Just Chatter in the Fish House: Lake Trout

When Bruce Johnson brought his lake trout to clean, I shattered away about the fish and how to cook it.  When you catch and keep such a beautiful fish it is nice to appreciate the characteristics of that fish in this particular lake.

Let's Talk Fishing

Enough ice, planes and destroyed portages.  It is time to go FISHING.
Herb Pozdro and Joe Petykowski have come fishing to Viking Island since the 1960s, always the first week.  Over the years they have seen every kind of opening week.  This year for the first time ever, they actually came one week later!   They brought Jim Rogers and Bob Oglivie because they needed cooks and low and behold, these new guys like to fish.

Bob and Jim with long time guide, Herb

Jim with a 29" Walleye, this is a huge walleye
for the Canadian Shield where a 25" walleye is big.

Jim with a nice lake trout, caught in only a few feet of water.
They could be on top eating the flying ants right now.

And Jim also hooked a nice Northern. 
All three species in the same day... no big deal

Fishing has been just great this past week.  I thought perhaps the walleye might not be back on their usual spots but I was wrong.  The northern are cruising the lake and easy to find.  The lake trout are up near the surface.  The suckers are spawning and keeping the eagles and bears busy.

Lots of fish stories being told around here this week, 

but I just need a few more pictures!

Portages

Harriet and Bill went out to check on the Peterson Portage last week and got lost.  While detouring around a group of trees, they ended up taking a well used animal trail.  Harriet said, "I bored with this adventure of jumbled trees and ended up 1/4 mile down the shoreline."

Peterson Portage had 253 downed trees

After we left this past fall and before winter had really set in, a snow storm came through the park.  The snow settled in the tops of the huge trees where the cones are.  The weight of the snow snapped the tops right off 10 to 20 feet down.  All the portages are littered with these tops.

Now the fishermen are in camp and fishing, they are chomping at the bit to get to the next lake!    Hugh, Bill and Harriet cut 253 trees to clear the Peterson Portage.  I surprised that it was done in 3 hours but not surprised when Hugh was sore the next day.  Now on to the next portage..... and the next.

Fishing is always better one lake over.

Mike Hooker, Viking Outpost Air Beaver Pilot

Mike Hooker comes with plenty of floatplane experience.  He and his wife Tracey have settled in Red Lake and I think they will stick around here. 
We love his attitude towards flying and life up here.

The Season Begins

The ice is slowly melting, guests are arriving, camps need cleaning, planes are flying off the river.

Life is busy. 

Will Hope has been busy flying our guests and gear into Rheaume and Orono with the yellow Beaver, EZW.  Then returning to Red Lake to fly other operators' gear and guests.  Hugh has been busy flying the Cessna along side Will. 
Craig, Mike and Trevor are busy keeping all organized and running from the bridge to town and back.  Yesterday Bill called from Red Lake Seaplane Service to tell Craig, "Hey, there's room here to take off with the 2nd Beaver!".

Good to be in the Air and Fishing Again

Arthur's Motor Hoist

Arthur is looking after his Dad with this contraption. Hugh can sit in a chair and work on motors.
VERY BIG DEAL
Unit 1 has been in use at Viking Island for a few years.  Unit 2 is now installed at the Viking Island Air Base.

Ice on Howey Bay

Howey Bay on May 13, 2013 

May 14, 2013. Howey Bay looking from Gramma's House into Howey Bay.  Finally some action; Rain, Wind and Thunder.

Howey Bay looking at Viking Outpost Air Docks May 15, 2013

It is on its way out now!

Frank Paishk and Bow Narrows Camp

At the west end of Red Lake, at Pipestone Narrows, is Bow Narrows Camp.  This camp is closely tied to Viking Island.  The original owner, Bill Stupac, hunted and trapped with Art Carlson in the 1930's.  Bill was a very short Ukrainian from Manitoba and Art was a very tall Swede, Mut and Jeff.  Art told stories about how Bill's pacsac would drag in the snow.  They loved to explore the bush and sold deer meat to the mines in the area.
In the late 1940's, a highway was built into Red Lake and that paved the way for tourism.  Bill and Art discussed building a camp together but decided to each build their own.  Don Baughman bought Bill's camp in 1961 and his son, Dan, grew up there as Hugh and Craig grew up across the portage on Douglas Lake.  Dan knew Frank Paishk our guide for so many years.  Jimmy Strang, our main guide after Frank, told us that Dan taught him how to fillet fish.


Frank Paishk's Cabin on Red Lake close to Bow Narrows Camp
Taken on April 19 this year as I skidooed by

Dan gets to camp by boat. At this time of year, Dan calls us for ice updates and will probably be flying into camp with Viking Outpost Air.

