[Bear Lake Camp News 1982]

 Dear Friends, Bear Lake Enthusiasts and Mad Dogs:

                 Looking across the frozen expanse of Bear Lake with winds whipping across at near hurricane speeds, blowing and drifting the snow into three and four foot drifts, I figured it wouldn't be such a bad idea to just sit down, open a brew and start on my yearly edition of Bear Lake News.  (The wind chill factor out there now is about 60 below!)  We do have nicer weather but since the 3rd. of January it hasn't got above 0.

                Freeze up was a slow process this year and ice conditions were not all that good until January 1st.  Albert and Ellie who stayed at the camp during freeze up were stranded  on the island from Nov. 15th -- no trips to town and no visitors.  When I arrived on Jan. 5th, they were pretty glad to see someone as they were down to bare necessities (can goods).  Albert's first words were  "You wouldn't happen to have a cigarette?"  They left Canada for Switzerland on Jan. 15th. but said they would do it again as they enjoyed the experience and roughing it.  Since then I have been here at the camp alone -- just me and my dog braving the northern wilderness.  Carol and Anita will be arriving about Feb. 5th. 

FISH STORIES 

LAKE TROUT

The largest of the season was caught by Tom Fahnstock of Dayton, Ohio.  Tom, one of our first in the Mad Dog crowd, has been waiting 7 years for this one -- it weighed 11 pounds.  Well done Pizzaman!!!! 

NORTHERN PIKE

The largest Northern Pike was caught in Roundotter by our good friend Louis Morley from South Bend, Ind.  -- it weighed a whopping 14 pounds!!!  This was one of the nine fish mounted in 1981.  The closest runner up would have been young Steve Fritz of St. James, N.Y. -- poor guy lost a big one in Bear Lake -- well maybe next time Steve! 

SMALLMOUTH BASS

The biggest Smallmouth was taken by (you guess who  ).  It weighed over five pounds, was out of season and he swears that he threw it back ! ! ! 

LARGEMOUTH BASS

The season in Largemouth was really fantastic.  If I mentioned everyone it would probably fill this page.  The largest belongs to Don Brown of Dayton, Ohio -- it weighed 6 1/4 pounds -- some nice fish Don !!!  Runners up are Wayne Shuh, Jeff Mundy both of Dayton and our own Albert, all over 5 pounds.  A big cheer and a big kiss to you all!  Also should give honorable mention to Mike McVaney, New York and Stan Gould, Ohio, both over 4 pounds.  The nicest stringer I have ever seen is no doubt the foursome that stayed overnight in Stoney -- brought home 22 Bass with a total weight of 54 pounds.  We have pictures to prove it --  eh, Wayne, Spence, TK, Jeff, Z and Ben! 

WALLEYE

We got a few more this year than previously -- with both Richard Fries, Mercersburg, PA. and Delbert Myers, Keyers, W. Va., each getting two.  Interesting enough is that a few of them weighed only 4 to 5 pounds instead of the usual 8 to 12.  Maybe that is a good sign for the years to come. 

HUNTING

Pretty good year for the Bear Hunters with a total of six killed.  Tow at approximately 200 -- 255 lbs.  by Don Shrout of Cumberland, Md. and Lanny Harris of Hagerstown, Md. Guide -- None other than the King of Bears and Southern Comfort - Chet Amick, Cumberland.

Our hunters from Switzerland also killed two -- Roman Brinda and Bruno Herzog are both proud of their trophies.  Two more were shot by Ken Stump and his party -- one weighing approximately 375 lbs. --- Well Done Guys!!!

The Pennsylvania party was no so successful -- saw two but didn't get them.  That's the breaks -- Maybe next time fellows.  Even if they didn't get their bear, they are darn good pool players? 

No Moose hunters but I have Moose in the freezer! 

FUNNY STORIES  (to me anyhow) 

·                     There is this guy named Brown from Dayton, Ohio who went fishing in Cranberry all day and on the way back decides to troll the shoreline of the big lake.  I guess he hadn't been trolling more than 5 minutes when he latched onto his 10 lb. Laker!!! Well the funny thing in this story is that the Lake Trout are suppose to be down deep in 75 feet of water in the summer and not in 5 feet.  The fellows fishing with wire line, downriggers, etc. didn't think it was so funny.  Some guys have all the luck and others none.

·                     Dayton, Ohio seems to be the stronghold of the big fisherman, comics and dunces because the dunces who walked all the way to Stoney (about 4 miles) without taking the key to the canoes is from Dayton (by the way about 3 other parties did the same thing).  But to top it all, the same guys the very next day, this time with the key, got beat to the boats on Lower Cranberry by four fragile young ladies from Fort Wayne, Ind.

·                     The girls we are talking about here are, as already stated, four brave, fragile, soft spoken hard fishing and hard drinking young ladies.  They figured "What the men can do every year, we can too".  They came to Bear Lake without the guys -- portaged to a Back Lake every day -- fished from 6 in the morning to evening -- brought stringers back that would envy a lot of fisherman --  cleaned their own fish and had time to party every evening.  The hi-lite of their week was a formal party on Friday evening, complete with tablecloths, flower arrangements, hors d'oeuvres, cocktails and four lovely hostesses dressed in evening clothes.  The whole island was invited --  It really was a first for Bear Lake!  The girls enjoyed their week of roughing it so much -- they went home and made plans to do it again this year.  (Sorry guys that week is already booked out).

·                     Our Windsor Posties are still the All Time Bear Drinking Champs -- this time the weather was pretty cold and they only managed 28 cases.  The were all sorry not to keep up the 32 case record they set last year but promise to do better.  Those Bear Lake Champ Sweatshirts will have to be for Beer Drinking, not Lake Trout this year.

·                     Last but not least is our long distance swimmer with clothing on.  He was shedding them so fast that his jacket is still somewhere in Little Van Winkle along with his fishing rod, tackle box and other items, after his involuntary rolling of the boat.  Believe me the water is already mighty cold in the fall -- isn't it Laurie? 

[Outdoor Life] 

GENERAL INFORMATION 

WE ARE HERE AT THE CAMP --- THE PHONE IS HOOKED UP AND THE NUMBER IS:

705-368-3124

 We will be expanding our dining room service this year and meals will be available for housekeeping guests.

 It looks like we are going to run a new Taxiboat this year.  I was able to acquire a 22 ft. Deckcraft.  With it I will try to get two to three parties in at the same time.  In other words, just two, maybe three runs on a Saturday instead of the usual 6 or so.  First run 8:30 a.m. and second 11:00 a.m.  This should eliminate your waits at the dock and help lick some of our motor problems.

So just look for the "BEAR LAKE QUEEN" coming down the lake.

 We have at the moment about 4 feet of snow (more than usual) - the ice is about 2 feet thick, weather is warming up and snowmobile conditions are super. 

Postal address is still the same:

BEAR LAKE CAMP
P.O. BOX 1819
ESPANOLA, ONTARIO
P0P 1C0 

Hope to see all of you again fit, trip and healthy,

                                                                Tight Lines and Happy Landings in 1982
                                                                            Matt & Carol