Catching the Good Life in the Canadian Wilderness

Hi Happy Campers from pure white, windy and cold Happy Camp Ontario!  As we ushered in our first guests of the year, the wild adventure begins!  Ray Wheaton and the Beans from Pennsylvania brought along some of the wildest weather we have seen here in quite some time.  Yesterday started out normal with white puffy clouds and a light breeze from the west.  Around 1 p.m. the clouds had built to mostly cloudy and a brief shower took place.  As I was working on a motor at the lake I noticed a wind shift to the north.  Coming back to the Fish Shack for a few things, by the time I got back to the lake the entire lake was White capped from the north like I have never seen before.

Now those of you who have followed us know of the large storm that capsized my Crestliner a few years ago.  This wind which is still howling today is bigger than that wind!  If one stands on the beach and looks to the north, the wind is so strong that you can see the sandbar at the narrows which is totally sand right now, not the normal 2-3 feet of water!!

We were able to venture after some fish and got a nice bunch for dinner this afternoon!  Ray and Dale helped me clean the bunch and sure will be good!

As you know the wind can be friend or foe, now seems like a foe with large whitecaps again.  But I got the crew packed up with a smaller rig and they are off to venture into a lake in search of who knows?

Irving is the Chap who has taken up home near the dock, actually the reeds next to the dock.  I have seen him grow each year and he splashed to say Howdy this morning!  I sure hope that crafty son of a bitch grows to be a behemoth like the other brutes we have lurking in the water!  One thing is for certain, Irving will be well cared for and fed as long as I am at Happy Camp Ontario!

So with that I am off to venture into the Bush in search of a lake where the loggers got close to.  Maybe there will be a new spot to check out, never know until you try!

Until next time, take care and Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario!

Hi Happy Campers, Catfish Chris here with a brief update!  The Dock is in and  I put a boat in and took Larry fishing for a while.  Water temps are about 58 degrees in various spots in the lake.  Weeds are slow in developing and the bug hatch is incredible with Mayflies all over the place.

We caught nice Pike up to about 25 inches and Walleye over 28 inches!  In the bunch of Walleye, which outnumbered the Pike, we had around 8 or so over 20 inches!  We did keep a couple of smaller Walleye and Pike for supper tonight!  As I hoisted the walleye out of the net, I said Larry where is the camera?  Of course it is in the lodge, but such is life, that big girl is still swimming and either learned its lesson or will devour another cute bait in hopes that the lucky angler will let her go to swim again!

As Larry brought a Walleye to the net, I noticed a large shadow behind the Walleye.  At first I thought Pike, but as the fish sunk a little, turned and waved its tail, white was visibly seen.  That fish was bigger than my 28, maybe a 30 incher, who knows, ,maybe you will find out??

Please remember to bring your favourite insect repellent as the Black Flies and Mosquitos are quite healthy already!  Weather forecast calls for intense heat early next week, if that comes then maybe it will kill this first batch of bugs, keep your fingers crossed!

Hopefully soon we will have new reports and who knows what will happen next!  So 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!!

Good Morning, welcome to the 2016 Happy Camp season Happy Campers!  I trust this finds you all well, enjoying life and chomping at the bit to get to Happy Camp.  As of this writing we are open for the season!

As all of you know, life is always an adventure for us and my will you hear the tales when we swap stories and swat Skeeters!  Yes, those fellows have arrived in force!  Already on Day 2 we have had heavy rain, wind, and temps have now tumbled into the mid 30’s.  But brighter days are ahead, we needed all the rain as the fire ban is lifted for now!  So time for a campfire don’t you think?

In our travels 2 Moose and a number of Bears were already seen.  In fact, Larry and I were checking out Bound road last night and we saw a Real Big fellow who was in no real hurry to leave the road.

A local chap stopped in and while the fishing is still slow, he did state a couple of Huge Pike were taken by netters this spring!  Now I have never personally seen a Pike over 25 Pounds, these were close to and over 30!!  I do remember Rick and Dave from Pennsylvania who claimed to see a monster Pike in their secret spot last summer, but 30 pounds, that is a real WHOPPER!  Time will tell what lurks out in the waters?

So as the 2016 season begins, I remind you to tighten the knots, sharpen the hooks, smile and get ready for your Happy Camp Adventure!  So whatcha waiting for, Come and Catch the Good Life with us at Happy Camp Ontario!!

Good day and Happy Spring Happy Campers!  Catfish Chris here on the Prairie with an update!  Spring appears to have showed up on the Prairie, 1st Thunder of the year happened along with good amounts of very much needed rain over the past weekend.  Many ducks, geese and shore birds are now around.  The sloughs are chuck full of waterfowl!

Magoo will have her 5th Birthday this weekend and certainly Dilly Bars will be in order.  We have a Siamese Cat who has found a nice place under the shed.  We call him Charlie and Magoo and Charlie have fun romping in the yard.