Here is an entry on Dan's blog about Frank Paishk, Viking Island's main guide from 1948 until 1978.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Travelling on thin ice, 50 years ago

Frank Paishk as seen from Bow Narrows Camp, May, 1961-3

Here is a scene taken at this very time of year, 50 years ago.
Frank Paishk, the First Nations man who trapped the west end of Red Lake along with his brother, Adam, would pull his old canoe on a sled across the ice. When he came to open water, he would throw the sled inside and paddle.
Frank would trap muskrats in the spring in places like Muskrat Bay, Middle Bay and Grassy Bay.
His cabin still stands at the eastern entrance to West Narrows. Most people now refer to it as "the Trapper's Cabin."
Frank was a consummate woodsman. He could thrive in the bush with virtually nothing.

 

Bow Narrows Blog, Frank Paishk

 

 

Get that Beaver Back to Water

A company is the sum of its parts.  Employees set the tone.  We can count ourselves very lucky to be working with 2 enthusiastic intelligent young pilots.  They are ready to fly and understand that around here, there is much more to do than fly.  They pump their own floats, gas their own planes, load, unload and care for their planes.  I believe they take ownership of their craft; treat it well and it in turn will treat you well.  At the outposts, maintenance often needs a creative mind and energetic soul.
Will Hope is training Mike Hooker, Will was trained by Tim Kachur and Tim was trained by Russ Stephenson.  Before them a long list of great pilots have walked our docks. 

Will Hope and Mike Hooker
Pilots for Viking Outpost Air

Mike Hooker and Will Hope

Mostly, a guy needs to love the job and the north

A love for fishing doesn't hurt either. 

Our Season starts Now

Viking Island, May 7, 2013

Hugh took the Cessna 185 off the ice and landed on the water.  Our season has begun and it feels good to be doing some real work!  As you can see from the video, there is still plenty of ice.  Hopefully in a few days we will be able to get into Optic Lake for starters.
Call if you have a lake in mind.


Optic Lake, May 7, 2013

Florence attends the Sportman's Dinner

Hugh, Florence, and Enid at the Sportsman's Dinner

Last night was the 34th annual Sportsman's Dinner. It is the big fund raiser for the Red Lake District Publicity Board. It is the last chance to kick up your heels and meet up with other operators returning to open camp. It is the time when the citizens of Red Lake show that they appreciate this long time industry in Red Lake. It gives our town character and an international reputation. Who has not heard of Red Lake?
Florence at age 98, is definitely the respected pioneer at this do. It might be dimly lit and loud but she visits with old friends, meets her grandchildren's friends and hopes to win a prize.
(my feet are sore from dancing and my voice is horse but I had a good time)

How Deep is the Ice on Red Lake?

This Video does not look promising BUT there was only 16 inches of blue ice, then 10 inches of water and 2 inches of top ice.
We drilled where there has been no skidoo traffic and the ice was well insulated from the cold.
It is cold here today but the forecast predicting warmer weather for the weekend. 

Dr. Scholz, (sorry I just gotta have a favourite)

Happy Birthday Dr. Don

Dr. Scholz shows up at our base at the end of August with the video camera already rolling.  He and his brothers host a very active group of fishermen. If I am feeling down, they cheer me up and remind me what a great life we live up here.

The Trip Home fromViking Island

Wednesday, ice conditions so were so good that every lake trout fisherman in the area should have taken the day off work!

Three days later and Hooo We made it.



This track is on the portage trail too



I spooked a flock of Canada Geese at the bottom of
Douglas Creek



On Douglas Lake, as I set out for home

We made it.  We loaded up the sleigh with laundry and such and headed for town.  My little SL 500 was not really built to run water (though teenagers have tried) but it did well.  I kept telling myself, "there is lots of ice, really!" as I spied sink holes around me, and the top layer of ice sometimes gave way.  Mostly it was water everywhere.  As we pulled up the hill at home, I watched water just pour out of the back of the sleigh.... my laundry was well rinsed.
If we were willing to wait one more day the water would have drained off the ice and the trip would have been much different.

BUT we were headed home for a party.....

