Catching the Good Life in the Canadian Wilderness

Good Morning from Chilly Happy Camp Ontario!  The last 2 days have not reached 50 and rain has pounded the area, but alas this morning is crystal clear blue skies, light winds and the sun is shining!

The 1st week of summer is now upon us, and the berry crop is looking fantastic, many bushes are full of berries.  In fact, the other day at a lake in the bush with some people, one said they had never seen so many berries in the patch along the lake!  I guess I overlook some things, but then stopped to look and oh my, yes there are a ton and a half of them!

A big Thank you to Ray and Dale whom spent a day last week helping me, or should I say, I helped them fix the porch roof.  The fish gods were good to them, they were basically fished out after the week of action.  In fact Ray, who has been coming to the area for over 20 years stated, fishing has never been better!  Weeds are growing quickly and the minnow hatches have filled the shallows.

Now onto wildlife, to those coming up the Fry road, watch out as there has been a large Bull Moose stopping to graze in a pond adjacent to the Fry as well as a Cow with twins closer to camp.  Yesterday there were some tracks down the trail to Echo Lake headed towards, maybe they were out of supplies looking for some pancake mix?

The only animal scarce this year is Bear and although we had one trying tip over the bait trailer, he has not returned since we put out the camera.  I suspect it was Tom Kern wearing his Yogi outfit, but one will never know unless he fesses up, but we all know how hard it is for the sheriff to tell the truth(haha).

As I close this report, I want to stop and say a prayer for a couple of our campers who are dealing with their health issues.  To the Sheriff and the Yupper, get well soon as Happy Camp is not the same without you!

For the rest of the campers, bring your bug dope and fishing pole as they are biting, but don’t forget the Tartar sauce because some taste pretty darn good too!  Take care and see you on the water or in the bush!

Good morning and Happy Father’s Day to all you father’s out there!  A special thanks to my dad who is longer with me setting the hook, tossing the fly or calling the ducks, but will live on in me forever!  Thanks Dad for showing me the love of nature, fish and fowl, not to mention dogs.  Oh my, how dogs have become a huge part of my life, and Magoo is such a precious one.  As I write, here comes the 7 year old Pup Magoo with a shoe, way to go Magoo!

Time to bring the 3 B’s everyone, Boots, Buckets and Bug Dope.  Heavy rain came in late yesterday afternoon filling the boats and putting small lakes in the yard.  Rain continued through the night and as I write it is very dark and still a moderate rain.

Early this morning Magoo and I went to bail out boats, holy mackerel the water was up to the bench seats on the boat, what’s up with that.  I pulled the bilge pump on one boat and the pump ran steady for about 10 minutes.  Hmmm, pushing out the dock yesterday makes me scratch my head as the water will rise from the rain, interesting to say the least!

Fishing is pretty good, shallow water seems to be the best bet for scattered fish.  Some fish are being caught in new green weeds about 6 feet while others are cruising the shoreline.  Finally, the fishers out yesterday caught a few fish in the top few feet of the water with shallow running crank baits.  But alas, the Perch have showed up, time to get after them says Miss Molly Magoo!

We had a fresh fish fry last night, the batter didn’t turn out right, guess we will have to try again in the next few days eh!!  Just enough for a meal, why anymore said one camper, my thoughts exactly.  Let the rest go to grow and give another the chance to tangle with them!

Although we have not seen any, Bear have been seen in the area along with Red Fox, some Grouse and a Moose is venturing in the area, probably running crazy from all the bugs.  Speaking of bugs, they are very intense and with the rain expect a new hatch to come as soon as the sun breaks out!  One good thing is the berry crop looks excellent right now and with timely rains and some sun, it should be a banner year.  Keep your fingers crossed that they come early and gone by the time Bear hunt comes along!!

Time to get moving along everyone, until next time, take care and keep in touch!

Boom, Boom, Boom Boom!  That was the sound yesterday as well as early this morning in the Happy Camp Region!  Hmm, whatever could that sound be?  Magoo and I headed to the creek in search of Brook Trout yesterday morning and AHA, we see just what all the ruckus was about!  The CN train was connecting cars in Hillsport and the BOOM was cars crashing together as they hooked them up!

After sitting about 20 minutes at the RR tracks, we decided to head back, load up the boat and put it on White Otter.  We spent some time fishing and here is the report.

Water temps are in the low 60’s and fish were scattered in fresh weeds.  We caught numerous Walleye up to 20 inches as well as Pike up to 27 inches.  At one point, I had 5 Pike on in 5 casts and although small, they sure were fun to catch.  Fish are shallow and we hope to get out and try our new Perch tactics soon.

When we came back to the dock, Herman has made his way to his summer home.  If any of you remember Herman, he was quite small a couple of years ago.  It looks like he may be about 22 inches now and prefers the west end of the dock.  He looks a little chubby, won’t it be cool when he reaches the 40’s?  So when on the dock, take a couple of morsels for Herman and have fun feeding him!