The Spring Bear hunt is going forward, and with everything, there is always changes.  Some major changes are a quota system based on some formula.  What that means is while in the past there was no specific set number of tags, we will now have a maximum number of harvest tags for spring and fall, not both.  Based on preliminary talks, I was told that with the current formula, Happy Camp Ontario would be allowed 2 bear Harvest Tags.  So time will tell what develops with that, and it is not good news to say the least.  I guess it is always something eh!

I was told most of the snow is gone in the north and hopefully this will lead early ice thaw, spawn and fish putting on the feed bag when we open Camp on June 11th!!

We still have a few openings scattered around, so if you’re looking for a trip of a lifetime, whatcha waiting for, shoot us an email or give us a shout on the phone to reserve your spot today and Come and Catch the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario!!

Good evening Happy Campers, Catfish Chris from spring like northern North Dakota with a short update.  Spring is coming quickly to the northern Prairie.  We have lost most of our snow and some sloughs have opened up.  Our first Canada Geese have arrived and with temps expected in the 60’s later this week, the Snow Geese should be close behind!  Magoo is eagerly awaiting her first Spring Goose hunt and helped me put the gloves on the Bigfeet the other day.

With Spring coming, Happy Camp will soon be coming along for 2016.  While many hunters have asked us about a Spring Bear hunt, we still have no confirmation from the Ontario MNR.  We will let you know when we hear anything!

As for this year, we plan on being open on June 11th.  Ray Wheaton will be coming up to visit us earlier this year, and it will be nice to see him as well as all of you who have chose to come and have an adventure with us at Happy Camp in 2016.   We have some scattered openings until late August, then we are open until Mid October as our Moose season has been reduced to only 3 weeks!

We wish all of you a Happy St. Patrick’s day, enjoy all of the festivities.  If you are thinking of coming up for 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!

Good evening Happy Campers!  Catfish Chris with a brief Mid-winter update.  We are starting to fill weeks in June and have our fingers crossed that the snow will melt quickly and ice out will happen by early June getting the fish chomping for action!

We still have no definite confirmation on a Spring Bear hunt in Ontario.  While many people are saying it is a go, the MNR has told us that they know nothing definite yet.  If it happens, it certainly will be a work in progress for us or any other outfitters as there has not been a Spring Bear Hunt in Ontario since 1999!!

Winter has set in on the Prairie, and snow is starting to pile up.  Magoo is hoping that Spring is right around the corner and the White Geese show up early and stay late for her!  Many pheasants are showing up pecking grit on our daily travels to school!

We are looking forward to seeing all our returning Campers and welcoming the new Campers to the Happy Camp area this year!

If you are looking for an adventure of a lifetime, shoot us an email or give us a call today to save your spot and Come and Catch the Good Life at Happy Camp Ontario!

Good Day and Happy New Year, Everyone!  Fresh snow has fallen and all is white here in Wisconsin where I am finishing up 2015. With the new year, Magoo and I will be heading back to North Dakota to continue making music!

We again want to thank all of you for another great year in 2015.  As we look to 2016 and beyond, some new adventures at Happy Camp may include a Spring Bear Hunt!  We are waiting to hear from the MNR in regards to this possibly happening, and a handful of people have inquired about this. We will let you know as soon as we know anything!  If the spring hunt is a go, we will be in the start up phase as every outfitter will be as Ontario has not had a spring bear hunt since 1999 for non-residents!

As we look to the 2016 season, we have scattered openings throughout the summer for anglers and other nature enthusiasts.  The Ontario Moose calf season will start on October 22nd, so we have openings for fall fishing and bird hunting. The grouse hunting continues to be fantastic and with the continued logging in the Happy Camp Ontario Region, I suspect it will remain great for many years to come!  In fact, sharptails were found by Magoo and I west of Fry road in a newer cut!  It simply is amazing how the birds are about to survive such harsh winters!

So if you are looking to secure your spot for 2016, shoot us an email or give us a call to save your spot to Come and Catch the Good Life with us at Happy Camp Ontario!

Take care and Happy New Year Happy Campers!!

Happy Holidays Happy Campers!  The Holiday season is quickly upon us and  as I write, many of the areas are void of snow, but Magoo and I are romping through it daily while in North Dakota!  Maybe by Christmas, you will all be welcomed to the white stuff?

There have been some ideas tossed around of a Spring Bear Hunt, but we have not heard of anything certain, so nothing is planned yet!  If that changes, we will let you know.  We do have openings for fishing and our Fall Bear spots have been reserved.

As far as Moose hunting, the Calf season appears to only be 2 weeks starting on October 22, 2016.  As of now, we are completely booked for the entire calf season, but have openings for the Adult Moose season which starts on October 15, 2016.

