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DON'T MISS THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY!  CALL US NOW!  Toll-free: 1-888-244-7453  (1-888-BIG-PIKE) for availability and dates.

May 10th, 2009

Randy and the staff will be heading into camp to prepare for the 2009 season.

May 13th, 2009

The Gods were smiling upon us as we woke up on May 11th to clear skies, a warm temperature and light winds - a perfect day to be travelling to the lodge and bringing in all the supplies and equipment we need by boat down the length of Straw Lake.

The camp wintered well with minimal damage from wind, snow, freezing temperatures, ice, animals and humans.  Water levels are very high on Straw Lake and Yoke Lake, with the water lapping at the base of the old white pine in front of the lodge and the floor of the boathouse under about 3 inches of water.  We'll be doing some work on the main docks as the ice and high water have taken their toll since last fall. 

As we've almost completed all our chores on shore opening up the lodge and cabins, servicing the equipment and outboards and putting the boats in the water Barry, Darcy and I should be ready to venture into our three portage lakes of Bluffpoint, Crossroute and Sullivan to check water levels and haul in fuel and the outboard motors.

Our start-up preparations are progressing well even though we have been fighting wind and rain for the past couple of days which raised the level of Yoke Lake about an inch overnight.  We may even have some time to do a little walleye fishing on the opening day this Saturday as we don't have any guests in camp that day.

May 16, 2009

What a difference a year makes!  Last year it was a beautiful 71 F and this year we woke up to snow flurries and a temperature of 28 F!  Not exactly ideal weather for the walleye opener.  The sun is supposed to come out this asfternoon and the temperature rise to 46 F.  Warmer weather is supposed to be on its way and we're keeping oour fingers crossed that the weather forecasters are right.  These cold temperatures will delay the bass from moving onto the beds, so early to mid-June should have some fantastic fihsing for bass. 

Meanwhile we're trying to stay warm and complete the last few tasks to prepare everything for our guests.

June 7, 2009

Our first few groups of guests have now come and gone and with no guests in camp today we have a chance to catch our breath and get ready for our guests arriving romorrow. 

The weather for the first couple of weeks of the season has been mostly cool, cloudy and wet.  Our first guests arrived on May 22nd.  Water temperatures were still right around the 50 degree F. mark as our overnight lows were still dropping below freezing.  The bass and walleye were found in deeper water on Straw and Yoke Lake with both bass and walleye suspending at around 10 - 12 feet.  The first few days were cold, windy and wet - making for tough fishing conditions.  With the rotten weather our guest lounge with a roaring fire and satellite television was a popular place the first couple of days. 

Better weather enticed the guests back into the boats and they were rewarded with some great fishing. Ricky Lee set the mark to beat for walleye anglers, catching a fat 31-inch walleye on Yoke Lake May 24th - his first day in camp.  Ricky also made the "Wall of Fame" with a 31 inch northern pike.  Not to be outdone Brandon Lee caught a nice 20 inch largemouth on Straw Lake on June 27th, the last day of their trip.  Aaron Spilman topped the leader board for smallmouth with a healthy 20 inch smallie caught on Sucan Lake.   Gary McCready caught two 31 inch lake trout on Yoke Lake.

Tim Holschalg and his partner Dan Johnson arrived on May 27th in preparation for Tim's fly fishing seminar which started May 9th.  's fly fishing group arrival at the lodge.  Casting off the dock that evening, Dan landed a nice 26 inch walleye on a fly.  Scouting Sullivan Lake, Dan and Tim caught numerous largemouth in the 17-inch plus category.  The fly fishers enjoyed great fishing on all the lakes.  Largemouth and lake trout were active on Bluffpoint with some 18-inch plus largemouth caught on Bluff along with lake trout in the mid to high 20-inch range. 

The fly fishers also enjoyed success muskie fishing with several caught in the mid-30 inch range.  Rod Bastian and Jerry Limmer combined their efforts to land a 42-1/2 inch muskie and Dan Johnson caught a healthy 42 incher.  Mike Griffith missed his grand slam of catching all six species of sport fish with walley being the spoiler - eluding his fly.  The group caught "loads" of smallmouth over 17 inches.  So many, in fact, that they didn't bother to record many of them on the "Wall of Fame" - only putting up the largest ones caught.

