We hope this last year was filled with good health, great fishing and plenty of time with family and friends. The 2022 Packsack summer season was another for the record books! This spring, we saw record high waters. Fall Lake and the entire Boundary Waters saw flooding that hasn’t been seen in over 100 years. Fall Lake flooded up into our firepit along our lakeside. This is after a year of near record low water levels in 2021. The fishing in 2022 was also one for the record books. In the Spring many anglers pulled in walleyes over 30”, and most had a hard time finding fish smaller than 20” to keep, mid-summer produced some massive smallmouth bass and northern pike, and the Fall bite was exceptional this year with a strong walleye and northern pike bite.
We again saw a few changes around Packsack, we now have an office sperate to the lodge, a new parking lot in front of the lodge for loading and unloading canoers, and an expanded parking lot in the back to accommodate more customer vehicles and boat trailers. Also changing daily, is our daughter Adilee. Many of you may have even met Addy this last summer! She really enjoyed spending the beautiful days going for walks and playing on the swing set with Nana Jane. Addy loved meeting so many friendly faces!
Another big change around here is that Gene has finally had his double knee replacement. He has been working very hard to rehab his new knees and is doing great. He is looking forward to showing you all his new dancing moves next summer! A huge thanks to Gene for all the help this past summer! We also had some phenomenal help join our team this last season: Our nephew Parker Moser, and a new face to Packsack, Elizabeth Johnson. Elizabeth capped off her season with us by running the Ely Half Marathon! She gave a tremendous effort… way to go Elizabeth!
As we reminisce last season, we anxiously begin to peak ahead at this coming season. We have already heard from many people planning trips for the 2023 season. We are always happy to hear from you, so please don’t hesitate to call with questions or requests regarding a trip to Packsack for next season. This year’s permit “go live” date is Wednesday January 25th at 9:00 am. Permits will again be sold on a first come, first serve basis on the Forest Service website: www.recreation.org. Last year permits sold out for motor use and paddle use for most all entry points for the majority of the summer right away in January. We want you to have the most options for the best entry points for this next season, so please do plan ahead this year so we can get your permit right away. If you are planning a trip this coming summer, please contact us asap to discuss options regarding obtaining your permit. We will have more on the 2023 permit process, soon on our website www.packsackcanoetrips.com, under the “Our News” page
Packsack will be represented at some sport shows this coming winter. Nick looks forward to seeing you at the following shows:
Chicagoland sports show. Schaumburg, IL January 26th-29th
Indianapolis boat, sport & travel show. Indianapolis, IN February 17th-26th
Red River Valley Sportsman’s boat & vacation show. Fargo, N March 2nd-5th
Eastern Iowa Sports Show. Cedar Falls, IA March 11th-13th
2023 Wisconsin Sport Show (Spring Edition) Eau Claire, WI March 17th-19th
We hope you can make it to one of our shows and take advantage of the sport show specials, if not always feel free to give us a call to go over your 2022 plans!
This 2022 season was amazing for us here at Packsack, and we would like to thank all of you who visited us this last year and help make it so special! We hope that you spend this holiday season with loved ones, enjoying your family traditions and of course planning and dreaming for your summer traditions. We look forward to the new year and spending time with our little one, and we look forward to spending time with you, our family and friends next summer!
Happy Holidays from Nick, Danielle, and Adilee Ott.
Packsack Canoe Trips & Log Cabins.
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