2012 Winter Road Video

Here is a short clip I put together of our winter road travels last week.

Good luck on the water everyone,
-Nathan
www.bighookcamps.com

Big Hook Week 3

Today is a beautiful day here at Big Hook Camps in the Opasquia Provincial Park. Temperatures are hanging around 72 degree's and the sun is shining. This past Saturday brought us plenty of rain to raise the water levels. Finally, water is on the rise at most lakes. Hopefully we have seen the lowest levels of the summer.

Central

Water temperatures should spike drastically with the sunshine we are supposed to receive this week. Yesterday I was marking 58 degree's consistently throughout Central. Walleye were biting light due to the nasty weather pattern. We switched from jigs to crankbaits and the fish were striking much more aggressively. Pike are still holding shallow along with most of the walleye. It seemed any rocky point or mud flat that was 7 ft held fish. The Newburn party last week boated numerous pike between 36-40", mostly on the north end of the lake. The Bunting party found much success for 20-25" walleye within 1/2 mile of camp. Jigging is still the most effective way to boat walleye. Yellow tails and a 1/4 oz or 3/8 oz head were most popular.

Burnt Lake

The boys at Burnt exclaimed they boated over 3000 walleye last week! Fishing was great, walleye and pike are still holding in the "bottleneck" to the NE of camp. Any point was holding fish and the perch are hanging in the shallower weedy areas. Weeds are now becoming visible in shallower areas. The weed beds should spring to life with this weeks sunshine.

West Lake

The falls towards the SE end of the lake held several big pike. The guests were often surprised when a huge pike would T bone a small walleye on the end of their lines. The narrows towards the "fish bowl" still are holding plenty of pike too. The north end of the lake is still slower due to the cool temperatures but that should change quickly. Johnson silver minnows were effective in the shallow weedy bays. Walleye are holding shallow 8 ft or less.

Cocos Lake

The rapids continues to impress guests week after week. Thousands and thousands of walleye continue to hold in the current and should remain there the majority of the season. Several of the rock piles south of the current will hold big prowling pike. Be careful running the rapids with the low water, new rocks are hittable! Weeds are growing quick and pike are finding their way to the weed beds.

Favourable/Lemonade

Guests claimed they the best fishing spot was within eyesight of the dock on the Lemonade side. Fishing in about 8 ft of water, each guest claimed they boated a 100 fish just drifting and jigging within 400 yds from the dock. Favourable produced some great pike action in Pike Alley. The big fish are also holding in the creek mouths chasing suckers and perch. Water on Favourable is about a foot low so keep your eyes open for new reefs. Walleye are hanging around points and around Pike Alley. One of my favorite spots this time of year is Pike Alley for both species.

South Lake

Nice walleyes were being caught in the narrows SE of camp. Pike were in the weed beds around the area also. The rapids on the north end of the lake were holding tons of walleye. Walleye seemed to be favoring flouro orange colors. Guests boated an impressive 38" pike on 6 pd test line and a jig. It never fails to catch big pike while walleye fishing.

Hope all is well with everyone. Good luck in your fishing endeavors! Remember to throw the big ones back.

-Nathan

Big Hook Camps

www.bighookcamps.com

Winter Road 2010

Winter has been upon us for several months now. The air is cool, snow covers the ground and most, if not all, lakes in the northern half of the USA and almost all of Canada are well frozen over. Most people utilize this time for ice fishing and numerous other sports on the lakes. However, in other parts of the world and during this brief time of year, the ice highways are opening up to remote communities in Northern Canada.

The northern ice roads have been recently made famous by the show Ice Road Truckers and their hardships of driving in the NW Territories and the Yukon. Unfortunately, the show has skipped over the even more rugged roads of NW Ontario. These distant and less traveled ice highways extend north out of two towns in Northern Ontario. Red Lake and Pickle Lake are the two communities where the concrete roads end and the ice "highways" begin. I use the term highway loosely because they could be better compared to a logging road darting through the dense forest of NW Ontario.

