Dec.?? Already??

It just seems that the Fall ended yesterday and that we have a couple of months till we have to worry about Christmas. WRONG!! Gale and I have been extremely busy for almost two months working on our new brochure, between set up and proofing etc. We hope you like the look of it and that our time was not wasted. We have sent out our new price list and brochure to you all last Tues. and if you are on our mailing list you should have it any time soon. For those of you ,and you know who you are!!, we have now published the rates on line for you to see @ www.rainbowpoint.com .

We are looking forward to having our girls, Karla and Amanda back home from school for Christmas. Gale and I have not quite got the empty nest stuff accepted yet but we are working on it. We are also getting anxious to get on the road after the new year to do the few sportshows that are listed on our home page. We would love to see you at any of them.

The lake has finally frozen over out on the main part just last week. The wind would open it up one day and then freeze over the next for the last few weeks but it's done for good now. The temperature is a balmy -24 C right now and no real warming trend in sight. I hope it warms a little around Christmas as the house gets a little smaller with all the LAWS around if you know what I mean.

I won't take up any more of your time but hope you all are having a great holiday season and are finally getting over Thanksgiving. Give us a call if you want to make a reservation for the New Year or, do as a few have already and, give a trip to a loved one for a present at Christmas. We make up a nice letter and gift box for you, if you want to present it on Chrismas morning!

Make sure you sign up for the online only specials as there may be some stuff coming up in the next little while or in the New Year, you never know.

Take Care until the next burst of writing energy!!!!

Checkin In !!

Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that winter has arrived (at least up here) We have had a couple of snows and the first one dissapeared but this one is here for the duration I am afraid. The bay in front of the Lodge just started to skim over but we are not getting the real below freezing temps. yet to really make her solid.
We just came back from a quick trip out to Prince Edward Island off the east coast of Canada to see Karla for her birthday. She is enrolled in a Culinary School to become a Chef and is really enjoying it and doing well. Amanda our older Daughter is in Winnipeg Manitoba at the University and also doing well.
We have just finalized our new brochure for this year and I think you will like the New updated pictures and we should have them in our hands from the printer in two weeks or so. We will be mailing out the 2007 Price List at that time so look for them in the mail around the end of the month or early Dec. We will also be posting the 2007 Rates on our web site in the near future for you to look at. We have made some small changes to the packages and also put in some early booking discounts that you should take advantage of.
With the two girls gone to school this year Gale will be joining me at a number of sportshows and they are listed on the front page of our web site www.rainbowpoint.com Make sure you take advantage of our website and sign up for the free news letter for online only specials that will occur from time to time. As we get closer to Christmas we will be updating our Blog more often and into the new year while at the shows we will be running regular updates on our web newsletter that will only be seen by signing up.
Gale and I have really enjoyed your support and friendship over the last 24 years and hope that we can continue to find ways to improve and make your stay enjoyable every time you come. Take care for now and we are always looking for interesting things to write about so if you have any questions or comments be sure to let us know. Bye for now Bob&Gale

Finally Time to update the Fall !!

Hi ALL: Gale and I have had a very busy Fall, and I know it's no excuse for not writing a BLOG more often, but it's the best excuse that I have right now! In the past month and a half we have run four weeks of very successful bear hunts, many late summer fishermen, a few fall bird hunters and we just finished our archery moose hunt on Saturday. We also said goodbye to George and Laine for the summer. George spends his winter working in Winnipeg and Laine is a University student in Southern Ontario.
At the end of August I took my oldest daughter,Amanda, to Winnipeg to get her set up in her apartment, so she could get ready to start the second year of University. As soon as I got back Gale flew out to Prince Edward Island for a week (off the east coast of Canada) with my younger daughter, Karla, to get her set up in Chef's school. As you can imagine with all this going on and trying to run a business at the same time, no wonder I have not updated the Blog!!!
On a lighter note the fishing this fall has been nothing short of fabulous. I am seeing first timers to the Lodge come in with their limits of Nice walleyes and northerns, the first time out. We have a few groups in right now that are doing real well and are finding that they are almost the only boats on the lake. We have some Muskie fishermen coming in next week and I will let you know how they did later.
The grouse population is as good as I have ever seen it this year with 5 a day limits taking no time at all. The summer has been so dry the young birds did not have the high water and wet bush conditions to put up with and their survival rate was very high.
I will post a few pictures of the water level as it is the lowest that I can remember in twenty-five years. For those of you that have walked over to the falls you can almost walk anywhere with your sneakers on and there is only a trickle going over the falls in front of the Lodge Store.
I will end for now just to let you know that we are just finalizing our new Brochure and Price List for 2007 and have some new and interesting packages available that I hope will be of interest to you all. Keep a eye on our website http://www.rainbowpoint.com for all the News and info you will need to make your plans to visit us next year. One last thing there is a special out right now, that we posted yesterday, that may be of interest to you so go to the web page and have a look.
Bye for now!! I hope I didn't bore you-----Bob and Gale!

