Branch's Seine River Lodge
Outfitters
2002 NEWSLETTER
New in 2002 Cabins We opened Cabin #5 - otherwise known as "the Grannyshack" this summer. The upper level cabin sleeps 8 and has a good sized kitchen / living room and a large deck overlooking the lake. We're really happy with the way it turned out and will base some future cabins on the same layout. Old guests staying in the Grannyshack took a little while to get used to a "new" cabin at SRL, while the new guests loved it almost immediately. We started gradually replacing the oil burners with electric heaters. The Grannyshack heated up great right through mid November with the electric, while the smaller cabins now have some more living space with the oil stoves gone. Office In July we opened our new office with our Outfitting Room behind it. Although the office is about the same size as the old one it's much brighter, and allows us to display more maps, souvenirs etc. The Outfitting Room (or O/R as I call it) is a really great addition allowing us to organize all the gear for storage & packing. It's making the outfitting procedure a lot quicker. Gear / Equipment Probably the biggest change to our equipment was the addition of 2 Honda 4 stroke / electric start outboards, gradually replacing our old 9.9's. The Honda's got rave reviews all summer. A new Naden 16' boat was purchased to complement the other 14' & 16' boats. The Naden worked perfectly with the new Honda's. Depth / Fish Finders were added to the Fisherman's Package and also available to rent. First timers on our system found them indispensable. Services / Supplies We now sell maps - Quetico Park route maps and Ontario government topo's. This was extremely handy especially for the canoe trippers en route to the wilderness. Plans for 2003 Cabins
We're looking to add 1 more 2 bedroom cabin by the end of the 2003 season. The plans are to winterize it for late season trips.
We will gradually be upgrading the appliances, replacing the older stoves & fridge's with newer ones. We are also considering microwaves and propane bar-b-ques.
The old shed in the middle of the yard will be torn down and a new shed / garage will be built near the wood pile.
Early in 2003, we will be installing vinyl siding on the lodge / office / Grannyshack.
Equipment / Gear
We will be adding more 15 hp Honda 4 strokes to the fleet as well as 1 or 2 more 16' Naden boats.
An order is in for a number of new Souris River kevlar canoes.
We will be rebuilding the current docks and adding another 40' floating dock near or in the back bay.
Camping
The west point (or "Millionaires' Point" as it's been dubbed) will have all the windfalls cleared and approximately 12 new campsites offered. A few (to begin with) will have electric and water hook up.
New outhouses will be built near the west point camp grounds.
A new Shower House facility will be built during the 2003 season.
Services / Supplies
A payphone is scheduled to be installed in May 2003.
We will be offering leeches by the pound as well as by the dozen.
There will be a "Remote Lakes Fisherman's Package" added to our services. This will allow anglers to try different walk to or drive to lakes in our area. Miranda, Flora, Twinling, Eye, Dashwa, Clearwater, Big McCauley, Surprise, and Namakan are a few that will be offered for the adventurous angler.
Guided canoe trips and guided fishing trips will also be offered.
Thanks to everyone who made the trip up this year!
Well, we're done for another year, and if the 2002 season will be remembered as anything, it will be remembered as a season of extremes.
May 2002 was one of the coldest openings we've had in a long time. Fortunately, all the ice was off the lake for opening weekend and everyone was able to get out on the water (a lot of camps north of us has to cancel some reservations due to late break up).
The Smith group were the first in this year, canoeing Quetico prior to mid-May. That can be a cool trip any year, but this was even more so. They found their drinking water sometimes froze overnight. Who said there's no ice to keep your food cool on canoe trips?
Fishing was good for those who braved the icy winds, but a little slower than usual. Most of the spawns were 1 -2 weeks late, and that forced the anglers to work a little harder. Many of the May groups were regulars (Killeaneys', Scholl & Co., Heidtke & Co.) who know the waters well and managed to pull some tricks out of their sleeves to get the fish in the boat. By the first week of June, the walleye and northern were coming back to life after their late spawns.
It was great to see the Williams group from Indiana again after a few years. Bobby marked his return to the Seine Chain with a beautiful 41" northern in early June. The guys returned later in the summer and had some great walleye & smallmouth action (both great numbers and good sizes) upstream on the system. One day they almost made it to Steep Rock Lake near Atikokan!
The first week and a half in June the action was good. Smallmouth were hitting in the shallows as they usually do, and some nice walleye and pike were hitting.
Then on June 9th it started to rain…and rain….and rain. The forecast was calling for a 30% chance of showers, and well, that was an understatement.
By the morning of June 10th, boats were full and water levels were way up. Docks were starting to wash away, and then suddenly, beaver dams all over the Atikokan / Fort Frances area burst. We had over 7' of water on our road south of the railroad tracks and over 30 trees fallen or leaning.
Highway 11 between our camp and Fort Frances was closed at Price Creek and further west for a couple of weeks due to it being washed out. The town of Atikokan and other Northwestern Ontario communities were officially declared disaster areas.
Basically, for a day or so we were stranded. We couldn't get in and out of camp. Hydro was out for about a day, and our phone was out for a few weeks.
