Winter has set in and we are back on Lake Manitoba commercial fishing.  Many of the lakes in the north have not frozen over yet but this lake is quite shallow and freezes sooner than lakes which are deep and have current.  

We have 9 or 10 inches of ice already.  There is not much snow on the ice and the ice has been going down pretty fast even though we have not been very cold.  It definitely makes your winter go by faster when winter is late in showing up. Before you know it the days will be getting longer and we will be getting ready for another season in Red Lake.

The Jigger takes our line out and then we have to go find it.  Pretty easy when the ice looks like this.  We were on about 3 inches of ice that day but it is a bit tougher to find through 4 feet of ice covered in snow on a windy day though.  There is a small tapper that helps us find it.

My Great Nephew Brey came out there to help us set a few nets.  Another generation that loves it out on the lake.

We get to see some awesome sights out there.  The sky always seems so big.  But this place can also be like hell during a storm.

It is hard to stand on this kind of ice, so we use snowmobile track screws on the bottom of our boots.  The first day I was out there, mine were wore out and it was windy.  It makes for a frustrating day if you can not move around.

Dustee is a pretty unique dog.  When the ice is smooth like this she will ride on the sleigh over the rough ice just like this for miles.

And this is why we do it.  Walleyes are our main target but they buy pretty much all species of fish that we catch.  These are worth the most and most of them normally head to restaurants in the USA as well as Canada.

We see thousands of fish each day and see some pretty strange variations.  This is a Tullibee, normally a nice silver but this one was very red and a little while later we caught one that was yellow.

At the end of each day we take our fish to town and pack them in ice to ship to Winnipeg and be processed.  

Our family has been fishing on Lake Manitoba for 4 generations.  This lake has been good to us and the surrounding area.  Generating a lot of money for the local economy.  Back in the day, every farmer along the lake was a fishermen.  The number of fishermen has dropped in the past years since there is no guarantee of making enough money.  It is a great place to work in nature and make some money if you work hard at it.  I feel fortunate to be able to carry on the tradition.

Dates for 2022

After the border closure and shortened season this year we have fewer available dates open at this time than we normally would, which is good for us but not always good for getting people the dates or lake that they may want.  We do have openings left for 2022 but just want to remind anyone interested in fishing with us next season to be flexible if possible on dates.  We will do our best to accommodate you.  Here is the link for reservations.

Amik Outposts Gear

If you are looking for a unique gift for Christmas, check out our Online Store.  Anything you order will be made in the USA and shipped to you.  Here is the link to our Shop Amik Page.

Amik Outposts on Instagram

Our Instagram Page has been growing in leaps and bounds this summer.  Taina has been doing a great job capturing the essence of our business and showing it to the world.  Many of our reels and photos have gone viral already.  Check some of them out here.  Amik Outposts Instagram.

It has been great so far.  Our guests have been so happy to see us and even happier to be back in the bush.  

Once the border opened, so did the heavens.  We have had a ton of rain since the beginning of August.  More than 12 inches up north with less towards Findlay and Loree and down south.  The Cobham, Vee, Cherrington and Blackbirch have come up 3 feet!  It has made moving people interesting at times and a few fishermen got some extra nights in the bush because of it, but we got everyone moved safely when Mother Nature decided to let us finish the job.

The fresh water and increased flow have put the fish near the moving water.  They are also still on the mid-lake reefs.  Basically everywhere.  They are very active.  Pike attacks are common on small walleye right now as well.  Many guests so far have said that the fishing has been the best that they have ever had, numbers and size.  Tons of walleyes 25 plus and most groups catching a number of 40 plus pike.  The high water seems to have made them go crazy.  The camps are running well with very few problems.  It feels great to be back in business and to be doing what we were meant to do.  We have gotten lots of pictures from our guests and we will be doing a fishing wrap up soon.

Life needs water and the north is full of it.  There is lots of green already showing up in the burn and there are other signs of life like mushrooms growing already.

Amik Outposts on Instagram.

Taina has been doing a great job on our Instagram page.   We have seen a ton of new traffic and are gaining quite the following.  Some of our videos have gone viral! 🙂 

Here is the link to Amik Outposts Instagram.

Here are some links to some of the Reels:

A day in the life.

Things are looking up.

Jumping into a new week.

This is John.

Jack got to make his first overnight trip to the bush with the boys.  No mom.  He was perfect.  Almost 3, he is a handful at times.  But put him in the bush with just me and Aaron he was so happy.  He helped us rebuild a new outhouse at the Point cabin and caught his first fish on his own!  The fishing right above the rapids at the pullover was awesome in 6 to 10 feet.  He had 4 or 5 on before Aaron and I had 2.  It was pretty awesome to see the light switch turn on when he figured it out.

