Fly-In Cabin Reconstruction

The float plane is loaded with the last of the cabin construction material. This is the preferred way to deliver material and equipment to our outpost camps in northern Ontario Canada.

Billy's crew spent a week out a Bounce Lake a little while ago. Bounce Lake is one of our prized walleye fishing lakes and the cabin there was deteriorating because it sinking in the soft ground. That cabin is already over 25 years old. Billy remembers putting in the old beams himself as a child with his Dad, Steve. Just in passing, we are not afraid to tell you that we truly believe that we are one of Canada's best choice of fly-in fishing outfitters. We back that up with three and half decades of summer vacation memories. That's why we enjoy giving you a behind the scenes look at our long established operations. In our opinions, this is the real Canadian fishing trip, most everything else we see in advertisements is based on what we have been doing day-to-day since 1971, but we don't think could ever replace the real thing.

We forecast knowing that we will be here in the future. We have good pike and walleye fishing. We protect our lakes from being exploited. We are in no hurry to do any harm to our tremendous pike and walleye fishing resources. We manage our lakes critically and highly promote sportsfishing conservation measures including catch and release and the use of single barbless hook on our monster pike lakes. We know that with only the best fishing around, well-kept fully-equipped cabins, immaculate flight and float plane maintenance record, sturdy boats, operating motors, personal attention and hospitality, competitive prices, fishing and outdoor guidance and all the other equipment in good shape, we will survive as veterans in Canada's tourism industry.


Ok, now back to the story. We had to fly-in outpost cabin. ifred thought that this would be a great blog article to show our future guests that we work hard here at Polar Bear Outfitters to keep our camps in tip top shape. It took us two trips with the Cessna to get all the material in. Johnny ( not to be mistaken with the now world famous aka Johnny Bait ) and Brian spent a week out there with the portable sawmill to repair the cabin. These guys worked hard in the 40 degree C humidity and they earned their place in our blog. We originally thought that this reconstruction project would take a couple of days but it took a week. Billy is still trying to figure out what these carpenters did with all those hours at Bounce Lake. So here is:

Fly-In Fishing Camp Repairs at Bounce Lake

Brian is ... well ... I don't know what he's doing there. I guess he's pretending to swing off a chair to indicate that the support structure is sound. That's my best guess.

There are pictures here of the cabin in different phases of facelifting. Actually, this is more than cosmetic work. One of the things that some guests complained about last year was the heat inside the cabin during those blistering humid afternoons in the James Bay Frontier. The area has a long history of being unforgiving to those that come unprepared. It is essential on these days to get indoors and drink as much water as you can. It could be up to 10 degrees Celsius cooler in the cabin than outside. Open at least two windows, perferably ones not facing the sun.

We have some of our cabins that have siding on them already and those ones do stay cooler in the afternnon than their non-reflective white, non-vinyl-sheathed counterparts.

Our portable sawmill has been modified to be used to make planks and wood beams. we like a good challenge here at Polar Bear Outfitters and ifred came up with a contest.

We bet two free pickerel cleanings and a dozen worms on who could strip the glued-on like bark off of a 40 foot long 8 inch diameter spruce tree and drag it up the hill to the cabin. ifred himself is the king stripped dragger securing the top time of 1 hour and 13 minutes. Another proud achievement for all of us here at the Lillabelle Lake Air Base in Northern Ontario Canada.

Three logs on top of the bare and squared cribbings now support the outpost building. Brian thinks the cabin should be good for about 30 years.