Ice and weather
Spring is quickly approaching and the excitement is in the air in anticipation for this years’ fishing season. We are scheduled to open May 31, 2007. We had experienced a very cold winter this year with regular amounts of snow. However in the end of March the area surrounding God’s Lake was struck by a blizzard. We are assuming that the Lake level will be up this year. In the God’s Lake area there has been increasingly warmer temperatures, which has helped reduce the amount of snow on the ice. We are looking forward to open on schedule for the up and coming season.
New for 2007
This year we have purchased a hot tub for our guests. Be sure to bring up your swimsuit! We have also acquired fold out chairs for our guests at shore lunch. We at Elk Island Lodge are constantly looking for ways to make our fishermen’s experience as comfortable and relaxing during their stay at Elk Island Lodge. Although there is nothing relaxing about battling endless amounts of Northern Pike, Walleye, Lake Trout and of course the Legendary Brook Trout.
2006 Fishing in Manitoba
Travel Manitoba has issued the 2007 fishing and hunting adventures guide and in the magazine they publish all the trophy fish that were caught in Manitoba last year. In Manitoba they consider 41 inches to be a trophy for Northern Pike, a trophy Lake Trout is 35 inches, a trophy Walleye is 28 inches and a trophy Brook Trout is 20 inches. These are the designated lengths to be considered as a trophy fish. For the fisherman who caught trophies in Manitoba they are called Master Anglers. After conducting a quick study I realized that God’s Lake is without a doubt one of the premier destinations for trophy fishing. Numbers say it all, just listen to these unbelievable numbers. In the year 2006 there were over 283 trophy Brook trout caught. Out of the 283 that were caught 239 were caught out of the God’s River. With two measuring over 25 inches. There was a 29-inch Brook trout caught in Manitoba last year, however it doesn’t mention that the 29-inch Brook Trout and the 26.5-inch Brook Trout were caught out of a stocked lake.
There were over 712 trophy Lake Trout caught in Manitoba last year and 49 of them were caught out of beautiful God’s Lake. Not to mention God’s Lake produced 11 Lake Trout over 40 inches.
There was over 2615 trophy Northern Pike caught in Manitoba last year and over 253 were caught out of God’s Lake. Out of all those trophies there were 12 that measured over 46 inches.
There were over 1696 trophy Walleye caught in the Province of Manitoba last year and 143 were caught out of God’s Lake with 11 over 30 inches.
There were also 108 trophy Whitefish caught in the Province of Manitoba and 16 of them were caught out of God’s Lake.
One significant thing I would like to mention is that in Manitoba once you catch 5 trophies of the same species you become a specialist. However that system actually makes it harder for the fishermen but even worse for the Lodge owner. As for the fisherman (using Pike as an example) if you catch five Northern Pike that measure 41 inches, in order to register your next trophy Northern Pike it has to be larger then 41 inches otherwise they will not accept it as a trophy fish. At Elk Island Lodge we have a roughly 75% return clientele. We often have guests catch 5 trophy Pike or 5 trophy Brook trout in a four-day fishing trip. So as you can see the Master Angler program even though it is a good program, it does not always give you an accurate depiction of how the fishing was for trophy fish. For instance one of my guests has to catch a pike over 45 inches for it to count. Talk about a hard trophy to catch. But at least it is obtainable at God’s Lake.
2007 Sport Shows
Since our last update it has been a very interesting couple of months. The sport shows were enjoyable and it was nice spending time with past and current guests. Not to mention meeting so many new faces. We still have dates available for 2007 so please feel free to call us at 1 888 559 6633 or email us at bigfish@elkislandlodge.com
Winter Road Operations
The month of December and February is usually when we start building the winter road so we can start bringing in supplies for the up and coming season. The most difficult part of owning/operating a Lodge at Elk Island on God’s lake is the fact that we build our own winter road with various different types of equipment. We use a 450 cat, a grader, a plow truck and a Stager as well. The winter road is always very unpredictable. Unlike the fishing on God’s Lake as you can always catch fish at Elk Island Lodge. However we were able to build our road with relative ease in terms of complications. Although building the winter road is not easy at all. It takes very long hours and constant planning. Not to mention endless patience to see the road completed in its entirety. Weather is always a huge factor. From temperatures, to wind and ice it never seems to end. There are always issues with equipment however this year was a little better then usual in terms of breakdowns with the equipment. Regular maintenance with our equipment is mandatory to ensure reliability with our equipment. Our equipment has a very good chance of breaking down any time that there is -30 temperatures or worse.
Fierce Fire In February
We were able to build the road and bring in our first load of supplies and then it happened. We had a huge fire at Elk Island Lodge and the fire took both of our generators, two 1000 gallon storage tanks, all of the boat seats, locators, nets, paddles, coolers and even the life jackets. Needless to say it was a huge loss. We are in the process of constructing two new buildings so we can have an area for storage and so we can have a place to house our generators. Since the fire we have been able to send up two generators, three golf carts and all the lumber for the new deck on one of the eight man cabins. We have also re-ordered our first major order. All of the equipment for the boats has been ordered and we are in the process of picking up the order and sending it north.
Dates & Availability
In terms of availability, we still have dates left for this year. Please feel free to call us at 1 888 559 6633 or email us at bigfish@elkislandlodge.com if you have any questions or if you would like to set up a trip with us this year. We are always available to take reservations for the 2008 season as well.
