Bass Master

Mike just returned from a week at Irene Lake.  Besides being very diligent about getting me pictures of his adventures, Mike catches and releases a lot of nice fish.  The big bass were hitting and here is some proof.

Frying Saucer

On Friday my post featured a fish fry.  I was using a fryer called a “Frying Saucer”.  Several folks have asked me about them.  Here is the link to their sight (or click on the picture) and you can order your own.  

I have also added a link to the right hand side of the blog. 

These fryers don’t use much oil and the fish or what ever you are frying can be rested on the side so the oil can drain.  No more messy paper towels.  The fish on the side stays hot so every one can eat at the same time.  They are made in Minnesota so they should be rather easy to order and receive in time to bring on your fishing trip.  They also have a nice case in which the whole unit can be carried.  They are Brad recommended. 

June Desktop Calendar

Karen has her June desktop calendar up now.  Feel free to down load it and save it to your desktop.  The various resolutions are found here.

Walleye supper

Does it get any better.  Fresh walleye, rolled in a special coating, fried in oil and served up with friends. 

I could say that I saved a place for you but that wouldn’t be true since it is my plate.  At Ignace Outposts however, you can have your own… cooked up just the way you like it since you are the cook.

Plan on some outdoor cooking

Beginning late last summer, we have been adding new charcoal/wood BBQ park style grills at our camps.  These new grills work fabulously with either a bed of wood coals or BBQ briquettes.  The guys who have used them rave about the natural woodsy flavour they impart to your ribs, chicken or steaks.  To make the outdoor cooking a little more convenient, Joe built a cook shelter at our West Bay cabin on Seseganaga Lake.

The shelter is handy to the front of the cabin, and we have moved the fish fryer there too.  We are phasing out the gas grills so plan on using the park style grills for your outdoor culinary efforts.  Even though the grills will use either wood or charcoal, the wood at the camp make the meat taste best and it doesn’t have to be flown in so it won’t add to your weight.  Remember we do have weight limits and we do weigh loads.

This shelter is a prototype.  As we fine tune the design with some use, we will add them to other camps as well.

Why sit at home?

In the US it is Memorial Day weekend.  In Canada our May holiday weekend was last weekend.  It is officially called Victoria Day in Canada celebrating the Queen’s birthday, I understand, but since falls on the third weekend in May and that usually is near May 24 and there are 24 beer in a case… it is now somehow referred to as May 2-4 weekend.  Any ways, I digress. 

This weekend, being Memorial Day weekend which was first recognized to memorialize the fallen in the American Civil War, brings many anglers to Canada.  Many stay home. 

I on the other hand, am working hard getting camps ready for soon to arrive anglers. 

With an airplane load to unload at the destination, and other staff doing other jobs, I am sometimes left to recruit new blood to help out.  Vern, a friend in Ignace, “volunteered” to assist.  Somehow our fishing rods got mixed up with the load on board.  I learned over the years, it is only right if the owner of the outposts occasionally fishes the outposts, if for no other reason than to know what he is talking about when describing fishing that most can not imagine.

Less than 30 seconds after dropping our lines Vern reeled in a nice walleye.  

Many many walleye later and with a few walleye in the boat for supper, Vern had to make one more catch.   As you can see in the picture, we never left sight of the cabin.  Both these fish were returned unharmed to the lake.  Total time to test the waters; about 1 hour. 

A few 15 – 16 inch walleye are now ready for the frying pan. 

Why sit at home?  Book your Ignace Outposts trip now for a later summer date with a few walleye and northern pike.

Ice is all out

After a weekend of wet, rainy, cold and windy weather, we are getting back to our camp start ups.  We are again, few few days behind, but Joey is almost ready for guests at Metionga Lake for Thursday, and Randy is going to get Joe up to Seseganaga Lake later today.

Things will move fast for the next few days getting everything ready to go.

Our first guests just left Irene Lake today and said they experienced some of the worst opening weekend weather they’ve ever seen.

Reports are that trout are biting near the surface.  The walleye have been a little slower this weekend likely because of the late ice out and cold windy weather.  Most walleye being caught are post spawn males.  In the next few days the weather will stabilize and we expect that the walleye fishing will become red hot when the post spawn females will be beginning to feed again. The suckers are now in the rivers spawning and that means that the big northerns are feasting on the suckers (their favorite food) near the flowing water. 

The real ice pilots

We are trying.  May 15 we have open water on Agimak Lake.  Unfortunately, the little ice left on the lake drifted (blew) into our break wall last night.  We are ice bound.  In anticipation of walleye opener this Saturday, we spent the morning breaking ice with the boat and finally got come airplanes moving.  In the video, Randy is taking our Beaver out for a test flight.  It is slow going through the ice to open water. 

We have lots of work to do moving motors, gas, propane and getting cabins ready.  After all our efforts in getting airborne, we found all our lakes still frozen.  We will continue our annual training and as soon as we can get into the lakes, it will be pedal to the metal getting things ready.