My time flies and we are looking to our 5th year at Happy Camp in 2016.  From Jamie, Magoo, Sadie and Catfish Chris, we want to thank all of you who have found your way to Happy Camp!  If you have not made your way up yet, whatcha waiting for, give us a shout on the phone or shoot us an email today to reserve your spot in Catching the Good Life with Us at Happy Camp Ontario!

Good Day Happy Campers!  Catfish Chris from soggy, windy and cool Northern Ontario with the last report of the 2015 season!

Congrats go out to our Moose groups who have BOTH filled their adult tags!  Tony and Matt each shot nice Cows so their groups will have Moose for their families this winter!

With many small waters freezing up, White Otter Lake is getting a nice build up of ducks.  In fact this is the most ducks Magoo and I have seen since coming to Happy Camp Ontario 4 years ago!  The first bay has about 150 divers in a raft goofing off.  When the rain stops, Magoo says it is time to toss the decoys in and work our magic for one last time before we leave for the year on Halloween!

As we look to 2016, I wanted to let you know that as of right now, our Moose cabins are almost full for the 2 weeks of Calf Season.  We also have only 2 spots left for our Bear season and just booked another fishing spot this morning!  So if you are looking to save your spot, get in touch with us today, don’t delay!

Thanks to all of our customers who have made our first 4 years fly by like we have only been here a few days!  We truly appreciate what each and everyone of you bring to Happy Camp!

We wish you all a wonderful off season and hope to see you all in 2016 at Happy Camp Ontario!  Thanks again, take care and keep in touch!

Good afternoon Happy Campers!  Catfish Chris here from the winter wonderland to the north!   Cool weather had coated the region up until this morning.  Brisk north winds with a greeting temperature of 20 this morning, their definitely was a bite in the air!  But there has been some improvement as we have reached 36 as I write.  The weather should cooperate for a few days, guess we shall see!

Moose hunters are still looking for number 1 on the pole for 2015.  One hunter who’s name will remain a secret, had a Moose in his sights, squeezed the trigger but missed!  How does that happen, that is why it is called hunting!!

Steve Woods and his clan are here and in hopes of finding a Cow to put on their tag.  This is their first trip to Happy Camp Ontario, and we hope they find it to suit their needs for many years to come?

With the cold air, Magoo and I were able to find our way to South Pincer Road in search of birds.  Low and behold about 4 kilometers in there was a spot to romp around in.  After a short walk, bid number 1 flushed and was put in the bag, a beautiful Sharptail Grouse!  Not far after that Magoo starts jumping like a kangaroo then locks as she does.  I say, ok, and she busts in a brush pile and out comes bird #2.  Holy hot dog, I hit 2 in a row, what’s up with that?

The 2nd bird is a beautiful Ruffed Grouse.  Wow I thought, this is weird to have the 2 of them within 5 minutes of each other but hey I will take it.  Over the course of the next hour or so, Magoo flushed a total of 15 birds, it was simply awesome.  We brought back 4 Ruffies and the Sharptail, my will they be tasty on the grill in the next few days.

Early this afternoon, Magoo and I went and parked by Prick Lake to check the area for Moose sign.  A very nice walk as the sun was shining and little wind.  As we walked the trail, the Black beast Magoo locks as she did this morning.  What is up with this I thought?  Sure enough a big Ruffed Grouse flushes right down the trail, turns the corner and disappears into the woods.

Magoo and I walk to the dam at White Otter Lake and she has flushed 2 more Grouse.  We get to the dam and up from the river busts 6 ducks, Blacks and Mallards.  The 12 Gauge over/under barks quickly and 2 ducks fold into the river.  Magoo makes quick work these retrieves.  What was really cool as she sat after retrieving the first bird, she was squiriming and squealing and as I sent her, she leaped like a frog and plunged into the pool, swimming across the river to the rock ledge, crawled up the ledge and plowed through the brush.  Faintly I see her then she disappears.  A few moments later to my left I see Magoo coming back through the brush with the duck, a Black in her mouth and she retrieves it back to hand.  As she sits at my side I notice how high her head is being held, proud of the retrieve and she should be!

So the bird strap is sagging outside as I write.  It is filled with Mallard, Black and Grouse OH MY!

Happy Camp Ontario will be closing for the year on October 31, 2015.  Thank you for all who have chose to come and visit us over the fast four years, my time does fly doesn’t it?  As we close for the year, I will be going back into the classroom to teach music in Rolette, North Dakota.  That will be exciting as I have missed working with kids and we shall see where that adventure takes us!

When we look to 2016, we have some fishing spots filled, only a couple of Bear hunt spots for week 2, and Moose spots are starting to fill as well.  So if you are looking to come and experience a Happy Camp Ontario adventure, whatcha waiting for, give us a call or email us today to save your spot to Come and Catch the Good Life at Happy Camp Ontario!