We have been seeing lots of happy people!  Fishing has been very good, the weather has been pretty consistent, and everything around the camps has been running smooth.  We have gotten a few rains to maintain water levels as well.  Life is pretty good 🙂 

Here are some pictures from our guests who have been up recently.

The Achterkirch party went on their first flyin to Blackbirch Lake.  They are HOOKED.  Lots of beauty walleye and some awesome sunsets.  

Walt and his Family have fished a few of our lakes in the past few years and this year they stayed at Cobham Morley.  They had an awesome trip.  Great family time and some superb fishing.  A good combination 🙂

I realize that the Blog has been lacking lately.  We have been busy and when we were not busy we were trying to get the flying done.  It has been very difficult to get our people moved each day.  There were some monster forest fires, NW, North and NE of Red Lake which created a wall of smoke which we had to deal with each day.  Sometimes going over top of the smoke, going through the smoke or going around the smoke.  We had lots of delays and a few fishermen on each end that had to wait an extra day to get moved.  

Being an optimist I knew we would get rain eventually and that things could change in a matter of a few hours……..if we could just get some rain.

Finally we had some big rains and some crazy weather that put out the fires closest to Red Lake, making all of the pilots lives easier around here!

Most of the fires are out now.  We only had one fire that was a concern, right near our Cobham Daniel cabin.  It was a bit of a thorn in our side as it burned on and off for more than a month.  Of course it got quite close to the cabin right before it rained.  Aaron and I spent many nights and days at Daniel, doing the trips in reverse and staying with guests in order to keep an eye on the fire.  The MNR was quite busy with fires near communities and we were not much of a priority.  They did check on us every couple of days and supplied us with a pump and sprinkler system but we took it upon ourselves to make sure the fire did not come and take out one of our most popular cabins.   We had our own pumps and hose to continually keep wetting down the forest around and behind the cabin and ran water almost all day every day that the fire was active.  We also cleaned up all the downed trees and any other fuel that was around the cabin and hauled it farther away just in case.  It has been hot and dry so being wet all day working under the sprinklers was a relief.

The rain finally came and put 98% of the fire out.  We are supposed to get some more rain soon which should finish it off.  We also need some rain to maintain our water levels in the North.  The water has been dropping but just like the fires, it can all change in a short period of time.  🙂

Our guests had occasional smoke but generally the guests didn’t have too many smoky days while they were fishing. The wind kept it one side of them or the other.   We need to move everyone safely and do our best to do it in a timely manner.  I have been telling myself that we will sacrifice some flying time for some rain and not complain. 

Fishing has been awesome along with this great weather, so everyone has been happy and understanding of the issues with flying and the fires.  The mayflies hatched during the first week of July and the walleyes have been shallow 4-6 feet but have started to move to their summer spots.  10-12 feet recently.  Pike slowed down a bit during the hot weather and were just feasting on walleye.  T-bone attacks were pretty common for a while with a few fishermen able to land 2 fish at once!  

We have gotten lots of pictures from our guests who have been up recently and I hope to get some of them up on my blog soon.  We are hoping that we can get into a normal routine again after the fire part of the season.

Here are some pictures that I have taken during the last few weeks.

The fire is a living breathing organism.  It fires up some days and calms down others.  You can feel the air when it is a fire day.  The fire started NW of the camp by the rapids and went right by the camp and finished about 2-3 miles east of the camp where it continues to smolder in some big timber today.

The fires around Red Lake turned into monsters and took a few cabins from some lodges and outposts and plenty of close calls.  It was pretty intense at times for many of the other outfitters.

By each afternoon even on a calm day this is what the fire would look like.  

This was right behind the camp at Daniel as the fire was moving away.  

Then each evening it would calm down and let us have a couple of beverages and calm down.  It was a good lesson in patience and diligence that is for sure.   Being ready and preparing for something that you don’t know if it is going to show up.  Never turning your back on it, always ready to get back up there depending on the weather forecast.  Up there everyday and willing to stay right there if the fire came back to life, which it did every few days.

Then when the weather broke and it finally rained my buddy Eddie and I both got stuck up north one evening.  We were not able to get through the smoke and thunderstorms.  We ended up we3st of our normal track trying to get home.  With our experience, we know good places to get stuck.  We both had a load of guests but we found a full service lodge where they had a bed, food and beer.  All outfitters are competitors but we are all friends and look after each other.  They looked after us and treated us like gold.  We were very thankful and appreciative to Dogskin and their staff.  

