One Month In

Another long overdue entry here on benbeattieoutdoors.com.  It's hard to believe the season has been open for a month already. So far this season has been - in a word - busy. But busy is good. And many great days have been had and many nice fish in the boat. 

It's been somewhat of a different spring so far. Ice out was normal (not late, not early) but the weather has been anything but normal. Early heat was followed by cold, then hot, then cold etc. Water temps have been going up and down like a yo-yo and the result is scattered fish. On any given day I could (and have) caught walleye in 5-feet of water and 30-feet of water and everywhere in between. They are hard on the mayfly nymphs in the shallows - the big hatch still hasn't happened. I've been checking the humps in the main lake with limited success, but it won't be long until the graph lights up on the bigger basin structure.  

Earlier this spring I took advantage of the first spring bear hunt in this area in 17 years.  I was fortunate to harvest a color phase (cinnamon) bear with my bow. Big thanks to my buddy Troy Mansfield (Winoga Lodge) for his help and expertise.  If you're looking for a bear hunt (Spring or Fall) Troy is the premier outfitter in the area. 

I also had the pleasure to fish with Gord Ellis this spring.  Gord is a colleague at Ontario OUT OF DOORS magazine as well as a fishing promoter and radio broadcaster with CBC. It was a huge honor to be featured on CBC radio as well as in a video on their website and FaceBook page and in an article on the CBC website.  Click here to read the article. The link also contains the video and a link to the radio interview. 

My old friend Cory McKiel also used a picture of me in an ad for his optometry business in Thunder Bay. Cory now sells Costa Del Mar sunglasses. Costa is a sponsor of mine so I just happened to have a photo lying around for him to use. Thanks Cory! 

The next phase of the season is upon us as spring transitions into summer