Happy Spring

Haven't written a blog for awhile so thought I should get in touch with all our friends.  Hey it's spring and looking forward to fishing. But first things first--had to go to Tennessee for a turkey hunt!!!!
We flew into Nashville on Thursday the 9th.  My daughter-in-law, Danice, picked us up at the airport. We arrived at Fayetteville, scouted a few fields with Diana's son Spencer and got ready for the morning hunt. Woke up in the morning to a torrential down pour. So not off to a great start. Scouted in the afternoon and got ready for Saturday morning.  Guides, Spencer and Tony Sims had a special meeting and picked out the best field. We set up at five in the morning.  Tony started calling turkeys at 5:45. Turkeys came and went but managed to bag a nice one about 7:00. Had to hang up the guns and go to the Grand Old Opry that night. Charlie Daniels was outstanding.

Spencer and Tony decided to go back to the same field Sunday morning.  Tony, the expert caller pulled off a unbelievable feat and called a trophy gobbler across the river. He hung up at 65 yards, so I took the shot and down he went. Spencer has quite the turkey gun, it's a 835 Mossberg with an Indian Creek choke. Shooting the new Longbeard shells it is unbelievable. When we got to the bird and rolled him over to our surprise he had 4 beards! To the taxidermist he went! They've told me how hard Turkey hunting is, but I don't know if I believe them. Quite a first Turkey hunt they say! Tony cooked the bird we took Saturday for lunch, what a great day!

Saturday bird

Sunday Turkey 

4 beards!

Spencer and Tony

World class guides

We had a wonderful time down here, but time to head back in the morning. It's time to start getting ready for the summer at Davin, and get the crop in the ground. We're now down to 40 days until we head north. Really starting to get anxious to see everyone again this summer! The new boats and motors should be in shortly, and we'll make a trip quick up in a couple weeks to drop them off and check the camp. Anyone wishing to join us for their trip of a lifetime needs to call as we have very few spots left for the summer. We will check back in in a few weeks. As always thanks to all our guests, and look forward to seeing everyone starting June 1.

Irvin, and Diana

readmore

Happy Thursday February 19th.  And a cold one here.  Cold all over from what I have been told!!!  Makes you want to think about fishing, long walks on the beach and other Davin Lake activities.
For those of you who follow us on face book, you will already know about our latest purchase. Yes, we are proud owners of two 16 ' Crestliner boats powered by 25hp Mercury 4-stroke engines.  And we are super excited.
Bookings are looking good.  If you haven't made your reservation, you need to give me a call.  June has a few openings but not many.  July has a few openings after the 12th and before our bus which comes in on the 23rd and August has some openings.  It looks like the bus will be full again this year.
We have had a busy winter.  Irvin is back working in Alberta and I've been driving school bus again.  Many days I have been meeting myself.  Sure am looking forward to going to the camp to get a long overdue rest!!!!!
Have a good day.  Will talk soon.

readmore

The holiday season is fast approaching for yet another year.  I can't imagine where the time has gone. We will be operating Davin Lake for the 11th season in 2015.  Seems like just yesterday when we bought the camp.
Our bookings are looking great for the 2015 season.  Space is becoming limited so I would suggest you call soon to make your reservations. 
I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Hoping you all enjoy good health and prosperity in 2015.
From Our House to Yours.
Irvin and Diana

readmore

Another year has come and gone and as we look back on 2014, it was an exciting year for us at Davin Lake.  One of our highlights was putting in the new dock.  It has made it so much easier for us and nicer for the guests.
Fishing was excellent.  A large number of trophy was caught and released.  The walleye seem like they are getting bigger every year  Pike fishing has stayed the same and the trout fishing was a bit weaker than usual.  This is likely due to the hotter than average summer we had.
We had an above average problem with bears as bear number seems to be up quite a bit from other years.
We noticed a lot more moose and caribou on the lake from other years.  This is likely due to the new growth after the forest fires a few years ago.
At this time we would like to congratulate the new pikemaster for 2014.  Lynden Butler from Colonsay, Sask. caught and released a 48 1/2 inch pike.  Lynden has won an all expense trip back to Davin for 2015.  Way to go Lynden!!!
Bookings are above average for this time of the year.  If anyone has any special dates they want to book, contact us to ensure your request is met.
Hope this finds everyone well. 
Until next time.......

readmore

Bus Tour Parking Issues

After the bus left, we sent the following e-mail to P.A. Tourism in hopes to get parking  tickets reversed. The end result is that they will not reverse the tickets BUT Davin Lake will take the cost of your ticket off your trip next year.  We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience!!!  Read on to see the correspondence.

