An interesting parallel occured on Tuesday night.  One day after coming back from Aikens Lake, Hustler and Lawless interviewed Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews on their radio show.  Jonathan is looking forward to trying out for the Canadian Olympic hockey team, and that was what the interview was about.  However, they opened up the call by asking Jonathan how his experience at Aikens had gone this year.  Click on the link to listen to what they had to talk about (Select July 28, 7PM.  The interview starts around 7:08 and the link will be active until August 28th)

http://www.cjob.com/other/audiovault.html

The Children’s Wish Foundation Fundraiser:

This gives us the chance to also tell you guys about the successful Children’s Wish Foundation fundraising trip we hosted in late June this year.  The trip had come and gone and we never did have the opportunity to post anything about it, so this connection gives us the excuse to talk about it now!  Claudio Reda was the successful bidder on the trip for the 2nd year in a row.  He was not going to be outbid after having experienced Aikens last year!  This year, he invited his friend Terry Brown along.  Jonathan and his father Bryan were the consummate ambassadors for the Children’s Wish Foundation yet again.  They were able to relax after a long season which saw the Blackhawks make it all the way to the Western Conference finals!  This young team of talented hockey players is definitely a force to be reckoned with in the coming years.  Thanks to the Toews family for once again generously hosting this great fundraising trip, and thanks Claudio for being such a fervent supporter of the CWF.

For our Winnipeg followers, you will certainly recognize the names of Hustler and Lawless, which are synonymous with sports in Winnipeg.  These two lively characters have been hosting their own radio show (sports talk show) for the past few years on Winnipeg’s most listened to radio station, CJOB 68.  Gary Lawless is also one of the main writers in the Winnipeg Free Press sports department.  Hustler has hosted many television shows pertaining to sports including the NFL and golf.  We have been working with them on their radio show since 2007.  Lawless originally learned about Aikens when he came up here in 2006 to cover our PWT Celebrity Shootout for the Winnipeg Free Press.

Seeing as how their show runs Mon-Fri from six to eight p.m. there wasn’t a large window of opportunity for a trip to Aikens.  This had made scheduling difficult, but everything came together for a short 40 hour visit to Aikens over this past weekend.  What a whirlwind it was.  As Hustler put it, it was “total domination” on the lake!  On Friday’s show, Hustler called his shot.  Although he has never really fished before, he predicted to all of the listeners that he would be a Master Angler on the first night.  It was like pointing to the outfield fence then hitting the home run.  To Lawless’s disbelief, Hustler reeled in a 28″ walleye after being here less than 4 hours!  The hot fishing didn’t stop there - out of 4 guys, 3 of them came away with Master Angler awards.  It was an incredible stretch (only one full day plus one evening) of fishing for the group.  They also packed in as much excitement in Big Molly’s Bar.  Their charisma shone through as they had everyone in stitches until the early morning hours in the bar.  The topic of choice was Hustler’s Master Angler, which Gary still couldn’t believe.  Thankfully, the storms that were swirling over the lake didn’t develop enough and the two were able to fly out Monday morning to get ready for the big Monday night show.

To hear about what the two thought of their time at Aikens, you can go into the Audio Vault on the CJOB website to listen in (link valid until August 27th).  Select July 27th @ 6PM.  Skip forward to about 6:07 PM for the start of their show.  They talk about their weekend for the first 5 minutes.   Here is the link… enjoy!  http://www.cjob.com/other/audiovault.html

There was a brochure from the 70’s that we found a few years back when cleaning out some old boxes around the lodge.  That brochure showcased everything that Aikens Lake had to offer.  There was of course walleye fishing, pike, and lake trout.  They offered canoe trips, camping trips, and also bear hunts.  However, what really caught our eye was that they offered deer hunts!  We thought that the marketing effort that year was really swinging for the fences!

In the 20+ years the Turennes have been here, there was no real talk or evidence that there were deer in the area.  A few sightings here and there would never be substantiated with photo evidence.  Most of the time these sightings were believed to just be woodland caribou and that the person was confused between the caribou and the deer.  However, these sightings increased until in 2007, a veteran hunter was at Aikens and swore that he had spotted a whitetail deer on the shore.  He was adamant that it was a whitetail and not a caribou as he’d hunted dozens of deer in his life.  This gave us pause and we reconsidered the whole thing.

