November 9th, 2007:

Our 8th season, what an incredible year!

It was a terrific year for us at Elk Island Lodge. On behalf of Brian Dick, Greg Dick and the staff at Elk Island Lodge, we would like to thank each and every one of our guests that fished with us in 2007. With accommodating weather and normal water levels we find the fishing at God's lake to be getting better and better. Our guests caught over 500 trophy fish this summer. As always the name says it all, GOD'S LAKE. The best fishing that Canada has to offer for Pike, Brook Trout, Walleye and Lake Trout and all on the same body of water.

It was another great year for staff. We would like to thank all of our staff for contributing such a big effort to the overall success of Elk Island Lodge. The staff at Elk Island Lodge provides our guests with customer service that is truly genuine and considerate. Our staff is always friendly and helpful as they try to provide our guests with the best service as possible. The staff members take pride and enjoy making our lodge a home away from home for the guests and it really shows. We had an overwhelming amount of compliments from our guests. New staff members added an enthusiastic and friendly touch to an already fantastic group of staff.


The Fishing

The fishing was unbelievable in 2007. We had excellent guides with more experience on the water this year. Which is why we had our best year in regards to trophy fish. The lake produced 20 Lake Trout over 40 inches. There were just under a dozen Walleye's around 30 inches. The Pike fishing was outstanding. Just about every day for the first 2 months of the season we had a guests catch his personal best trophy pike at Elk Island Lodge. Our biggest Pike for the year was 46.5 inches and there was more then a half dozen in the 50 inch range on the line or seen in a shallow bay. The Brook Trout fishing was also excellent. The God's river was moving at a normal pace this past summer and because of that the Brook Trout fishing was fantastic. One of our guests caught a monster Brook Trout this year measuring at 24.5 inches. The Brook Trout seem to be getting bigger and more beautiful every year.

A special congratulation goes out to the following anglers.
Eric St. Pierre, who caught a huge 45-inch Lake Trout.
Meg Ryan caught 30.5-inch Walleye.
Frank D'Aiello who caught a gorgeous 24.5-inch Brook Trout.
Robert Roessel and Jay Nyberg who both caught 46.5- inch Northern Pike.

We are anticipating another great year at Elk Island Lodge maybe you can catch your first trophy with us or better your previous best, if any lake can measure up to it's name it is God's Lake. The fishing is really catching at God's Lake. Which is why we are almost sold out for June, so please check our updates and availability which is posted on our website.

Upgrades

This year we had three off road golf carts and we had truck service from the lodge to the dock. We are aware that the hill at Elk Island lodge is a little hard at the end of long day battling big fish. Because of the success of the golf carts we are planning to purchase a few more for our guests. It will be nice for the guests that require easier access to and from the dock. We are going to be building a new big deck on cabin 4 and cabin 10. Due to the success of the beaver for our fly outs, we went out and purchased our own. We had great success and our fly outs are becoming so popular that the beaver will be at the lodge again for the 2007 season. We also purchased a Hot Tub to be sure our guests will be able to relax and truly enjoy themselves.

Pictures

2007 APRIL UPDATE

Ice and weather

Spring is quickly approaching and the excitement is in the air in anticipation for this years' fishing season. We are scheduled to open May 31, 2007. We had experienced a very cold winter this year with regular amounts of snow. However in the end of March the area surrounding God's Lake was struck by a blizzard. We are assuming that the Lake level will be up this year. In the God's Lake area there has been increasingly warmer temperatures, which has helped reduce the amount of snow on the ice. We are looking forward to open on schedule for the up and coming season.

New for 2007

This year we have purchased a hot tub for our guests. Be sure to bring up your swimsuit! We have also acquired fold out chairs for our guests at shore lunch. We at Elk Island Lodge are constantly looking for ways to make our fishermen's experience as comfortable and relaxing during their stay at Elk Island Lodge. Although there is nothing relaxing about battling endless amounts of Northern Pike, Walleye, Lake Trout and of course the Legendary Brook Trout.

