2003 Echo Lake Lodge Newsletter
P.O.
Box 1137
9699 County Road SS
Red
Lake, Ontario P0V 2M0
Amherst Junction, WI 54407
807-727-2543
715-824-5876
(summer)
(winter)
www.echolakelodge.com
tehr@echolakelodge.com
Dear
Friends of Echo Lake,
Is
there any truth to the rumor that the potatoes confiscated at the border were
used for the free potato pancake breakfasts held in Ft. Frances, Ontario this
summer? :-]
Camp
wintered well and there were only a few trees down on the portages.
Temperatures were in the 70’s when Tom arrived and continued upward to
make this summer one of the warmest on record.
It was the first summer in over 50 years that we had 9 straight days of over
30°C
(about 90°F).
Mitzi and our son, Dan, arrived 6-13-03 and we immediately started our
projects.
After clearing the portage and patching the boats on Lake of Bays and
High Lake, we headed for Detour to replace the roof on the cabin.
The cabin is now level, has a new roof that no longer leaks, new screens
on the windows and plenty of firewood for a couple of seasons.
The roof on Caribou was re-shingled.
This summer, anything that got in Mitzi’s way was painted or stained!
Tom recycled logs from the old icehouse and #4 log cabin to build a new
cabin where the icehouse used to stand.
Our on-going main lodge restoration saw some great progress this summer.
We replaced many of the rotten logs, put in new frames for the windows,
completely stained the exterior, and re-shingled the roof.
On the inside, Tom used log-jam to chink between the logs in an effort to
keep out the weather and mosquitoes.
For those of you that have been to Echo, check out the picture of the
lodge on the website.
It looks great!
Tom made one change to the east wall.
See if you can tell what it is.
Most guests can eventually see it, but so far, no one has guessed it as
fast as Justin Miller!
Next year, we have plans to replace the porch and re-shingle Black Bear,
finish the interior of the lodge and build a gazebo, if time allows.
There
are rumors in the air that the Ministry of Natural Resources is
considering some new legislation. Fisherman
may be required to label each fish with their name and license number to
eliminate ‘group’ fishing. Also
in discussion is a walleye slot size of 18-26”, and 1 walleye greater than
26” kept whole. We do not
anticipate this legislation to be in effect by the 2004 season, but please be
prepared for it. Bob Yoho
brought in a Food Saver (vacuum packaging with see-through plastic bags.)
It worked great to package fish flat to ensure quick freezing.
It really helps to preserve that great “just caught” Canadian
flavor as well as making the fillets easier to measure and pack in coolers to
take home. Since the MNR is now
focusing on size and transporting fish, this little appliance could make
everyone happy. We purchased one
for camp use and everyone is welcome and encouraged to use the food saver.
We ask that you bring a roll of bags for your use.
(We will also have rolls available for purchase.)
Rolls are better than individual bags, since they can accommodate even
your biggest trophy!
Phil
Trebatoski
and Tim Brillowski went swimming on May 24th.
The air was warm, but the water cold and they got out faster than it took
to jump in! Ralph Banke and
grandson, Jordan, saw a bull moose on High Lake.
Jene Dubin and John Bouchea were lucky enough to see a caribou
swim in the plane dock bay and get out on the front lawn.
Guests reported seeing approximately 15 caribou this year.
Thanks to digital zoom we now have some excellent pictures of moose and
caribou that used to turn out like little brown spots against a beautiful
Canadian scene.
Al
Stelk
and group stayed overnight in camp before heading into Woodland Caribou
Provincial Park. They had a great
week for canoeing. In July Bill
& Bonnie Clendenning said that the fly swatter had become part of their
daily fishing equipment. Matt
Graesch and Marianne Olson were ‘storm chasers’ this summer. One day the rain and lightning chased them off the water 4
times—but they were catching fish! They
played ‘chicken’ with not only rain but golf ball-sized hail.
Matt’s sunglasses were broken by the force of the hail, and Marianne
was able to take an excellent picture of the hail shower (7-29-03) while they
were under the shelter of a tree on Detour portage.
(We will add their picture to the web site when we do our next update. )
Clean
Cabin Awards go to: Randy
Kraemer, Ralph Banke, Rassler/Hayes, Bill & Bonnie Clenndening, Gary Pribyl,
Matt Boyle, and Duben/Bouchea. Thanks to everyone doing a great job cleaning
up, we will continue to offer a 7-day week.
Many camps have gone to a Saturday to Friday booking.
Some
of the big fish caught this year were:
WALLEYE:
29”
- Eric Sill; 27˝“ – (2)
Gary Pribyl (R) and 27 ˝” - Dave Murrey;
27” - Justin Miller (R).
NORTHERN:
41”
– John Rassler (R); 38” – Justin Kraemer (R) and Mike
Fenwick (R).
LAKE
TROUT: 29”
- Gary Peterson (R); 28” – Neal Yoho.
We
are beginning to see the results of catch and release.
Guests are catching more fish, larger fish, and releasing most of them.
These fish will help insure adequate populations in the future.
Mother
Nature made bear hunting difficult this year.
Early in the season, hunters had to deal with unusually hot weather.
In September, rainstorms and high winds made hunting difficult.
Dan Yenter made Echo Lake history by harvesting the first bear, (a
300# boar), with a bow on 8-18-03.
As
always, our mailing list guests have first priority to make reservations for
Summer 2004. We encourage you to
reserve your trip to Echo Lake Lodge as soon as your group has finalized plans.
We
require that
you put 50% down within 2 weeks of making your reservation and send the balance
by May 1, 2003.
Thanks
again for the memories and for your business.
Wishing all of you a joyous, healthy, and safe holiday season.
From
the Wisconsin Loon’s Nest,
Tom & Mitzi
