Greetings, and welcome to the Halley’s Camps, Lodges and Outposts April Newsletter. Once again the countdown is on to the opening weekend for fantastic walleye fishing at Halley’s! We hope everyone is as excited as we are about the end of winter and are dreaming about big spring walleye! Of course we have all managed to take a day off and make time to get out at least once or twice this past winter to do some ice fishing and snowmobiling - It can’t be all work and no play! All the same, though, because we enjoy what we do! Pictured left: Chris drills a hole in a likely spot for some fast action. Pictured right: Look! I caught a walleye! And: Are you surprised?

The lodge at Caribou Falls Landing is coming along nicely. At the writing of this post, the flooring is going in, the painting has been completed where needed, and the project is getting closer and closer to completion with each passing day. Check out the photo on the left… Doesn’t it look fantastic? As well, George has been up to Kettle Falls Lodge to check on things there, and is taking care of repairs to the boat dock. And, last but not least, the guys have been taking side trips to the outposts to make sure that all is well on those fronts. Pictured right: Those are some pretty fancy hats you all have on!

Just to let you all know, we do still have some great spring, summer and fall fishing dates open for those late bookings. We all know that each group has their favourite weeks to come on up for their fishing vacation, but for those of you who are autumn people, September is the perfect time to spend a relaxing, end of summer vacation at Halley’s Camps, Lodges, or Outposts. The weather is great, the scenery is fantastic, and the fishing is out of this world! Pictured left: Wait! I know I can catch one more! Pictured right: Now THAT is a fish!

Give us a call at 1-800-465-3325 and let’s go fishing!

Welcome to the Halley’s Camps, Lodges and Outposts March Newsletter. We hope that everyone has had a safe and happy winter! In these parts, March is the month of the big melt (we hope!). The temperatures are warming, and already we can notice a change in the quality of our snow! One of the things we always used to take note of was the weather on the first day of March - following the old adage “In like a lamb, out like a lion”, or vice versa. This year, March 1st dawned clear and cold, but by the end of the day was overcast with a few snow flurries, so it was decidedly lion-like. That means that we can expect some lovely spring weather for the first of April!

Caribou Falls Landing Construction Photos: A few shots of the construction of the new 3,200 square foot lodge have finally arrived on my desk, taken the end of February… These photos do not really give the project the justice it deserves, but I thought that I would share them with you anyway! Things are moving along swiftly now. The flooring has been ordered, the finishing is happening, and soon it will be time for the big job of installing the fixtures and furniture. The best part will come when we can finally decorate and restock!

Again this photo was taken from the dining area in the new lodge.The first set of stairs leads to the kitchen. The second set of stairs leads to the new store area. Up the third set of stairs in the distance is the office area, and a view of what will be the bait and tackle shop. The windows on the far end wall in the bait and tackle shop are oriented towards the back bay and yard. To give an idea of the size of this room, you can just see a bit of Rob standing in the photo at the right.

Greetings one and all and welcome to the Halley’s Camps, Lodges and Outposts February Newsletter. All is well in our neck of the woods! We have all been enjoying the winter and plugging away with our various chores and projects, including the new lodge at Caribou! As well, we have winter guests at One Man Lake, enjoying a great weekend getaway at the Lodge. It is the perfect place to spend time relaxing, fishing or snowmobiling!

The photo on the left was taken by Wanda on a recent trip to One Man Lake Lodge. While out for a walk, she found this old poplar tree with these shelf like fungal growths. On the growths is accumulated snowfall that had piled up against the tree. An interesting photo!

On the right are photos that were taken by the guys on a past snowmobile trip up to Wingiskus to check on the cabin. Hope they let the younger fellows shovel all that snow off of the deck!

Hello all and welcome to the Halley’s Camps, Lodges and Outposts January newsletter. Best wishes from our family to yours for a safe, happy and healthy 2008. Weather wise, we have been enjoying a mild winter here in northwestern Ontario thus far. We have lots of snow on the ground and for the most part have had blue skies and sunshine! We are all well and keeping quite busy. The construction on the new lodge at Caribou is progressing nicely. It is business as usual at the main office. There is rarely a dull day around here!

A few of my favourite summertime fishing photos are attached…. There is nothing better than taking the family on a fantastic fishing vacation! The rewards are definite… seeing the smiles and excitement when the kids hook into and land the big one, the quality time spent on the lake and at the cabin, the memories will last a lifetime! Thanks everyone for sending in your fishing photos!

Some Humour… Question: What did the fish say when he hit the wall? Answer: Dam!!

Winter is upon us once again! After a fairly decent autumn that held off the snow until just about the last week of November, we are finally in the thick of it. It has been snowing, snowing, and snowing! No real winter storms have hit us yet, although that is just a matter of time! We have had our first winter flight! The guys took off on skis from the airstrip at Minaki Aircraft Repair and did a quick reconnaissance up to One Man to circle over and have a look at the river conditions before landing back at the airstrip.

