Pollen Storm

Your sinuses may not agree with Mother Nature this past week.  The pines have begun shedding their pollen and right on cue.  Usually, in the first or second week of June, huge clouds of pollen can be seen surging from the forest.  The pollen can get so thick this time of year that locals will often think forest fires have started. The yellow haze will hang around for several days and cover the water in a thin film before washing ashore.  The pollen will adhere to the rocks and make a great water level indicator for the years to come.  

Weather

The weather patterns have been quite erratic this past week.  Saturday began with a low pressure bringing howling winds from the SW and cool temperatures.  The temps quickly warmed through Monday into the 70's with calm winds. While today (Wednesday), we have experienced fall like weather with cooler temperatures in the 50's and NW winds around 10-15 mph. 

The cooler weather today lowered the average water temperature into the low 50's on the surface around Central Lake.  However, weather forecasts indicate warming trend is on the way with plenty of sunshine.  Since the majority of our lakes are tea stained color, the sunshine will quickly heat the water back into the 60's. 

Fishing

The up and down temperatures had minimal effect on the fishing.  After chatting with several different guests, today was one of the slower mornings of the week, otherwise excellent reports have come from the lakes.

Fish for the most part are still holding in spring patterns.  6-8 feet for walleye and don't be afraid to try 3 ft or shallower for pike.  Lots of fish are holding in mud flats and around current.  Much of the time schools of walleye will be mixed with pike as they both battle for warmer water temps.  No weed growth has been reported yet. 

Slower presentations still are favourable for both species.  If you prefer trolling for walleye try to slow down as much as possible. 

   

Burnt 

A male grouse struts his stuff at West Lake

The narrows connecting north and south Burnt Lake has been the primary focus for fish. The entrance to the narrows and the exit should be fished often for both walleye and pike.  The far SW corner has been holding sizeable perch. 

Central

The east rapids and south narrows are both producing great for walleye.  The top of the north rapids has held many 40+" pike. A surprising amount of perch have been caught so far this spring. 

Cocos

Under the first set of rapids has been excellent for walleye.  The flats around Duckling Island in the north end of Cocos has produced some great pike.  Guests have had no problem shooting the rapids with average water levels. 

Favourable

Lemonade has been the norm, lots of nice walleye especially on the west side of the island. The creeks flowing into the elbow on Favourable have been holding nice pike.  Hole in the Wall is another great spot for pike this time of year. Pike Alley should be heating up very soon.   

South 

Cedar Waxwings make a rare visit to Central

The north end has been productive for good numbers of walleye, however sizeable fish have been boated at the narrows in the far east end of the lake. Numerous fish over 25" have been boated and released according to the guests. 

Southwest

The numbers don't lie at Southwest Lake, so much great fishing exists just withing a half mile from the cabin.  Fish the flats running towards the east arm and you won't be disappointed.  

West 

First of the year to jump in at Central

Some nice 38+" pike have been released, along with a 27" walleye.  The narrows towards the Fish Bowl has been electric.  The East falls is a good bet for great walleye numbers.  

Good luck on the water everyone! Looking forward to visiting with you this summer. 

-Nathan

www.bighookcamps.com

Open Season

After a late opener, we are well underway into the Big Hook Camps 2014 fishing season.  With plenty of ice still on the lake, I arrived into Central late Friday night on the 23rd of May.  Over half the lake was still iced up, this required some crafty iceberg dodging upon landing and taxiing.  My camp hand Tyrol and I made landfall after pushing some heavy ice chunks around. And thus, the season began.

Upon first arrival, we immediately noticed a black bear had destroyed our fish cleaning house in search of some spring food. Thankfully, that and a downed internet dish was the extent of the damage Central Lake received over a long and harsh winter.  With little time to soak in the Canadian wilderness, Ty and I had to promptly begin opening camp.  Our time frame was limited considering we had to open six camps in seven days.  Mom, Dad and Shadow arrived with some more help the next day and we hit the ground running.

Fortunately, Mother Nature was on our side, granting us favourable weather to accomplish our task at hand. The whole week of May 23rd to May 31st temperatures hung in the high 60's to mid 70's with ample sunshine.  Flying from sunup to sundown, we were able to open all of the outposts just in the nick of time.  The biggest issues we've encountered from the harsh winter thus far is a couple of cracked solar batteries at West Lake, a chewed up water line at South West and the dock at Burnt Lake pushed a couple feet from the ice.  