The guests we had in camp during the storm were simply great.
Thanks to the Peloquin & Arneson groups for all the cutting and hauling of trees (good idea about bringing a tank next year!), and keeping their sense of humour in the middle of chaos.
The Easley group had to cut themselves out of their campsite and never made it into Quetico Park (Beaverhouse and Flanders roads were flooded and groups were stranded at Beaverhouse Lake entry point for several days).
The Fellows group had to change their plans from paddling down the Turtle River to paddling up the Eye River (Highway 622 to Pekagoning was flooded - the Eye River is accessible from the Seine Chain off of Perch Lake).
The Randall group was due to leave a few days after the storm peaked and it looked as though they may be stuck in Canada for a while (By the way guys - nice smallmouth stringers - let me know if you have any spare pictures). Thankfully, the water receded far quicker than expected and by late June 10 our road was clear.
Thanks to all the guests who had to route through Thunder Bay for the next couple of weeks. We appreciate your patience!
Special thanks to Barry Giles at Camp Quetico for helping our guests who couldn't make it to our place. You really bailed us out (no pun intended).
Once the weather cleared the fishing was awesome - fast action - not necessarily big fish but lots of smaller ones.
By mid June the mosquitoes kicked in in a big way and were basically full strength through mid September. I haven't worn mosquito repellent in years but I did this year.
The last part of June was a little slower than previous years. The smallmouth were preparing to spawn and tough to catch. The Lundy group got into better action late in their trip, but are planning to return to late summer fishing to avoid the smallie spawn and the slot size limits before July 1. (Before July 1, you can't keep any smallmouth smaller than 13.75" and sometimes it's hard to get them that small - after July 1 there is no slot size).
The Sell / Hartl group had a great week fishing the flooded system, using some tricks that they learnt on the system in previous years. They even had some good Lake Trout fishing action on Big McCauley Lake (using homemade rigs).
"Rick & Rick" from Minnesota helped out with advice from their years of fishing the system. The Olson group had some good action and a great day of northern fishing on Twinling Lake (send me some pictures of those big pike in the canoe and let me know when you're ready to put together that "remote lakes fishing trip"!).
Late June and early July saw the Partakes' and Fliers' land some amazing walleye numbers - They practiced catch & release on hundreds of walleyes and brought in some 2'+ beauties as well.
Patrick's actually came back 3 more times during the summer with similar success. It just goes to show that once you've got these lakes figured out the fishing is great any time of the summer. My only problem is that Randy and Karla are in a lot of walleye pictures - I've got to explain to people that they're all from different times. Big thanks for the "canoe shelves" - they're beautiful!
The Pozarski's were back and had some good action - especially with some Calm Lake walleye when they teamed up with the Patrick's for a night of angling.
The Haulotte group were one of the first new guests to stay in the Grannyshack. They did very well fishing and didn't stray too far out of Banning Lake. It was great to see Gerry & his family later in the summer.
It was great meeting the Sisto group who seemed to have a really good time. It was fun to hear all the hockey stories as well. Those Thunder Bay teams weren't really that bad - were they?
The Senn's from Arizona put on literally dozens of miles up & down the system. Thanks for helping me figure out those depth finders!
Rahnasto's were back in July & had a blast like they always do.
The Geddes / Johnson group hit some high heat in July and worked harder than usual although Steven seemed to have great luck with his Zip lures (I'm still waiting for pictures).The guys had some excellent pike fishing in Miranda for a couple of days as well, although on the second day in Miranda there was a lot more paddling than planned.
The Allen / Cook / Tepe group did great. Some nice pike off shore and an awesome 44" that was about as fat as any fish I've seen.
The Denton group was up several times with different incarnations each time. The group in July did really well with fishing with BJ acting as the guide. Thanks also to the boys for your help & ideas. We'll get your trailer in a permanent spot soon. Thanks for your patience!
The Hartnetts went on their annual Quetico marathon, and as usual were joined by the Godfreys part way through. It was great to see you all again.
Holgrinson's finally made it up by early August. Thanks for the tree cutting guys. Good deal! It was great talking to Dale about all the area lakes he's fished.
Holgrinson's - as always - got lots of blueberries. The blueberries were a big story this year. There were lots of them and they lasted almost into September! Usually they're gone by early August.
Late July through mid August was non-stop canoers. All you folks heading into Quetico made me want to get up & go.
Thanks to the Berry's from Colorado for all the discussion and suggestions. Also thanks very much for the crash course on the GPS. One day I'll catch up with technology!
The Venetucci's had a real adventure in Quetico and got some great shots of a bear who decided to move in with them. The guys took it in a stride and now have a great conversation piece. Thanks for the pic's / caption. Is there any way you could email that to Gary our web master to put on the site?
The Gresen's got a lot of great pictures in Quetico as well and were at least 5 shades darker when I picked them up. They looked happy though!
Back at the camp the Subera group was doing some August fishing. Nice smallmouth Patty!