Website and Mail down

We have had the misfortune of being affected by a problem with our internet and mail host. Apparently the main internet provider has been hacked into, and thousands of clients have been put off line. The hacking is along the same lines as what happened to E-Bay not too long ago. We apologize for not being able to reply to our e-mails over the last few days, but with the crash that has occured, all website and mail traffic has ground to a hault. It boggles the mind to wonder why people would spend their time creating chaos on the web when obviously they have great computer skills, and could use their talents to do something good. We are told that the techies with our internet provider think they will be up and running a day or so. We're anxiously awaiting. In the meantime, if you are waiting for a reply to us, give us a phone call and we'll look after your enquiries right away.

August Eh!!

Well, the start of the month has been a good one when it comes to the amount of fish that are being brought in. A lot of our regular guests are catching lots of fish in the regular spots the first day out, and within one or two days, the new guest to the lodge are catching on and enjoying the start of the late summer fishing season. The HOT Spots are the humps and subsequent drop offs down to the thermo cline. We are seeing REAL NICE walleye up to 31 inches and lots of bass and northern caught in the same areas. The Perch fishing has been nothing but GREAT and lots of 12+ inch fish are more the norm. I am steady into the bear baiting for the up coming season and we look foreword to a very successful one. This is a quick update but better than nothing at all. Thanks again for reading these Blogs and I hope you enjoy them. Any feedback would be appreciated as sometime I feel I am writing these for my own reading. Take Care till next time. Bob and Gale!!

Fantastic July Winds Down

What a fantastic summer this continues to be weather wise! The last few weeks have been consistently warm and sunny. We've had 80's to 90's, very low humidity, and little to no rain. The evenings cool down great for sleeping. The last few days have shown a bit of a cooling trend, with temp in the mid to high 70's, and down to 50 at night. If you want to keep up on the current weather conditions, click on the bottom link of our website for The Weather Network.

The lack of rain cause the MNR to put up a fire ban for the last couple of weeks. This was a bit disappointing for everyone coming to the fish fry (mostly for Bob the cook!), as we couldn't have the usual wood fire to cook on. We did make the best of things though, and cooked up the fish and spuds the more modern way, and everything from the meal to the great company was well worth it. The restricted fire zone was lifted on Thursday, so things are be back to normal this Tuesday. We haven't had any major rains right here, although there's been some good showers in areas around us.

The perch fishing has really been the story the last couple of weeks. There has been no problem finding good schools of them, and the size is fantastic. Some the last couple weeks up to 13". Where there's perch, there's northern, and there are still lots of good northern being caught. Sandy Meulemans had a monster get off her line Thursday, husband Bob thought it would have been 48" range. I think she was still shaking when she was telling me the story. Marty Coel caught a nice 25" Walleye, and the bass are still very active, and can been seen jumping in the water for the suface bugs. Our Web Photo Album has a good collection of pictures to share - check it out!

