Week 1:

Keeping up with the blog didn’t go very well! I will try and give a recap of the summer. We did have one of our best fishing seasons in 2014. The weather for the most part was decent,  after we got through our latest ice out since 1979. We opened on May 17th and that morning our bay was still half covered in ice. We had six parties that took the challenge for opening week. Our thanks go out to those brave fisherman who believed me when I told them they would be able to fish opening day! Ron Schaal is one of these fisherman and he hasn’t missed an opening week with us since our family purchased the lodge 35 years ago. Thanks Ron! They were all able to get out that morning and by the end of the day, the lake was open as far as you could see. Rudy and Rich never left sight of the lodge. They caught 6 Lake Trout between 30-36″, as they are cold water fish. It wasn’t quite swimming weather in the bay! We were planning to take our annual Lake Trout trip to Clearwater Lake but it was still covered in ice. We decided to do a Walleye trip instead and it turned out great! We caught a number of slot walleye as well as over the slot fish, and we had a great fish fry for lunch! Over all, the week ended up to be a decent week for weather and fishing and we will look forward to those returning guests next year during opening week!

Week 2:

We went from moderate weather to probably our hottest week of the summer and this was in May! It helped to eliminate any remaining ice on the lake and brought a few surprise sunburns to some unprotected fisherman. We were still experiencing a little slower occupancy at the lodge this week as there were a number of parties that believed we would have ice on the lake until June! These fisherman caught both size and quantity of fish but really had to struggle with mid 90’s weather, which is uncommon in our area, especially during May! We will have pictures from the different weeks on our photo gallery for 2014. The ones from this week are the ones with sunburned fisherman!

Weeks 3-7:

I will combine the month of June into one blog for two reasons. This is probably the most sought after week of the season, as everyone seems to believe that you have to fish Canada in June! After our latest ice out in 35 years, I can see their point but we have not been shut out yet. Each week in June consists of mainly long time repeat guests that make their annual fishing trip to Cedar Point Lodge. Many of our guests had said it was one of their best years of fishing to date. We will post the pictures we have received from our guests on our photo gallery. One of the most common comments made by our repeat guests is how well the slot size program has worked on Eagle Lake. We have really seen what our conservation methods have done as they have been in force on Eagle Lake for over 25 years. Each of our species is protected in limit quantities as well as size restrictions. A number of these guests comment that they wished their own DNR would use some of the same regulations in their own home state.The walleye were being caught, through most of June, in shallow water due to the later ice out and fishing in front of the lodge was as good a place as any! I kept telling our guests that and some probably thought it was because of the price of fuel!

Weeks 8-11:

I could use the same reason for combining the month of July as I did for June, as we again have a number of repeat guests each week and the weather is pretty similar throughout this month.   I’m looking through the reservation sheet at the parties that were at the lodge in July and I see a common theme. There were a number of large families that have been coming to Cedar Point Lodge for a number of years. We have watched many of the kids that come up at this time grow up with ours and we look back at each weekly fish fry, bon-fire and the social events that we host during this month. The lake is actually warm enough to swim in at this time and we have the added bonus of being able to pick blueberries towards the middle and end of the month. I end up having the odd extra blueberry pancake breakfast at this time. There are a number of couples that have been coming for 25-35 years and groups of guys that target the larger musky. The  walleye were stacked on the reefs at this time and there were a number of under water reefs through out the lake that provided ample opportunities. I finally get a chance to get out on the lake at this time of the year and enjoy my trips out with these long time friends and with Sharon and the kids as well. I always tell guests that if I can catch fish, the fishing must be good! The lodge owner in most cases doesn’t get to fish as much as you would think or we would like!

Weeks 12-15:

This month was popular for the first two weeks with families, before the kids had to go back to school. We have one family that has been coming up for many years. The one brother now has 10 kids coming up with him and the sister missed this year due to expecting twins. There are a number of long time families that have come up diligently at this time, and it’s great seeing the second and third generation fisherman. We have a number of father and son groups as well as a few couples at this time who’s kids are having families of their own now and not quite ready to make an annual trip to Cedar Point Lodge yet. We average around 80-85% repeat business and many of these parties have been coming for many years and are like family! One of the best parts of this business is the longtime relationships that are built with these families. They have enjoyed watching our family grow up as we have with their’s, and we look forward to hearing about their successes in life as they go from high school to college and then into the working world.

