Welcome to the online community for Esnagami Lodge – a place for guests to share their photos, experiences, and fish stories with the world.

In the past few years there has been a growing trend of anglers visiting the lodge and then using the internet to share their experience with family, friends, and fellow anglers. It dawned on us that perhaps we should give all of our guests a single, easy to use place to help them do that. This site is also a good way to keep in touch with the lodge, and other anglers you have met up at Esnagami Lodge.

We invite you to take part by creating your own profile, posting your pictures, and taking part in the various fishing discussions.

Sincerely,
Eric and Sue Lund- Owner/Operators

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ESNAGAMI 2011 TOP TEN LEADERBOARD

PIKE

1^ST PLACE

Jackson, Ric ……………….. 46 ¼” Pike

2^ND PLACE

Ellis, Al ………………………..... 46” Pike

3^RD PLACE

Tharp Brian ………….…..…..…. 45” Pike

4^TH PLACE

Nirva, Sam ……….…...………. 44 ¼” Pike

5^TH PLACE

Bernardi, Val ….……..………… 43 ¾” Pike

6^TH PLACE

Eintoss, Allan ……………………… 43” Pike

Simpson, Lloyd …………...….43 Pike

7^TH PLACE

Winterstein, Eric ………………… 42 ½” Pike

Chalfant, Gary ………….……………..42” Pike

Eberhardt, Otto …………………….… 42” Pike

Jones, Luke ………………..…….…… 42” Pike

Lutz, Tom ……………………….…….. 42” Pike

Randall, Kyle ………….……….……… 42” Pike

Rohraff, Ferman ……..……….………. 42” Pike

Smith, Isaac …………………………… 42” Pike

8^TH PLACE

Randall, Tina ………………………….. 41” Pike

Stainton, Rob ………….……………… 41” Pike

Tharp, Brian ………….……..…………. 41” Pike

9^TH PLACE

Michel, Dick ……….……………..... 40 ½” Pike

Adrion, Yvonne ………………….… 40 ¼” Pike

Chalfant, Gary …………………… 2 x 40” Pike

Jackson, Kurt ……………..…………… 40” Pike

Tharp, Brian ………………………..….. 40” Pike

Tighe, Kelly ………………….……….. 40” Pike

Wright, Brent ………………..……….. 40” Pike

Golden, Linda ……………………..…. 40” Pike

10^TH PLACE

Giardulli, Rob ………………….…… 39 ¾” Pike

Lickert, Ralph ………………………. 39 ½” Pike

Battistuzzi, Attilio …………….………. 39” Pike

Grudzina, Dale ……………………….. 39” Pike

Jackson, Kurt ………………….………. 39” Pike

Lickert, Andy …………………………. 39” Pike

Lutz, Tom ……………………..………. 39” Pike

Miller, Les ……………..……………… 39” Pike

Moore, Steve ………………………….. 39” Pike

Savoline, Ron …………..…………….. 39” Pike

                 Smith, Isaac …………………….. 39” Pike

 

