June 25, 2025 • 54 mins
When the thermometer pushes past 30°C at a wilderness lodge, everything changes. The heat transforms more than just the comfort level—it reshapes the entire rhythm of the north, from fish behavior to guest experiences and staff management.
In this scorching episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, I take you through the unvarnished realities of managing extreme heat in the wilderness when air conditioning isn't an option. Drawing from years of experience on the Upper French River, I share how different fish species respond to rapidly warming waters—northern pike retreating to cooler depths while muskies embrace the warmth, and how largemouth bass can actually turn more active during that first heat wave of the year.
Beyond fishing strategies, I reveal the behind-the-scenes challenges of keeping both guests and staff comfortable, healthy and happy when the mercury soars. You'll discover my secret weapon—the "ice fairies" who delivered fresh ice to cottage porches daily—and why simple touches like this became guest favorites. I share candid stories about kitchen staff working heroically in sweltering conditions, freezers breaking down at the worst possible moments, and the unexpected opportunities that extreme heat creates, from wildlife viewing to magical evenings by the water.
Perhaps most valuable are the hard-earned lessons about preparation, adaptation, and turning potential disasters into memorable experiences. From moving dining outdoors to creating evening jam sessions by the dock, these strategies didn't just help us survive the heat—they created some of our guests' most cherished memories.
Whether you're planning a wilderness adventure, managing your own outdoor business, or simply curious about life at a northern lodge when nature cranks up the heat, this episode offers practical insights, heartfelt stories, and a genuine appreciation for those who find ways to thrive when conditions get extreme. Join me for this deep dive into one of the most challenging aspects of lodge life—and discover why sometimes the hottest days create the coolest memories.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
the most important thing.
Number one is hydration,hydration, hydration and um.
We would always talk to eachother and I would always remind
the staff about hydration andheat stroke, because heat stroke
is a very real thing.
(00:27):
This week on the OutdoorJournal, radio, podcast Networks
, diaries of a Lodge OwnerStories of the North.
The sun is relentless, thethermometers are pushing past 30
and for the first time thisseason you can see the heat
coming off the rugged CanadianShield.
It's past 30, and for the firsttime this season you can see
the heat coming off the ruggedCanadian Shield.
It's official.
(00:49):
Summer is here and it is notbeing polite about it.
On this show we're divingheadfirst into what the first
true heat wave of the year meansfor life at the lodge, for Life
at the Lodge.
We'll talk about how a surge inheat reshapes, everything from
fish behavior to guestsatisfaction and staff
(01:10):
management.
Whether you're behind the deskor out on the dock.
When the heat hits hard, theentire rhythm of the lodge
shifts and we're covering thegood, the bad and the downright
sweaty truths of a midsummerheat wave.
So if you love the untamed heatof northern summers or want to
(01:36):
know how a seasoned lodge owneradapts on the fly.
When things get hot, literallystay tuned.
Things get hot Literally Staytuned.
This episode will give you aninside look at how to thrive,
survive and maybe even enjoy afew unexpected wins when nature
(01:56):
cranks up that dial to the max.
Well, folks, thank you onceagain for joining us here at
Diaries of a Lodge Owner.
I'm your host, steveNiedzwiecki, and boy oh boy, it
is hot, hot, hot out there insouthern Ontario.
(02:16):
I will tell you what I can'tremember a time when we've gone
from such a cool, cool springand I do take a little bit of
credit for the spring takinglonger to warm up than it should
have Because on one of our pastepisodes, matt O'Brien and I
(02:41):
were talking when we were up atthe lodge and we caught a real
short sniff of some summer heatand we then declared that it was
going to, that summer wasstarting and it was way too
early, obviously, and then wegot like six weeks of cold.
(03:02):
You know, kind of like we werethe groundhog guys and we made
the wrong call.
But anyway, now we are in three, four days of heat and I
thought it would be it would beappropriate for me to talk about
how the heat affects lodge life, and I will first start off by
(03:28):
saying we did not have airconditioning at the lodge and it
was a huge, expensive endeavorto try and outfit all of our
cottages with air conditioning.
And outfit all of our cottageswith air conditioning, although
(03:48):
I did think about it, it was notsomething that I had done and I
don't think it is done yet, but, believe it or not, the heat
waves that we went through upthere, when you're on the water
and under all of that cover inthe bush, it really wasn't
(04:16):
terrible.
So, having said that, that heat, it just changes everything and
it changes the whole atmosphere, atmosphere, actually
everywhere, when you're talkingabout fishing, when you're
talking about the lodge lifeitself.
(04:36):
But let's start with thefishing.
You know, in that heat you'realways looking for a consistent
weather pattern, number one, andthat consistent weather pattern
is it can be consistently cold,it can be consistently hot, it
(04:57):
can be consistently inconsistent, believe it or not.
And when you start getting intothose consistent weather
patterns, the fish like it.
But heat is something different, and it's something different
(05:18):
because the fish behavior tendsto change and this really is a
species-specific thing when wetalk about heat.
So why don't we fire things upwith northern pike and northerns
.
They're a colder water fish.
(05:38):
They prefer colder water, atleast the big ones and the
smaller ones too.
When you start getting intothis type of heat wave where the
surface temperature can get upinto the mid to high 70s, right
quick, and those fish they'regoing deeper Once you start
(06:00):
hitting that late June, july andbeginning of August, summer
peak, those northern pike,especially in these heat waves,
are deeper and about the bestway to find them and catch them
is to I like to troll.
You cover a lot of water.
(06:20):
Look for those breaks in 20feet of water down into 50, 60
feet, um, if there's, if there'snortherns in your lake and I'm
not like I mean you can havelakes that are that have
different uh depth and rangescales but look for the deepest
(06:43):
areas in your lake, back offonto mid-water shelves in that
you know 18 to 30-foot rangethat drop into deeper water.
18 feet might be as deep as youget.
Look for that.
Even a 16-foot hump in 18 feet.
(07:04):
Just look for some sort ofstructure that drops into that
and and uh and troll, um deepdiving cranks over top of it.
Uh, you know, a lot of times atthis time of the year we would
get, uh, bigger northern jiggingfor walleye.
That's now.
That's a battle to to try andget them in at that.
But you're looking for that typeof thing, smallmouth.
(07:27):
They're kind of in the sameboat.
They're tough to find inshallower water.
They're making a transitionright now off of the beds into
their summering areas and again,depending on your lake, it's
very difficult.
But start with those rockyshoals, points, boulders, and
(07:50):
you're looking again into deeperwater.
You're looking into that.
Anywhere from 10 is shallow,right into they could be down as
deep as 30 feet, could be downas deep as 30 feet and in the
heat, especially smallies, youcan look deep.
If you can't find them anywhereelse, look deep Largemouth.
(08:19):
They're really not going allthat deep.
They'll retreat back into that10, 12 feet, maybe a little
deeper.
And you know that 10, 12 feet,maybe a little deeper.
And you know Pete Bowman is oneof the best, um, best guys.
Well, I think he's one of themost talented large mouth
fishermen in this provinceanywhere.
And, um, I, I think that, um,when it comes to those large
(08:39):
mouth in these heat waves, um,you're looking in those 10 foot
breaks and you can also findthem like.
I mean depending on watertemperature, because right now
this is our first heat wave ofthe year.
So if you've got one of thoseheat waves where the surface
temperature has warmed quick butthere's not much of a
(09:03):
thermocline and it's stillfairly cool underneath, or it's
still fairly cool in a sensethat you're not into that deep
mid-summer heat, I'll tell youwhat largemouth can turn on
heavily in that kind ofsituation.
(09:23):
I just had that with a goodbuddy of mine, mark Plant.
We were out on the beginning ofthis heat wave and really
cracked the largemouth good andthey were some active.
So you know, largemouth that'sone of those fish that in this
type of heat wave and this typeof situation, mouth, that's one
(09:45):
of those fish that in these,this type of heat wave, in this
type of situation, get out there, get into that, you know,
anywhere from 15 to 3 feet.
Uh, undercover, they'll belooking to they.
They look undercover especially, you know, if you can get one
of those situations when we'retalking about the first heat
wave of the year and the waythat this year set up, if you
(10:06):
get it so that your water hasbeen fairly cool and you move
into one of these rock and heatwaves, that shallower water
underneath those lily pads andeverything else that'll heat up
faster and turn those largemouthon.
Muskies are the same way.
(10:26):
They are a warmer water fish.
They prefer warmer water,unlike northern pike who are the
opposite, and you can findmuskies up in that shallow water
.
The one thing I will cautionyou with with the muskies in the
shallow water is it's very easyto to exhaust those fish.
(10:49):
So when you're fishing in insummer peak, use proper gear.
Make sure that that you've gotgear that's that's strong enough
that you can get that fish tothe boat and in the boat in an
appropriate amount of time.