Well, the impossible happened the other day… a deer was photographed on the shores of Aikens!  It is the 3rd sighting of the year (there has been a 4th sighting since in Lost Lake).  The first three sightings, including the location in the photograph, were all on the big island just outside of the Cookie Jar.  Every sighting has always been of a single white(tail) female.  No calves, no bucks.

Although the picture is grainy (not unlike the classic Bigfoot pics we’ve all seen!) we can assure you this is not a hoax.  It was taken from quite a distance and this is the best we could zoom in on it.  The picture was sent to MB Conservation for verification, and they confirmed that that is indeed a whitetail!  They are very interested in this piece of news because deer this far north are very, very rare.  In fact, deer can carry brainworm disease that does not affect them in the least, but when passed on to moose becomes very dangerous for that species.  It is rare for deer and moose to share territory.  We have since found many deer tracks and droppings on the island.  We believe it to be the same deer we are seeing every time.  One wonders how long that deer will survive in this area, as its chances of finding a mate for procreation are going to be extremely low.

This weekend we welcomed back staff and guests as our annual July break came to a conclusion.  Everyone was in great spirits as the planes whisked everyone back to this little slice of paradise we call home!  The break allows the staff (and us!) to get that much needed time to recharge the batteries.  For those of you that have been to Aikens before, you know that we don’t take any days off up here so having the break is a great time to relax and look back on a very successful first half to our 2009 season.  It’s also a great time to reconnect with friends and family and keep all those relationships strong as well.

On the fishing side, it certainly didn’t take long for the boys to find where the walleyes were hiding out.  As you’ll recall, we had a very late spring with exceptionally high waters.  We are relieved to say that the waters are now finally receding… it was lapping at the top of our new dock when it crested less than two weeks ago!  When our break started in early July, the walleyes were still utilizing the river system and the shallow bays as their main hangouts.  However, with the warmer July weather and water, they have now moved onto all of the classic mid-summer reefs and structures!  Traditional places like the Gull Islands, South Arm, South Shore Reef, Bear Island, are hitting hard!  And of course, let’s not forget our favorite spot, the Saddle!  Pat found a huge 29.5″ in there on the first day back.   As you can see in the picture,  it is a very healthy fish with a big humpback, and it looks to have a lot of years left in it.  Let’s hope we see it again when it is 31″ or 32″!

We have had a charged first half with lots of people getting their taste of the “Aikens Experience”.  We had a good mix of returning guests and a whole crop of new guests that were very impressed with Aikens Lake.  The second half of our season will also be very busy, with only a few availabilities left in August.  September finally does calm down for us so if you are thinking of a late-season trip to Aikens, I am sure we can find a great time in the first half of September for you!  And if you’re thinking August, you never know… we might be able to fit you into one of the few time slots left!   We look forward to keeping everyone up to date with more frequent updates as we get busy again.  See you again soon,

Pit

The stage was set around a candle-lit supper, champagne on ice and family present. Patrick took a knee and a surprised Janelle, amidst a tearful smile, answered yes to his proposal. The happy couple is ecstatic to continue their journey that started here at the lake.

On behalf of the entire Aikens Lake family and guests, would like to congratulate our partner Chris Jensen and his wife Michelle on the arrival of their beautiful twin boys Hunter and Cole.  We wish you a lifetime of happiness with your newly expanded family!

Today, July 1st, is Canada’s 142nd birthday!  This is a national holiday that is always filled with patriotism, parties, concerts, and fireworks.

Not that we are bragging (OK, maybe we are), but our favorite band Chic Gamine will be playing at the largest of all Canada Day celebrations this evening.  They are in Ottawa and will rock the huge outdoor concert on Parliament Hill in our nation’s capital!  Bright skies are expected for the 70,000+ people that pack themselves onto Parliament hill for the largest outdoor concert in Canada every year!

The festivities kick off at noon with the singing of the national anthem by all the artists involved in this event.  Concerts follow throughout the day.  This evening, on the main stage, Chic Gamine will perform two songs off their Juno-winning album… Golondrina (Andrina’s own creation), and Les échos.  They will also accompany Sarah McLachlan during her performance of her hit song “Ice Cream”.  The day’s events are all going to be shown from coast to coast on CBC television - our national broadcaster.  For those of you who won’t be able to watch it on TV, you can check out a live webstream of the festivities at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadaday/

Congratulations girls (and Sacha!)  What a great day to show all of Canada how talented you all are!