Our season continues to roll on and we have seen many happy fishermen come through our doors.  The weather is quite hot, upper 80’s and even warmer for most of the forecast.  Fishing has been as awesome as ever with walleyes and pike moving slowly into deeper water, around 10 feet from what I have been told by the outgoing fishermen.  Once the cabbage weed grows a bit more the fish should come back into the shallows before heading to their mid-summer areas.

There has been some big fish caught lately on all of the lakes with big numbers of fish everywhere as well.  Tons of walleyes between 24-28 inches with a few 29 plus as the largest so far.  The largest pike so far is 44.5 inches and plenty of 40 plus trophies were caught and released last week as well.  Fishing continues to be great!

Here is a picture from Loree Lake of a beautiful 29.5 inch walleye caught and released by Bruce E. recently.

The Big Pike have been on and off, one week every lake catches many 40 plus inch fish and then they kind of turn off for a few days.  It is hard to predict anything in nature.  We have a great gene pool and the fish are very healthy.  This year in particular we have had some monster fish caught and they seem to be very thick across the back. Here is some pictures from Vee Lake This thick monster was caught by Garrett B. on a gold Doctor Spoon.

The Miller boys took their first flyin trip with us to Loree Lake recently and are seriously hooked!  They had so much fun and caught so many fish that they will be back!  I shared their video on my last post but here are a few pictures from their fishing vacation on Loree Lake.

Just a reminder to anyone who is yet to come fishing with us to bring a good water filter for drinking water.  With hot weather on the horizon it is important that you have plenty of water with you in the bush but it is heavy and we will want everyone to be on their weight limit.  We have lots of guests who use these types of filters and are very happy with the quality. 

Here is a link I found in my first search but it will give you an idea of what you should have.  They weigh one pound.  A case of 24 water bottles is 30 pounds.

Cabela’s water filters

We have been busy!  Winter seemed as though it would never end and then all of a sudden it got warm and stayed that way.  The ice is gone on everything we have except Cherrington out on the big lake.  We have been hauling supplies into the camps and are opening up camps in preparation for the season.  

We are starting the season sort of dry with normal to low water levels.  We could use a good rain to bring out the leaves and slow down the forest fire risk.  Until we get some rain we are going to have to be very careful.   Hopefully we get some rain before our guests start to show up on the weekend.  If not I would expect a fire ban until something changes.

When we picked up the Otter there was still ice on larger lakes but that went very quickly with warm and windy weather.  It has been sunny for most of the last 2 months.  The snow went from knee deep to nothing within 10-12 days.  The ice went from 30 inches to being gone within 2 and a half weeks around Red Lake.  Spring is here and we are ready to go.

We have added a new member to the Amik Outposts family.  A Cessna 185 CF-ZQV.  This will be used for camp work and look forward to spending some time in a smaller aircraft to do odd jobs and possibly do some fishing……..

Some brand new WC-14 Lund boats found their way to Findlay Lake.  Combined with new 4 stroke motors last season. The only water in the boat will be dripping off the walleyes you bring into the boat.

We have had a cancellation on one of our June dates and would love to fill  the spot with some fishermen.  If you would like to fish our Cobham Morley cabin during the month of June please click here to enquire about special last minute pricing.  The date is June 22-27th, 2018.  

GO JETS GO

It is great to make the playoffs!  It is great to win one playoff game!  
Winning 2 series and go further than any Jets team in our NHL history?
Awesome :)
We are big and strong and know how to score. 
Our fans are special.
35 Thousand plus show up every game, the arena only holds 15. 

We are loving every minute of it!!!

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….

Having been around the tourist business for the past 25 years, we know who has the best Walleye fishing.  I can honestly say that our lakes would rank right up near the top of the list of Outposts and even fancy Lodges for Quality and Numbers of Walleye.

Our lakes have a great combination of flowing water through deep water lakes.  Mixed with many weed beds , great structure both along the shore and out in the lake.  

