdoor Adventure Show in Toronto. I appreciated the 2 degree temps and it was good for a break but I am thankful to be back up in the North. We set up with our Wyndy River booth to target our pack trip customers and we were amazed at the response that was genereated. For someone who has always wanted to do this but couldn't afford to travel to Alberta or BC you can now participate for half the cost and get a real taste of what it would be like on a Rocky Mountain trip should you decide to go. I think everyone should go west and experience Canadas beautiful rocky mountains but having done so myself I did miss Northern Ontario when I was out there. Each place has its own unique characteristics and charm. Our daughter Arianna is pictured here in our booth. It seemed whenever I left the booth a half dozen young boys suddenly appeared and were interested in what we had to offer. When I returned to the booth the conversation ended. Go figure! I'm sure other Dads with daughters can relate to this to well. I was very impressed with the representation from the OTMP which is the tourism department responsible for promoting Northern Ontario. More and more people are waking up to the fact that this province has so much to offer in the North. People are pushing past Algonquin Park and into North Americas last frontier. Pictured here is a group hired by OTMP to sing folk songs of the days gone by. They were excellent and provided a pleasant atmosphere for everyone at the show. Congratulations goes out to all the staff from the OTMP for all there hard work and dedication to this project.