Want to share the fun?

Was out on a charter on Lake Erie last week and it was terrible. Mid-summer doldrums, I guess. Marked fish like crazy but seems they’re full up on fish flies.

But my buddy with a cottage in Haliburton has been having a great time. He invited me up a couple weeks ago but work got in the way.

Working for a living can sure cramp a fellows fun.

Wasn't all that good up at Cranberry Portage Mb a week ago, all the Walleye we were catching were between 24-28" and have to be under 22" to keep. We did get one 18 incher but was pretty mangled up by something bigger than him. Probably one of those 30-42" Northerns we were trying to avoid.

Bear hunting would have been good though as at the Viking Lodge they shot 3 pesky robbers and DNR trapped two more in the 5 days we were there. No hunters and no bait stations with covid has them searching.

Fishing has been great—weather has been great. I do miss my American friends.
I retired 5 years ago but you can’t really retire from the tourist buisness—you meet so many nice people its like they become an extended family. I find myself fishing with grandchildren of people I guided for 40 years ago.

Thanks for the reports good folks, talking about it is as close as I'll likely get for a while.

As can working on a new house !

Had 1 evening fish with my brother Matt !

Paul, you have been to our little home away from home. Judy, and I made several trips, and just worked, never put the boat in the water.

New 2 99's:
Top of the morning to you Paul, I hope all is well as can be with you and your fine family and this finds you where you'd hoped to be considering it's near the end of July!

When I was chatting with a buddy of mine about trying retirement, he said, "I know you too well Dwayne, you're going to stay so busy you'll wonder how you got anything done working 45-50 hours a week".

My goodness was he ever correct, you know?

While I've managed 2 mornings fishing since I've been attempting this retirement thing, I've missed the cooler weather to do load development for hunting season, just got a wee bit of testing the new .22 done and only built one tomahawk for myself - but that was because I gave my usual hunting pack to my youngest daughter's partner.

They are taking up back pack camping so we stocked them up big time when they came out here from the coast one weekend.

Anyway sir, the fishing photos look grand. I'd absolutely love a feed of walleye - pickerel we called them in Saskatchewan - but will make do with yellow perch once it cools off in fall again.

The new pup looks to have a lot of promise too sir. If nothing else, it's a pretty face and that never hurts.

Thanks for the photos and updates. All the best to you folks as you settle in to the new place.

Dwayne

A former workmate of mine has a cottage northwest of Dryden on Secret Lake 27B. He says the pickerel fishing has been very good though the the year started slowly. He catches lots, but only takes a couple home. It's about a half hour drive out of Dryden.

Thanks Dwayne,

Hope you & yours, are doing well too ?

Part of the business;

Paul, why are the propane tanks close to the house?

Musky fishing must be good up at Minaki, On. CTV Winnipeg is reporting that Saturday a woman in the water was bit on her calf and dragged beneath the surface. Marks on her leg show a 7" jaw spread.

Caroline & her boy friend Nathan can home for 4 days, from Toronto.

Took them out on Eagle lake yesterday;









Shot some stuff (targets) too;



30 yard bag, is behind deck post;



Rode wheelers out the back paddock & picked blueberries,raspberries & chanterelles.

Great time was had !

Paul;
Top of the morning to you sir, I'll dispense with my usual salutation as I can see from the wonderful photos that you're doing alright!

Thanks so much for sharing the photos of your family outings with us all. While I don't always comment, I do very much always appreciate and enjoy them.

It would appear you've got a really nicely situated new place there sir. Any time we can shoot in the yard I figure we're close to where we need to be, you know?

Are you near Eagle Lake now?

While I don't know that area at all Paul, we've got a nephew from Winnipeg who is into fishing in a big way and he fishes a few lakes in eastern Ontario for muskie, but which ones I can't say with certainty, sorry.

Thanks again sir, all the best to you and your fine family as we close in on the fall.

Dwayne

Thanks Dwayne !!

Yes, the new property is everything we want & need, hunting/gathering land, closest neighbour is about a mile away & one of the public boat launches for Eagle Lake, is a leisurely 4-5 minute drive away !

Lots of really large muskies coming from Eagle this season, probably due to the vastly reduced traffic/pressure.

Hope you & your Ladies are all doing well ?

Paul;
Thanks for the reply sir, it looks like a really pretty spot to live and I must say the proximity to walleye fishing doesn't hurt anything either!

Sorry that I goofed when saying our nephew from Winnipeg fishes eastern Ontario - I meant the western part where the lakes are closest to Manitoba...Like as not you'd figured that out on your own I'm sure...

We're all doing okay thanks, though the beer flu has knocked our youngest's jobs for a loop for sure. She's taking her second degree at Simon Fraser - high school teacher - and lives down there at the coast with her partner.

While he's been mostly keeping working, her work primarily is with kids so that's been all over the place.

Our eldest and her husband have been pretty lucky in that besides a 2 week shutdown at the modular home plant where her husband works they've stayed working, which always helps pay the bills easier than not we found.

So far the beer flu hasn't been terrible locally, but we're a tourist destination and this weekend it looked like most summers, which is to say half the Lower Mainland and 3/4 of Alberta are here. It's of course a mixed blessing as the dollars brought in are badly needed, but depending upon how many people start showing up at the hospitals with beer flu, the restrictions may or may not come back.

Since I'm trying this retiring thing out, most weeks I don't even go into the small town we live closest to, much less the nearest city which is Penticton.

As long as I don't need parts, pieces or paint for projects, I'm quite enjoying being in the yard more or less with the cat, mule deer and California Quail.

Thanks again sir, all the best to you all and good fishing!

Dwayne

Former colleague of mine sent me a picture of his daughter taken within the last week. She is holding a 41" lake trout. What a great fish! Wish I could post pictures. He figures it weighs north of 40 pounds. NW Ontario has some great fishing holes.