Of course the rain missed the far north and the Cobham fire survived for another week.  This was on my way north on the day we finally got the heavy rain we needed to put some hurt on the fire.  Racing a line of storms, the sky looks pretty cool.

Once I got to the Cobham and looked back, we were not going home for awhile.  Sit tight and wait until it gets better before heading home…..

Daniels cabin is right in the middle of this picture, we are happy to say, still standing.  

25 years ago Rena and I began working with my parents at Amik Lodge and Outposts.  Since then we have grown into a great team who have tons of experience in the outfitting business and know how to keep our guests happy and coming back year after year.  Pictured below is the first Cessna 185 that I used to camp check in.

The Outfitting business has seen a major turn over in the past year or two.  Many outfitters are getting to the age where they are ready to hang it up and sell to a new owner.  The flyin outfitting business is a small community and in our time with Amik Outposts there has not been many changes.  There will be many new faces at the Sporthows this winter behind some well established companies booths.  Amik Outposts on the other hand has not been doing many Sportshows in the past 8 years, we have been putting our dollars towards improving our cabins and equipment.  Our philosophy is that it is easier to keep our guests happy so that they want to come back, not find new ones.  We want to be your only Outfitter. 

Whether you are a first time flyin fisherman or an experienced group of fishermen looking for a better outfitter, you can not go wrong with choosing Amik Outposts.

Here are a few things to consider when you are booking your Fishing Vacation to Canada.

Experience in the business.  We have operated on the same lakes for our entire career.  We have started at the bottom and worked our way through every job that needed to be done and have learned to be efficient and provide a First Class Experience to our guests. 

Organization.  Rena and I have taken pride in our work and want to make sure you have a great time.  We look after the smallest details in all aspects of your trip right from the planning, having a well outfitted camp, the flight and the fishing.  We offer assistance with many factors of your trip planning , Groceries, Bait, Beverages.  Many outfitters have stopped doing these extra items, we have not.

Your Pilot.  With Amik Outposts, the pilot flying you to your camp is the owner.  I have been flying this area of Canada since I was 19 years old and strive to make every flight the smoothest flying experience  of your life.

The Fishing.  Having been in the business for a long time we know how our fishing compares to the rest of Canada.  We can honestly say that our fishing is World Class.  We have had fishermen who have fished all over the World and Canada, after fishing with us, their search for the best is over.  Our Conservation policy, a healthy gene pool and a pristine environment ensures that our fishing will stay great forever.  We are fortunate to be able to share this awesome renewable resource with our guests.

Comfortable Cabins.  Our cabins are not fancy.  They are functional and comfortable.  Breathtaking views of the lake, screened in decks, new mattresses, a Sat phone for emergency use, dry boats with good solid seats and reliable motors.  We do our best to ensure the small details are looked after also such as a new grill every 2 seasons, having 2 refrigerators at each camp and many other small items to make sure your trip is uneventful and enjoyable.

When you are researching outfitters for your next Fishing Vacation look at the map of Ontario and have a look where the outfitters are located.  If you look up into the far Northwest corner of Ontario away from everyone else.  That is where you will find us.

Please click here to enquire about fishing with Amik Outposts in 2019!

We are nearing the end!  Only a week or 10 days that we are busy with fishermen and then it slows down and around the 10th of September we will be done with fishermen.  We have started to do some dockwork and have a number of other projects to accomplish in the bush before moose hunting starts.  My turn to be in the bush is almost here.  The next 5-6 weeks are my favorite. 🙂

Fishing continues to be great!  Our guests are all coming out of the bush with big smiles.  All lakes are catching numerous walleyes up to the 25-26  inch mark with a few bigger ones caught on Cherrington up to 28 inches.

Pike are beginning to come out of the deeper water and feed in the bays near the deep water.  Almost every camp I pick up has a story about a pike attacking either walleyes on their way to the boat or attacking walleyes attached to the stringer tied to the boat.  

We tell people all the time,  great fishing is the bonus.  Being in the bush away from any outside distractions with family or friends is the best reason to be here.  

The dock at Cherrington Bay is complete although I forgot to take a picture of the finished job.  This one involved half a day of being in the lake to get it done.  It was a nice hot day so it wasn’t too bad despite the sunburn.

