Rainy Lake was the first major lake to flood, beating the second highest water level which was recorded in 2014. It just came shy of beating the all time high water in 1950.
The flood waters slowly came north, wrecking havoc on Lake of the Woods, the Winnipeg River system and many of their tributaries. In mid-May, a boathouse detached from land and was seen floating on Lake of the Woods (cover photo)!
The bonus of flooding? The fishing was phenomenal this year. Some species like bass pike were not in their usual hangouts, especially early in the season and anglers had to search for them. The walleye were biting though and they were HUGE and the muskie and lake trout fishing were phenomenal in 2023!
Jason caught this big laker at Knobby’s Fly-in Lodge's Bamaji Lake Outpost
In June, Kenora’s iconic Husky the Muskie mascot was restored for the third time since it was originally built in 1967. It has been lightened a bit to help it stand out from the trees in McLeod Park.
While technically it was put back in its rightful spot in late 2021, Red Lake’s CF-DRD Norseman was perched in its glory for the 2022 Norseman Festival in July. The floatplane was being repaired for the last few years as it had major hail damage in 2017.
Already struggling with floodwaters, the Morson/Nestor Falls area go hit with two back to back storms that destroyed many trees and left destruction in the area. Black Island Resort took a direct hit as did Caliper Lake Provincial Park resulting in the cancellation of the Moose ’n Fiddle Festival. In true northerner style, the park and area lodges worked together to get things restored again.
Black Island Resort surveying the storm damage at the island.
If you were fortunate enough to visit Sunset Country last year, you will have noticed that many of the lodges and businesses in the area have made many renovations and upgrades to their establishments in their downtime over the last couple of years. Come see the renos for yourself!
Beautiful new docks at Harris Hill Resort on Lake of the Woods
New flooring at the lodge at Cobb Bay Lodge
The Beyak Automotive Splash Park, a 2,800 sq ft park at the Rotary Complex opened in Dryden in August and is a great, accessible and inclusive play space.
October 1st saw the opening of the Canadian/United States land border with no entry restrictions including no testing, vaccine, quarantine, and isolation requirements for anyone entering Canada!! This was a welcome announcement that many lodges and US residents have been waiting to hear.
While it seems like we had a pretty extreme year in 2022, we are tough northerners and persevere. The floodwaters had come down to normal, we’ve had many, many nights when you could look up and view the beautiful Northern Lights and we’ve had phenomenal fishing in 2022. We hope to see you in 2023!
Darren Thompson photographed these beautiful light pillars in Balmertown. 
The gas pumps and docks at Northern Harbour on Lake of the Woods in Kenora were under water much of the summer.