May 2021 season update

Today we heard that it is too soon to talk about opening the Canada border to US travelers from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Mr. Trudeau went on to say that the border closure will be extended through at least June 21st, which is well into our fishing season.

With Mr. Trudeau’s announcement we are forced to cancel the first 5 weeks (May 30th through July 10th) of our 2021 season. If the border opens on June 21st, 2021 this will give us a few weeks to put everything in place to provide you with the world class northern pike fishing you are a custom to at Cobham River Lodge.

Guests that were scheduled to fish with us between May 30th and July 10th, 2021 have been contacted. While a few guests have moved into August/September the majority have opted to move to the same week in 2022. Those that are still undecided, we recommend that you move to 2022 as we do not know if/when the US/Canada border will open this season. When the border does open, we are unsure what requirements/restrictions are going to be in place.

We will keep you posted as updates come out. We wish the news was different, but it is starting to look a lot like 2020.

June 2021 season update

2020 continues to roll on 2021. We have mix bag of news to share in this update.

The Canadian government announced today that it will be extending the US/Canada border closure through July 21st, 2021. While the announcement cancels four additional weeks (July 11th through August 7th) of our 2021 season, we did get at least a guidance on how the Canadian government is going to determine when it’s safe to open the US/Canada border.

The Canadian government’s current position is that 75% of the Canadian population must be fully vaccinated for the US/Canada border to open. With the Canadian population currently at 27% fully vaccinated and 53% having taken the first dose, we are hopeful there maybe a 2021 fishing season with today’s announcement. While this is a positive signal, it also signals that a vaccine mandate is highly probably for our US fishermen to enter Canada.

We have contacted affected guests by the July border closure extension to our 2022 season. Those that wanted to move to August/September we are sorry, but we are sold out for 2021.  While we are optimistic with the guidance given for the border to open, we are also concerned as to what the requirements may be to have a open US/Canada border.

July 2021 season update

Canada announced it’s opening the US/Canada border

Canada announced that the US/Canada border will be opening on August 9th, 2021. While that is great news, the news also came with many requirements.

With the August 9th US/Canada border opening, came a list of requirements for US fishermen to cross the border:

• US fishermen must register online via ArriveCAN app.
• US fishermen must be fully vaccinated (final dose given at least 14 days prior to crossing the border).
• US fishermen must present a negative Covid-19 PCR test taken with in 72 hours of crossing the border.
• US fishermen maybe subjective to a random Covid-19 PCR test at the border crossing.

Manitoba also announced it’s requirements:

• All guest/staff staying in the same cabin must be from the same household.
• All guest flying the same air charter must be from the same household.

While the federal border requirements is workable, the provincial requirements are not. And with todays announcement goes the remainder of our 2021 fishing season.

The remaining 2021 guests have been contacted and moved to our 2022 season. We will be sending out a guidance email shortly with details on the vaccine requirements just announced. While our 2022 season is 10 months away, we are safe to assume that the requirements in place today will change between now and May 2022.

September 2021 season update

Just wanted to give a quick update that on September 6, 2021 – All Manitoba services, facilities and businesses reopened, with limited restrictions.  While the vaccine requirement to cross the border is still in place for US fishermen, Manitoba is at least getting back to normal.

With the vaccine requirement to cross the US/Canada border, we did have a few of our guests pass on the 2022 season and opt for 2023. So, we have a few limited dates for those interested in 2022.

As always, stay safe and tight lines.