There has been a long tradition of the “Staff jacket” at Aikens.  Easily identifiable, and with the staff member’s name prominently featured on the front, the jackets helped create a certain “je ne sais quoi” that distinguished our staff.

This year, we chose a very sporty design.  The staff jacket has evolved into a staff suit!  Complete with athletic pants and jacket, our staff looks very sharp in their new gear!  You can expect to see alot of these stylish jackets when you walk around camp this summer!

Steve netted a beautiful 43″ pike in the Bay of Snakes. That was a fish to remember. Not to be outdone, Brad got a 29.5″ walleye on their last day here! Congratulations to both Steve and Brad for these great fish. Hope to see you back next year for your 2nd trip to Manitoba!

The sun was shining yesterday and the fish were definitely in a good mood. Three trophies were caught, including two by Jason Wilkes. Jason is the brother-in-law of one of our ex-B&T and packhouse employees, Jason “JJ” Fillion. Jason is here with his father Paul, who had been given the trip as recognition of his 35 years of employment with Mr. Mark Chipman in Winnipeg.

The first trophy was a whitefish in the Honeyhole. That in itself could be considered a “fluke” trophy, and JJ certainly would have let his brother-in-law hear about it had been the only trophy of the trip. However, Jason was able to solidify his fishing success with a beautiful 28″ walleye later on in the day. Surprisingly enough, JJ’s suggestion of the South Arm did not produce the trophy walleye… it was caught at Chris’s Corner.  Jason then finished off his great day by landing a huge 37.5″ pike in the Honeyhole after supper. That fish had hit a smaller pike that he had been reeling in at the time! Paul was doing his best to take the pictures, but the camera had gotten full of pike slime and was tough to handle. In all, the two had a great trip and the memories will last forever. Congratulations to both!

Last year’s high water certainly took a toll on our docks.  Because of the wood construction, the docks tried their best to float away last year when the water was up to 30″ above the decking.  We were able to hold it in place, but some damage was evident this spring.  Some of the logs from the actual cribs broke away and so we had some sag in areas of the dock.  As you can see in the pictures above, it was a quite a production to get the dock back on the straight and narrow.  Using 4×4″ beams, leverage logs, the barge, two divers, and some good old-fashioned “bush engineering”, we were able to repair the damage done by last year’s high water.  Thanks to all of our staff who contributed to the large effort.  Let’s hope the lake doesn’t rise again this year or we’ll have to do it all over again in 2007!

Last night, the staff took out our “brand new” barge for its maiden voyage.  The old girl, who was in very rough shape last year, was completely restored this spring.  All of the hairline fractures in the pontoons were welded and sealed.  A new and lighter deck was put into place and the 30 hp went back on the barge.  The speed of the barge is incredible!  It now sits very highly in the water, and it was able to take 18 staff members to the honeyhole for an evening of fishing.

The weather was just fantastic as we headed out for a night of fishing.  The walleyes were certainly cooperative as there were several “quadruple-headers”!  There were well over 50 fish caught in the 90 minutes, and the biggest one was a 26.5″ caught by none other than our head guide, Pat.  Many of our rookies were able to land their first fish from Aikens Lake, including Natasha’s beefy 26″ walleye!   It was a great night and we’ll be sure to do it again!