When you and the guys go on your annual fishing trips do you hit the same resort / lake year after year or do you try different water, different resorts?
Do your Canadaian trips differ from in state trips?
We always go to the same resort/campground on the same dates year after year up at Vermilion. Its cool because we’ve gotten to know the owners at both places really well and there are other groups of fishermen that have been going up the same dates and we’ve gotten to know them too. It’s like seeing old friends again.
If it isn’t broke dont fix it. We go to the same lake and stay in the same resorts for all trips during the season. 
The ‘guys’ in my case are my two sons and me. We enjoy camping, not lodging…in the last 15 years we have tried to go to different lakes usually around father’s Day weekend.
Only twice have we ever stayed at a resort and that was with John & Patty Odle @ Rocky Reef Resort on the SW side of Mille Lacs. We have yet to decide this years destination.
Anyway, that’s how we roll.
We started a guy trip a while back with the idea of going to a new destination every year. Started at LOTW then Devil’s Lake and Lake Gogebic in the U.P. and now we’ve been back to LOTW the last few years. Always go on the first full week of March which has been hit and miss. It would really be nice if you could have a group ready to go whenever the bight picked up but that just isn’t the case for me and the guys.
It is definitely a lot of fun to go to new places but the big problem is that it’s new which means you spend a lot of time figuring the body of water out or what resort is the best and so on. We’ve done really well out of Arneson’s but recently switched to Zippel bay because we have our own wheel house and they have a great system of plowed roads (and of course the Igloo!)
Yearly Everts trip with the guys is the highlight of my summer!
Our Bi-Annual Canada trip, we go to the same place (only cabin on the lake) and about the same time of year, mid June. We cannot imagine better fishing anywhere else, and it gets better every trip, because we discover more of the lake and the secrets it holds 
I think if you have a great lake, resort, time of the year it makes sense to repeat as long as its fun. I learned from my dad however…his group of buddies went to the same drive-to spot in Canada for 30 years. The first 5 years were great, but then the highway there was improved and increased traffic, commercial netting increased, etc. Long and short, it wasn’t very good any more but a lot of the guys felt loyal to the guy that owned the resort. My dad opted out at about 20 years and ruffled some feathers, but got a chance to try a lot of other waters. He only wished he had done it sooner.
I guess I’ve learned from that and tend to go to a place 2-3 years before I make a decision. The first year you just learn it, by the second and third year you find out if its what you really want…or move on..
“Do your Canadaian trips differ from in state trips?”
Used to…I did a fly-in or a drive to Lac Seul, Rainy Lake, Eagle Lake, etc every year. Plus a few bass trips within 1-2 hours of the Twin Cities. Totally different venues.
Then, one day I woke up and realized I didn’t like drowning minnows all day long for walleyes any more. They taste great but I found jigging boring and walleyes really don’t put up much of a fight. I stopped going to Canada and started fishing in state for smallmouth, large mouth, pike, muskie, etc. I truly enjoy fishing again and don’t have the hassle of long drives or flights to Canada, all the expense, time away from work/family, etc. I buy farm-raised fillets now if I need my walleye fix.
The other negative with the Candian trips was that we would book our trips way out in advance. Then come heck or high water, we went that week even if it was snowing, raining, too hot, or just the wrong week to catch fish. Now I’m more of a fair weather, in-state fisherman and I go when the week, day or weekend ahead looks prime for fishing the way I like to fish.
Do I get skunked once in awhile sure, but I tend to have more enjoyment and better fishing overall.
Works for me any way… Maybe I’m just less hard-core as I age..
Our group goes to same Canadian lake about the same time each year and love it. Fishing just keeps getting better and I have a rule to try one new spot each year or drive to new lake close by for one day. Keeps things fresh and we have a pretty good milk run set up on the main lake we fish. 
Besides the best fishing available, a Canadian fly-in gives a guy, the chance to forget about the phone, the internet, the worries & basically the world. Like mentioned, get away from the easy access lakes, we won’t see another boat… guaranteed 
(we rent a sattelite phone for safety reasons)With the right group, you can get your battery recharged and be good for awhile…. and when the fishing is lights out, it is just icing on the cake HUGE pike and tons of walleyes, no live bait. A big part of our trip is the travel time…we talked about flying all the way, as we all could afford it now, but decided against it… 
granted, you need a good group of guys to pull it off time and time again. So far, our group has stood the test of time
We mostly keep going to the same lakes and lodges/campgrounds.
First of the year is a Ice fishing trip to various locations (this is the second annual one) Last year it was Leach and this year it is LOW in March. Just a couple of us buds.
Then it’s soft water to Taneycomo in April, staying at Tanglewood Lodge. Izaak Walton group here maybe 20 to 30 of us.
Then May, it’s camping at Rathbun Lake Bridgeview in southern IA for crappies and walleyes (Iks group #’s vary).
June takes me to SD Oahe fathers day week with 8 of us. Spring Creek.
July, August and September usually is around here. A couple of times a few of us (2 boats) went to Mille Lacs and stayed at Hunters.
Late October for 15 years now, there are 60 to 80 of us at LOW for a friendly walleye tournament, stay at Ballard’s Resort. I used to go to Canada prior to this trip. With this one though I stay in the States spend less money, fish more days, use my own fishing equipment, spend less time traveling and catch just as many size/numbers as the Canadian trip was. It was a no brainer decision for me.
We have had an annual ice fishing trip now for about 10 years. We generally mix it up. LOW has been the most common destination. We have stayed at Wigwam, Wheeler’s Point, Zippel Bay, and Oak Island in the northwest angle. Also went to Winnibigoshish one year. All of the resorts have been pretty similar. Kim and Rick at Highbanks on Winnie were very accomodating and cheaper than LOW. Next year we are talking about Red or somewhere in the Dakotas. I have fished Canada before, but the travel time gets to be a lot especially since our group generally goes for three days of fishing. One thing about it is, fishing is fishing, and no matter where you go you are always subject to the weather and other variables that cannot be predicted when booking a trip 3-6 months ahead of time. One thing I can say for certain though, we always have a great time. There is something pretty special about getting together with great friends year after year for a fishing trip. It brings people together in their busy lives and allows some much needed relaxation, and maybe a few beers down the hatch
We do a winter trip and mix it up, other than this trip coming up we have usually been on Leech/Winnie. Our opener trip is almost always the cabin up by Mille Lacs, our Fall trip is usually 4-5 days and we try different areas, we’ve never done the Canada thing, but it’s on our list. There’s a few smaller trips sprinkled in. We are looking into a Mississippi Gulf coast trip. My buddy puts together a Mexico and Alaska trip, but those are hard to get 12 guys out and accommodate the whole crew. We keep it simple, have enough rigs so if some want pike or bass they can explore. Some like the afternoon to evening bite, some go all day. We have cooking/cleaning teams for breakfast and dinner. We’ve been doing this long enough that my buddy’s kids are now part of the gang.
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