These lakes have not been fished nearly as long as most lakes in all of Ontario or Manitoba.  Amik Outposts was created in 1992 and began opening up these lakes for the first time.  Building state of the art solar powered cabins with running water and hot showers.  My Dad, Wayne was the guy who brought it all together and in 1994, Rena and I began our first summer in the business.

Since the very beginning Amik Outposts has had a “No Trophy Policy” meaning that no big fish were to be taken from the lake. Walleye and Pike.  Throughout the past 25 years we have seen the fishing not only stay the same but get even better when in regards to Trophy Fishing!!!  The gene pool is unharmed on our lakes and it shows.  Take a look around our website, all of our pictures are all from the previous season.  Trophy Fish are the norm, not the exception.

We have had fishermen who have fished with many other outfitters, who are experienced fishermen and after fishing our lakes……. have not gone anywhere else!

While every fishermen does not catch a 30 inch walleye their first time out, you will catch more walleyes than you have ever in your life and the average walleye will be larger than you are used to catching.  

If you are looking for an Awesome Flyin Fishing Trip on the Best Walleye lakes in Ontario here are a few dates for you to consider:

Cobham Morley June 22-27, 2018

Vee Lake July 3-8, 2018 

Findlay Lake July 20-25, 2018

BlackBirch Lake, August 11-16, 2018

Cobham River August 18-25, 2018

If you are ready for some awesome fishing and an experience of a lifetime please click here!

Another season has come to a close, the camps are all closed up for the winter and the Otter is put away for a much deserved rest.  We would like to thanks all of our guests who made 2017 a success.  It was a great summer of fishing, and weather.  It’s always bitter sweet to see another season end but the next one can not begin until we go through another winter.  Anyways, the best time of year is upon us.  Hunting season!

Our 2017 moose season was as hard as they come.  We had almost solid wind for 4 weeks straight.  There was only one or two mornings/ evenings each week where the wind actually went down which makes any kind of hunting difficult.  Hunting moose in the vast area we hunt in is extremely difficult even in perfect weather.  For only the second time in our history we were shut out.  No moose.  It wasn’t that we didn’t see moose or have opportunities, it was just more difficult in the windy weather.  We had a a few hunters see moose and not make a decision quick enough to take the shot and  then the shot was gone.  We also had one hunter pass up a small bull early in the hunt….. only to not get another chance at another bull.  Somebody once told me, “Don’t pass up on Monday what you would shoot on Friday”

It is very disappointing to have such a tough year but that is hunting.  The weather plays a huge role in our success and this year it made it hard.  Almost every hunter saw or heard moose but the wind makes them very leary to come out into the open, especially in the daylight.  

I hunted for a few days after the hunters had gone home and had the same luck.  I got close to 2 different bulls but couldn’t get close enough for a shot.  One was within 25 yards in the thick willows and the other came within 100 yards 3 different days but just wouldn’t come out to where I could see him.

The sting of defeat goes away after a few days and then it’s time to focus on next season.  They will be bigger next year.  Moose hunting takes patience, persistence, perseverance and positivity.  Looking forward to next moose hunting season already.

Here are a few pictures I took along the way.

There was plenty of sign of moose around us.  There was a couple places where the rubs were 8 feet in the air.  I think only the real big bulls make rubs like this.

The bull I was close to for the entire hunt made this wallow.  I will connect with him next season…..

The burn leaves behind some neat looking wood.

It was pretty warm during our hunt.   Warm enough for thunderstorms which is uncommon for this late in the year.  We went for this dark sky…..

To this beautiful sunset…..

To getting chased off the lake by the storm as it came back on us, making it back 10 minutes before the downpour!

I was 10 feet away from this bear during the hunt.  I was sitting on the rock about a 1/2 mile from shore and he walked right up to me.  We saw each other at the same time and when I stood up he was gone in a flash.  

Dustee and Scott had a great fall.  Dustee is the perfect bush dog.  She feels like she is protecting us.

