For those of you who have never been on a float plane, you can check out the video linked below for a real taste of what to expect.  For those of you who are flying up later this year, this video will get those juices flowing about your upcoming trip to Aikens!  It captures the experience of being in that plane, taking off in Silver Falls, and landing at the dock at Aikens.

A big thank you to Celes Davar for putting this together.  Celes visited with us during the Rendez-Vous Canada trip in mid-May.  He and his wife Susan are the owners of “Earth Rhythms” - a leader in experiential tourism located in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba.  www.earthrhythms.ca

You can watch it here:
http://vimeo.com/12139169
“A short video showing from inside the plane, the passenger experience of flying in a float plane - taking off and then landing at Aikens Lake northern boreal lodge in Manitoba. You’ll see the pilot at the hand controls, the GPS unit, passengers taking photos, and the view from the window of the plane as we take off, travel about 1500 feet above ground for about 35 minutes, and then land. The sound of the engine is unmistakable - the Canadian Beaver.”

Last year’s high water opened our eyes to how effective the large new dock in main camp is!  With its welded frame and concrete piles, it did not budge an inch, despite being 11 inches under water for the better part of a month.  The dock at GGO, on the other hand, did float up when the water got high.  Originally built in 1993, we spent many days in 2009 patching it up and adding boardwalks to it just to get people to and from the planes in the high water.

Over the winter, it was unknown what kind of shape the GGO dock would be in come spring.  We decided not to risk anything and we bought all the concrete, steel, and pressure-treated lumber we would need to replace the dock - this before even knowing what shape it would be in.  To our surprise, the dock had settled back down to its original position and looked good.  However, the already aging wood took a big hit when it was submerged last year.

Since we have a relatively light opening in terms of bookings, we decided to get the project done quickly before we really start filling up in early June.  The low water and the fact that our first GGO guests arrive on June 3rd provided us with a perfect opportunity to get cracking on this dock!  Pat took a crew of 6 guides over to GGO and started dismantling parts of the old dock.  The plan was to pour concrete into the existing cribs, then extend the dock further out into the lake out and add a big “T” section - much like what we have here at the main lodge.  Because of the dock’s vulnerability to big East winds, the “T” section will provide a nice little haven for the boats that are parked there.  There is also a floating section that will extend further on the GGO side to both dock planes and load/unload people from the boats if the water gets too low.  The mastermind on the project is once again Leo.  He has been getting all the steel ready so that once he gets to GGO, it will just be a matter of welding the pieces together and voila!  New dock.

Three solid days of work last week resulted in us having the cribs poured and all the steel prepped and ready to weld.  Mother Nature has thrown us a curve ball recently as we’ve had a lot of rain.  Because of this, the project has been at a stand-still for the past three days but the forecast looks good this week so we should be able to wrap up the major rebuild before too long.  We’ll be sure to add pictures of the new dock soon!

Saturday marked the end of our volunteer week (aka: Molly Week) and also the return of staff and guests for the 2010 season!  We welcomed back all of of our regular staff members - new and old.  This brings us up to nearly two dozen staff here in camp for the season.  We also welcomed in the first three groups of the season!  The guides were very excited to get back on the water and get re-acquainted with their favorite angling grounds.

Before moving ahead, we would like to thank our volunteers for the incredible contribution in making Aikens Lake such a special place.  With nearly 40 people coming in and out over the past week, it was a very busy and productive place to be… and in the evenings it was also an extremely jovial atmosphere!  We started the week off with our “Aikens Lake Social”.  Throughout 63 communities across Manitoba, socials were held in honor of our provinces 140th birthday.  It was all organized by Travel Manitoba’s “Homecoming 2010″ campaign.  We decided to become the 64th community to do so!  The bar was setup with traditional decorations and food trays of cubed cheese, sliced dills, and kielbasa!  If you’ve never been to a social in Manitoba, that may sound weird but social food is a staple here in Manitoba.  It was also decreed that hats were mandatory and there were some very creative ones that came out (as you’ll see from the pictures!)  It was the perfect kick-off to an incredible week.  Thanks again to everyone who donates their time to come up and help us open up before every season!

The walleyes have turned on big-time over the past week.  On the 20th, Pat caught and released the first Master Angler walleye of the year - a 28.5″ beauty.  That aside, the fishing was superb as the boat he was in had a quadruple-header and multiple triple-headers that evening at the Honeyhole.  The following evening, the Honeyhole produced much the same but it was at the dock where the bigger ones were found.  Our plumber’s apprentice Dirk landed his first Master Angler on Aikens.  He’s been helping out here for many years, but never cracked a walleye over 27.5″.  By setting up his lawn chair on the dock and casting out into the Back Bay, he caught and released over 15 large walleyes Friday evening - the biggest of which was a 29.25″ hog!