WALLEYE

1^st Place

Moore, Steve ……………. 31 ½” Walleye

2^ND PLACE

Crawford, Alvin ………………… 30” Walleye

Blain, Brady ……………………. 30” Walleye

3^RD PLACE

Blain, Brady …………. …….... 29“ Walleye

Davison, Skip ……….……….. 29” Walleye

Garantakos, Mike …………….. 29” Walleye

Jones, Dave ……………..……. 29” Walleye

Langford, Garry ……………….. 29” Walleye

4^TH PLACE

Lutz, Tom …………………… 28 ½“ Walleye

5^TH PLACE

Blain, Brady …..………………. 28” Walleye

Earick, Susu ………………… 28” Walleye

.Eberhardt, Walter……………. 28”Walleye

Ellis, Al ………………….28”Walleye

Matika, Steve ………….……… 28” Walleye

Moore, Alex …………………… 28” Walleye

Perkowski, Phil …….………… 28” Walleye

Seinar, John …………….…….. 28” Walleye

6^TH PLACE

Jones, Dave ……………….. 27 ¾” Walleye

7^TH PLACE

Gardner, Pat …..…………....27 ½“ Walleye

8^TH PLACE

Ball, Harold ……………….. 27 ¼” Walleye

9^TH PLACE

Barker, Geoff …………………….27” Walleye

Bernardi, Val ……….………..….. 27” Walleye

Eberhardt, Otto …………………. 27” Walleye

Giardulli, Rob ………………..….. 27” Walleye

Hagedorn, Jane ……………….… 27” Walleye

Jurgens, Merrill ……………… 2 x 27” Walleye

Langford, Garry ………………… 27” Walleye

Panek, Jeff ………………………. 27” Walleye

Ryan, Shane…. …………………. 27” Walleye

Scott, Al ……………..……………. 27” Walleye

Vincent, Matt ……………………… 27” Walleye

Wang, Mike ……………….………. 27” Walleye

10^TH PLACE

Blain, Brady …………………….. 27 ½” Walleye

Helble, Ed …………………….. 26 ½” Walleye

Jakimow, Jake ………………… 26 ½” Walleye

Jolliff, Brad …………………..…. 26 ½” Walleye

Jolliff, Keith ……………………. 26 ½” Walleye

Jurgens, Merrill ………………… 26 ½” Walleye

Koch, Allen …………………….. 26 ½” Walleye

Moore, Steve ………………….. 26 ½” Walleye

Nelson, Vicki ………………… 26 ½” Walleye

 

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN WATCHING ESNAGAMI LODGE ON T.V., THEN TUNE INTO WFN'S SHOW "THE NEW FLY FISHER"  ESNAGAMI LODGE IS ALSO FEATURED ON KYLE RANDALL'S SHOW "THE WILDERNESS JOURNAL" WHICH CAN BE SEEN ON REGIONAL PBS STATIONS.

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ESNAGAMI LODGE BLOG 2011

 

News!!! Esnagami Lodge has acquired an Outpost Camp on Merkly Lake, which is part of the Esnagami River System. We plan on opening for overnight river trips or outpost camp trips in the next couple of years. The plan is to tear down and re-build the existing cabin before using it.

MAY 8 th - Packing 2 trucks with 4 months of supplies for the lodge.

MAY 9 th - Depart London for Nakina. Eric hit the road mid morning driving himself and our 2 pets. Two new guides drove the pick up truck filled with gear. Eric stopped in Powasson Ontario to pick up 2 re-built cedar strip boats that had been dropped off last fall.

MAY 11 th - The lake was open enough for Eric and staff to fly in!!! If they had wanted to fly in the day before, it would have been a different story.

MAY 11 - MAY 20 th - OPENING CAMP WEEK:

Eric was pleasantly surprised to return to Esnagami without seeing any signs of intruders. Nothing was stolen or broken. Hallelujah!! It's been a few years since we haven't been hit hard by thieves. The only problem around camp was the fallen trees which was caused by beavers. We'd much rather have that problem then the theft issue. The girls got to work by opening up and cleaning all the cabins. The new guides had the annual job of sanding and re-varnishing all the cedar strip boats. They had beautiful weather to work in this particular week which made things alot easier.

Week # 1 May 21 - 27th

This week brought our first customers of the year. These brave fishermen battled the cold and at times, snowy weather. God bless the Wang party who faithfully return every year this same week, fully knowing what kind of weather they may get into. Mike Wang caught the largest Walleye of the week which was a 27 incher. His buddy Dale Grudzina caught the largest Pike of the week which was 39".

Week # 2 May 28 - June 3rd

Lodge life got busier as Eric and the staff welcomed 24 people for the week. We were fortunate enough to have Kyle and Tina Randall come up again, to film a few more episodes for their television show "The Wilderness Journal." There were 47 trophy fish caught this week.  Pat Gardner caught the week's largest Walleye which was 27 inches long. Kyle Randall caught the largest Pike of the week which was 42 inches long. Ronnie Steffan caught the second largest Pike of the week which was 38". On Thursday June 2nd, Liam, Rowan and I flew up to the lodge for the summer. It was great to have our family together again & good to get back to our other home. Time for me to get back to work again!!

Week # 3 June 4 - 10th:

Week number three brought lots of familiar faces back to the lodge. Lots of repeat guests were up this week. We are so grateful to all of our customers, especially those who keep returning year after year. Thank you SO much!! The weather was on the chilly side. It got down to 5 degrees for a few days. On Wednesday the winds really picked up making it challenging to get around on the lake. It was time to test out my fire building skills if i wanted to keep warm. Shorelunch was postponed til the next day in hopes of nicer weather. Thursday turned out to be gorgeous and a much nicer day for having a fish fry. After a bit of a slow start, the fish decided that they were finally ready to get serious about feeding. A total of 78 trophies were caught this week!! 42 Walleye and 36 Pike. Val Bernardi caught the week's largest Pike which was 43 3/4". David Jones caught the week's largest Walleye which was 29". Some other impressive Pike for the week were: Les Miller's 39" Pike, Rob Giardulli's 39 3/4" Pike and Dick Michael's 40 1/2" Pike.

Week # 4 June 11 - 17th:

What a switch in weather!!! Instead of dressing in layers, it was time to get rid of some layers. Some people even had a dip in the lake!!! Hard to believe the ice was just getting off the lake a month before. We had temperatures in the mid to late 20's. Some people got some serious "colour" this week. There were a total of 85 trophy fish caught this week. 57 Walleye, and 28 Pike. Susu Earick caught the largest Walleye of the week which was 28" and Geoff Barker caught the largest Pike of the week which was 36". Tom Thompson also did well by catching and releasing a 35 1/2" Pike. Some other impressive Walleye were Geoff Barker's 27 incher as well as Jane Hagedorn's 27 1/2 inch Walleye.