It was a long shift. I am back from the North for the first time since last fall.  Like many outfitters we have had to take on another job to ensure survival as the Border Closure continues to plague our Industry.  I was fortunate to find a job that I enjoyed, kept busy at and was right where I belong, in the bush.  

We had some warm weather at times this winter but it was -38 C when I left on Saturday. Pretty normal amount of snow, almost up to your waist in the bush.

Dustee and I saw a Lynx and got to watch it for 15 minutes. It was not concerned with us at all and Dustee knew that she did not want to tackle that cat 🙂

I had a friend stop by on skis to say Hi a couple of times and to bring me some essentials.

As we are approaching 90 days or so from the start of our season, we are in the dark as anyone as to when the USA/Canadian Border will reopen.

It is impossible to make any kind of a long term, or even a short term plan when the government moves the goal posts further away month by month.  Please do not hesitate to email or call us if you have any questions.  As soon as we have any information regarding Non-Essential Travel across the border we will pass it on.

Please bear with us as we wait anxiously for better days.  I think there are plenty of people who need some time in the bush away from civilization right now…..

We are alive and well.  The snow is flying and the lakes are freezing up. Rena is back in Manitoba looking after the bookings and any questions people have.  The airplanes are put away but I have not left the North yet. Whatever we need to do to survive will be done.  

I am getting a first hand look at the lakes daily.  I stayed with the construction company that we were cooking for at Loree and Findlay.  I took a job as camp maintenance guy.  The camp is 10 miles north of Loree and is in the middle of no where and houses 17 guys.  Once the winter road opens up in the new year there will be a 100 plus man camp to put the powerline in to the north.  The guys working up here are mostly people from where we live in Manitoba.  I fit in quite well with the construction crowd. 🙂 At this time, they are opening up a few more rig camps from where I am and beginning to clear the bush for the line to go in.  Just like being an outfitter, my job is different everyday.  Helicopters coming and going, I haul water in a Sherp through the swamp over a mile, this is the biggest part of the work.  I also look after some huge generators, sewage plant, shovel and plow snow and what ever else might creep up to fix.  Jack of all trades, master of none.  By the time Christmas rolls around it will be 8 months since I have been home.  But these times call for action and we do not want to get behind to the banks or especially the government.  Good thing I like to work. 😉 I could go on and on about the Bulls#$t going on in the world but I try to stay positive.  Our opinions are strong, we love our Country and our American Cousins.  We stand with you and for Democracy.  Although these things are becoming harder and harder to defend.   We miss our guests and appreciate the support we have had through all of this.  Thank you.

We are also very happy to announce the arrival of another Bush Pilot.  George Shawn was born Nov 9th at 2pm in Thunder Bay.  A healthy boy, quiet so far.  Jack will have a friend for life…..

Here are some pics of what has been happening…..

Aaron and I each got to moose hunt quite a bit once our guys left for work.  We both got on to some moose and stayed close to them whenever we could get out.  I called in this beauty at the end of Sept on Loree and a few days later Aaron was able to get a shot at a nice spike bull at Findlay.  The freezers are full again 🙂

As with most times I am successful during a moose hunt, the sky shows me that it is time.  This was the sky 10 minutes before I was able to call out my moose.  Even after all these years, the beauty still takes my  breath away.  Soon after this picture he grunted and came to me like a freight train.

The lake I am hauling water from is a mile from the camp and only 6 feet deep.  We moved an old boat over there to get around and check depth.

I had my flag in my pocket from the base in Red Lake and put up a flag pole at camp.  The flag is tattered and worn just like our economy and our country.

The Sherp will go through anything.  Bog, water, snow, or whatever.  I am hauling 300 gallons of water at a time and am starting to get a good road smoothed out.  Dustee is with me of course and loving being up there as well.  The guys around camp are ecstatic to have her around,  everyone feels better with a dog to pet.

Please remember to shop at the Amik Store for some great Christmas gifts.  We have teamed up with a company in the USA who looks after the embroidering and printing as well as the shipping.  Here is the link to our Online Shop.  It is also located at the top left on the front page of our website.

Shop Amik Store Here

Take care.

Another season is almost complete and another moose hunt begins in a couple of days.  For the first time ever, I will be able to hunt for myself on opening day.  We have had a weird and uneventful summer.  I have spent more than 5 days a week in the bush all summer so my blog has suffered.  Aaron and I caught A LOT of fish this summer.  It was a hot one in the north, with timely rains and very few fires.  Nice water levels and cool nights.  It would have been great if we had guests to enjoy it with…….