"Hi Jayne,

Nine years ago, Davin Lake Lodge began an annual bus trip to allow Saskatchewan residents and friends an economical way to spend a long weekend fishing Davin Lake.  The bus starts in Melfort, picks up in P. A. and La Ronge before arriving at Davin Lake.

When we started the bus trip, we were granted permission from the tourism booth in Prince Albert to use that location as a pick up point for guests.  Verbal permission was given for guests to leave their vehicles there (at their own risk) for the three days.   Although it was a verbal agreement, it worked great up until this year.  On return Sunday, July 27th our guests found tickets on their vehicles and the guests are very

unhappy as we told them it was okay to park their vehicles there.

Can you please explain what has happened as we were under the impression that P. A. tourism and Northern Tourism worked together.   We also need some direction for the future. If you can or will not help us we will need to find a different location for pick up.  This is a great location for us.  It is easy to find and our guest pick up additional info on future tourist opportunities.

Please advise,

Irvin Kjelshus
Owner/Operator
Davin Lake Lodge"

We received the following e-mail with an attachment.

From: Prince Albert Tourism <patourism@sasktel.net>

"Good Day
We do apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused you and your
patrons.
Unfortunately due to many changing circumstances at the Visitor Centre  we
are simply unable to accommodate long term, overnight and multiple
non-Visitor Centre specific parking.
I have attached the letter that was left on the vehicles which should
clearly explain our current circumstance, including that the Visitor Centre
used to be closed on the weekends and is now open during the summer for 7
days a week.
For clarification, the parking lot is a City owned lot. As Such, the City
only ticketed the vehicles that were improperly parked(taking up more than
one stall)  and not any of the other vehicles left in the lot.
We did have one gentleman inquire the day prior in regards to parking and he
was told that we could not accommodate for the same reasons as explained in
the letter.
Proper signage has been requested from the city in order to prevent any
further incident.
We would be happy to assist you in finding an alternated location, for
example the Northern Lights Casino Parking lot, pending confirmation with
their management.
Sincerely
Jayne Remenda"

The following attachment was included in the e-mail.

Re: Overnight and long term parking in the City of Prince Albert’s Visitor Centre Parking lot.

This letter is to inform you that overnight and long term parking in the City of Prince Albert’s Visitor Centre Parking Lot located at 3700 2^nd Ave. West is not permitted.

The Visitor Centre houses the offices of The Prince Albert Tourism and Marking Bureau, The Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce and The Prince Albert Destination Marketing Fund.  These three organizations are required to have parking stalls available for 10 staff, persons conducting business with the said organizations and most importantly our daily visitors to the Centre and the two Museums on site. The Visitor Centre is open to the public 7 days a week during our prime summer season and Monday to Friday for the remainder of the year.

All City of Prince Albert public parks are closed to the public from Midnight until 6:00am daily. However, we do recognize the lack of parking specific signage indicating designated staff parking, short term visitor parking and that there is no overnight parking permitted. In order to prevent any further incident the appropriate signage has been ordered and will be installed by the City of Prince Albert.

Your future compliance in this matter would be appreciated.

Thank You

Jayne Remenda

CEO of Destination Prince Albert

On Behalf of the

The Prince Albert Tourism and Marketing Bureau,

The Prince Albert Destination Marketing Fund,

And The Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce.

readmore

Another Successful Bus Tour in the Books

We've seen another bus trip come and go.  We'll call this one hugely successful! Thank you to everyone that helps make this event one to look forward to each year.  Lane Therres recruited 10 guests.  Alex Brown brought 8 guests.  Lyndon Butler brought 4 guests.  Luis Milhomens has been with us from the beginning.

On the first night, Lyndon Butler of Colonsay landed a 48 1/2 inch Pike to send him to the top of the Davin Lake Pikemaster leader board.  Alex Brown caught a 42 inch fish as well.  We hope to have a picture of that one soon.

The bus clients have always parked their cars at the Sask Tourism booth while they come up for the weekend.  We have permission to do this.  However this year they all went home to find tickets on their windshields.  To those clients, rest assured we are working on correcting this situation!

We cooked for 33 people altogether during this trip.  This is very rewarding for the staff at Davin Lake... lots of work, but well worth it.  We are so thankful to be able to work with such an amazing group of people and in the end hopefully have happy clients!  Being that it's Irvin's 104th birthday today and I'll be 103 in a month, we're quite tired!  It may take us until next year to recover from this weekend. Thank you again to all of our bus clients!  We can't wait until the next one!

readmore

New Pikemaster Leader

Lyndon Butler from Colonsay caught and released a 48 1/2 inch Pike shortly after hitting the water on the day of his arrival.  This is the one to beat now, folks! Congratulations, Lyndon!!

readmore