Fishing 

Now that the guests have arrived and have had a couple of days of fishing under their belts, I can provide a better fishing report. I unfortunately, have yet to cast a line but have had a chance to chat with a number of people.

44" on a Killer Eel

The pike have been the talk of the town here at Central Lake.  So far, over 30+ fish have been boated and released over 30" topping at 44".  The magic lure has been the Delong Killer Eel.  The big fish have been passing over just about every other bait and favoring the slow presentation of the Killer Eel.  The only problem.....Delong went out of business and they are no longer manufactured.

As the water temperatures warm, the pike will become more aggressive and hit quicker moving baits. The shallow bays have warmed to roughly 50 degrees and it has been crucial finding those warmer water temps for fish.  Not a lot of fish have been found near the rapids yet, even though suckers have been spotted spawning.

Walleye fishing started off the week very slow.  Male walleye were being caught with lots of milt.  This tells me that the walleye spawn occurred earlier this week.  However, some big females are now getting boated and released the past two days.  After chatting with the boys at South Lake yesterday, the fishing is improving every day, which is another sign that the fish are coming out of the post spawn.  Small jigs 1/8oz and 1/4 oz with white tails have been most effective thus far.  Areas with moving water and narrows have been the best locations for walleye.

The water levels are about average for springtime conditions, a little higher than normal. I expect them to drop over the next couple of weeks as the winter runoff is depleted.

Looking forward to a great season and seeing everyone soon.
-Nathan
www.bighookcamps.com

May 20th Ice Update

Signs of winter have been quickly disappearing around Eagle Lake.  The ice on the majority of the surrounding lakes has completely melted and only trace amounts of snow can be found in the darkest parts of forest. Eagle Lake still has some ice but warmer temperature has caused the ice to recede at a rapid pace.

Winters grip however, is still present 500 kilometers north in the Opasquia Park. Yesterday (May 19th), a pilot from Sandy Lake seaplane flew towards Central Lake to observe the ice conditions throughout the Provincial Park.  According to his reports, the ice is sluggishly melting.  A small opening exists in the west arm of Central, around the east rapids and west rapids. See pics from May 19th right. The open water you see is just south of main camp.

Local weather is calling for cool temperatures and a fair amount of rain for today and tomorrow. However, future forecast models show temperatures Friday, Saturday and Sunday are supposed to skyrocket into the mid 70's in the Big Hook area. Gauging the pictures, three days of 70 degree weather should take care of the ice in a hurry. Another plus, fairly gusty winds have blown over the last two days.  Those winds should have pushed the ice away from the shorelines.

Fortunately, the bay at Sandy Lake has opened up enough for float plane traffic. My plan is to grab the airplane from Selkirk on Thursday or Friday and fly north to Sandy.  From Sandy Lake I can at least begin staging goods to be flown up to Big Hook.    

 Think warm thoughts for us everyone.
-Nathan
www.bighookcamps.com

Ice, Ice baby!

ICE, it is THE story amongst fisherman in the north country every spring.  The big question, is it out yet? Well, no...unfortunately, not even close.  However, two positive ingredients are finally on the way:  warmer weather and rain.  Those two elements will deteriorate the ice rather quickly.  According to forecasts, highs this week in the Sandy Lake/Big Hook area will be hovering in the 50's and overnight lows will finally hold above the freezing mark.

A historically cold and snowy winter in NW Ontario caused ice to reach 36+" on many bodies of water.  Coupled with a cool spring, the ice is certainly taking it's time to melt.  Fortunately, the majority of the snow has melted in the bush causing a decent run off.  Photo'd right is a pic along the shoreline at Eagle Lake.  As you can see the ice is still tight to the shore and after a quick stroll across the bay, I estimate about 8-12" of ice still exists.  In the past, ice out on Eagle Lake translated to ice out at Big Hook (250 miles north) about 4-5 days later.

Everyone here at Big Hook is excited and anxious to get the 2014 season underway.  The family here has a bet on when the ice will disappear at Central and throughout the Opasquia Park.  My guess (May 23), Dad (May 24), and Mom (May 20).  I am wishing and hoping to pick up the airplane (good ole XZK) from Winnipeg by next week.  My fingers are crossed that Mother Nature will cooperate and send us some tropical weather over the next couple days.  I'll keep posting photo's and updates as the ice diminishes.

Good luck to those of you who have open water.
-Nathan
www.bighookcamps.com