Love is in the Air: Revised

August has brought more couples into Tall Pines, and love is in the air. Ryan and I celebrated our 22 year anniversay, and Earl and Patsy's 39 year anniversary was yesterday. And to add to it, we have 2 couples here now on their honeymoon! I love it. Couples taking that evening cocktail down to the docks to take in the sunset, and getting that quality couple time on the water in a most picturesque setting.

With any companion, however, there are moments of frustration- and fishing is no exception. Fishermen have that love/hate relationship with the fish. Some days the fish can cooperate, be predictable, and give you the biggest sense of joy and your bond is tight. I bet many of you out there have talked to the fish- maybe even some of you have kissed one.., And then the next day they can be stand-offish, fiesty, and stubborn. And the worst is when the fish give you the silent treatment- you can see them on your electronics but they just seem to be ignoring you and want some alone time. In the end, true love is about the patience, adapting, giving what the other wants, and accepting the highs of the catch of a lifetime and the lows of not getting any action :)

Temps have tapered off- air temps in the 70's and water temps in the upper 60's. The cool evening air makes for great sleeping weather, but some low wind days haven't pushed fish into shore-lines like we'd like to see. Pike fishing has been outstanding these last few weeks. Smallie action has been consistent, and numerous guests have been getting their perch limit. As you'll see, those targeting lake trout with the proper gear have been rewarded as well. Walleye are still being moody, and it takes some work to get them to bite. There's a lot of bait fish around to compete with we we're hoping that bite picks up a little.

**I accidentally forgot to include some pics when I originally posted...

Here's Grant's big walleye:

And Charlie's 31" pike:

And Dad Jake's nice smallie:

They did shore lunch with another father sons combo- Mike wanted boys Ethan and Gavin to experience the Canadian waters like he has:

And our last week's Bear's Den crew also did a shore lunch:

And those delicious fish fries can make one go into a food coma as Brad demonstrated:

while Dan the man caught some thick pike:

One of our Tall Pines couples Ron and Annie had a blast catching multi-species throughout the week:

Blair landed this 27" lake trout and was pretty stoked...

But then his fishing buddy Steve had to one-up him and caught this monster 35.5":

It was a love at first sight bond, and he took his time reviving this one. Here's the last bit of video of release:

Brothers Colton and Collin were into numbers this past week, catching tons of pike, smallies, perch and occasional walleye:

During "date day" Ryan thought it'd be romantic to reel this one one:

But Howie wins the romantic award for romancing his wife Breezie with this one:

They are documenting their journey including stops in Lake of the Woods Brewery, the morning fog gettin gear in the boat, and a few fish caught on day 1:

Howie is the one who started TLCFA (Tight Lines Canadian Fishing Adventures) and they'll for sure be a lot more on this couple for the next blog!

This Kansas family was a delight and loved how they made t-shirts for their family fishing vacation:

Leaderboards from last 2 weeks:

And some pics that got missed last month. Outdoorsy couple Ryan and Sara doubling up:

They and their super nice kids had a ball catching lots of fish and hanging at camp too:

Couple time pickin blueberries:

Moose tracks at camp:

Katie is a regular at taking local artist Helen's workshops; over the years Katie has done 9 paintings with Helen, watercolour being her favorite. (Andrea, we know you'll love this one)

Potluck festivities continued:

And Collin captured some brilliant pics of the Perseid meteor shower last week:

Some sunsets our couples, and others, captured:

And Earl's favorite sunset pic of the week:

With love in the air, cheers to true love- on and off the Wabaskang.