When I talked to you last year, I told you I wanted a BIG PIKE trip at an outpost camp. You said you had just the place High Hill Lake. Well let me tell you, if someone is looking for BIG PIKE, High Hill is the place to go. The first 5 days the weather was great & so was the fishing. My Dad, a buddy, & I caught 20 trophy pike in 5 days. We estimate that we caught 25-30 fish per day over 35" in that 5 day span. My group of 3 caught 9 fish over 44" that is what I call a Big Pike fishing trip.

Besides the fishing the cabin was very livable. The food package was very good. As far as the equipment the boats were in very good shape & the motors ran well. This was our 5th year to Canada & it could not get any better than this trip was when it comes to fishing for Big Pike. I have to say this was by far the best Canadian fishing trip my group has been on. The first 4 trips were to different places. My group totaled only 5 fish over 40" in 4 years, I never really thought we would catch 20 fish over 41 ". I was lucky enough to be there & witness this with my Dad & a good friend. Thanks for the memories & the trip of a lifetime.

Thanks,
Jason Brown
Arkansas

We had a great trip. I caught a 45 1/4 inch pike and two 41's. Our group of 4 caught 15 fish 41 or bigger (master anglers). I am gathering pictures to send you. The guides were great. We had the best guides in camp and that we thank you for that. I also think Al and Leonard were good guides as well.

Bob Niemet
Chicago IL.

I wanted to send you a note letting you know how our trip to Silsby turned out. First of all let me say the fishing was beyond anything we could have dreamed up. All four of us have been to Canada several times in the last 10 years. One of my party has actually been to seven different lodges spanning a large part of Canada. We were absolutely stunned by the numbers of large pike that were caught. We were catching so many 36-39 inches that we were actually pulling our lures out of the water so as to not catch the small (33inch) pike. At one point we lost track at around 80 pike in one day that were over 36. It really was unreal. As a group during the five days we caught 15 that were over 41 and that includes 2 that were over 46. We got so good at eyeing them for measure that we stopped slinging the many many fish that were likely 39 inches.

We figured that we could go to our other lodges 3 times to catch as many fish of size that we caught on one trip to Silsby. As far a walleye goes we caught them when we tried and they also were almost all big ( 22 inches plus) Many we had to put back as they were too big for eating. As for a return trip we won't even discuss anywhere else as we don't think it could come close to living up to our Silsby experience. Attached are a few pictures of the larger fish we caught. As a final note we were impressed by not just the length but the girth of these fish. These were big backed and shoulders with awesome strength pike. Thanks again for turning us on to the lake.

John Cook
Chicago Illinois

The fishing was unbelievable. The catch and release policy has made Silsby the most productive lake we have ever fished. We felt that we had a chance to catch a trophy fish on every cast. The number of fish caught between 32 and 40 inches makes us believe that the fishing will only get better each year.

Looking forward to June 2007

Bud Kohl

Just a note to thank you for a remarkable trip. My wife and I had a GREAT time at Silsby, and it really did live up to everything that you said it would. She ended up getting her trophy,and is excited about the prospect of returning next year with Dale as well as whoever else might end up coming with us. It really felt as if if people bent over backwards to make our trip special, and that detail was not overlooked I can assure you. I'll be in touch soon, take care.

Kurt and Helen Pollard

We all agreed the lake was a great natural resource. We did not even tap into the walleye possibilities, the pike kept us to busy.

The count on the trophy pike was 19. Our largest was 45" caught by me. 1 trophy walleye 28".

We estimated we caught around 90 pike just under the trophy size 36 to 40. Many of us have been coming to Canada for 20 plus years and we always wondered where such thick pike come from that you see mounted throughout Canada, and now we know, Silsby Lake.

Buzz Gough

Steve Sonneman

This was our first trip to Canada and we had the best time ever. Our step father, Jeff brown, told us for 6 months but we did'nt really believe him!! We were wrong. We both caught trophies and enjoyed Mika the dog very much. Kip is the nicest guy and everyone else was very nice. No one wanted to leave and we are already excited about coming back next year. One day we were fishing the Pickerel Hole with our guide Kelly. I cast my Bulldawg out and the whole rod and reel went into the water. I was in tears. Kelly was able to fish it out of the water and then he said we should head back to the camp. I told him I wanted to cast one more time. When I did I caught a 43' Trophy! We will send pictures when we get them from Kelly. My brother Andrew caught a Trophy in a small bay off Willis Island and Leonard said he had never seen a Trophy come out of that bay!! Maybe they can name that little bay Andrew Bay!!! Thanks for giving us the best trip we could ask for.

Bailey and Andrew Hanzel
Ages 10 and 12
Lee's Summit, Mo

Just thought I would let you know how much we enjoyed the trip. We caught 6 master angler fish between the 2 of us..46,45,42.5,41.5,41.25 and 41 inches not counting the fish from 35 to 40 inches which probably averaged 5 to 8 fish a day.

I know that Manitoba does its master angler awards in inches but the fact that it was late in the season these fish were 3 to 5 lbs heaver than they would in the spring which means that 46 inch fish weighted 30 lbs. I have been fishing in Canada mostly in Ontario and Manitoba since 1968 and this is the best place I have been to for big northern The lodge and service was excellent.

Joe Russom St.louis, Mo

ps.if you are looking for heavy fighting fish go in august.

Finally getting to my home emails. Gordon had seven trophies, his largest and new personal best was 45.5." I had three trophies--the largest and new personal best was 45." I can only estimate our teenagers (36" to 41") to be at least 100 for the whole week--maybe more--we pretty much just keep close tabs on the trophies. I also had a personal best walleye at 27.25" just short of a trophy. Not bad, especially since we were not specifically targeting walleyes except for shore lunch--which as you well know can occur in just a few short minutes. I guess we had a total of probably close to 400 fish apiece in 7 days. Of course, the fabulous numbers occurred because of the exquisite knowledge and talent of Ron, our guide. Another incredible trip--but then that seems to be normal fare for Silsby. Gave Gordon my deposit for the 6/8-15/07 trip the other day--guess you or Mickey should get that shortly. Another super group of fishermen in camp this year--I know Brian is a regular--hope Harold and Mike can make it next year with us as well. One last bit about the staff: All excellent--Wally prepared some superb dinners, and special thanks to Cathy who recognized that I can no longer eat the fried walleye due to my diabetes and made sure that I enjoyed some baked walleye each day at shore lunch.

Have a great time in July (I'm really envious)--those fish will be even more muscular, although it may require a good deal more effort to dredge them out of the weeds!

Take care,
Mike Harrison
Maryland

Todd Daniel
Tennessee