RIVER TRIPS: Our one day river trips down the Esnagami River have been going really well. Our two new river guides (Christian and Brent) have been doing a great job getting our guests into some great Brook Trout and Walleye fishing. The water level is higher this year, which will hopefully provide alot more opportunities for river trips!!

 

Week # 5 June 18 - 24:

Another great week at Esnagami!!  The weather was fairly decent. The forecast had been calling for alot of rain last week ... we are still waiting for it!!! We could really use some precipitation.  Things are getting really dry.   There were a total of 56 trophies caught and released.  (39 Walleye & 17 Pike) First time guest Sam Nirvana, from the Jurgen's party, caught a 44 1/4" Pike on his first day. This put him in the lead for winning the free trip to the lodge next year.   Walter Eberhardt, Phil Perkowski and John Seinar all caught and released 28" Walleye.   After Group Shorelunch on Thursday, twin brothers Otto and Walter Eberhardt went trolling and each caught a trophy fish.  As I mentioned already Walter Eberhardt caught a 28" Walleye, and his brother Otto caught and released a 42" Pike.  Way to go team Eberhardt!!!  Ferman Rohraff from the Gorgas party, also caught and released a 42" Pike!!  The Jackson group, who originate from Texas did very well in the evenings at Wildcat Narrows, which has always been a popular evening spot.  There were 6 in their group who headed there after dinner and were thrilled to be catching over 100 Walleye each night!!  The Jackson group wanted to bring a little something from the South for the staff to try, so a few of them put down their fishing rods for a bit and joined our new dinner cook Solange in the kitchen to prepare a "CrawFish" recipe.   Boy was it ever good!! Thanks again for treating us to such a delicious dish!!  All in all, it was a great week!! Thanks to all who joined us!!

Fish Hook Injuries:  2 so far .. both in the hand and Dr.Eric Lund successfully removed them.  Both patients were very brave and claimed it didn't hurt at all! :)

 

Week # 6  June 25 - July 1st/11.

This week was one which was  mixed with a few repeat guests, a few people who hadn't been here in many years, as well as a few brand new guests.  Al Crawford, who was a first time guest at Esnagami had a great first day on the lake.  Al caught and released a 30" Walleye.  What a great start to the week!!  So far, this has been the largest Walleye caught and released this year!!  As the week progressed, both Rob Stainton and 16 year old Luke Jones came back to the lodge at the end of the day with news that they had each caught 41" Pike!!  Rob and Luke both caught their fish on fly rods too!! Steve Moore caught and released a 39" Pike and his son Alex caught a 28" Walleye.    Initially the weather was  hot and dry, with temperatures around 25 degrees.  We had some concerns that forest fires could be an issue if we didn't get some rain soon.  For those of you planning on cooking in the outdoors, please remember before leaving your campfire pit: " IF IT'S TOO HOT TO TOUCH, THEN ITS TOO HOT TO LEAVE!!!" We finally received some much needed rain on Monday.   As we've always said ... Esnagami is the land of extremes.  On Tuesday we woke up to the temperature being 8 degrees centigrade, windy and chilly.   It was back to building fires to keep warm and consuming lots of hot coffee.  Wednesday which is our Group Shorelunch Day, was absolutely beautiful.  We tried out a new shorelunch spot that we had recently discovered.  We call it "Eagle Point."  It is located around the Cedar Narrows area.  This place has a wonderful view of the lake.  (Please check out our pictures in the photo section) We dined on our usual Walleye nuggets, lemon-wine Walleye, beans, beer battered onion rings, stir fry rice, & garlic bread.  The guides also prepared a Walleye stew which is always a big hit .   With all this hot, sunny weather we are getting, this means that the summer weed-beds have arrived earlier than normal.   As you Pike enthusiasts know, this is great for fishing for BIG Pike.  The Lund family had a fun adventure one evening.  Instead of fishing, we went looking for Moose.  Shortly after entering the Moose River area, we were surprised to see both a cow and bull moose.  They were enjoying an evening swim and feed.  By the end of the week when the ballots were tallied for the trophy contest, we counted 9 Trophy Walleye and 10 Trophy Pike.   Thanks to all returning guests and to those who were first timers!!

"And then there were 3" ... Three Fish Hook injuries.   Two were in the hand and one in the scalp.  Eric performed his painless hook technique once again this past week. 

 

Week# 7 July 2 -8/11.

