Kicking Back

Relaxation.  How can you beat it.  No cell phones, no emails, no blackberrys, no work.  Can it get any better. 

An Ignace Outposts trip really puts things in perspective.

Hilltop Walleye

Larry Strangstalien has been fishing with us for many years.  On Hilltop Lake, his luck (or should I say skill) has proved to remain strong. 

 

I know Larry will expound greatly on the skill part, but being on the right lake makes the success part of large walleye much more likely.  I am often asked which is my favorite lake.  I have to honestly say I have no favorite.  They are all great lakes we operate on and our catch and release program has ensured many trophies are available. 

Give Hilltop Lake a try.  It will be worth it.

Shore Lunch walleye

I don’t normally show pictures of walleye on a stringer.  A big part of an Ignace Outpost trip is shore lunch.  Nothing beats fresh walleye in frying pan. 

When catching for your shore lunch, this is the perfect size for best taste and conservation.

Walleye are mighty tasty no matter how you cook them. 

Enjoy at Ignace Outposts.

Hilltop Success

Last week the fishing at Hilltop Lake was nothing short of awesome! 

 

A 44 inch northern and a 29 inch walleye on the same trip is worth the drive from Wisconsin. 

Walleye in bleu cheese cream sauce

I love to eat walleye! I have found so many ways to cook walleye I can never get bored of the fine fish. The other night I “whipped” up some walleye in a bleu cheese cream sauce. It is funny how cheese, cream sauce and walleye go together so well.

Put the tartar sauce and oil away. Here is my secret.

Walleye fillets ( or other white fish like whitefish, northern, or bass)

1 cup of sour cream

2/3 cup of white wine (don’t let the rest of the bottle go to waste – it helps relax the cook while working so hard)

1 teaspoon of dried shallots

dried onion flakes

A little salt and pepper

2 oz of crumbled bleu cheese

1 tea spoon of flour

Bread crumbs

Mix the flour into the sour cream, add the white wine and mix. Blend in the bleu cheese, shallots and onion flakes. Layer the fillets in a greased (real buttered) cake pan. Season to taste with S&P. (remember the bleu cheese will add a lot of salt already). Pour cream mixture over fillets. Sprinkle top with bread crumbs. Bake in 300 degree oven for 30 minutes or until fish flakes easily. If fillets are thin the cooking time is reduced.

This can easily be prepared ahead and kept in the fridge until cooking.

Enjoy!

We enjoyed this fish with rum and brown sugar roasted yams and spinach salad.

Irene Lake never ceases to amaze

Digital cameras have certainly made our job easier in reporting fish tales from our outpost lakes. We appreciate getting photos from trips to our lakes. Please feel free to send us photos from your exploits to Ignace Outposts.

Sunsets

Rather than write a few thousand words to describe Irene Lake’s beauty, I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Thanks from Tennessee

“Brad and Karen,
We really enjoyed our trip and are planning on returning next year. We are expecting a few others to join us as well. Thanks for being such kind people and showing us a unique part of the world. Your friendliness and people skills are what drive us to return back next year.
Thanks,
Daniel Arnett”

Irene Lake 2009

Seseganaga

Seseganaga Lake seems to consistently turn out some nice northern pike. Jim Aslaksen can attest to that. First week of June is a regular slot for the Heston Party and with fish like this it is easy to see why their booking is held year after year.

“Jim Aslaksen enjoyed a half hour landing this Northern. Had a great time - can't wait for next year!
Best of luck for the remainder of the season,
Bill Heston”

What a crew!

Dar Mor and his crew from Wisc make the trek every year to Metionga Lake. It is nice to see is a new generation of fishermen being developed. The memories these kids will have fishing with their buddies and their dads will be forever engrained in their minds. Besides, what better way to gather wedding speech material than to spend time in the Canadian wilderness. I could write a book about the adventure of this gang and I only know a smidgen of their exploits.

Happy Fathers Day to all you fathers. And think about bringing your kids fishing. You’ll both find it well worth it. Just ask these guys.

ps. Happy Father’s Day dad.