Classic GET-HOME-ITUS

A beautiful day on the Island

Conditions on the lake are perfect..... For skidooing. It is great to ride with your visor up. I'm cleaning cabins. Hugh is doing some plumbing. Coffee on the deck is wonderful. Tshirt weather today.
Yesterday morning I got up early and sat knitting. Meanwhile a big animal sauntered by right outside my window. Never saw it! Darn. I think it was a bear. Hugh is not sure

Well Herb and Joe.... Your Cabin is Ready... Let's get Fishing

Just in case break up is late, I have scrubbed the Fireside Cabin, made the beds and got the kitchen ready.  Herb and Joe are always our first guests in the spring and I am ready for them.  I'm hoping for a barbeque on the deck on Friday May 17th. 
Now we will just have to wait and watch the ice melt; more interesting than watching paint dry but just as frustrating.  I'm always antsy to get to camp. 
Over the years, Herb and Joe have seen many different springs; some with snow falling, some with ice drifting around the lake, many bright and balmy.  I told them that ice out may be late this spring and it is a familar warning.  They just take it in stride like we do....
They have never missed  a season of fishing... just delayed a couple.


Hugh headed out for town in a snow storm

The Deck of the Fireside Cabin is a welcome sight after a day of scrubbing.

 

Geese swim at the bottom of Douglas Creek waiting for open water to the north

On Sunday, Hugh headed for town in a white out.  He said he actually got lost on Red Lake three times because he couldn't see a thing.  I stayed at camp to scrub floors and such.  Oh so nice to be doing "real" work again instead of paperwork. 
When I headed for home today (running out of food), the sun was out and so were the animals.  The eagles are nesting in their brand new nest, and there were fresh tracks everywhere; an otter skidding across the ice, a beaver lumbering along, moose crossing the lake, a wolf following a fox, a lynx light on top of the crust and all the little creatures too.  At the bottom of Douglas Creek, some geese were taking advantage of the only open water for miles and miles around. 

Spring must be close by.

Cleaning while the Snow Falls

Yesterday I took stock and checked out the island.
Billy flew in with his little sewing machine. Oh how great to hear a visitor circle the island. I know how awesome it is to fly a little plane on skis. You are so aware of your surroundings, each change of wind, sun or temperature. You can see from the air all the places you've walked or canoed. You can see where all the animals have travelled.
Billy brought us a trout for supper. Yum
All and all a good productive day
Now today it is windy and snowing! No problem. I'm in cleaning mode... Scrub scrub scrub. Put another log on the fire
Hugh has taken off for town through the storm. I don't envy him. I'll be comfy at camp tonight.

Getting ready at Viking Island

Hugh and I skidooed up to Viking Island yesterday. To the south and west of us, a snow storm has roads closed and everyone digging out today. We missed all that. The sun is out and the wind is blowing here. A lot of snow has disappeared just by direct evaporation and it is easy for me to walk between cabins.
BUT the ice is shore to shore with snow on top , so I expect break-up to be LATE
I am out here cleaning and making lists. I will be ready when the ice does go.
I am writing this from camp on my IPhone Hope it looks ok.

April in Red Lake

Not the most Cheerful Picture for April 15

Today I decided to stay home.  We were planning to go to Viking Island via skidoo.  There will still be plenty of ice tomorrow .... and the next day.

 Last year ........

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Hey...We are flying!!

April 12, 2012

Hugh just got back from flying out west. Telescope, Optic, Domain and Douglas are free of ice. Howey Bay is about 50 % full of ice. Walleye season is open until April 14, so Hugh had an important mission......walleye for supper. (first time ever to fish walleye before the season closes by boat or plane)



The big stretch of Red Lake is about 30% ice with a barrier at Forestry Point. A west wind would get rid of all the ice. Dan Baughman plans to go by boat to Bow Narrows Camp at the west end of Red Lake this Monday, April 16. A few years ago he had to fly his staff in with us just before his guest arrived.





Stay Tuned 

The Season Begins

Miner's Cabin

Tower Cabin

Hugh and Bill Scott are busy putting kitchens in the Tower and Miner's Cabins. I couldn't be happier! The new plan of housekeeping cabins instead of meals in the lodge has been approved by many of my longtime guests. I was so nervous about this change but now that the summer is about to begin I can see that it will work. The season is off to a great start.

As we put in our kitchens, the eagles are busy building a new nest close by the old one that blew down last spring. It is amazing to see how much they have accomplished already. They definitely were out ahead of us.                  

Today I am back from camp and heavy snow is falling again.  Breakup will be later than last year but that's expected.  Last year was the earliest breakup ever.  All I can say, is stay tuned. 

