Gateway North Outfitters FAQ's - Answered:

HELLO! If this is your first trip with us or if you are one of our valued repeat guests, we are looking forward to having each and everyone of you with us this season. If you are repeat guests, you know the routine. If this is your first trip with us, you may have some unanswered questions.  These are some of the most commonly asked questions.  If you have additional questions, please call and we will be more than happy to help.

1) "Where are you located?"

How To Reach Us By car, drive to International Falls, MN, cross over the bridge into Canada at customs and take Hwy 11-71 West out of Fort Frances, Ontario. Follow 24 miles to Hwy 71 North. Follow Hwy 71 North 15 miles to Hwy 615 East. Take Hwy 615 East and follow it until you come to French's Road (about 9 miles). Follow French's Road to the Gateway North Outfitters sign. For those of you who don’t mind gravel roads, you can take gravel and shorten the drive by about 15 minutes. If you wish to do this, once on Hwy 11-71 you will pass through the town of Emo. You will pass a John Deere dealer and just past that lot is Off Lake Road, turn right. Off Lake Road eventually meets up with Hwy 615. You will travel about 20 miles from Emo to French’s Road, turn right. We are about ½ mile down French’s Road on the right. You will see our sign.

If you are flying commercially to International Fall, MN send us a copy of your flight schedules and we will arrange for North Air Taxi to pick you up and bring you to our overnight cabins on Off Lake for the night before your flight, or a motel. The cabins are a great place to start your trip and you are only a few steps from the dock for your flight into your outpost cabin. The cab fare runs approximately $100 US for up to 4 people each way.

For the boat in trips to Pipestone, after checking in at our office on Off Lake, you will make a short drive over to Clearwater Lake and depart from there for your Pipestone adventure.

2) "Where should we stay?"

We highly recommend you cross into Canada the night before your trip and stay on the Canadian side. If you do stay in Canada, you can stay on Off Lake at our cabins, where we offer overnight lodging for guests before there trip. Call us at 807-482-1388 to see about accommodations, availability, cost etc... The cabins are very nice and all fly in trips depart right off the docks at Off Lake. If you want numbers of places in town to stay, give us a call and we will get them for you.

3) "What time should we arrive?"

We ask that you arrive at base of operations approximately 1-1/2 hours before your scheduled flight time. That will allow plenty of time for you to do the paperwork and settle up on your payment.

4) "What do we use for bait?"

If fishing for walleyes, we HIGHLY recommend you use minnows. We recommend 1-2 dozen per person per day. If you are fishing for bass, we recommend leeches. Figure on a pound of leeches per person for a 5-day trip. There are approximately 10-12 dozen leeches per pound. If you are wanting bait, pre order it with us and we can make sure that it is available when you arrive.

5) "What are the weight restrictions?"

We have a 125 lb. weight limit per person. This includes everything that goes on the airplane with you, such as beer, sodas, food, bait, ice, gear, groceries. There is a government certified scales at the dock where the pilot will weigh all of your gear before loading on the airplane. If your party has way over the weight restriction and you choose to have the extra weight flown in separately, the cost of the overload will be charged and flown in accordingly (depending on time and weather). Please weigh your gear at home to avoid delays, embarrassment, as we must comply with these restrictions for safety.

We ask that you do your best to conform to these restrictions. The planes are only physically capable of hauling so much weight and fuel is essential in this limit. Also, we ask that you use soft-sided bags for your gear and soft bags or cardboard boxes (no Tupperware or hard sided boxes) for your groceries. The Tupperware tubs are just not easy to load into the aircraft and surely do not allow to bend or mold into a small area. If weight is a big problem for your group and you would like for us to fly some items (such as cases of beer and sodas), get in touch and let us know at least 30 days prior to your trip. We can help you out that way. No coolers 94 quart or larger will be flown in due to size of the cooler.

6) "Do we need a depth finder?"

Portable fish locators are helpful. It helps to find the structure of the lake for depth, ridges, weed beds, reefs, etc. Also, we have sent you a confirmation of your dates and lakes along with your total billing. If this is going to be split up between your party, please have it figured out as to how much each person owes before you arrive. All we will need to add on will be your license cost if not already included on your bill and if you are purchasing bait or any other things at the store. But if you have each person's share already agreed upon, that can also help save time the morning of your flight.

7) Emergency communications?

All customers going on a fly in trip are supplied with satellite phone free of charge.  There is a $3.00 per minute charge for all calls other than calls relating to broken equipment or emergencies.  Satellite phones are available for rent on the boat in outpost trips for $75 per trip + $3.00 per minute on all personal or business calls.

8) Beer, Liquor, & Cigarettes

Each person of legal age (19 in Ontario) is allowed to bring 1 case of beer (24Pk) or 1  40oz bottle of liquor and 1 carton of cigarettes in to Canada duty free.  You can bring additional amounts into Canada, but you will pay the duty on them.

9) Can you get our food  for us ?

We do offer a complete food package for $30 per person per day.  It covers everything that you need for your entire trip other than beer, pop, or bottled water.  If you are wanting a special food list gathered for you notify us well in advance and we can do that as well. 

10)What do we need to bring our guns into Canada?

A fee of $25.00 Canadian is required to complete this procedure; this confirmed declaration is valid for up to 60 days. Firearms Declaration Forms are available from Customs officers, Canadian Firearms Centre info line at 1-800-731-4000.

You will need to get a gun permit to bring your weapon or weapons across the border. If you do not do this prior to entry, you will have to do it at the border. This process takes about 20 minutes and is done by the Canadian Customs as you enter Canada.  If you are bow hunting, you do not need the permit.

11)What if I have a criminal record?

If you have a criminal record, you may inadmissible to Canada, even a D.U.I. may prevent travel to Canada. For a free consultation please check with Canada Border Crossing Services - Lucy Perillo Toll free phone - 1-800-438-7020 website - www.bordercrossing.ca email - bordercrossing@mts.net

12)Fishing Licenses - We have fishing licenses available for sale at our main base on Off Lake.

Gateway North Outfitters

RR #2

Emo, Ontario P0W1E0

Canada

Overnight Lodging, Drive In Housekeeping Cabins, Boat In Outpost Cabin, & Fly In Outpost Cabins

Whitetail Deer Hunting, Black Bear Hunting, & Moose Hunting Outfitter in Ontario, Canada