2006 Fishing in Manitoba

Travel Manitoba has issued the 2007 fishing and hunting adventures guide and in the magazine they publish all the trophy fish that were caught in Manitoba last year. In Manitoba they consider 41 inches to be a trophy for Northern Pike, a trophy Lake Trout is 35 inches, a trophy Walleye is 28 inches and a trophy Brook Trout is 20 inches. These are the designated lengths to be considered as a trophy fish. For the fisherman who caught trophies in Manitoba they are called Master Anglers. After conducting a quick study I realized that God's Lake is without a doubt one of the premier destinations for trophy fishing. Numbers say it all, just listen to these unbelievable numbers. In the year 2006 there were over 283 trophy Brook trout caught. Out of the 283 that were caught 239 were caught out of the God's River. With two measuring over 25 inches. There was a 29-inch Brook trout caught in Manitoba last year, however it doesn't mention that the 29-inch Brook Trout and the 26.5-inch Brook Trout were caught out of a stocked lake.
There were over 712 trophy Lake Trout caught in Manitoba last year and 49 of them were caught out of beautiful God's Lake. Not to mention God's Lake produced 11 Lake Trout over 40 inches.
There was over 2615 trophy Northern Pike caught in Manitoba last year and over 253 were caught out of God's Lake. Out of all those trophies there were 12 that measured over 46 inches.
There were over 1696 trophy Walleye caught in the Province of Manitoba last year and 143 were caught out of God's Lake with 11 over 30 inches.
There were also 108 trophy Whitefish caught in the Province of Manitoba and 16 of them were caught out of God's Lake.
One significant thing I would like to mention is that in Manitoba once you catch 5 trophies of the same species you become a specialist. However that system actually makes it harder for the fishermen but even worse for the Lodge owner. As for the fisherman (using Pike as an example) if you catch five Northern Pike that measure 41 inches, in order to register your next trophy Northern Pike it has to be larger then 41 inches otherwise they will not accept it as a trophy fish. At Elk Island Lodge we have a roughly 75% return clientele. We often have guests catch 5 trophy Pike or 5 trophy Brook trout in a four-day fishing trip. So as you can see the Master Angler program even though it is a good program, it does not always give you an accurate depiction of how the fishing was for trophy fish. For instance one of my guests has to catch a pike over 45 inches for it to count. Talk about a hard trophy to catch. But at least it is obtainable at God's Lake.

2007 Sport Shows

Since our last update it has been a very interesting couple of months. The sport shows were enjoyable and it was nice spending time with past and current guests. Not to mention meeting so many new faces. We still have dates available for 2007 so please feel free to call us at 1 888 559 6633 or email us at bigfish@elkislandlodge.com

Winter Road Operations

The month of December and February is usually when we start building the winter road so we can start bringing in supplies for the up and coming season. The most difficult part of owning/operating a Lodge at Elk Island on God's lake is the fact that we build our own winter road with various different types of equipment. We use a 450 cat, a grader, a plow truck and a Stager as well. The winter road is always very unpredictable. Unlike the fishing on God's Lake as you can always catch fish at Elk Island Lodge. However we were able to build our road with relative ease in terms of complications. Although building the winter road is not easy at all. It takes very long hours and constant planning. Not to mention endless patience to see the road completed in its entirety. Weather is always a huge factor. From temperatures, to wind and ice it never seems to end. There are always issues with equipment however this year was a little better then usual in terms of breakdowns with the equipment. Regular maintenance with our equipment is mandatory to ensure reliability with our equipment. Our equipment has a very good chance of breaking down any time that there is -30 temperatures or worse.

Fierce Fire In February

We were able to build the road and bring in our first load of supplies and then it happened. We had a huge fire at Elk Island Lodge and the fire took both of our generators, two 1000 gallon storage tanks, all of the boat seats, locators, nets, paddles, coolers and even the life jackets. Needless to say it was a huge loss. We are in the process of constructing two new buildings so we can have an area for storage and so we can have a place to house our generators. Since the fire we have been able to send up two generators, three golf carts and all the lumber for the new deck on one of the eight man cabins. We have also re-ordered our first major order. All of the equipment for the boats has been ordered and we are in the process of picking up the order and sending it north.