We were fishing the reefs for walleye and northern throughout this period and had the best success using 1/8 to 1/4 oz lead head jigs, tipped with either a minnow, night crawler or a leech. Lindy rigs and spinners also worked well. I couldn’t believe how successful people were trolling spinners in fairly shallow bays also at this time and catching good numbers of walleye. Normally this is a spring fishing technique.

Week 16- End of Season!

During the first three weeks of September, we had some of the best fall walleye fishing we’ve ever had. Sometimes the weather can be unstable at this time with cool weather and wind, but we had a beautiful fall and not much wind. We had a few musky hunters during this time but the bulk of them have been coming up towards the latter part of Septemberand through the whole month of October. We had a number of 50″ plus musky caught at this time and a special thanks goes out to our Essox Association of Manitoba that stays with us in mid- October each year. They had such a great outing that they have reserved two trips for next fall! We have a few parties that combine the fall fishing with small game hunting, and the grouse hunting was at a high this fall. Ryan and I were able to get a number of grouse and they were excellent to eat. Ryan has really gotten into the bird hunting with his friends and he has an awesome recipe for duck that is out of this world! We did not do any significant outfitting for hunting this fall. We had been hit hard by an extremely harsh winter that reduced our moose and deer populations. We did have one hunter for deer and he got a personal best 10 pt buck. We did utilize our one bull moose tag and we did harvest a young bull moose. Overall the season was a little down for business due to a late ice out and not doing a significant hunt in the fall. It how ever was one of the best fishing seasons we’ve had and we are looking forward to the same success in 2015! Our bookings are up at this point, compared to last year and the chalets are now already 60% booked for our main season with reservations coming in daily. If you are limited to a certain week or cabin, don’t wait too long! Our Christmas mailing just went out (4500 calendars) and the phone calls usually start coming in steadily only a few days after they go out for yearly reservations. If you are reading this and you are a repeat guest that did not receive a card, please contact us with your new address by email. Those that have reserved already and haven’t confirmed with a deposit, please do so soon as we can’t hold a reservation without a deposit. Thanks again to all of our repeat guests that have continued to make Cedar Point Lodge their vacation destination and those that are new guests to our resort! We look forward to seeing everyone in 2015! Have a Merry Christmas and best wishes in the New Year!

Pat, Sharon, Janelle, Ryan, and all of the staff at Cedar Point Lodge

P.S. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter. I am in the process of drafting our first one. It will be a simple one until I get used to making them and can elaborate on the content and pictures. I will wait until one week after our mailing has been received to do this first newsletter, to give our repeat guests time to register.

This is a new web site and we have taken some of the initial material from our old site. I haven’t been one in the past to be actively involved in keeping a blog and as you can see, our blog is outdated. I hope to be diligent in actively updating our blog this year. We hope to keep you updated on all the excitement we experience during the year at Cedar Point Lodge!

Chris Pronger is from Dryden, Ontario ( 30 minutes east of resort ) and has had an outstanding career playing hockey in the NHL. He has won numerous awards for excellence during his career and was a key member of the Canadian Olympic team this past winter in Vancouver when they won the Gold medal. Chris has been in three Stanley Cup finals in the last four years and was successful in winning with the Anaheim Ducks. He is playing for the Philadelphia Flyers and they have been having another great season so far. We wish him another successful season!

Chris, his brother Sean( 11 year NHL career ) along with four others dads, visited our resort last summer with 10 of their children. They had a great time and Chris has reserved a week in 2011.