First of all ... my apologies in the delay with this entry.  We were on holidays for a week ... so I'm just getting back into the routines again ...

 

First of all ... EVERYONE always wants to know about the BIG fish of the week.   There were 12 trophy Walleye and 22 trophy Pike caught and released which brings the total to 34 for the week.  The largest Walleye of the week was 31 1/2" and was caught by Steve Moore.  (some of you may recognize his name from the week before, as he was here for part of that week too)  Steve's 31 1/2" Walleye has been the largest Walleye to be caught and released this summer.  Steve also caught a 25 1/2" Walleye.  Pictures to follow ... The largest Pike was 42" and was caught by a 7 year old angler named Isaac Smith.  This young fisherman from Gaylord Michigan, who was up with his family for the first time, also managed to catch a few other trophy fish.  Isaac caught two 31", 35", and a 39" Pike!!! He was the envy of many a fisherman this week.   His little sister Amelia who is to turn 5 in August, caught and released a 38" Pike!!!! Their secret was fishing with bobbers and using herring as bait!!  The Smith kids rocked the fishing world.  Their mother Gayle caught a 24" Walleye as well.  Gordon Smith (the kids dad) should get some credit too for his assistance in landing these large fish!!  :)  Some other impressive fish to mention ... Larry Cornelis caught and released a 38" Pike (as well as a 25 1/2" & 26" Walleye, a 31"& 32" Pike).  Larry's fishing buddy Steve Charbonneau had quite a few entries himself.  Steve caught a 24", 24 1/2", 26" Walleye, and  two 31" Pike.  Tim McCarthy caught & released a 38".   This week we had a fisherman who came all the way from Hungary.  Ba'lint Alpari who came to meet his Canadian relatives - "The Greff's" who have come here for years, and they treated him to a Canadian fishing trip adventure!! Ba'lint caught himself a 30" Pike.  I wonder if they can catch big Pike over there???  We had an unexpected visitor this week.  We had a black bear come into camp during the afternoon.  The guides scared him off but he came back.  He made an appearance during dinner one night.  Guess he heard the dinner bell and was just showing up! He was at the back kitchen door about 15 feet away.  It appeared to be a 3 year old bear - not very big.  I opened the door and clapped my hands very loudly and said "go on ... get out of here!!!"  Then Eric came behind me and said "what are you doing??? I wanted to shoot at him to scare him away!!"  Eric saw the bear and gave him a little shot in the behind and that was the last we saw of the bear!  We had one of our most busiest weeks this week.  There were 35 people in the dining room for a few nights.  We had some new and repeat customers.  Esnagami welcomed back Doug and Lee Lightheart who had been here 15 years ago!!!  Doug and Lee have posted some of their pictures from their trip.  The weather was fairly warm but cooled down enough in the evening so that it was comfortable.  Thanks to all who joined us!!! 

 

July 9 - 15th/2011.  ESNAGAMI STAFF VACATION .... Most staff headed home for their vacation to catch up with family, friends, boyfriends or girlfriends.  Two of our guides stayed here for the week.  The Lund's went to Thunder Bay for a couple of days to get our fix of Timmie's, McDonald's and even saw a movie ... of course a kids movie!! After purchasing lots of supplies for the lodge,  we returned to the lodge for some real R & R.  We had wonderful weather the whole week.  We enjoyed sleeping in a bit, and loved our peaceful mornings with coffee and even had breakfast on our deck a few times.  It was a great vacation on Esnagami Lake!! 

 

The first part of the summer is over already and there are 8 more weeks to go.  We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of our guests for coming up to the lodge this year!! We really appreciate it!! Thanks also to our staff (cooks:  Sheila, Solange, Guides:  Brent, Eric D., Steve, Justin and Christian, Waitresses/cabin cleaners: Caroline, Robyn and Brandy) for all their hard work!!  Here's to a great second half of the Esnagami Season!!! 

 

 

