Catching the Good Life in the Canadian Wilderness

Hi everyone, wanted to stop in and thank everyone for a successful year in 2017.  It certainly was an odd year with weather and many other activities!  Heavy snow put a damper on the Moose hunting season and time will tell what kind of work will need to be done in 2018!

Magoo and I were thrown an awful twist as she had surgery in early October and is slowly recovering, hopefully she will be ready to rumble next year as well.

As we look to the future, we have a couple of Bear hunts left to fill for the year, so if you are looking for an adventure, please contact me today to get more information or book your spot!  Speaking of contacting us, we can be reached at our email or feel free to phone me at 715-630-4444 and.

Thank you to all who came to visit us at Happy Camp Ontario, and we hope to have many more years of awesome adventures with everyone!  For now, have a wonderful winter season and whatcha waiting for, shoot us an email or call us today saving your spot to Come and Catch the Good Life with us at Happy Camp Ontario!

Hi everyone, here is a brief Bear Hunt update!  Stands were set well in advance and anticipation ran high as all baits were being hit daily up to the hunt.  Heavy rain and big time weather changes came in the day before the hunt.  In fact, Day 1 brought hunters out of the woods freezing to death as the temperatures plummeted.  With the huge changes, the baits were left with only one hunter seeing a bear but no shots taken.

Day 2 brought heat, sun and another change.  Blueberry and Rasberries have exploded adding another change to the scenery, but 3 hunters saw Bears in their stands and 2 of them were successful!!  Micky shot a beautiful 160 pound Bear while Keith’s Bear tipped the scale at 335 dressed weight.  The excitement ran high as day 3 neared.

Day 3 brought yet more changes, and hunters saw Bears while getting into their stands.  But as luck would have it, rain came by mid-afternoon and by early evening heavy rain blanketed the region, thus ending day 3 with no Bears seen.  The rain continued through the night and did not end until late morning.  The Frostick’s chose to head for home without filling their tags, but awesome memories that will last a lifetime!  With the rain, Day 4 was a wash as hunters chose to stay in camp.

Day 5 came in and the remaining 2 hunters, Donna and Henry, heading to the woods.  Henry’s stand was moved to his other bait while Donna stood firm on her first chosen bait.  Larry, Keith and I wandered around and found awesome blueberries and the bushes were full of fresh plump berries and we all filled our bellies, lucky no Bears were in that patch!  No luck at the baits, maybe tomorrow.

Day 6, here we go again, now we get heat up into the upper 80’s and while baits were hit when we went in, no bears were seen.  About 5:30 the clouds built quickly and strong storms hit us shortly before 7 pushing us out of the woods.  As we drove back to Happy Camp, the water filled the roads and much mud pushed us around but we did make it back safely.

So Day 7 is upon us, sunny now and fingers are crossed in hopes that the weather stabilizes and the Bears start to feed.  With the Solar eclipse coming today, maybe we will have our first Eclipse bear taken, time will tell eh!

As far as fishing, it has been up and down as well with some days many walleyes biting to other days they are very tight lipped.  We have had a couple of fish frys so we are not going hungry.

We continue to be amazed at the wonderful people who find their way to Happy Camp.  From the youngest one here, Aiden at 18 months, Bonnie his great grandma, and Larry who works hard each day to please everyone but himself,  each of you bring something special to our Camp and we can not thank you enough for choosing to come and hunt, fish, give the dogs an ear scratch or belly rub or just spend time with us, thank you everyone!

So as we will end our hunt at the end of the week, we look to the future and as of now, there are only a few spots left for 2018 Bear hunt, so if you are truly looking for an adventure of a lifetime and a hunt or fishing trip that is second to none, shoot us a message or give us a call to save your spot to Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Beautiful Happy Camp Ontario.

Hi Folks from cool, windy Happy Camp Ontario!  Yes the heat and humidity is gone and the strong north winds are howling as I write!  As we slowly inch towards Bear Hunt 2017, here is the latest update!

We had a few fishermen in camp and Micki brought back a Pike of a lifetime, a 42 inch 16 pound monster that he is having mounted over in Hearst!  While fishing was tough during the heat, they did manage enough fish for a fabulous fry the other night!!  I did get out with my mom the other day, and we caught lots of fish, Pike and Walleye using various techniques and did see a huge Pike in the 20 pound range and caught numerous walleyes over 20 inches, but we did manage to bring back enough for supper and for mom to take back to Wisconsin!

