Indian Lake Chain - Shore Lunch

Last Friday, Jimmy planned a shore lunch for both camps on the chain, Clark's Camp and K.C.'s Landing Resort. He invited me to come along as well! It had been years since I'd been in a boat on the Indian Lake Chain so I was very excited.

Ted & his Son, Anthony.

Nice Walleye for Lunch!

We took off around 10:00 a.m. and cruised along from lake to lake. I had almost forgotten how beautiful each and every lake is on that chain. Jimmy said the guests had been doing fantastic this year. Lots of walleye caught just on Edward and Indian Lake alone, without having to travel far from camp. That day, however, our shore lunch was going to be on Boulder Lake, so we continued all the way down to Cobble to do a little fishing.

Fathers & Their Sons... New to Camp!

Jimmy and I tried a couple of his favourite spots on Cobble Lake. Within a couple of casts, we were boating some nice walleye. We caught up with the other boats from camp and showed them our spots and told them to each keep a walleye or two for lunch. The walleye were still very shallow and were biting on a 1/8 oz. jig with a minnow.

Catching Some Walleye on Cobble

One of Jimmy's Favourite Spots

Beautiful 25" Walleye Caught & Released on Cobble!

Everyone had a great morning of fishing. There was not much of a wind that day and around noon the sun came out. It was the perfect day for a shore lunch.

Myself Cleaning the Fish

Jimmy Getting the Fire Going

We filleted the fish and Jimmy got a fire going. Jimmy cooked us a wonderful lunch of walleye, fries, and beans. He cooked over the open fire on a huge cast iron fry pan. Walleye somehow taste better when cooked on the shore over a fire.

Anthony Breading the Fish

Jimmy Cooking Up a Delicious Lunch

Everyone enjoyed their lunch and swapped stories about their time spent at Clark's Resorts. The next day, everyone would be starting their long drives home. It sounded like everyone had a great week fishing the chain and very much enjoyed their time spent at Clark's. It sounded like Jimmy took good care of everyone as always! The young kids were trying to talk their Dads into staying another week... no such luck I guess... I'm sure they will be pushing for two weeks next year!

Swapping Fishing Stories

Thank you to Jimmy for a wonderful day on the water! It was much appreciated by myself and the guests!

Until next time,

Meagan

More Outpost Fishing Reports for First 2 Weeks of June 2014

Hello everyone!

I have some more outpost fishing reports and pictures to share with you. Thank you so much to those who write reports and share pictures!
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Here is one that I missed from the week before last:

Fawcett Lake "Home of the Flying Eyes" June 1st - June 7th

Excellent, gluttonous, over the top fishing. Landed 2,154 fish. Largest "Eye" was 28". Largest Pike was 40". Total weight - 2 tons. Super service. See you next year.

-Kirsch Group
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Here is a great report from the Voelker group who stayed at McVicar from June 7th to the 14th. Love the detail in this fishing report and really appreciate the feedback!

McVicar Lake June 6th - June 14th

Our intrepid group of eight experienced six days of outstanding fishing. Walleyes topped the list, but Northern Pike accented each day with takes of 36-40 inch fish most days. Weather impeded our efforts on Thursday, but an afternoon outing proved entirely successful. Minnows on slipbobbers proved to the the most productive method for harvesting both Walleye and Northern.

All members of our group took advantage of the opportunities to explore and fish all of the lakes in the McVicar chain. However, more information/history of the various sites mentioned on the map would be greatly appreciated. The areas labelled on the maps to identify fishing areas were helpful, but we all tested new areas with substantial success. A message board could be a great tool to pass along info and tips to subsequent groups. We harvest no fish over 18" and consumed all fish that were harvested.

Several of the group members had fished these and nearby waters over the past 20 years and all agreed this was the most enjoyable and productive trip ever (thanks primarily to the good luck I brought the group).

- Dean Knight

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Here is a report that I received from a "regular" Kapikik crew, who was anxious to get back to the lake after there being no cabin there for a couple of years.

Kapikik Lake June 7th - June 14th

Absolutely superior (microwave, toaster, etc) generator is great, really appreciate the water and spacious cabin. Wayne finally delivered the steak knives as we were getting ready to cook steaks - great week of fishing and being back at Kapikik made the week fantastic. Loved the place and the week of fishing! Thanks to Wayne, Karla, Meagan & others.

- Bertinetti Group

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Lastly, a report from one of our "regular" groups. Sounds like they had another great trip with us! :)

Antenna Lake June 7th - June 14th

We fished Antenna Lake last week and it lived up to its reputation for Big Northern's. Caught numerous fish over 34" with the biggest being a 44" (20+lbs). Even better was all the walleye's we could catch right off the dock. Caught hundreds during the week after our evening dinner. Great service once again from the Clarks.

