What's the difference between American Plan & Housekeeping Packages

Rent a Housekeeping Cabin

Confused when booking a fishing or hunting vacation in Northwest Ontario?

If you are planning to stay at a resort or lodge in Sunset Country for your family vacation, weekend get-a-way or your annual Canadian fishing trip, your accommodation choices are wide and varied. Many of the fishing and hunting outfitters in Sunset Country offer different packages including American Plan and Housekeeping cabins. Do you have to be an American to have 'American Plan'? No. I'm not sure where these terms came from or if they are even used in other parts of the world. In general, American Plan means that your meals are included and Housekeeping is where you make your meals in your rented cabin. I say 'in general' because each outfitter has various packages. Some will include everything in the American Plan Packages such as meals, baits, guide service, boat rental, gas and more. Some lodges include only the meals in their AP Package. Modified American Plan usually includes dinners. To save a bit of money you can rent a housekeeping package and make your own meals. The majority of the resort and lodges in Sunset Country offer separate cabins for every party. There are however, some American Plan resorts that offer you a room in the lodge itself.

American Plan Dining Room - Courtesy of Tom Thomson

Usually the Ontario fly-in outpost camps are just like renting a housekeeping cabin except that you fly into a remote area not accessible by car. There are also fly-in American Plan Lodges that offer you the seclusion and the luxury of hot, home cooked meals.

With all the options available when booking your Canadian vacation in Sunset Country (meals or no meals, boat rentals vs bringing your own boat, guide service, etc.) it's lucky we have the Internet! The lodges and resorts in Sunset Country describe their different fishing and hunting packages on their websites. Visit the Ontario lodges and resorts to start planning your vacation today. Order the free Ontario's Sunset Country Travel Guide & Map that has all of our accommodation members dotted on the map with a useful directory on the back.

Do you have more questions about visiting Ontario's Sunset Country? Feel free to call us at 1-800-665-7567 and we'll do our best to help you out.

Grand Opening of the HarbourDome Tonight

The new Harbourfront Tent is up in Kenora! After planning for a year or two and actual construction since last fall, the new Harbourfront tent (HarbourDome as some are calling it) is up and will be used by Canadian legends Blue Rodeo tonight, September 16th, 2011. Below are some progression photos I've been taking during construction. The first photo is of the old tent which is to the left of the new tent if you are looking at it from the water.

Kenora Harbourfront - The old yellow and white tent

 Kenora Harbourfront - Just before the top is to go up

 Kenora Harbourfront - Lifting the tent

Kenora Harbourfront - Top of tent is attached

 

Kenora Harbourfront - Top of tent is up!

Kenora Harbourfront - Tent sides are up.

Ready or not, here we come! Tonight Blue Rodeo will christen the Kenora Harbourfront tent. Kenora's own Fat City will open for Blue Rodeo. See you there!

UPDATE:

 

So back from the concert. The tent is awesome! It's way bigger than the old yellow and white tent. I was near the back and the sound was great even back there. Only draw back is that they ran out of beer too early. lol. It looks way bigger inside than it does from the outside. Great job Kenora! Here's a photo of Blue Rodeo and inside of the tent. I didn't bring my good camera, so it's iPod quality. I'll see if I can upload a video tomorrow.

 

Blue Rodeo rockin' it in Kenora.

Get Hooked on the Rainy River Walleye Tournament

Who will catch the biggest walleye in 2011? Courtesy of Gateway North Outfitters

The Town of Rainy River is looking forward to the Rainy River Walleye Tournament  held September 22-24, 2011. With an overall purse of $43,450.00 and a champion prize of $15,000 you can have fun and maybe win some big money too! The tournament is not only of interest to anglers but has a schedule of events that is for the entire family.

The Parade of Boats kicks off the tournament on Thursday at 4:00pm. The tournament anglers are treated to a Fisherman's Dinner at 5:00pm on Thursday with an Official Tournament Rules meeting afterwards. Beer gardens open at 7:30pm. There is a traditional fish fry on September 23th, a steak fry on the 24th that are open to the public. New for this year will be a market under the tent; you can do a bit of shopping while waiting for the anglers to weigh-in. The daily weigh-ins are the highlight of this event. See some big fish caught by tournament participants and experience the anticipation and excitement this always brings.

Anglers take off on Friday at 8:45, 9:00 and 9:15am. Saturday they leave a bit earlier, at  7:45, 8:00 and 8:15am. Watch the weigh-ins on Saturday beginning at 3:15pm and then stick around for the Awards Presentation and the Rainy River Junior Curlers Boat Draw. Tournament Boundaries will be from markers at Wheelers Point at the mouth of the Rainy River to markers at Long Sault Rapids east of Stratton on Canadian Side of Border

Brian Ney and Jim Ney won the RRWT in 2011 - Courtesy of the RRWT

Last year Brian Ney and Jim Ney won the Rainy River Walleye Tournament. The top 15 anglers in the Rainy River Walleye Tournament win cash prizes. There are also prizes for 2 different hidden weights on both days, a parade prize, River Champ, Day One and Day Two Big Fish and the Lionel Roberts Memorial Award Largest Basket of Tournament.

Watch the Rainy River Walleye Tournament's Facebook page for updates and results or visit the Rainy River Walleye Tournament Scoreboard. Visit Sunset Country's website to see a listing of other fishing tournaments in Northwestern Ontario.

 UPDATE:

Rainy River Walleye Tournament Top Ten Results Day 1:

1. Oliver Gibbins & Jason Gibbons - 15.48 lbs
2. Christian Armstrong & Mark Nault - 10.61 lbs
3. Dave Armstrong & Darren Armstrong - 10.55 lbs
4. Troy Kreger & Doug Kreger - 9.37 lbs
5. Harvey Cochrane & Peter Gushalak - 8.60 lbs
6. Michael McQuaker & Matt Ivall - 8.40 lbs
7. Dean St. Pierre & Brian St Pierre - 8.22 lbs
8. Doug Jorgenson & Allan Wolanicki - 7.90 lbs
9. Lisa Stone & Raymond King - 7.77 lbs
10. Kirk Wood & Jon O'Conner - 7.7 lbs

UPDATE 2:

Oliver Gibbons & Jason Gibbons win the 2011 Rainy River Walleye Tournament!!! The top ten after day two are as follows:

1. Oliver Gibbons & Jason Gibbons - 22.96 lbs
2. Dan Armstrong & Sean Kilpatrick - 19.16 lbs
3. Lisa Stone & Raymond King - 18.00 lbs
4. Christian Armstrong & Mark Nault - 17.75 lbs
5. Dave Armstrong & Darren Armstrong - 15.65 lbs
6. Kirk Wood & Jon O'Conner - 14.47 lbs
7. Doug Jorgenson & Allan Wolanicki - 13.83 lbs
8. Kevin Marchuk & Tom Briggs - 12.46 lbs
9. Troy Kreger & Doug Kreger - 12.27 lbs
10. Sean Westman & Dave Oldakowski - 11.01 lbs

For complete results see the Rainy River Walleye Tournament Facebook Page