Bear baits are going well, many nice Bear on cameras as well as our first Moose and of course the Wolves.  In fact, earlier this week, some real bug chubs are on camera, hope they don’t stray too far before Bear Hunt 2017 begins on August 15th!!!

Speaking of Bear Hunt 2017, I got word earlier this week that the Bear Czar, Happy Camp’s Pal Larry will be joining us for the hunt!  Larry’s woodsman’s skills, hunting prowess and absolute mastery of the Bears is simply second to none and we are blessed to know and have him in our camp!  Now if we can only figure out how to keep him out of the Bear Bait, we will have enough for the Bears to eat!!!

The Blueberries have exploded and ripe all over the place.  We picked some the other day and a pie was had during dinner the other night along with some Speckle Trout, ooh they are so tasty!!

Interesting in our time at Happy Camp Ontario, I have not seen many songbirds except the occasional Robin, Flicker and Whiskey Jacks.  But alas, this evening there are Junco’s and an OvenBird sitting near the Flowers eating bugs, so cool!!

As we begin the hunting season, we do have a cabin open for the Moose hunt, so if anyone is looking for the best place in all of WMU 21B, shoot us a message or give us a call to save that spot for you!

As the camp is quiet for a few days until Bear hunters start coming in next week, we will be busy Bear Baiting, working on the Game Pole, docks, decks and much more.  If you are in the area, stop by and help us, heck we never turn away good help and most likely will feed you supper and take you fishing if you wish!

Sadly, our annual Take a Vet outing missed this year and we need to say thank you to all of the vets for your service and providing our safety and freedom!  Now get your butts back to camp and lets laugh, live, fish and play like only the Vets can do!!

So with that Happy Campers, I will stop the fingers and turn on the Brewers, they still are hanging in there and it is almost September, what is up with that!

Thank you for choosing to come to Happy Camp Ontario and look forward to seeing many of you again!  Take care and whatcha waiting for, give us a call or shoot us a message soon to Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario!!!

Brrr and Good day Happy Campers!  It is quite chilly this morning, about 40 but sunny and brilliant blue this brisk July morning!  Yes I did say July, and the weather is the weirdest we have ever seen.  From winds, pouring rain, heat, humidity, and now chilly days, from day to day we never know what we are going to get!  Guess it is just like fishing, you never know what is tugging at the end of your line?  It could be a Pike, Perch, Walleye, Trout, or other beast that lurks beneath the surface.  Heck it could be the people fishing in your boat who have caught your line, haha!!!

Earlier this week we had to move all the Campers vehicles to the south side of the lodge as the wind whipped the trees around like leaves falling off a tree, reminded me of October a few years ago when the largest tree in the yard slammed down after a strong blow, thank god there was no trucks in the way at that time!  With the weird weather, berries are way behind, and just the other night while taking the girls for a swim, Magoo and I noticed a flock of around 20 Black Ducks working the marsh east of the beach, something never seen here at Happy Camp!

Fishing continues to be up and down, some days lots of eater size walleye coming in with some Perch, then the next only a few.  The continued Mayfly hatch keep the fishes bellies full, so you really have to tease them to eat.  Walleye up to 24 inch came into camp last week.  Pike too, are sometimes eager other times not, which is also weird, but hey that’s fishing, right!

Bear baiting is going well, all baits are being hit on a regular basis.  Although we have lost access west of Fraser River for hunting, we have worked hard and have new baits going strong.  We do have an influx of wolves, thus the title for this bit, if anyone is interested in coming Wolf hunting let me know as they certainly are eating our bait.  Heck they are even there during the days now just like the bears!

Speaking of Bears, I saw a nice chap yesterday in my baiting.  He was walking in a grassy area and did not notice me until I beeped the horn, he lifted his head and vanished into the woods.  The cameras are showing some interesting pictures and the Yoga bear certainly is an odd one, don’t you think Bear hunters?

So with much to do, baits, roofs, furnace, docks, and such, it is time to get going.  Fishing is still great, so if you want to have a date with a Walleye, Pike, Perch or Brookie, give us a call or shoot us a message to save your spot to Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario!