Testimonial from Chris Pronger: ” From the week long family trip to the weekend fishing trip with your friends, Cedar Point Lodge has something for everyone! We stayed in the Loon’s Nest Cabin and what a treat that was. I was at Cedar Point Lodge with 10 kids and 6 adults and we all managed to find our own space in the cabin. Many of the kids had not been fishing before and of course the guides got us onto some fish right away. My niece Kaia Pronger ( Sean’s daughter ) caught a 28″ Walleye. She was grinning from ear to ear not even knowing what she had caught. It was larger than any Walleye her dad has ever caught. Just a subtle jab! Where or how do I begin to talk about the food and service…..ALL EXCELLENT. We were served remarkable meals and if we ever needed anything there was never a question, just a simple ” we will get that right to you”. That is what separates Cedar Point Lodge from many of the resorts I have been to. A family friendly type atmosphere with the simple goal of making sure you leave with a smile on your face and a belly full of fish!! Is there a better way to leave than that? ”

The below pictures show our “New Lodge”. We have added onto what was our lodge 31 years ago and have come up with a beautiful new lodge with a spectacular view of Eagle Lake! We hope to have completed the construction by our opening in 2011.

(August 1-8/2009) This week turned out to be a lot nicer in weather than the previous week and some of the best overall fishing we’ve had! We had a number of trophy fish caught and had guests do well on Lake Trout, Musky, Walleye and Northern Pike. I don’t think we did much with the Smallmouth this week. As usual we had a number of long time guests with us this week and special recognition to the Smith family with 30 years with us and the Jonynas Party who missed a few years with us but have become regulars again,thanks!

The Ross family,have come up the last several years with third generation fisherman as well as a number of others. Dale and Bill finished their week off strong after a slower start. We had some great fishing in some of the out lakes as well as great structure fishing and after dinner fishing. The evening fishing produced some of the best numbers of trophy Walleye with the majority of them released. There were a few kept for trophy mounts. We’ll have to work on promoting the replicas as they are definitely the way to go with the technology there is today with graphite and flex fish replicas. We look forward to those pictures being sent to us for this weeks success stories!

(July 25-August 1st/2009) Guess what, it rained! What can you say except there were a lot of great people who fished through it! It rained sometime during each day and everyday this week. We had a great group of people and we still managed to get some descent fish. We had a higher number of Canadian guests this week and our son Ryan met some great friends from Calgary, Alberta that were participating in a hockey school with him in Vermilion Bay. His hockey buddy Jason from Chicago and team mate Josh from Dryden also participated in the school. Puck Masters ( Illinois based company) has put the school on the last 5 years. Thanks to a 1.2 million dollar grant to the Vermilion Bay Arena, it was held in Vermilion Bay. We had three couples celebrating Anniversary’s this week with a 40, 26 and 13 year celebrations. Congratulations to all three couples and we wish you many more- especially at Cedar Point Lodge!

We had some descent Walleye caught off of structure but still pulling them out of 10-12′ in the edge of weeds. The Orde’s were on the Smallmouth this week using slip bobbers in bays close to rock points. A few people were working Muskies and raising some nice ones but none boated over 45″.

(June 27- July 25/2009) I have fell short on the weekly blog for the last five weeks and will do one report, it has been a busy month. We’ve had a significant amount of rain and cooler weather the past five weeks and as I type this- it’s been pouring for the past two days! We’ve had only a few days over 80 and the water temps have stayed cooler than normal. The nice days were enjoyed by the families with beach action and tubing.

We have been catching good numbers on the reefs this past month but also have been getting good numbers of fish in the weeds in 8-12′. The Musky action has been good with numbers and boated fish. We haven’t had as many boated over 50″ with most being in the upper 40’s. We have heard of several in the mid 50’s caught on the lake. We have had several groups fishing Lake Trout this past month with a number in the 10-18lb range. Stan had a better year with the Trout and some new parties fishing for them also did well. Jim had a slower start but finished strong. We thank all that have visited us during this time and will get as many pictures up as we can. Thanks for those who sent their pictures and those that haven’t yet, please do so.

We are quickly approaching August and the long range forecast is for warmer and stable weather. We’ll believe that when we see it! Our spring started slow with bookings down from previous years but our summer has filled in pretty good, thanks to a number of latter bookings. Our fall is a little slower at this time so anyone looking for a last minute trip give us a call and take advantage of our second trip and fall discount specials. We still have a few openings for our fall deer hunts.

