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.

Christmas Greetings from Rainbow Point!

Merry Christmas Everyone!


December 23rd, and it's a beautiful 32 deg. F today! Unbelievable for this time of year. Best wishes to you all for the holiday season, and for the New Year. Hope to see you soon!


Fish House - quiet for the season.

Rainbow Point Lodge Free Fishing Trip Winner Announced for 2005 Annual Draw!

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER!
Each of the registered guests who stayed at Rainbow Point Lodge in the 2005 season on the Complete Fisherman's Package Plan had their names entered into our FREE TRIP draw for a Package Plan fishing trip in 2006.

Congratulations go out to Denny Amundson from Minnesota who was the lucky winner this year. Denny had two trips to Rainbow Point Lodge fishing for walleye and northern pike last summer. This photo shows Denny with his trophy northern pike measuring 37.5", caught on his last cast into Perrault Lake during his June trip. A perfect way to end a fishing trip.

Winter at Perrault Falls is upon us.

How's your winter goin EH? We are really enjoying the winter so far but the real Canadian cold weather is still to come. We have about a foot of snow so far and the temps. have been in the 0-+10 F. range. Perrault Lake just froze over last week which was a little later than usual. The bay in front of the Lodge has been frozen for two weeks but you won't catch me on it until Christmas time. We have just finished the yearly Xmas letter and sent it out with the new brochure so you all should have one soon. We are going to try and update this page as often as we can and we will try and post some pictures of Perrault Lake in the winter and to show you what Exciting things we are trying to get done around Rainbow Point Lodge. Talk to you soon. BOB