Scott and I noticed that the lake west of Vee lake that feeds it was dammed up and holding water back from Vee.  With the lower water levels our region is having this year we went and rectified the situation and freed up some water for vee lake as well as the Cobham system.  It didn’t make much of a difference on the Cobham but Vee lake has a nice boost of water for awhile.  It turned from a trickle to raging river in 45 minutes with me and Scotty excavating.

Seth and Don W. from Ohio love Shearstone Lake and have fished it many times now and have really found the big pike the last few years.  This year they caught some really nice ones.  Here is a fat 40 plus inch Pike from their trip in July to Shearstone.

The Hendricks family’s happy place.  Vee Lake!  Someone photo bombed them this year!  We got a framed copy in the mail for our office. 🙂

2019 is booking up early this year.  We are already filling holes for next season, it looks like it will be a busy one again next year.  Please email us at amikoutposts@gmail.com or call us at 807-735-9968, or simply click here to find out what dates are available.  

The Clark/Herrington boys have been fishing with us for many years and look forward to their fishing trip more than Christmas.  Fishing the same lake for this many years, they started out pretty green and have seen their size and quantity of fish increase immensely since they fell in love with the North.  Here is their fishing report for 2018 Cobham Daniel.

“Rena,

Our 20th anniversary of staying with Amik did not disappoint!  In fact, our group set a number of new records.  We caught 4 pike over 40 inches, including a couple of 43 and 42 inch monsters.  We have 2 new members of our famed “40 Inch Club”:  Scott T. from St. Louis and Dan R. from Minneapolis. 

The number of pike over 35 inches was simply amazing.    Some of the photos are attached. 

The walleye fishing also set new records for our group.   The big walleye was 27 inches closely followed by a number of walleye 25 inches and over.   In only his second year Dan R. took home both the big walleye plaque and the big pike plaque. 

My son James once again reclaimed the Undisputed Angler of the Year belt with a consistent 6 day performance of catching the most walleye over 20”, the most pike over 27”, catching the most “monster” fish and winning nearly every daily fishing contest.   

It was another great fishing trip and everyone is already looking forward to getting back next year.   Thanks again to you and John for providing such a great experience. 

We had a number of other firsts this year.   Perhaps the most unusual was fighting a forest fire down toward the trapper cabin north of the Daniels Cabin.   Not long after a number of lightning strikes we noticed fire on the shore that was rapidly expanding.   We used the bottom of our leech tote to put out the various fires which started at a tree struck by lightning.  We had to kick fallen trees and burning branches into the lake and eventually Dan R. joined in with his boat cooler.   After a lot smoke and steam we got everything out!  See the picture with me standing next to the burned tree.  

We also had one pike who tried to steal one of the walleye on our stringer tied to the boat while we were casting in a back bay.   The 35” plus monster just didn’t want to let go and I had wrestle the stringer away from him.   But then he refused to hit any of our spoons!   We also caught one pike that had both the lure in his mouth, but also another 18” pike.   Apparently he attacked both the lure and the smaller pike at the same time!  

More pics to come.  

Brent”

The Undisputed Angler of 2018!!!  On the right……

The Maranville Party fished Jeanette Lake and had a blast with their family.  Fishing was awesome and they caught some big ones!  Here are some pictures from their fishing vacation with us.

We continue to see all kinds of return guests and lots of new ones as well.  Many first time flyin fishing guests have been adjusting to the silence of the north, the great fishing, and not being anywhere near cellular service or Internet.  But after day 2 or 3, most people would rather stay away from technology all together.  Being in the bush resets your clock and puts your body back in tune with sunrise and sunset.  It is really therapeutic for your soul just to be away from the rat race of life.

Fishing has been awesome and our fishermen have been happy.  Lots of sunshine, some cooler rainy weather and during the past week we have had a lot of wind which has made it more difficult on our fishermen.  A normal week in the North.  One night it got cold enough for some of the guests to even make a fire in the cabin to take the chill off.  The fires continue to survive but are not raging during the cooler weather and the timely rains continue to help keep the fire season calm.  Water levels are dropping to a normal level, maybe slightly low on some lakes which are higher on the water shed but that can change overnight after one heavy rain in our area.

Walleyes have began to move to 10-12 feet of water and pike have gone right with them. Each week there are more reports of t-boned walleyes on the way to the boat and even pike stealing walleyes right off the stringer tied to the boat!  

