Greetings from Jim and Julie’s Wabaskang Camp. Our 20th season is under way and we have been busy getting the camp spruced up and everything done before our first guests arrive. I arrived in camp the 25th of April after George Kupper opened our road, he used his bulldozer to push the heavy snow and in spots ice that was over five feet thick off the road, thank goodness for George and Bev. The camp was in good shape this spring and only a few minor water leaks to repair along with the usual missing shingles and tree branches to clean up. Our first guests arrived on Wednesday the 15th, only five days after ice-out, and we were off and running. Fishing has been solid for week one even though weather conditions were less than ideal. Perch fishing was slow because of the unusually cold water and only smaller male fish were caught; the perch fishing will definitely improve in the weeks to come. The crappie fishing seems to be taking off now and we had a pair of 15” fish to take top spot for the week, Butch Schultz and Chuck Nass were the lucky anglers. The northern fishing was spotty early in the week but as the water warmed a few degrees we saw some decent fish being caught, most of the bigger fish were caught on a sucker or big minnow and always in the same area as the shallow water walleyes that our guests were catching. New-comer Ryan Quiring released a chunky 31 1/2” fish, Shane Arthur is becoming the man to beat in camp and he released a nice 35 5/8” northern, fishing friends Bob Ayres and Norby Reiff both landed 36” fish, another new-comer this week Brian Krohn had the biggest northern of the week, he landed a 37” brute he decided to take home and hang on the wall, obviously a fish of a lifetime for him, also Brian I found your sunglasses so come back next season and you can have them back fella. Oh, yea Steve Taylor released a 34” northern but who cares. Walleye fishing was average this week depending on the areas you were fishing and the weather conditions. All the trophy walleyes came from water less than six feet deep and most on live bait or tiny jigs and twister tails. Shane Arthur, Dave Schaller, Todd Hefty, and Scott Johnston all released walleyes between 25 1/2” and 26 1/2” this week. Butch Schultz landed a 29” brute he is hanging on the wall and super-star Neal Kolb caught and released a 28 1/4” and a 29 1/2” walleye the same evening to win top honors in camp for the week. Our bass fishing was good this week as well, most big brutes were caught on twister tails or a simple split shot and hook and minnow rig. Ryan Quiring released a chunky 18” bass, Dave Schaller released a 18 1/4” brute, Don Menefee, Ron Hetzel, and Neal Kolb all released bass at or slightly over 19”, the biggest bass of the week was caught and released by one of our new guests but definitely not a “rookie”, Todd Hefty released a monster 19 7/8” bass to take top honors for the week.
We are still issuing licenses here at camp or you can grab one at Dutchies General Store just up the road and be ready to hit the water when you arrive, they also carry food, beverages, some tackle, and bait especially if you’re looking for hard to find leeches and crawlers, they also have gas and diesel on hand as well as gifts to take home. Another spot to check out is Rainbow Point Store also just a few miles up the road from us, they carry many unique gift items that you won’t find anywhere else as well as the essentials you are looking for. New this season for our guests is The Whiskey Jack Restaurant is now open for breakfast Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings so plan on stopping by there and get a nice breakfast before you get to camp on Saturday or Sunday, they also have the best home-made pizza north of the border in my opinion, we will have a menu in each cabin so you can order ahead if you like and let Laura and Grahm do the cooking, after all you are on vacation. Next week looks like warmer temps and little rain so the fishing should really take off, for now this is Jim from Wabaskang.