Irene Lake northern pike

Irene Lake northern fight hard and are worthy of a little extra time on the water.

Seseganaga trout

Seseganaga Lake never lets us down.  Walleye, northern and lake trout make this a fisherman’s delight. 

 

It may have been cooler than normal temps but the trout were hitting with gusto last week.

I appreciate getting photos and comments from our guests after they return home.  It makes blogging a lot easier when I have some good stuff to write about. 

Irene Lake smallies

Irene Lake is a unique lake around here in that it has walleye, northern, lake trout, whitefish and small mouth bass.   When the walleye are slow, you can target bass.  When the bass are slow you can target trout, when the trout are slow you can target northern… and the list goes on. 

Last week 5 fellows from Tennessee visited us for the first time and stayed at our Irene Lake camp.  The smallies where hitting. 

New garage is here

A few weeks ago we tore down the ugly old garage/shed/moose cooler in the middle of our yard.  Yesterday we moved into its place a garage in which to store camp supplies etc.  It looks good and tidies up the yard greatly.

 

 

 

Table of Wisdom

One of the best parts of an Ignace Outpost vacation is the group you are part of.  I am sure that a bug on the wall couldn’t appreciate the wisdom and problem solving that goes on at an outpost camp.  Having been part of some evening table talk myself over the years, I now don’t forget to bring my boots. 

If only our government leaders could or would spend some time at an outpost.  I think the world would be a better place. A day on the lake, great food,  a few fish stories, a little lubrication, and the wisdom begins to flow.

Has summer finally arrived?

Yesterday evening we noticed it was actually warmer outside than inside our house. The forecast for this coming week looks good for being outside and of course that is where the fish are. Over this weekend we moved many groups both into and out of the bush. The consensus of those returning has been that the walleye are finally returning to their regular patterns. I think the more stable weather and normal temperatures is getting the fishing back on track. Water levels are going down at most places. The docks at Seseganaga Lake are still under water but that is a large basin to drain. Irene Lake has gone down almost 6 inches over the last week. Metionga Lake is draining too.
Our weather has been almost two weeks behind normal for temperature. I understand many areas in the mid west are enduring similar patterns.

Passport is required

I hate to harp on this but…

As you may be aware, the US has legislated passports for land travel into the US as of June 1, 2009.  This means a passport is needed to return home to the US even if you are a US citizen.

A passport is confirmation of citizenship and does not authorize travel if you have a criminal record. A felony or misdemeanor may prevent travel across the border.  Anyone that has been arrested, fingerprinted or convicted of a criminal offence should contact the folks below to determine eligibility

Please ensure that you begin the paperwork well in advance to avoid delays or being denied entry. 

For assistance with obtaining permission to cross the border, please contact Lucy Perillo at:

CANADA BORDER CROSSING SERVICES

WINNIPEG, MB

R3Y 1M6

1-204-488-6350 or 1-800-438-7020

email:   mailto:bordercrossing@mts.net

www.bordercrossing.ca

Rain?… What rain?

When fishing is this good, who cares about the weather. Frank Kapple and his son endure a little rain to catch and release a nice Northern Pike on Metionga Lake.

We’ve had a lot of cold and rainy days so far this season but it seems the fish don’t really care how wet it is. Without a doubt, the cooler water temps have changed some of our normal fishing patterns but adaptation usually produces some nice results.

Computer crash

On Wednesday my computer crashed. The hard drive was not to be found – at least by the rest of the laptop. I suspect it went fishing and likely enjoyed itself so much that it wasn’t returning any time soon. After a quick call to my guru, it was determined I needed a new hard drive. So... I had a hard drive to Thunder Bay to get a new hard drive.

What an ordeal in getting everything back. I have to admit I know a heck of a lot more about fishing than I do about computers. I have learned a great deal about luck and trying things again. Everything would have been much easier if I had learned about backing up before I actually needed it.

I have the basics back on board, and found this is a good time to “clean house”.

