July 2008 Newsletter

Greeting from Dryden!

We hope everyone is enjoying the summer of 2008. (Now that we think summer has finally arrived for us here) Its about that time again to get you up to date. It has been a couple of months since our last newsletter, so we thought we would touch base with everyone. Sure is a lot to talk about with what has gone on the last couple of months. The ice out in Northwest Ontario was later than normal. Our spring was not a normal spring either for weather. Lots of cool, windy, rainy days involved. Some nice days mixed in, but not very many. Our water levels are sitting at good levels right now for this time in July. The ground has lots of moisture, too, so we dont foresee any fire restictions in the near future either.

A big topic among most people this year has been the economy and fuel prices etc. I am sure everyone can relate in one way or another. It definitely affects each of us in one way or another. It has been effecting businesses in almost every way. Hopefully after the fall elections, things will become better and people around the country will start to have faith in the government again, too.

Along with all of that, some drilling for oil in the USA would surely help, if they would ever decide to do so. This newsletter isn't meant to get political, but we are sure hoping that Obama does not get into office, along with the majority of our guests and people we talk to. It would be nice if there would be some real choices to pick from. Not too sure about the options we have. As being an avid sportsman and outfitter in a sportsman's outdoor world, I was just reading in the June issue of American Hunter (NRA Magazine) that was talking about Obama and how he either supported laws against firearms or voted for laws against firearms. We realize there has to be laws to govern the people but we are believers of the 2nd Amendment and Obama, in our eyes, does not support our beliefs... The "Right to bare arms".

We are just putting in our 2 cents worth as one aspect in the sportsman's world of thinking. We all have our own beliefs just as each one of you do.

We urge all of L & M customers to get out this fall and vote for whoever you think would do the best job for the United States of America. Every vote counts.

This year particularly, we have started to see people who fly commercial airlines hit also by the high fuel prices. They say the airlines are charging more and more for the tickets. They are charging additional money for each bag/luggage checked in, additional fares for bags that weigh more than a certain amount. Some have even said there is going to be a surcharge to help cover costs of fuel. So all in all, the cost of airline tickets is affecting us on down the line as well. Some of our guests who have previously flew commercial airlines in years past, this year ended up NOT flying commercially to get to us for reasons mentioned. They ended up driving instead to save some money. For those guys who can justify the drive time instead of flying, I would recommend doing so by driving instead. It does save lots of hassle and money, even with the rising fuel costs. You'll save not buying airline tickets, save on the cab fares after you get to the nearest airport, you'll have a car to go where and when you want to buy your groceries, restaurants, stores, and stay at whatever motels you wish, etc. You also don't have to worry about the airlines losing your baggage, which seems to happen far too often by any airline, esp by Northwest!

In regards to fuel prices again, Many of our groups are adapting to the gas prices when they travel to Canada. Just as in the above paragraph with airlines, many groups, for example, would be 6-8 people bringing 2 cars to reach us in the past, now are driving 1 larger vehicle(van) and pulling a trailer in needing more room for gear to save gas on the 2nd car. There are many ways to save few dollars here and there in order to cut expenses, just have to plan more and think of the little things.

Speaking of high gas prices and fuel surcharges, for those who are reading this newsletter that are not L & M customers but thinking about trying our services out. Current L & M guests already know of this. L & M does NOT add on or charge extra for fuel surcharges on the cost of your trip when scheduling your trip with L&M. And there are No hidden fuel surcharges added on to your cost after your trip is booked. Just as we say and advertise on our homepage of our web site. We do not believe this is an ethical thing to do in order to run a professional business.

A couple of reminders:

1) We are still getting some emails sent to our old email address. Please check your records on L & M that you have our new email address updated in your contact lists. LM@LMflyin.com

2) For the Couples, we are actually going to offer a "couples discount" for 2009. You can book anytime to get this rate. This discount is for Austin Lake, during the months of May/June only. It is also good for Otatakan lake during the months July/August only. No exceptions on dates or lakes. 1/2 price to the wives in the "couples" trip.