You don't want to let that fishgo on 13 runs and exhaust it to
(11:14):
the point where they will diefrom exhaustion in hot water,
because the oxygen levels in hotwater are a lot lower than they
are in cooler water.
And to exhaust a fish and muskyis a good example, because
they're bigger and they fight aton and they just don't like.
(11:40):
If you let them exhaustthemselves in hot water, chances
of losing them is very high.
So that's the one caution withthat, you know.
But as a lodge owner, managingthese heat waves for me was
something that I'd never reallythought about, and a lot of it
(12:03):
has to do with how you manageyour guests, because, you know,
I'm one, I'm not a big heat guyand when it comes to sleeping in
the heat, that is is extremelytough and, uh, there were times
that we run into heat waves,where it would get stifling hot
(12:28):
outside.
But there were always thingsthat we would do and you know,
first of all, there's a lot ofthings that you can do to manage
your guests' expectations,manage your guests expectations.
So I would always, when I knewit was going to be extremely hot
(12:49):
, we would start our mornings alittle earlier in our with our
guides.
You know, we we, a lot of timeswe would structure our musky
guides so that you do you wouldfish in the morning and then you
would fish the evening and youwould come back to the main
lodge for lunch and a bit of asiesta.
(13:09):
And that was a lot of times,not so much due to the heat but
due to um, our guides wanting toum maximize their time on the
water.
When it comes to the, to themajor and minors, which are
basically when they're the moonphases, but the daily moon
(13:29):
phases.
So a major is when the moon ishorizontal, so it's directly,
actually sorry.
A major is when the moon isdirectly above your head or
directly under your foot, andthe minors are when the moon is
(13:53):
coming up on one of the horizons, either rising or setting.
So depending on when that wouldhappen, they would kind of
schedule their day around that.
But also when we got into theseand they're fairly rare, maybe
one, two heat waves a year for acouple of days here or there we
(14:14):
would also schedule our guidesaround the heat.
So go out early in the morningwith a boxed breakfast, come
back, have your lunch at thelodge, have a siesta.
You know the screen porches.
We had fans.
(14:34):
Those were great to unsungheroes really.
When it come to the heat, withno air conditioning, like I mean
to go back at noon under thecanopy of the bush on the Upper
French River and to just sit inthe screen porch with a nice
(14:57):
breeze coming through or the fanthere.
There was rarely a time whenthings were so hot that it was
unbearable, but there werealways things that we did.
We always would encouragepeople to swim off the dock.
(15:17):
We had our swim platform offthe dock and for the most part,
like I mean, you would have tohave a really, really hot summer
for the water to go above 81,82 degrees.
I don't think that there's beenmany times that I've ever seen
it go much hotter than 82, 83.
Maybe it there was.
(15:38):
There was one time where it wasup to 85.
And again, that that's just thesurface temperature, so you can
feel, and it was up to 85.
And again, that's just thesurface temperature, so you can
feel.
And it was a thick.
Actually it was a fairly thickthermocline and it takes a lot
of heat and calmness on thewater, so not much wind to build
(15:59):
a thick thermocline that youcould feel.
And this one year in particular, it could have been last year
or the year before.
The thermocline was about myankles, so when I jumped in the
water it was basically 85 on topand at my ankles it was still
80 degrees.
(16:20):
But it's funny how quickly thatcan change once you get a stiff
wind and a thunderstorm,because it just stirs everything
up and it cools, it cools down.
But yeah, like I mean, swimmingwas one of the best things to do
and then you know we've got.
We would take people to jumpoff of Lunge Rock or go out and
(16:50):
jump off the boat and swim inthe middle of the river or Lake
Nipissing I know Billy is famousfor if he's out on a hot day
with guests and he himself willjust jump right in off his big
boat and have a quick dip,because that's key and it's also
fun and you do your shorelunches in places where you can.
(17:11):
While we're doing shore lunches, you can get out of the boat
and you can go and you can gofor a swim right there.
And one of my absolute secretsfor beating the heat and this I
did all year from start tofinish, but it was key for
(17:39):
beating the heat is I had my icefairies, which were my girls.
Heat is.
I had my ice fairies, whichwere my girls, and I would have
them go and deliver ice at everycottage.
We had ice buckets and at fouro'clock well, by four o'clock
every day.
So they would go out on a runbetween three and four o'clock,
(18:02):
take about 10 bags of ice, maybemore, and stop at every cottage
and in everybody's screenedporch I had an ice bucket and we
would fill that ice bucketright full so that when you come
in off the water at you know,4.30, five o'clock, dinner was
(18:22):
at six.
You could have a pre-dinnercocktail sitting in the screened
porch in the breeze, and I'lltell you what just having that
there for people was amazingbecause it was something.
It's one of those littletouches that and I can't claim
(18:46):
it for my own Jerry Noel, theguy that owned the lodge before
me that was something that hedid and that was something that
I adopted because it's awesomeand it totally helped and it's
one of those little touches thatyou don't see at other places
and it's one of those littletouches that you don't see at
(19:07):
other places.
And it was, it was, it wasawesome.
You know, the other thing thatyou kind of really got to watch
in these heat strokes is, youknow, staff and guests safety,
especially the staff.
You know not that not that thatguests are are any less
(19:28):
important.
Obviously they're not.
It's just that guests have theoption to hide a bit.
Staff, they got work if you'redown on the dock, right.
And the most important thingnumber one is hydration,
(19:49):
hydration, hydration.
And we would always talk toeach other and I would always
remind the staff about hydrationand heat stroke, because heat
stroke is a very real thing.
Um, you know it's.
Uh, I remember, I remember thisis back before I owned the
(20:11):
lodge Um, I, uh, I was acontestant, and this is really
how I met Angelo Viola Um, in,uh, in 2004,.
Um, I was working in the sheetmetal shop.
My good buddy, eric Poole, hadjust he was in a car accident in
(20:32):
February of 2003 and passed.
And I was still working thesheet metal shop in the spring
of 2004 and um, I heard these umadvertisements for this reality
tv fishing show and this wasright when Survivor first come
(20:53):
out.
And um, I, uh, I thought youknow, and how, and and after
Eric uh passing, and and I just,uh, you know I was, I was
feeling like I wasn't going tolet anything slip by me, that I
felt I wanted to do so.
Anyway, I applied for the lastcall.
(21:16):
I actually was driving home fromwork from Williams Parkway and
Airport Road in Brampton,heading toward North to
Shelburne, heard the commercialon the fan 590 and wrote the
phone number down on my hand inpen as I'm driving on airport.
And, uh, I phoned and um, um,uh, Peter Bowman answered the
(21:42):
phone.
I couldn't even believe it.
I thought that there would havebeen like you know, secretaries
and staff and everything thatthey would have because, like I
mean, they were only the mostwatched television fishing
television show in the country.
It'd be like phoning Don Cherryand Don answering, but that's
(22:04):
beside the point.
So, anyway, peter said, yeah,yeah, send the, send your
application down, but you, itends tomorrow.
So I had to make my auditiontape that night and I've told
the story on on on a podcastbefore this.
But I went over to Ray's, madethe audition tape that night,
(22:24):
took me forever, took usactually it wasn't just me and I
drove it all the way to Oshawathe next day and anyway, I got
chosen to be on this reality TVfishing show.
But when I got down there, likewhen I got to the the show, it
(22:48):
was in North Bay on LakeNipissing, and we stayed at the
college there and I remember, um, geez, it was, I think it must
have been the tournament day,might have been the tournament
day or the day before.
Yeah, it would have been thetournament day.
It was hotter than the hubs ofhell, like it was a scorcher,
(23:10):
and um, uh, I drank lots ofwater and everything else, but
uh, my foot my left, my rightfoot, I think, swole after the
at the end of the day, like Imean, and it swole right up and
it looked bad, like it was allcolored and like red blotchiness
(23:31):
and swollen right up.
So I'm like, oh my God, and I'mthere with all these people and
everything else.
So I got in my truck, drove tothe hospital while I got sun
poisoning.
I'd never even heard of itbefore.
You know sun poisoning, itdidn't hurt, but my foot swole
(23:53):
up and everything else.
And I'm doing this the lastcall, this reality TV show.
Anyway, long story short, theyfound out it was sun poisoning,
they gave me something for it, Iput it on and I just covered it
up with my sock and pretendedlike I didn't have any problems
(24:18):
and then carried on.
But that's one of those thingsthat you learn that out in that
summer heat.
And now actually you know, yearslater, now that I'm I'm a
co-host with the Fish and Canadatelevision show watching that
heat, hydrating yourself is isso key.
(24:42):
And sunscreen I know thisPeter's squawking in my ear.
I've been hearing him for thelast two minutes as I've been
talking Sunscreen.