Week # 8   July 16 - 22/2011

On July 16th the staff were all back to work after a restful week off.  On Saturday we woke up to thick fog which delayed flights for a couple of hours.  This was the first time that this happened this year.  Once the fog lifted, Nakina Air Service did  a great job in getting the flights in quickly.  After getting the guests luggage to their cabins, issuing licences, taking lunch orders, handing out maps, and giving advice on where to go, the guests were off in search of the BIG one.   Just like in the rest of the world, Esnagami Lake experienced very hot temperatures too.  Temperatures even got in the 30 degree celcius range (90 F).   There were a few occasions this week where the wind blew from the south bringing the smell of smoke from the forest fires that are burning in North West Ontario.   You could even see smoke in the tree tops.  With very little rain this summer, forest fires are the worst  they've been in Ontario in 20 years.  There is currently no fire ban.  On Sunday we experienced the strangest weather.   We've always said that Esnagami was the land of extremes .... the weather went from cloudy to sunny,  cloudy to fog, hail, thunder, lightening, and more of the cloudy and sunny sessions.  We were all hoping for a good rain but instead just got a sprinkle.  This was a day where the temperature reached 32 degrees!!!  Thank God for the beautiful breeze that came in later that day.  Even though we had the heat there were still fish being caught.  By weeks end, there were a total of 47 trophy Walleye and Pike that were caught and released.  (25 Walleye and 22 Pike)  It was a great week for Trophy Walleye.  The Blain group did very well, especially in the Walleye category.   They found themselves to be most successful by trolling using "Hot n' Tots."  Brady Blain had several entries.  He caught the largest Walleye of the week which was 30" and also caught a 29, 28, 26 1/2,26, 2 x 25 1/2" Walleye and a 32 1/2" Pike.   Brady's friend Mike Garontakos caught and released a 29" Walleye as well.  Martin Stepzinski (from the Blain group) caught a nice looking 37 1/2" Pike.  The largest Pike of the week was Ron Savoline's which was a healthy 39" long.  Ron is from the Bettinson group, some of which have been coming up for the past 15 years.  Tom Lutz, another long time guest who has been coming to the lodge since 1989, had 7 Pike entries in the C & R contest ranging between 30 1/2 and 35 1/2".   Thank you so much to all for coming up!!! 

Friday July 22/11.  The weather cooled down in the evening.  It dropped right down to 10 degrees (50 F)  Like we said ... Esnagami is the Land of Extremes!!

 

Wk # 9  July 23 - 29/11

The weather for this week was fantastic!!! We had a nice break from all the heat and humidity that we were experiencing in the past weeks.  Without air conditioning it was getting down right stifling at times.  The temperatures this week were 10 - 15 degrees celcius some days!!  Believe it or not i even made a couple of fires to warm up our cabin in the morning.  How's that for a switch?  Most days it warmed up perfectly.  We had a much needed downpoor on Monday July 25th.  This week there wasn't much guiding needed so the Staff kept busy painting cabins and decks. They did a great job. The camp is looking awesome!!  I wish there there had been time for that before the season started.  Now for the stats for the week .... This particular week there were surprisingly only Pike that were entered into our Trophy Catch and Release Contest.   Interestingly enough ... last week had been more of a big Walleye week.  The switch in the weather must have done something.  There were 19 Pike entries with 42" being the largest.  The Schneider party did very well.  Andy Lickert's first fish of the trip was a 39" Pike.  His father Ralph had two entries on his first day:  30 1/2" and 39 1/2".  They weren't the only ones with good luck on the first day.  Gary Chalfant caught  a 31 1/2" as well as a 42" Pike on his first day too - which I mentioned was the biggest Pike of the week!!!  He entered a total of 7 fish into the contest.  Along with his 42" he also had two 40" Pike.  Gary was fishing on his own and had to get pictures of himself with his giant fish. Thank God for timers on cameras.  I must say he did a fabulous job!! Please see photo section to view some of the trophy fish from this week.   Thanks to all who joined us!! 

 

July 30 - August 5/11. # 10

Week number 10 proved to be a great week ... especially for trophy Pike.  After tallying the ballots at the end of the week, there were 44 Trophy Pike and only one Trophy Walleye entered into Esnagami's Trophy Catch and Release Contest.  A nice 25" Walleye I might add, caught by Doyle Stern from the "Critzer" party.   We had 4 repeat groups up this week and 2 new groups.   Hopefully we'll make the new groups repeats in the future too.  One of our repeat guests Kurt Jackson has been coming to the lodge for 30 plus years!!!!! Kurt is from Ohio, and started coming to the lodge back when he was a teenager.  He came up with his father Fred Jackson and his dad's friends.  Except for having to skip a few years, he has come up every year.  This man REALLY knows how to fish Esnagami Lake.  Kurt and his friend Brian Tharp, who has been coming to the lodge for a few years now, entered 30 trophy Pike this week!!!!!!! Brian caught what is now the largest Pike of the summer ... a 45 incher!!!! Pictures to come!!  Brian entered 17 Pike (some of the larger ones being his 45, 41, 40, 2 x 36"and more) and Kurt entered 13 Pike. Some of his larger fish were:  40, 39, 38, 36 and more. Way to go guys!! Look for all their entries in our 2011 Christmas newsletter!!  The Critzer group did well too!!  Both Rex Critzer and Doyle Stern caught 36 1/2" Pike. Weather wise ... it was fairly hot the majority of the week, with one day of rain.    Thanks to all the wonderful guests who traveled a long way to come to the lodge!! As always, we always appreciate you choosing Esnagami Lodge!!!

