Just Amazing

The bite has been fast and furious here at Big Hook Wilderness Camps in the Opasquia Provincial Park. Walleye and pike are cruising the mud flats and flowages together in search of bait fish. Water temperatures are quickly warming into the high 60's due to a nice couple weeks of pleasant weather.
I was able to chat with numerous guests last Saturday and all reports had thumbs up.
Favourable boated a dandy 44" pike caught in a random spot. "Pike over 35 inches were common place," quoted another Favourable Lake guest.
Cocos came in a close second with a giant 42.5" gator. Hopefully pics will soon follow.
All guests from the outposts said fishing was outstanding. It was unanimous that the fish are still hold shallow and enjoying the sun.
I have been guiding here at Central the past couple of days and the fishing has been outstanding. Today we left the fish biting and the count was 153 for the day. Many big fish were seen and caught, and released. Above is a photo of a big ole 41.5" pike caught and safely released by Kurtis on, of course, a jig and twister. Several 25" walleyes have been boated and released also here at Central. Top lures have been 1/4 oz jig and pumkinseed twister for walleye. For pike has been a flouro orange daredevil copper spoon.
The other photo attached is a young master angler in the making. Joel is showing off his prize fish for the week. Great shot Joel!

Good luck on the water! Remember put the big one's back.
-The Big Hook Wildernness Camps Team

Merchandising! Merchandising!

Get them while there hot!
The new Big Hook T-shirts are available to order!
Each shirt is custom made to match your favorite fishing outpost.

Only $19.95. Shipping included in the total price.


Attached are pictures of the front and back.

Order the T-shirt with the lakes you have fished: Central, Cocos, Burnt, Favourable, South, Southwest or West.

Colors available are: Ice gray, sand, natural and white.

Just contact:

Janis or Dan at Embroid Me
appleton@embriodme.com
920-738-1999

or

Check www.BigHookCamps.com soon for links.

Fun in the Sun

Yup, it's official. The bite is on. The sun has finally decided to stick around and warm our waters here in the Opasquia Provincial Park. Water temps are on the fast track past 50 degree's and the fish are responding.
I was able to speak with a number of guests yesterday on change over day. The consensus was that pike fishing was amazing and walleye fishing was about to explode. All the outposts had great luck catching trophy pike in shallow bays and currents.
On their first day, the guests at Central here had an easy time locating and catching and releasing horde's and horde's of walleye's. It just show's that the walleye's were waiting and wanting the sun as bad as everyone else.

Attached below is short video of a nice 41" pike that was caught and safely released in the East rapids at Central Lake.




Here at Big Hook, we are always looking for new picture's of your latest fishing trip to use on our website and/or new brochure's. If you have any great shot's of nature or fishing please email them to us. Take care everyone and good luck on the water.

Roll With the Punches

I heard a great quote today about spring weather in Northwestern Ontario. "It's still spring time here in NW Ontario. Just take what Mother Nature dishes ya and roll with the punches." Weather the past two weeks, I'll admit has been less than stellar. Cool evenings and cloudy days has the northern boreal forest still believing it's May. Poplar and birch tree's still have yet to produce leaves. However, as it warms, pollen will soon coat the water with a nice yellow glaze.

On the fishing front. Pike seem to be impervious to the cool weather. Guests at Central are boating and releasing numerous 34-39" fish. Walleye were (earlier in the week) a bit on the slow side. I would like to admit every day produces hundreds and hundreds of fish but in reality fishing does lag from time to time. Many factors contribute to walleye aggressiveness: weather, moon phase, whether you are jigging with your left or right hand, the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, Monday and Tuesday were tough for walleye. Guests had no problem catching male walleyes around rapids and flowages for those days but finding the bigger females have been tougher. However, as it always does, the walleye bite came around today (Wednesday). Like a flip of the light switch the bite turned as soon as the sun popped out.

Burnt Lake had similar stories to report. Walleye's started slamming today with the arrival of the sun. They weighed and released a beefy 18.5# pike.

All in all, the fish are still very shallow. Pike and walleye are both hanging in about 4 feet of water. Future forecasts show lots of sun, that only means the fish will be sunbathing for the next couple of weeks.

On the building front. We are taking advantage of an off week at Cocos Lake, Dad and I relocated the shower and made it accesible to the inside, no more walking outside to take a shower. We have also built new boat ramps and a new floating dock.
The new solar systems and freezers are working out very well. Nothing but thumbs up from everyone.

Good luck on the water everyone.

Water Temperature

A key aspect of spring fishing is water temperature. Fish can be lethargic and normally non aggressive during cold snaps in the spring when water temperatures are already low. Thanks to several cold snaps this week, including today(woke up to snow flakes gently falling from the sky) water temps here at Central Lake have been hovering around the mid forties. The magic number I would like to see is about 50 degree's. Two days of steady sunshine will trigger the fish and guide them into shallow bays for some much needed sunbathing. On sunny days I like to focus on mud flats and weedy bays that have a north and east exposure. These bays and flats heat up and retain lots of residual heat from the sun slightly faster than the rest of the lake.

This time of year I like to experiment with different lures. One such lure that has brought much success thus far is a Sebile slow sinking white double jointed crankbait. So far, a slow retrieve out of the shallows has resulted in a couple of trophy pike this spring.

Our pilot Andre and I just got back from West and Southwest Lake. Guests reported no problem of catching walleye and pike. Although, several customers said fish are moving a bit slower due to the inconsistent weather we have been experiencing. Guests at Central Lake boated two 35" pike and several in the 30-34" range in the past couple of days. I'll get a report tomorrow from guests as it is change over day.
Aside from fishing, guests are really enjoying our new solar systems that we installed at Burnt, West, Cocos and Southwest last year. Also, the new generator and porch at South Lake has received many praises.
Take care all and good luck on the water.