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1999 Bear Lake XVII
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News:01/31/2001

I found this excellent picture Jeff Mundey sent me of a large Pike he caught on Cranberry.

Here is his story: I think that fish must have been sick - notice the sore on the top of the fish just behind the head. She measured 42" and by all rights should have weighed 20-23 pounds, but barely tipped the scales at 13 pounds. Compared to the size of the body the head is huge, so I suspect that fish at one time weighed much more. It went back into Cranberry, hopefully to get well and be caught again someday.

 

 
BurntCabin redefined Canadian Bass Fishing for the 9 men that experienced one of the most decorated and colorful lakes of the Whitefish Watershed.  A lake built by Beaver and myth, BurntCabin produced more active fish in one day of fishing than most lakes produce the entire week.  Memories of 1999 focus on the weedy shoreline, Trumpeter Swans, and the dark low-water of this remote lake.  One rumor circling through camp like a hurricane described the four father fisherman of our group catching 250 bass in four hours.  I will leave it up to you to believe.

Will BurntCabin be the preferred destination for 2000?  Who will be the first to Bushwhack to BurntCabin?

BurntCabin catch on Friday

What to Pack for a Burntcabin Overnight

The Proposed Menu

Catalpa Worms?

Bear Lake Newsletter #1

Bear Lake Newsletter #2

Bear Lake Newsletter #3

The 1999 Bear Lake Story

Fishermen for Bear Lake 1999

small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Jim Perrine Michigan, Canton small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Brian Kline Connecticut, Milford
small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Dave Borchelt Georgia, Atlanta small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Garland Hutto Alabama, Clanton
small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Tom Kline Texas, Arlington small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Matt Kline Ohio, Cincinnati
small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  James Hutto Mississippi, Madison small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Scott Borchelt Michigan, Rochester Hills
small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Jack Harding Colorado, Denver small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Bob Taylor Indiana, Crawfordsville
small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Mike Goodrich Michigan, Gaylord small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Jim Willman Michigan, Ada
small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Jerry Van Norman Mississippi, Liberty small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Vaughn McDaniel2 Michigan, Ada
small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Todd Swenson Michigan, Clarkston small leaf bullet.gif (260 bytes)  Vaughn McDaniel3 Michigan, Ada

Rookies for 1999 include a second year rookie, Jerry Van Norman and a true first year rookie, Jim Willman.  The initiation for this years rookies promises to be one of the best ever.  Be afraid.... very afraid.

Lessons Learned from 1999

  1. Have initiation early in the week
    We have missed initiation 2 years in a row.  It's just too frantic trying to complete the Euchre tourney, pack, clean, fish and find beverages at the end of the week.  Lets try to initiate on Saturday night while we are fresh, well-fed and have plenty of beverages.
  2. Buy extra beer & liquor inside Canada
    We have been stopping at the duty-free store before the border for a long time.  It always creates a slow down before dinner and we still have to pay penalty when going across the border.  As a result of buying in Canada, we save more due to the great exchange rate of the US dollar, we don't pay extra duty at the border and we create less of a problem when declaring overage to the border guard.
  3. Order Crawlers through Chuck
    The crawlers Chuck had for us were beautiful.  Fat & sassy, they practically herded the bass in this year.  Chuck is also able to get them last minute.  So we can order a conservative supply and then on Tuesday, order extra if we look low.  This year we had 2 extra flats besides the crawlers everyone took home.
  4. Mike has the rest...

Travel Plans for 1999

Official Departure -- Leaving Flint Michigan from George's on Friday, July 31st at 9:30 AM.

Current Travel plans
  1. Thursday, July 29th.  -- Flint
    Jerry Van Norman (R2), James & Garland Hutto will arrive in Flint from Alabama and Mississippi.  Bob Taylor will also arrive from Indiana.  Todd and I will spend Thursday night in Flint helping to organize the cars, boats and food stored at the Tallmans.
Jerry Van Norman
James Hutto
Garland Hutto
Scott Borchelt
Todd Swenson
Bob Taylor
  1. Friday, July 30th. -- Flint
    Tom Kline, Matt Kline and Brian Kline will arrive in Flint Friday morning w/ Jim Perrine.  Garland, Brian Kline and I will be the drivers heading North to meet the others waiting in Gaylord. 
 Tom Kline
Matt Kline
Brian Kline
Jim Perrine
  1. Friday, July 30th.  -- Gaylord
    Jim Willman, Vaughn2 and Vaughn 3 will head Thursday night to the McDaniel's cabin to spend the night before heading to Gaylord on Friday.  Jim Willman is the fourth driver of our group.  He is towing his bass boat so we will have plenty of room for gear and an extra BIG lake boat for exploring Bear in the evenings.
 Jim Willman
Vaughn McDaniel 2
Vaughn McDaniel 3
Mike Goodrich
  1. Sunday, August 1st.  -- Espanola
    Jack Harding and Dave Borchelt will drive in together from Grand Rapids, arriving sometime on Sunday.  They will be bringing more beer and undoubtedly, more stories. Their arrival will complete our group  -----  Let the games begin.
 Dave Borchelt
Jack Harding
TalkAbouts for Traveling...
Forget the CBs this year.  We should have many TalkAbouts for the trip up.  I know of these for sure.. If you have more, let me know.
Todd Swenson 2
Scott Borchelt 1
Dave Borchelt 3
Kline's ??? 1 ???		  

New for Bear Lake 1999 - XVII

  • Bring your own Type III Life Jackets
    New Canadian regulations require all boaters have a wearable life jacket in the boat.  This means that float cushions no longer satisfy the requirements. 
  • 2 Rookies (Jerry Van Norman and Jim Willman)
    We spent so much time fishing in 1998, we forgot to initiate Jerry.  The last time this happend, Todd Swenson was a rookie.  We initiated him the next year with rookies Garland and James Hutto.  This year, Jerry Van Norman gets initiated with Jim Willman from Ada, Michigan.  A veteran from the Whistling Trout Society, Jim Willman will fit in nicely but will need to work on his euchre before I take him for a partner.
  • The Fish Stick
    Todd Swenson has created the perfect measuring device to settle any and all disputes regarding HOW we are measuring fish, i.e., mouth open, mouth closed, measure the boards or measure the fish, tail open or tail closed.  The Fish Stick is a thing of beauty and perfect function.  At the 0 end is a board where you place the nose of your fish.  The length of the fish rests on a ruler.  With the nose firmly at 0, you can then measure the maximum length at the tail.  Even Jim Perrine, our previous official ruler can't argue with the Fish Stick.  Thanks Todd!
  • New stoves in Cabin 2 and 8
  • New deck in front of lodge
  • New T-shirts for 1999
  • Deep Fryer
  • Check out www.blwc.com

 

 
  Visit the website for Bear Lake Wilderness Camp at http://www.blwc.com
  This page was last modified on 02/07/2002 1:00 AM