The families are having a ball this time of year between the fishing, the swimming, volleyball matches, and of course the evening drive to see moose on the roadside, and the bears at the dump. What's a Canada trip without that! There have been a few very tame fox hanging around the camp, and have been seen outside some cottages, posing like a house pet. Other wildlife as of late include the thieving otter that robs the minnow buckets or eats the fish off the stringers when you're not looking, the 50 or so residents mallards, the resident blue herons, the neighborhood eagles, and the rest of the usual bird and animal crew.

We all enjoyed a last minute trip here by Fred & Bettie Stiles from Des Moines, IA. Freddie and his bride have been coming up to our area since the highway was just a rough travel road, and have been coming here to stay with us each year for the past 23 years. Fred, turning 89 this year, still enjoys fishing very much, and Bettie gladly goes out with him every day for a few hours, and they always are able to bring back enough for supper. I know many of our regular guests have gotten to know this pair over the years, and enjoy their company as much as we do. There is never a lack of good fish stories to be told!

We expect to start seeing more avid muskie and northern fishermen over the next while, getting in on the late summer and fall action.

Bob has also started getting ready for the fall bear hunt which starts mid August, so we know we won't have too much of this fantastic summer weather left.

Keep cool everybody!

Mid July Stuff!!

I Know, I Know how come so long between posts!!! It is very hard to sit down and type with my two fingers every week so sometimes I have to let them rest. I also would like to put alot more into the Blog but have to be very diplomatic as I can only imagine who may be reading this, friends, neighbours,etc... Anyways since the last post we have had nothing but HOT weather and very little rain and as of yesterday the whole area is a Restricted fire zone. We had two little fires close to us yesterday and listened to the spotter planes and the waterbombers for quite a while. I finally got fishing with my youger daughter Karla two days ago at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, with no wind and 93 degrees (great walleye weather!!!) and as luck would have it within three minutes she had a 27 inch walleye. I now look like the best guide on the lake in her eyes. The picture will be on the photo's page on our web site http://www.rainbowpoint.com The walleye fishing has been in two different depths as you can catch them in 10-12 feet of water on the weed line and also on top of all the humps early and late in the day. These seem to be the eater variety in general but the consistantly larger ones seem to be in the 18-23 foot range with the fish dropping to more than 30 mid. day. The northerns are well established in all the bays and are readily being caught. Some nice catches of larger fish are being caught in the deeper cabbage and take a little more patience but it quite often pays off. The perch fishing has been nothing but fantastic and there is no real, hotspot, as they are readily available in all shallow bays of the lake. Last week we had a 13 1/2 incher caught,Nice fish!!
We are finally going to get to finsh painting the whole camp. We wanted to have it done this spring but the wet weather early made it hard to do. The smile on alot of guests faces when they check into the cabins with all the additions and interior remodeling ,that was done this spring, made the effort and expence worth while.
One last personal comment from myself, Bob, I would like to Thank all of you on behalf of the staff, and Gale and I, for the very generous tips that they recieve each week as it sure brings a smile to their faces, and it goes a long way to making the long days they put in alot more enjoyable if they know you all appreciate it.
My fingers are stating to get hot so I will sign off for now but will make every effort to keep the Blogs coming. One last thing, I am looking for your favorite brine recipie to use in my new smoker the girls got me for Fathers day. Any brine recipies that you might care to share especially if they are a little different than the norm would be appreciated. If you get a chance e-mail me at info@rainbowpoint.com.
Thanks for making our summers enjoyable!! Bob and Gale

July 1-8 Canada Day and 4th of July Week

Well the fist week of July was a real nice one weather wise with lots of sun and sunburns. The wind blew a little more this past week but it was taken in stride.

The fishing for northern and perch seemed to be the busiest with the walleyes coming a close second, smallies are still aggressive and easy to catch. Most of the walleyes seemed to be in the 16-18ft range early and late with some nice ones taken in the middle of the day in the mid 20ft. Range. Both crawlers and minnows were working and it just depends who you talked to as to what worked best.

