Tinker grew up at Rainbow Lodge, carrying on the legacy of his family- piloting bush planes in the summer, hunting and trapping in the winter. In those days it was done for survival rather than sport. He had a profound love of the outdoors… and the air, and owned his first bush plane before he owned a car. The stories he has from the trap-line, and places he has seen flying all over Northwestern Ontario and the Northwest Territories are too numerous to even capture on a page… you’ll just have to ask him!

Tinker met Sharon in 1981, and they opened Tinker’s Place on a quiet inlet on Lake of the Woods. With just two small cabins, they lived in one cabin and rented the other out to guests in the summer. Through word-of-mouth and Sports Show advertising, their guest list began to grow, and they began to expand. The third cabin was built in 1983, and that same year, plans were put into place to begin the construction of the log Lodge up on the Hill. 108 Red Pine logs were cut out of the surrounding woods, and hauled to the site in the winter of 1984. Each log was hand peeled by friends and family. They cleared a road up the steep hill leading to the lodge, and by the fall of 1985 the footings were poured and construction began. Tireless days of working through the winter paid off to welcome the first guests of the season for Walleye opener in May of 1986. Since then, the expansion at Tinker’s has been continuous. In 1987, salvaged logs were floated across the bay from where they once stood as cabins on an island in the 20’s. These logs were peeled, cleaned up and became Cabins #4 and #5. Cabin #6 was built from local poplar logs and is perched on the hill next to the main lodge. The newest cabin was built in 1994. Since then, a log pavilion that hosts Friday night Fish-Fry’s and a log gazebo have added to the charm at Tinker’s.

The crystal clear waters of Kaiarskons Lake were so captivating that Tinker and Sharon built themselves a log cabin there. Tinker’s son Mac hauled the logs out over the ice in the dead of winter. On an old wood cook-stove from the 1920’s, they wake up every morning to make coffee (the cowboy way!) and get breakfast cooked for the fishermen… everything seems to taste better when it’s cooked on a wood stove!

Loonhaunt Lake is the site of our brand new outpost cabin, it was built as a tribute to the “pioneers” of old, who instilled in us this love that we have. Local logs were cut and hand-hewn off site, transported to the new site over the ice during winter, and then “re-built”. Chinking, roofing and finish work all followed! Tinker’s chainsaw-crafted furnishings, his collection of local artifacts and the unique memorabilia preserved from the original cabin add real charm.

We take so much pride in welcoming our guests each season with the same warm hospitality and genuine friendship. Many people who came up and stayed at Tinker’s as young fathers are bringing their grandchildren up to experience the same peaceful tranquility and reel in some big fish. Our way of life is simple… it’s enjoying a fresh shore lunch prepared on a distant rock miles away from any road, cell phone or conference call; it’s picking wild blueberries and watching a cow moose and her calf pass you by; and it’s being in a place where your biggest concern when you wake up is what kind of fish you want to catch that day. Now that’s a decision ALL fisherman love to make!