Happy 2013!

Looking back on 2012, we can’t help but smile with pride. We’ve accomplished a lot. We could talk about the renovated cabins, the new Lund boats, the sweet EZ-Dock, or the complete revamp of Lloyd Lake Lodge, but those things (which were necessary and very cool) are small when compared to how much heart it took to get them done. We want to thank our family, first and foremost our grandma and grandpa. When they introduced us to Lloyd Lake as kids, they gave us a place where we could make memories. They set the foundation of strong family values, teaching us to love, share and help each other make our dreams realities. Lloyd Lake is their legacy.

We were able to spend unforgettable time fishing with our grandmother this summer. Catching walleye off the dock, long into the night, as the stars shone down with my grandpa smiling on us from above, was a personal highlight.

We would like to thank the person behind the scenes, our mom, whose incredible organizational skill and years of business experience makes everything run smoothly. She makes it all seem effortless. You’re remarkable.

From L to R: Uncle Terry, Granny, Mom, Derrick and Dad.

Our dad was also instrumental in the past year’s success. He spent the entire summer at the lodge playing with his tractor and making the airstrip smooth as butter. While the airstrip is no small feat, he also played architect, engineer, demolition man, and contractor. And yet he still managed to pick blueberries until his thumbs hurt. You’re welcome, dad. In all seriousness, though, our favourite part of having you up there was the chance, after a long day, to cast a line with you.

Through all our crazy lodge adventures in 2012, we added to the Uniat family. Dez married Elize. He simply has had the best year of his life to date. Derrick is also grateful for this development because she’s taken Desi off his hands and landed the largest fish of the season. (No, really, we’re talking about an actual fish.)

Thank you to our clients, who are now part of our extended Lloyd Lake Lodge family. You’ve had an opportunity to experience our slice of paradise, catch a bunch of fish, and create priceless memories. Perhaps we’re biased, but our clients have all come to the lodge with great attitudes, ready to have fun, and that has made it a blast for us.

Being an outdoorsperson means more than just catching fish. It means sharing laughter and wisdom, teaching old friends something new, playing pranks, being silly, trading stories, and really listening. The lodge simply creates a point in time where people connect. People live in the moment when they’re here – they’re without the daily pressures of life – and that’s really cool for us because we get to share these key moments in our guests’ lives where they’re worry-free and can feel at ease. At the end of the day, they hook into a walleye and are able to share that moment with someone else – whether it’s the guide in the boat, the best friend sitting across from them, or one of us waiting eagerly at the dock when they return. It’s not just one of us who can do this. It’s all of us together, and we want to thank our many awesome guests for choosing Lloyd Lake last year and allowing us to be a part of their lives.

We promise that we’ll continue to work hard. We’ll continue to follow our passion and make the lodge the best it can be. A wise person once said that good people attract good people, and we hope to open the doors of our lives and business and make those words come true. We want to hook our guests for years to come. It makes us so proud that we have several repeat guests from 2012 who have already booked for 2013. Their happiness inspires us.

We are thankful. Here’s to a 2013 full of tight lines.

Fishing with Derrick

If you’ve had the pleasure of fishing with Derrick, you’ll know that he likes to catch the big ones. Or at least lots and lots of smaller ones. It gives him great pleasure to watch people pulling in fish after fish or landing a lunker.

It’s even happened that he gives his rod away when he thinks he’s got a good one on the hook. He says he’s caught his share of big ones. He loves watching people’s faces as they play the fish, and especially when they get their first glimpse. It’s a fact that Derrick's usually more excited than the person wheeling in the fish!

That was exactly the case on Monday this week when he took me fishing. I’m his new sister-in-law, and Desi wanted to fish old school with his dad, so Derrick and I went out together with all the technology we could lay our hands on. Fish finder? Check! Downriggers? Check! Very nice rods and wicked reels? Check!

Laker #1: 12 lbs. No big deal. Hah!

Big Fish Lake is where we like to send people who love landing lake trout. We know that the biggest fish ever pulled out of that lake weighed around 30 lbs, so we have high hopes. Derrick doesn't even have the second downrigger set up when we have our first hit, but we miss that one. No worries.