We fished Grace Lake last year and had the same great fishing and service. Talked to several other groups at the dock who were coming and going to other outposts it is obvious you can not make a bad decision on any of their lakes.

- Theisen Group

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Until next time,

Meagan

Fishing Report for May 25 - June 7, 2014

Between Cedar Lake, the Indian Lake Chain, and our fly-outs up North... this has truly been an incredible spring for fishing. Many of our "regulars" claim this is one of the best years yet. Catching and releasing hundreds of fish daily, and boating a couple of real trophies - this has been one year for the books!

We had about a week of scorching hot weather, which brought our water temperatures up a little. The weather has cooled off now into the 50's and 60's and looks like it will be cool for another week at least. There is lots of rain in the forecast, which will make it interesting with our already very high water levels. On average, the water temperature is below normal. The cooler water is keeping the walleye shallow and active coming off of their spawning beds. The fishing will be good still - just need to bundle up and wear those rain suits!

Smallmouth Caught on the Indian Lake Chain

On Cedar Lake we've had guests catching lots of walleye in the upper twenty inch range. One guest caught a really nice 28" 8-pound walleye last week. Fishing on the chain has been very impressive this year as well. At K.C.'s Landing Resort on Edward Lake there was a 32.5" walleye caught off the dock and a 44.5" muskie caught on a fly rod off the dock. There were multiple 28"+ walleyes caught off the dock as well just this year already.

Filleting Some Nice Walleye At K.C.'s Landing

Here are a few written reports that I have received from some fly-in groups:

Meen Lake May 26 - May 31, 2014

Great hospitality, accommodations, and fishing. All supplies, gas, and equipment worked fine. Fishing was good, but the big fish sure were not biting yet - one more week for that to happen. Caught 650 fish.

- Snover Group

Antenna Lake May 25 - June 1, 2014

The cabin was very comfortable. Even thought the temperatures were 80+ degrees, it stayed cool. The windows provided great ventilation. Everything worked great. The shower was wonderful! The fishing - ice had gone out the previous week. Fishing started slow, but each day it improved. We caught a total of 324 fish (201 Walleye and 123 Northern) with 100 fish caught our last day. The service provided by Northern Lights Outposts was excellent. We hope to return. We have been on over 20 outpost fly-in trips. Antenna ranks as one of our best!

- The Morben's

Pusher Lake May 29 - June 7, 2014

Walleye fishing was excellent! Caught roughly 2,000 Walleye, 3-4 hundred Pike, Largest Pike was 33" and largest Walleye was 26". Fished points and shoreline. Beautiful lake, great time!!

- The Missouri Boys

In general, talking with the groups as they are flying in, it sounds like the fishing has been exceptional. We have almost a full change-over this weekend for the fly-ins, so we are gearing up for a very busy Saturday. I am looking forward to talking to everyone as they get back from their fly-ins. I will try and check back in a week or two as I have more to report!

Here are some groups that left last Saturday:

Good luck on the water, everyone!

Until next time,

Meagan

Summer is Here!

June is here and it's so nice not be talking "ice-out" any longer. Lakes are open and the weather is hot! My Mom's birthday was on Sunday (June 1st). We had cake tonight at cook-out for her. She doesn't look (or feel) a day over 29!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

We have a full camp this week at Northern Lights. The fishing has been phenomenal. I spoke to one of the guests last week as he was filleting his Walleye, and he said that they'd been catching about 300 per day on Cedar. He thought that the spawning was just finishing up and that the walleye would be leaving their nests soon. I wondered if that meant the fishing would get a little trickier? Apparently I was wrong! Speaking to the guests at cookout tonight, it sounds like the fishing is incredible this week too!

Having a Good Time at Camp Cook-Out

As for the outposts, all cabins are now opened-up and most have had guests in them already. I had the opportunity to fly to Bertrand with my Dad and stay over at the minnow cabin the other day. On the way, we stopped to check in on the guys at Kamungishkamo and Bertrand and both groups were having a great time. They were doing very well and catching lots of fish. They were surprised at how much the water had warmed up already. Chris just got back from camp checks today at Otatakan, Pusher, and Upper Wapesi, and he said the fishing at all three lakes is just crazy right now. They are catching 200-300 Walleye in one evening. He said everyone was 100% happy and couldn't have been doing any better.

Our Group at Pusher Lake this Week.

