Good Morning Happy Campers! All is alive, wet and well in the Happy Camp region, time for our weekly update. The camp is buzzing with fishermen from Michigan and Pennsylvania. They have been fishing hard with good results. Walleye up to 24 inches, Pike to 31 inches and Perch in excess of 14 inches have been caught this week. The start of the Mayfly hatch has been halted by strong Northwest winds and steady rain from Mid day yesterday and still raining as I write this report.
The fish are still scattered all over, some shallow, some deep. From drifting with rigs, jigging, slip bobbing or trolling, one constant is that many walleye are being caught and the smell of fresh fish has filled the air daily!
One fisherman noted the surface feeding of fish early yesterday morning and possibly Cisco or Whitefish eating the Mayfly hatch. Someone’s gonna have to tackle that mystery to see what they actually are?
We went Pike fishing the other day and packs of fish were around the culverts and fish were caught almost every cast for a while. It seemed like they were watching the surface as sometimes they hit as soon as the bait hit the water. Beetle Spins, spinner baits and Mepps Spinner are catching fish. Crankbaits aren’t used as much as all the hooks are embedded in the Pike’s mouth making it tough to release.
Perch are starting to show up more frequently with some real dandies as well. Ray and his crew brought back a nice pile of them yesterday caught in shallow weeds.
Trout are still a mystery, it seems the local creek that has held plenty of fish the last few years is void of anything except water and beavers. The beavers have dammed up the creek and fish are not found on either side of the dams, sure wish the MNR would allow some help to stop the beaver’s onslaught of timber.
Speaking of onslaught of timber, just to the south of the dam along with west of White Otter Lake there has been massive cuttings. One can see for quite a ways now and the only thing left is a few Birch twigs! Soon the twigs standing will topple over as they have nobody to help them when the wind blows, sometimes we scratch our heads, don’t you think?
For those of you venturing up, be aware of the continued road construction on Highway 17 near Wawa and the few stops along 614 north until Manitouwadge. The gravel up from Manitouwadge continues to be pretty good. Travelers from the north, Philip Creek and Bound road continue to be good. There is lots of timber to be hauled, so please watch out for the haulers.
That’s a brief update from Happy Camp Ontario. Thanks for all of you who choose to bless us with your company and for those who haven’t found us yet, what you waiting for, Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario!!
