ice houses are filled for the 2012 season

the first photo is 200 pound ice blocks ready for the house at nance lake. the crew filled 6 ice houses in 20 days up north and cut over 800 blocks in total, which means we put up over 160,000 lbs of ice for the upcoming summer fishing season.

with all the snow we've had recently the last 3 ice houses were more work with a lot of shovelling required before the ice could be cut. with the weight of all the snow, slushy conditons were encountered at snowshoe, trapline and nance lakes once the ice fields were opened up.

the #1 rampie and super cub in front of the house, another day of flying

it's that time of year again. we started ice cutting to fill the ice hosues for spring. the boys are on ice house #5 now and we should be all the done by the end of feb. check back more frequently as we are back on the blog and will be posting photos and short stories from the last season 2011 and more intresting things from the great white north. 

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!!