We are getting into a good routine now. Our original Northern Lights Outpost guests have been flying out of Northern Lights Resort on Cedar. It is so much fun talking with the groups that are anxiously awaiting their flights and also greeting the groups that are coming back from their outpost vacation.

The Second Group to Stay at Kapikik

Kamungishkamo Bound!

I had the chance to talk briefly with the first group that stayed at Kapikik. It was so exciting to hear how the first trip was after working on that cabin all winter. The guys had nothing but rave reviews over the cabin and the fishing. They had been following my blog this past winter so it was a neat experience for them as well to be the first group in.

It has also been so much fun and truly a pleasure to meet our new L&M guests. On their way to the new airbase, they have been stopping in to meet us at Northern Lights Resort. All have been very understanding and cooperative through the transition and we are so thankful! Those that have already returned from their trips had a great time. I will try to get some fishing reports together and write about each lake soon.

An L&M Crew Getting Ready to Fly To Meen Lake

It is so great to be in the swing of things now. Summer is really here with the warm weather, airplanes flying in and out, and the guests milling about camp. Meeting new faces and greeting the return guests, talking fishing, and making everyone's vacation the best that it can be is what it's all about. Not to mention, we are caught up with the minnow trapping, which takes off much of the pressure. There are lots in the tanks and minnow orders are going out daily. Everyone is busy, busy, busy!

The Maule in Action

Just because we are busy here, doesn't mean we don't take the time for a little after-work fishing off the dock. We've caught our dinner a few times right in front of camp!

Erin with a nice Walleye

Relaxing After a Long Day of Work

Until next time,

Meagan

Post-Opener Update

Now that the ice is out and we are well into our first week of the season, I thought I would do another update. As you know, the walleye fishing season opened on Saturday. Our drive-in guests arrived Friday afternoon and Saturday morning filling up most cabins at our three drive-in resorts. For the first time in 30 years, our guests arrived to find ice on the lakes, no boats in the water, and no docks set up. They were pre-warned, but most decided to come anyway with hopes that the ice would melt within the first few days of their stay. The following three pictures were taken the morning of walleye opener at Northern Lights Resort on Cedar.

Thankfully, at Northern Lights Resort on Cedar lake, the ice went out on most of the lake by Saturday evening. Our guests were able to get out fishing by Saturday afternoon and despite the unseasonable spring, the fishing has been absolutely fantastic! They've been having to dodge a few ice bergs, but the fish are biting so that is all that matters. We had our first camp cookout at Northern Lights Resort last night and all of the guests had nothing but good fishing reports to share. They are catching and releasing hundreds of walleye daily, mainly in shallow water they said. A couple of people even caught a couple of 28" and 29" walleyes.

At Clark's Camp and K.C.'s Landing on Edward Lake, the ice hung on a little longer. Most of the lake was ice-free by Sunday evening and the docks and boats were put in the water on Monday. The guests were happy to finally be able to get out on the lake and the fishing on the chain has been excellent as well. Our first camp cookout of the season is happening right now at K.C.'s Landing so I will be anxious to hear what the guests had to say about the fishing.

Our fly-out guests were slightly delayed as well, but not as much as we had originally thought they would be. The two parties that were supposed to fly out on Saturday, flew out Sunday to Otatakan and to Antenna. The ice was only half-out on Otatakan and on Antenna there were still ice chunks around the shore. The ice didn't matter to them - they were so excited to get on the lakes and start chasing those big Northern. Our next fly-out group is patiently waiting here at Northern Lights Resort today for the fog to lift so that they can fly to Meen Lake.

If the late ice-out wasn't enough to set us back, the fog for the last two days has sure put a hold on our operation. No flying, means to minnow trapping, and so our minnow orders are piling up. Up until yesterday, we had been able to keep up with the minnow orders, so hopefully after today we can start delivering again and get back on track. The forecast is looking pretty nice after today... we sure deserve some sun and warmth! Another thing that has been slowing us down with the minnows is a shortage of airplanes. Three of our planes are still iced in in Red Lake. Howie Bay is still iced over, but we are hoping to be able to get the planes in the next day or two.

This late spring has certainly set us way behind and it will be very hard to catch up. A lot goes into getting these camps (and fly-ins) running and there are so many chores and projects that we'd like to get done over the summer. Luckily, we've got a great team of workers at all of our locations and so we know we will get caught up eventually!