So those are important toolsand at the lodge, as far as the
staff, I'd have everybodywatching each other for signs of
(25:06):
heat stroke.
You know the little bit ofqueasiness that you could get in
your stomach, you know you justlook and feel off.
Make sure that we took time togo and drink and breaks were a
little longer.
We would have to watch eachother's back a lot.
You know I'd have freezies somedays down there for them and
(25:31):
you know it was just about makesure we maintain everybody's
morale, keep everybody in goodspirits and look after the
guests as well, and we wouldhave to watch the guests for the
same issues.
(25:52):
And inevitably, as a lodge owner, in times where the heat was
immense, that's when my fridgeand freezers would break down.
I had a walk-in fridge and awalk-in freezer and I learned
again.
Uh, in my first year, in thefirst heat wave of the year, my
(26:17):
walk-in freezer broke and it hada like a plant on the outside
of it.
It was about the size of alarge cooler and there's this
(26:37):
box with fans and condenserunits and all kinds of
electrical shit in there andswitches and solenoids.
And you know it was big, it was, it was.
I didn't understand it, but theone thing that I did understand
was it's now the hottest day ofmy first year and I don't have a
(26:59):
freezer that works and I'm onthe middle of an island in the
upper French River and justspent $5,000.
One of the first times that Ihad spent that kind of money on
food that was in the freezerprime rib, all of this stuff,
right, perishable everything.
So I ended up getting on thephone to and luckily there was a
(27:27):
sticker for the service guy whoserviced it the last time.
And you know, sometimes whenthese people will put a sticker
on your car when they worked onit, or stickers on things, it
kind of annoys me a little bithere or there.
Didn't annoy me one bit there,I'll tell you what, because I
had no idea who to call.
(27:48):
And looking at that sticker waswhere I got the phone number
for the local freezer repairmanin North Bay, go figure, right.
And he come out and got merunning.
Well, he come out the firsttime, looked at it and didn't
have the right part and thenwent back and come back and then
got me going the next day.
(28:09):
But you know, being able to keepthat door closed and Daryl, I
think, was my first chef at thetime.
You know you make a list ofwhat you need.
That's in there and open thedoor, run in and close it behind
you and I'll stand outside.
And as soon as you bang thatdoor and open the door, run in
and close it behind you and I'llstand outside and as soon as
you bang that door, I'll let youout.
(28:29):
You run out and I'll close thedoor again, you know, to keep it
cold.
And from that experience Ilearned well, this was a
two-fold thing.
You remember I was telling youabout the ice fairies.
Well, my ice makers would neverkeep up to so that we could do.
You know, at least it was morethan 10 bags, it was probably 15
(28:52):
or 18 bags of ice just for thecottages.
And then you're looking at icefor people's coolers and ice for
drinks and ice for all of thewater at dinner and all of the.
I just couldn't keep up when itcome to making ice, especially
when it was hot like that,because you know the kitchen and
(29:17):
that's a different.
That's another topic we'regoing to touch on.
But I would.
I had the girls stockpiling icein the uh freezer and that way,
instead of um, instead of uh, uh, running out of ice and having
the uh, the ice maker totallyempty at three, 34 o'clock every
(29:40):
day when the girls were goingout doing their ice run and then
would come back and therewouldn't be enough ice in the
ice maker to put in all thewater pitchers for dinner at six
.
We just stockpiled them.
I'd get ice bags and I'd have,anywhere from you know, 50 to
100 bags of ice stockpiled inthe walk-in freezer and in turn.
(30:06):
The next time the freezer quitwhich wasn't a broken freezer
the hydro went out.
But that ice in the freezerhelped keep everything in there
frozen right Because it keptthings cold.
And that was huge because therewere a few times over the years
(30:30):
where the hydro went out.
And eventually I did get agenerator that would run the
fridge and freezer, becausethere's just so much inventory
at any one time in there to runthe risk of losing it because of
a power outage or a brokenfreezer that it just wasn't
(30:53):
worth it.
So stockpile your ice.
That's the moral of that story.
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And then there's the kitchen.
Well, our kitchens are hot on agood day because you got your
convection oven, you got yourconventional oven, you've got
your flat top, your deep fryers,your you name it your heat
(33:10):
lamps for the plates.
Like, I mean, this place isdoing nothing but producing heat
from every direction.
And those poor chefs in there,man, I'd have to really watch
them.
We had an exhaust fan and thenanother fan, that just basic
(33:36):
that was up in the peak of theroof, that basically we could
turn on and it would justventilate the airspace high up
by the ceiling, because the heatin there in the summertime was
excruciating.
It really was.
(33:58):
And those boys God bless youguys.
I'll tell you what you do ahell of a job.
Not just I was, I w, I wasblessing my guys, you know, um,
uh, phil and and Daryl and and,uh, dave and and all the guys
that worked for me in thoseconditions, uh, but I know that
(34:19):
there's hundreds, if notthousands, or hundreds of
thousands of you guys out therethat are working in kitchens in
these heat waves.
And God bless you boys too, andgirls, because that, right,
there is a job, you know, andone of the things that I used to
(34:43):
always do was make sure.
Number one, make sure thatthey're drinking.
And I would take we would justuse those pouring jugs like our
jugs and I'd fill them with icewater and ice and just set them
there for them to drink.
But also tell them to keepdipping a towel in ice water and
put that towel across the backof their neck Because you know
you got to manage that staff.
A towel in ice water and putthat towel across the back of
(35:04):
their neck because you know yougot to manage that staff Like
they were.
They were hugely important tome.
People weren't eating if theyweren't feeling good.
Right.
And it's very easy to getpreoccupied when you're under
stress and you're you've gotdeadlines.
Like really there was one areaof one position at that lodge
(35:29):
that had a hard deadline everyday and not every day, three
times every day and that's thechef.
He needed to have his breakfast, lunch and dinner ready at the
right time and there were timeswhen we were late for meals.
But it's not nice, especiallywhen it's dinner.
You know, when you've goteverybody in at six o'clock
(35:52):
wanting to eat quickly and getback out on the water and all of
a sudden, you know, some shit'shappened where we're not going
to be ready for a half an hour40 minutes.
That's a tough conversation tohave, with everybody in the
dining room saying, hey, youknow what, we're real sorry, but
we're going to have to steal 45minutes of your fishing time
(36:15):
because we're late, right.
So you know, it's one of thosethings where those guys are
unsung heroes, you know, and theheat is just another way of
throwing a wrench in the worksthat makes it difficult for that
(36:38):
position.
And again, this is going out tomy boys.
Thank you, fellas, for all ofthat hard work that you did and
everything that you've done forme.
And, speaking of that, I've gotto get a few of these guys on.
I know Philly, phil is one thatI'm going to have on here at
(37:01):
some point.
But yeah, absolutely that stuffand the heat to manage all of
the equipment, like I said, washuge.
Again, I remember and Ishouldn't say I didn't, and this
(37:24):
is an admission that I've notmade to a lot of people, but I
did have an air conditioner upin the room that I slept in in
the main lodge and there werenights when and I'm a sweater,
like I mean not, I don't.
I like wearing sweaters Like Imean, I am a a sweater, I sweat
(37:48):
like a pig and I remember Iwould have to buy the proper
clothing so that you couldn'tsee sweat marks.
You know, my mom and I agreelike sweat marks are no good,
especially when you're walkingaround in a dining room.
I would throw those clothes onand I would stand up in the
(38:09):
office in front of the the umair conditioner with my arms
spread out like a a tea and thewind blowing in my armpit hole
on one side through my shirtlike a bag that's covering me
(38:31):
and holding this wind in and outthe other side.
I looked like the state puffmarshmallow man, but I was
getting cool and dry and I wouldrun downstairs, out into the
dining room and try and get myrounds done before I was
absolutely soaked again becauseI'm a sweater and you know, go
(38:56):
from there.
But there was a lot of stress,underlying stress when it comes
to those heat waves, underlyingstress when it comes to those
heat waves, and you know I wouldalways try and make the best of
it and this is where I wouldtry and bring people together.
(39:17):
We always did jam nights in themain lodge and those nights when
it was so stifling hot, I wouldalways do a jam night, but not
in the in the main lodge down atthe dock, because you know
there's nothing.
Yeah, you know what these, thedaytime heat waves where we're
(39:41):
hitting like 34 degrees, 35degrees, feels like 40 degrees
in the day.
At night, there's nothing likebeing down at the water and it
being a warm breeze, you know,and everything is warm, yet you
(40:01):
don't have the blazing heat ofthe sun.
And then couple that with acampfire and pull the guitar out
and do a jam night around thecampfire with 30 people at the
lodge and pass around theguitars and get three or four
people playing at the same timeand all the staff asking people
(40:25):
if they wanted drinks and thisand that and looking after our
guests down on that main dockarea.
