Rainbow Trout

My dad and nephew are at the camp, and we decided to hit up Korman Lake for some rainbows.  We left here at 9:30 am and fished a spot my dad and I had high success last year.  The trigger for those fish seems to be when the sun pokes out above the ridge, but it was a snowy day until 1:30.  By then the fish already slowed down.  We marked out 6 fish, and 4 fish on and landed only 1.  Not very good hook up ratio.  But the one landed was a 23 1/2".  Nice fish, well done Dad!

Lodge Update

  This is just a quick update, stating what we are currently doing to help out camp and the business.  First of all, cabin 5 has been in need of a total renovation.  Unfortunately, our winter bookings (contractors) that would fund that project have been slim, so we won't be getting to change the entire cabin.  However, we decided to send some money it's way still, and renovate the bathroom.  This is our trial run, as we plan to renovate all the bathrooms in the next 3 years.  We are installing a 32" round corner shower, new toilet, and sink.  As of now I have the bathroom drywalled and painted.  Lots of work left, hoping next week to have it done.

  We are also in the process of buying linens for the camp.  What a process it is.  We have tried one company, and we were less than impressed and sent everything back.  We are currently looking for a new supplier and wanting to get this done, as fishing season is just around the corner!

  We also picked up a new work machine for the camp.  As we are finally building our Bear Hunting into a valued part of the business, we purchased a new work horse- a polaris Ranger.  We have had many hunters request this addition, and to stay competitive, we decided to go ahead.  It has a steel cab, tracks and wheels, and in dash heat.   The plan is to use it for ice fishing, and bear baiting and hunting,  and then once June is rolling then the cleaning staff get to use it.  We may even do some ice cream selling in the park with it.  One thing for sure is it is very versatile.

  Here's a picture of shore lunch with the Ranger!

Ice Fishing Report February 2013

January was a wicked one, with many days running in the -34C range.  Tough to fish in those conditions, and can be unsafe.  If something happens on the sled, miles from camp, it has potential to become nightmare.  So I like to wait when my skin doesn't freeze in seconds.

  February finally broke the cold weather, and I have been out on a few outings.  My father in law came  up to the lodge, and we went and scouted out a place on Wekusko that I would be guiding later that week.  It took a few holes and gps waypoints, but we ended up finding them.  We fished for 3 hours and landed 8 walleye.  Garry (f.i.l) was on fire, and had the hot hand for a while.  Biggest walleye was 25".

  Then last weekend I guided 3 days.  We hit up Wekusko on day 1, and slammed 30 walleye.  Biggest was 26".  And there were many double headers.  Here is a pic of one of them.

Day 2 we hit up Reed Lake.  The Ranger (see my next blog), was acting up.  By the time we got to the spot, it was already 10am, but snowing hard.  We caught only a couple right away, and then the wait began.  But a noon everything changed.  Trout were coming through hard and we landed 9, losing just as many.  33" was the biggest.We also set up for pike with tip ups for a couple hours.  We got 3 flags, and only landed one.

Day 3 was a bust getting stuck in slush in a backcountry lake.  So we headed to a prime Burbot spot to try and salvage the day.   6 guys fishing and in 2 hours 80 burbot, yes 80, were landed.  The biggest was a 34" brute.

So if anyone is looking for a fun trip, think about an ice fishing expedition!

Panko Walleye and Sweet Chili Sauce Recipe

As I did not take pictures of the walleye I caught last week, I decided to put the proof out there with the end product.  I also have had clients ask for 3 years for these recipes- and so I have decided to join the two for a blog.

Panko Walleye:

Walleye Fillets
Panko - Japanese Breadcrumbs  (I find at Costco)
Eggs
Lemon Pepper
Seasoning Salt
Dill
Canola Oil
Thermometer

1)Start with cutting the walleye into smaller chunks, this recipe does not work well with full fillets.
2)Beat one egg per 2 fillets (1 fish per egg)
3)Combine panko, lemon pepper, seasoning salt and dill.  Each to their own for taste.  I personally put alot of lemon pepper, as well as dill.  The dill once firied loses alot of flavour- so hard to overdo the dill.  Stir the contents.

4) Dip a fillet piece in egg, and then place on panko.  Then cover the piece with panko just using your fingers, and then press it in with knuckles.  Basically you are kneading the panko into the fish.  This step is KEY.  Continue until all the pieces are done.

5) Heat the canola oil to 375 F.  NO HIGHER!  These bread crumbs burn fast, and if higher the oil will turn black FAST.

6) Place fillets into the oil, and turn once they are cripsy.  The temp should drop to about 340, and once it gets back to 370 F the fish should be done.

This fish is awesome cold!  But do not cover!  Stick in the fridge on a plate uncovered and it will stay crunchy!  I have no idea why it does not get soggy but it doesn't.  I don't know the scientific explanation, and it does sound unbelievable, but it is the honest truth.

7) Eat


SWEET CHILI SAUCE

1 cup Plum Sauce
1 cup Teriyaki Sauce
1 cup Honey Garlic Sauce
2 teaspoons Soya Sauce
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
**hot version**
to taste Chili Garlic Sauce  Tuong Ot Toi Viet-Nam or equivalent (tabasco sauce)

Blend it all together- and you can play with the flavor simply by using different brands of each sauce.  I have my own blend of brands.....I will keep that my secret.

I eat this sauce on everything when I make it!  It truly is one of my biggest Fav's!