Fred Kaiser's group along with long-time guest Gary Kopesky and his son Devon arrived at Slippery Winds on June 3rd.  Fred's group had good success on Bluffpoint the first day while Gary and Devin portaged into Crossroute Lake, where Devon got on the board with a 20 inch largemouth.  During the 4-day trip everyone caught good numbers of all species of fish.  The evening walleye bite in Slippery Winds Bay was nothing short of phenomenal with lots of mid to high 20-inch walleye caught and released. 

Andrew Kaiser caught and released a 47-1/4 inch muskie June 5th on Yoke Lake. Andrew also recorded a 26-1/2 inch walleye the following day while fishing on Yoke Lake. 

Straw Lake, in addition to the good smallmouth, largemouth and walleye fishing, is producing some good-sized northern pike.  Devon Kopesky caught a 30-inch pike on Straw.

June 13, 2009

The week started out cool, wet and windy June 8th, but the weather (and the fishing) improved as the week progressed.  The Bob Davis group enjoyed some great fishing during their 5-day trip catching loads of smallies in the high teens, plus numerous big walleye on Yoke Lake.  Bob and his fishing buddy Steve were neck-and-neck for largest smallmouth with Bob edging out Steve with a 20.875 inch smallie vs. Steve's 20.25-incher, but Steve turned the tables on Bob with a 27-1/2 inch walleye - beating out Bob's 26 inch fish.  

Straw, Sucan and Yoke produced some great walleye fishing during the week with both good quantities of fish caught and good size with many wallye running into the mid to high 20-inch range.  The fish is Sullivan were still fairly lethargic.  The Gilfillan's saw a fair number of big pike that would follow the baits right to the boat, but just wouldn't bite.  However Jake caught a healthy 31-1/2 inch pike in Sullivan. 

June 20, 2009

Long-time guests the Berley and Stadig parties arrived in camp Saturday, June 13th and brought the warm weather with them.  The smallmouth just started to make their spawning beds that day with the water temperatures finally warming above the low 50 degree mark.  With the arrival of warmer temperatures the fish became more aggressive.  Group leader  Steve Berley said that this week's fishing was some of the best the group has experienced.  The group caught and released an unprecedented 6 muskie - all over the 36 inch mark, with four of the muskie being 40 inches or larger.  Top muskie honours go to Dave Padula with a 45 inch hog.  Bluffpoint, a favorite of many of our guests, once again produced some fast and furious largemouth action with many fish in the high teens.  Bill Kobart's 20-inch largemouth was the group's largest.

Tim Lodgeman and his son Dan had good success fishing for lake trout in Sullivan.  They caught a number of lakers with Dan's 31 inch fish being the largest of the trip.  Tim caught a 32 inch northern on Yoke and had a 20 pound snapping turtle latch on to a 17 inch smallmouth.  The turtle put up quite a fight, but finally swam away without the bass.

First time guests, John Farrugia and Jim Lister found enough action on Yoke Lake, that they never fished any of our other five lakes that were available to them.  John and Jim had a great time catching big mid-to-high 20-inch walleye and 18-inch plus smallmouth.

The Stadig group fished all six of our lakes and had good success on all of them.  Crossroute yielded some nice largemouth and northerns in the high 20 to low 30-inch range.  With the warmer temperatures Sullivan's pike bacame more active and a good number of nice northerns were caught and released.

June 27, 2009

The week ending June 27th gave us a bit of a break as we only had a few guests in camp.  The guests that were in camp did enjoy good weather and good fishing - plus no competition for fishing spots.  Larry Feeler and O.T. Garza from Odessa, Texas caught some notable fish including a 34 inch laker trout on Yoke Lake and a 20 inch smallmouth, also on Yoke Lake.

David Lentz, from the Twin Cities, accompanied by his son and grandsons had a short but productive trip with their portage into Bluffpoint to catch numerous largemouth in the mid-to-high teen's range being the highlight of the trip.

This quiet time at the lodge allowed us to move ahead on the construction of our new 20-foot x 30-foot steel building that will replace our existing workshop and generator buildings.  We expect to have this project completed by the end of July.  Moving the generators should make quite a difference to the sound level in camp as they will be located further away from the lodge and guest cabins than they are at present. 