Those nights were absolutelymagical and in the heat of the
summer they're such a beautifulthing.
(40:47):
And when you get into these heatwaves, these really really
significant heat waves,especially early in the year, it
helps to kill off the bugs,like I mean it really it helps
to kill off all of themosquitoes and black flies,
because I'll tell you what, um,the black fly season was was.
(41:10):
It was a good one this year,but, um, if it was still hanging
around, it's gone now For sureit's gone now.
And we're just coming into theheight of the mosquito season.
Usually around Canada Day, july1st, it is a nightmare up there
.
But when you get this heat waveI'm certainly hoping that it
(41:36):
dries up all of those puddles inthe bush and puts a dent in the
mosquito population, because itvery well can do that.
And you know, when you'retalking about the way that it
affects the bugs, it affects thewildlife as well.
Bugs, it affects the wildlifeas well.
(41:57):
And what it does is it like?
I mean, the fish just don't.
The fish aren't the only thingthat move.
In the heat you get a lot ofbear, moose, deer, bigger game,
even small game.
You know wolves, coyotes,fishers, you name it.
(42:20):
You never know what you'regoing to see.
And the heat pushes them downto the water, down to the
shoreline, and you keep youreyes peeled when you're out on
the water.
I always would tell people inthe heat wave, you know, watch
the shorelines, because younever know what you're going to
see.
Um, we had some wonderful shots.
(42:41):
Um, I forget.
Um, it may very well have beenzane and deb lumley zane, if
you're listening, and deb, Ilove you guys miss you.
Um, we were out uh and it, andthey would always come up in
early September, but it was hot,it was really hot, and we come
(43:04):
upon a moose and sat and watchedthis moose out on the shoreline
, and a lot of you know whatthose moments too are amazing.
They were money for me.
I wish I could recreate thatmore often than not, but you
(43:24):
can't, although your chances ofseeing the big game like that
are much better in those heatwaves.
Just be watching in the shadedown by the water, because they
like those areas as much as I doand you do, and at the end of
the day, you would make the mostof it.
(43:47):
We would do our fish fries downat the dock rather than in the
dining room.
The one year we had a real toughheat wave going and on the
hottest day what we did was webrought the barbecue outside the
front of the main lodge and wecooked outside, giving the chefs
(44:13):
a break in the heat, and all ofour guests got to pick their
steak.
We had all of the steaks linedup on that were raw and it was
kind of like you know, you pickyour steak and then we throw it
on the grill and you stood thereand told us when you wanted us
to take it off, which wasperfect, because you don't mess
(44:35):
up anybody's steak that way whenthe guest is telling you
exactly how long to leave it onand, yep, that's ready.
You know what I mean.
So there were a lot of otherpluses with that and it's funny.
That trend started with a heatwave but it carried on and lived
for a couple of years justbecause of that fact and it made
(45:00):
for such a great social way ofdoing dinner and again, it was a
wonderful, awesome thing.
And that brings me to, like youknow, when you go through these
heat waves, it is so importantto follow up, find out what
(45:42):
their experience was like, whatthey loved the most and what was
challenging.
Do that for both your staff andyour guests.
And that way, going forward, Icould improve on.
You know what I could improveon?
The little things like makingsure that we had more paddle
boards down on the dock and, andI went out and I got a pedal
(46:07):
boat and you know differentthings like that making sure
that I always had freezies onhand so that you know, when it
got that hot down on the dock Icould take them down to the
staff.
And I'll tell you what.
I couldn't give you a cold beerbecause you were working, but a
jumbo freezy on a scorching hotday.
(46:30):
That's a little bit of a pickme up.
I got to tell you.
So you know, follow up on thatstuff.
People out there that havebusinesses and you're dealing
with these things and hey,listen, it is not an easy thing
to deal with Heat, power outages, all of that different stuff.
But when you're sharing thatexperience good, bad or ugly
(46:57):
with people out there thatyou're with, find out what their
experience was like so that youcan make yourself better and
your business better and theexperience for the people that
come to see you better, evenwhen things go sideways.
(47:18):
You know what I mean.
So you know the sun sets onanother scorching day and it's
clear that the heat wave is morethan just hot air.
It's a test of preparation.
It's a test of preparation,patience and ability, like I
(47:40):
said, and it challenges everypart of the Lodge life, from how
your guide and guests act tohow you support the team that
you have doing it.
It's really one of those thingsthat you've got to take control
(48:02):
of and it's a badge of honor.
A lot of these things that I'vedealt with in the past heat
waves especially, and gettingthrough them I wear that like a
badge of honor and one of thebest badges.
(48:24):
I know I was going into a bit ofa conclusion and wrapping
things up, but I think the worstheat wave that I ever
experienced at the lodge was onein which we did a Cooper Tire
event and this was in concertwith the Fish and Canada
(48:44):
television show and we shot atwo-part video two years in a
row where Cooper Tire wouldbring all of their top-selling
sales associates to the lodge.
And the second year inparticular, we had Roland Martin
there as one of our coaches.
Like I mean, this was a big,big deal.
And the dinner, the banquetdinner on the last night was
(49:11):
stifling.
It was stifling and with all ofthose things that we said and
the other key when you're, whenyou're in a situation like that,
um uh, ice, like I said, butbooze, you know, make sure
people have lots of booze, makesure you tell them to bring
their, their drinks, make sureyou know, and, and let them
(49:35):
loosen up and let them let itfly.
And we got through that withflying colors.
A lot of people ended up in theriver swimming and we made the
best of it, and those really aresome of the best memories that
I have, and it's around theseextreme things that happen and,
(50:00):
uh, and how you get through them.
So, thank you so much forlistening.
I really appreciate you gettingto this point.
Um, thank you to our producer,anthony mancini, and, uh, dean
taylor.
I know dean has his hand inthere too, so we'll thank him
because I love him Not more thanyou, anthony.
Well, I love you both the same.
(50:22):
It's like being a parent, right?
You can't tell one the other.
Anyway, thanks, boys, reallyappreciate it.
Head on over to FishInCanadacomand I would tell you to get into
these free giveaways, but I'veheard rumor that the Countess is
putting a stop to all thesefree giveaways.
But I've heard a rumor that theCountess is putting a stop to
all these free giveaways.
(50:42):
But you better go check theFish and Canada websitecom and
find out.
I'm not 100% sure.
That's what they were talkingabout on the Outdoor Journal
radio show.
So hey, I guess we can't arguewith that.
And on that note, this bringsus to the conclusion of another
episode of Diaries of a LodgeOwner.
(51:04):
Stories of the North.
I'm a good old boy, nevermeanin' no harm, I'll be all you
ever saw, been railin' in thehog since the day I was born,
bending my rock, stretching myline.
Speaker 2 (51:27):
Someday I might own a lodge, and that'd be fine.
I'll be making my way, the onlyway I know how my way, the only
way, I know how working hardand sharing the north with all
of my pals well, I'm a good oldboy.
Speaker 1 (51:48):
I bought a lodge and lived my dream, and now I'm here
talking about how life can beas good as it seems yeah, we're
talking about how life can be asgood as it seems.
Speaker 2 (52:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (52:04):
Hi everybody, I'm Angelo Viola and I'm Pete.
Bowman, now you might know usas the hosts of Canada's
favorite fishing show, but nowwe're hosting a podcast.
That's right.
Every Thursday, ang and I willbe right here in your bringing
you a brand new episode ofOutdoor Journal Radio.
Hmm, now, what are we going totalk about for two hours every
week?
Well, you know, there's goingto be a lot of fishing.
Speaker 2 (52:25):
I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and
how to catch them, and they wereeasy to catch.
Speaker 3 (52:30):
Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show.
We're going to be talking topeople from all facets of the
outdoors, from athletes.
Speaker 2 (52:37):
All the other guys would go golfing.
Speaker 1 (52:40):
Me and Garton Turk and all the Russians would go
fishing.
Speaker 5 (52:43):
To scientists.
But now that we're reforestingand letting things breathe.
Speaker 2 (52:46):
It's the perfect transmission environment for
life to be.
Speaker 3 (52:50):
To chefs If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated
, you will taste it.
Speaker 5 (52:56):
And whoever else will pick up the phone Wherever you
are.
Speaker 3 (52:59):
outdoor journal radio seeks to answer the questions
and tell the stories of allthose who enjoy being outside.
Speaker 4 (53:05):
Find us on spotify, apple podcasts or wherever you
get your podcasts as the worldgets louder and louder, the
lessons of our natural worldbecome harder and harder to hear
, but they are still availableto those who know where to
listen.
I'm Gerry Ouellette and I washonoured to serve as Ontario's
(53:30):
Minister of Natural Resources.
However, my journey into thewoods didn't come from politics.
Rather, it came from my time inthe bush and a mushroom.