Long time coming

Jim Hughes (l) and Frank Kapple (r) have been regular May guests each of the 24 years we’ve been in Ignace.  In fact Frank hasn’t missed an Ignace fly-in trip since the early 60’s.

Great to see you guys again.  We’ll see you in 2010, Lord willing.

Something to think about

While in the outpost camp, many guests like to cook their fish with oil.  There are a few considerations when doing this. 

Most important is safety.  Please do not deep fry with oil inside the cabin.  Always have a pot lid or something to smother a fire if the situation arises.  And keep in mind, hot oil and water do not mix.  Water is heavier than oil and when tossed into hot oil immediately sinks and vaporizes which then causes an explosion.

This is a dramatic video to watch but shows how simply an oil fire can be extinguished as well has how dangerous an oil fire can be. 

The lid of the pot will work very well to extinguish the fire as well.  Please be careful when cooking with oil and always be prepared.

Early morning flight

Some days through the summer we have an early start.  Last Saturday was one of those days.  Alone in the aircraft heading out to pick up a group of anglers from one of our lakes, the air was still, the airwaves were quiet and the view was fantastic.

Office in the Sky

Returning from one of our outposts, Karen was in the Cessna when we crossed paths. Being handy with the camera, she took the opportunity to capture a photo of my office in the sky.

We fly our guests over some of the greatest wilderness in the country in some very “classy classic” aircraft.

Sometimes the flight alone is worth the price of the trip.

Caribou

The woodland caribou is a majestic animal whose southern most range includes Seseganaga Lake. Many of our guests enjoy seeing these rare animals. Sometimes they will stick around for a photo op.

My dad took this picture of a young bull caribou in the yard of our Seseganaga West Bay cabin last week.

Fish story platform

Spring time keeps us busy getting camps open and equipment moved but regular jobs also get done.

The cabin at West Bay on Seseganaga Lake now has a new deck.

Even though fishing is the reason most guys head to Seseganaga, one of the best conservation techniques we have developed on our lakes is the construction of good decks.

It is amazing how the worries and cares of the world slide away when one slips into “Camp Time”.

The fish stories this new deck will hear over the next few years could fill a book.

All in a week

Don from Iowa was at Seseganaga lake last week with a few buddies. 

Fishing of course is a main event at an outpost camp, but a sampling of Don’s photos from the week show many reasons to make an Ignace Outpost vacation.

Keep in mind these are not zoo animals but part of North America’s southern most caribou herd.

Don, thanks for the photos, we’ll see you again soon.

Coldwater boot camp

I came across an excellent site for information on cold water immersion. I know that no one plans to fall into the lake while fishing but things happen when you least expect it. For those old boy scouts, "Be Prepared" is a great motto.

I encourage anyone who wishes to boat in our area to check out this site.

Coldwater boot camp

This info may save your life. It is amazing what these folks have gone through to give us this info.

And don’t forget your life jacket!

Bring yer boots

The water levels here keep us guessing.  After relatively high early ice out water levels, we’ve had a great deal of rain.  Not only rain but cool temps for this time of year.

Many of our docks are again under water. 

At Seseganaga lake we are back to our old tricks of filling barrels and boats to keep the dock decks in place until the water recedes.

WOW!

Even tho’ I see this type of view almost daily, I am still impressed. The Northwestern part of Ontario is magnificent to say the least.

If you haven’t seen this type of wilderness yourself, give us a call or send an email. We’d love to help you plan your Ignace Outpost vacation.

We not only fly you over this awesome area, but we’ll set you up to stay in it and experience the wilderness that only Ontario’s northwestern region can provide.

You don’t have to be a fisher to enjoy this area. Come relax, read, write, photograph, paint, create. The options are endless.

Booked for another year

When the much anticipated fishing trip is over, parting seems such a sweet sorrow.  These fellas from Wisc have made well over a dozen years in a row, but even before they load the vehicle to drive home, they are booked in for another year. 

One the greatest satisfactions of almost a quarter century running one of the finest fly in fishing businesses in the country is the satisfaction of our guests. 

Dewey, we’ll see you next spring.