April has gone out like a lion and instead of showers, it brought snow and more snow. Here in Thunder Bay, we saw 250 cm of snow this winter (8.2 feet!), more than we have seen in years. Up in Armstrong, the snow was up to the eaves, making it easy to get on the roof and shovel off snow. The feature image (above) is an unusual sight indeed; sailboats in water and a ski plane on the dock…there is an explanation. Easter weekend, while bringing warmer temps, also brought a project for us to tackle. On Good Friday, we had a crane lift the otter off the dock and onto the lake for take off. While the shoreline had already opened up there was still enough ice further out. It was quite the experience; the aircraft was in the air in less than 250 feet.

This week we headed north and flew into Striker’s Point Lodge ….on skis. We brought the managers in early to get a head start on things.  There is still 2-3 ft of snow up north; it’s still winter! It was an adventurous journey, but was an arduous one, with snowshoeing involved to get to the cabins and hand bombing all the supplies through the snow.

While many people groan and grumble about the winter, let’s face it: we live in Northwestern Ontario. The last few years have been gentle on us. I still remember many years at Waweig where we had snow on opening day and spent the week prior using the boat to go back and forth on the open water to break up the ice. With spring just starting to arrive, it’s hard to believe that walleye opener is less than 3 weeks away. We have received some much needed rain this week to help with the melt. I heard on the radio yesterday that 68% of Lake Superior is still covered in ice. Last year, we had only 3% ice cover at this time. That being said, we have two articles that are bound to get you into the spring spirit:

Scott gets everyone pumped for trying their hand at spring pike fly fishing.
Tyler takes Gord’s tips for walleye fishing and applies them to Whitewater Lake.

Enjoy these contributions and send some sunshine, rain and wind our way!
Alan