In 2015, I was introduced tothe birch-hungry fungus known as
chaga, a tree conch withcenturies of medicinal use by
(53:50):
Indigenous peoples all over theglobe.
After nearly a decade of harvestuse, testimonials and research,
my skepticism has faded toobsession and I now spend my
life dedicated to improving thelives of others through natural
means.
But that's not what the show isabout.
My pursuit of the strangemushroom and my passion for the
(54:12):
outdoors has brought me to theplaces and around the people
that are shaped by our naturalworld.
Places and around the peoplethat are shaped by our natural
world.
On Outdoor Journal Radio'sUnder the Canopy podcast, I'm
going to take you along with meto see the places, meet the
people that will help you findyour outdoor passion and help
you live a life close to natureand under the canopy.
(54:33):
Find Under the Canopy now onSpotify, apple Podcasts or
wherever else you get yourpodcasts.
the most important thing.
Number one is hydration,hydration, hydration and um.
We would always talk to eachother and I would always remind
the staff about hydration andheat stroke, because heat stroke
is a very real thing.
(00:27):
This week on the OutdoorJournal, radio, podcast Networks
, diaries of a Lodge OwnerStories of the North.
The sun is relentless, thethermometers are pushing past 30
and for the first time thisseason you can see the heat
coming off the rugged CanadianShield.
It's past 30, and for the firsttime this season you can see
the heat coming off the ruggedCanadian Shield.
It's official.
(00:49):
Summer is here and it is notbeing polite about it.
On this show we're divingheadfirst into what the first
true heat wave of the year meansfor life at the lodge, for Life
at the Lodge.
We'll talk about how a surge inheat reshapes, everything from
fish behavior to guestsatisfaction and staff
(01:10):
management.
Whether you're behind the deskor out on the dock.
When the heat hits hard, theentire rhythm of the lodge
shifts and we're covering thegood, the bad and the downright
sweaty truths of a midsummerheat wave.
So if you love the untamed heatof northern summers or want to
(01:36):
know how a seasoned lodge owneradapts on the fly.
When things get hot, literallystay tuned.
Things get hot Literally Staytuned.
This episode will give you aninside look at how to thrive,
survive and maybe even enjoy afew unexpected wins when nature
(01:56):
cranks up that dial to the max.
Well, folks, thank you onceagain for joining us here at
Diaries of a Lodge Owner.
I'm your host, steveNiedzwiecki, and boy oh boy, it
is hot, hot, hot out there insouthern Ontario.
(02:16):
I will tell you what I can'tremember a time when we've gone
from such a cool, cool springand I do take a little bit of
credit for the spring takinglonger to warm up than it should
have Because on one of our pastepisodes, matt O'Brien and I
(02:41):
were talking when we were up atthe lodge and we caught a real
short sniff of some summer heatand we then declared that it was
going to, that summer wasstarting and it was way too
early, obviously, and then wegot like six weeks of cold.
(03:02):
You know, kind of like we werethe groundhog guys and we made
the wrong call.
But anyway, now we are in three, four days of heat and I
thought it would be it would beappropriate for me to talk about
how the heat affects lodge life, and I will first start off by
(03:28):
saying we did not have airconditioning at the lodge and it
was a huge, expensive endeavorto try and outfit all of our
cottages with air conditioning.
And outfit all of our cottageswith air conditioning, although
(03:48):
I did think about it, it was notsomething that I had done and I
don't think it is done yet, but, believe it or not, the heat
waves that we went through upthere, when you're on the water
and under all of that cover inthe bush, it really wasn't
(04:16):
terrible.
So, having said that, that heat, it just changes everything and
it changes the whole atmosphere, atmosphere, actually
everywhere, when you're talkingabout fishing, when you're
talking about the lodge lifeitself.
(04:36):
But let's start with thefishing.
You know, in that heat you'realways looking for a consistent
weather pattern, number one, andthat consistent weather pattern
is it can be consistently cold,it can be consistently hot, it
(04:57):
can be consistently inconsistent, believe it or not.
And when you start getting intothose consistent weather
patterns, the fish like it.
But heat is something different, and it's something different
(05:18):
because the fish behavior tendsto change and this really is a
species-specific thing when wetalk about heat.
So why don't we fire things upwith northern pike and northerns
.
They're a colder water fish.
(05:38):
They prefer colder water, atleast the big ones and the
smaller ones too.
When you start getting intothis type of heat wave where the
surface temperature can get upinto the mid to high 70s, right
quick, and those fish they'regoing deeper Once you start
(06:00):
hitting that late June, july andbeginning of August, summer
peak, those northern pike,especially in these heat waves,
are deeper and about the bestway to find them and catch them
is to I like to troll.
You cover a lot of water.
(06:20):
Look for those breaks in 20feet of water down into 50, 60
feet, um, if there's, if there'snortherns in your lake and I'm
not like I mean you can havelakes that are that have
different uh depth and rangescales but look for the deepest
(06:43):
areas in your lake, back offonto mid-water shelves in that
you know 18 to 30-foot rangethat drop into deeper water.
18 feet might be as deep as youget.
Look for that.
Even a 16-foot hump in 18 feet.
(07:04):
Just look for some sort ofstructure that drops into that
and and uh and troll, um deepdiving cranks over top of it.
Uh, you know, a lot of times atthis time of the year we would
get, uh, bigger northern jiggingfor walleye.
That's now.
That's a battle to to try andget them in at that.
But you're looking for that typeof thing, smallmouth.
(07:27):
They're kind of in the sameboat.
They're tough to find inshallower water.
They're making a transitionright now off of the beds into
their summering areas and again,depending on your lake, it's
very difficult.
But start with those rockyshoals, points, boulders, and
(07:50):
you're looking again into deeperwater.
You're looking into that.
Anywhere from 10 is shallow,right into they could be down as
deep as 30 feet, could be downas deep as 30 feet and in the
heat, especially smallies, youcan look deep.
If you can't find them anywhereelse, look deep Largemouth.
(08:19):
They're really not going allthat deep.
They'll retreat back into that10, 12 feet, maybe a little
deeper.
And you know that 10, 12 feet,maybe a little deeper.
And you know Pete Bowman is oneof the best, um, best guys.
Well, I think he's one of themost talented large mouth
fishermen in this provinceanywhere.
And, um, I, I think that, um,when it comes to those large
(08:39):
mouth in these heat waves, um,you're looking in those 10 foot
breaks and you can also findthem like.
I mean depending on watertemperature, because right now
this is our first heat wave ofthe year.
So if you've got one of thoseheat waves where the surface
temperature has warmed quick butthere's not much of a
(09:03):
thermocline and it's stillfairly cool underneath, or it's
still fairly cool in a sensethat you're not into that deep
mid-summer heat, I'll tell youwhat largemouth can turn on
heavily in that kind ofsituation.
(09:23):
I just had that with a goodbuddy of mine, mark Plant.
We were out on the beginning ofthis heat wave and really
cracked the largemouth good andthey were some active.
So you know, largemouth that'sone of those fish that in this
type of heat wave and this typeof situation, mouth, that's one
(09:45):
of those fish that in these,this type of heat wave, in this
type of situation, get out there, get into that, you know,
anywhere from 15 to 3 feet.
Uh, undercover, they'll belooking to they.
They look undercover especially, you know, if you can get one
of those situations when we'retalking about the first heat
wave of the year and the waythat this year set up, if you
(10:06):
get it so that your water hasbeen fairly cool and you move
into one of these rock and heatwaves, that shallower water
underneath those lily pads andeverything else that'll heat up
faster and turn those largemouthon.
Muskies are the same way.
(10:26):
They are a warmer water fish.
They prefer warmer water,unlike northern pike who are the
opposite, and you can findmuskies up in that shallow water
.
The one thing I will cautionyou with with the muskies in the
shallow water is it's very easyto to exhaust those fish.
(10:49):
So when you're fishing in insummer peak, use proper gear.
Make sure that that you've gotgear that's that's strong enough
that you can get that fish tothe boat and in the boat in an
appropriate amount of time.
You don't want to let that fishgo on 13 runs and exhaust it to
(11:14):
the point where they will diefrom exhaustion in hot water,
because the oxygen levels in hotwater are a lot lower than they
are in cooler water.
And to exhaust a fish and muskyis a good example, because
they're bigger and they fight aton and they just don't like.
(11:40):
If you let them exhaustthemselves in hot water, chances
of losing them is very high.
So that's the one caution withthat, you know.
But as a lodge owner, managingthese heat waves for me was
something that I'd never reallythought about, and a lot of it
(12:03):
has to do with how you manageyour guests, because, you know,
I'm one, I'm not a big heat guyand when it comes to sleeping in
the heat, that is is extremelytough and, uh, there were times
that we run into heat waves,where it would get stifling hot
(12:28):
outside.
