We are often asked what the peak time for fishing is. It is hard to predict. This year, the lower water levels and early ice out added new environmental conditions that changed our equations, and even improved the fishing overall. There are just so many variables. However the fishing is getting better. Our on going conservation policies of releasing the trophies and the fact that 90% of guests now voluntarily taking conservation licenses and the fact that fewer fish are being taken home, insures our lakes remain top quality and improving fisheries. The simple equation that is working and predictable is that each year there are more trophies available to be caught and released. There are more trophy sized fish available each spring to spawn the next generation of fish that have been provided with better genes. Last but not least, our catch and release policies that have been operating in one form or another for almost twenty years, has created a larger fish population in all of our lakes.

Six 'FIT' Trophy Lakes. Trout, Northern Walleye, Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, Jumbo Perch.

We have six FIT outpost camp fisheries. Simply put, the secret to our success at producing spectacular fisheries is explained by the 'FIT' fishing formula. The acronym 'FIT' equates to "Food, Isolation and Time" !

"F" is for Food Supply: Rivers flow into an out of our lakes.The overabundance of nutrients provided by the natural water 'flowage' through our lakes supports the lower food chain which in turn supports larger than average populations of predatory game fish per acre of water. Flowage supplied by the streams and rivers that flow 'through' our lakes deliver the overabundance of lower life forms, nutrients and foods that effectively force feed our fish. Flow through lakes can often maintain many times the number of fish per acre of water than you might expect to find in a typical bathtub lake where no flow through currents exists.

"I" is for Isolation: Isolation protects us from outsiders arriving and over fishing our lakes. Our six outpost lakes, and their adjoining portage lakes, are fly-in only lakes located many miles from any accessible roads or trails. We have been granted licences that all but provide us with exclusive rights to maintain outposts on our lakes. The practical outcome is that we have been able to manage the fishing pressure on our lakes for sixteen years to a degree that there is no negative fishing pressure on any outpost lake or attached portage lake we operate from. The reduced numbers of fish that our clients take for consumption, compared to the vastly larger number that are caught and released, have no negative effect on the next spawning season. In fact, each year's spawning numbers and quality only improves as more and more trophy sized fish spawn. Trophy male fish pass on their better genes. Larger female fish are attracted to larger male fish. As female fish grow larger and larger the number of eggs they produce doubles and doubles again.

"T" is for Time: It take time to build a 'Class A' fishery. For nearly two decades we have practiced leading edge conservation policies. They are well accepted by our guests, some of whom are second generation patrons. Once our guests began returning trophies years ago and began releasing the fish they could not eat on that day, spawning numbers and the quality of the spawned fish in our lakes began to rise. After a few years of fish population growth, our fish populations were able to approach historical levels. After ten years, the lakes begin to produce historical numbers of trophy sized fish within the expanded population. Each year after, that the ratio of trophies to mid sized fish caught just naturally began to grow. Sixteen years later, the number of trophies caught seems to have reached their historical numbers. Our thrill these days, sixteen years later, is to see the increasing size of the trophies caught, photographed and released, as the numbers being caught seem quite stable.

We are blessed with six of the most FIT, northern walleye, pike, bass, perch, and trout lakes in Canada and the fishing can only get better and the trophies larger. If you are trying to find a fly-in outpost fishery that is as good as nature ever produced - you have found it! We offer you a fishing vacation experience where you will find the fishing is as good as you can expect, where the flying service is as dependable as only a successful, experienced, owner operated service can provide and where the outposts are luxurious in comparison to what you will experience almost anywhere else. We have taken special care to show you hundreds of photos in our various galleries and we are in the process of publishing the dozens of positive comments and letters sent to us by our guests over the last few years but as 95% of them were submitted to us on forms, its taking some time. These testimonials which number over one hundred, left for us by our departing past and returning guests, will be published soon.

Did we mention that the fishing is spectacular?

Points to Ponder

Click To Enlarge Outpost Links: Brownstone Conifer Hailstone Headwaters Papaonga Sumach Canada fishing newsletter

Our Cat Island Lodge on Trout Lake

We are proud and pleased with all the compliments that we received this past year on our Cat Island Lodge on Trout Lake. Our return guests who liked the fly-in fishing wilderness adventure but wanted the finer amenities that only a full service lodge could provide them found Cat Island to be the ideal place for them. Those who wanted to give their wife or family a true fly in experience and all the creature comforts that a resort could offer loved it also. For more info on this checkout our new and updated website for the lodge, www.cat-island-lodge.com

What's New for 2007

Walleye season opens on Saturday, May 19th this year and we are offering our spring special till May 26th. Guests coming from ice out till then can enjoy a substantial savings on their trip. We are also still offering over-night accommodations at the float base for those people who would rather stay with us on the lake rather than staying in Ear Falls.