July 4, 2009

The week started out cool, wet and windy, but the weather steadily improved as the week progressed.  As the weather improved so did the fishing.  The Curran group from Illinois had a friendly competition for big fish during the week and although it was  "friendly" the competition was fierce - especially for big walleye.  Nick Curran topped the leader board with a 32-1/2 inch walleye.  The fight for second place was fierce with the "much older" brother - Kris edging out Kevin by half an inch with his 28-1/2 inch walleye vs. Kevin's 28-incher.  Nick Curran also won the smallmouth category with a 20 inch smallie.  Kevin was again the runner-up with a 19 inch smallmouth.  From June 29th to July 3rd thre were 16 walleye caught and released which were over 25 inches, with three over 28 inches and one over 30 inches.

July 11, 2009

It was quiet this week with only six guests in camp for most of the time.  Although we didn't have a lot of guests, the ones that were here made up for it with some great fishing.  Kevin and Rachael Batus fished all six of our lakes during their stay with us and tallied an impressive number of fish.  Between them Rachael and Kevin caught trophy fish in five of our six species.  Kevin took top honours in the pike category with a 37-1/2" pike caught on Sullivan - just edging out Rachael, who caught a 36" pike that day.  Rachael prevailed with the largest walleye - a fat 29-incher beating Kevin's best by an inch.  Rachael again just edged out Kevin in the lake trout category with a 27-1/2" trout to Kevin's 27 incher.  They split the top honours for bass with Kevin catching a 19 inch smallie and Rachael matching that with a 19 inch largemouth.  

This was our best week weather-wise all summer with mainly sunny skies and light winds, although we did get a few days of rain and cooler temperatures in the mix.

Starting July 15th the lodge is closed for about 10 days to give the staff a bit of a break as we have been wokring hard every day since we opened camp on May 10th.  Our next weekly report will be on August 1st. 

August 1, 2009

We are already moving into the first week of August and still waiting for summer to arrive here in Northwestern Ontario.  Daytime highs are ranging from only 58 to the mid-60's F with overnight lows dropping down as low as the high 40's!  One advantage to the cool, cloudy days is that the water temperatures are staying relatively cool for this time of year.  Crossroute and Bluffpoint Lakes continue to produce lots of good-sized largemouth bass.  It has been the norm this season for guests to catch 50 to 70 largemouth per boat during a day's fishing at either of these portage lakes.  The bass are all running in the mid-teens on both lakes with several going into the high teens.

Yoke Lake produced the largest smallmouth of the week with a 20 inch smallie caught by Steve Archer.  Steve took top honours for the biggest walleye with a 27-1/2 inch fish, also caught on Yoke Lake.  Chris Kowalczyk, who was making his second trip to Slippery Winds this season, brought his father Larry along to enjoy some of the great multi-species angling we have to offer.  Larry and Chris pulled their boat over a two foot high beaver dam to get into Bluffpoint Creek, but their efforts were repaid as they each caught several dozen largemouth - all in the 14 - 18 inch range.  Chris also caught a nice 34 inch pike on Yoke Lake during their short trip.

Jeff McNeil, accompanied by first-time guest Bob Brems, had a productive trip catching and releasing several trophy quality fish.  Jeff and Bob enjoyed Crossroute so much the first time they portaged into the lake, they went backa second time and weren't disappointed.  Although they didn't land any trophies during either trip to Crossroute Bob and Jeff were kept busy catching largemouth in the mid-teens and pike in the mid to high 20-inch range.  Yoke did produce a few trophies for them.  Jeff and Bob both caught and released 27 inch walleye.  Jeff also had a 19 inch smallmouth.  During their five days at the lodge Jeff caught five of the six species - as he didn't fish for lake trout.

Our largest muskie of the year was caught and released by guide Darcy Pastiuk.  Darcy went out evening fishing for smallmouth and ended up catching a huge 52-inch muskie not far from the lodge.  To say Darcy was excited when he got back to camp was an understatement.  He was still shaking with excitement when he recounted his catch to me later that evening.  It takes quite a fish to get a guide excited and this muskie was just that fish!

We have a bit of a break again this week with only three guests in camp.  This will let us catch-up on some of the projects we have on the go this year.

