Wolf Hunt

Joe Bruan from Minnesota hunted hard and connected this week on a beautiful mature black wolf.  A trophy like this is what some hunters only dream about.  Wolf hunts are not for the faint at heart.  Long cold sits from dark to dark create a mental challenge that is extremely gratifying when things come together.  Way to Joe!

Ice fishing has been pretty good.  Crappie have been steady and trout fishing has been steady as well.  We do not have many walleye reports.  Trout have been suspended over deep water.  Fishing over 70 plus feet but working the 40 feet column.  Electronics are a must.  The crappie bite comes and goes, waiting for a school to come buy takes a bit but rewarded when it does.

SPRING AVAILABILITY : JUNE 24TH TO JULY 1ST  UP TO 8 PEOPLE

2017

 

We hope everyone is having a good start to 2017.  We wanted to let you know that we have been having problems with our phone.  For the time being if you can’t get through or get a busy signal please shoot us an email.  It seems the problem is only from some parts of the US.

Winter has pretty much settled in, cold and snow is surly the theme.  Trout season opened on January 1st and the first week of season was action packed for most.  35 to 50 feet of water with the old standard white tube jig seemed to be the ticket.  Mixed reports for walleye and crappie thus far this year.  Fisherman north of us struggled a bit on some normally excellent winter hot spots and some friends have been putting fish on the ice in the Dryden area.  Ice conditions vary along with slush conditions.  High water levels this past fall again will make some of those creek passages a bit iffy.  I have not heard of any excellent crappie reports but the season is definitely early.

Our Spring bookings are solid but we do have a cabin avaiable the week of June 24th.  We will keep you informed of any cancelations .  If you are looking for something to do in 2017 Dave will be guiding a spring bear hunt, and will also be guiding mid-summer and fall musky trips.  We are also expanding our wolf hunt by a couple of hunters so if anyone is interested let us know.  We have a couple of spots avaiable in March of 2018.  For those of you who like to bird hunt you should really think about a fall grouse/fishing trip.  Season starts the 15th of September.  It is a great time of year to be in NW Ontario.

 

 

A buddy of ours was trying to make us a bit jealous with an openning day lake trout.

Merry Christmas Everyone

IMERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS

                                        FROM PICKEREL CREEK CAMP AND OUTPOST

 

THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME OF YEAR TO TAKE A MINUTE AND REFLECT ON THE YEAR WE HAD.  WE ARE TRULY THANKFUL TO ALL OF YOU THAT MAKE OUR LIVES SO ENJOYABLE AND FILL ALL OF OUR HOPES AND DREAMS.  WE HAVE BEEN AT PCC FOR 13 YEARS NOW AND WE ARE STILL ENJOYING EVERY BIT OF IT.   THE REPEAT BUSINESS THAT WE HAVE IS SECOND TO NONE AND THE REFERRALS YOU GIVE KEEP US GROWING EVERY YEAR.  WE CAN NOT THANK YOU ALL ENOUGH.  PLEASE HAVE A HAPPY AND HEALTHY CHRISTMAS AND WE WISH YOU ALL THE BEST IN 2017.  THANK YOU!

FISHING

ALMOST 4 IN A ROW.  FISHING WAS EXCELLENT FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR.  NUMBERS AND QUALITY FISH OF ALL SPECIES WERE PLENTIFUL FOR MOST ANGLERS.  THE HIGHLIGHT FOR MANY IS THE SIZE OF FISH PEOPLE ARE NOW BOATING ON A REGULAR BASIS.  THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR WAS A BIT MORE CHALLENGING.  RISING WATERS LEVELS AND BAIT FISH SCATTERED KEPT WALLEYE DEEP THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER.  FINDING FISH DEEP IS NOT THE EASIEST THING TO DO SOMETIMES.  OUR FALL BITE WAS SPOTTY AND ACTUALLY CAME LATER THAN NORMAL.  NW ONTARIO ALSO ENJOYED ABOVE NORMAL FALL TEMPERATURES AND MANY ANGLERS TOOK ADVANTAGE OF FISHING LATER THAN EVER BEFORE.