Dates & Availability

In terms of availability, we still have dates left for this year. Please feel free to call us at 1 888 559 6633 or email us at bigfish@elkislandlodge.com if you have any questions or if you would like to set up a trip with us this year. We are always available to take reservations for the 2008 season as well.

Current Pictures

Here are some pictures of the winter road operations along with the recently purchased golf carts. There are also pictures of the burnt down building and the new buildings that are under construction.

		The Resident Fox and some Caribou near Elk Island this winter.
		Ice forming in front of the lodge followed by the new hot tub for the lodge.
		The new golf carts to help move guests around the lodge followed by the Snowcat which was used extensively this winter.
		The Grader and Steiger were also both used in building our winter road.

December 5th, 2006 Please make a note that we have moved. Our new mailing address is:

Elk Island Lodge
P.O Box 431
Tyndall, Manitoba,
Canada
R0E 2B0

Ice has officially taken over God's Lake! There has not been a lot of snow as of yet which is a very good thing. Snow acts as insulation for the ice beneath. Heavy snow on top of the ice in cool temperatures make for bad ice conditions. We at Elk Island Lodge use and build the "winter road" as seen on many documentaries on Television. The ice must reach a minimum of 28-30 inches thick in order for us to be able to build the winter road. We haul heavy loads over the ice roads. The road we build is approximately 30 miles long by 100 feet wide. It takes anywhere between 20-30 days if you have a maintenance free operation. There are usually issues with equipment as temperatures can reach to -70 with the wind chill! We experience all types of extremes in the North but having the winter road is worth all of the hard work.
As I mentioned there has not been a lot of snow so hopefully we will have another season of normal water levels. Last years fishing was absolutely excellent and it has a lot to do with good guides and the water level going back to normal.

With sport shows just around the corner we still have some June dates available. Please take the time to look at our dates and availability. We are sold out in a few different time slots but not all. So please call or email with your reservation. I will be adding another sport show to the list this year. Lansing Michigan, March 8-11, 2007.

For the guests that are on the Elk Island Lodge mailing list and did not receive the new newsletter, please call or email with your current address and we will be sure to send you out one. If you would like a newsletter or brochure please contact us.

NEW FOR JANUARY 2007

Fishermen must have a passport for re-entry into the United States. If you do not have one please attend any of the All Canada Shows to be able to apply for a passport. A passport is a must this year so please do not hesitate to get one.

October 19, 2006 The fishing season has come to a close and it sure was a great year for us at Elk Island Lodge. The weather was excellent this year. The lake was extremely high in 2005 and it made the fishing a little more challenging then normal. The Lake dropped back down to it's normal level and the weather patterns were normal this year allowing our anglers to experience God's Lake at it's best. The Northern Pike were bigger and we were catching them consistently in the 41-inch to 47-inch range. It was common for the guests at Elk Island Lodge to have any where from 8-12 trophy Pike per day. Stable weather, experienced guides and appropriate equipment resulted in bigger and better Pike fishing.

Due to the water level being six feet higher then normal last year the walleye fishing was spectacular. The Walleye fishing was still incredible this year with numerous trophy Walleye caught on a regular bases. It is never a struggle catching Walleye's on God's Lake but it is difficult getting Walleye's under the legal slot limit of 22 inches for shore lunch some days.

The Lake Trout fishing was fantastic again this year. Proving again why God's Lake is ranked in the top five Lake's in Canada for Lake Trout. One of our guests from this year was fortunate enough to catch a real monster of a Lake Trout measuring at 44-inches and there were countless of other Lake Trout measuring in the 40- inch range. The trophy Lake Trout fishing was great but it was also nice to catch a small enough Lake Trout for the smoker. All the guests seem to really enjoy having smoked Lake Trout delivered to their cabins in the evenings.

The Brook Trout fishing was nothing short of amazing. There were days on the God's River that seemed liked the Brook Trout would bight on anything. Some days the guests were catching six, eight and ten trophy Brook Trout in one day per boat. Other days the guests would come back to the Lodge and they would have over 20 Brook Trout in one day. Outstanding guides and an incredible River like God's River made for some extremely happy anglers after a fly in day trip to the legendary God's River.