The Baumanns, Lederers, Vandervries, and Zelinski groups all seemed to do well, they fished early sometimes leaving at 4:30 a.m. Dale Schlapper and his family caught some nice walleyes also and it was sure nice to see them back at the lodge. 11 year old Broc Borchardt caught a 24 inch walleye (see photo album) and I don’t know who was more excited he or his father. They were saying they also tore up the northern on the sand bar the same day.This upcoming week we have a full group of mostly regular guests so I hope the fishing and the weather folds out for them.

P.S. Sincere thanks to all for your friendship and support

Bob and Gale

Great Fishing Photos to Share

Hi all!

I've pretty much given up with downloading very many photos on the blog the way it's been working, but I've put a new 2006 photo album up on the website. I know so many of our guests have been anxious to see themselves up on the web, and so many of you who are just interested in what's going on are just as anxious.

Check out the new photos from the photo album link at Rainbow Point Lodge.

By the way, it's a gorgeous sunny day, about 80 degrees, and nothing but sunshine in the forecast until Saturday. Wish you were here!

Bye for now!

Bob & Gale

found a few minutes for an update!!

Well as you can imagine we are right in the middle of our busy season and the weather has been great and the fish are co-operating. Last week the big one's seemed to be the game of choice. Dick Gardebrecht and his wife Cheryl and their granddaughter Courtney caught and released 5 walleyes from 27-29 inches over the course of the week. They also caught lots of eaters and a bunch more in the low 20 inch range. Arlie Doel's group did very well fishing for walleyes also with their biggest one being 31 inches caught by Craig O'Connell. The weather was absolutely perfect all week with a big thundershower over night on Fri.

The fishing for northerns has gone a little deeper with some of the larger ones starting to suspend in 15-20 feet of water just off the weed lines. Perch are picking up with nice catches in 6 feet of water. Walleyes are being found in 16 -25 feet with nice catches on the humps early in the morning and later in the evening. The bait of choice is either minnows or crawlers. Everyone has their favorite way to fish and they are all good if your catching fish but good old SLOW backtrolling will get fish in the boat!! I forgot to mention Smallies. They are very aggressive on the humps and in 8-15 feet on the shore lines. A mixture of artificial sinking and top water baits are working well with presentation of leeches being also very productive.

We have had a little problem putting pictures on our Blog but will continue to work on it so in the meantime we are creating a 2006 photo gallery from our website.

We are sure getting a lot of great feedback and comments from our guests when they see the additions and decks we have put on many cabins this spring. We always hope that you will see and appreciate the amount of time and work we put into our Lodge on an on going basis. As our
logo says, "we always remember you have a choice" and our commitment is to have you enjoy your stay and return in the future.

Hope you are having a great summer also and if you need a get away in the next few months come on up and enjoy!!

Bob and Gale

Pike & Perch!

Michelle Gevets kept showing up her partner Craig last week with her catches. After making it clear that she preferred fishing for perch because there was more action, she proceeded to catch a 40" northern on June 13th. Apparently northern fishing wasn't so bad any more, as she did it again on the 16th catching a 41". One of these was caught while fishing for perch using a crawler with a pink hook. Antoher was with a suick. Craig and Michelle spent most of their week fishing for perch though, and caught plenty, mostly near Jackfish Bay! Some were up to 15" so they were extremely happy with their perch catches.

June 21st, 2006 Update

Well the summer is in full swing and the weather has been great. In the last 2 weeks we have seen very little rain with lots of sun, and highs in the upper 70’s to low 80’s. The bush is very dry, so we are warning all shore lunches to make sure their fire is dead out.

Last week the walleye fishing was good, with some nice 16-20” fish caught by all with a few over 25”. The walleye are moving deeper but the average depth is around 12-17’ depending on the time of day. Leeches are the bait of choice right now with crawlers and minnows coming in 2nd. Nate Ongna had a lucky horseshoe to start his trip this week, catching a 28" walleye in Grassy Bay while casting for Northern with a Strike King Spinner Bait, during his 1st hour out! You never know when it's going to be your day.

Northern are moving out into the growing cabbage weeds and are starting to hit top water and large spoons caste and retrieved aggressively. The smallies are unbelievable as they are in pre-spawn and very aggressive. The largest this week was a 17 ½ “ caught by Norman Stine.