Until next time,

Meagan

Northern Lights Outposts Buys L&M Fly-In Outposts

We have some very exciting news to share with our existing guests and "social media followers" as well as our NEW L&M GUESTS. Northern Lights Outposts has recently expanded by another 7 lakes! During one of the craziest weeks of the year as we were getting ready for opening weekend, a deal was finalized to sell L&M Fly-In Outposts to Clark's Northern Lights Outposts.

After being in the business for 28 years, it was bitter sweet for L&M to pass on the torch, however they are confident in our ability to carry on the excellent service that they have been providing for many years. We are so excited to be able to pick up where they left off and still get the guests of L&M to their favourite lakes this season to enjoy a fishing trip of a lifetime!

If you are an L&M guest, thank you for visiting our Blog, and thank you for trusting us to fulfill all of your fishing vacation dreams & expectations. You have received outstanding service from L&M in the past, and you can expect nothing less from us. We are no strangers to this business as we operate a top-notch fly-in business of our own, Northern Lights Outposts. The outposts acquired from L&M will be added to our Northern Lights Outposts business giving us a total of 17 lakes for our guests to choose from. These are some of the best fly-in fishing lakes in Northwestern Ontario! 

Aside from operating Northern Lights Outposts, we also operate 3 Drive-In Fishing Resorts: Clark's Camp on the Indian Lake Chain, K.C.'s Landing Resort on the Indian Lake Chain, and Northern Lights Resort on Cedar Lake. Along with Outposts and Resorts, we also run two retail stores (Eagle Junction & Sunset Baits) and a very large live bait business. We have been working in the tourism and bait sector for 30 years. We are not afraid of hard work and we are so passionate about what we do.

For our guests at both the Resorts and the Outposts, we do everything we can to make their fishing vacations the best and keep them coming year after year. Along with first class facilities and excellent customer service, we offer live bait (minnows, leeches, worms) to all of our guests at no extra charge. We are happy to be able to offer this to our new L&M clientele as well. To our all of our Outposts guests, we also offer mid-week camp checks (replenishing the live bait), and we supply bottled drinking water at no extra charge.

We are contracting our L&M flights through Kay Air Service (www.kayair.com) and so our L&M guests will drive to Ear Falls to catch their flight. Kay Air has been in business for a long time with Outposts of their own and are a very reputable & safe charter service. We understand that the extra 1.5 hours of travel time is going to be an inconvenience, but we hope that the free live bait and camp checks will make up for the extra travel time. We are doing everything we can to make this transition as smooth as possible.

Overnight accommodations can be made closer to the new airbase. A few options include: Northern Lights Resort, the Trillium Motel in Ear Falls (807-222-3126), Hotel 105 in Ear Falls (807-222-3374), or you may be able to stay right at Kay Air, depending on cabin availability. We hope this information has eased the minds of the L&M guests and helped them to modify their travel plans.

We are so excited to now be able to offer our guests such a huge selection of amazing lakes. With 17 lakes in total (15 operational for this season), you can surely find what you are looking for. You can learn more about our lakes and what we have to offer by visiting our website and also L&M's website. At www.clarksresorts.com/northern-lights-outposts you will find information on the following lakes: Antenna,  Bertrand, Grace, Kamungishkamo, Kapikik, McVicar, Pusher, Shabumeni, and Upper Wapesi. At www.lmflyin.com you will find information on our new lakes: Austin, Dobie, Fawcett, Meen, Otatakan, and Wright.

Please contact us anytime for further information or if you have any questions. You can call us at 1-866-744-2154 or email: info@clarksresorts.com. Or contact us through Facebook at www.facebook.com/clarksresorts.

Thank you everyone for your patience and understanding during this transition! We are looking forward to a great season!! We can't wait to see all of our existing guests and to meet MANY new faces!!!

Sincerely,

Karla & Wayne Clark (owners & operators)

and Meagan Stansfield (daughter, operations manager, and marketing consultant)

Ice Conditions as of May 14, 2014

It's been a few days since my last ice report so I will let you know what has been going on. We have had terrible weather... two days in a row (Tuesday & Wednesday) we woke up to snow! Both days the snow melted by the afternoon, but this weather certainly didn't us any favours as far as the ice conditions go! Having said that, there was just enough open water in front of Northern Lights Resort on Cedar Lake yesterday for my Dad to take off in his airplane. He was able to get a better look at the area and he has concluded (as of yesterday) that most lakes in our area are still about 70% ice covered. Cedar Lake is about 50% ice covered. The ice that is left is very thin and very black. We predict (and we really hope we are right) that the ice will be out by Saturday or Sunday on our lakes and most area lakes. The fly-in lakes up North will follow a few days later. Bring on open water fishing season!!

Until next time,

Meagan