3) In our last newsletter we talked about a new referral program for anyone who refers clients to L & M. If you would refer a customer to L&M, you would receive a credit towards your next trip. Keep this in mind if you know of anyone who is looking for a fly in outfitter as it can save you money on your next trip with L & M. Check out our specials page for more details on this special if you have any questions on this topic. Its a great way to save $300.00 on your next fishing trip.

Keep an eye on our specials page as we will be modifying the specials page periodically.

http://www.lmflyin.com/rates.html

L & M has been busy doing a few odds and ends jobs around the lakes this year. Currently we have a couple week opening in our Otatakan Lake cabin so we decided to do a little remodeling project to the cabin. It will be pretty nice after we are completed with this new project. A couple of beech loads of freight/lumber materials was flown in last week and we have been using our spare time to work on the cabin. We are re-arranging the cabin lay out with the bedrooms and bathroom and laying new flooring. The bathroom we are setting up to add in an indoor toilet one day? If we decide to add a toilet, it will have room and a spot to place the toilet. In our last newsletter we talked about the toilet. A few groups want the toilet and actually most of our groups do not want to deal with the issues of the toilet. So right now we are debating the pro's and con's of the toilet, and will be making a decision before fall with what we will do.

Fishtrap is our next project. All of the materials/lumber have been flown into Fishtrap Lake (pine for siding all of the walls, underlayment and tiles for the floors, new windows and doors, more solar panels, siding for the outside of the building and tin for the roof) we plan on doing the project the end of July/early August. Fishtrap is slightly more of a serious project so it will take some time to complete. It will be ready by the summers end. Larry has made numerous road trips recently with the truck and trailer buying all of the materials and supplies for these projects, so its just a matter of getting them completed during our spare time. Needless to say, we are staying busy even when we are not flying customers in or out of the lakes. Both Fishtrap and Otatakan should look very nice after our projects are completed. We would also like to make note of the projects in relation to the high gas prices. We are able to do these projects this year since we moved to Dryden a year ago from our old airbase on Clearwater. If were still flying from Clearwater all of the money spent on these projects would have been eaten up in just the fuel prices in doing business.

One thing we also like to mention for purpose of planning your trips for a fly in outpost. Since this spring was unusually cold, wet, windy spring-meaning lots of days fishermen came into the cabins cold and wet, and wanted to start a fire. We heard a lot that it was too hard to start fires due to the wood we had cut for firewood, just being too wet from day after day rains. I would recommend bringing 1 small can of charcoal fluid with you when packing your gear for your trip. It works great to start wood that is damp. 1 small jug is plenty for your trip. On our hunting trips up in the mountains we use this a lot of times to start fires when we have wet wood. It starts fires with good results.

In terms of fishing.... Check out the fishing reports on our web site which is listed as Fishing Reports. We also have been posting them on a couple of fishing forums if you want to see them on there too, under the Canada section. Feel free to log onto those forums and check them out.

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/

http://www.lakestatefishing.com/

We would like to thank all the guests who have sent in pictures of there fishing trips, if anyone who has not sent in pictures and have some good pictures, feel free to email them to us. We enjoy seeing them.

On a personal note. As many of you are aware of how we love to do fall hunting. We take a lot of effort and pride during our fall hunting season and put in for many tags, not knowing if you will have success in drawing any. Larry beat the odds this year. He drew a prized tag for this fall. All these years of applying faithfully, he finally drew one of his dream hunts. He drew a Montana Bighorn Sheep tag in one of Montana's top trophy units. The plans for this hunt are in the making. The guys plan to go self guided, doing a possible self-guided 54 mile float trip down the Missouri River camping out along river during the hunt. The odds of drawing this tag are 2%. (I think he should try playing the lottery)

We hope everyone has a safe summer. If any one of you are thinking about any last minute trips for 2008, keep L & M in mind. We have a few selected dates still open to pick from. We are currently taking bookings now for 2009 too, so if your interested in 2009, let us know and we'll help line up a fly in for your group. Remember getting booked here before Sept 1, 2008 with your deposit paid for your up coming trip in 2009. Pay the 2008 rates.

Stay in touch.

All the best,
L & M Fly Ins
www.LMflyin.com
888/867-3335