Roseanne's Garden

As many of you know, Roseanne likes to garden. If she is not in the office, she is likely in the garden. In Manitoba she experimented, finding out what grows at this latitude and what doesn't. Here in Red Lake she continues to try new things and gets great results! Craig is the vegetable gardener. If you are a gardener, ask to visit her gardens above the office. If you have any seeds, she will always try them out.

Dolphin Lake according to William Bozarth

"Thank you". Roseanne, you and Craig certainly extended a gracious hand of Canadian Welcome to this first-timer. I've fished through the ice of Lake Erie, praying for a walleye passer-by to grab my bouncing jig, and thought I knew what to expect.... NEVER could I have imagined the volume of fish we caught, the size of the fish we caught, or the pure pleasure of such a postcard view around every turn in the lake's shore, there at Dolphin. I can't tell you how many times I felt truly touched by a Spiritual hand, hearing my own voice quietly mutter, "....wow!" at what I was seeing.

Katie at Crossland

Hi Enid
We had a good time and once again thanks for all the help!! Katie Jo caught the biggest walleye (26") and the biggest Northern (35") and the most fish too!!!!
Ken & Katie Jo Jerzak

Iowa at Viking Island

Mike, Susan, Linda and Bob are here from Iowa for some July fishing!!
The rain will not deter them.

We are having walleye for supper tonight with Mary Jane's bannock and Emily's fresh rhubarb pie.

Hugh and Enid

I'm still weathered in at Viking Island. We have guests from Iowa here and they ARE used to this year's rain, but we will be happy to see the sun. It better show tomorrow!! It is not often the wood stoves are going in July. The new growth on the trees is about 1.5 feet. The little ravens are grown now, flying around and making a racket.

It's a Rainy Friday

I am happy to be at Viking Island. The rain is tinkelling on the roof, the woodstove is crackling and the soup is on. One group is out fishing in the rain and one group is taking a lazy day.

At the base in town, I expect the planes are tied up waiting for a break in the weather. I heard John B as he flew overhead to Telescope early this morning but I expect it was the only flight before this rain set in.

Some years in July we complain about the heat!

The Biggest Fish of the Season

Grandma Carol caught this lake trout, actually 37.5 inches long and 16 pounds. We are still talking about this humongous fish and the facts have emerged.
As told by her grandaughter, Gwendolyn (11 years old);
Grandma thought she was hung up on bottom and she tried like crazy to get off until the fish started to pull. Her 12 pound test line and favorite croccodile lure held. Her Zebco rod and reel behaved perfectly.
Donna is the funniest person you will ever meet. Eddie is one of the nicest persons you'll ever meet. Mike and Jim Vandini and Scott Horworth were lots of fun.
I could live here all summer. Maybe I will one day if my Dad lets me.
My advice is go to as many lakes as you can go to like Hatchett, Onnie, Foley and check out Indian Island. If you don't you'll be sorry because it is the prettiest place you will ever see.

A trip up Onnie

Sam Idarraga from Minneapolis brought his son Andrew to Viking Island to experience a week in the bush. Here Leroy from Chicago goes along with them on a trip up Onnie Creek, a great adventure. They pulled the boat over beaver dams, motored through the weeds watching for moose feeding on the water lillies and fished along the way. They found this northern in a little pond along the way and named the pond, Leroy's Lake. There was something new around each corner.

Transport Canada checks the operation

The guys from Transport Canada, Aviation Division, do check up on all the small airlines in the area. They help us navigate through all the regulations and fly safely. They keep us on our toes and thinking safety.
Today our pilot, John Blaszczyk, is flying out to visit remote airlines north of here.

FIRE, back in 1995

When Paul Wolf arrives to fish at Middle McInnes with his family,

I think about his trip back in 1995!!

Fire is an important part of the ecology of the boreal forest. The jackpine cones don't even open without the heat of a fire. We haven't had bad fires for about a decade now but back in the day we saw some big fires!

FIRE !!!
by Paul Wolf

As we arrived in Red Lake for our annual fishing trip the weather was hot and dry.
During the flight to our cabin, we noticed several forest fires on the other side of the lake, but we felt very safe nevertheless. That night we sat on the deck watching pine trees explode into fireballs across the lake.
The fishing was fantastic, probably due to the the smoke darkened skies.
Day 3 we were fishing about 4 miles from the cabin when one of the group approached our boat waving his arms. I thought he was bragging about the "big one" he caught and I replied that I didn't believe it. His answer was that it was not a fish, it was the fire. It had burned the entire cabin and all its furnishings. We had nothing left but the clothes on our backs.
Still disbelieving, we motored back to the cabin site and found nothing but smoke and ashes. Billfolds, credit card, passports and even wedding rings were a pile of ashes.
Not knowing what to do we motored to another outpost cabin where we met Provincial fire fighters trying to save that site. They called for a large helicopter to rescue our group and late that evening in the middle of the lake, we climbed the ladder of the helicopter that flew us to safety.

Upon our arrival in Red Lake, Viking Outpost staff picked us up and treated us to a midnight supper, put us up in the local hotel and provided breakfast.
After explaining our predicament to a government official, a letter of passage was given to each of us to get through customs without proper identification. WOW! What a trip. I never want to experience that again; yet it is trip I'll always cherish and remember. Mostly it was all the caring people who helped us that made this fishing trip fantastic.

