Sydney Esiason had never fished in Canada, or even fished at all for that matter, when she first stepped on the dock at Aikens yesterday. However, it did not take her long to become very very good at it! Yesterday, as her brother Gunnar and father Boomer looked on, Sydney reeled in monster walleye after monster walleye! 25’s, 26’s, 27’s, and even a 27.5″ walleye all saw the end of Syd’s hook. Today, the show just went on. More 26’s, 27’s, and even a second 27.5″ walleye were caught. By the evening, Syd was essentially “feeling the vibrations” and sensing bites before they even happened. Boomer, Gunnar, and Pit watched in stunned disbelief as she called her third fish in a row, and even counted down the time before the fish would actually bite her hook! What a truly amazing talent. Watch out walleyes of the world… a young woman is taking you over by storm!!!

With no guests for the past few days, some of our staff remained at the lodge to do some touch-up jobs, renovations, and logging. To thank them for the hard work, we decided to have everyone knock off a little early today to go fishing and have a shore-supper tonight. The sun poked its head out during the supper for the first time in a couple of days, adding to the light mood everyone was enjoying. Kik (above right) was thrilled to help prepare and to finally enjoy his first shorelunch at Aikens! Him and Dan have been here a month but have been too hard at work to enjoy an Aikens tradition! Everyone had a great time, and we are happy to report that the fishing was great too!

It’s July 1 and it’s Canada Day! Boy, did Julie find a way to celebrate in style! Julie has been fishing at Aikens with Pit for quite a few years, but she has never had to guide anyone on her own before! Julie’s parents (Richard and Louise), along with her sister and brother-in-law (Dan and Danielle) had each been here once in the past… but decided that a return to Aikens was due. For the trip, the boys fished in one boat with Pit and the girls in the other with Julie. Well, did the guys ever get their butts kicked! This morning, after watching the girls catch all the fish (including Danielle’s walleye/pike combo!), the boys decided to go try some lake trout in the afternoon. Little did they know that the women would be reeling in big walleye after big walleye in the South Arm! Louise eventually landed a beautiful trophy walleye late in the afternoon to cap off a great day of fishing. The women have earned a whole winter full of bragging rights!