As October comes to an end we will be sending out our newsletters and we will be continuing to look for ways to improve the service and amenities for our guests at Elk Island Lodge. We will be doing 11 or 12 sport shows this year. I look forward to seeing familiar faces and receiving any pictures of one of our guests best catch. We at Elk Island Lodge believe in staying in touch with our guests. Please feel free to come out to anyone of the sport shows that we are at, we would sure like to see you!

Here are some more pictures of some of the beautiful fish caught at Elk Island Lodge on God's Lake, along with some pictures of our up and coming fall and winter operations.

August 12, 2006

It has been by far our most enjoyable season. We have had beautiful weather and incredible fishing. We have never seen fishing like this. The Northern Pike have been outstanding and the Brook Trout fishing has been terrific. It is unfortunate that fishermen believe that the fishing in July and August is not as good as it is in June. The fishing is just different. We fish big weed beds ranging in depth of 6-12 feet. Between July and August is our best time for big Northern Pike and Giant Brook trout. We do catch trophy Walleye and Lake Trout in July and August as well.

Soon we will be back in Winnipeg for a short break. We are looking forward to our September Pike and Lake Trout fishing. This will be our 5th year doing battle with monster Lake Trout that rise from the depths as it ends its summer pattern and starts to prepare itself for another fall of reproduction. Also known as spawning. The Lake Trout will be in 5-25 feet of water. Casting works well for aggressive males but as most fisherman know the best way to get a huge Lake Trout is by trolling. The bigger Lake Trout seem to be caught a lot more often by trolling in the fall then by casting. God's Lake is ranked in the TOP 5 in all of Canada for Lake Trout. So if you haven't booked your September fishing trip for this year please take a look at our web site and check our availability.

There will be more updates to come once I receive more pictures from the guests that have come and gone. We have over 600 trophies for the season. Not to mention all the other huge fish that were caught that were only a quarter inch off of being a Master Angler.

Here are some pictures from some of our guest and congratulations to all the anglers who caught trophies at Elk Island Lodge on God's Lake.

June 17, 2006.

Elk Island Lodge Produces A Record high.

God's Lake (Elk Island) has 151 trophies and counting, in only 14 days of fishing.

Total Trophy Pike Caught - 49.

The 3 largest Northerns- 47 inches, 46.5 inches & 45.5 inches. Congratulations John, Rich & Jim.

Total Trophy Lake Trout - 19.

The 3 largest Lake Trout- 44.5 inches, 43.5 inches & 41.5 inches. Congratulations John, John & Andy.

Total Trophy Walleye - 28.

The 2 Largest Walleye - 29.5 inches & 29.5 inches. Congratulations Lindsay & Len.

Total Trophy Brook Trout - 52.

The 3 Largest Brook Trout - 25.25 inches, 24.5 inches & 24 inches. Congratulations John, David & Eldon.

Total Trophy Whitefish - 2

They were 23 inches & 22 inches. Congratulations Philip & Martin.

We would also like to congratulate everyone who caught trophy fish while they were at Elk Island Lodge. You will be receiving certificates in the mail from Travel Manitoba. For the guests that were just at the lodge, please feel free to email me you're pictures and I will see to it that the best ones make the website. I do have a digital card reader for you anglers with digital cameras, so please bring you're cameras to the lodge so I can down load you're pictures and post them on the website.

Fishing facts as of June 03 - June 16.

We are currently averaging just under 11 trophy fish per day.

We have 7 Lake Trout 40 inches or better.

Here are the total numbers of near trophies that were just shy of the trophy length. Please remember that a Trophy Pike is 41 inches, a Trophy Walleye is 28 inches, a Trophy Lake Trout is 35 inches and a Trophy Brook Trout is 20 inches.

Pike - 19 - 40.75 inches. 28 - 40.50 inches 36 - 40 inches.

Lake Trout - 8 -34.75 inches - 13 - 34.5 inches and 24 -34 inches

Walleye - 14 - 27.75 inches - 23 - 27.50 inches and 31 - 27 inches.