We have had great support from our guests throughout the summer and really appreciate the phone calls and emails expressing their concern.  We have some big news for our website.  You can now buy Amik Gear on our website.  This is open to our US customers only.  We have teamed up with a company in the US who will take the order, make and ship the merchandise to you.  We have a couple of logos to choose from for hats, shirts and hoodies. There are all sizes and items for all of our fishermen.  We are sold out of much of the larger sizes quickly at the base in Red Lake so the BIG guys in your family might want a gift from the Amik store.

Here is the link to Shop Amik.

https://amikoutposts.itemorder.com/sale

We did find some unique work for ourselves.  Due to restrictions on Northern Communities, construction workers need a place to stay when they are doing bigger projects.  For the last month, right up until freeze up they have been staying with us every night, helicoptering in and out each day to their job sites, we supply Breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Aaron has been cooking at Findlay and I have been cooking at Loree.  We both take pride in our cooking and Aaron has worked in many work camps in the north so he knows how bad the food can be.  Our guys love the food and accommodations, fishing in the evening and the beautiful scenery so much that most guys haven’t wanted to go home.  This might go until freeze up, which is fine with me.  Staying away from the Internet and Cell service is the best part, I highly recommend it.

Aaron and I meet up every second day either at the rapids to work at Findlay or Loree for the day or he comes and picks me up with the 185 and we work somewhere else that day while our guys are at site working for the day.  Here are some pictures I have taken recently.

Taina, Aaron and Jack were great to have around this summer.  There is a new one on the way soon.  After freeze up, not during hunting season.  Well planned. He has become a good pilot and is comfortable in the airplane.  Aaron is off to a good start.  Jack too, he went on quite a few flights this summer.  I will have an extra passenger tagging along soon. 🙂

Dustee has lived the life this summer.  She got to spend as much time as we did in the bush.  She is happy.

We have been cutting our own lumber and did many projects and odd jobs around the camps.  Here is some of our handy work at Cobham Morley.

Roles have reversed.  I used to cut and my dad would nail them.  Now Aaron cuts and I nail the boards. 🙂

The lumber mill is also good for making countertops and shelves.  Loree lake has a new section of countertop.

I have a few honey holes on Loree that produce every time.  Even the pike are bait.  I caught 2 fish on that half digested pike the next day.

We hope everyone enjoys the Amik Store and finds something that they want or give as a gift.  We appreciate it.

It has been hot in the north!  The temperature stayed in the 90’s for quite awhile.  We have been trying to stay busy but the heat has slowed us down.  Aaron and I have spent a lot of time together.  Good thing we get along so well. 🙂

Our friends and family have been trying to do their part to help us out.  We have had a number of groups book a few trips with us recently.  It isn’t much but it is something.  At least we had a reason to start up the Otter!  We have been working on trying to get some Canadian business with the border remaining closed.  It is a difficult sell to get Canadians to do a fly in trip.  They have great fishing within a few hour drive, many have their own cabins with okay fishing right out from their dock.  Our friends and family know how special it is to do a fly in, this year we had quite a few more first timers come along and they really loved it.  We always say that to people “You can tell someone how great it is to be in the North, but until you experience it, you don’t know what you are missing”

There was 13 of us!  We fished at Cherrington.  My brother brought a group of guys and my hockey buddies also had a group.  We went over the pull over one day and had a big shorelunch.  It was great to be able to spend time with all these guys and show them some of my favorite spots on Cherrington.  We fished, laughed, swam to stay cool.  Some of us even fished in the lake…..

It was so hot and Aaron said, just drop me off in that 3 feet of water.  It was deeper all around him and he caught 6 or 8 fish in half an hour.  4 boats were circling him catching fish and having a blast.  

Farmer ingenuity at its finest!  Some of my buddies needed some shade.  Why not just make your own.  It worked.

There are a few fires burning but nothing too serious right now.  We have had quite a few timely rains.  The water is up but not high anymore.  Usually it goes down as the summer goes on.  This fire should be pretty much out as we had some rain  for a few days and it cooled off finally.

We have caught an incredible amount of fish so far this summer.  We don’t take too many pictures but here are a few of the ones we caught the other day.

Of course we had room on one of the trips taking another family friend in to Cherrington so my new flying partner wanted to come.  Jack sure loves flying.  He sees every plane go by and it is either Poppa or Dad in the plane. 🙂  He sits on my lap for most of the flight holds on to the controls and puts his hand out the window, just like me.