We just had another fun filled fish fry last night, and Mother Nature seems to be co-operating with us by holding off the rain while dinner is going on.

Please read our next blog in a week or so and make sure you sign up for our online newsletter for news and specials. We will be offering some very nice fall deals to online e-mail subscribers only!

Take care and remember that Rainbow is not that far away!

Bob & Gale

June 3rd to 10th Fishing Report

I'm have a devil of a time trying to get this blog to upload properly, and have so many pictures to share with everyone, but it's just not happening for me. I'm trying to figure out how to solve the problem, so bear with us - one of these days you'll see some of the great fishing pictures our guests have shared with us!

No on to the June 3rd to 10th fishing action.

What a warm week we are having – started in the 80’s and is now setting down more into the high 70’s.

Fishing is good for everything right now. The walleye are not being caught as quickly as usually yet – I think we are a bit spoiled. Getting a run of a few, and then they seem to shut off mid morning. The walleye are starting to be caught now all over the lake – 2nd bay producing quite well, the channel by Whale Rock, Jackfish, and right down into our own bay have been fishing well. The hot clear weather during the day has a lot to do with that though. Guests are catching plenty of them to keep their bellies full . Ken Slaughter caught a 29” walleye off Whale Rock also on Sunday, fishing with a Rattletrap. He was lucky that day also catching a 29” northern on a twister tail. Dwight Trowbridge caught a 9 lb. Walleye back in Church Lake where he had caught several last year over 9 lbs. Scott Wascher and his group who are new to Perrault Lake are having a blast. Scott caught a 42” Muskie (weighting 18.3 lbs) on a Husky Jerk bait on Tuesday. His brother Jason caught a 35” Northern (10.5 lbs) the same day. These were caught just on the backside of South Sister Island. To end off the trip Friday, they caught and released a 40" Northern.

As the week came to a close we had a major drop in temperature - down in the mid to high 40's at night, and daytime to about 60. The cool temps were welcomed by most after such warm weather earlier in their stay.

Looking forward to a great week next week, and to having the walleyes really hungry!

Fishing Report May 27th to June 3rd, 2006

The week of May 27th to June 3rd saw a mixed bag for weather, with the 1st few days of the week having a lot of high winds and severe thunderstorms moving throughout the region. Everyone had to keep a close eye on the storm cells to make sure they didn’t get caught, but of course, a few had to wait out some storms under the trees on shore.

Walleye are moving out more into the main lake from the shallows, and are proving to be a little harder to find than usual for the groups this week. Shad Raps seemed to be the best lures for the walleyes judging by the most successful anglers. There are still the most numbers of walleye being caught in the East Bay, Whale Rock area, and in Jackfish. Spadina is also fishing quite well. Everyone is doing great on Northern Pike, which have been biting very well since opener. Several groups caught and released lunkers this week. Rick Meier caught a 40” Northern in Jackfish Bay June 1st, and this was just one of many that he and his brothers caught during their stay. They fished primarily with sucker chubb baits. Wayne Knight caught an 18 lb. Musky while northern fishing, which was a nice surprise. There have been quite a few caught already this spring, so we know the muskie population is doing very well!

As the week wound down, weather became much more stable, but temps were still quite warm, up into the mid 80’s.

Northern Pike on Sucker Chubb Baits

Parker Dietz could barely keep a hold of this 40" Northern that he landed solely by himself. He was fishing with his dad Mark, and several regulars who make the spring opener their yearly tradition. This group fish primarily with live sucker chubb bait for the big northern, and catch and release many of the lunkers during their short stay each spring.

Parker will have a trip to remember! I'm hoping he or his dad will add some comments to this blog on their techniques and location of their fishing.

Spring Opener, 2006

Well another great season is well under way. We've been so busy, and Bob & I must apologize for not getting on the postings right away - have to get into a routine, as we know many of you are anxiously awaiting news of the fishing and goings on around camp.