Brook Trout - 17 - 19.75 inches - 29 19.50 inches and 42 - 19 inches

Possible reasons for such great fishing:

Water level is down, close to 6 feet from last year.

The winter was mild and we did not have a big amount of snow.

We have had a very early spring, ice was off the lake early May.

We have had 3 weeks of beautiful weather, clear and with no rain. (75-85)

The big female Northern Pike had over a month to spawn before the anglers arrived.

September 2006 -

We still have some great dates available in September. Space is limited. The dates are September 8-12 (Friday-Tuesday) September 12-17 (Tuesday-Sunday)

Bookings for 2007

Please consider booking you're trips for 2007 as we are taking calls daily for reservations. Please email or call us, as we are always available to take calls.

Please send in some pictures of you're best catch at Elk Island Lodge.

May 17, 2006: Just a little over 2 weeks and the season begins! The lake is over 80% open with very little ice left on the shore lines. The weather has been on the warm side this spring and the lake is a little low. Last year the lake was very high, the highest we have seen in our history of owning Elk Island Lodge. Water levels will most likely go back to normal as there is a lot of water in the surrounding areas of Winnipeg and in Lake Winnipeg as well. The water will eventually run north towards the Hudson Bay. So water levels will hopefully return to normal by around the middle of July.

It has been said often that high water year's are great for Walleye and not so great for Northern Pike. Well last year I would have to agree with that theory. The Walleye fishing last year was excellent in the high water. The Pike fishing was good but July and August was not as good as previous year's due to the fact that the water was so high and the sunlight could not reach the weeds in the high water. Bad weather and high water make for very little sun penetration, which does not allow the weed beds to grow. The weed beds are what giant Northern Pike look for in the summer months. Without these big weed flats we find it hard to locate numbers of trophy Northern Pike in one area. We generally find the Pike to be a little more anti-social then usually. They do not tend to stage together in areas without weed bed protection, not enough feed and not enough room for those big females to move around. I am anticipating a warm season according to the summer's weather predictions. So with good weather and low water I think it is safe to say that the Northern Pike fishing will be better this year then last year. These all add up in the factors of fishing. It is hard to guess what the Lake Trout fishing will be like. God's lake has a great Lake Trout reputation as there is a lot of volume and there are huge Lake Trout on God's Lake weighing up to 70lbs. The Brook Trout Fishing last year was our best. Even though the water was very high we were still able to find Brook Trout in other areas that we had not fished in the past. I will only assume that with more seasons we have on the God's river the easier it'll be to fish and it will stay productive as long as we continue to fish with trained guides that ensure that the Brook Trout fishery is been well managed and maintained.

April 4th, 2006: Sorry for the lack of updates, the sport shows and winter road hauling has taken up a lot of our time lately. The sportshows are now finished but we've had some last minute cancellations so there are still some prime dates open. Please see the rates page for up to date availability. There are a few spots in June that are prime for all 4 of our species with the big Pike being in the shallow bays, the Walleye schooled in the rivers, the Lake Trout up in shallow water and the Brook Trout ready to feed! The fantastic fall fishing for Lake Trout and Pike still has availability as well and there are some open dates during July and August when the weather is a bit more stable.

This year was one of the most difficult years to build a winter road, but we still managed to get all our fuel and supplies in. We had our warmest January ever since they started taking records so it didn't look as though we'd get a road in at all. Many communities and lodges were not able to move anything on the winter roads and will now have to fly all their supplies in.

October 31st, 2005: The season has been over for nearly a month now and we're just getting settled back down after closing the camp, making it home and catching up on some much needed rest. I hope that most of you have received the yearly newsletter and you're already starting to think about next year's adventure. Here are a few more pictures that we thought we should post.

July 5th, 2005: Sorry for the delay in getting out an update, it's been a hectic season! The fishing and weather have been very good this year, a lot nicer than last year in terms of weather and the ice was out early enough that we didn't have to fight it this year. The water levels are very high this year, about as high as we've seen it in our 6 years on the lake.