Depending on the winter, the ice highways open up around the third week of January or first week of February. First to general traffic, mainly half ton trucks, and then to semi's. Once the semi's begin the long slow arduous journey the road tends to get chewed up in a hurry. The main function of these highways is to provide service or access to isolated native reserves that are otherwise cut of to the rest of the world. The only method of reaching these reserves any other time of year is with a float or wheeled airplane. The ice highways provide access to lower cost transportation to these communities and allow them to have numerous goods shipped (or driven in) versus flown in. As a rule of thumb, the cost of goods is cut in half when driven up the winter road as compared to delivered via airplane.

Most years the road is solid and navigable, however warm snaps have happened in the past and the ice highways were deemed closed. When an ice highway is closed prices skyrocket on the reserves. For example, gasoline will jump from $6/gallon to $10/gallon. Lumber for building new homes such as 2x4's and plywood become unaffordable because it now has to be flown in.

The reason I am writing about the winter road in NW Ontario is because dad and I begin our 2010 winter road journey on Feb 1st. Reports from Sandy Lake on the winter road are marginal thus far. The road is open however, according to a Sandy Lake pilot "is in rough shape and driving is slow." The majority of our building supplies for the 2010 Big Hook fishing season have been purchased. Sheets of plywood, pressure treated lumber and propane are just a few of the items we will be hauling along the 256 mile stretch that leads us from Red Lake to Sandy Lake.

Hopefully, there will be an average commute this year of around 8 hours. In the past, trips have been known to take up to 16 hrs due to poor road conditions or even semi's stuck across the entire width of the highway. One prepares for scenario's such as those previously mentioned as much as possible. Extra gas, blankets, food, tow straps, shovel and satellite phones are all necessities when traversing through the great northern boreal forest. Most of the time the biggest obstacle, is the bitter cold. Temperature's can hover as low as 50 below Celsius without windchill factored in. One particular night, I witnessed my spit freeze before it even reached the ground.

All in all, our journey takes two round trips. Most of the time driving is completed at night, this is when the bumps in the road are visible. I can't count how many time my truck steering wheel has given me a quick upper cut to the jaw, while driving during the day time.

I never thought I would say this but...I am really hoping for some cold temperatures over the next week. The colder the weather generally means the better the road. I'll make sure to bring my digital camera and video camera along to document this trips voyage.

Take care all,

Nathan Hartle

Big Hook Wilderness Camps

Change of Pace

The two dominate species that inhabit the Opasquia Provincial Parks waters are Esox lucius aka northern pike and Sander vitreus aka walleye. These two species are commonly targeted by anglers, however there are several other species that are often overlooked at Big Hook. These other aquactic species are perch, whitefish and sauger.
Granted, the populations of these species are not as plentiful as walleye and northern. However, fresh perch, whitefish and sauger offer a unique change in flavor for an original Canadian shorelunch. Targeting these species require just a slight change in angling tactics.

Perch (Perca flavescens)
Perch exist in every lake in the Opasquia Provincial Park. They are most plentiful in Burnt Lake and Southwest Lake. Perch is a tasty cousin to walleye and often run smaller in size. A good sized perch is anything over 10 inches. Targeting perch throughout the year usually requires the angler to scale down in tackle. 6# line or less is recommended. Paired with an ultra light rod offers great senistivity. Effective lures are Mepps #0 Agila spinners, Beetle spins and small jigs with twisters. Worms placed on bare hooks and a bobber is another great way to boat perch. Perch are most commonly found around weed beds and creeks. A popular way to fish perch is called "perching". "Perching" is a technique where an angler situates himself in a thick weedbed and places his lure in an opening in the foilage. This is most effective using a bobber and a worm. Since perch are most commonly found in the the thick weeds, targeting them is best in July and August.

Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis)
Whitefish is another species that exist in lakes where depths reach deeper than 30+ ft. Whitefish is most often caught in the spring when water temperature are cooler. 60 degree's or less is ideal for this species. Later in the summer, whitefish will descend to deeper and cooler waters. Targeting whitefish at Big Hook can be a little more challenging. This species is often caught by accident while fishing in rapids and shallows in the spring time. Lures that commonly boat whitefish are jigs with worms and small spinners. These fish have soft crappie like mouths that often tear when hooked.
Whitefish makes are great meal. The meat is white and flakey when cooked. When filleting a whitefish make sure to take out the row of Y-bones. Smoked whitefish is also a popular way to prepare this fish.