But there were always thingsthat we would do and you know,
first of all, there's a lot ofthings that you can do to manage
your guests' expectations,manage your guests expectations.
So I would always, when I knewit was going to be extremely hot
(12:49):
, we would start our mornings alittle earlier in our with our
guides.
You know, we we, a lot of timeswe would structure our musky
guides so that you do you wouldfish in the morning and then you
would fish the evening and youwould come back to the main
lodge for lunch and a bit of asiesta.
(13:09):
And that was a lot of times,not so much due to the heat but
due to um, our guides wanting toum maximize their time on the
water.
When it comes to the, to themajor and minors, which are
basically when they're the moonphases, but the daily moon
(13:29):
phases.
So a major is when the moon ishorizontal, so it's directly,
actually sorry.
A major is when the moon isdirectly above your head or
directly under your foot, andthe minors are when the moon is
(13:53):
coming up on one of the horizons, either rising or setting.
So depending on when that wouldhappen, they would kind of
schedule their day around that.
But also when we got into theseand they're fairly rare, maybe
one, two heat waves a year for acouple of days here or there we
(14:14):
would also schedule our guidesaround the heat.
So go out early in the morningwith a boxed breakfast, come
back, have your lunch at thelodge, have a siesta.
You know the screen porches.
We had fans.
(14:34):
Those were great to unsungheroes really.
When it come to the heat, withno air conditioning, like I mean
to go back at noon under thecanopy of the bush on the Upper
French River and to just sit inthe screen porch with a nice
(14:57):
breeze coming through or the fanthere.
There was rarely a time whenthings were so hot that it was
unbearable, but there werealways things that we did.
We always would encouragepeople to swim off the dock.
(15:17):
We had our swim platform offthe dock and for the most part,
like I mean, you would have tohave a really, really hot summer
for the water to go above 81,82 degrees.
I don't think that there's beenmany times that I've ever seen
it go much hotter than 82, 83.
Maybe it there was.
(15:38):
There was one time where it wasup to 85.
And again, that that's just thesurface temperature, so you can
feel, and it was up to 85.
And again, that's just thesurface temperature, so you can
feel.
And it was a thick.
Actually it was a fairly thickthermocline and it takes a lot
of heat and calmness on thewater, so not much wind to build
(15:59):
a thick thermocline that youcould feel.
And this one year in particular, it could have been last year
or the year before.
The thermocline was about myankles, so when I jumped in the
water it was basically 85 on topand at my ankles it was still
80 degrees.
(16:20):
But it's funny how quickly thatcan change once you get a stiff
wind and a thunderstorm,because it just stirs everything
up and it cools, it cools down.
But yeah, like I mean, swimmingwas one of the best things to do
and then you know we've got.
We would take people to jumpoff of Lunge Rock or go out and
(16:50):
jump off the boat and swim inthe middle of the river or Lake
Nipissing I know Billy is famousfor if he's out on a hot day
with guests and he himself willjust jump right in off his big
boat and have a quick dip,because that's key and it's also
fun and you do your shorelunches in places where you can.
(17:11):
While we're doing shore lunches, you can get out of the boat
and you can go and you can gofor a swim right there.
And one of my absolute secretsfor beating the heat and this I
did all year from start tofinish, but it was key for
(17:39):
beating the heat is I had my icefairies, which were my girls.
Heat is.
I had my ice fairies, whichwere my girls, and I would have
them go and deliver ice at everycottage.
We had ice buckets and at fouro'clock well, by four o'clock
every day.
So they would go out on a runbetween three and four o'clock,
(18:02):
take about 10 bags of ice, maybemore, and stop at every cottage
and in everybody's screenedporch I had an ice bucket and we
would fill that ice bucketright full so that when you come
in off the water at you know,4.30, five o'clock, dinner was
(18:22):
at six.
You could have a pre-dinnercocktail sitting in the screened
porch in the breeze, and I'lltell you what just having that
there for people was amazingbecause it was something.
It's one of those littletouches that and I can't claim
(18:46):
it for my own Jerry Noel, theguy that owned the lodge before
me that was something that hedid and that was something that
I adopted because it's awesomeand it totally helped and it's
one of those little touches thatyou don't see at other places
and it's one of those littletouches that you don't see at
(19:07):
other places.
And it was, it was, it wasawesome.
You know, the other thing thatyou kind of really got to watch
in these heat strokes is, youknow, staff and guests safety,
especially the staff.
You know not that not that thatguests are are any less
(19:28):
important.
Obviously they're not.
It's just that guests have theoption to hide a bit.
Staff, they got work if you'redown on the dock, right.
And the most important thingnumber one is hydration,
(19:49):
hydration, hydration.
And we would always talk toeach other and I would always
remind the staff about hydrationand heat stroke, because heat
stroke is a very real thing.
Um, you know it's.
Uh, I remember, I remember thisis back before I owned the
(20:11):
lodge Um, I, uh, I was acontestant, and this is really
how I met Angelo Viola Um, in,uh, in 2004,.
Um, I was working in the sheetmetal shop.
My good buddy, eric Poole, hadjust he was in a car accident in
(20:32):
February of 2003 and passed.
And I was still working thesheet metal shop in the spring
of 2004 and um, I heard these umadvertisements for this reality
tv fishing show and this wasright when Survivor first come
(20:53):
out.
And um, I, uh, I thought youknow, and how, and and after
Eric uh passing, and and I just,uh, you know I was, I was
feeling like I wasn't going tolet anything slip by me, that I
felt I wanted to do so.
Anyway, I applied for the lastcall.
(21:16):
I actually was driving home fromwork from Williams Parkway and
Airport Road in Brampton,heading toward North to
Shelburne, heard the commercialon the fan 590 and wrote the
phone number down on my hand inpen as I'm driving on airport.
And, uh, I phoned and um, um,uh, Peter Bowman answered the
(21:42):
phone.
I couldn't even believe it.
I thought that there would havebeen like you know, secretaries
and staff and everything thatthey would have because, like I
mean, they were only the mostwatched television fishing
television show in the country.
It'd be like phoning Don Cherryand Don answering, but that's
(22:04):
beside the point.
So, anyway, peter said, yeah,yeah, send the, send your
application down, but you, itends tomorrow.
So I had to make my auditiontape that night and I've told
the story on on on a podcastbefore this.
But I went over to Ray's, madethe audition tape that night,
(22:24):
took me forever, took usactually it wasn't just me and I
drove it all the way to Oshawathe next day and anyway, I got
chosen to be on this reality TVfishing show.
But when I got down there, likewhen I got to the the show, it
(22:48):
was in North Bay on LakeNipissing, and we stayed at the
college there and I remember, um, geez, it was, I think it must
have been the tournament day,might have been the tournament
day or the day before.
Yeah, it would have been thetournament day.
It was hotter than the hubs ofhell, like it was a scorcher,
(23:10):
and um, uh, I drank lots ofwater and everything else, but
uh, my foot my left, my rightfoot, I think, swole after the
at the end of the day, like Imean, and it swole right up and
it looked bad, like it was allcolored and like red blotchiness
(23:31):
and swollen right up.
So I'm like, oh my God, and I'mthere with all these people and
everything else.
So I got in my truck, drove tothe hospital while I got sun
poisoning.
I'd never even heard of itbefore.
You know sun poisoning, itdidn't hurt, but my foot swole
(23:53):
up and everything else.
And I'm doing this the lastcall, this reality TV show.
Anyway, long story short, theyfound out it was sun poisoning,
they gave me something for it, Iput it on and I just covered it
up with my sock and pretendedlike I didn't have any problems
(24:18):
and then carried on.
But that's one of those thingsthat you learn that out in that
summer heat.
And now actually you know, yearslater, now that I'm I'm a
co-host with the Fish and Canadatelevision show watching that
heat, hydrating yourself is isso key.
(24:42):
And sunscreen I know thisPeter's squawking in my ear.
I've been hearing him for thelast two minutes as I've been
talking Sunscreen.
So those are important toolsand at the lodge, as far as the
staff, I'd have everybodywatching each other for signs of
(25:06):
heat stroke.
You know the little bit ofqueasiness that you could get in
your stomach, you know you justlook and feel off.
Make sure that we took time togo and drink and breaks were a
little longer.
We would have to watch eachother's back a lot.
You know I'd have freezies somedays down there for them and
(25:31):
you know it was just about makesure we maintain everybody's
morale, keep everybody in goodspirits and look after the
guests as well, and we wouldhave to watch the guests for the
same issues.
(25:52):
And inevitably, as a lodge owner, in times where the heat was
immense, that's when my fridgeand freezers would break down.
I had a walk-in fridge and awalk-in freezer and I learned
again.
Uh, in my first year, in thefirst heat wave of the year, my
(26:17):
walk-in freezer broke and it hada like a plant on the outside
of it.