The new carpet in the lodge looks great, it was professionally installed in May before the guests arrived. The new replica mount of last years' 47 inch Lake Trout and some other taxidermied mounts of different wildlife from our area have also added to the atmosphere of the lodge.

We have leased a Beaver for fly outs this year and some new boats at our tried and tested spots so the fly outs have been very popular. It's been very nice having the Beaver to move the guests to the fly outs as we can take a party of 4 and their guides in one trip. The God's River has been phenomenal for Brook Trout this year, leaving very few without a trophy.

Here are a few of the trophies from this season:

March 8th, 2005: We have three shows left to do and less than a week of winter road work and then we can relax a bit. The new boats, materials for a new shop building, and a bunch of other supplies have gone up the winter road already but we're still waiting for the trucks to bring us the new motors, all the fuel for the season and miscellaneous other supplies that will save us thousands of dollars in freight costs. We're expecting everything to go up at the end of this week and then the weight will be lifted off our shoulders...literally.

The bookings are coming along very well, we we're able to fill a few holes at the sportshows in January and February, but we still have a couple of prime spots available in June. Give us a call to see what's available, we may even offer you a good deal to fill one of our few remaining holes.

November 20th, 2004: We just put in an order for another 18 foot deluxe fishing boat. We are so jam-packed in June that we needed the extra boat to handle the overflow of guests. At the rate people are booking trips this season, we may not have to go to the sportshows. Of coarse, we'll never convince all the anglers out there that August fishing is just as action packed as June fishing and we generally find it easier to locate the big Pike in August. I guess we'll never be completely sold out, but it sure would be nice to run at full capacity for 3 full months. Those guests who have fished with us in August are happy that they get the best holes to themselves, come up and join them!

October 29th, 2004: The fall fishing this year was incredible! Every day groups would return to the lodge with reports of huge Lake Trout and literally hundreds of them! In the short 2 week period that we were open for the Lake Trout spawn we landed at least 40 trophy Lake Trout and another 10 or 12 trophy Pike. There were 5 Lakers over 40 inches caught during this time!!!

During the first part of the spawn we casted on top of the shallow rocky points and reefs, which is a very exciting way to fish as the Lake Trout tend to follow right to the boat in groups of 2,3 or more fish and then one will hit just before you pull the lure out of the water. During the second week, we found that the biggest fish were caught trolling in about 10 - 15 feet of water with a large spoon. If you wanted a break from the Lakers, the Northern Pike were in a slightly lesser type of a feeding frenzy, but the big girls were definitely looking for another big meal before the real cold weather hit, so there was excellent opportunity for a trophy Pike as well. We even had one group go for the Brook Trout one last time in the fall and they were rewarded with a handful of trophies and a bunch of smaller Brookies. The fall colors of the Brookies has to be seen first hand to believe.

Here are a few of the many trophies caught in the last few days of our season. What a great way to finish off our best season at Elk Island Lodge!

		Colin with his first ever trophy! - It's about time Colin! Followed by Kirk with at least his 5th trophy.
		Clete with two very nice Pike on his first trip to Elk Island.
		Tom was an all star fisherman while at the camp this fall landing 4 trophies himself and he even left a few for his fishing partner.
		John with one of the 40 inch Trout from this fall and Greg with a beauty that measured 37 inches.

August 8, 2004: It's been our busiest and best season since we bought Elk Island Lodge in 2000! Here are a bunch of pictures sent to us by our guests this year. Many thanks to the Curan group for so many great pictures!

September 10, 2004: The fall season is just starting here and because the summer was cool, the Lake Trout are up early this year! We're already catching them in less than 6 feet of water using spoons, crankbaits and bucktail spinners. At this time of year the Lake Trout get very aggressive in the shallows and I believe they're attempting to clear out their spawning areas so they hit anything that comes through. Whitefish are a common spawn eating fish so it's good to have a bait that would imitate a whitefish. The only down side to fishing at this time of year is the weather. Today it's raining and cold and I'm happy to be indoors updating the website.

We built a set of stairs to make it an easier hike up the hill from the dock. Because I make that trip at least 4 times per day, I have noticed a great improvement. We call it our 'stairway to heaven'...get it, because it goes to God's Lake:) I'll take a picture when it stops raining.

