sportsman's lodge

[Gary Switlick]

still looking for some people to go for some great pike and walleye fishing on june 19th. trying to fill brett's came hope some of you can make it working on a great deal for this awesome fly-in. hope some of you are interested.

[jwm]

Definitely interested but I don't know if I'll be able to make it.

[Clive]

Same, I'd love to be there, but I don't think I can make it happen. I'll keep you posted if things change!

[Whopper]

I kind of on the fence about going next spring but if I do go it will be for the walleye opener again for the fourth year in a row.

[Gary Switlick]

what week is that whopper?

[KenReece]

Believe it falls around May 17th, not sure exact next year.

[Whopper]

Walleye opener is the third Saturday in May
In 2010 it's May 15th and with that being said it will be close to ice out
Two years ago we were actually there for ice out, had to wait to be flown out for about four hours because an ice pack had the dock closed in, the winds switch directions pushed the ice away from the dock. When we flew in a bunch of the smaller lakes where still iced over, did a fly over LV and pretty much everything north of the camp was still locked up, everything to the south was open. We had to land way short of the camp in the narrows and taxi well over a mile to avoid hitting any floating burgs. It was a awesome site watching the ice mass flow south and melt. This pic was taken right out in front of camp on our way in
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s75/Whopper_bucket/LV2008014.jpg
We couldn't even fish the north end of the lake until Tuesday and even then there was a big ice mound where the shallow mid lake shoal is between the camp and Walleye Point
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s75/Whopper_bucket/LV2008025.jpg\
The weather was brutal but the catching was off the hook, tons and I mean 100's of walleye a day and the pike were up in the very backs of the bays in shallow water and they were hungry. Probably the single best week of fishing I have ever had as far a number went. I believe that was the year we met Clive and Jonathan on our way out.
The only downside as far as going to the opener is the weather, the last three years it's been cold, snowing, raining and just plain nasty so you have to be prepared, the first year I went I wasn't and I was miserable all week. This pic was taken on the last day we were there and my hands and feet were completely numb, but we were still catching fish :good:
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s75/Whopper_bucket/LittleVermillion2007086.jpg
This is what we were greeted with last year the Friday before the opener, had to spend the night in Balmertown until we could get out Saturday afternoon. We left Dryden at 7:30am with blues skies and sunshine by 9:00am it was almost white out conditions
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s75/Whopper_bucket/LV2009012.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s75/Whopper_bucket/LV2009015.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s75/Whopper_bucket/LV2009027.jpg

[Gary Switlick]

well i tell you you guys got more guts than i. i only get to go on one trip a year and am not prepared to lose any fishing time due to weather so we stick to mid june. although last year we went on june 6th and the weather was cold and rainy almost all week. going the 19th to eliminate that. the fishing is still awesome.

[Whopper]

well i tell you you guys got more guts than i. i only get to go on one trip a year and am not prepared to lose any fishing time due to weather so we stick to mid june. although last year we went on june 6th and the weather was cold and rainy almost all week. going the 19th to eliminate that. the fishing is still awesome.


LOL yes we are sick Gary

We really never lost any fishing time except for last year, but then again Friday was going to be a bonus day. That's kind of why I'm on the fence about next year. I'm ready for a week of nice weather...Im thinking August

[Woody]

Great pictures, i can't imagine what it's like over there but it looks like i would only be able stand it for a few hours before crying like a baby and wanting to go home!

[Clive]

I'm not sure the snow makes we want to go that early in the season, you are brave Phil!

Our 2 visits where the last Saturday in May and we say a little bit of snow the last time, but nothing that stayed on the ground.

And anyone wondering what/where Sportsmans Lodge is here are some links...

http://www.fishingfury.com/categories/places/little-vermilion/

http://trophypikecanada.com/

[Clive]

I've been trying to do that math on getting there this year. By car it would be almost 40 hours driving - 3375 Km (2100 miles)from where I live now (around 1000 more then when I lived in Ontario) With only one car in our household it not really an option for me to disappear with the car for 10+ days.

The next option is flying into Toronto and driving with Jon, but we'd need a car rental which would exceed my cash limit.

The only real option is if I could get a cheap flight in to Thunder Bay and time it so I could hitch a ride with one of you guys...sadly, there arent really any cheap flights from Halifax to Thunder Bay

[KenReece]

Ya clive, 40 hours is crazy. We have a 18-20 hour drive depending on how fast we push it. If we have the room(which I'm sure we do), you could always fly into Toledo or Detroit and drive up with us. If ya needed to spend a night we have plenty of room for you.

[Clive]

Hey thanks Ken, I never thought of that option. I'll check out some flight sales...

[Gary Switlick]

yeah what ken says is true we would have pleanty of room and be more than happy to have you guys hitch a ride with us. hope to see you in the spring clive and jonathan

[Whopper]

I'll tell you guys a little story that happened two years ago.

I had two guys meet up at my house for the drive up, one was a fellow buckeye from the Akron area and the other was a Canadian friend from the Cambridge Ont. When we crossed the border in Fort Francis/International Falls the Canadian custom agent ask for ID's from the three of us, Me being the driver/owner of the vehicle I had to answer all of the standard questions then from out of nowhere the custom agent (who was a nice looking female) ask me how long I have known my riders plus how we met, not really thinking I said "We met over the internet" , well you should have seen the look on her face. It was a very awkward moment and I looked at her and said "That didn't sound right did it?" to which she replied no with a grin on her face from ear to ear. I then told her "Hey we all married with children and healthy males" to which she started laughing while handing me back everyone's ID and telling us to have a safe trip. Well everyone at this point got a good chuckle out of it and away we went. Coming back it was a whole different story, the US custom agent couldn't quite figure out why I was bringing a Canadian back to the states and those guys don't have any sense of humor what so ever.

[jwm]

Wow the shots of the big iceberg are awesome!