Hi and Happy 4th of July Happy Campers!  Summer is showing itself with some heat and heavy rain.  We have made it into the 80’s and finally today the sun shined brightly.  The bugs are still fierce as ever so bring your favorite bug dope along everyone.

Fishing was red hot but has slowed a whole bunch due to the massive Mayfly Hatch that found its way to White Otter Lake Saturday morning.  Walleyes who were eager to feed have filled their bellies with mayflies and this should last for a few weeks.  Although the bite is tough, Rooster and his clan were able to catch a handful late Saturday night and left a couple for dinner, thanks Rooster!

The Pike are aggressive and becoming more numerous.  They can be caught on spinner, cranks or Top waters.  Although the Walleye are a mystery, we have a few ideas to toss to our fishermen to help them provide a fish fry or 2 during their stay with us!

Al and I went after Trout last week and found some dandies in the White Otter River.  They were caught on spinners and worms.  In addition, during my Bear baiting I have found the Fraser River that looks absolutely fantastic for Trout, so lets get after them!

The Archery Moose crew found lots of sign during their stay last week.  In fact, one of them stated he has never seen so many tracks.  In our travels they found Bulls, Cows and Calves and have lots of ideas to adventure on this September.  In addition, they did find a nice dead Bull along Fry Road.  Ed, Al and I spent the better part of last Friday cutting off the horns that are now hanging and drying near camp.  As one local hunter told me, Damn, that boy would have been well over 60 inches come hunting season.  With that, please everyone drive safely!  A big thank you to the Moose Crew who helped fix the Game pole, do some construction items, go on some great adventures and an overall great time last week!

As we being Bear Baiting, bears are starting to be seen and a nice one was seen checking out the BMA.  Although we are full for the 2017 season, we are now taking reservations for the 2018 season.

The campers with us this week are local people and they enjoyed celebrating Canada Day and are spending time with their families playing games, catching up on old times or just hanging out!  Near the end of the week, they will take their crew to the annual Caramat Fish Derby!

That’s all for this week folks.  Enjoy your Independence day, take care and if you want an adventure, whatcha waiting for, give us a call or shoot us an email today to save your spot to Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario!

Hi everyone, here is an update for June 25, 2017!  Lots of First’s happened at Happy Camp Ontario the last week and thus the title of the update!  Last week’s fishing was nothing short of wonderful, from lots of walleye being caught by trolling, drifting or jigging, to Pike over 16 pounds and Perch over 13 inches coming to the net!  The FIRST walleyes ever were caught off of the dock this morning and were caught on a jig and twister tail.

In our travels this week, David from Pennsylvania and us were able to see our very FIRST Cow Moose with Twins in the area.  They were lounging along a pond while we were looking for wildlife!

Speaking of wildlife, our old pals from Manitouwadge stopped in this afternoon.  Rooster and John stopped in to chat and are headed to White Otter for an afternoon of fishing!  Those old boys do nothing short of living the Wild Life and are headed to the Caramat Fish derby in a couple of weeks.  Maybe they will catch the Big one and bring home a trophy!

The First Mallard and Merganser Babies were seen on the lake near the beach this week along with the Eagles have been seen around the nest on the north end of the lake!

The weather has been providing some interesting times, it seems everyday we get rain, and pea sized hail pelted the fishermen last week.  One good thing about the rain is the berry crop appears to be in good shape.  The Lady Slippers are ending their bloom but wild roses are starting to pop everywhere!

We have some Canadian fishermen in camp who also are checking out the area for Archery Moose Hunting this fall.  We have already seen more Moose this year than all of last year, so that is another positive!

Fishers are back, need to go check with them, thanks for choosing to come to Happy Camp Ontario all, and if you are looking for an adventure, what you waiting for, give us a call today to save your spot to Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario!!

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!!

Hi Folks, Catfish Chris at Happy Camp Ontario with this weeks fishing report.    Weather has been erratic with temps into the low 80’s late last week, and today temps in the low 50’s.

Water temps we are at 64 on Saturday, but tonight they struggled to stay above 60.  So weed growth is slow in coming along, but when they are coming along.    The first Mayfly of the year have started this evening.  Walleye have been caught in the wood, mud, rocks and edge of weeds in depths from 3-25 feet.  In fact, tonight Magoo and I fished the deep drop out from Prick Lake and where they sand met the mud the fish were hanging there and we caught a handful of fish in the 23 foot range.  The majority of walleye are on the smaller side, with some fish not quite 18 inches.