ENJOY!  I know I did yesterday!

Ice Fishing and Ice Update

Hello Everyone!

  This winter has been an interesting one so far.  The lodge has had bookings all winter long.  No bookings have been big, but consistently had some clients.  Add this with still trying to catch up with camp work, and family life, has meant I have not fished much at all.  By this I mean only 3 times on the ice.  This is the least amount I have fished in the winter since 2000, when I just started to ice fish.  So every time I do get out now I sure do take it all in and have learned to appreciate staring down at the vexilar waiting for the next red bar to show up.

  As for ice, I fished on Wekusko Lake last week, and there was a solid 24" of ice.  There was also 20" of pure powder on top of the snow, and very little slush to be had.  Fishing was decent- landed 5 walleye and 1 perch in 1 1/2 hours.  I had to drill quite a few holes though, the fish were not moving much at all, and basically had to troll.  The walleye sizes were in order - 23", 22", 22", 21", 26".

  Unfortunately I did not take any pictures.  I was by myself and the fish that I kept froze his eyes and head in about 10 seconds.  It was a little chillier than I expected it to be.  It seemed so nice in the yard!

  I also fished Woosey Lake before Christmas with limited success.   I went for walleye, and started marking lots of perch- some good size ones too, and just could not land one of them.  It was real cold and had some larger lures on.  I tried to tie a Marmooska jig I had in the bag, and my fingers froze up.  I just kept hoping some eyes would come in to the perch area at dark, but they slipped by me and a buddy shallower caught a couple 16"'s.  I missed 3 fish in shallower. And the burbot never did show up there, unlike last year.  But it was a bit early for that spot, so hope by the end of the month to try it again there.

  Kormans found Elissa, Kiley, and myself fishing it for trout just before Christmas as well.  I went to my mid January spot, and we did mark a few fish.  As for hooking up, there were only 2 fish that cooperated.   I lost a 20" rainbow in the hole, and a friend caught a 19" Brook Trout!  I have not personally seen a Brookie caught in here yet, and I was jealous.  I rarely rarely get out fished, but I did have to bow my head on this outing.

 

Bryan and Saskatchewan Hunts

 I grew up in Sask and am a farm boy at heart.  And with the farm, comes a tradition and past time- hunting.  So every chance I get to hunt something in Sask, I take.

  In October, Elissa and I had a wedding to attend, and this was my chance to swing by the farm and make a hunt happen.  Ducks and Geese were on the hit list, and I had my dad doing some scouting.  He had found a shoot, and I watched that evening.  It was looking like a dandy, about a dozen snows, thousand mallards, and five hundred Canada's.

  The morning found SNOW on the ground, and intense fog.   Hmmmmmm.  This could be interesting.  We set up, and set in, and it wasn't too long till we started flinging steel at Mallards.  Ducks were falling, and everything was going great.  Then the fog got real thick and things slowed down.  We could hear Canada's around us, but they couldn't find us with low visibility (20 feet).  What was going to happen....

  Every once in a while we got lucky.  Right next to us we could here a light goose gruttle, and voila- the snow geese came right in.  Bam bam- couple snows down.  Not long after, we heard a speckle belly cackle.  I got on the call- and they were coming in.....bam bam.  Few speckles down too!   And then it finally happened, some Canada's came in and a few more hit the ground.

 This was a first for me and my dad, a triple goose species hunt over decoys.


  In November I took off for Whitetail.  My plan was to shoot one with the bow, but it had to be big.  It was -28 + windchill and it was chilli 28 feet up in a tree.  Day 1 I had a close encounter to a heavy 4x4, and he busted me when a jacket made noise on the draw.  The next day I had another nice 4x4 come in after 23 does and 5 other bucks made their way through.  I decided to take the shot, and got a nice 150 4x4.  Not the biggest buck, but under the weather conditions and time allotment, I did fairly well.  And there is always next year.

                                        My nephew and me with the deer

WATERFOWL

It didn't seem to take long for fall to come, and fast wing beats filled the air.  This year I planned to try a few new places to hunt, and see where things go from there.  The first place we hunted was a little wild rice lake.  I scouted out a few places, and this was thee place.  Since our water was high, a few of my old spots had drowned rice, and only a few ducks.  But this lake was chuck full of Mallards and Canada's.  We got in there early, and had one heck of a canoe ride to get a across the lake, to where I thought would be the best spot to set up.  I wish I had a picture of 3 grown men, my lab Maggie, and all our gear in one canoe.  We made it and set up.  It didn't take long, and there was steel flying everywhere.   It also didn't take long to see where we should have been set up, but that all comes with learning the spots.   The day was a success, and Maggie again did awesome.  

 I continued trying a few new spots, and on one hunt I took out a first time hunter.  He works for me, and a hunt for him was part of our season wind up.  Well the area was perfect, but when I went to throw in the decoys- the bottom was way to soft.  I ended up having to throw only 5 decoys out, and a couple of Mojos.  We were set up on a beaver lodge, and I was hoping that we would at least get a few mallards to give a fly by with the least than ideal set up. 

  Well the mojos worked a bit too good- because Ben was throwing steel out furiously, but with only 8 yard shots things were tight!  Eventually Ben finally connected, and the mallard crumpled.  Maggie retrieved and victory was ours.  

                                               Ben with his First Duck

  So with a few more spots under the belt, I am super excited for next year.  There are still a few more placed to try, but I am excited to give it a go!  2013 ducks and geese better watch out!