I'll start off with a little bit about our opening week at camp. Most of the regulars for opening week arrive Friday to get an early start on the fishing 1st thing Saturday morning - opening day of walleye season. The couple of days just before opener had geat temps in the high 70's and even hitting 80, and then, opening day came! A cold front moved in with very heavy winds, and near freezing temps during the night. We saw a few flurries and some rain during the day. Many of the guests in camp didn't venture much past the bay the 1st day, but the opener guests are a tough lot, and took everything in stride! Things did smarten up as the week went on. The cold front affected the fishing for a few days, but everyone was getting plenty to eat, and had plenty of action. The Ord River was where most of the fishing action was happening.

Big northern seemed to be what most people were getting a lot of. The walleyes were mostly smaller males. Typical after having a late spring - spawn was well finished. Smallmouth bass are really active.

Kurt and Jessica Carlson were the 1st guests into camp for the year, and so, I'll give them the 1st photos on the blog spot for the '06 season. - WHEN the blogger lets me upload the pictures. Having technical difficulties I'm afraid. We'll keep trying!

Gettin' ready for the opener!!

We are working long & hard to finish our cabin renovations and deck additions on a number of our cabins. The weather has cooperated somewhat but the last few days have been at or below the freezing mark in the mornings with rain/hail mix during the day.

No time for news - get on later when we have time..

Ice out on Perrault Lake

We woke up this morning to a beautiful blue lake, totally free of ice! We've had a lot of e-mails and calls about this over the last few weeks, and I know everyone is anxious to come up for their fishing trips! We're just as anxious to see everyone and get another great season under way!

A bit of history for you -
Ice out date in '05 was April 22nd
Ice out date in '04 was May 8th

George arrived this weekend to start work for the summer. The rest of the staff will be gradually starting over the next week and a half. We're in full gear getting our spring clean-ups and work projects completed before opening day. Walleye season starts May 20th.

Ice Condition Report Apr 17/06

April is continuing to give us some unbelievably warm temperatures. Easter Sunday had a hight of 73 degrees, and today is shaping up to be much the same. At this rate the ice won't be long in going out! Took these pictures yesterday. Top layer is very slushy. Hard to imagine that we were out ice fishing just one week ago!

Photo to the left is the view down the lake from Cottage #4.



Below, view from the bridge at the long dock, and from Cottage #7.

Fishing Licence Change for 2006

There has been a small change in the fishing licences which I thought I'd pass on to you. It won't affect too many of our guests since our packages run for 7 days, but there are few cases where it will make a difference.

7 Day Fishing Licences have been discontinued, and there is now an 8 Day Fishing Licence instead. The 8 day Sportsman Licence this year costs $41.00 Canadian, (about $36. USD) and a Conservation Licence costs $24.00 Canadian (about $21. USD). If you're on a Complete Fisherman's Package Plan with us, your Conservation Fishing Licence is included.

There have been no other changes in the fishing regulations for this area for 2006.

Happy Easter Everyone

Gale & I are sitting at home waiting for our digital camer to be returned from the repair shop. Otherwise we'd have a picture or two for you to look at this time.

We have just sent out our 1st Rainbow Point Lodge E-Newsletter, and if you have not received your newsletter, please refer to our website, to sign up to receive it in the future. For those of you that are not familiar with this newsletter, it will have periodic one time web only specials and news so if you'd like to take advantage of these, sign up today.

The ice situation - it's starting to turn dark and slightly pull away from the shoreline, but I'm sure it will be a good 2 weeks before it is out. Most of the snow is gone other than small piles in heavily shaded areas. Now I can see how much raking we have to do!! Temperature has been in the mid 40's to low 50's with a small breeze blowing each day which has helped take care of the last bit of snow.

Hope you all have a good Easter Weekend, and as soon as we get our camera back next week, we will update this blog with some pictures and a report on the ice conditions.

Perrault Lake Snow Free But Solid

Just ran out the door to take a few pictures for the blog for you. Don't get fooled by the lack of snow on the ice, as there is still 3 feet of solid ice left. The temperature is just above the freezing mark, with the wind blowing and the outlook for the weekend is sunny and 40 deg. F.