Scott is a great worker and very handy.  He put a lot of time and effort into a new boat ramp at Loree Lake.  Skinning and dragging these long straight logs from the island back to camp to build a good solid boat ramp.  This will make it much easier for our guests to get in and out of the boat and for pulling them up at night.

While hunting at the end of the season, I took Dustee one night.  She was perfect, she knew we were hunting and just sat and listened.  And also kept a close eye on the beavers milling around us.

We have also been busy servicing the motors for next season.  We are in good shape motor wise.  Our guests did a pretty good job this year of not hitting rocks and looking after our equipment.  Next year should be another trouble free season.  We are looking forward to 2018!

We would like to remind everyone that all deposit checks are now to be made out to “Lac Seul Airways Ltd”  

The days are getting shorter and we are into our last busy month of fishermen.  We will be spending some time in the bush soon fixing docks and working around the camps.  Perhaps a bit of fishing, card playing and maybe a beer or two….  After a busy summer of showing people great trips it is our turn to enjoy the North.

We continue to see guests showing up in their vehicles from some very far away places.  It’s amazing how far they will come for awesome fishing.  We really appreciate the effort and will always do our best to show you an amazing trip.  We always have a lot of guests from the Midwest but it seems we have almost had people from all of the lower 48.  Florida, New York, Texas, Montana, Oklahoma and even New Mexico.  

The Alexander family has been fishing with us every other year since the the boys were very young.  They have always driven from Colorado and for many years they had 5 people and all their gear in an SUV and trekked across the Continent to Red Lake.  Their family has grown and now there is daughter in-laws and soon grandkids joining the group.  They have all become great walleye and northern fishermen and seem to be catching bigger and bigger fish each year.  This year was another awesome trip.  This time they spent a week on Vee lake and caught some Big Fish.  Here are a few of the Big Ones they caught this year

We headed to Shearstone this week to do some dock work.  We only had a day and a half with no flying so we had to giver.  We rebuilt the section of dock coming off the shore and also added a new crib under a long span running along the shore.  A medium sized job and we got it done, caught some fish and had a good night in the bush.  Of course Dustee was the happiest of all to be out in the bush as she has been sad because she has been wanting to go flying so badly.  We had a couple of perfect working days, warm but not too hot.  It felt good to be out there. 🙂

The dock turned out good and we shouldn’t have to touch it again for a few years.  

We have had many families up fishing with us lately and they have been creating many memories and catching lots of nice fish while doing it!

The Hendricks family have been going to Vee Lake for quite a few years now.  They were our 2016 Photo contest winners.  They love their time in the bush and are getting to know Vee Lake very well.  Here are just a few of the big fish they caught this year.

The Moody and Seger boys fished Shearstone last week.  It is nice to see the boys growing into better fishermen every year.  This year they caught some great fish and had a blast again.  Already looking forward to next year!!

The Berg party came up for their favorite week of the year at Cherrington Lake.  Fishing was awesome out on the big lake.  Lots of thick healthy walleye out there and they are all normally well over 20 inches.

They saw some wicked storms and even this waterspout one day

We have been into a better trend of weather recently with warm temperatures.  The water is still pretty high so let’s hope it stays dry for awhile.

We are busy.  Groups of fishermen are coming and going to and from the camps with big smiles on their faces, sunburns, and sore hands from catching lots of fish!  Although I am sitting in the office writing this because we are waiting for the weather to get better.  We have gotten some much needed rain in the past few days which will help the fire situation and keep our water levels up where we like them.  We have had a healthy crop of Blackflies so far but they should be almost done… we haven’t had many Mosquitos but this rainy weather may wake them up, so make sure you bring a few coils when you come up north.

Fishing has been good and improving weekly.  With a bit later ice out this year, the walleye spawned a bit late and thus there is a bit of a lull in the walleye fishing for a few days after and it varied lake to lake.  Catching walleye wasn’t the issue.  Plenty of walleye were caught everywhere, just the big females need some time to recoup after spawning.  We have had some very warm weather and the big fish have come to life and fishing is as good as it ever.  More and more 26 plus inch walleyes are being caught and released everyday!