When the downrigger on the left side starts jerking wildly, we know we have a good one on. Derrick jumps, gets the line off the 'riggger and hands me the rod. I can’t believe my luck, but I should have expected it, knowing that he’s such a great guy. Single ladies, take note! Derrick gets the other line out of the water and coaches a very inexperienced angler who’s only fished for lake trout once before. We get the fish in the boat, and Derrick is more excited than anyone over the nice 12 pounder. A few photos and it’s back in the water, hopefully growing bigger for the next lucky angler.

A half hour passes while we chat and watch the lines, then boom! A big fish takes the bait and has Derrick pretty much jumping up and down while he hands me the rod again and yells, "There’s one on the other side too!" We miss that one since it takes too long to deal with fish number 1, but no matter.

Laker #2: 16 lbs.

Reviving laker #2. Yes, he's still swimming!

This one’s definitely bigger and takes some time to get on the boat. Derrick is efficient with a net and with coaching me: "Reel in to the leader and bring the fish gently to the net. There you go. You’re doing a great job, Elize. That’s a big fish!" We get this one in the boat for a few photos, and then it takes quite a while to revive. It has me worried. Guess it’s tired after that fight. In the end, Derrick’s dad, who’s come over to see what we've caught, revives it and it swims off straight back down to 60 feet. Phew! It would really suck to be responsible for the death of such a beautiful fish.

We rig up again, miss another hit or 2, and then fish number 3 hits like a tonne of bricks. Must be the flashy rig Derrick chose (a red spoon and a flasher). It’s on the same side again. Derrick grabs the rod and for the third time hands it to me. I’m definitely a lucky girl! This one must be big. It takes so much line right away. I can’t keep my tip up. Derrick is zinging with excitement and getting the other line up and coaching me and says at least 20 times, "That’s a huge fish, Elize. That’s such a huge $#!%*@# fish!" My rod tip is in the water. Fish 3 keeps running away!

Look at Derrick's face. Holy S%*t! BIG fish!

Got him! High five!

What a beauty.

Don't drop it!

Laker #3: 28 lbs. It doesn't get much better than this.

Finally, we get our first glimpse before it runs off some more. It’s a monster! Derrick is jumping up and down as much as you can on a boat without capsizing it. We miss netting it on our first try, but it’s ours on round 2. "Wow! What a fish! What a beautiful fish!" That’s all Derrick can say as he hauls it into the boat. It struggles a bit so Derrick ends up hugging the fish so it doesn’t fall and get hurt in the process. We really want to put this baby back in the water so someone else can experience what we just experienced. A few photos and it’s time for fish 3 to swim again. After all that fighting, it spends 10 seconds in Derrick’s hands before taking off back to the deeps of Big Fish Lake. Wow.

All right, big boy. Time to go back.

We didn’t have a scale or a measuring tape on us—just fishing for fun—but Derrick estimates the fish between 25 and 28 lbs. That’s awesome for lake trout. And the biggest fish I’ve ever caught. And the biggest fish anyone's caught at Lloyd so far this year. Thanks, bro!

Chopped!

I suspect cooking at Lloyd will be somewhat like my personal version of Chopped, except that I’ll have more time to prepare and a better idea of the secret ingredients. Preparing a 5-course dinner in the middle of nowhere? Yup, preparation is key, so I’ve been getting together some friends every week and cooking sample menus for them. The rules are simple: bring your appetite and be brutally honest.

Getting the next course going while keeping an eye on everyone’s reaction to their first bite is tough. But I believe honest feedback is worth a bit of stress. And while a few dishes have landed on the chopping block, most have been quite successful.

The latest dinner was last weekend—Dez ate two 5-course dinners in two days and stated several times that he was so full he might explode. Funny though...he never left a crumb on his plate. And for not being a dessert guy, he literally licked the plate clean, even on the night I made two desserts.

A good sign? I think so.

The adventure begins...

In 25 years, 2011 was the first year we had missed going up to the lodge, but when it came up for sale, there was no holding back. Lloyd came on the market at the end of August, and we flew up on September 3rd with an order from grandpa: make a deal. And so we did.

Derrick (left) and Dez (right) on the dock.

This is a story of boyhood fantasy becoming reality. Now that it has, we are riding a wild learning curve while sharing our dream. Over the next few months and years, we're transforming  the lodge into a comfortable haven where friends and family come together and enjoy the great outdoors.