December 2012
Holiday greetings from Jim, Julie, and Annie of Wabaskang Camp, from our hearts to yours we wish each and every one of you a joyous holiday season and prosperous New Year. I hope everyone can enjoy the holiday season with family and friends, we also wish a speedy recovery to those of you that are battling illnesses right now, and may God bless you all.
Julie and I are both back to work now at Kay and L Draperies, Julie has been busy quoting jobs and I have been working in Minneapolis on some installations, we are both gradually getting back into our winter routines now. Our daughter Annie is a junior in high school now, she is involved in cheerleading and is a wrestling manager as well this year, and she also works as a hostess at a local restaurant. She has made many friends while growing up in camp and we know she will cherish all the memories she has when she starts college and isnt able to spend much time in camp anymore. The three of us took a short vacation to Branson Missouri over Thanksgiving, we saw three wonderful shows and really enjoyed the Christmas lights and festivities going on, the girls also loved the shopping and both are excited about returning again next year. We also took a detour over to Indiana to attend a wedding reception for Tim Wuethrich and his lovely wife Rebeckah. Tim has been coming to camp since he was a youngster and we are very proud of him, we also want to thank the Wuethrich and Neihouser families for all their hospitality while we were in Indiana and especially the fish fry we had the night before we headed home.
This was our thirteenth year at camp now and each year we enjoy meeting old friends and making new ones. Many of our guests have been coming to Wabaskang Camp for over forty seasons, we want to thank all of you for your patronage and loyalty over the years.
I arrived in camp on the twenty-sixth of April this year, the snow was gone and there was no ice on the lake, the water level on the lake was low and that had me worried but some timely rains that fell in late May and early June saved the day and we were able to get by the rest of the season with no problems. I spent the first few days opening up all the buildings and letting things air out after a long cold winter, all the picnic tables had to be power washed and distributed to the cabins along with the charcoal grills. The weather was warm enough to go ahead and start up our new water system, the process can be somewhat tricky and the super cold water makes for leaky clamps and broken o-rings. It usually takes about three days to get the system completely functional, first you must go around the entire camp and close all the taps and valves that were opened when the camp was drained six months earlier, then I prime the pumps and send the water into the sediment filters and ultraviolet disinfection sleeves, after that the water passes through a flow meter, a pulsa-feeder automatically pumps a super high dose of chlorine into the water as it heads throughout the camp, I usually start at the furthest point from the pump house and open a tap until I smell chlorine and then close the tap and move on, after the entire camp is pressurized I wait two hours and then adjust the chlorine levels back to normal values and flush the entire camp one more time. As you can see it is a timely process in just getting water to the lodge for that first cup of coffee of the season. Julie usually waits for me to have the water system operating before she comes to camp, she really hates to use the outhouse on those cold spring mornings. She arrived in camp around the third of May and promptly began cleaning the lodge and getting the cabins ready for our guests that were scheduled to arrive in less than two weeks. She worked from morning until night and with the help of Lynn and Peggy was able to have everything tidy and clean with a few days to spare. I spent the last few days before the season began rigging up all our boats and motors and launching them into the lake, I also replaced damaged screen windows and cracked glass panes. My friend Arnold spent a couple days hauling gravel and ditching some wet areas along the road, my buddy Greg helped me around camp and helped me all summer long running errands and doing anything that I needed help with, his specialty seems to be repairing screen doors. We were ready when opening day came and were eager to greet our guests.
There was a major change in the way we issue licenses this past season. We have to do everything on a computer now and even though the new system is automated it still seems to take twice as long as the old system. We want to thank all our guests for their patience while waiting for us to issue their licenses so they could hit the water. This season everyone can go to ontario.ca/outdoorscard and you can purchase or renew your outdoors card and purchase your fishing license, be sure to print your fishing license and or your temporary outdoors card after you purchase them, if you have any problems or dont have access to a computer and printer we will be doing licenses in camp as usual again this season.
It seems like the time goes by faster and faster the older we get, Julie had wanted us to replace the big white trailer with a new cabin but we just couldnt find enough time to start the project this season. We still plan on building the new cabin but it might be a few more seasons before we complete the project, I did do some nice upgrades to the trailer this fall like raising it up and replacing the porch stairs, I also installed new carpet and repaired the problem areas in the ceiling, the trailer looks better than ever now. After Julie and the girls finished cleaning and closing up the cabins I began the long and tedious process of draining all the water lines and hot water heaters in camp, it usually takes about a week of hard work to get everything done right, I also spent two days draining and winterizing the pump house and all its sensitive equipment. Once all the regular work was done I managed to find time to replace the porch floors and stairs on cabins two and three, the floors were originally made from rough, untreated lumber that had long since seen their better days. The last project we wanted to complete this season was to remodel cabin number one, I put down a new sub-floor in the entire cabin and then a new floor on top, I also removed all the old counter tops and the island and sink and replaced everything with new counter tops and cabinets, a double sink, a larger refrigerator and a new microwave, the new set-up seems to give our guests more counter space and cabinets for storage, we plan on doing all the cabins in similar fashion.