One of our few Canadian fishing groups was the Shupeniuk party. The guys had some wild weather but kept their spirits up. They landed some really nice smallies - hopefully we'll get some of their pics up soon!
The Butler's from Texas got into some late summer walleye, but the standout was the big bass Jack caught.
The McNabb group was up on 3 separate occasions with different folks each time around. The last trip of the season in mid-August saw another vicious wind and rain storm where we lost a bunch more jack pines. Mike, as usual was a great help through it all and also served as an ambulance driver when I sliced my hand open trying to pull a boat out from under a fallen tree. Mike drove me into the hospital for stitches. Thanks again for all the help and suggestions this summer Mike. And thanks very much for taking Wyatt out for some great fishing as you always do. He often takes the pics from your fishing adventures to school for "show & tell". We'll see you next season when you're up to "check your mail" again!
The Rosenberg group was up again from Minnesota. Sorry I missed you folks. We'll have to get working on the remote lakes we've discussed!
Early September saw some great fishing and quite a few Quetico groups.
Thanks to the Lesnak's for the beautiful watercolor of Quetico Lake. It's up in our living room.
Later in September the fishing slowed down. The Benson group had a tough time with walleye numbers, but the ones they did catch were big. I think we see more walleye in the 30+" range in September than in the rest of the summer combined
We had regular fishing groups right into early October. The Arneson group was back as were the Schwichtenberg's.
The Ferraro group was up for their annual moose hunt in October. You guys must be really getting to know our back roads well eh?
We were open this year through early November. Thanks to our first non-resident deer hunters - the Gragg party. It was great meeting you guys and we hope to see you all again (maybe during a warmer time eh?).
We actually got out a few times this year….
I played around fishing a fair bit this year. Although I guided for quite a few years and love fishing, I just don't get out as much as I'd like (who does?).
Probably the best action I had was in late August. I took my family out, right at dark, and fished the big reef on Banning Lake. We anchored on the reef and casted with Mepp's lures and plugs like Rapala's. We got action like crazy - all species - walleye, northern and smallies, and lots of good sized ones too. Lori lost a monster - we're guessing a big pike.
That reef on Banning is one of the most overlooked spots on the system. Years ago our guides used to hit it in the early a.m. or late evening with great success. It's only moments from camp and on the way to Banning Narrows and Calm Lake / Hepburn Bay, so it may be worth a try.
Downstream to Calm Lake was as popular as ever - particularly for it's walleye, but a lot of the big pike came out of the upper part of the system. Chub & Perch narrows offered some great walleye and the bass and pike near the Little McCauley bridge were great.
What I'm looking forward to this season is hitting the topwater smallies in the early season. The rocky shoreline right on Banning has great action.
I'm going to hit the reefs a fair bit too, as well as fishing below Boyce Rapids.
I've always liked trolling the narrows. It can be awkward, but often can be rewarding. One of our old guests used to bring me out when I was a kid. It was always in August and we'd go and troll Banning narrows non stop with plugs like "lazy ikes" and raps. We caught loads of walleye, and this guy was known for the big ones. One time he came back to camp (pre-slot size era) with 2 - 5 lbers, 1 - 7 1/2 lber and a 10 1/2 lber. That stringer made the local paper.
Oh yeah - I'm hoping for a day of wild pike action on Miranda Lake as well. There are tons of fish in there and I'm sure some monsters.
Lori and the kids and I got into Quetico for a few days in August as well. That's always great especially after talking about the place all summer long. We mainly messed around the west end - not a lot of fishing, but lots of R&R and swimming.
I hope to get into the park earlier in the season to revisit some good walleye and laker spots.
Thanks to….
Boy, where do I start..
As usual my parents were around filling in when I couldn't be there and helping out with anything and everything. Thanks folks.
Huge thanks to Garry & Dianne Demchuk. Half the things we accomplished this year just wouldn't have happened without you folks - the Grannyshack, new office, front porch, tree clearing… the list goes on & on. Some weekend you'll have to come out and just relax!
Thanks to Lenny Anderson for suggestions and the great job on our road.
Clint Riding and Kevin Mason often would drop out to visit and wind up working at something. It's all much appreciated, but the chats and reminiscing is especially great. Thanks for taking us up in your plane Kev, did that guy drop off your new De Havilland Beaver yet (ha ha).
Thanks to Randy & Laura at Greyhound for all the winter work, and flexibility when putting up with my schedule (when am I going to see that Greyhound group come up fishing?).
Thanks to our great guides from Lac La Croix - Edward Ottertail, Stan Ottertail and Clinton Geyshick. It was great working with you guys. I'm sure we'll have a busy 2003 season!
Thanks to Gary Skrzek our "web guy". The work he's done is amazing and the results are better than we ever expected. It's also great to work with someone who's an experienced, knowledgeable outdoorsman. You know our business as well as we do. If anyone needs any web site work this is the guy!
I've left out tons of people - there's way too many to mention but to all our guests, suppliers, friends, family, bankers etc etc etc….
THANK YOU!
I hope to see you all in the woods or on the water this summer!
Quent Branch
January 2003
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