Carol outfishes the Guys

So .........Art and Carol Anderson have brought their sons and granddaughter, Gwendolyn, from Horse Branch Kentucky to Viking Island for a week. They plan their trip so they spend the same week as Mike Vandini and his group from Chicago. Real fishermen, these guys, but all are fine with Gramma catching the biggest fish EVER.
This huge lake trout was 36 inches long, healthy and fat. Unfortunately it didn't survive to go back into the lake, probably because it came from quite a depth into warm water. I expect this fish is about 30 years old. We seldom see a lake trout this size. Apparently Carol needed no special technique or lure to be the most successful of fisherperson.

New Deck for Dolphin

Calling Mark Dobbins and Jeff Thurman.......
Craig and Greg built this deck on Saturday and Sunday.









Craig has no comment other than "hard work". Roseanne says, "BYOF"
(bring your own furniture)

A little time in the Bush

From Viking Island, a person can take a 3 day canoe trip or just canoe up the creek for a day. We have cabins along the Gamin River System in Woodland Caribou Park and canoering here can be more about experiencing nature than challenging long distance epics. My daughter, Harriet, enjoys nature photography and these are some of her shots. The Canadian Shield and our boreal forest are seldom recognized as a destination for nature photographers. How can that be????

Moose Swimming

Asbells at Rheaume watched this young bull swim past the dock at camp. The mother and calf were swimming at the east end of the lake. This is the time of year when moose love to take to the water. Mother and calf can escape bears and wolves. Out in the open, the flies are much less bothersome. In the creeks and bays the moose are looking for lily roots. You may get to see them go completely underwater and come up with lily pads draping from their antlers. Give a swimming moose lots of room so as not to stress them.

Note how only their head is above water. If you happen to see a woodland caribou, they float much higher with their white tail very visible. Caribou have hollow hair which is great winter insulation and good floatation.

Jacob at Optic

I had to be 11 before i got to go fishing with my Dad. I was very nervous because I didn't like flying but it was actually really fun. It turned out to be a great time.
The fishing was great up there. We caught a 30 inch pike and a 24 inch walleye. My dad won the bets for biggest walleye and pike and I will need to pay. I came so close to beating him with a 29.25 inch pike. I can't wait until next time; I will be here.

Father and Son at Night Hawk

Bill and Grant Getty were on their first fly-in Canadian fishing trip. They found the fishing amazing. Walleye and pike were everywhere. For walleye, they used charteuse jigs with gulp minnows. For pike, they used a gold jig with gulp and caught one after another. Gulp worked so well for them that they intend to write Berkley about their experience.

Grant caught a rock bass. We've only heard of one other rock bass caught on Night Hawk.

Bald Eagle are BACK

During the 1970's, the eagles disappeared from huge tracts of wilderness around here. It is said that DDT ingested during the winter months made the egg shells weak and the young ones didn't hatch. Around Viking Island a small population survived. Possibly these birds wintered in a safe place. After DDT was banned in the USA and Canada, the eagles increased in numbers almost immediately resettling old haunts.
Now you can find a ealge's nest on almost every good sized lake on the Canadian Shield.
Barbara Hinrichsen came fishing with father Chuck and brother, Bob. She enjoys photography and I haven't ever seen a better picture of an eagle watching over the nest. I wonder how many little ones are inside.
Thank you Barb for the excellent shot.

MOOSE on the RED LAKE ROAD - WATCH OUT

(Harriet on a road trip)
Today we spent driving the TransCanada. The drive along Lake Superior was stunning. It looked tropical! Big forested mountains, high rocky cliffs, turquoise blue water and a highway winding all through it.
Once we hit the Red Lake Road, though, it was different kind of scenery! Let's call it a Northern Ontario Safari. There were so many moose on the side of the road, we stopped counting around 30. We also saw 2 bear, 6 deer and a fox in that 2 hour stretch of highway in the dark. We kept our speed to 50 km/hr which made the trip longer than usual but safer. Apparently it rained earlier and all the moose were escaping to the road away from the flies. They were there to entertain us.
Be careful driving the Red Lake Road

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

Jeff Thurman on South McInnes

Jeff and his group caught too many fish during their trip to South McInnes this last week.

One fellow was bringing up a walleye when a northern grabbed hold of the side of the walleye. The northen went down and around trying to get the walleye loose. When he came up again they netted both fish just as the jig came loose!

Kids Gone Fishing

Colt caught a 24 inch trophy walleye. Tyler fell in for no reason. They ran out of coke before they ran out of beer.

They would have landed a few 40 inch + northerns if they had a net BUT Uncle Billy says "You are a girl if you use a net"!

Next year they plan to bring a girl with a net.

Arthur builds the Road

Hugh took some time off from flying to help son, Arthur, build a road into his property. Arthur's friend Leigh Moncrief was there to make sure Hugh remembered how to drive.










A Huge thanks to Leigh's Dad and Uncle who let the guys use their equipment!!!!
I'll keep you updated on how this project goes.

Northern Lights near Viking Island

If you have ever stood in the wilderness in the true dark
and seen the northern lights flicker,
you are a lucky man.

These are the northern lights over Telescope Lake on June 23. Sean Grant took this photo while canoeing with Harriet. The sun goes down around 11 pm at this time of year and the northern lights don't show themselves every night so you have to be a night owl to witness this.

Lake Trout Fishing on McInnes

Mr. Angleson, we missed you. Here are some pictures for you .

Lake Trout fishing was the best ever!

Davin our Beaver Pilot

Davin Leivo is now a Beaver pilot, flying guests into camp.
Hurray! He has worked with us for 3 years and is happy to fly a bigger plane. We are fortunate to find a pilot with great natural flying ability.