Exercise your brain.......win a mug!

Here's something to contemplate while you pretend to be "at work" on your computer. Any idea on what the names are for these mystery lakes? Hint....VBL has boats on all these lakes. For bonus points, what is the main fish species in each of these lakes? For the ultimate bonus point, which one of these lakes has a Red-Tailed Hawk nesting site?

Good luck. Get all 13 points and win a prestigious VBL beverage dispenser (mug).

Exploring the "Back Forty"......

With all the new snow and colder temps it was time to strap on the snowshoes and check out some of the trails behind the lodge.

It's interesting how the dogs can find the old trail that is almost snowed over.....much easier for them with their short legs. These first two pictures are from some of the many granite ridges that are great for snowshoeing on. I've put a red star on the satellite image to show where I was.

These last two shots are from a large swamp (yellow star) that I've not been in before. I didn't find a good exit from this swamp (I'm trying to head further west to Favell Lake) but looking at the satellite shot has given me some clues. Great ice and snow shots.

The trees don't get very big in these swampy areas.

....and yes, I worked up a sweat getting my fat arse back into the middle of nowhere! Even the dogs seemed to be dragging their butts. Seems like I left my axe in a tree at the end before I turned back to come home.......I'll need to retrieve that tomorrow!

Winter Wallop.........

After a three day January thaw, we are finally heading back into winter with some colder temperatures and a pretty good dump of snow.

I much prefer the snow and cold weather to the rain and slush of the past few days. The plow truck seems to work well! Much warmer than using the tractor.

So far the new roof seems to be holding back the weather!

Even Lucy seems to be crusted in ice and snow! The forcast for the rest of the week is sun and cold temps......a Canadian Arctic blast, heading your way soon!!

Electric Beaver...."The Hardcopy"

I thought that this was a pretty neat idea. I was able to order a hard copy of the first year of the Electric Beaver to have at the lodge. This should be a good reminder to some of us with poor memories, what actually happened over 2009!

Clearwater Lake....All to ourselves!

As some of you know, in low water conditions, VBL guests are the only ones who can access Clearwater lake via a short portage. In high water years, just about anyone in a small boat can navigate the 100 plus turns to get to the lake.

Well Gord has been researching the problem with human antibiotics passing through our systems, into the sewage treatement plants, and then into our lakes. The winters are long in Canada and Gord has way too much time to scheme. He began thinking...what if I were to start ingesting large quantities of steroids like Mark McGuire, consume mass quantaties of beer, and then expell them into the lake? Wouldn't that make the fish grow bigger? Better yet, wouldn't the beavers grow large and prevent others from fishing Clearwater lake. So....here is what you can expect to experience if you go up the river in 2010 to Clearwater lake:

I don't like spiders and snakes

Nobody likes to be overwhelmed by a school of skinny "snake" northerns. Perchmaster, you have undoubtedly experienced this while fishing for those bull perch? We sure did.

However, there are many opportunities for large pike....often overlooked by people who are pursuing musky. The following pics are a few pictures of a half day spent pursuing those pike. The biggest pike (40") exploded on a shallow running shad rap coming out of the cabbage last August. It performed several nice tail dances on the surface. If you aren't a multi-species angler on Eagle, 2010 is the year to give it a try.

Need new pictures for the VBL web site

I think it time for all of us to load Gord up with some new pictures for his VBL web site.

How about it Gord?

I think you get the idea I have hundreds of pictures

"Time on The Water".......a review......

Brad Walker, a long time VBL guest, rod maker and Wisconsin muskie guide (www.tealriverrods.com) mailed me this copy of muskie classic "Time On The Water" by Bill Gardner. I said I would read it over the winter, and between glasses of wine and fattening cookies, the Christmas holidays allowed me to peruse this book. To elevate the "Electric Beaver" out of gutter, and into more of a cerebral plane, I offer this review of one one man's effort to catch "the big one"!

The book is based on Bill Gardner's decision to quit his job and move to the Hayward area to spend one full season to fish for, and attempt to catch, a trophy muskie. Written as a daily diary it documents the futile efforts of trying to catch a decent fish in Wisconsin. To be fair, this was in 1983 and any keeper (30 inches ?) was most likely clubbed and put on display at the local tackle shop freezer. This attitude was beginning to change but it was obvious that years of killing everything has taken it's toll......it seems to be a big deal just to catch a northern during a day of fishing! I don't want to ruin the ending for those wanting to read this, but let's just say that Bill should probably have kept his job.

While I found the fishing described in the book painful at best, and seriously depressing at worse, at least from my Eagle Lake point of view, it does paint a picture of muskie fishing history. It also points out accurately the difficulty of connecting to a really big muskie. This should probably be required reading to those who's expectations are based on the bull-crap dealt out by "some" muskie magazines or by fishing websites that give the impression of abundant giant "hawg lunge". On the bright side it sure made it clear just how lucky I am to spend my time fishing on a lake such as Eagle.

Dump Turkeys

These "wild" turkeys have been hanging out at the Vermilion Bay dump all Fall. With temperatures around minus 30 C. it must be a little chilly for them. Back in November there used to be three of them.........

I guess the municipality will have to post some new signs... "Beware of Dump Turkey!"

Happy New Year & Best of Luck in 2010....!

While the temps may have put a damper on our usual lake trout fishing expedition, my thoughts are still on this species.............

You may recall the study that the MNR had started this spring by radio tagging some trout and setting up underwater tracking stations at a number of narrows on Eagle Lake. This map shows some very preliminary, but interesting , trout movements. The most interesting is the fish named "Christina" (blue line) who travelled from the main body and back to the West Arm (passing 4 tracking stations) from May 30 to June 1. Now that is a lot of miles over a few days!

"Carlos" (red line) hung out by the tracking station at the North end of Portage Bay on and off from May 23rd- 24th.

"Joe" (yellow line) left Vermilion Bay for the West Arm on June 5th.

"Fernando" (green line) followed Joe on June 12th.

I have to assume the location of where these fish were captured is depicted by the large round dot. Seems others in Portage Bay did not move past the tracking points.

The tracking continues on over this winter and into the spring and summer.