The fishing on Wabaskang Lake was very good again this season, we saw lots of trophy sized fish caught and released or mounted, the average size of the northern pike has steadily gone up year after year and now even a forty inch monster usually isnt the biggest of the week. The walleye fishing was as good as ever again this season, we saw fish in the thirty inch range and tons of walleyes between twenty five and twenty nine inches, most of the big fish were released and will be busy this spring spawning a new generation of fish. We also have encouraged the release of most walleyes over eighteen inches and our guests seem to be catching good numbers of trophy sized fish almost everywhere on the lake, there are plenty of smaller fish to fill the frying pan and if our guests continue to practice catch and release on the bigger fish the walleye fishery should get better and better each year. The smallmouth bass population is as good as I have ever seen it. We have some groups that concentrate on the bass all week long and they report easily catching fifty bass a day. The bass seem to bite best on twister tails and surface baits and the top water action can be heart stopping. We also have a small population of lake trout that most of our guests really dont bother fishing for. The trout usually move to deep water in early June and down riggers and deep water trolling works the best. If you are a perch fisherman then May and June are the months to be in camp. We saw lots of huge fish caught this season usually on or near their spawning areas. Most of our guests use a slip bobber and a tiny minnow or worm, the perch fishing is decent in July and August as well but the fish are scattered throughout the dense weed beds and smaller fish seem to find your bait before the big ones do.
The northern pike were roaming the deep weed lines and open water humps most of the season, the low water seems to push the huge schools of baitfish out of the weeds and into deeper and cooler water and the big pike follow them out, many of our guests that are big-time northern hunters were frustrated this season because the big trophy monsters were not staying in or close to the weed beds which made them harder to find and catch, they were roaming around in loose schools feeding on the deep water forage like whitefish and ciscoes, rule number one when it comes to catching big pike is to find the food source and you will find the fish, here are a few of the bigger fish that were released or mounted this season.
Bob Kinzy 34 northern 5/19/12
Chuck Nass 39 northern 5/20/12
Kevin Johnson 41 northern 5/22/12
Rick Pease 34 ½ northern 5/27/12
Logan Kleinschmidt 39 ½ northern 5/28/12 [mounted]
Bob Kinzy 36 northern 6/2/12
John Stroble 35 ½ northern 6/5/12
Dave Hamann 38 ½ northern 6/5/12
Kevin Reints 38 northern 6/9/12
Kevin Reints 41 northern 6/10/12
Ward Jankus 37 northern 6/17/12
Susan Mincks 43 northern 6/17/12
Will Lowes 33 northern 6/24/12
Tim Vanselow 36 northern 6/24/12
Brent Minett 38 northern 6/25/12
Mark Nihoris 41 northern 6/26/12
Tim Wuethrich 35 ½ northern 6/30/12
Mike Lammers 37 northern 7/1/12
Kristy Lammers 43 ½ northern 7/1/12
Craig Barr 43 northern 7/3/12
Max Wuethrich 44 ½ northern 7/4/12 [mounted]
Ryan Neihouser 43 northern 7/4/12 [mounted]
Mike Oregan 39 northern 7/8/12
Ron Self 39 northern 7/15/12
Lee Peterson 40 ½ northern 7/15/12
Rhett Lammers 37 northern 7/21/12
Mike Lammers 40 northern 7/21/12
Reid Lammers 42 ½ northern 7/21/12
Todd Peterson 36 northern 7/29/12
Phil Obermeyer 36 ½ northern 7/30/12
Candy Jo Young 34 northern 8/5/12
Steve Young 34 northern 8/5/12
Deane Fober 35 northern 8/6/12
Paul Augustin 39 northern 8/9/12
Jeremy Damgaard 35 northern 8/12/12
Kristy Lammers 36 ½ northern 8/12/12
Josh Kempers 37 ½ northern 8/14/12
Tim Wuethrich 39 northern 8/14/12
Marty Neihouser 41 ½ northern 8/15/12
Tony Opperman 42 northern 8/15/12
Kristy Lammers 43 ½ northern 8/17/12
Tim Schaeffer 36 ½ northern 8/18/12
Tim Schaeffer 38 northern 8/21/12
Morgan Luhring 28 northern 8/21/12
Mallory Luhring 35 northern 8/21/12
Dan Edeker 35, 35, 36, 36, 37 northerns 8/27/12
Mike Lammers 35, 35, 38, 38, 42 northerns 8/27/12
Leon Luhring 43 northern 8/27/12
Chad Heim 43 ½ northern 8/30/12
Steve Young 40 northern 9/2/12
Tom Behl 39 ½ northern 9/7/12
J.J. Hansel 39 northern 9/7/12
Dave Lewis 36 northern 9/7/12
Daryl Miller 34 northern 9/7/12
Chuck Zender 38 northern 9/9/12
Gus Zender 42 northern 9/10/12
Dave Lindaman 34 northern 9/15/12
Luke Brocka 33, 35, 36 ½, northern 9/15/12
Tom Gloviak 41 northern 9/18/12
Leroy Hennen 31, 33, 34 northern 9/22/12
Matt Krueger 38, 38 ½, northern 9/23/12
Chas Ratz 40 ½ northern 9/27/12
Chris Silbernagel 40 ½ northern 9/28/12
The walleye fishing was very good this year as well. We had a good shallow water weed line bite most of the season for the smaller eater sized fish but the real monsters were caught by trolling open water humps and reefs where bait fish were present. The bite was actually very good after dark when the big pigs come to the surface and smack anything that resembles a Cisco. Here is a list of the bigger walleyes that were released or mounted.