The Evans party have been fishing Vee Lake for many years and have began to bring the next generation of boys (Young Men) along.  They are hooked deep.  They are being taught the ways of outpost fishing some wiley veterans.  Here is a preview to their upcoming feature film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOBl2Xrv-UU

Here are some other pictures from recent trips around our lakes.:)

The Seiler boys from PA battled the wind while they were on the Cobham. The wind was relentless but the quality was great. Here is a pike who was competing for dinner.

The Frazer party went to Findlay lake this year and had some awesome fishing.  Lots of fish and plenty of big ones!  

The Jansen party make their annual trip to the Cobham Morley cabin each year at the same time.  They always have fun and always catch lots of fish.  This year was right up near the top for quantity and quality.  Here is John with a beautiful trophy pike.

Operating in the Far North of Northwestern Ontario can sometimes get hot.  Our area east of Lake Winnipeg has been prone to forest fires since the beginning of time.  During the summer, thunderstorms pick up moisture from Lake Winnipeg and develop into storms right as they cross the border into Ontario where we have the majority of our outposts.  On hot dry years those storms cause some pretty big forest fires.  

Most of the time they are generally pretty far from the camps and not of any real concern besides being smokey at times.  Unless you see flames there is usually nothing to worry about.  

On June 27th our fishermen at the Cobham River had some evening thunderstorms come by.  On the 28th it was a beautiful day and they carried on with their last day of their trip.  At noon, they noticed smoke west of the camp.  By 3pm the fire had turned into a monster and was jumping the lake and heading towards the camp on the north side of the fire.  They called us, and we called the Fire center.  The fishermen went back to the camp and packed up what they could and were escorted through the smoke by a fire crew helicopter and were evacuated out.  We picked them up at the fire base north of Red Lake.

While at the fire base the pilots told me that the camp was most likely gone as the wind was still blowing towards the camp when they left.  

We started to make a plan instantly on how to deal with this.  But no one could confirm it was gone and I was going near there the next day.  As I flew towards the Cobham at 630 am the fire was already raging, which is rare for that time of day.  As I got closer I could see it had split into 2 main fires and there was a break in the smoke and I could see through.  As I flew to where the GPS told me where the cabin was, I looked down and there it was.  The fire was only smoldering about 200-300 yards behind the cabin.  I landed and called the fire base to inform them that it was still standing and they sent a fire crew up there right away.  After waiting all day to hear whether they made it into the cabin in time to save it, we called.  They got there in time and were able to get a sprinkler system set up to keep it from burning.

They next day it continued to burn hard since it was in pretty old timber with big trees to burn.  As it continued east it ran into an older burn near the falls and slowed down considerably.  The next few days, the wind came out of the south east and took it across the northwest part of the lake away from the camp.  Then it finally rained!  Knocking the fire down to a smolder but it was only sleeping.  After a couple of sunny days the fire had a bit of life again…

Then we were fortunate enough to have another couple days of cool weather and misty rain and high humidity.  

Today the fire looked like it was out.  Time will tell whether it is completely out or not but I know that the cabin at the Cobham River is pretty well protected in all directions for the extended future!

This whole event happened in less than a week!  Normally a fire is on and off again and carries on for a month or sometimes more.  We are sure happy that we got the timely rains when we needed them.

We were able to move the fishermen to an opening at another camp and keep everyone happy.  July 2nd the next group of fishermen were able to go back to the Cobham River and are coming out tomorrow.  

Here are some pictures of the beginning, middle and end of the week.

Our fishermen who were evacuated could not take all of their gear in the helicopter with them so Scott and I flew around the fire and were able to land in front of it and grab the gear fairly easily as it was pretty calm and the fire went straight up that day.  The sound in the fire was a loud, constant roar and crackle.  The flames were 50 feet above the trees as it roared through the big timber east of the camp and the smoke was up to 15 000 feet.

The fire moved very quickly.  The lake has a fair bit of burn on it but it also has plenty of green trees amongst most of the burn.  And the area right around the camp is pretty much untouched as you can see.  The only green area on the north shore.  The creek to the right of the cabin was the lifesaver as the fire calmed down right there during the fire night.  When the fire took off in the morning it went right past the cabin and only crept back against the wind.