The big pike as well are fast and furious at times with plenty of big ones being caught.  Many 38-41 inch pike have been caught at all the camps.  Some of our first time guests commented that they caught so many pike some days that they actually had to take a break because they were getting tired.  There has been a few reports of landing big pike t-boned on small pike!  They are feeding heavy!

Cherrington has been the busiest camp so far.  We have had a number of groups fish there recently and everyone has had a blast.  Here are some pictures from the Hnetynka party.  They had a mixture of weather but had a blast and caught lots!

One of our longest running groups of guests are the Seal/Hansen party.  They count down the days each year until they get to return to the bush.  Fishing this year was great along with the weather during our opening week.  Here is Mike with a 38 inch pike he caught and released on his stay at Loree Lake.

These fish didn’t get released……

We always love our first time flyin guys.  The Mainor party made their first trip to the bush and came out with huge smiles.  Time spent in the silence of the north is special and we love to see the reactions.  Plenty of people recently had never caught a walleye in their life and checked that off their list many times over!!

The Thornhill family made their second trip to Cherrington and caught more fish and bigger fish than they did last trip with more experience on the lake.

The Peterson guys went to Blackbirch for their third trip to that lake.   Normally they like the late summer but this year they tried the spring.  They caught some big ones.  Here is a big pike they caught this week.  Looks like the blackflies must have found them…..

We continue to make people happy and show them some fantastic fishing.  Looking forward to seeing everyone this summer.  If you are still looking for a trip please let us know, we have a few scattered holes still left.

Now if this weather would just get better so I can start my day!!!

We take great pride in doing our best to show you an excellent fishing vacation. Here are a few tips for your consideration when planning your trip.

GAS is much more expensive in Canada. Remember to fill up your vehicle in International Falls before you cross the Border where it is cheaper. This should be enough to get you to Red Lake and in some vehicles, back to Dyden where the price is somewhat cheaper than Red Lake. If you are coming from the west and travelling through Manitoba, fill up in Prawda, MB where the price of gas is generally 10 cents less per litre than Ontario.

Weight: Flying an Otter, we try and accommodate every group and the gear they require for a great fishing trip, which should be no more than 100 pounds per person. We do have some flexibility regarding weight but if you and your party show up at our base hundreds of pounds over your allowed weight, you will be asked to get rid of a hundred pounds or more of gear, which is harder than you think. Plan ahead, weigh your personal gear before you buy groceries. You should have no more than 60 pounds of personal gear, including your tackle, depth finder, batteries, sleeping bag, clothes and anything that isn’t food. Have and shop from a menu.  You do not need to buy large quantities of anything and it helps to keep your weight down.  This should allow ample room for the food for your trip. We see a lot of people over pack on clothing, remember that when you are in camp, you will most likely wear the same clothes for most of the week. Another tip is to pack a seperate bag for travelling and leave it in your vehicle in Red Lake with your travelling shoes etc. Leaving anything unneccesary behind. We do our best to utilize our aircraft and your party is entitled to 100 pounds per person of that plane. You need to be close to your allowed weight so that the supplies needed can get to the outpost camp and so we can send a cooler of ice with you.

Travel insurance When ever you are travelling outside of your home country, you should have travel insurance. A visit to the doctor for any reason, could add up to big $ if you are not prepared, even in Canada for a simple fish hook removal. If you are injured at the outpost and need a flight out for medical attention immediately, we will arrange for an aircraft to take you out but YOU are responsible for the cost of that special charter. If you have insurance, it may be worth a call to verify that you are covered in Canada.

Ontario Outdoors Card and your fishing licence If you have a green or blue Ontario Outdoors card, even an expired card, make sure to bring it with you when you come to see us. If you have not fished in Ontario in the past or do not have one, we will issue a temporary Ontario Outdoors card here at our base for you. We can renew your card at our base as well and also issue you your fishing licence here in Red Lake.  If you have renewed your Outdoors card online be sure to bring a copy with you when you come.