Pike are starting to hit hard, but many of them still pecking at spinner baits.  The other night while fishing Flanders River, Pike were caught on almost every cast up to about 30 inches.

It looks like the Speckle Trout numbers are good and while the water is a bit dirty from yesterday’s rain, forecast calls for no rain for a few days and the clarity will improve.

Black Flies and Mosquitos are very intense, so bring your best bug dope, nets and anything else that works for you to keep them away!

Bear and Moose are out and about.  We have seen 3 Bull Moose, one real nice one and a couple hefty bears in our travels.  No Caribou yet, but rumor has it a herd has made its way to the area?

Soon we will get busy for the year, and only a few spots remain for fisherman, so if you are looking for great adventure, give us a call or shoot an email to save your spot and Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario!

Until next time, hug your hounds, take care and drive safe Happy Campers!

Hi Folks, Catfish Chris from sunny, warm and windy Happy Camp Ontario!  Larry and I have made it to the Happy Camp Region and here is the update as of June 7, 2017.

Our first campers showed up today and we hustled to get the cabin ready for them.  We have some CN contract guys spending time with us.  As I write which is now quite twilight, they are pounding away working on the rails!  One good thing about working all night, the bugs can not be as fierce as they are during the day.

Black Flies and Mosquitoes are everywhere.  We have been working outside and it seems like just when we find a spot that the bugs have not found, another swarm finds us.  Never seem to figure out a great bug dope, but the Thermcell certainly does kill its share.

White Otter lake levels are dropping as the area has not seen rain in a couple of weeks.  The first mayflies, brown drakes, were seen last night while we were catching dinner on the Oswain and ditch down the road from Camp.  Larry caught some fish, was pulling a nice one up the shore his line snapped!  Oh well, another day and another story to tell, right Larry!

For those traveling soon, there is some road construction on Highway 17 south of Wawa, about 20 miles, so take care when coming to Happy Camp.  Also, Highway 614 has a few stops, but not as major as 17.  The gravel from Manitouwadge is in good shape for this time of year, just dusty.  The first Moose of the year was seen near Sonley, so look out for this nice fellow, his horns are growing daily.  Hopefully he will venture up this way to hide out for hunting season, never know do you?

Speaking of hunting season,  Happy Camp’s Bear hunts are full for 2017.  I often wonder why we fill out tags so quickly and a guy told me the other day, its pretty simple, when you find the Best, forget the rest!  All I know is our hunters are the best and no one works harder to put the adventure of a lifetime together for them!

When it comes to adventure, there is all kinds of logging going on and the river is open when one searching for Speckles should have a great adventure.  Never know till you try, and we certainly can put you onto the spot.  All you have to provide is the energy and creativity to experience the time of your life!

Soon camp will be full of fishers and other outdoor enthusiasts.  We can not thank you enough for choosing to come to Happy Camp and take time out of your busy schedule to spend some time with us!

We do have a few spots open and will find room for you, so whatcha waiting for, give us a call or shoot us an email to save your spot to Come and Catch the Good Life with us at Happy Camp Ontario!!  Thanks and take care.

Hi Folks, Catfish Chris here as we get closer to the 2017 Season, the snow still lingers on, with much snow reported in the bush and the ice still hanging tight.  Water levels apparently are low and some rain is needed.

With the wild weather, it seems that the damage to the Camp was not as severe as first thought, but then again Roger has a genius mind and can fix almost anything, thanks Roger!!

As we get into the season, we have a few spots left for fishing, our Bear hunts are full as well as the Rifle Moose portion, we do have a few spots for Archery Moose, so shoot us an email or call us to save your spot if you are looking for an adventure of a lifetime.

As the logging may slow in the Happy Camp region, too may the maintenance of the roads, so stay safe on the gravel.  Its always wise to carry spare tires for your trailers and jacks to prop up in case of a flat.

We look forward to seeing all our Happy Campers again as well as the first timers who will have their first chance to Catch the Good Life with us at Happy Camp Ontario!  Thanks everyone, take care and keep in touch.