Mid-Summer Update!
July 24th, 2010
Welcome to our website here at La Tourell's Resort & Outfitters! Whether you are planning a trip to the Boundary Waters for the first time or if you are a regular visitor here, we hope that this site is helpful to you. We'll be updating the site frequently with fishing reports, forest conditions, and other helpful information. We've recently updated the look and content of the site and we hope you enjoy the added features and photos. Enjoy!
Fishing continues to be excellent, as the fish have settled into their predictable summer patterns. The walleyes are now being found consistently in the summer locations of deeper water rockpiles, although we still have some walleyes on the edges of deeper weedlines. Recent catches have included very nice average sizes with 4-5 lb fish being very common. A 30 inch fish was also released this week, along with our guests bringing back some nice meals of "eater" size fish. Leeches and crawlers on live bait rigs have been most effective. The bass have been very active, with a guest today almost complaining that they were catching too many bass. Another reported a day of 70 fish for himself and his wife this week. Included in that catch were two fish over 5 lbs. Some of the fish are being found in deep rockpile areas, although many fish will still be found in the fairly shallow areas. Live bait rigs with leeches and crawlers have been used for the smallmouth, although plastics, crankbaits, and topwater presentations have also been doing well. Pike fishing has also been very good, with some 45" inch fish and many in the upper 30's caught recently. Huge numbers of smaller fish have also been reported. We've had some decent lake trout reported, including a few huge fish in the 20 plus pound range. Although the trout are a bit deeper at this time of the year, many of our canoeing guests have had some good catches, with trolling in the deeper areas of the trout lakes producing quite well. Finally, the bluegills have been co-operative in some of the shallower bays. Our family has even been able to get the kids out to target these kid-friendly fish.
After our extremely unusual early warm and dry spring, we've seen much more typical weather patterns since June. Forest conditions are now very healthy with the timely rains that we've had. Lake levels are still lower than it normally is at this time of the year, but its not as much of a difference than it was early in the season. There are currently no fire restrictions with these healthy moisture levels.
The early ice-out gave us a bit more of a chance to get out in the woods ourselves before our busy season began. Mindy and Bob were able to make a canoe trip and cover quite a bit of territory in late April, with a loop trip of about 55 miles. We of course enjoy the trips themselves and getting a chance at some great fishing, but also like to stay current on the routes that we utilize for all of your trips. We had a great time and enjoyed some outstanding weather and a beautiful full moon during the trip.
The wildlife has been quite active as of late with many of our cutomers reporting some great sightings. Many of the loons have fairly large young already, which probably was helped along by the early spring. However, I did just see a mother with two newly hatched young riding on her back last week. Moose were sighted by numerous guests in both the lakes frequented by our resort guests as well as those out on the canoe trails recently. Other guests reported seeing and hearing timberwolves, bears, beaver, otter, pine marten, many eagles, and many other species.
We're in the peak of the blueberry season right now. I had a report today of so many blueberries in one spot that the person didn't need to move to pick more big blueberries than they could eat. Raspberries have also been out for awhile and they also seem to have had a good year. Be sure to add these delicious additions to your morning pancakes.
As we hit the halfway point in our season, we still do have openings for both our canoe trips as well as our cabin acccommodations. As those of you that are regulars here know, it is best to get your reservations in early in order to secure the necessary permits for your preferred dates as well as your preferred date for cabin reservations. For those of you that still plan on setting up a trip for this summer, we do have some openings for cabins and many dates still have permit availability for our canoe camping trips. In order to secure your preferred dates, we recommend getting your dates set at your earliest convenience as some dates will soon begin filling up.
As we do every season, we now have some of our canoes available to purchase. I've listed the remaining canoes we have available for you and their prices below. Please contact us at 1-800-365-4531 and talk to Bob if you would like to discuss purchasing one of these great canoes or if you would like us to email you photos of any of these canoes. We'll also be selling some more models again in late September.
Kevlar Canoes (all are kevlar ultralight layup with internal skidplates, and free yoke pads).
Wenonah:
MN III 20' (3 seat canoe): $1500
Champlain 18': $1425
Boundary Waters 17': $1450
Encounter (solo 17'): $1395 (solo yoke is available to purchase)
Aluminum Canoes:
17' and 18' Alumacraft and Grumman Canoes
From $250 to $495 dependant on condition
Also, those of you that are doing canoe trips into the CANADIAN SIDE of our wilderness area (Quetico Park not the BWCA) should be aware that there have been a few changes in the last few years. The most important items to note are that Quetico Park has now implemented a ban on live or dead bait and also requires the hooks on your line to have the barbs pinched down (the rest of your tackle box may have the normal barbs....just those being used must be modified). The RABC permits to enter Canada are still the same, but in 2009 the US Customs implimented some new requirements to re-enter the USA. A passport is now required to re-enter the USA from anywhere (including here in Ely). US Customs is located just as you enter Ely from the NE (directly across from the Wolf Center). Again, these Quetico Park regulations only apply to canoe trips into this area, not to our resort guests or to BWCA canoe trips in the United States.
Thanks again for visiting our site! As we move through the 2010 season, we can't wait to see all of you that visit us each year as well as meeting those of you who will be our guests for the first time. We truly appreciate each of your visits with us and look forward to helping you with your vacation plans. We enjoy sharing in your experiences to these northwoods our family calls home!