Nature needs fire to replenish.  There will be an increase in the moose population and there will be blueberries galore for many years to come.  The landscape has changed but the fishing never will!

We are over the hump and past the summer solstice the days will begin to get shorter soon. Before then we have lots and lots of fishermen who need some sore hands from catching so many fish.  Every hand I have shook has been covered in cuts and bandaids from walleye after walleye.  The gill plate of a walleye has a thorn on the end and as you grab them they flare their gills and eventually you are going to get some cuts.  Especially with the numbers of fish our guests have been catching lately!  Fishing continues to be outstanding.  We have had a number of first time flyin guests recently and they have caught a ton of fish as well, one group which returned today from Jeanette lake said everything was beyond their expectations.  

We have had big numbers as well as some trophies being caught and released.  A number of walleyes have been caught greater than 30 inches and the pike continue to be very aggressive in attacking walleyes by the boat.  Almost every group has come out of the bush reporting catching 2-7 pike over 40 inches.  43 seems to be the number lately with many trophy pike being caught and released measuring 43 inches in the past 10 days or so.

Here are some pictures from some of our guests taken in the past couple of weeks.

The Knip/Cradduck party have been with us for many years and fished their second home Blackbirch Lake.  They had an awesome time and caught lots of fish and welcomed a new member of the family to Blackbirch as well.  Burt’s grandson Justin.  During the first day he was already making plans for next year…..

The Pusateri boys also fished on Blackbirch the week before and also caught some great fish and saw some beautiful sunsets.

The Jorgensen Party fished on Cherrington and caught some nice lake trout measuring almost 30 inches.  They put up a great fight!

The Erickson Party made their annual journey to Cobham Daniel.  They had a great time and caught some huge fish in the heat!  

We have 2 prime August dates available on the Cobham in August!

Cobham Daniel August 9-16, 2018 7 day trip

Cobham Morley August 7-12, 2018 5 day trip

Please click here to email  or call us to inquire about rates on these trips 807-735-9968.

We are done opening camps and have people scattered all over the bush.  Fishing has been exceptional and the weather has been great.  Our guests so far have been able to catch tons of fish and lots of big ones!  Going from a bit of a late ice out and into very warm sunny weather, the fish became very active in the rapidly warming water.  This will be a super summer with lots of big fish I would say. 🙂

We are fortunate to have a good crew of young guys working for us this season which always helps get the season off on a good foot.  Our oldest daughter, Taina came and helped open the first half of the camps too.  Everything wintered well and there was no major issues opening up. 

The day after we started opening camps, Mother Nature flexed her muscles and let us know who was in charge once again.  At Cherrington it started snowing at 7am and snowed as hard as it could for most of the day before turning to rain and then the snow was gone by that same night.  At the height we had 5 inches of huge fluffy snow.  It was so dry at this point  that the moisture just disappeared but it was much needed.

This is from the next evening in the same spot.  It’s a bit easier to see across the lake 🙂

Water levels were a bit low in some areas but we have had some rain the past few days and it was fairly significant in some areas so water levels now are sitting just about perfect.  This was much needed rain as we are in a absolute fire ban at the moment but would think it should be lifted unless the long term forecast is dry.  As of right now there is a fire ban in effect.  There were a couple of fires burning already and we had some smokey days but the wind changes daily and sometimes it is smokey in the morning and gone by noon.

We have had a number of groups come out of the bush already with awesome fishing reports and much color in their faces from the sunny weather we have had.

Mike Brown and his buddies had a great time on their annual trip with us.  This year they fished Cobham Daniel and had a ton of great fish.  4 over 40 inches and too many to count that were over 35 inches.  A 29 incher was the largest in the walleye category.  Here are a couple of pictures that Woody sent us.

We are looking forward to seeing all of our guests again this summer.  Please email us at amikoutposts@gmail.com if you have any questions prior to your trip or call us at 807-735-9968.  If you would like to book a last minute fishing trip please click here to enquire about available dates!

Never before have we had such a history recorded of so many smiles, fish caught and maybe a gallon or two of beer drank in 28 years of fishing trips.  These lifelong friends have made many memories in the bush.  

Thank you to Mike Seal for putting together this collage of pictures depicting their history with us at Amik Outposts.   The pictures pre-date our 25 years with Amik Outposts to the previous owners.  

I have had the pleasure of spending lots of time with these great guys over the years and look forward to the future….