It was about the size of alarge cooler and there's this
(26:37):
box with fans and condenserunits and all kinds of
electrical shit in there andswitches and solenoids.
And you know it was big, it was, it was.
I didn't understand it, but theone thing that I did understand
was it's now the hottest day ofmy first year and I don't have a
(26:59):
freezer that works and I'm onthe middle of an island in the
upper French River and justspent $5,000.
One of the first times that Ihad spent that kind of money on
food that was in the freezerprime rib, all of this stuff,
right, perishable everything.
So I ended up getting on thephone to and luckily there was a
(27:27):
sticker for the service guy whoserviced it the last time.
And you know, sometimes whenthese people will put a sticker
on your car when they worked onit, or stickers on things, it
kind of annoys me a little bithere or there.
Didn't annoy me one bit there,I'll tell you what, because I
had no idea who to call.
(27:48):
And looking at that sticker waswhere I got the phone number
for the local freezer repairmanin North Bay, go figure, right.
And he come out and got merunning.
Well, he come out the firsttime, looked at it and didn't
have the right part and thenwent back and come back and then
got me going the next day.
(28:09):
But you know, being able to keepthat door closed and Daryl, I
think, was my first chef at thetime.
You know you make a list ofwhat you need.
That's in there and open thedoor, run in and close it behind
you and I'll stand outside.
And as soon as you bang thatdoor and open the door, run in
and close it behind you and I'llstand outside and as soon as
you bang that door, I'll let youout.
(28:29):
You run out and I'll close thedoor again, you know, to keep it
cold.
And from that experience Ilearned well, this was a
two-fold thing.
You remember I was telling youabout the ice fairies.
Well, my ice makers would neverkeep up to so that we could do.
You know, at least it was morethan 10 bags, it was probably 15
(28:52):
or 18 bags of ice just for thecottages.
And then you're looking at icefor people's coolers and ice for
drinks and ice for all of thewater at dinner and all of the.
I just couldn't keep up when itcome to making ice, especially
when it was hot like that,because you know the kitchen and
(29:17):
that's a different.
That's another topic we'regoing to touch on.
But I would.
I had the girls stockpiling icein the uh freezer and that way,
instead of um, instead of uh, uh, running out of ice and having
the uh, the ice maker totallyempty at three, 34 o'clock every
(29:40):
day when the girls were goingout doing their ice run and then
would come back and therewouldn't be enough ice in the
ice maker to put in all thewater pitchers for dinner at six
.
We just stockpiled them.
I'd get ice bags and I'd have,anywhere from you know, 50 to
100 bags of ice stockpiled inthe walk-in freezer and in turn.
(30:06):
The next time the freezer quitwhich wasn't a broken freezer
the hydro went out.
But that ice in the freezerhelped keep everything in there
frozen right Because it keptthings cold.
And that was huge because therewere a few times over the years
(30:30):
where the hydro went out.
And eventually I did get agenerator that would run the
fridge and freezer, becausethere's just so much inventory
at any one time in there to runthe risk of losing it because of
a power outage or a brokenfreezer that it just wasn't
(30:53):
worth it.
So stockpile your ice.
That's the moral of that story.
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Speaker 1 (32:50):
And then there's the kitchen.
Well, our kitchens are hot on agood day because you got your
convection oven, you got yourconventional oven, you've got
your flat top, your deep fryers,your you name it your heat
(33:10):
lamps for the plates.
Like, I mean, this place isdoing nothing but producing heat
from every direction.
And those poor chefs in there,man, I'd have to really watch
them.
We had an exhaust fan and thenanother fan, that just basic
(33:36):
that was up in the peak of theroof, that basically we could
turn on and it would justventilate the airspace high up
by the ceiling, because the heatin there in the summertime was
excruciating.
It really was.
(33:58):
And those boys God bless youguys.
I'll tell you what you do ahell of a job.
Not just I was, I w, I wasblessing my guys, you know, um,
uh, phil and and Daryl and and,uh, dave and and all the guys
that worked for me in thoseconditions, uh, but I know that
(34:19):
there's hundreds, if notthousands, or hundreds of
thousands of you guys out therethat are working in kitchens in
these heat waves.
And God bless you boys too, andgirls, because that, right,
there is a job, you know, andone of the things that I used to
(34:43):
always do was make sure.
Number one, make sure thatthey're drinking.
And I would take we would justuse those pouring jugs like our
jugs and I'd fill them with icewater and ice and just set them
there for them to drink.
But also tell them to keepdipping a towel in ice water and
put that towel across the backof their neck Because you know
you got to manage that staff.
A towel in ice water and putthat towel across the back of
(35:04):
their neck because you know yougot to manage that staff Like
they were.
They were hugely important tome.
People weren't eating if theyweren't feeling good.
Right.
And it's very easy to getpreoccupied when you're under
stress and you're you've gotdeadlines.
Like really there was one areaof one position at that lodge
(35:29):
that had a hard deadline everyday and not every day, three
times every day and that's thechef.
He needed to have his breakfast, lunch and dinner ready at the
right time and there were timeswhen we were late for meals.
But it's not nice, especiallywhen it's dinner.
You know, when you've goteverybody in at six o'clock
(35:52):
wanting to eat quickly and getback out on the water and all of
a sudden, you know, some shit'shappened where we're not going
to be ready for a half an hour40 minutes.
That's a tough conversation tohave, with everybody in the
dining room saying, hey, youknow what, we're real sorry, but
we're going to have to steal 45minutes of your fishing time
(36:15):
because we're late, right.
So you know, it's one of thosethings where those guys are
unsung heroes, you know, and theheat is just another way of
throwing a wrench in the worksthat makes it difficult for that
(36:38):
position.
And again, this is going out tomy boys.
Thank you, fellas, for all ofthat hard work that you did and
everything that you've done forme.
And, speaking of that, I've gotto get a few of these guys on.
I know Philly, phil is one thatI'm going to have on here at
(37:01):
some point.
But yeah, absolutely that stuffand the heat to manage all of
the equipment, like I said, washuge.
Again, I remember and Ishouldn't say I didn't, and this
(37:24):
is an admission that I've notmade to a lot of people, but I
did have an air conditioner upin the room that I slept in in
the main lodge and there werenights when and I'm a sweater,
like I mean not, I don't.
I like wearing sweaters Like Imean, I am a a sweater, I sweat
(37:48):
like a pig and I remember Iwould have to buy the proper
clothing so that you couldn'tsee sweat marks.
You know, my mom and I agreelike sweat marks are no good,
especially when you're walkingaround in a dining room.
I would throw those clothes onand I would stand up in the
(38:09):
office in front of the the umair conditioner with my arms
spread out like a a tea and thewind blowing in my armpit hole
on one side through my shirtlike a bag that's covering me
(38:31):
and holding this wind in and outthe other side.
I looked like the state puffmarshmallow man, but I was
getting cool and dry and I wouldrun downstairs, out into the
dining room and try and get myrounds done before I was
absolutely soaked again becauseI'm a sweater and you know, go
(38:56):
from there.
But there was a lot of stress,underlying stress when it comes
to those heat waves, underlyingstress when it comes to those
heat waves, and you know I wouldalways try and make the best of
it and this is where I wouldtry and bring people together.
(39:17):
We always did jam nights in themain lodge and those nights when
it was so stifling hot, I wouldalways do a jam night, but not
in the in the main lodge down atthe dock, because you know
there's nothing.
Yeah, you know what these, thedaytime heat waves where we're
(39:41):
hitting like 34 degrees, 35degrees, feels like 40 degrees
in the day.
At night, there's nothing likebeing down at the water and it
being a warm breeze, you know,and everything is warm, yet you
(40:01):
don't have the blazing heat ofthe sun.
And then couple that with acampfire and pull the guitar out
and do a jam night around thecampfire with 30 people at the
lodge and pass around theguitars and get three or four
people playing at the same timeand all the staff asking people
(40:25):
if they wanted drinks and thisand that and looking after our
guests down on that main dockarea.
Those nights were absolutelymagical and in the heat of the
summer they're such a beautifulthing.
(40:47):
And when you get into these heatwaves, these really really
significant heat waves,especially early in the year, it
helps to kill off the bugs,like I mean it really it helps
to kill off all of themosquitoes and black flies,
because I'll tell you what, um,the black fly season was was.
(41:10):
It was a good one this year,but, um, if it was still hanging
around, it's gone now For sureit's gone now.
And we're just coming into theheight of the mosquito season.
Usually around Canada Day, july1st, it is a nightmare up there
.
But when you get this heat waveI'm certainly hoping that it
(41:36):
dries up all of those puddles inthe bush and puts a dent in the
mosquito population, because itvery well can do that.
And you know, when you'retalking about the way that it
affects the bugs, it affects thewildlife as well.
Bugs, it affects the wildlifeas well.