  

Fish Hook Injuries  ... (I forgot to update this last week.)  We are now at 4.  Two in the hand, one in the scalp and one in the thigh.  Eric continues to find the method he learned to be very successful and most importantly ... PAIN FREE!!  

 

AUGUST 6 - 12/11. WEEK # 11

This week we experienced some Fall-like weather.  Would you believe that even some leaves are already turning color and falling?? Looking across the bay you can see the tree tops have turned yellow.  Although it is nice to look at ... we all know what this means.  It means we're getting close to the end of another season at the lodge.  We have 4 weeks left of the 2011 season.  Some days we were treated to bright and sunny days with cool mornings and evenings.  The weather was unpredictable at times.   The wind was quite strong for a couple of days which made the waves challenging.  Some people decided to play it safe and hold off on going out until the wind died down.  This week brought back all repeat guests and groups such as the Proctor's, Lott's, Slater's, Boyer's, and the Hamilton's.  The "Wasserbeck's" were a new couple to come to Esnagami Lodge.  They both entered trophy fish into the Trophy Contest.  This weeks total in our Trophy Catch and Release Contest was 14 and all Pike.  Brent Wright from the Slater party caught the week's largest fish which was a 40" Pike.  Risto Rintamaki caught a nice looking 35 1/2" Pike.   The Lund family had some visitors ... the rest of the Lund's.  Eric's kids Carly (22) and Luke (19) drove up with Eric's folks for a visit.  It was nice to have our whole family together again. Thanks to all who came to the lodge this week!!  

August 13 - 19/11   Week # 12

Well here we are and another week has come and gone.  We find that the days are really flying by quicker than ever.   I remember as a child how adults would say how fast the days would go by and I just wouldn't see it that same way.  The leaves have changed so much and are really yellow now.  Fall is definitely here at Esnagami.  Temperatures have been around 10 degrees (50 F) in the evening and mornings, but warms up quite nicely by mid morning.   This particular week was a busy one.  All cabins were occupied and all groups were repeat except for two, the "White" and the "Steinmetz" parties.  We even had a guide from a few years ago, Kevin Collins and his father come up for a vacation. There were 43 entries into the Trophy Catch and Release Contest.   41 of the entries were Pike as we mostly had Pike enthusiasts here.  The 2 trophy Walleye were caught by Bob & Betsy Willis from Wisconsin, who have come to the lodge for many years.   Bob & Betsy celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary while they were here.  We felt so honored that they chose to be here to celebrate such a special occasion.   The largest Pike was caught by Lloyd Simpson.  Now Lloyd has come to Esnagami for 6 years now, and has always concentrated on Walleye fishing.  One morning after breakfast, he had a chat with Eric and said that he thought he might try a little Pike fishing and proceded to ask for some guidance on where to go and what to use.  Lloyd came back at the end of the day running through camp desperate to share his good news with Eric and the guides.  With a huge smile on his face and a picture on his digital camera to prove it, he announced that he caught (and released) a 43" Northern Pike which earned him the Master Angler of the week.  I think maybe, just maybe we have another Pike enthusiast in camp!  Congrats to Lloyd!  It was a big week for 40" Pike and for the ladies who caught them as Kelly Tighe, Linda Golden, Tina Randall & Yvonne Adrion all caught 40" Pike.  Yvonne's was actually 40 1/4" :) .   Jon Strole Jr.  caught a nice looking 37" Pike.   Katie Tighe caught a 36 1/2" Pike.  Her sister Emily Tighe caught and released a 36" Pike and Mike Valentine also caught a 36" Pike.  Kyle and Tina Randall from "The Wilderness Journal" came up again to film another show.   For those of you who have read the blogs from the beginning will know that they were here earlier in the year and filmed a few episodes for their very successful televison show.  We would like to say thank you so much to Kyle and Tina, as they always do such a wonderful job, as we always get alot of phonecalls from people who just saw an episode and want more information on the lodge.  We can't wait wait to see what they did this time.  We are trying to absorb all of our experiences at the lodge, as our time here is almost up.  Liam, Rowan and I are heading back home to London, Ontario on August 30th, so that they can get ready for school.   This week will be our last Group Shorelunch, as well as our last week of fishing and trying to catch "the big one."  It is our last week listening to the loons, and howling at the wolves in hopes of hearing them reply.  I think we will even let the children stay up late one night so that they can experience star gazing in the North.  Perhaps we will be fortunate enough to see the Northern Lights.  Eric will stay on to run and to close down the camp with the remainding staff.  The lodge will be closed for the year as of September 9th. After the main lodge is winterized, he and a couple of the guides will head down to the Esnagami River Camp,  to do some maintenance work on it.  Thanks again to all who joined us in making it such a great week!!!