Pete Koss 27 walleye 5/20/12
Rick Pease 28 ½ walleye 5/28/12
Pete Sauer 29 walleye 6/4/12
Mike Lammers 27 walleye 6/9/12
Dave Schaller 27 ½ walleye 6/11/12
Mark Jankus 26 & 27 walleye 6/18/12
Andy English 29 ½ walleye 6/20/12 [mounted]
Jeramiah Snyder 27 walleye 7/1/12
Reid Lammers 27 walleye 7/1/12
Marty Neihouser 31 walleye 7/1/12 [mounted]
Logan Wuethrich 30 ½ walleye 7/2.12 [mounted]
Kenzie Spears 27 ½ walleye 7/2/12
Roy Green 27 walleye 7/7/12
Sean Vanderkamp 28 walleye 7/13/12
Brandon Robinson 28 ½ walleye 7/23/12
Jaret Wunsch 28 ½ walleye 7/24/12
Mike Lammers 29 ½ walleye 7/26/12
Matt Eberline 28 walleye 7/26/12 [mounted]
Ron Peterson 30 ½ walleye 7/29/12
Bob Kepple 28 walleye 8/13/12
Janet Rieckenberg 27 ½ walleye 8/27/12 [mounted]
Brett Langfritz 29 walleye 8/29/12 [mounted]
Leroy Hennen 27 walleye 9/27/12
Our smallmouth bass fishing is becoming a great attraction to many of our guests. Who wouldnt love to catch a feisty bass on top water baits? We are seeing many fish in the eighteen inch range now and nothing compares to a smallmouth when it comes to the fight they give you. The best bait seemed to be small crank baits that resemble crayfish or minnows. Most of the big bass were released to fight another day, here is a list of the bigger fish that were released or mounted.
Nicole Robichaud 18 bass 5/18/12
Blake Johnson 18 ½ bass 5/19/12
Landen Johnson 19 bass 5/19/12
Rick Pease 19 bass 5/26/12
Doug McCord 19 bass 6/3/12
Pete Sauer 19 bass 6/4/12
Garrett Taylor 3- 19 bass 6/6/12
Mike Williams 19 bass 6/10/12
Will Lowes 18 bass 6/24/12
Joel Minett 18 ½ bass 6/25/12
Tim Raner 18 ½ bass 7/8/12
Todd Peterson 18 bass 7/29/12
Craig Mericle 18 bass 8/14/12
Dan Roose 19 bass 8/20/12
Rick Zender 19 bass 9/9/12
Luke Brocka 18 bass 9/17/12
Although we do have a few largemouth bass in the lake we very rarely have any caught, it takes a real superstar to land an elusive largemouth and that is exactly what Chas Ratz did, he released a beautiful 19 ½ bass he caught while fishing in Keynote Lake.
We had another warm September and our moose hunters found some tough hunting early in the week before finally seeing some nice bulls and bagging a very nice bull one cold crisp morning. Archery hunting is a real challenge and Tony Wygle and Dave Fuller are two of the best, last season Dave took the shot and bagged a huge bull and this year Tony was up to the task and shot his first bull moose. We worked for about four hours getting it out of the bush and back to camp but the effort was well worth it, great job Tony.
Julie and I want to thank all of our guests for their continued patronage and support. We feel like we have the best guests in the business, we are proud to say we think of all of you as friends. The 2013 season is fast approaching and we are already making plans for our 14th year at camp. We only have a few openings available for next season so we wont be attending any sport shows this year. To those of you who received a reservation form last month and still havent got back to us please do so right away so we can let someone else have a cabin if you are not coming to camp this season. We have been very busy answering e-mails and phone calls from people inquiring about any possible openings in 2013, next year looks as busy as ever, we all hope the economy continues to pick up speed and everyone has a good year.
You will need a valid passport to exit Canada by air or land so be sure to have your documents well ahead of your scheduled trip. For border information call 204-983-3500 or506-636-5064, the phone number for Canadian Customs in Fort Francis is 807-274-3655.
Julie, Annie and I want to wish each and every one of you a joyous holiday season and prosperous new year. If you have any questions please e-mail us atstay@wabaskangcamp.com or call us at 319-352-5559 and we will try to answer any questions you may have. Take care and we cant wait to see you all again next season.
Jim, Julie and Annie
Wabaskang Camp