We need lumber to finish some projects that we planned on buying this spring.  That isn’t happening right now so we are going old school.  We found a chainsaw mill and are cutting our own boards from the bush.  Aaron loves the new mill and we have lots to do now.  A couple of camps need a new dock and others will have walkways replaced.  We will treat the boards with wood preservative when we can.  Some of the boards we are replacing were cut 23 years ago when Rena and I were living at Cherrington.  The bush lumber lasts at least as long as store bought pressure treated lumber.  It will be much easier in some cooler weather though.

Rena continues to work with our guests trying to keep everyone happy moving dates and juggling to make it happen.  We do not know when this border issue will be resolved but we are doing our best to stay positive and keep our chins up.  I have my own strong opinions about what is going on and it is all political.  We can see the temperature of the people rising up in both countries and if the left gets their way in the USA like they have here in Canada something is going to boil over.  That is all I am going to say about that.  We are ready.

Even through all of this, I still have a smile on my face and have an optimistic outlook most of the time.  I recognize how my attitude directly affects everyone around me. 🙂 We are doing our best to better ourselves every day without spending any money, using up things we already have.  We are healthy, we are together, Jack is great to have near us and things can always be worse.  Although I don’t know what is worse than this.

I will keep the blog updated as to what we have been doing as I know there are hundreds of our guests who are dying to be up here.  Stay positive.  Stay informed. 

We have been staying busy and staying as positive as we can during this time.  Aaron and I have been up north 5-6 days a week since the ice went, opening up the camps, cleaning, cutting brush and using up lumber that we already have.  With no income forecasted for a while yet we are being creative and diligent as to not spend too much but also enjoy life and maintain our sanity.

We do not know any information on the border opening yet and remain hopeful that it is going to open up.  Rena has been busy working with our guests daily to reschedule for next season as well as moving many guests later this season.  Our people still need to get their fishing trip in!  When the border does open, we will be busy! And busy late into the season.  Regarding this so called “Virus”, we still cannot believe that the world economy has been shut down for something that has a 98 or 99% survivability rate.  Governments have gotten drunk with power and are now afraid to let go of it.  There are a lot of things going on in the world and keeping people locked up for 3 months was probably the worst thing that ever could have happened using Fear as the weapon.  There is no “Virus” here.  I could go on and on but it is too maddening.  A common sense approach and we could open things up again, but COMMON SENSE doesn’t exist much when it comes to government.  All we hope for is that we can get back into business soon and do what we do best.  

We all attended a Protest/Rally in Vermillion Bay on Saturday.  Almost every outfitter in NW Ontario was there.  They are all pissed and distrust our government as much as I do.  We have become very good friends with many of our colleagues in our 25 years in business.  NW Ontario has a small population and we are forgotten about all too often.  Tourism supports almost every industry in Ontario.  Thousands of jobs and Billions of dollars are generated in our small region.  We are all hurting since we cannot have our guests come across the border,  associated businesses are feeling it as well.  If you want to look it up and follow on Facebook the group is “Tourism Matters”.  Here are a few pictures from the Rally.

This my cousin Darrell from Sioux Lookout Ontario.  He is also a second generation outfitter.  

Staying away from the internet and my cell phone has been the best thing this spring.  When you are in the bush, you forget about all the negative stuff.  We have been working but we have also been doing some fishing.  Quitting time has been around 3:30 or 4 in the afternoon, happy hour starts early and then we go fishing.  We have been staying at Cherrington and travelling to each camp from there to clean and do what jobs we can and more since we have the time this year.   Taina and Jack came up with us for a week and my Nephew Kale has come to work for us for a couple months.  A real family affair.  It was  cold at the beginning of the week but once it got warm the Blackflies came out!  They were bad enough I would classify them in my Top 5 worst Blackfly times. Lol

Spruce Beetle Jack
I couldn’t get far from my shadow, and Dustee was always near.  She was always keeping an eye on Jack too.

We caught fish everywhere we went.  Below the rapids in the beginning and now they have moved to some of the bays and narrows.  Fishing was better on the warm days versus the colder days.

The poor seagulls……  they are waiting around each camp.  Hungry.  No fishermen, No fishguts.  

The slow spring has allowed for Aaron and I to train in the 185 a lot.  He is a good pilot and I have had a pretty easy time training him.  Pilots either have “The Touch” or they don’t.  Aaron seems to have it.  Now is the time for getting experience.  I will continue to show him everything I can and hopefully he will work his way into the Otter in the coming years.

