To all out booked guests for summer 2012,

Are you excited yet?  Thank you once again for booking with Aikens Lake Wilderness Lodge.  The snow has all melted in Winnipeg and we are getting geared up for another great season at the lodge.  We are going to be heading up to the lodge for the first time this season next week!  We are absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to host you again this summer.  Before we head up, we just wanted to touch base and send out a little e-blast update. 

We will have just over 3 weeks to get everything ready for the arrival of our first guests on May 26^th.  If you haven’t heard, we completely renovated the exteriors of Master Angler’s Row and the Main Lodge last fall.  This spring, we will continue with the renovations as we are gutting and refinishing all 4 units inside of Master Angler’s Row.  They will now feature 2 single beds (or 1 king bed), vaulted ceilings, and will feature our signature pine finish everywhere .  Larger showers and new bathrooms will also be a highlight.  If time allows, we will also tackle the washrooms in the Park Place cabins as well.  Lastly, we will be rebuilding the permanent part of our guide dock.  The low water last fall allowed us to address the decaying cribs and it will be rebuilt to the same standards as our main dock and the GGO dock.  We are aiming to have all those projects completed by the time our first guests arrive.

It appears that it will be an early spring with very low water.  We ended off last fall with extremely low water and had a below-average snow fall over the winter, so we are expecting to arrive at the lodge to see low water.  This is especially good for the fishing this summer as the baitfish spawn will be poor, meaning less available forage and an even higher percentage of fish biting on our lures and baits this summer!  We are really looking forward to seeing what the lake has in store for our lucky fishermen this year.

What you can expect before your trip: Approximately 30 days prior to your arrival, Julie (julie@aikenslake.com) and/or Janelle (janelle@aikenslake.com) will be contacting you to finalize a few things, including your flight arrangements, any final payments, premium wine & cigar lists, and preference sheets.   We pride ourselves on providing memorable customer service so don’t be shy with your preferences as we will do our best to cater!

In order to get help you even more excited about the trip, if that’s even possible, please keep an eye on all our online updates.  We will update news stories on our newsletter weekly (www.aikenslake.com/newsletter)  We will post a lot of pictures of great catches, lodge renovations, and beautiful scenery on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/aikenslake).  We have acquired a few new GoPro cameras so hopefully we can update our videos on YouTube with some more Master Angler catches (www.youtube.com/aikenslakelodge)  Also, you can follow our twitter feed Aikens: @aikenslake or Patrick: @aikensguy  All the links are also below.  Feel free to share this information with the others in your group so they can stay up to date as well. 

As always, we are very diligent with email communication during the summer.  Our phone lines are forwarded up to our main office at Aikens Lake as well – although it is over satellite internet and so the connection can be bad at times.  It is good 90% of the time, but bad weather can make things trickier on the phone.  If you hear dead air on the phone, hang on a few seconds and our voices should come back. 

We are looking forward to greeting you on the dock this summer!  Please don’t hesitate to call/email us anytime before your trip with questions or updates.  We’ll see you soon!  Cheers,

Pit Turenne | General Manager, Partner

Aikens Lake Wilderness Lodge

800-565-2595 or 204-237-5253

Gathering supplies, parking the sportshow train, hiring the newest staff members, oiling the reels, booking the gaps in the schedule… The Aikens Machine is rolling at full steam! Oh yes, this is definitely April. No snow in Winnipeg, steady temps in the 50s to 70s, all signs point to an early spring and that bodes well for us. Warm springs bring a smooth and fruitful spawn on Aikens. Steady water temps will be established early, allowing the guides to immediately dial into their tried and true patterns.

The lodge reserves our 2012 guests a few surprises. But to hear about them, you’ll have to stay in touch with our newsletter as we’ll be posting here and on our Facebook and Twitter accounts at a more frequent pace as the season progresses.

As for those of you that haven’t finalized your 2012 fishing season plans, give us a call (1800-565-2595) and let us help you craft a vacation you’re surely going to enjoy!