Sauger
Sauger is most often mistaken for a walleye. They may be distinguished from walleyes by the distinctly spotted dorsal fin , by the lack of a white splotch on the tail fin, by the rough skin over their gill, and by their generally dark color, sometimes almost black or copper. This species exists in most Big Hook Lakes, however they are most commonly found in Favourable and Lemonade Lakes. Targeting a sauger is the same as fishing for walleye. They strike the same baits and prowl similar areas of lakes.

Top Performing Lures

Over the course of the summer certain lures seem to out fish most others. Every winter I venture to various fishing stores, pluck a lure from the shelf and convince myself a trophy pike or walleye is sure to enjoy this tasty morsel. However, I would estimate about half the time that lure goes back in the tackle box without even a tooth mark on it. With all these lures clouding my ever so heavy tackle box, I now tell myself "Lures catch the fisherman and not the fish." For example, this spring I purchased a Sebile white suspending broken back crankbait. I was sure this was the next great lure for the Opasquia Provincial Park. My enthusiasm was rewarded the first time out with a 37" pike. "Oh boy!" I thought to myself, time to get on the web and order at least a dozen. Now looking in hindsight, I am glad I didn't. Over the course of the summer and after 1000000000 casts with this lure I am pretty sure I only boated one other small 20" pike. Now mind you this Sebile is one of the most expensive in my tackle box, which I believe is why I wanted it to work so well. Price dictates usage right? Most fisherman will think to themselves "Well this darn lure cost me $20 bucks! It better catch me something!"
With all that said, I guess my message is when fishing gets tough, don't go to the glitz and glamour of "new and improved" lures; stick to the basics such as the good ole jig and twister for walleye and the Johnson silver minnow for pike.


After conversing with hundreds of guests this summer I can confidently list the top five lures for each species, that being walleye and northern.
Lures listed in no particular order.

Northern Lures:

Johnson Silver Minnow 3/4 oz-1oz with a white twister tail trailer

Copper or Orange Bladed bucktail. Skirt color seemed to make little difference.

Bulldawg-medium size, not the magnum. Black, white, brown were all effective

Jig and twister-go figure, some of the biggest pike this year were caught jigging for walleye

Buzz bait-probably the most entertaining way to fish for northern.

Walleye:

Jig and twister. No surprise there. Popular jig heads 3/8 oz black, flour orange, pink, red.
Tails: white, yellow, black, pumkinseed, flouro orange, any color Gulp.

Worm harness. Simple rig with various color blades. Attach spilt shot, worm and your in
business.

DOA Tiny Terror-eyze. A new lure that is awesome only in the spring when fish are shallow.

Rapala RS suspending. A great trolling bait in about 12 ft of water. Blue and silver the best
color.

Rattle Trap. Small sized silver and blue rattle traps were a great casting/trolling combo.

Good luck on the water to everyone this fall/winter.
-Nathan
Big Hook Wilderness Camps

Fall Feed

This time of year Big Hook Camps in the Opasquia Provincial Park both pike and walleye are aggressively feeding to pack on pounds for the coming winter months. Larger fish can weigh several pounds heavier in late August versus early June. The declining water temperatures and shortening days both trigger this feeding frenzy. The outside air temperature has been cool this week, hanging around the mid fifties with dark skies. The water temperatures have followed suit and have declined to around 60 degrees. The last four days dense lake fog has limited boaters visibility until about 9 am.
For current weather in the Opasquia Provincial Park/Sandy Lake area visit:

http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pages/on-129_metric_e.html

During the fall feed fish are more apt to strike larger baits. For pike, big baits like Suick's, Bulldawgs, Top Raiders, Tadem Bucktails, Swimmin Joe's, and Bomber Magnums are all common to use this time of year. Bigger baits mean you need to bulk up on bigger gear. Medium heavy 6'6" rods are a minimum. I like to use 50# Power Pro with a 9 inch titanium leader. For walleye, larger Reef Runners, Rapala Shad Raps, and jigs with 4" tails are great baits.

