March Madness Contest

March Madness will soon be upon us. In a couple of weeks 64 college basketball teams will battle for the right to be called NCAA Champion. Like last year, Big Hook will be having the March Madness pick'em challenge. Look for an email from Big Hook Camps in the coming weeks to participate to win some excellent prizes. More details to come....

Winter report

Jan. 18, 2009

This is a busy time of the year. We are in the middle of the sport show season and we are also making preparations to travel up the winter road. The All Canada in St. Charles , IL was very well attended, considering the 12” snowfall and groups were shopping. Bookings are doing very well, considering all the gloom and doom the media bestows on us every day. We enjoyed meeting with all of our regular guests and hearing about their fishing stories and families. We also had a great time talking to new prospective guests, describing the advantages of Big Hook. It’s not just the superb fishing but the great environment of the Opasquia Park , with it’s rivers, rapids, boreal forest and wildlife. It’s not a just fishing trip it is an adventure.

Just incase no one has noticed, it has been cold this winter. I just talked to the pilots at Sandy Lake and the winter road will be opened Jan. 18. This is the earliest that anyone can remember the winter road being opened. Right now we are planning the logistics of moving 80 sheets of 12 ft metal roofing, 7 new motors, 5 freezers, 25 bottles of propane, 100 2”x6”x10’ boards, 25,000 liters of gas and 10,000 liters of Avgas up the 237 miles of ice roads. Right after the Green Bay All Canada show, I will head for the Great White North.

I look forward to seeing everyone at the Milwaukee and Green Bay shows.

Good fishing to everyone,

Steve, Evie and Nathan

Guest Testimonial for Soutwest Lake

Hope the holiday season is treating everyone well. Temperatures are falling throughout the USA and snow is beginning to accumulate. This time of year is when most people begin to yearn for future fishing trips. This week we received a wonderful testimonial on fishing at Southwest Lake at Big Hook Wilderness Camps and I thought it would be great to share it with everyone. Our thanks to Paul and the family for this great article.

"Hello Steve, Evie & Nathan,

I have fished all of Big Hook's Lakes. Each is different and great in its own way. My favorite lake

is Southwest Lake. My first visit to Southwest was in 1988 with my son, Adam. Since then I figure I

have spent 26 weeks there. Southwest Lake is a wonderful family lake, over the years all of my

children, several of my grandchildren plus other young people and old fishing buddies have spent time

there. My youngest Eli at age eight has been our youngest party member. The cabin is terrific

for larger groups as it has an extra room for both storage and sleeping quarters.

Southwest Lake is about 11 miles long and maybe 1 mile wide at the widest point, it has many long

narrow arms which provides shelter on rough days. It is a user friendly lake. Beautiful shore lines with

a few areas of sandy bottom for swimming. The fishing is outrageous. We catch walleyes all day long

in great numbers. The challenge is to catch larger ones. Our biggest walleyes out of Southwest have

been in the 25" range. There are lots and lots of pike in Southwest also. We catch many while fishing

for walleye. Most are small, but we have caught a number in the 10-15 pound range. There is also

some good perch fishing and we have managed to catch a few whitefish over the years.

The remoteness of Big Hooks lakes make for an excellent wilderness experience and the best fishing

I have found anywhere in Ontario."

Paul Reid

Christmas Wishes

Christmas can be one of the most exciting times for a fisherman. Dropping hints and gift ideas weeks before that gleeful day to your significant other for that new fishing rod, depth finder, tackle box etc etc etc, can be a lot of fun. As weeks pass counting down to Christmas, it is common to snoop around the house examining closet spaces and attic corners. There can be only so many places someone can hide a fishing rod, right? Then on Christmas morning, one has overwhelming anticipation unwrapping glorious "unknown" gifts. With the enthusiasm of a five year old one violently tears through the wrapping paper, while the better half just sits admiring your child like tenancies.
Of course that scenario may only apply to me, but as I mentioned before Christmas is one of the best times of the year for fisherman. Stores offer super combo discounts (rod, reel & line), in store rebates and buy one get one free deals.
Remember to be extremely specific when asking for fishing items for Christmas. Stores contain thousands and thousands of items, most of varying in minuscule increments. Fishing rods for example range from light action to extreme heavy action and vary often in 3-6" increments.

Here are a couple of items on my wish list for the up and coming fishing season at Big Hook Camps.

Power Pro #50 green braided line for pike. No stretch on this
line results in excellent hooks sets.




Yozuri Hybrid Fluorocarbon line 6# smoke color. Little line memory means less line tangles.




Shimano Compre 6'6" Medium Heavy Baitcasting Pole. An all around great pike rod.

Eagle portable depth finder. The best way to fish a new body of water is using a depth finder. Sure they weigh a bit but it will make your next fishing trip so much more productive.


I am sure I'll think of many many more fishing items and I'll post them as Christmas Day approaches.

Happy Holidays to everyone!!

Any questions or comments please email us at bhwc@aol.com or visit www.bighookcamps.com