(41:57):
And what it does is it like?
I mean, the fish just don't.
The fish aren't the only thingthat move.
In the heat you get a lot ofbear, moose, deer, bigger game,
even small game.
You know wolves, coyotes,fishers, you name it.
(42:20):
You never know what you'regoing to see.
And the heat pushes them downto the water, down to the
shoreline, and you keep youreyes peeled when you're out on
the water.
I always would tell people inthe heat wave, you know, watch
the shorelines, because younever know what you're going to
see.
Um, we had some wonderful shots.
(42:41):
Um, I forget.
Um, it may very well have beenzane and deb lumley zane, if
you're listening, and deb, Ilove you guys miss you.
Um, we were out uh and it, andthey would always come up in
early September, but it was hot,it was really hot, and we come
(43:04):
upon a moose and sat and watchedthis moose out on the shoreline
, and a lot of you know whatthose moments too are amazing.
They were money for me.
I wish I could recreate thatmore often than not, but you
(43:24):
can't, although your chances ofseeing the big game like that
are much better in those heatwaves.
Just be watching in the shadedown by the water, because they
like those areas as much as I doand you do, and at the end of
the day, you would make the mostof it.
(43:47):
We would do our fish fries downat the dock rather than in the
dining room.
The one year we had a real toughheat wave going and on the
hottest day what we did was webrought the barbecue outside the
front of the main lodge and wecooked outside, giving the chefs
(44:13):
a break in the heat, and all ofour guests got to pick their
steak.
We had all of the steaks linedup on that were raw and it was
kind of like you know, you pickyour steak and then we throw it
on the grill and you stood thereand told us when you wanted us
to take it off, which wasperfect, because you don't mess
(44:35):
up anybody's steak that way whenthe guest is telling you
exactly how long to leave it onand, yep, that's ready.
You know what I mean.
So there were a lot of otherpluses with that and it's funny.
That trend started with a heatwave but it carried on and lived
for a couple of years justbecause of that fact and it made
(45:00):
for such a great social way ofdoing dinner and again, it was a
wonderful, awesome thing.
And that brings me to, like youknow, when you go through these
heat waves, it is so importantto follow up, find out what
(45:42):
their experience was like, whatthey loved the most and what was
challenging.
Do that for both your staff andyour guests.
And that way, going forward, Icould improve on.
You know what I could improveon?
The little things like makingsure that we had more paddle
boards down on the dock and, andI went out and I got a pedal
(46:07):
boat and you know differentthings like that making sure
that I always had freezies onhand so that you know, when it
got that hot down on the dock Icould take them down to the
staff.
And I'll tell you what.
I couldn't give you a cold beerbecause you were working, but a
jumbo freezy on a scorching hotday.
(46:30):
That's a little bit of a pickme up.
I got to tell you.
So you know, follow up on thatstuff.
People out there that havebusinesses and you're dealing
with these things and hey,listen, it is not an easy thing
to deal with Heat, power outages, all of that different stuff.
But when you're sharing thatexperience good, bad or ugly
(46:57):
with people out there thatyou're with, find out what their
experience was like so that youcan make yourself better and
your business better and theexperience for the people that
come to see you better, evenwhen things go sideways.
(47:18):
You know what I mean.
So you know the sun sets onanother scorching day and it's
clear that the heat wave is morethan just hot air.
It's a test of preparation.
It's a test of preparation,patience and ability, like I
(47:40):
said, and it challenges everypart of the Lodge life, from how
your guide and guests act tohow you support the team that
you have doing it.
It's really one of those thingsthat you've got to take control
(48:02):
of and it's a badge of honor.
A lot of these things that I'vedealt with in the past heat
waves especially, and gettingthrough them I wear that like a
badge of honor and one of thebest badges.
(48:24):
I know I was going into a bit ofa conclusion and wrapping
things up, but I think the worstheat wave that I ever
experienced at the lodge was onein which we did a Cooper Tire
event and this was in concertwith the Fish and Canada
(48:44):
television show and we shot atwo-part video two years in a
row where Cooper Tire wouldbring all of their top-selling
sales associates to the lodge.
And the second year inparticular, we had Roland Martin
there as one of our coaches.
Like I mean, this was a big,big deal.
And the dinner, the banquetdinner on the last night was
(49:11):
stifling.
It was stifling and with all ofthose things that we said and
the other key when you're, whenyou're in a situation like that,
um uh, ice, like I said, butbooze, you know, make sure
people have lots of booze, makesure you tell them to bring
their, their drinks, make sureyou know, and, and let them
(49:35):
loosen up and let them let itfly.
And we got through that withflying colors.
A lot of people ended up in theriver swimming and we made the
best of it, and those really aresome of the best memories that
I have, and it's around theseextreme things that happen and,
(50:00):
uh, and how you get through them.
So, thank you so much forlistening.
I really appreciate you gettingto this point.
Um, thank you to our producer,anthony mancini, and, uh, dean
taylor.
I know dean has his hand inthere too, so we'll thank him
because I love him Not more thanyou, anthony.
Well, I love you both the same.
(50:22):
It's like being a parent, right?
You can't tell one the other.
Anyway, thanks, boys, reallyappreciate it.
Head on over to FishInCanadacomand I would tell you to get into
these free giveaways, but I'veheard rumor that the Countess is
putting a stop to all thesefree giveaways.
But I've heard a rumor that theCountess is putting a stop to
all these free giveaways.
(50:42):
But you better go check theFish and Canada websitecom and
find out.
I'm not 100% sure.
That's what they were talkingabout on the Outdoor Journal
radio show.
So hey, I guess we can't arguewith that.
And on that note, this bringsus to the conclusion of another
episode of Diaries of a LodgeOwner.
(51:04):
Stories of the North.
I'm a good old boy, nevermeanin' no harm, I'll be all you
ever saw, been railin' in thehog since the day I was born,
bending my rock, stretching myline.
Speaker 2 (51:27):
Someday I might own a lodge, and that'd be fine.
I'll be making my way, the onlyway I know how my way, the only
way, I know how working hardand sharing the north with all
of my pals well, I'm a good oldboy.
Speaker 1 (51:48):
I bought a lodge and lived my dream, and now I'm here
talking about how life can beas good as it seems yeah, we're
talking about how life can be asgood as it seems.
Speaker 2 (52:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (52:04):
Hi everybody, I'm Angelo Viola and I'm Pete.
Bowman, now you might know usas the hosts of Canada's
favorite fishing show, but nowwe're hosting a podcast.
That's right.
Every Thursday, ang and I willbe right here in your bringing
you a brand new episode ofOutdoor Journal Radio.
Hmm, now, what are we going totalk about for two hours every
week?
Well, you know, there's goingto be a lot of fishing.
Speaker 2 (52:25):
I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and
how to catch them, and they wereeasy to catch.
Speaker 3 (52:30):
Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show.
We're going to be talking topeople from all facets of the
outdoors, from athletes.
Speaker 2 (52:37):
All the other guys would go golfing.
Speaker 1 (52:40):
Me and Garton Turk and all the Russians would go
fishing.
Speaker 5 (52:43):
To scientists.
But now that we're reforestingand letting things breathe.
Speaker 2 (52:46):
It's the perfect transmission environment for
life to be.
Speaker 3 (52:50):
To chefs If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated
, you will taste it.
Speaker 5 (52:56):
And whoever else will pick up the phone Wherever you
are.
Speaker 3 (52:59):
outdoor journal radio seeks to answer the questions
and tell the stories of allthose who enjoy being outside.
Speaker 4 (53:05):
Find us on spotify, apple podcasts or wherever you
get your podcasts as the worldgets louder and louder, the
lessons of our natural worldbecome harder and harder to hear
, but they are still availableto those who know where to
listen.
I'm Gerry Ouellette and I washonoured to serve as Ontario's
(53:30):
Minister of Natural Resources.
However, my journey into thewoods didn't come from politics.
Rather, it came from my time inthe bush and a mushroom.
In 2015, I was introduced tothe birch-hungry fungus known as
chaga, a tree conch withcenturies of medicinal use by
(53:50):
Indigenous peoples all over theglobe.
After nearly a decade of harvestuse, testimonials and research,
my skepticism has faded toobsession and I now spend my
life dedicated to improving thelives of others through natural
means.
But that's not what the show isabout.
My pursuit of the strangemushroom and my passion for the
(54:12):
outdoors has brought me to theplaces and around the people
that are shaped by our naturalworld.
Places and around the peoplethat are shaped by our natural
world.
On Outdoor Journal Radio'sUnder the Canopy podcast, I'm
going to take you along with meto see the places, meet the
people that will help you findyour outdoor passion and help
you live a life close to natureand under the canopy.
(54:33):
Find Under the Canopy now onSpotify, apple Podcasts or
wherever else you get yourpodcasts.
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