August 20 - 26th/11  Week # 13

This was our last "busy" week of the season, where most of our cabins were being used.  We saw lots of faces of repeat guests that we are always so happy to see.  We welcomed back the Goetz group, the Shienke group, Jim Clore and his great grand- son Joshua,  and Bruce and his wife Therese Mayrand.  Ric Jackson as well as Attilio Battistuzzi both arrived later in the week as well.  We welcomed some new people as well!!  This was another great week of Pike enthusiasts who together entered 15 trophies into the Catch and Release Contest.  Rick Bedsole from the Goetz group did very well by entering 5 Northern Pike into the contest ranging between 32 & 36".  In fact he caught 2 x 36" Pike.  Joshua Hamilton caught a 36 incher as well. These were the largest Pike of the week.  Bruce Mayrand came really close to tieing with Rick and Joshua's 36" with his 2 x 35" Pike. 

 If memory serves me correctly .. this week was a bit of a rainy week.  On the same day that Goderich Ontario (southern Ontario) had that awful tornado that ripped throught the town, we had a pretty decent storm ourselves.  Although our storm didn't compare one bit to what that town experienced.   The day before the weathermen were warning Northern Ontario of a severe thunderstorm.  We never got it that day but the next day the sky got very dark around breakfast time and boy did it storm.  I remember the rain coming down so hard on the metal roof that it made it difficult to have a conversation. 

On a personal side ... we had a health scare with our chocolate lab Arrow who is 13 1/2 years old.  We even had said our good byes to her as we were sure she wasn't going to make it.  She had what appeared to be a very long seizure.   She recovered from it and appeared to be ok. She is made of tough stuff I tell you.  This was the third time in a couple of weeks that she experienced this sort of thing.  The closest veterinarian is a flight and 4 and a half hours away.  I made an appointment for Arrow to see a vet in Thunder Bay for the following week, when Eric brought the kids and I to the city to fly home.  (to be continued) 

August 27 - Sept. 2/11 Wk. # 14

Since the beginning of the year, we've been wondering a couple of things.  Who is going to win the contests for catching the largest Pike and largest Walleye of the year?? How big will these fish be?? Will there be any new records set??  As you know, these 2 lucky winners will receive a free trip back to  Esnagami Lodge next year.  Opportunities to catch the largest fish of the season are running out.  Our questions will very soon be answered.  After this week was completed we had a pretty good idea who was going to win in the Pike category ....

This past week 15 Northern Pike were entered into the contest.  Long time guest Attilio Battistuzzi, did really well for himself, by entering 8 qualifying fish into the contest.  He had 2 x 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 38 and his largest Pike being 39".  Not bad landing all of those fish, especially while fishing on your own!!!   Some other long time guests, father and son team of Henry & Allan Eintoss entered some pretty big fish themselves.  Henry caught a 35" Pike and Allan caught a 43" Pike. 

Although there were quite a few nice fish caught and released this week, it was Ric Jackson who blew us away with his big fish news and may have been the envy of all the fishermen in camp.  Ric had 4 entries all together including a 31, 33 and a 35" Pike.  On August 27th Ric added one more qualifying fish into the contest. He had one of the guides take him out on this particular day, and he caught and released the largest Pike of the summer ... which measured a whopping 46 1/4".  One  of the answers to our questions was becoming very clear. 

Thanks very much to all who joined us this week. 

Arrow news!  Eric drove us to Thunder Bay where the kids and I had a flight leaving the following day to bring us back to our home town of London Ontario.  Arrow saw a vet who did blood work and determined that her lab results were excellent for an old girl of 13 1/2 years of age.  After asking us lots of questions, the vet told us (what we already pretty much knew), that she most likely has a tumor in her brain.  Not much you can do at this point in her life.  We vowed to continue to enjoy her and keep her comfortable and as happy as she can be.  The kids and i said our good byes to Eric and Arrow at the Thunder Bay airport and headed back to our home in the city, to get the kids ready for school.  Eric and Arrow headed back to camp to get back to work and enjoy the last few weeks before heading back to the city.

September 3 - 9th/11.  # 15 - LAST WEEK

Well ... that's all folks!! This was the last week of guests for the  season.  And boy was it a good one!!!  There were 15 guests and 52 trophy fish entries.  41 Pike & 11 Walleye  entries!!!  How nice to see some trophy Walleye up on the board, after having only Pike enthusiasts in camp the last few weeks.  We were pleased to welcome back all of our repeat guests.  We had the Davison group back as well as the Heller duo, and the Mike Bohonos group. Tom Lutz returned for his second trip of the season.  Tom was also up in the middle of July.    

Before I write about the stats for this week, I will now announce who won the free trips to Esnagami Lodge for  2012 for catching the largest Walleye and Pike of the season!!