Easter Weekend at Viking Island

Spring is here. The days are getting longer, the sun is out and the skies are so true blue. We loaded up the sleigh with the new kitchen cupboards and headed out to Viking Island. What a great weekend to be out there. My brother, Peter and his wife Johanne, Gwyneth and granddaughter Rhian came along too. Once there I couldn't resist putting my brother to work. It was just the perfect time to burn the big bush piles. Shovel off the snow, remove the tarp and set a match to them. I just love watching the flames and feeling that nice heat on my face. (no I'm not a pyromaniac, just love that heat after a long cold winter)

Hugh is hauling the kitchen cupboard up the lake.  Time to get to work again. 

We built a snowman before clearing off the deck.

Good day to burn brush.

Hmmm  that pile was pretty dry.

Gotta have walleye for supper.

Coffee on the deck.  Life is good.

It didn't take long for Rhian to find a place to slide.

This Whiskey Jack welcomed us
as we pulled up to the cabin.

Lynx in the Yard !

The Canada Lynx is a solitary, secretive, nocturnal animal.  None of this was apparent today, when Arthur took out his cell phone and shot this video of our local lynx.  This guy must have had a satisfying meal probably on Rhian's favourite bunny rabbit before bedding down right outside my office window.  He slept there all day until 3pm when he awoke with a big stretch and then sat for another 2 hours enjoying the spring sunshine.  He doesn't seem intimidated by Arthur and his phone.  In fact, he came towards him as if curious.

A New Website for Viking Island

I designed a new website.      Viking Island

Website design is best left to professionals.  Oh yes, this is so true but if you are a small business owner, you just need to find an affordable way to get your word out.  This is my solution and it is not perfect.  Please take a look and give me some feed back.  I'd love to hear how it views on different monitors and in different browsers.  (hope there's not too many problems!)  Spelling is not a great talent of mine either.

Ice Fishing Time, Fresh Walleye Needed

After a cold dark winter, March is always welcome. 

Fresh walleye is on our minds.  Time to get outdoors again. 

Thank goodness, our granddaughter, Rhian, likes to fish.

Rhian is fishing on Douglas Lake for her supper.

On the way home, I think Rhian is fast asleep and probably snoring. 
Fresh air and lots of action does it everytime.

Hugh is in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sports Show

Hugh returns for another year

Paul Smith, Outdoors Editor with the Journal Sentinel

 

 

Winter had a firm grip on southeastern Wisconsin on Tuesday.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sports Show was setting stakes for its 73rd run.

"Those mounds are impressive," said Hugh Carlson of Red Lake, Ontario, surveying the 6-foot-tall piles of plowed snow in the parking lot. "It's going to be a lot more comfortable inside the show."
Carlson knows a thing or two about cold-weather living. An ice road is formed near his home each winter, offering truckers their best route north.
Come March, he heads the other way to promote his business, Viking Island Lodge. This is the 32nd year he or other family members have exhibited at the show.
"How important is the show to us?" Carlson said. "One hundred percent of our customers are Americans, that's how."
Viking is a fly-in fishing and moose hunting business with outposts around Red Lake in northwestern Ontario. Customers drive to the main office and get a float plane taxi ride to cabins on remote lakes in the area.
In the midst of a winter storm, a visit to the Sports Show invites you to dream of other possibilities.
Like a warm, calm summer evening on a North Woods lake, with the only sound being the call of a loon.
Carlson is one of dozens of exhibitors at the show that can make the dream a reality. Viking runs 13 outpost cabins, most of which are the only dwelling on the entire lake.

"We'll stop in once or twice a week if you want us to check on you," Carlson said. "But if you want complete solitude, you've got it."

In an age of 24 / 7 electronic connectivity, many people find increasing value in disconnecting.
Carlson's cabins are heated by woodstoves. And though they have running hot and cold water, they have no electricity. If you want to speak to someone long-distance, you bring your own satellite phone.
Each person is allowed 150 pounds of gear for their flight to the cabins. That needn't include beer. In a made-for-Wisconsin promotion, Carlson's pilots will fly cases of beer (or other beverages) to the remote outposts before you arrive.
When it comes to food, fresh fish - walleye, northern pike and lake trout - are the prime attractions.

"Eat walleye for breakfast if you want," Carlson said. "The catching is excellent."

Anglers report catching (and releasing) up to 1,400 walleyes in a week, Carlson said. The daily bag limit is four.
Canadian regulations allow some walleyes to be brought home by U.S. anglers. But in keeping with the conservation ethic of the day, Carlson said about 70% of the anglers don't take fish home.
That's one of the major differences of the modern era, Carlson said.
"Thirty years ago, people would take home as many of the biggest walleyes, northerns and trout as they could," Carlson said.
If a Canadian destination isn't in your plans, more than 100 U.S. outfitters, resorts and guides will be at the Sports Show to discuss your desires.