HUNTING

THE BEAR HUNT STARTS OUR HUNTING SEASON AND BOY WAS IT A GOOD ONE.  BY FAR WE SAW MORE ANIMALS, INCLUDING MATURE ANIMALS, THAN WE HAVE HAD ON CAMERAS IN AT LEAST FIVE YEARS.  IF YOU WERE TO ASK WHY THE SUDDEN JUMP I WOULD SAY I DON’T KNOW, BUT FOOD ALWAYS HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH ANIMAL ACTIVITY.  EVERY STAND HAD MULTIPLE BEARS ON THEM ALONG WITH MATURE BRUINS FOR THE PATIENT HUNTER.  MOOSE HUNTING WAS PATCHY DEPENDING ON THE UNIT YOU WERE IN.  WE HEARD OF GROUPS WITH EXCELLENT HUNTS AND SOME THAT REALLY STRUGGLED.  POCKETS OF MOOSE AND DEER IN SOME AREAS ARE DEFINITELY SMALLER IN NUMBERS.  DEER POPULATIONS ARE STRUGGLING TO REBOUND.    THIS YEAR GROUSE NUMBERS WERE OFF THE CHARTS AND WHAT A GREAT TIME OF YEAR TO MIX A LITTLE BIRD HUNTING WITH SOME FALL FISHING.

OGANI OUTPOST

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED THE OUTPOST YOU KNOW WHAT A SPECIAL PLACE IT IS.  FISHING WAS EXCELLENT THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.  MOOSE HUNTING WAS ACTION PACKED AND FREEZERS WERE FILLED.  2017 LOOKS TO BE THE YEAR THAT A NEW SHOWER BUILDING AND DECK WILL BE BUILT.  WEATHER DEPENDANT YOU MAY SEE ONE BEFORE OPENER.

 

PCC NEWS

WE CONTINUE TO TRY AND MAKE YOUR STAY AS ENJOYABLE AS POSSIBLE.  WE WANT YOU TO FEEL LIKE THESE ARE YOUR PERSONAL CABINS IN CANADA. CABIN 2,3, AND 4 HAD NEW BEDS PUT IN THIS YEAR AND THE REST OF THE CABINS SHOULD SEE NEW SLEEP TIME COMFORT IN 2017.  AT THIS TIME WE WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THAT ALL CABINS WILL BE SMOKE FREE IN 2017.  WE DID CONSTRUCT A NEW PAVILION THIS PAST SUMMER AND HOPE TO GET THE FINISHING TOUCHES DONE THIS SPRING.  THE PAVILION WILL HAVE GRILLS, DEEP FRYERS AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE, A WOOD COOK OVEN AND STOVE TOP.  WE WILL BE INSTALLING A BAR AREA AND A FIRE PIT AS WELL.  IT WILL BE COMPLETELY SCREENED IN.  YAY!!!!! NO MORE BUGS.  THERE WAS LOTS OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION ON HIGHWAY 105 THIS SUMMER INCLUDING THE PICKEREL CREEK BRIDGE PROJECT.  WE THINK EVERYONE WILL ENJOY THE NEW INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE AREA.  THERE WILL BE MORE ROAD WORK FROM VERMILLION BAY NORTH ON HWY 105 TO APRIL ROAD IN 2017.  WE WOULD ALSO LIKE TO GIVE A BIG SHOUT OUT TO ALL OF OUR BLOG FOLLOWERS.  THIS YEAR WE MARKED 15,000 WTH 3,500 NEWCOMERS.