This photo was taken on November 27th from the deck at River Air in Minaki on the first “real” day of winter. The day dawned clear and cold, with temperatures ranging around -25 degrees Celcius (-13 F) in the morning and warming up to a balmy -20 degrees Celcius (-4 F) in the afternoon. Chilly! On the other hand, days like this are quite pleasing to the eye, and this is the perfect weather for making ice. For the most part, the weather has not been quite as cold all that regularly.

Caribou Falls Landing Lodge Construction Update: The shell has been completed and is closed in to keep out the winter weather. We are set to begin the wiring job in the new building. The insulation and vapour barrier have been delivered and are standing by in wait of completion of the electrical work. She is coming along nicely!

As we enter the final official month of fishing season at the camps, we really do have to say that summer went by much too fast… Although, we are expecting some pretty nice end-of-summer weather into September, sunny skies and moderate temperatures. Mix that up with some pretty darn good fishing and you have yourself a great fishing vacation! Even though the weather lets us down on occasion, the fish still bite, and the warm hospitality, crackling fire and delicious food at the end of the day more than makes up for it!

Pictured on the left, a trophy pike is released back into the English River. How many readers out there remember the old catch phrase “Save the magic - Catch and release!” used at the inception of our conservation fishing policy? Pictured on the right is a photo taken at One Man Lake Lodge - Jeff presents a first time angler with a Trophy Angler hat and a Trophy Angler Certificate after an excellent day on the water!

Out With The Old and In With The New

“Grandma’s house” was a great place to be as a kid. Located at Halley’s Caribou Falls Landing, the building was huge and full of great places and things to explore. It had enough bedrooms for the entire family to stay should the need have called for it, and in the early years the entire family was often there, helping out when it was busy or just visiting Grandma and Grandpa when it was not so busy.

Down the hall from the main living area was the office space, and adjacent to that was the convenience store. As times were different back then, perhaps simpler, perhaps not, the store held more than just convenience items. It was chock full of the general store items that one might imagine would come in handy in some way or another, and loads and loads of groceries. A bi-weekly trip to town was the standing order to replenish the stock and pick up any maintenance items that were needed. Below the house and store was workshop space and the “ice house”. Full of large blocks of ice that had been cut from the frozen lake, the ice would keep all summer insulated in a thick layer of sawdust.

It was quite the place. In the spring of 1986 the building that not only Grandma’s house, but was also the place from which Halley’s Camps and outposts had grown and blossomed, burned to the ground taking with it a piece of everyone’s heart. No one was injured, and the Halley’s being a resilient lot, set to work to do what needed to be done. As the center of operations for Caribou Falls Landing had been destroyed, a new office and store needed to be rebuilt, and fast as the opening of fishing season was quickly approaching. Family and friends came together and, with a plan of attack, built the current store and office at Caribou. It took a mere three weeks to construct, for that was all the time we could afford the project.

That was the old. The new is coming soon! In the works for Caribou is a new “Lodge” that will take the place of the old store / office. The new main building will be a fresh look and a welcome addition for all! We will keep you updated on the progress throughout the construction process.

May 2007
Spring has arrived, and we are welcoming it with open arms! The weather has been progressing normally and we have been having a pretty average spring. The ice went out as usual during the last week of April on the smaller lakes and creeks, with the bigger lakes following suit.

At River Air in Minaki, the airplanes will be once again returning to their place at the dock, ready and waiting for our spring anglers! Wouldn’t you like to be here right now, getting set to head out to a private outpost or perhaps to one of our all inclusive lodges?

Pictured above: The Turbine Otter waits at the dock at River Air in Minaki for a trip to a great fishing destination.
Pictured below: Beautiful spring northern pike are hungry and waiting! This one was caught and released at Sharpstone Lake Outpost.

Hi everyone…

Just a quick info snippet…

We’ve enabled comments again on the blog. We’ve installed two levels of spam protection… you’ll see one of them when you try to add a comment - an image with a code of letters and numbers in it. Just enter what’s in that image into the box beside it.

Bookmark this blog and keep checking back… news and announcements will be post here regarding all of our outpost cabins and services!

Don’t be afraid to leave us a comment and let us know how your trip with us went…

Take a moment to think about the future of fishing, and think about a family fishing vacation. At Halley’s, we pride ourselves on our conservation fishing policies. Who wouldn’t want to preserve for our children the quality of outdoors experiences that we have become accustomed to?

We are now counting down the weeks until the opening of walleye season - it will be here sooner than we think!Everyone with reservations this summer at either our lodges or our outposts should now be finalizing their travel plans. Remember that anyone travelling on international flights are now required to posess a valid passport! Travellers crossing our shared border by land will not need a passport for the 2007 season, but do need to bring photo ID and proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate.If you don’t have reservations but are still interested, it is not too late! We have a few good spots still available at a variety of our locations. Give us a call at 1-800-465-3325 and let’s go fishing!