All's Well at Norlakes

This past weekend we arrived back from the Babine River. The last two weeks of October had us hosting 2 separate groups with Babine Norlakes Steelhead Lodge. For those who didn't know, this was the first year in almost 30 that Pierce Clegg was not at the helm. Pierce and Anita Clegg sold the Norlakes operations to Billy Labonte and Carrie Collingwood this past spring.

Those of us who have fished at Norlakes for many years couldn't help but wonder "how will it be?".

There are those, yours truly, who are somewhat resistant to change when something is just fine so the annual fall trip to the Babine was tinged with apprehension.

A lot of continuity from past years, Darren Wright still guides,  Missy and Larry still make sure all is perfect with our trip. Former camp employee, Joel Nowlin, guided his first year and did a fine job.

Over the span of two weeks you can get a pretty good feel of how things are working and get to know a person. Without question Norlakes is in good hands! Things are all good still on the Upper Babine.

Billy and Carrie are no strangers to this gig. Carrie comes from very established outfitting family and Billy has guided anglers on the Lower Babine since his teens. Their experience shows through very quickly. To find out more about Norlakes, as well as Billy and Carrie, go to http://www.babinenorlakes.com/about.html

Morning steam at Lower Trail

 When our first group arrived in camp on October 19, it was immediately evident that Biily and Carrie had already made a commitment to improvements. Upgrades to the main lodge/dining area looked very nice, some nice new touches in the cabins, and plans for even more infrastructure improvements for next year left me with the impression they are committed to making this historic camp even better.

Conversations with both Billy and Carrie left me with the impression that, while they want to make improvements at many levels, they still wish to honour and remember the history of Norlakes.

Billy could have done a little better job on the weather. 

 To sum things up....we'll always miss the one of a kind Pierce Clegg and his stabilizing anchor, Anita but things at Norlakes are in good hands. Here's to the next 30 years!

We'll have a more fishing specific report on our trips this week......