BIG FISH CONTEST WINNERS - LARGEST PIKE & WALLEYE 2011

I am pleased to announce that it was Ric Jackson who won the FREE TRIP for catching and releasing the largest Pike of the year which was 46 1/4" long!!!  Steve Moore caught and released the largest Walleye of the season which was 31 1/2" long.  Congratulations to both Ric and Steve!!!  We look forward to seeing you at the lodge next year. 

4 MORE FREE TRIPS TO GIVE AWAY!!! - As usual, 4 names will be drawn from all of the qualifying trophy Catch and Release ballots. The names of the winners will be listed on our "2011 Esnagami Times" Newsletter. This will be mailed to you before the holidays. 

MAILING LIST:  PLEASE CONTACT US VIA E-MAIL IF YOU HAVE HAD AN ADDRESS CHANGE OR IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE ON OUR MAILING LIST!

Sept 3 - 9 th Stats

The Davison group, who was a group of 8, contributed 38 qualifying trophy fish to the contest.  As mentioned before the grand total for the week was 52!  The largest Pike and Walleye of the week were Al Ellis's 46" Northern, and  Skip Davison & Garry Langford's 29" Walleye.  There were so many BIG fish caught this week, that we feel some of them need to be mentioned! 

In the Pike category: Aside from Al's 46" Pike ... Eric Winterstein caught a 42 1/2, 38, 37 1/2, and 35" Pike.  Tom Lutz caught a 42, 39 & 36" Pike, and Paul Mergler caught a 37" Pike.  The following anglers all caught 35" Pike:  Ken Davison, Peter Gebraad, and Brian Heller. 

In the Walleye category:  As well as Skip & Garry's 29" Walleye, Tom Lutz caught a 28 1/2" Walleye, Al Ellis and Steve Matika both caught 28" Walleye.  Garry Langford caught a 27" Walleye.  Eric Winterstein proved he was not only an awesome Pike fisherman, he was also a great Walleye fisherman who caught and released a 25" Pickeral.

Thank you so much to all of the guests who came this week, who helped make the last week of the season so memorable. 

 

THE CLOSE DOWN OF E.W.L.  ....

After the last flight departs the lodge with the last guests of the season, it is definitely not time to relax.  There is lots of work to be done in order to close and winterize the lodge properly.   At this time of the year, there are few staff left, as many have had to return to school.  This leaves more work for the remaining staff. 

 The main lodge has to get closed down.  The kitchen itself is a big job.  All fish mounts get taken down, photo albums and picture frames get packed away.  All of the clothing and tackle in the store gets packed away.  The cabins have to be closed down, water lines have to be flushed out, the water tower has to be drained and sanitized.  The water pump and generators must be winterized, 20 + boats must be pulled out of the water, & cleaned and stored on land.  The lodge linens and towels have to be flown out to return to the Bestway Dry Cleaners in Geraldton.  Extra propane tanks and gas drums get flown back to Nakina.  

 Of course after the long days were done, the staff still had some energy to get out on the lake.  There was still some fishing to be done and some fish fries to be had.  The staff was very lucky in that the weather co-operated for the most part.  They did see some flurries one particular day, but other than that it was great.

After closing down Esnagami Lodge the staff said good by to another year at the lodge and flew out to Nakina. 

September 15th - This was the day Eric had been looking forward to all summer long.  As we mentioned earlier in the year, we purchased a rustic camp down the Esnagami River. The River is one of his favourite places in the world to be.  (He has told me that that is where we will be spending some of our vacation time next summer ... I myself, have city plans in mind :)   After packing the plane with supplies for the River Camp, Eric, Arrow, friend Dave Hagen, guides Brent and Justin boarded Nakina Air Services' Otter & flew to the Outpost Camp.  The camp is composed of two small cabins.  One is known to be the "cooks cabin" which has a small kitchen, picnic table, a woodstove and bunk-bed.  Eric flew in a new fridge and stove for the kitchen.  The other cabin is "the bunk house" which holds 2 bunkbeds as well as a wood stove.  The guys had to cut down a lot of dead trees around the area.  Eric figures that there's enough firewood to last 5 years!!!  The old dock was pretty much all under water, so it was replaced with a new 10 x 14 ft dock.   The did some painting on the interior and will plan on doing some painting on the outside in the spring of 2012.   After work was done, they did some fishing.  Funny enough, the Brook Trout were easier to catch than the Walleye.  They had a chance to see alot of wildlife during their stay including a couple of Moose, a mink and eagles.  After the job was done, it was back to Nakina to start the long journey home.  2011 is officially done!

Eric and I would like to say a big thank you to all the guests who joined us this year.  We sincerely appreciate you choosing Esnagami for your fishing vacation and hope to see you again in the near future!!  Thank-you to all of our staff who did a wonderful job for us. 

 

Please check "My Esnagami" as well as our Facebook Page for further updates.