Hello Anglers & Hunters,
Our 2009 season has come to an end at Woman River Camp. Another year with great people enjoying their vacation with us and the great outdoors!
Back to back years with some whacky weather. We were shovelling 10 inches of snow out of boats opening day and it snowed June 16th this year! The snow may have stopped then but the precipitation sure didn’t. We set record high water marks on the
Woman River this year. You could measure the rise of the lake hourly as it proceeded to make an island out of the shop and fish house! The water has since receded and was back to normal levels when I left camp November 12.
2009 Fishing Report
From the get go this year, our weather was a few weeks behind and stayed that way throughout the summer. Overall, the fishing was excellent in 2009! Late ice equals trophy Northern Pike and shallow water Lake Trout! Guests caught and released over 400 Northern Pike over 35 inches! Most during May but in September, the largest was 46 ½ inch monster caught by Mike Burkhart. Numerous guests landed 28 inche Walleyes this year and an incredible amount of 18-20 inch Smallmouth Bass. Another awesome year fishing at Woman River Camp!
2009 Hunting Report
Hunting at Woman River Camp was exceptional again this year. Our ten bear hunters harvested 8 bears. Highlights were a beautiful chocolate bear and Robin harvested the largest at 410 lbs.! Moose hunting was also excellent. Our archery hunters harvested a 55 inch bull! Contact us for the link on Youtube! I had the priveledge to guide a father/daughter team for our non resident tags. We were able to call in 3 bulls of which we had opportunity on one. Jodi did not waste the chance and took her first bull at 260 yards! 36” rack. Dale had an opportunity to harvest a calf but opted to holdout and better his daughter’s bull. Not meant to be. Overall the short 4 day hunt was very successful!
2009 Camp Improvements
This year we had Tom Barker in camp as a guide. Tom was always helping guests with fishing tips and putting people on fish! We hope to have Tom back in 2010 and on the water even more! When booking this fall let us know if you would like Tom for a guide for a day or for the week.
We added another ultra deluxe boat and a new 30hp four stroke to the fleet this year. This gives us 3 ultra deluxe and one deluxe boat. With all the rain this year we were excepitionally happy to replace the roofs on the lodge, cabins 2, 6 and 8. Cabins 4 & 5 received new beds and cabins 5 & 8 new fridges. Cabins 6 & 9 also had new outhouses built.
2010 Plans
For 2010, we are looking forward to replacing the roofs on cabins 3, 4, 7 and beds in cabin 7. Due to the weather, our painting was postponed to next year. Other ideas are a permanent pavillion for burger night and installation of fish locators for all our camp boats. If you have an idea for improvements or special needs to make your stay more enjoyable, please let us know.
We also renovated our website this past spring. Due to the inclement weather for most of the summer, it caused issues uploading information and photos to the website. We hope to find a solution to the problem before next season. Let us know what you like and dislike, about our new website as well as any ideas are greatly appreciated!
New in 2010 across Canada is a Pleasure Craft Operator Card. All boat operators must produce one of the following to prove competency. Those of you operating a rental boat will be required to produce an Operator Card, or an equivalent card from their state or country, or a completed boat rental safety checklist. Boaters bringing their own boats to Canada will not require one as long as their stay is less than 44 days. Woman River Camp will provide and help complete the checklist with the boat operator. We estimate this to take approximatley 15 minutes. For those of you wishing to hit the water faster, a Pleasure Craft Operator Card can be obtained online and are good for life. Check out http://www.tc.gc.ca/marinesafety/debs/obs/paperwork/paperwork_operatorfaq.htm#a for more information.
Like everywhere else in the world, the economy took its toll on us this season. Our total number of guests was down and the U.S. dollar was close to par all year long. On the bright side, the cost of fuel was considerably lower, border crossings were faster and fewer boats on the lake made our remote camp even more remote. Here’s looking forward to 2010 seeing the global recession well on its way to recovery.
Plans were to cut back on sportshows this year but with these uncertain times, we thought it best not to change what has been working for us. Come down and visit, bring your friends. Remember for every guest we receive via a referral, you receive $20 to spend in the lodge!
We will be attending the following All Canada sport shows.
Jan. 8-10 – St. Louis, MO, @ the St.Charles Convention Centre
Jan. 11-13 – Indianapolis, IN, @ The Fountains in Carmel
Jan. 14-17 – Chicago, IL, @ Pheasant Run in St. Charles
Jan. 21-24 – Milwaukee, WI, @ the Milwaukee County Sports Complex
Jan. 25-27 – Madison, WI, @ the Marriot Madison West
Jan. 28-31 – Green Bay, WI, @ Shopko Hall
Feb. 5-7 – Minneapolis, MN, @ the Minneapolis Convention Centre
Feb. 8-10 – Sioux Falls, SD, @ Ramkota Exhibit Hall
Feb. 12-14 – Des Moines, IA @ KJJY Event Centre at 7 Flags
Feb. 15-17 – Omaha, NE @ Holiday Inn Convention Centre
Specials
Remember – book your cabin early to receive 2009 rates in 2010. Deposits must be received before December 31, 2009.
Send in your photos – first prize $500 trip voucher, second prize $250 trip voucher, third prize $150 store voucher! We prefer large size jpegs as we can make larger photos for sportshow displays but any photo will do.
Bookmark womanriver.com in your favourites and signup to receive our blog. We will keep you up to date for you trip north to Woman River Camp.
Thanks again to everyone who vacationed with us in 2009. We sure enjoy spending time with you.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Debbie, Valerie-Ann, Paul and Timber
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