It is often a pike will strike a large walleye boatside and will refuse to let go. Guests last week at West Lake even had a 41" pike jump in the boat after a walleye! The Pomilia group was fishing weed bed in the fish bowl (southern half of West Lake) when David Pomilia hooked a 16" walleye and proceeded to lift the fish into the boat. As he was hoisting the walleye over the side, a huge pike exploded from the depths in hopes to strike this walleye before it disappeared into the boat. David recoiled quick enough and stared in disbelief as a 41" pike was flopping at his feet. Grateful he didn't loose a hand to this fish, David got a quick picture with his "semi caught" trophy and a prompt release was made.

Every camp last week was lucky enough to boat and release a pike over 43". More proof the big boys are looking to pack on some winter weight.
Walleyes are prowling deeper waters 15-25ft are average depths. Jigging is the easiest way to reach these deeper waters. The dark skies this past week have made darker lures more effective.

Good luck on the water everyone. Remember to throw the big ones back. All walleye's over 18" must be thrown back and all pike over 27.5" must be released.
-Nathan
Big Hook Wilderness Camps

Deeper Waters

The walleye's here in the Opasquia Provincial Park are beginning to descend to deeper depths. Most fish are being caught in 15-25 ft. Dark skies have dominated the past week, meaning darker colors have been very effective. Pumkinseed, brown and black twisters have all out fished traditional white, yellow and orange.
Water temperature's have been driven down with the dark skies and cooler temps. Temperature's are hovering in the lower 60's down from the low 70's last week.
Pike are scattered in all depths. Fishing rocky points with deeper diving crankbaits or burning a topwater bait over the weed beds have all been effective techniques for catching nice pike.
Lure's of the week: for walleye I still can't turn down the 3/8 oz jig with a dark twister. YUM baits make great dark color twisters. For pike, the surface bite has been great with the dark skies and calm waters. The Hog Wobbler boated the 43" pike pictured below on Tuesday at Central Lake. The Mepps Agile #5 copper blade has been another top pike producer.

From the Big Hook outposts
Central Lake : walleye's are deeper 15ft+. Many nice 24" fish have been caught on reefs on the north end. Several pike over 40" have also been boated and released, mainly in the weeds. (Pictured below: a nice 39" pike I boated last Friday on a black bulldawg on the south end of Central.)
South Lake: Guests last week caught 40 walleye's over 25" and many of those were between 29" and 30". (Pictured above is a awesome walleye measuring 30" caught the 5th of August.)
Southwest Lake: reported boating over 100 fish a person almost everyday of the week. "The weather certainly didn't slow the fish down" quoted one guest.
Burnt Lake: Walleye's were stacked on the windblown shorelines in as shallow as 6 ft. Many nice pike were caught in the weed bed on the NW end of the lake.
West Lake: The fish bowl continue's to produce monster pike. The north end of the lake has been a consistent producer of huge walleye.
Favourable Lake/Lemonade: Guests reported amazing fishing for the week. A great balance of large walleye and big pike were reported.

Good luck on the water everyone. Remember to put the big one's back. All walleye's over 18" must be released and all pike over 27.5" must be released.
-Nathan
Big Hook Wilderness Camps

Heat Wave

August is letting us know that summer is still trying to hang around. We finally have had some sunny skies and warm temperatures. Weather has been hot the last three days, hanging around 85-90 degree's in the sun. It is amazing how fast the water temperature's sky rocket after just a few days of sunshine. Water temperatures have blasted up from 64 to about 72 on the surface.

The fish have responded to the warmer temperatures by sinking to deeper depths. We have been catching walleye's from 12-25 ft. Some of the bigger female's have been caught in the deeper waters by trolling larger crankbaits such as: White reef runners and Rapala fire tiger husky jerks. Otherwise, my favorite method is still vertical jigging on the deeper reefs. The wind blown shores are mainly where the fish are congregating. Just try to find a reef or point that has had the wind pounding it for a couple of hours. Pike are scattered between deeper weed beds and rocky reefs. During these hot hot days pike action has been better from 2 pm to 7 pm, when the sun is off the peak. We have had some tremendous surface bite's when the wind calms down in the evening. Effective lures this week have been: Mepp's Agila #5 copper blade and a Swimmin Joe, oh and I can't forget the Shallow Dawg for pike. For walleye, 3/8 oz jig and a pumkinseed Gulp tail and a blue and silver Hot N Tot.