Pat, Sharon, Janelle, Ryan and staff

This was to be our busiest week of the season. We had a few new parties who quickly fit in with the repeat guests. We had a week of great weather and fishing and by the end of the week, most of our guests looked like they had spent a week in a warm tropical resort. Rich was voted the best dressed fisherman of the week and everyone had fun in the lodge at night with the pool tournament. A special thanks to Sarah who chose a fishing vacation with her family to our lodge as her graduation from Highschool present. Their family had a great time and part of them are planning a return trip in August. The Barclay family had 13 people this year and this was their 30th year at Cedar Point Lodge.

Thanks for keeping this family tradition!

We were getting most of our Walleye in the shallow bays including our own and the Bass were peeking during this week. Lee would get a number of Walleye each night off the main dock and in general, the evening fishing was some of the best of the week. There is something special about catching fish with the lake like glass and the sun setting. You can’t find a much better cure for any troubles a person may have! Thanks to all our staff and guests who helped make this a great week!

Pat, Sharon, Janelle, Ryan and staff

(June 6-13/09) We had a number of Musky caught again with most people fishing the shallow bays. Smallmouth Bass as predicted were being caught in better numbers and size and Northern were caught along with the Walleye with a few 40” plus taken. When the numbers would slow down, a larger Musky or Northern would be caught cruising the shallows feeding on the schools of Perch and Walleye. A group from Missouri said they caught five descent Musky fishing for Walleye and Smallmouth Bass. Trout were starting to be hit and miss in the portage lake but a few were caught again this week in the main lake.

The week again produced poor weather on and off and the coming week finally shows promise of summer weather. Walleye were starting to make the transition from bays and up channels towards areas where they will be found later in the warmer weather. With the water temps below normal, some of the deep reefs in channels were producing some large fish. We were getting a few nice fish off the camp dock and feel this week should start producing numbers in our bay. I’ve been saying this for three weeks so hopefully this is the week. We just got a 24” Walleye release from Dennis an hour ago on the dock and a 25″ and 29 1/2″ in the bay. The boys from St. Louis caught some nice slot and over in the Bay this morning. As I write this there are four of our boats fishing the bay. People just hate to fish in front of the lodge when there is all this water to explore. I think they believe we are just trying to save gas!Thanks again for those who stayed with us this week and keep sending the pictures!

Pat, Sharon, family and staff

May 30-June 6/09) Will summer ever arrive! Another week of below normal temps and nights that forecast possible frost warnings. Sharon and her mother have been patiently waiting to plant all the flowers they normally place around the lodge and resort.

The fish are still in shallow water and temps were in the mid 50′s in some bays and cooler in other areas. With the cool weather we were getting a number of Lake Trout caught while fishing for Walleyes and the portage lake was still producing Lakers along the shore lines as well as a number of larger Northerns. Numbers were good for under slot Walleye and one of the common statements now is that people are catching more slot and over the slot Walleye than eater size fish. The slot size has really paid off on Eagle as does the other size restrictions on Northern, Smallmouth Bass, Lake Trout and Musky! We have been encouraging people not to take pictures of Musky and to try and release them without taking them out of the water. Their season opens the 3rd Saturday in June. We have had a number of 35-45″ fish caught this season and as they get closer to their spawning time, we expect larger fish to be caught fishing for other species.

The Smallmouth have been active and we expect the next two weeks to be peak spring action. We are seeing a number of moose this spring and this is great to see as our large deer population has kept their numbers down from peak years. The road trip from Fort Frances to Dryden has produced common sightings of Moose and Bear as well as a few Wolves. People are stopping and feeding the bears along 502 which isn’t recommended for them or the bears. All those reading this weeks blog that were here this past week, please send those on the lake pictures as promised as I would rather show the ones getting released than hanging by the “Caught at Cedar Point Lodge ” sign!

Pat, Sharon,family and staff