Some more great pictures from this year:

Kendall with a 23.5 inch Brook Trout. Followed by Carter and his guide Absaul holding Carter's 43.5 inch monster Lake Trout. Carter caught a 45 inch Pike, a 29.5 inch Walleye and this huge Lake Trout. He's going to have to return to catch a trophy Brook Trout to complete his grand slam in style!

July 28th, 2004: It's been a busy month with mostly beautiful weather and fantastic fishing!! The Pike are just moving into the weed beds, the Lake Trout are being caught deeper with big jigs, the Walleye are still in the rivers and we're getting some real nice Walleyes out of Little God's. The Brook Trout fishing has been fantastic. We just set up another boat a bit further down river and I had the pleasure of taking it there. We had to do three portages and it took us 2 days, but the fishing was well worth it. Of coarse we had to test it out a bit to make sure the boats were in a good area, and we were very pleased with the results. All three of us on the expedition became Brook Trout specialists (at least 5 trophies each) as well as rapid running specialists! We saw a Cow Moose with her Calf as well as a big Bull Moose swimming across the river. All told, it was a great adventure that I hope to repeat someday.

Curtis Cole and his son sent us a great link to their pictures from their trip. Please check it out by clicking on the following link: http://homepage.mac.com/cccccole/PhotoAlbum7.html

More pictures....

A Couple of pictures taken on a fly out to a great Pike lake near God's Lake.

July 10th, 2004: We have set a new record with a 47 inch, 50 pound Lake Trout!!! We are excited to announce this massive fish being caught yesterday not too far from Elk Island Lodge. This fish will most likely be the biggest in the Province this year, unless she has a bigger, uglier sister just waiting for the right lure to come by that same spot.

I have received some more photos and luckily I have already loaded the Trout pictures because they were taken with a digital! A big thanks to the guests who are sending in their pictures!

		The massive 47 inch Lake Trout caught by Cole Leitch. His guide was Kevin Andrews.   Followed by Steve Haynes with a very nice trophy Pike!
		Another shot of the Trout that shows off the length and girth of this impressive fish! Followed by Steve Haynes with another one of his trophy Pike! He caught 6 trophies including this 46 inch Pike!
		Guide Jamie with a nice Pike followed by Sean Haynes with a 31.5 inch Walleye!

July 6th, 2004: I apologize for the lack of updates. The ice was finally completely off God's Lake on June 18th, I believe we set a new record. Thankfully, despite the weather we've also set a few spectacular fishing records as well. We have already caught and released five Northern Pike 46 inches or bigger, the biggest so far is 47.5 inches.

We have also managed to land a 31.5 inch Walleye and a 41.5 inch Lake Trout, I hope I get some pictures for the website! Our biggest Brook Trout so far was 23.5 inches, and our best day was 5 trophies caught and released in one boat. Our best day on God's Lake we caught 29 trophies between 40 anglers, just about every guest caught a trophy that day!

One change that we've made for this season sure is paying off. We built a huge shore lunch spot on one of the islands close to the lodge so that all the guests can join together for a shore lunch on the last day before flying back to Winnipeg. A bunch of the staff come out from the lodge and help out and all the fish, potatoes, beans, corn, etc is cooked in about 45 minutes.

	Ice still hanging on the lake, much later than normal.
	Last day Shore Lunch! All the boats gather for fresh fish cooked on an open fire!
	One of over 150 trophies caught already this season! Please email more pictures of your big fish or wildlife and you can be on the website!
	A Citation II Jet that was chartered in by a group of guests who had an issue to deal with back home so had to go in a hurry. The Pilot said our runway was great for this airplane, it is well packed, there are no rocks to damage the paint and it's plenty long enough at 4200 feet! He used less than half the runway on take off and landing. Needless to say we were very happy to receive the compliment on our strip.