This is what our guests are probably missing the most.  The silence and views the bush offers.  

I will do my best to keep updating the blog with any information we get as well as the pictures of what we have been up to.  Thanks to all of our guests who have been great in supporting us and willing to make things work looking forward.  We appreciate you.  The fishing will be as good as ever and the camps will be in tip top shape when you get here.

Rena and I have been in Red Lake for almost 2 weeks and it feels great to be back!  The ice is still probably a week away from going out at least.  The weather has been perfect since we arrived.  Warm and sunny everyday.  We have been working around the base and doing jobs we normally don’t have time to do while we are operating in addition to the normal spring cleaning.  The base is great shape and the afternoon sun has been perfect on the deck.  Today though…. it is snowing after raining all day yesterday.  Everything will start to turn green next week if it warms up.

There a ton of birds back and since we have some of the only water around, there is a lot of activity in the river.  Geese, ducks, seagulls, loons, sandhill cranes, blue herons and tons of eagles are here as well as all the other land birds.  For a few days each spring the sound of all these birds is constant.  As it warms up they slowly carry on to the north as spring heads that way.

We remain hopeful that things will straighten out in time for us to have a season.  When it will begin is still up in the air.  We have moved a few guests around that were scheduled in May, we are waiting until we know more on when the border will open before making too many changes.  We have no choice right now than to be patient and be as ready as we can when the time comes.  Aaron and I will be heading north to get the camps ready when the ice goes.

There are many theories and opinions to what is happening to us right now and if you are afraid of what you are being told or not.  Just so we are clear on our stance, we are not afraid, we are open for business.  This virus does not scare us despite what the media and government are trying to tell us.  The time to stand up and say we have had enough is here.  We have been working with our network of Tourism Associations and Airline colleagues to pressure the government about opening up the border to tourism.  We are the Premier Social Distancing Vacation. 🙂 Where else would you want to go?   There are still guests booking fishing trips for later in the season in some of our open dates, it is hard not to be optimistic when we have such great and loyal guests.  

Here are some pics I have taken recently.

Spring is the time to get the Tulibee’s smoked.  The smoker is at my Mom’s and we always have a day each spring where we get together, have a fire all day, maintain the smoker, roast hot dogs and possibly have a few drinks. 

Until yesterday this is what we had every day.  Perfect days for yard work.

Jack is back!  He is a year and a half now and spends all of his time following Aaron and I around.  This little bugger is going to be fun to have around.  We were raking leaves and he found a hockey stick in the shed to come and help with.

This is what we woke up to this morning.  Hopefully it is gone by this afternoon.  It is supposed to be sunshine for the next week at least.

The melt is slowly starting…… March is coming in like a Lamb, I hope not out like a Lion.  I prefer to go with 3 snows after the crows 🙂

We had a fairly nice and easy winter this year.  Cold (-25 to -30C) a few times but it didn’t stay for too long.  Moderate temperature for the most part by our standards.  We even had some calm stretches, which is the best part of all. There is quite a bit of snow in the north where the camps are but nothing excessive from what I have heard.  Red Lake has snow but not as much as up north.  Hopefully we have a nice spring to follow…….

My brother and I are still out commercial fishing on Lake Manitoba, it is pretty slow right now.  It has been pretty cold and the fish are just sitting there.  We are catching a few, enough to keep us out there getting some exercise as we say.  Dustee is out there with us for the last 8 years.  Only missing a stormy day here and there.  She used to be able to fit on top of a boat cushion.  

Now Dustee casts a pretty big shadow!

She is always with us out on the lake and is constantly watching and hunting.  Staying close on the stormy days and wandering pretty far on the calm days.

Here she is trying to get to an Otter, that is long gone but she thinks she can get it.

Our schedule is changing all the time as we book people.  We only have a few holes left here and there and then some openings later in the season as well as a date which opened up due to a cancellation.  Here are what we have open at this time.  Please feel free to ask for specific dates and we can do our best or add you to a waiting list in case of a cancellation.

Shearstone Lake, May 30 – June 3, 2020 (5day)

Cherrington Bay, May 28 – June 1, 2020 (4 day)

Shearstone Lake, July 2-7, 2020 (5 day)

Findlay Lake, July 22-28, 2020 (6 day)

Cherrington Point, August 3-8, 2020 (5 day)

Cobham River, July 30 – August 3, 2020 ( 4 day)

Jeanette Lake August 6-13, 2020 (7 day)

Please click here if you would like inquire about one of these dates.  We look forward to hearing from you.