Great post! I would love to do this some day when I have the time and space! Good luck with finishing the canoe and the hunt of a lifetime.

You guys are killing me! I have 2 more weeks until I get up north for a week of hunting . Good luck this weekend!
Dan

Hey Mark! I stated on the blind this weekend. It is looking good so far. I think I will be up for opener. I will let you know.

Well we got back on Saturday. We didn’t have the best weather up there this year. The darn wind blew about 30 mph all day every day until Friday. The air temps were in the mid/low 60’s to mid 50’s until Friday which was in the mid 70’s. We did not do as well as in past years but it was still a blast. We raised some nice muskies but only got two of the smaller ones to pull the trigger. Others in camp had some better ones with the largest being 49″. The walleye fishing was pretty good as usual. We got into a good bite on crankbaits in the weeds which was a blast. The smallmouth fishing was also pretty good again. We had a handfull of fish that hit 20″ and plenty more around 18″. A lot of fish came on topwater which is always a great time. I thought that was surprising considering the weather. We also did well on plastics. We didn’t get nearly as many pike as we have in the past, but the average size was much bigger this year. The water temps were hanging around 61 everyday until Friday and they jumped to 68. It’s crazy what one calm sunny day in the 70’s can do. It was once again a great trip with my dad and we can’t wait until next year. This is a great body of water in my opinion.

Gonzo here is another post that should help. I was thinking about going down there Saturday, but I’m not sure I want to fight the crowds.
http://www.idofishing.com/forum/showflat.php/Number/992791/fpart/1/iwt-spring-valley-results

Sounds like that was a great tournament Tony. I will be heading out there this Saturday. How is the river level?

Chad,
Here is a link to Little Moose Lodge. I have been going here for the past 10 years. I will be there again the 3rd week in June. The fishing and facilities are great. The boats are the best I have ever seen at a Canadian camp.
http://www.littlemoose.com/

Thanks for the feedback guys.

This is something that I was thinking about trying this year as well. Does anyone have any suggestions on trolling speed?

We have been crossing at I Falls for the last 15 or so years and have found it much easier to cross the border at night. The line to get across in the morning can be crazy! We usually stay at the Super 8 or Adventure Inn just west of Fort Francis.

Hey Mark! I still have the membership. I will send you guys the info. You guys getting out today? If you guys still have ice the weekend of 3/20 I may be heading up. Thanks for the link.

Thanks Matt. One more question. Do you know if I need a passport if I will be going up on June 19th?
Thanks
Diver

Outfitter, do you happen to know how long ago the ice went out on Clearwater?
Thanks
Diver

Thanks guys!

I have not done much fishing on the chain because it is a bit of a hike for me, but I have heard that it gets overrun with pleasure boaters in the summer. There are some nice campgrounds on the river over by Savanna, IL and the fishing can be great.
Diver

I am not sure if you are talking about Buffalo Lake in Marquette county WI, but I was out there on Thursday and Friday of last week and we had about 2.5″ to 3″. I am guessing that the channel has less. Fishing was slow. I only ended up with 1 nice pike.

Here is the link to the website with the recipe Wade. It is by far my favorite recipe for grouse.
http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.cgi?r=249519
Diver

I’ll have to give that one a try Wade. The last time I made grouse I left the meat on the breast bone and soaked them in milk for about an hour, rinsed them off and rubbed them with lemon and made a mushroom, onion and parsley stuffing. After seasoning the meat I added the stuffing and wraped them in bacon and roasted them in the oven. Good stuff!!!

Your killing me Mark!!! I just got the o/u out yesterday to get her ready. I will be up in Florence county chasing grouse the first week in October . I hope to get over by you and Dodge soon after. Great pictures. You will have to send some if you get a bear.
Diver

Thanks Birddog. I will give that a try.
Diver

Hey Mark. I hope to be up there in October. I am starting to think I need to just move up there so I don’t have to hear Dodge bragging about all of these smallies that he is catching. I know the same thing is going to happen when the duck season opens.
Diver

Thanks Matt. I will make sure I do that before getting too far into it. My first thought was the filter but that turned out to be fine.

Great. Thanks for all the suggestions