For the first time since 2019 our opening week happened in the month of May like it is supposed to! What a great opening week it was despite a late arrival to camp due to late ice out, many dock issues as a result of high water, and a slippery, wet, muddy, mucky mess of a lawn that challenged your balance with every step taken. The fishing was really excellent overall despite opening day water temps in the 40 degree range. Fishing slow and deliberate put walleye in the boat as well as fishing flashy crankbaits and blade baits fast to capitalize on the “reaction” bite. With some excellent weather during the week, water temps in some main lake areas ranged from 50-55 degrees and the fish responded accordingly with reports getting better and better with every passing day.
We have been saying it all along and every week is a testament to it’s truth, but the near two year lay off from the Covid related shutdowns has taken what was always an outstanding fishery in Wabaskang Lake and made it even better. I couldn’t believe the number of mid-20″ walleye that guests reported catching and releasing during the week and the incredible number of 30″ plus pike. The smallmouth bite was really turning on by weeks end and as usual many of them caught were just flat out tanks! The cold water also produced some great whitefish action which was a nice bonus for many guests during the week.
Besides the great fishing, we had our first camp wide pizza night of the season and it was a huge success as it always is. Spinning a pizza for 3 minutes on the Blackstone to cook allowing us to crank out about 10 pizzas in a half hour or so to feed our hungry anglers is the bomb. As good as pizza night was, it paled in comparison to Brisket BBQ night. Camp guest Bernie TenPas treated us to beef brisket and pork shoulder brought all the way here from Texas. Slow smoked on our Weber grills with pecan wood left us with that “heart of Texas” feeling as we gorged ourselves on some fantastic bbq.
Week 2 is underway and the bite is still on! Stay tuned for more reports.
Dave, Chris, Jen, & Miguel
Y’all are amazing- we had front row seats to the incredible amount of work that you did to make our week in camp a huge, safe success, from using Wine Lakes landing for our arrival to being dropped off safely at your landing on Friday! Y’all are the “takes a licking and keeps on ticking camp owners, to paraphrase John Cameron Swayze. I have never seen more effort put into a desire to provide a safe and excellent customer experience!!!
I know R Jay & Jenny would “second” our opinion-
With great respect- Sharon & Bernie