As the volunteers left on Saturday morning on the same flights as the guests were arriving, you could sense that our opening had been a success.  The camp is in great shape for the season, and our many projects are off to a fantastic start.  The shift from full-time opening work to a more service-orientated atmosphere was instant once the rest of our summer staff arrived.  A few new faces sprinkled in with many familiar ones gathered on the dock to form the core of our 2010 team here at Aikens.  They were all excited to be here and looking forward to a great season.

Our guests felt that energy from the moment they stepped off the plane.  The fishing was really good right from day 1.  Big pike were being raised in the bays and the walleyes were feeding steadily throughout the day.  It didn’t take long for the guides to get right back on top of this great fishery.  Kik had the honor of guiding Igi from Alberta to the first Master Angler of the season on the guest side!  It was a big pike caught at the Honeyhole.  There have been many big pike lurking in the weeds around there because there are so many walleyes of all sizes hanging out where the Gammon spills into the main body of water of Aikens Lake.  So far, this season is off to a fantastic start.  It has been an amazing first few days and it appears to be a harbinger of things to come.  See you all up here soon!

We have been very busy here at Aikens getting things open.  However, we do take some time to get out on the lake every couple of days.  The weather has been so unbelievable (it was 30 degrees celcius here today… 90 farenheit!)  The water temps are going through the roof.  The main lake is at 55 degrees, while many of the bays are above 60.  The hottest water we’ve found was in Stange Bay - 72 degrees!

The walleye spawn is over now and everything appeared to go well on that front.  The timing couldn’t be better with our first guests arriving this weekend, the walleyes will be voraciously recharging their bodies after the exhausting week of spawning.  It appears that many of the pike have re-ingested their eggs so their spawn was not as successful .  Pike normally spawn as the ice is breaking off the lake, but with the very early spring it may be that they got caught off guard.  The news that many pike didn’t spawn, along with the low water, actually means very good things for the fishing this year!  The decreased forage available for the larger fish means that they will have that much more of an interest in the lures and baits that we throw at them this year!

We caught our first trophy of the season on Monday!  Andrina was in charge of catching a few walleyes for appetizers for Monday’s dinner.  She went out to the Honeyhole to accomplish this task by herself.  She was able to do that easily enough, but the icing on the cake was when she used up the last minnow in the tub… it yielded her the first trophy of the 2010 season at Aikens!  It was her first trophy pike here since her first summer at Aikens when she was 7 years old.  Her self-portrait turned out pretty well too!

The second trophy of the year was netted the following afternoon.  Paul Turenne had always wanted to catch a trophy Whitefish, but he was never able to find one.  Well, this year he did find one!  A 23.5″ Master Angler at the Fastwaters.  The entire volunteer crew was out that afternoon for some fun on the water and a fantastic shore-supper at GGO.  The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, and it was a great mid-week break from the rigors of opening up the camp.  We look forward to greeting our first guests this Saturday!

As mentioned over the winter in this newsletter, Winnipeg was host to travel agents and buyers from around the globe!  Rendez-Vous Canada is a yearly showcase for our country.  It pairs buyers and sellers of who are interested in international travel to Canada.  The event ran from May 8-12 in Winnipeg.  It was the first time we at Aikens attended the show, but it certainly won’t be the last time.  Gerry was our representative in Winnipeg.  He introduced Aikens and the pristine fly-in experience to a whole new set of people that had never seen this type of adventure before.  Gerry met with over 30 buyers who all expressed a keen interest in the unique aspect of a fly-in fishing adventure!  Many of them were scheduled to come on the post-trip entitled “Pathways of the Voyageur” at Aikens Lake.

Aikens Lake was the site for a quick 36 hour tour for 17 international buyers and hosts from Travel Manitoba.  For the two days after the conference, it was a cultural and special experience at Aikens for the buyers from places like Australia, China, Japan, India, UK, and Luxembourg.  We combined our usual world-class fishing experience with some new twists.  Georges and Florence Beaudry came to Aikens to help explain and interpret the history of the Voyageur to our special guests.  The group walked the short portage that connects Moosehead Bay to the river (that walk would save a traveler several hours of paddling.)  A camp had been setup along the path, and everyone was treated to authentic stories, clothing, music, and accessories like muskets and animal hides from the fur-trade era.