We plan on going ice fishing on the weekend and we'll take some more pictures and upload them in another blog early next week. Judging by the lake right now, it looks like we'll be going on 4 wheelers instead of the snow machine!

Snow/Ice Report

It is unbelievable how much snow has disappeared over the last few days! We got some rain overnight, and the weatherman is calling for steady rain through today, tonight, and off and on for the next 3 days. No below freezing temperatures in the forecast. That should really cut down the snow! The lake today looks like a lake with the all the water sitting on top of the ice. We are hoping that the water will go under over the next few days, and we'll have a week or two more to do some ice fishing. There should still be 2-3 feet of ice out there. The bay right in front of the falls is opening up quite a bit farther now though - almost to the dock at #26 /the boat launch. More signs of an early ice out if this keeps up!

Pike & Northern are biting on Perrault Lake

Had a fantastic fresh Ontario walleye dinner last night - make you hungry?? The fishing on Perrault is really turning on as the fish start heading towards the spawning beds. Went out on Saturday just for about 3 hours and could hardly keep up with the lines. Caught several perch 10-12", a 25" & 37" Northern, a few walleye, the largest of which was 23 1/2" long. Had a great time out. It was so warm and sunnny, a shirt was ample to be warm in the sun.

Day time temperatures this week are definitely on the rise. Supposed to be up to the mid 40's as a high for a couple of days. Still well below freezing at night. You can keep up to date on the weather through a weather link on the website to the Weather Network. Starting to see a bit of grass on the sunny side of the ditches, but there is still 2-3 feet of snow in the bush and around the yard. The lake has only about 6" because it has compacted so much. Haven't had a heavy snowfall for quite awhile.

Water level seems pretty low right now judging by the amount of water going over the falls. Could practially walk across it near the top. Might be a low water spring unless we get some good rains. The spring runoff won't amount to very much.

Well, till next time, think spring, and think fishing Perrault Lake soon!

Wildlife at the Lodge

We have enjoyed seeing a few of the local critters this winter, and thought that some of you might be interested in seeing a couple of pictures. The first is Pine Marten that paid us a visit on the deck of our house. He spent quite a long time back and forth, looking right into our patio doors at times, and then moved on to the woods. It was one of the best front row seats we've had for watching these beautiful creatures.



The 3rd photo is not the best as my camera was giving up the ghost. This was a mink that came right across the lake on our snowmachine trail, and trust me, he put on a fair distance. Then he didn't seem to want to leave the area where we fishing. I investigated further, and found that he had a couple of dens in the snow near a couple of outcropped rocks near us. I tried to get pictures of the lairs, but again, the camera didn't co-operate very well (or maybe it was the photographer??)


A sure sign that spring is arriving - the Bald Eagles made their return visit to the area a couple of weeks ago, and we're enjoying hearing them out in the yard. There is a nest very close to the lodge, and we can here them throughout the summer. The eagles like making this area home because of the open water at Perrault Falls early in the spring. I'm sure I'll catch some good pictures when I get my camera fixed!!

Looking forward to seeing some of you this spring. Opening of Walleye season is May 20th! Can't wait!!

Quick Spring Note

Just thought we would write a quick note to let you all know how spring (which started yesterday) is going at Rainbow Point Lodge. Our temperature is still in the 15 to 20 degree F at night, and not getting much above the freezing mark during the day, but this will soon change and an all-out melt will surely follow.

It's difficult right now to predict whether the ice will out early or late as the weather just doesn't show any sign of abrubtly getting warmer. I'll have a better idea of the ice conditions in the next week or two, but as of now we still have 3 feet of solid ice covered by 8-12 inches of snow. All around the lodge we have 2-3 feet of snow sitting on the ground, and like anybody this time of year, are anxiously waiting to see some green instead of white.

Keep an eye on this blog, and we'll update it as the weather starts moderating, and we'll include some picutres. Hope this finds you all well, and anxious for your next fishing trip to the Lodge.