August 16, 2009

The first week of August was quiet with only a few guests in camp.  Our next week turned out to be a "family affair".  Long-time guest Bobby Hilker introduced his 15 year old son, Ben, and 13 year old daughter, Libby to fishing at Slippery Winds.  Both Ben and Libby caught trophies during their stay with Libby edging out Ben with a 32 inch northern vs. Ben's 31-incher.  Ben also shared honours for the largest smallmouth of the week with a 19-1/2" fish caught on Yoke Lake.  Marty Morris and son Luke; brothers Mat and Bill Rueger, Jeff Larrick and daughter Hillary Wakefield; Bill and son Billy Grauer; Steve and son Jack Hardy; father and son, Bob and Brian Kielar; and three generatons of the Ognar family - grandfather Ron, father Tom, and son's Emmett and Isaac rounded out the families visiting Slippery Winds the second week of August.

We enjoyed our summer during this week with two days reaching the high 80's F.  The rest of the time was a "mixed bag" with cooler temperatures, some sun and some rain showers.  There was also an awesome thunderstorm with a spectacular lightning display that lasted most of the night on August 14th.

The families enjoyed excellent fishing on all our lakes during their stay.  Ten year old Emmett Ognar, (with some coaching from grandad Ron) landed a 41 inch muskie on Yoke Lake.  Emmett also made the trophy list with a several smallmouth over 17 inches - the largest being 19-1/2" and a 30 inch northern pike.  Younger brother, Isaac recorded an 18 inch largemouth.  Sullivan Lake produced some nice northern pike during the week, including a fat 41 inch fish caught and released by Mat Rueger, which he followed-up with a 39 inch northern caught on Yoke Lake.  Billy Grauer also caught a healthy 40 inch northern pike on Crossroute along with loads of largemouth bass.  Mat also caught and released a 29 inch lake trout on Sullivan Lake.  Mary Morris was a close second for lake trout with a 28 inch fish caught on Yoke Lake.  Bill Rueger, Mat Rueger and Bob Kielar all caught and released 19-1/2" largemouth.  Bill and Mat's fish were caught on Crossroute Lake and Bob's fish came from Bluffpoint.  The largest walleye of the week measured 27 inches.  The bog walleye were caught on Yoke Lake with Billy Grauer catching two 27 inchers and Bob Kielar also catching and releasing a 27 inch fish.

Our portage lakes of Crossroute and Bluffpoint continue to be exceptional "largemouth factories".  Without exception, guests portaging into either lake have done extremely well catching numerous largemouth in the mid to high teens, and for thos anglers that take the time to do some lake trout fishing Crossroute and Bluffpoint are also producing some good-sized lakers in the high 20-inch range.

We are now off on a mid-summer break, but we'll be back fishing the second week of September when noted smallmouth fly fishing guide and author. Tim Holschlag, will be coming into camp for his annual fall fly fishing seminar on September 7th.  There are still a couple of spots open for this trip, so if you are interested contact either the lodge at 877-244-7453 or contact Tim at The Smallmouth Angler in Minneapolis, MN.

Sept 12, 2009

We arrived back from our break in time to host Tim Holschlag's fly fishing group on September 5th.  Here is Tim's report on their trip:

"Smallmouth fishing was quite good (and some pretty good largemouth on Crossroute).  We actually caught a number of big smallmouth from 18 to 19 inches, so the ones on the board weren't the only ones caught on the trip. New guys, Tom Maertens and Chris Cron each caught a lot of very nice smallmouth.  And long time guest, Mike Griffith did too."

Tim also caught and released some nice northern pike on Crossroute Lake during their trip.

The long awaited summer finally arrived in September, which turned out to be the warmest month of the summer in Northwestern Ontario.  Daytime highs were in the high 70's to mid-80's for most of the month and the sun was shining!  Other than some rain on Sept 8th and showers on the 11th the weather couldn't have been better.

The warm, dry weather gave us a chance to get some exterior painting done, which we had been postponing all summer as we waited for the rain to stop.  The main lodge building and our boathouse building were both painted giving them a fresh, new look.  Our season wound down on the 19th of September.  The camp was closed down and winterized and the staff back home a few days later. 

We'll be attending the All Canada Show at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, IL January 14 - 17.  Please stop by our booth and say hello! 

Wishing you tight lines and fair winds until next season!   

Stay tuned for more as I'll be updating this page weekly.

Wishing you tight lines and fair winds!

Randy Duvell

A 52" muskie, a 32-1/2" walleye, a 20" largemouth, a 20-7/8" smallmouth, a 34" lake trout and a 41-1/2" northern pike are just some of the great fish our guests have caught and released this  season.  Check out our fish log to see more!