Well, we’ve had quite the sport show and fishing show run this January. It was so nice to see lots of our customers new and old! Here are a couple pictures on the road!

So many people kept talking about our amazing shore lunch photos! So here are some high lights of shore lunches over the summer! Also, note that our all-inclusive shore lunches they are done by group and its more personalized to your fishing party. If other parties meet at the lodges and request shore lunches together, we will arrange for that!

New AIRPLANE engine!

Our Cessna 206 got a new engine for 2025! You can see here that the new engine is in, and they are doing the last of the tune-ups! Chris is looking forward to flying with the new engine!

We have some wolf hunters coming up in February to have their fin and fur combo with us-fishing and hunting. We will post some of their trip highlights in February!! Hope it warms up some before then!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. We apologize for this newsletter going out late, we took some extra time for our family this holiday season. We had all the kids home for the holidays and it was great to spend some quality time with them!

We were gearing up for the Christmas season with the Kenora Christmas Parade. We had put our flatbed truck driven by Jonny with our big red shuttle boat in the parade. We had a bunch of our friends and staff out to be part of the parade-we even had some beach balls and a fire pit! We handed out a bunch of candy and toys for the kids. It was a great time! The theme of the parade was Christmas in July so that is why there was a mock shirt of a bikini and holding regular length rods with stuffed (toy) fish on them. We even had Santa holding a string of fish at the front of the boat!

We had little snow and some frigid temperatures, so Chris was able to drive to the new building at Dufault’s Island Outpost. He brought out the subflooring that will be installed during the winter.

Sport show runs start after New Years, and we are going to be off to Kansas, Shakopee, Milwaukee, Chicago and Iowa. Lots of smiles and miles for January!

With our season now complete, we look back at our busy season. Thank you to all of our guests and customers that enjoyed Halley’s Camps fishing and hunting this year!

Thank you to our staff for all your hard work and dedication to Halley’s Camps.

During this month of Thanksgiving, we hope everyone can take a moment to reflect on people, places, and things to be thankful for. Enjoy the warmth and time for family, friends and those who are near and dear to you!

We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Chris, Amber, family and staff

Trophy Fish Lists

So, one more thing to be thankful for is our HUGE trophy list from our Halley’s Camps guests this year!

Our trophy fish list this year grew by 461 MORE trophy FISH in 2024 than the number of 2023 trophies registered!!

This year at Halley’s Camps there was a total of 1,642 trophy fish registered. Great job fishermen!!

Walleyes must be 27″. There were 567 walleyes registered.  The biggest walleye was 32.5″ caught by Rick Seidl.

Smallmouth bass must be 18″. There was a total of 784 bass registered. The biggest smallmouth bass was 21.5″ caught by Duane Nelson.

Northern pike must be 38″. There was a total of 289 pike registered. The biggest northern pike registered was a tie by 2 fishermen: Mark Mcfarland and Patrick Trainer each caught a 45″ northern pike.

Lake trout must be 30″. There were 2 lake trout registered. The biggest lake trout registered was a tie by 2 fishermen: Ron Lanners and Timothy Zoerb each caught a 30″ lake trout.

Our list will be posted ASAP on our homepage at www.halleyscamps.com

Moose hunts

Success!! Our hunters at one of our moose camps had amazing success! They had 4 hunters and 2 guides. Their trip started out with a BANG coming from Vikki who got her moose on the first day of the hunt with her guide, Mike! Great JOB!! The moose were reacting strong to the calls. Tom also got his big bull having patience, quietness, and good moose calls from his guide, Gene. Check out their hunting pictures!

Here is another hunt that was successful at one of our Halley’s Camps locations! This was called in and taken by rifle at one of our northern camps. Congrats Sean!

Exciting News

Dufault’s with the new roof is now complete-shingles and all. The windows and doors are in-all before the snow flurries!! The wood stove is in place and chimney installed! We got heat! The building is getting permachinked. Permachink is a rubberized material that goes between the log’s seams and seals the wood so moisture and cold cannot come into the building (and mosquitos). It goes on with a gun like coking gun and then a paint brush is used to smooth it out-it’s very time consuming but the finished product is great. The building is wired, and light fixtures are installed. Once the ice comes back on the river and we can safely cross, some of the finishing work can begin!! Look at the progress and stay tuned!