That evening, there was also the traditional “Homme du Nord” ceremony.  All of the members of the group made their “promesses” and shared in several toasts by drinking Caribou - a fortified wine.  After the toasts, they were all presented with the traditional red sash.  This “Ceinture Flechée”, as it is called in french, was a very traditional piece of gear for fur-trade era voyageurs and has a lot of symbolism for the french Voyageurs.

The group also had the opportunity to fish both mornings and have great shorelunches.  Our guests from India even introduced us to new ways of preparing walleye in curry sauces!  Many from the group had never even dropped a line before, and they quickly appreciated why angling is such a popular activity… especially on a lake as special as Aikens!  Everyone was amazed by the vastness of our forests, and the pure solitude one can enjoy when they are away from the urban jungle.  Though the timelines were short for fishing, everyone boated nice fish and had a very enjoyable time with the guides.

This experience was a real eye opener for all involved - including us.  It made us realize how truly world-class and desired a wilderness experience like the one we offer really is.  Although our sales have historically nearly all been focused from within North America, there is certainly a role in the future for us to share our wonderful lake in the pristine boreal forest with international travellers.  Next year RVC will be held in Québec City.  We look forward to seeing many of our new friends there and further cementing a role in the international travel industry.

We have been at Aikens for the better part of a week now, and things are going very smoothly.  Construction on a new staff residence continues to chug along, and our new workshop is getting some new additions to it as well.  Dockside, Pat and Marcel are busy rigging up our guide boats with all the new goodies we’ve ordered!

The new Yamahas are really great!  The troll-assist feature allows you to slow down your troll to 600 rpm (about 1.2 miles per hour in forward… under a mile going in reverse!)  This is going to be dynamite for that spinner bite that will be starting up here in a few weeks!  We are currently testing out props so that we get the best combination of power out of the hole and top-end speed.

The new Humminbird depth finders are something else as well!  With the internal GPS locking on almost immediately after powering on, these new finders show you everything quickly. During a test, it was even marking bottom at nearly 100 ft while we were going full speed!  We found a few huge marks out on Chris’s Corner, but we couldn’t get them to bite.  A great spin-off of these new units is that our Lowrance units will now be installed our our 30hp Platinum Package upgrade boats!

Lastly, our radios are being setup in the boats as well.   We haven’t been able to test them as the antennas have yet to arrive, but they look sharp when setup next to the depth finders.  We will also have bases in the main office and at GGO for easy communication.  You can be assured of a safe, reliable, and most of all enjoyable day out on the lake in any of our Lund guide boats!

On May 3rd, we landed at Aikens to start a new season!  We are very excited about this year for a number of reasons, including the amount of people that we will have the opportunity to host, and this was a great day to get it all started.

The first thing we noticed as we circled above the lodge for our approach was how low the water is.  There are many rocks that were deep under water last year that are prominently sticking out of it this year (including the 3 mothers, Split Rock, Beacon Reef).  Last year the water peaked at about 11″ above our new dock.  This spring it is a full 5′ lower than our dock!  This bodes really well for the fishing in 2010.  There are less spawning areas so that means there will be fewer minnows in the lake.  This means the bigger fish will be searching a bit harder for food, and what better thing to eat than a jig tipped with a shiner?  The low water also means that the fish will be less scattered than they were last year.  We were catching big walleyes off our dock throughout the entire season in 2009.  There was 10′ of water there and it wasn’t very warm because our temps were below average.  This year, there is only about 4′ of water at the end of the dock, so as the water warms up this spring the fish will be forced to venture into the main body of water to find the colder temps they prefer.  When the walleyes hit their classic mid-summer spots on the reefs in the main lake, the fishing is just unbelievable!

The camp is in great shape.   Other than a few broken branches here and there, nothing was damaged over the winter.  Animals did seem to enjoy walking through camp. We spent our first day doing exactly what we always do…Charlie got the kitchen opened up and ready, Pit got the computers and communications up, Leo got the power and hot water going, and Pat got boats in the water for an evening of fishing.  This year we did have more help as Marcel, Maurice, Grant, and Gerry also came in.  The first fish of the year was a small pike caught by Gerry off the main dock.  Pat caught his first only a few feet away as we started trolling the Back Bay… it was also a small pike.  We trolled the Back Bay and Split Rock, and did some casting at the Falls.  We did manage to pickup a great stringer of walleyes at the Honeyhole.  Those fresh walleyes tasted so good later on that evening!  We can’t wait to share all this beautiful wilderness with you this summer!  Stay tuned for more frequent updates now that we are at Aikens for the season.