All eyes on the weather

This "spring" the weather is the talk of the town.  Stubbornly cool temperatures have camped over NW Ontario sending signals for a late ice out this year.  Trumping the cool temperatures is 4-5 feet of snow blanketing the lakes and the boreal forest providing plenty of insulation for the ice.  Mother Nature will have to provide some heat soon to chip away at that deep snow.  Fortunately, deep snow creates a good run off when it melts, causing the ice to separate from the shoreline promptly.

Let us flashback twelve months.  Last March and April NW Ontario was graced with temperatures soaring into the mid seventies.  The weather was so unbelievably warm that Sandy Lake Seaplane had a float plane in the water on the 29th of March, the earliest ever the ice retreated from the banks of Sandy Lake.

On an average year, the ice departs the lakes in the Opasquia Park around the 10th of May.  Historically Central and Cocos are the first two lakes to clear due to more current moving throughout.  The last late ice out in NW Ontario occurred in 2004.  To qualify for a late ice out, the ice has to disappear after the walleye opener, which is the third Saturday in May.  The ice in 2004 didn't vacate the water until June 1st.

For those of you familiar with Central Lake, in 2004 we were forced to land a plane on the East Portage and hike a mile through the bush in order to begin opening up.  Our first objective was to begin cracking ice.  After a couple days, the ice pulled slightly away from the shore and we prepped our battering rams.  These included several boats loaded full up with logs and a motor on each with a less than stellar prop.  No need to have good prop on a motor when you are chewing through 50000 pounds of ice. To crack the ice, one just gets a full head of steam and drives the boat up onto the ice wherever possible.  After some rocking and jumping in the boat and plenty of of swings of an ax the ice usually caves.  Do this for 8-10 hrs a day and you are one tired/sore person.  Breaking the ice into sections causes the melt to increase exponentially.

Needless to say we do not want another 2004 and we are keeping our fingers crossed for some sunshine and warm temperatures for the next couple of weeks.  On a brighter note, I hope everyone is getting a chance to break out their gear and get out on the water this spring for a little early water action.  Good luck to everyone's fishing endeavors.
-Nathan
www.bighookcamps.com

Big Hook Knitting

In an effort to broaden our customer base we are now offering knitting classes to customers during their week stay at Big Hook Camps.  We realize fishing can be tedious and boring after a couple days.  Our newly hired specialists, Sven, is an accomplished knitter with his PhD from a mountainous university.  He will be able to teach knitting techniques such as block patterns and grafting.  He is also practicing on holding his breath in order to instruct the highly demanded underwater basket weaving class.

Big things are happening at Big Hook Wilderness Camps.
Good luck knitting to all!
-Nathan
www.bighookcamps.com

Oh yeah,  APRIL FOOLS!  

Sport Show & NCAA Tourney

South Eastern Wisconsin Fishing and Hunting Expo

Big Hook has picked up one more sport show for the 2013 season.  Come visit Nathan at the Olympia Resort in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.  Hours for the show are:

March 15th    2 pm -   8:30 pm
March 16th    9 am  -  6 pm
March 17th    10 am - 4 pm

For more information on the show visit the SE Wisconsin Fishing and Hunting Expo website.


NCAA Tournament Pick'em 

It is that time of year again for March Madness to ensue. Top three places are winners in this years Big Hook Pick'em. Good luck to all! Big Hook Wilderness Camps would like you to join their group in Yahoo! Sports Tournament Pick'em! To accept the invitation, just click HERE  For reference, here's the group information. Group ID#: 34570 Password: bighook Good luck in your fishing endeavors. -Nathan  www.bighookcamps.com

Winter Road Travels

Last week Dad, myself and Ed Carson traveled the ice highway from Red Lake to Sandy Lake.  The road was in superb condition.  Ample amounts of snow and frigid temperatures allowed proper grooming for the first time in many years.

Despite some mechanical problems with our vehicles, the trip progressed rather well. We managed to transport about 11,000 pounds of materials for this up and coming season. Attached below is a quick video about this years travels.

Sonar imaging showed ice thickness of roughly 20 inches.  The five feet of snow blanketing the lakes has not allowed the bitter cold to penetrate the ice.  The fuel tankers and transports need a minimum of 22 inches of ice before they are allowed to travel the road. 

The days are slowly getting longer and the temperatures are beginning to rise.  Spring is just around the corner.  Now is a great time to get your summer gear tuned up.  

Good luck on the water everyone. 

-Nathan

www.bighookcamps.com