June 3rd, 2004: We'll be in full swing starting tomorrow morning and we're all set for our busiest season so far. The ice is off the shore lines and all the bays are open. Now that there's space between the ice flows and around land the wind and waves will make short work of the remaining ice. All areas of the lake will be accessible within the next 3 days. The weather has been fantastic lately, lots of sun and wind to break up the ice enough to get open on time. The first groups of lucky anglers will be treated to some fantastic Pike in the shallow bays, Lake Trout off the shallow rocks and Walleye schooled in the rivers by the hundreds.

Most of the same guides are back with us including guest favorites like Absaul, Lepp, Barry, Freddy, Kenny, Swanson and of course Greg. Greg will be doing less guiding this year as we train him to help manage the lodge.

Fly outs for Brook Trout on the God's River and a few other great Pike lakes will be available again this year. There's a great Walleye lake that we're going to experiment with too.

We made a few modifications to the lodge this spring including a new and expanded tackle shop and we extended the dining room. Here are a couple of pictures:

We're looking forward to seeing all our returning guests along with some new faces this year.

February 11th, 2004: The shows are going better than ever for Elk Island Lodge. It's amazing the number of groups who have fished God's Lake before and are coming back to see how we've improved the service guests receive at God's Lake. Our "no overnight in Winnipeg" program has become extremely popular and our staff keeps getting better each year.

We have now become completely sold out of June dates, however we've been doing this long enough to know that there will be a few cancellations due to illnesses or other problems that make it difficult to go fishing. If there's a specific time you'd like to come, give us a call to see if anything has changed on the schedule. Click here for availability and rates.

December 19th, 2003: Please check out the new videos we added to the web. We took exerts from the Babe Winkleman shows that were taped in 2002 and added them to the site for anyone to download. Babe did a show on Walleye and another on Brook Trout which were both very entertaining. We have copied both shows (less commercials and information not about Elk Island Lodge) onto one VHS tape for anybody who would like a copy.

We're very excited about the Sportshows that are starting in less than 2 weeks. If you have a booking with us and you have not sent in a deposit we will be contacting you before we go to the shows. If we cannot contact you and we have another party ready to put a deposit on your spot you will most likely lose your spot. Unfortunately, we've had to adopt this practice because we've lost groups to other lodges when we were holding dates for a group that never came. We've been in the fishing lodge business for over 15 years and we've been burned every year by groups who hold dates but never commit. We have a very short season and very limited space, so every booking counts.

Please come see us at a show to discuss a trip. All the shows that we will be at in 2004 can be found on the Newsletter Page. Please check it out, you could save $2 per person off your admission to a show near you.

September 25th, 2003: We've closed up shop for the season. All told it was another excellent season especially the fishing. Our last group of the season caught 13 trophies in some of the worst weather we've seen in a while. The Lake Trout were a bit late coming up because of the hot summer and very nice fall (until we arrived), but we really hammered them towards the end of the week. Our best was a 39 inch Laker caught by Kirk Blackard, photo still to come.

Be sure to check out the rates page to see how a bunch of our slots have already been sold out and call us to reserve your spot before it's too late.

July 11, 2003: The weather and the fishing has been much improved compared to earlier this week. The Lake Trout fishing has been really good, we've been jigging with 2 or 3 Oz bucktail jigs tipped with a bit of Walleye belly. Brook Trout fishing has also been quite good. Here are a few pictures recently sent up.

June 28th, 2003: We're having a great season so far. The fishing has been outstanding and the weather (except today) has been abnormally hot and dry. So far our guests have boated over 100 trophies including a 53 inch Pike, a 44.5 inch Lake Trout, a 32.5 inch Walleye and a 24.5 inch Brook Trout. Unfortunately I am up north right now and I do not have access to a scanner so I could really use some pictures. Please email me your digital pictures so I can show off your fish. bigfish@elkislandlodge.com

We have switched to a new air charter company, we are no longer using Calm Air, but instead we are using Voyageur Air. They have given us impeccable service and the aircraft has received very positive reviews for comfort, improved views, and a very pleasant flight crew. We serve a quality lunch along with free beer or pop on the flight from Winnipeg to Elk Island.

This aircraft has 4 engines, and can seat up to 46 passengers. It's short field performance is second to none and has so far only used about half of our private airstrip on every take off and landing.