Winter’s Here

It looks like winter is finally here. Temps below zero and almost a foot of snow on the ground makes it feel much more normal after an extremely warm fall.  I really wanted to write a blog about how the deer herd has bounced back and report on the awesome moose hunting stories.  Needless to say there is not much to report.  The number of mature bucks has to be at a 20 year low.  Yes there are a couple of deer and yes I’m sure there is a pocket or two that might have a decent buck in it but from what I have seen this fall, it’s depressing.  I have not heard of any 150 class or better bucks killed in a 60 mile radius of PCC.  I did spend hours scouting new areas this year but the results have me hunting several hours west and south of here next season.  If you were to ask why the deer numbers are so low I would pause and say “I’m not sure”.  2014 and 2015 were not too hard on the deer so this year looked to be promising.  Predation is my best guest, we have seen an upward tick on our bear population this year and our wolves are finding enough food to stay healthy.  Wolf  packs seem to be growing in numbers making their hunting success an issue for other big game animals.

Moose hunting in WMU 5 seemed to be a bit slow.  Weather and time of year always will play a part.  We did not see many hunters in our area at all this year.  WMU 3 and WMU 4 seemed to have much more traffic and some hunters really had good hunts.  Several nice bulls were taken, many in that 50 inch range.

Up until a week or so ago  one could still get out on the water and wet a line.  Musky fishing ended up average.  Personally we would boat zero to three fish in an outing.  I did hear of some better reports later in November.  Crappie fishing was very good most of the fall, finding them took some time but when you found them you had a blast.  We have never seen so many people fishing so late in the season, it was very nice fall.

A buddy of mine with a nice bull he got yesterday.

 

 

 

Moose and Musky Time of Year

Moose season is well on its way with mixed reports from hunters.  Unit 5 has been a bit difficult for rifle hunters.  The season started a week later than normal and the moose seemed to be in hiding after the rut.  Mild temperatures kept the moose in tight to cover for the most part but some hunters did see a lot of action in some areas.  While hunting a few days ago I heard a cow calling as if she was not bred in her first estrous cycle so one should still be able to call in a bull if you were close to his bedding ground.  Moose have been feeding in cuts but I also seen moose still feeding in the water just a couple of days ago.  Areas further north had many of the same reports, action for some and nothing for others.

Musky fishing should be good starting right now.  I fished with customers a little over a week ago and fishing was still slow.  Water temps were still in the 50’s and we were only able to boat one fish a day.  We just had a couple of hard frosts which dropped the temps into the 40’s which should surly turn up the action.

Grouse hunting is still excellent!  Early mornings and evenings are the best, but you can find birds all day, especially if you get out and do a little walking.  I should have a deer report by the end of next week.  It will be interesting to see just what the population looks like but I am not optimistic, hope I’m wrong .

Couple of fish from last week.

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Fishing and Hunting

Fall is here, this time of year is awesome in NW Ontario.  Grouse hunters are experiencing tons of action.  Lots of birds as predicted.  Moose hunting is on the way with mixed reports.  I know a few guides that have tagged out early and a few are still at it.  I’ve been out trying to get some video but have come up short so far.  The best is yet to come.  Fishing for walleye on the bush lakes has picked up and our outpost fishing has been very good.  The female walleye  are on the feed  and  fish in the mid 20’s are being boated.  Crappie and Musky are still on the feed, we had some stellar crappie fishing lately.  I have not had any trout reports lately but if the water temps continue to drop we should get some action in before the season closes on the 30th of this month.

Colin Watson from Little Canada Camp guided this lucky hunter to a beautiful mid-40’s bull moose.  She arrow this animal on the first morning of her hunt.

 

Bright Spot

It seems the only bright spot in the last few weeks is the Musky fishing.  September is one of my favorite months to fish for walleye but so far fishing is still slow.  Water temps have dropped and the fall feed should have kicked in by now but it just hasn’t happened.  Fish are still deep and fishing is tough.  The fish that are being caught are on the smaller size and it seems like your august patterns are still holding. I am talking about bush lakes being slow, some of the larger bodies of water are experience fair to good walleye fishing. I have heard a couple of very good crappie reports, it won’t be too long and we will be catching numbers of crappie in many local lakes. The musky fishing has been pretty darn good though.  The evening bite seems to be the best action and anglers will see several fish and should be boating one or two in an outing.  Surprisingly the musky are shallow and still in the cabbage.

Construction on the Pickerel Creek Bridge is going a bit slow but should rap up by the end of October.

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