May is Opening Month

Well, it’s the end of May and more than half way through the spring trout season here at Green Lake. Certainly May was not without mishaps. A cold winter and late spring delayed the delivery of our five new appliances until two days before opening weekend. Getting the docks anchored, our boats out of the boathouse, uncertainty surrounding the health and ability of our hired help, all this made May opening a shoot from the hip and see what ya hit month.

On the 8th May myself along with Pierre and Lee Brunet were in Cabin 2. I had stopped at Claude’s new place in Labelle to check on things, and managed to borrow his brother in law Dominique who came along to assist with opening. At l’Ascension I hooked up the new small artisan trailer we acquired last fall, then transported two  full propane tanks up to camp. It is not a bad little trailer, the size being perfect for manoeuvres, but still needs a little modification for stability which Claude has agreed to do once things have quieted down a little. Also we’ll have to plate it to be legal on the public roads.



One never knows on any trip what the mountain road will be like, and the first trip up is filled with anticipation. None the less it was a beautiful warm day, the ride uneventful and then... surprise, surprise we arrived to see ice on the lake and patches of snow surrounding the cabins and boathouse. It’s the first for the guys, but I witnessed this back in the 90’s. Photos on the right - Images from the 90’s.

Approximately 3-4 pm Dominique and I returned to the ZEC gates to meet the transport company bringing the 5 appliances. Pierre and Lee Brunet had brought up a larger utility trailer with them,  and with the help of Claude and Dominque the three of us offloaded and then strapped the bunch of em into the trailer and off I drove for the second trip, this time even slower.

The day finished late as we moved all appliances into their respective new homes at the lake before stopping for drinks, dinner and an early bedtime.

Les Chef Brunet serving up wild geese and duck tartar

Canada and Snow Geese 

The following morning our group woke to light drizzle and a SE wind. Robbie joined us after lunch bringing up his own truck and McGowan, Kleivstul and company arrived just before noon for their stay in Cabin 1. A mild overnight temperature and some rain had softened the ice considerably, the wind now moving most of it up the lake and away from our shoreline. We took advantage of this drizzel to hook up the stove in Cabin 1 as Claude had arrived with the necessary wrong fittings. Did I say wrong? Shades of Real!

With the cooking, heating and fridges set up in Cabin 1,  I was all set to go back for my afternoon siesta. However there’s no rest while McGowan is around, so after a feeble attempt at convincing him my back was aching, we set off to do the next chore.

Of course there are steps to all of this camp opening, the docks have to be in place before the boats can be removed from the boathouse. A boat has to be in the water to move the docks, men have to be in place with ropes, batteries hooked up to winches, chains and anchors located in the freezing iced over lake....can you blame me for looking to escape back to my bunk?

Everything always gets done unless we haven’t the parts, and finally, everything....it's done. Cocktails, dinner, early to bed (again), and up to fish the next AM. But not so fast. I’m either getting lazy, forgetful or old. While all my friends were setting up rods the day before I had neglected my own.

Smartly, I decided Saturday morning was an ideal occasion for a huge and leisurely breakfast, then I set to opening rod cases and tying my fly lines, and finally my patient partner Robbie and I were on the lake. It was close to noon.

SO the story (and weekend) should end with a cage full of fat trout, wonderful stories and the usual extraordinary meals, except....our cabin caught no trout. Water temperatures never got above 42f, a far cry from 52-56 which is ideal for speckled trout and we were all skunked. So the story ended with yes, the extraordinary meals, good laughter and a few slight hangovers quickly cured with coffee and fresh mountain air.

More images of the weekend can be seen on the right side bar. Thank you to all the help who were there. Larry, JK, Pierre, Robbie, Lee as members, and all the guests of JK who pitched in like the place was there own.