As usual we will be continuing with up-scaling our facilities at all our lakes. We continue to carefully manage our outpost lakes to provide great fishing opportunities and provide the best in modern outpost accommodations. We are continually replacing walkways, docks, re-siding and painting cabins, updating our equipment including boats and motors, fridges, stoves, mattresses and this year finally putting generators at all the camps to charge camera and depth finders batteries etc. that our guests bring along. Also we have noticed an increase of customers who are using C-pap machines for sleeping at night and this will mean that they will no longer have to bring there own generators...

We have put in a wider walkway at Sumac Lake for those guests who are looking for an outpost to bring a family member or friend who is handicapped or older. We have added a ramp to the cabin and are in the process of putting in an inside toilet. This outpost is our most user friendly with its level ground and the ability to go right from the cabin to the dock without any step ups. Having the satellite phone at all our facilities for emergencies is also a comforting thought for those guest who although might not need a phone but want the ability to contact us or call home should the need arise.

Post Your Photos, Fishing Reports, Vacation Stories And Letters On Our Site

We have two new web pages that will allow you to upload photos, letters, articles or fishing reports to our web site. You must go to one of these two new facilities and 'Register' before uploading however you can view the content there without the bother of registering.

Photos - Site One is for posting Trip Photos With Comments. You can post your photos, fishing reports, testimonial letters to our site from anywhere, anytime. If you would like to write an article about your Excellent Adventures vacation, you can post that online with photos too. First, however, add your photos so they are available online to use in your fishing report, testimonial letter or article. Our interactive Photo Gallery will allow you to upload your own photos and create your own photo gallery. Once you have added a photo you will see the code necessary to copy to your fishing report so the photos appear there too.

Reports - Site Two is for posting a Fishing Report or fishing trip article and testimonial letter online. Once you have posted photos to our online photo gallery site above, you can insert the photo address into your fishing report, trip article or testimonial letters.

If you find this new technology we are offering, overwhelming, please don't hesitate to send us your photos, letters or articles directly by E-mail.

Rates and package changes

We have had to make some minor adjustments to our packages pricing to ensure that we supply you with the same high quality trips. This was needed due to the lowering U.S. dollar and higher costs for fuel, insurance, wages etc. that we have been burdened with. When comparing packages we only hope that you will take into account exactly what we are providing with ours in comparison to other outfitters and the level of quality of aircraft, cabins, equipment, the ample staple foods, satellite phones, weight allowances and professional service staff that comes with it. We realize that there are many choices when planning your vacation. Remember the saying "The memory of a disappointment remains long after the thrill of a low price." We invite you to make your fly in vacation to Canada one that you will cherish with fond memories for years to come and what ever trip you choose we hope that it is an "Excellent Adventure. Please make your reservation today to insure that the kind of fish you seek and the outpost camp you require to make your vacation a success, are available. Call me anytime toll free at 1-866-894-9948.

Joyce an I hope to see you later this season.

Yours truly,

Faron Buckler.

Read our 2005 and 2004 newsletter.

About Excellent Adventures Excellent Adventures operates a Commercial Air Service for our clients. It includes Dehavilland Dhc-3 Otter, Beech 18 and a Cessna 185 aircraft. We also utilize an Aeronca Champ for maintaining and servicing the Outpost Camps. Established in 1990, Excellent Adventures operates six exclusive outpost camps on remote wilderness fly-in only lakes. Five of these are within a 40 minute flight of our Ear Falls float-plane base. Along with fully modern cabins with indoor plumbing we also offer our clients lakes with choices of 6 different species of fish. Whether you are looking for trophy fishing or a lake that offers action packed days, we have it all . Our fishing is simply World Class. When we began managing our lakes almost twenty years ago, policies were implemented to preserve the productivity of our fisheries. While guests are allowed to bring limits home from most of our lakes they must pay attention to there specific lake policies. All of our lakes have a strict 'No Trophies Home' policy to insure our fisheries remain the quality that makes our guests return year after year. This also includes the policies of 'Catch and Release, consumption of smaller fish only' at our Headwaters Trophy Outpost. Modern ‘life like’ replicas of your trophy fish can be made by today's expert taxidermists from a good photograph and just taking two measurements. We also expect our guest to review and practice proper fish handling to insure that fish returned to the lakes will remain healthy and contribute to next years production. All these lakes are superior in habitat for game fish. They all have flowage through them and the constant supply of water delivers the nutrients that support the food chain that in turn feeds the fish with a never ending supply of prey. Today with our policies that the trophy fish are returned to the waters unharmed and the spawning population of female fish will grow it assures that these world class lakes maintain there high quality for the next generation of fishermen to enjoy. Outpost Links: Brownstone Conifer Hailstone Headwaters Papaonga Sumach

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