Current Ice Conditions on Perrault Lake

Perrault Lake has 20" of blue ice covered with another 15" or so of slush ice. We have not been able to get on any of the lakes until just lately, as the slush has been a big problem. We're finally getting some colder weather and that is helping to freeze up the slush so you can ride on it. Just beginning to try some more ice fishing, and enjoyed a delicious fish fry last night!

Natural Ice Sculptures on Perrault Lake

Gale & I were out ice fishing the other day, and noticed a lot of strange ice formations on the south end of the lake. We took a ride down to take a closer look for ourselves, and as you can see in the pictures, we found some beautiful ice sculptures along the shoreline. The wind was blowing very hard from the north in November when the ice was forming and I believe the waves splashing up on the south shoreline instantly froze into these beautiful formations. We have never seen this kind of massive ice build-up before

With the snowmachine in front, you can see how expansive these formations are! We took a few more of these - once in a lifetime sight, I'm sure!

Gale shown in front of one of the formations. Twice as tall as she is! Notice the wind angle at the rear of the formation.

















Bob is sitting on a natural ice Captain's chair nestled in the ice block. Notice the icle in the front. It was out by itself, about 4 feet in front of the formation, and it stands approx. 6 feet tall!




Long expanse of ice. The big cedar on the right has ice creeping up it's trunk probably 15 feet in height.

Hope you enjoyed these amazing photos as much as we enjoyed seeing them!



Till next time, keep warm, and enjoy your winter!

Sport Show and Promotion Updates

Just got back from the Green Bay All Canada Sport Show a couple of weeks ago and it turned out to be a very busy one. It was great to see so many of our regular guests come in to say hello, and we look forward to seeing them, along with all the new guests we met at the show, up at the Lodge this summer.

There have been some changes and additions to our website lately, in an effort to give you the most information possible to help you plan your trips. One of the most significant of these is a link to The Canadian Border Crossing Resource Guide. Many guests have questions about crossing the border, and this site covers just about everything. There are also links to fishing regulations, and a new FAQ page. Check it out if you haven't lately. If there's information that you'd like to see on the website, please let us know.

We are also excited to have a new feature being added to our website. Now we will be able to offer guests and potential guests interested in coming to our Lodge, automatic delivery of the Rainbow Point Lodge E-Newsletter right to their e-mail box. These newsletters will keep you up to date on news at the Lodge, as well as well as have advance notice of any last minute openings or specials as they arise during the year. If you want to be in the loop of what's new, and want to take advantage of special savings offers at the Lodge, simply subscribe to our E-Newsletter from our Website. You can choose to opt out of the membership at any time.

Hello All: It has been the post Christmas recovery lull so I haven't been very quick on the writing end. Now we are busy answering the phone and replying to many e-mails daily. Everyone this time of year is looking forward to spring and the upcoming fishing trip to the Lodge. We are getting ready to go to the All Canada Sportshow in Green Bay in 10 days Jan.26-29th. If you are going to be in the area please come on in and say Hello. Our winter has been on the mild side with the coldest temp. -29 so far. We may have 2 feet of snow so far but this is much less than we normally get. The ice fishing is good but the lakes have a large amount of slush on them which make you watch very carefully where you're going. We are presently doing the yearly interviews to secure our summer help. This is always interesting!! I will post a few pictures of the Lodge and area in my next post. Hope you all are doing well and we look forward to seeing some of you in a week or so, and the rest of you, this summer. Take care. BOB

Rainbow Point Lodge Fishing & Hunting News Ontario

SPORT SHOW SCHEDULE for 2006

This winter will see us travelling to the All Canada Sports Show in Green Bay, Wisconsin from January 25th to January 29th. If you're in the area, we'd be very happy to see you there. This is the 1st time in many years we have not attended more shows on the circuit, but we've found that many had very poor attendance lately, and thought our time and money may be better spent at the Lodge working on improvement projects, and promotion through our advertising and website. We are also very happy to see so many of our guests returning, and referring their friends to Rainbow Point Lodge. We appreciate the opportunity to be their hosts time and again.