We just wrapped up filming a TV segment for Real Outdoor Desinations. We filmed for two days and got some great footage. Several big pike were caught and many many walleye. I mostly jigged with a 3/8 oz pink head and a pumkinseed Gulp tail, while Tas (the host) casted a Swimming Joe for pike. The show is looking to air around the beginning of January on the Sportsman's channel and the Persuit network. I'll keep everyone posted on the details. ( Picture right: Tas, hostess of Real Outdoor Destinations, and I work on filleting fish for a shorelunch.)

On the fishing front.
Guests last week at West boated many pike over 35" up to 40.25". Most fish were caught in the horseshoe near camp. South Lake had a great night shortly after a thunder storm boating and releasing a 28" and a 30" walleye back to back. Two gentlemen at South West Lake tallied 597 walleye for the week. Central Lake found many honey hole's of walleye's in the 21"-24" range. The weeds in the narrows on Central are holding many big pike.

Good luck on the water everyone. Remember to put the big one's back. Please note Big Hook has a NO TROPHY TAKE OUT policy, meaning all walleye over 18" must be released and all northern over 27.5" must be released.
Nathan
-Big Hook Wilderness Camps

A picture is worth a 1000 words.

We are on the tail end of the May Fly hatch here at Big Hook Wilderness Camps. The bite is improving day by day. Water temperatures are beginning to creep up into the higher sixty's. Yesterday I recorded 65 on the surface at Central Lake. Walleye's are still hanging in the 8-12 foot range. Pike this year are hanging on points and reefs due to the lack of weed growth. Soon the walleyes will begin their decent into depth's of 15-20 ft. I have been catching some in that range vertical jigging with a white twister and 3/8 oz jig head.

Some great lures this week have been: Rapala Husky Jerk Mag, fire tiger and green color and Rapala Suspending Shad Rap Blue and Silver.

Weather has been mild. For the past several days we have seen sun in the morning and pop up thunder storms in the afternoon. Temperatures have been hanging in the high 60's and lower 70's.

I spoke with the guests at South Lake and they have recorded nice catches of 25", 26", 28" walleye. Southwest guests were amazed catching walleye "every cast" 200 yards from the cabin. Who said the best fishing in on the far end of the lake?
At Central the East rapids is still the hot area for walleye and The Rock on the north end of the lake has been producing quality size fish.

Attached are some pics that have been emailed. (Top right: 29.5 walleye caught at South Lake. Lower left: a beauty 42 inch pike caught on Cocos by Geo. Lower right: Another nice Cocos catch from Joe S with a 25" walleye. )

Small hatch

We have noticed a small hatch beginning for the May flies over the past couple of days. This is good news because I believe that is all we are going to see for the year in the greater Big Hook region (knock on wood). With the hatch so late in the season could mean the May flies will be nonexistent for the summer.
I spoke with the guests at South and West Lake today. West reported an excellent pike bite in the "fish bowl" half of the lake using various plastic baits. South Lake has been boating and releasing numerous walleye's flirting with the 30 inch range.

The fish are slowly moving into deeper waters averaging around 12 feet of water for walleye. The pike are holding more on rocky points and current areas due to the fact weed development is slow this year. Soft plastics have been getting great results for pike such as: the Storm Swim Shad and medium or small sized Bull Dawgs.
For walleye, I still believe you can't beat the good ole fashion jig. It may sound boring but it has proven results. 1/4 oz or 3/8 oz jigs, the jighead color really doesn't matter, it's the twister color that counts. We have tried every color under the sun this past week and the only color that HAS NOT been effective is the clear see through chartreuse green. Every other color was walloping the walleye, yes even pink was doing well.


Good luck on the water everyone. Remember to put the big one's back!
-Nathan
Big Hook Wilderness Camps

Why jig when you can fly?

Why jig when you can fly? That does not make sense....or does it? In this case however, the phrase makes sense when one person in your boat is catching walleye after walleye on a fly rod. The magic lure on the end of the line was a brown 3" clouser tipped with a yellow or white twister tail.
Truthfully, I never believed that a fly could be so effective for walleye, let alone in the middle of July. However, yesterday I was proved wrong in my beliefs.
Walleyes darted in and out of the swift current below the north rapids of Central Lake, striking the fly as it lazily drifted down stream. The action was convincing enough to where I now believe I need to take up a new hobby and begin practicing my 10 and 2 casting. Attached is a video as proof of yesterdays success.