Groceries and Bait If you need us to help with getting groceries, bait, or beverages for your trip, please remember to get your orders into us at least 2 weeks prior to your fishing trip.

Water  Being that water is very heavy, we are suggesting to our guests to bring a good quality water filter to cut down on flying in bottled water.  These filters are light weight and can be a gravity feed system or a UV light system.  The water in the North is all natural water on deep moving watersheds.  Please look into this and keep it with your Canada gear to use each year.

Lifejackets We supply lifejackets at our outposts for our fishermen. But we suggest that if you are a large person and require a bigger lifejacket, please bring your own. Also, if you have children coming with you, please bring a lifejacket for them as well.

Your phone and Photos.  We love to get photos from our guests of their trip.  We also worry about our guests dropping their phone in the lake or losing it somewhere on your trip.  We would like to remind everyone who makes the trip north to back up their contacts and empty the photos to provide you with plenty of room for the picturesque vacation you will be on.

Times in and out We do our best to get all of our fishermen in and out of the outposts as quickly and efficiently as possible. We are the only outfitter that will give you a time that you are flying in to the camp and a time that we will be at the dock to pick you up. Barring weather, we are on time 90% of the flights. There are a few things to remember that may affect our time schedule. Here they are starting in the morning.

-We operate on a river and there are times where we have localized fog which backs us up for the day.

–Bad weather When flying on floats, we have to be able to maintain visual contact with the ground. Our aircraft are not equipped for flying into or above the clouds like other commercial jets. Rarely, but sometimes we are a day late getting you into camp and someone has to stay an extra day in the bush. We can only do what Nature allows us to do in regards to flying safely.

–Problems at a camp. If there is a problem at the camp with anything, John must take the time to repair it. It affects the rest of the day slightly.

Please remember that we offer personal service for your fishing vacation. We have 24 years of experience in the tourist business with Amik Outposts, almost since the companies inception. Rena is excellent at helping you pre-plan every aspect of your trip, right down to the last detail. Her experience is a great asset and she will do her best to ensure you have all your bases covered. John with 23 years of flying in the bush knows the country in which you will be flying like the back of his hand. Thousands of hours logged, all in the same area, showing people great vacations. Around the camp, he has been maintaining the equipment since day one.

In order to offer you this personal service we schedule our trips throughout the day. We cannot fly everyone at 5am but we do not send you out with a pilot who is new to the area and has no clue as to how to fix anything around the camp.

We are looking forward to seeing you this summer. We hope these tips help. Remember, you are on vacation. Enjoy it.

February is here and the days are noticeably longer already.  We are gaining 6 minutes a day and in a month or so we should start to feel spring I hope.

We had a warm spell awhile back and the ice really expanded.  Sending this sheet of ice straight up 6 feet in the air.  The power of the ice is extraordinary.

After the warm weather we sunk back into the deep freeze and the cracks opened up.  It has been -20 to -30C and the lake has contracted a lot!  We are battling 3 different cracks.  Generally we can jump them but sometimes they get too wide and we have to look for a narrower place to cross or sometimes we can find a split in the crack.  Occasionally the crack will go right through our line of nets and we don’t have much of a choice to cross.  Crossing a 5-8 foot crack in the ice would make most people nervous!  My brother and I have had some close calls over the years and sometimes have to take a chance, but experience is so valuable.  This was about 5 feet and the snow along the crack was very hard so we just drove across.  Fast!!

Our coyote numbers are down around here this year which is good for our recovering deer herd.  I have also had some luck with Pine Martens and Fishers as well.  Time to take them in for the auction $

Our Falcons team got together last weekend for a Rec hockey tournament.  We were the oldest team in the tournament but still got it.  We won all of our games, it was just for fun and not very serious.  We had a blast.  Always good to get together with the boys!

2017 is looking great and dates are filling up quickly this year.  If you don’t have your date booked yet, please do not delay.  Click here to inquire about dates for 2017.