Speaking of the dock, the water is still high so boots are needed to get to it for now.  Also remember your bug repellent and sunscreen as the sun is bright, today may reach 87.

Loons have made their way back and a Bald eagle soared over the lake as Magoo and I boated around, as well as this morning there was a fox near the camp which quickly took off as he is no match for Magoo!

Magoo says it is time to get to work as she wants to go swimming soon.  So whatcha waiting for, come on up and Catch the Good Life with us at Happy Camp Ontario!!!

Hi everyone, Happy Camp is up and running for the season!  Water has finally thawed and we have water, bugs, and more bugs!  The flies are really tremendous, no way around it!

Lunker Larry found his way to Camp and has been a great help from listening to Magoo and I cuss as we work on projects, to enjoying our first fish fry, cutting up the onions for our bratwurst or driving the dock to the lake, camp would not be going without him!

Speaking of thank you’s, a huge thank you goes out to Canada’s McGyver, Roger, whom constantly has ideas to fix things that work!  Our next conquest will be to fix the roofs that have been damaged by last winter’s storms!  Campers will see all the downed trees from the massive storm and when we drive to the dump, it is simply staggering how tremendous the wind, snow and ice took down trees of every shape and size!  All of the bush lakes have trees down on their trails, maybe Mother Nature is telling the fisherman who take all the time, enough is enough, time for her to raise her hand and stop that!

Lunker, Magoo and myself got to fish in a lake nearby the other evening, almost every cast there was one smashing the lures.  Of course Magoo, whom has been on the shelve all winter, swam like a minnow as well as jumped in the lake chasing the fish!  Simply awesome to see her once again near full strength, that’s my Girl!

While putting the dock in this morning, many minnows swam in the shallows, we hope to get out on the lake and find the fish this weekend!  Many trees still need to be cut, but grass is cut, camp is up and running.  For now, the peace and quiet has taken over with no planes, automobiles and few trains stifling the wilderness sound!

We always strive to do our best to take care of our customers and while the exchange rate continues to be around $1.25 US dollar for each Canadian Dollar, there are business that will not honor that and the Trading Post in Sualt Ste. Marie actually gave us 85 cents on the dollar earlier this week.  So I would encourage you to choose where you spend your money.  Up the road at Pancake Bay, the people there gave honest rates at $1.25.  So after you cross the border, drive a little further and support them at Pancake Bay, they are great people, have wonderful smoked fish and many flavors of ice cream!

A few updates for all campers coming to Happy Camp.  There is road construction along highway 17 before Wawa, be prepared to have delays there.  The gravel from Wowun Lake road to Hillsport is pretty good, take it easy and you will be fine.

That’s it for now folks.  Time for Catfish Chris to go cut some trees and get them out of the yard.  Whatcha waiting for, give us a call or shoot me an email to save your spot and Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario!

Oops, almost forgot, don’t forget your bug dope!

We hope you survived the winter, for Magoo and I it was a bitter cold winter with lots of set backs!  But alas, spring has sprung on the prairie and in a few weeks the ice will be gone at Happy Camp too!

I spoke to Roger this evening and while there is still snow up at Happy Camp, it should be gone in a few days and the ice may disappear as well!  The snowpack was incredible and all creeks are swollen beyond their banks which should make for a nice spawn. Keep your fingers crossed.

We will have a lot to do at camp as many trees are down and repairs are needed due to the heavy storms and snow.  We will work hard to get the camp ready for all of you!

As we look to this summer, we have a couple of spots open if anyone wants to venture up and experience the good life with us at Happy Camp!  For those of you returning, I have some ideas to get after the perch this summer that worked this winter. Maybe we will get after them?

Bear tags have been reserved for the year and we hope they, as well as all the other critters, made it through the winter. Only time will tell.

We look forward to seeing all of you again and exchanging stories to make 2018 a year to remember!

So if you are wondering what this is all about, or want to come experience an adventure of a lifetime, drop us a message or shoot us a call tonight to save your spot to Come and Catch the Good Life with us at Happy Camp Ontario!  See you all soon, take care.

Good Morning and Happy 2018 everyone!  We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and another new year is upon us!

As we look to this year, we are starting to fill the cabins during the fishing season.  We are anticipating having our first Happy Campers in Mid June.  We have been in contact with the MNR in hopes of expanding our Bear hunt and if that happens, we will be opening some more spots for a Spring hunt to begin in late May.  For now, our 2018 Fall Bear hunt spots are filled.

After the wild weather during most of the Moose hunt, most has settled down and a more normal winter has set in with snow and cold, just as we have in the northern US.  With an early snowfall, maybe we will be blessed with an early spring, I guess time will tell.

In 2018 we again will be hosting a camp full of veterans, we are so looking forward to them as well as all of our Happy Campers from near and far who travel to the Happy Camp region and enjoy the beautiful woods and waters that abound!

If you are looking for a place to come relax, fish, play in the water, woods or just listen to the wind whip through the wilderness, shoot us an email or phone us today to Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario!

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!