New Outboard Motors Ordered

As many of you know, we try updating our motors every other year. This fall, Chris ordered Yamaha motors for next summer. We had always used Mercury motors, but we were ready for a change and something new for all of you. These new motors will be on every motor of ours on the English River at our lodges and at our Dufault’s Island Outpost. The one great thing for all that use our boats, is having new motors ensures less breakdowns which equates to MORE fishing time! Cheers!

It’s Halloween time!

Meet our scarecrow that sits in our front window of our downtown Kenora office at Halloween! He likes to hunt, fish, and apparently scare our office dog!

The weather cannot be beat! Wow-the weather this year again like last year, we had fishermen fishing in shorts and enjoying the warm sunshine. The fishing was also hot, hot, hot-incredible! September fishing is a bit different as the big heavy smallmouth bass and big walleye are feeding like crazy before the cold waters really set in for winter. The fishing is not only quantity but quality. 

Caribou Falls Landing

At Caribou Falls Landing, we saw many fishermen making last minute fishing trips based off of weather and the crop harvest on their end at home. It was great to see so many fishermen coming and enjoying the fishing, waters and beautiful weather and scenery.

This September some of the guests adventured going on lake trout flyouts for the day. This is where we load customers on the planes in the morning and fly them into a secluded lake that is basically untouched and the fishing is on fire!! The lake trout come up in the shallows so we suggest throwing spoons and shallow divers towards the shorelines and around reefs. We took some staff on a lake trout flyout and everyone had a great time! The color of the day was a bright green which is usually not included in our tackle boxes as we generally prefer blue, white, silver with other multi color spoons or divers.

The fall bear hunts were successful. We had a father/son duo come up and even though they were hunting on different stands far from each other, being able to spend the extra time with one another is very memorable. They also went fishing and hanging out enjoying each other’s company. They were return guests, and they definitely have their ‘favorite’ fishing spots from prior years-not starting from tradition. And yet again, their hotspots were pretty much named ole faithful as they couldn’t keep the fish off their lines!!

Kettle Falls

Awesome to see so many fishermen at Kettle this month. Mick, a well seasoned Halley’s Camps guest, and nephew, Pete, who was new to Halley’s Camps. They had a fantastic time fishing together. Mick and Pete went on one of our daily excursions- a daily fly out trip for smallmouth bass 2 days during their trip. They went to 2 different secluded lakes just for the day-they leave after breakfast and are back before supper. They had a great time taking in the Canadian fishing between 2 bass flyouts netting 22 trophy bass (over 18”).

The Edwards family came up to originally celebrate their dad’s birthday as this trip to Kettle Falls was his birthday present from his kids-what a great gift!!.  This was the first time the Edwards family was fishing again together in over 20 years! They had a heck of a trip-LOTS of fish! Nick caught an 18.5” bass. Nick’s sister, Mags, caught the last northern pike of the season, a 38” northern pike on a lure she found in her grandfather’s old tackle box. We call her lady luck! The Edwards family was a pleasure to have in camp and the Edwards were the last fishing party at Kettle Falls for the season. Another year at Kettle Falls, thank you to all our amazing guests and of course the staff that make it happen! We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!!

Outposts-Our fly in remote cabins!

We had many groups fishing this September including Jeff and his son at Rex Lake. They came for a short trip but loved the fishing and experience. 

Don’s fishing crew enjoyed Rex Lake. Family, friends, fishing, & sunny weather! Look at their photos!! We look forward to seeing you all next year!

Longtime guests, Jim and Lisa, spent another trip at Rex Lake. This is one of their favorite places on earth and love the atmosphere, fishing, solitude, and peacefulness that encapsulates Rex Lake. Jim has been fighting a terrible disease for years and they truly cherish their moments that are made here.

Moosehunts

The moose hunts this September saw multiple moose which is so good to hear. The calling of the moose and the thrill of hearing the large animals coming through the bush to the calls gets exhilarating. The calls were definitely working at both our up north rifle hunt and our bow hunt at our outposts. Guests enjoyed being perched in the bush and taking in the early morning fog, cool temperatures in the evenings which is a good thing in September as the leaves start to fall off the trees giving some better sight lines in the trees and shrubs. One of the archery hunts ends in October so we will have a hunting report to offer then!

Dufault’s

Guests are going to be sooo happy with our new cabin at Dufault’s Island as we had accomplished so much at the end of September on the building. The building was completed with all the logs up in place and in line with the tongue and groove on the ceiling. Check out these pictures. You can see the beautiful red fir rafters and the Canadian pine on the ceiling-it’s going to be gorgeous when it’s all completed.