On the fishing front...

The old adage says "Fish bite best before a big storm." I couldn't agree more. Today, on the verge of a nasty storm front, guests reported some of the best success of the week. One couple boated over 50 walleye in an hour and a half before the weather started darkening the skies.
Walleye are starting to move a tad deeper into the 8-12 range. Water temps are still cool for the time of year. After a full day of sun, the warmest water I could locate was about 65 degrees on the surface.

Weed growth is way behind this season at all Big Hook Camps. Weeds are struggling this year with the cooler temps and higher waters. Speaking of high waters, Cocos guests for the last two weeks have been unable to make it up the Sagewitchewan rapids due to the increased volume of water.
We are still keeping our eyes on the water and skies for the infamous mayfly. None have hatched yet and hopefully they will skip a year.

The top two lures of the week are the: Johnson silver minnow with a white twister trailer for Pike and the DOA tiny terroreyze brown jig for Walleye.

Good luck to all on the water! Remember to put the big one's back.

Awaiting the Hatch

It is that time of year. The time of year everyone looks to the sky and the surface of the water for, what else, May Flies. Now I'll admit they aren't quite appropriately named, I would call them July Flies for this area. The May Fly is a fisherman's mortal enemy and main competitor for the all-Canadian walleye. For roughly three days in the month of July, millions of May Flies cloud the skies and litter the surface's of lakes luring walleyes to a top water bite. In the evenings, one can witness a barrage of fish attacking the surface gorging themselves on struggling May Flies.
I'll admit, fishing during this time can be tricky. Walleyes with full bellies, are lethargic and unambitious.
There is hope for the avid angler during this time. The main focus is size. Scaling down is a primary concern. I found using smaller baits and brighter colors can be very effective while combating the May Flies. 1/4 oz jigs and small, I mean SMALL, Rapalas.
I'll keep my eye on the sky and let everyone know when the flies start clogging the skies.

Water Levels
Water levels have shot up in the last week. Rapids are now gushing more than ever, thus drawing fish into their currents. Many guests have been focusing their efforts around areas with current and flow, often with great and pleasing results.
The increase in water levels has made it tough for weed growth. Coupled with a cool cool spring, weed growth is slow and behind. Weed beds have begun growing however are no where near there usual levels.
Weather has been cool thus far in July and water temps have dipped slightly. For current weather at Big Hook Wilderness Camps visit:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/CAON1581

Fish are still holding shallower than normal. Focusing on mud flats and shallow grassy bays are yielding best results.

Attached are various pics from the Bauer Party at Central Lake during the week of June 21st. Thanks for the pic's guys! And I had to sneak one in of myself. Remember to send us pics of your latest fishing trip and I'll post them on my blog.

Good luck on the water everyone. Remember to practice catch and release.












(Upper right: DJ 40" pike, Upper left: my 37" pike, Lower left: Richard 42" pike, Lower right: Nick 25" walleye.)

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.

Heat Wave Today

Yesterday I woke up a little chilly. I didn't think much of it, just another cool spring morning crossed my mind. Still bleary eyed I walked down to the most important kitchen appliance, the coffee maker of course, and began my daily routine. Raising my eyes to the kitchen window only to see two inches of snow on the ground caused my jaw to drop. Fortunately, several hours later the snow disappeared and the yard was once again the typical spring field of mud.

Waking up this morning I experienced an entirely different sensation. I sprang out of bed, my feet touched the floor and amazingly I didn't recoil with ice cube toes. I rambled downstairs once again to the coffee maker, looked outside at the thermometer to see the morning temp was pleasant 45 degrees already at 7 am.
The temperatures today will perhaps flirt with the 60 degree range, which is excellent news for all of us who are waiting to get on the water. I decided to take a couple of pics of Eagle Lake to show you all the progress of the melting ice. As you can see, the ice is pulling away from the shoreline and has thinned drastically. The temperatures in Sandy today are slightly cooler than here in Vermilion Bay. Many people are starting to take bets on when the ice will "officially" remove itself from the water. With weather like this today and rain in the forecast for tomorrow, look for the ice to take some major damage in the next couple of days. So once again, fingers crossed and hopefully we will be on the water soon.