Perspective, perspective, perspective. Hold the fish out in front of you towards the camera. This adds at least a few inches. This is definitely the most important!
On this day last year - May 28th - the boys jumped in the lake. And no, it wasn't swimming temperature. Brrrrrrrr...in water that was too cold for a Canuck, our two American friends and our Swiss friend jumped in! That's Walter, LeRoy, and one of our guests.
It's 16 degrees C (60 degrees F) today! It's beautiful and sunny with a few clouds in the sky. Everyone is out fishing. Our guests - Herb, Joe, and Jimmy, and Jake Vidas's group - are out catching walleye for a fish fry tonight. Hugh and Brahm are out flying in CF-BYA, doing camp checks and getting Domain ready for guests. Jen is taking a short break from cooking, and is reading a book on the rock in front of Gramma's porch. Harriet and Gramma planted 2 trays full of pansies in front of the lodge. Enid is reading the paper. Everyone is enjoying the day. Maybe it's summer?!
This Noorduyn Norseman CF-LZO is parked at the Red Lake Airport. So, it is on wheels, which is a rarity. We've heard that the owner is flying it around Canada to celebrate 100 years of Canadian Aviation. Since Red Lake is the Norseman Capital of the World, he is apparently beginning and finishing the trip here! It is a beautiful aircraft!
Thanks, Tom, for spending the week with us, opening up the camp! Tom Robertson, his brother Dave, and his father Harry, and their crew have been coming to Viking Island for a long time. And by "a long time", we mean every year since 1951. They are definitely family! Opening camp was chilly and quiet...and hard work! Tom - you're a trooper as usual! 
Traditionally, Herb and Joe are the springtime pioneers of the fishing season. They have always come the first week Viking Island is open. You'll see their names written first in the guest book every year for decades now! They've toughed it out through all kinds of opening weeks...they've even had to break trail through ice to get to camp! Good to have you back, Joe and Herb! It is always great to see you and have you here!
Transport Canada will be enforcing the regulations on external loads this season. Old exemptions will no longer apply. Some air services can no longer haul any external loads. It is important to check with your air service to make sure that their floatplanes can legally haul external loads. Floatplanes are legal for only certain sizes of boats, canoes and kayaks. The external loads also cut down the total amount of weight the aircraft can take.
This post is for Phil Parsons and crew who are planning to spend opening week fishing on Telescope. Last Wednesday, Hugh, Cal and Brahm had the camp ready, boats in the water, the whole shebang. Honest, Cal took the picture! Now the boats must be full of snow!
The snow came as a surprise. We srambled to move planes to save harbour and went back later to sweep the snow off the wings. The local boys who planned for a long weekend of walleye fishing are at home tonight. There's not even a hockey game on.
This entry is for Herb and Joe who have come fishing to Viking Island opening week of walleye season forever. This year they will be here with Jim for the second week of fishing.
Our new pilots are here and ready to fly. Cal Gosselin is from Atikokan and is a northerner already. Brahm Perl, from St. Thomas, is from a keen aviation family.Here they are waiting for Hugh who is taking them out to clean up Telescope Cabin today. They need to do more than fly around here.
Hugh and our new pilot were out checking the depth of the ice today; 13 inches and candled. Looking good. Last year, Hugh landed at the bridge with the Cessna on the same day, May 4. This year the ice on Red Lake looks weaker and we are hoping for an earlier breakup than last year's date of May 21. Of course, most of our outposts are clear of ice much earlier as they do not have winter traffic to pack down the snow and create thicker ice.
Hugh will be flying later this week and will be checking the outpost lakes then. I'll keep you updated.
John says, "Ice out on Howey Bay will be May 8th." I hope.....
This is a yearly spring event. It must be done when the ice is smooth but not rock hard. The path is walked carefully beforehand to scope out any bumps or sticks.
Good News: Two planes are in the water at the bridge ready to go.
On Saturday night, it was the 30th annual Sportmens Dinner. Florence, Craig and Hugh have gone every year. They meet with other operators, suppliers and friends and just have a good time.
Craig figures breakup is going to be late, but yesterday, a little rain and then sun made a big difference. We like to see the ice turn black. It means it is candling and on its way out. We'll keep you up to date.
Telescope, Optic and Douglas were close to being open. 
