trout lake outpost

the top photo is the filled to the brim ice house -foreground, and storage shed -back ground. the cabin and grounds survived the winter fine. trout lake is an underground spring fed lake, and has a stable water level even with this spring having lots of winter run off and higher then normal lake levels. the lake trout bite will be fast and furious for ice out trout fishing in may and early june this year. trophy northern pike at ice out are common and easy to catch here too. the cabin just needs to be cleaned up and the boats and motors put back in the lake, it will be bbq'ed lake trout for supper!

fort separation rapids

the cabin at separation rapids is 1 hour north 42 miles driving, from kenora. located on the english river the ice is all gone since may 2 here. Sam and Marvin are busy getting things cleaned up and ready for opener. the fort looked good after a long winter. we have a few spruce up carpentry and paint projects we are doing here before the first group arrives may 20.

fuel truck

a sure sign spring is here. the white fuel truck has the snowplow removed and is serviced and ready to go. the tank in the back carries 1,000 litres of avgas and it's full. gonna start burning some of it this wknd. when we fly north to start getting the outpost cabins opened for the season.

float flying season 2011

the super cub is back in the lake may 2. nice day  to check things out. north of kenora. ice is going quick on  the big lakes wide open stretches are still white frozen, but the narrows and shorelines are broke away and floating freely. 18 days behind last years start to the float flying season.

ice is gone april 30

the ice left our bay in kenora late afternoon saturday april 30. this photo shows the ice flow in the middle-thru the trees, it is all open water in the foreground behind the trees 2 hours later the last of the ice was all gone. today is wet snow flurries, rain and cold  36 f. friday was sunny and 70 f. i will put the supercub in the lake tomorrow and go for a flight to check the ice conditions north of kenora. i think it will be a week yet before we can go north to start opening the fly-in cabins for the season.

airplane shot from last summer

this is the cessna 185 last august. i am anxious to get the float flying season underway and was just reminiscing, thought this was a good photo from 2010

ice conditions late in the day

the ice has turned black today and floating freely as it has broken away from shore and lifted. my original prediction of ice out may 1 in the bay here looks good. but further north will be another week at least and maybe 2. if it stays sunny and hot it will go quick, but the weather will determine how long it hangs on north of where we are in kenora.

windy day

the ice around kenora is going quicker now. 55 degrees f today and wind is 040 degrees at 10 g 15. so that means we have a northeast wind at 10-15 knots which is 20-30 km winds. it helps to blow the ice around and take it out sooner. i am hoping to put the super cub back in the lake and go for a flight on may 1 which is saturday, and only 3 weeks until walleye opener. the below photo was in later march. the super cub is changed back over to floats and ready to go, we just need the ice to leave!!

super cub on skis

ice out 2011

The 2011 ice out will be later than last year by at least 3 weeks, but as we all know the weather in the north country is never the same twice. This is the start of our blog

 and we are excited to get the 2011 fishing season and blog started. It has been a long winter and we are looking forward to seeing all our past customers and new ones for the up coming season which is only 4 weeks away for the walleye opener on May 21 2011.