December 3, 2025 • 73 mins
Some seasons don’t just hand you fish; they hand you perspective. We kicked off with cold rivers, hot saunas, and the truth every lodge owner knows—how you close determines how you open—then rolled into a year that tested instincts, technology, and our sense of community on the water.
At Buck Lake, we arrived dreaming of 12-pound walleye and walked into a masterclass in humility. LiveScope showed “nothing,” confidence dipped, and we over-scanned instead of fishing. Then Pete stepped in with quiet precision, rigged a drop shot with live bait, and built a standout walleye segment in under two hours. We unpack why that worked, how irregular rock hides fish from forward-facing sonar, and how to keep your head straight when screens go blank. The takeaway: tech is a tool, not a verdict, and good mechanics still win.
The road took us from the shining floors and dialled service of Lodge 88 to Air Dale Lodge and Timmins’ Cedar Meadows, where cabins back onto a timber wolf reserve. Timmins surprised us with urban lakes stacked with walleye, plus a bigger story: six-figure mine jobs, real housing affordability, and a life where you can clock out at 4:30 and be casting by five. And in Wedgeport, Nova Scotia, we witnessed the revival of the world’s oldest bluefin tuna tournament—run by volunteers, powered by heritage, funding a museum, and reminding us what a fishing community can feel like when everyone shows up.
We close with family-first choices, a fall muskie that was short, thick, and heavy, and a new way to troll: watching baits ride over rock in real time, spotting fouled lures instantly, and seeing follows as they happen. Those moments stitched together a theme—balance the screen with your senses, lean on people who care, and make space for the traditions that outlast any bite window. If you love walleye, muskies, bluefin lore, or the craft of using LiveScope without letting it use you, you’ll find something here to take to the boat.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_03 (00:05):
We went through, scoped it, and um had zero
confidence.
Pete was there, and I said toPeter, I said, Listen, Pete, um,
why don't you go and see if youcan make something of this spot?
Well, Peter went in there and hefished it.
And Peter put together probablyone of the best walleye episodes
(00:31):
ever to be shot on Fish inCanada.
This week on the Outdoor JournalRadio Podcast Networks, Diaries
of a Lodge Owner, Stories of theNorth, we're taking a look back
at 2025, a year packed withunforgettable Fish in Canada
shoots, lazy days at thecottage, and the excitement of
(00:52):
our annual fall muskie hunt.
On this show, we're going toreveal those key moments that
define the season.
From casting lines on camera towinding down at the lake and
chasing that elusive big muskiein the crisp autumn air.
So settle in.
(01:13):
Get ready to join us on areflective journey through a
year of lodge adventures andlessons learned.
All wrapped up into the storieswe all love to share.
Here's some of the best momentsof 2025.
Welcome folks to another episodeof Diaries of a Lodge Owner
(01:36):
Stories of the North.
And today we are going to talkabout the season that has been.
(04:05):
That's who Abby was.
And um the world is gonna missyou.
Um and uh it leaves such a bighole as losing the people that
are close to you does and andpeople that um like I mean
(04:27):
anyway.
Rest in peace, Abby, and thankyou for everything.
But well, why don't we startwith the beginning of our
shooting season?
Um and uh I had already openedthe cottage, and that's always
uh, well, why don't we start atthe cottage?
(04:48):
You know, opening up the cottageis always a very exciting um
time of year for me.
And when I owned the lodge,there were two extremely
exciting times.
Um, number one, opening, openingthe lodge, and opening the
cottage is still very, very muchlike that for me.
(05:10):
When I was a lodge owner, thesecond most exciting time of the
year was closing the lodge.
Because closing the lodge meantit was time for me to have a
rest.
Um, it was time to lock thedoors, go back home, and uh and
(05:33):
plan for for the next year.
And I didn't do a whole lot ofum sports shows.
Like, I mean, traditionally backin the day, lodge owners had
their summer season at the lodgeand their winter season
traveling North America and umto from show to show to show to
show, when primarily that wasthe way that people would book
(05:57):
their trips.
They would go to sports shows,they would see what um uh what
uh uh lodges are available, andthen they would book based on
that.
But the internet changed all ofthat for me, thankfully, um,
because um uh when I bought thelodge, I had such a young uh
family, there was no way I wasgoing to spend May until October
(06:23):
away from home and then comehome and say, uh, Sayonara, I'm
heading to uh um Novi, Michiganfor 10 days.
And then after that, I'm goingto uh um uh Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, and then fromthere I'm heading to Dallas,
Texas.
(06:43):
Uh yeah, no, that wasn'thappening.
So anyway, that was the secondmost exciting time of the year
for me then, but it seems tohave uh it seems to have
flipped.
Um, and we'll talk about that alittle bit later.
But uh opening the cottage wasgreat.
I love getting up there.
I've got a sauna on the dock,and um um it it's the time when
(07:09):
I get to um spend some time innature when the river is not
busy at all, because I'll openit as soon as the ice goes out,
which is any time uh from thethird week of April until the
first second week of May.
And uh it's not busy, right?
I'm up there and uh the water isreally cold, which I love
(07:32):
because I can go sauna and thenjump in the river and then back,
and and I get to see how well Idid the year before closing.
And um you never quite know howwell you've done closing the
cottage until you open it backup in the spring, because you're
pressurizing your water linesand you get to count the leaks.
(07:56):
And um this year I had none.
This year was a good closing anda great opening.
That's the thing.
A good closing makes a greatopening, a poor closing makes an
even poorer opening.
Uh, because when you open,that's when all the work comes.
But um, yeah, so then um I waslucky enough to um head up.
(08:22):
I missed the first shoot thatthe boys did.
They did a uh northern swing upuh Kenoraway, and uh they shot
at um at two uh places up there.
Um Ted Putnam at uh Hawk Lakewas one of them, and uh the
other slips my mind.
Um, but it was also a wonderful,uh, a wonderful um facility, and
(08:43):
you'll have to check that out.
Our season's actually gettingfairly close.
Like, I mean, uh first Saturdayin January, folks, that's uh
that's uh our our uh seasonpremiere, 40th season.
Um, so you'll have to watchthat.
But I was lucky enough to go onthe uh second um shoot of the
(09:05):
year, and that was to a placeout of horn pain.
And let me tell you, um I'veheard of horn pain, never been
there until now, um, but heard alot about horn pain through um
our good friend Chris King, whowas um uh he was actually not
(09:26):
born, he was born inBracebridge, but uh his dad was
working up on the um on uh therewas a big um um train hub, and
uh he was um uh a switchman orwhatever it was, it was related
to the uh to the trains upthere.
So I had heard a lot about hornpain through Chris.
(09:48):
But this place, honest to God,is a place that's that's um it's
it's like the people out east ondrugs.
They are so over-the-top kind.
Um the the the people at thehotel were unbelievable.
(10:08):
And it was just it's a hotel,but but they were unbelievable.
Um, and uh I met uh John Moffat,the owner of Buck Lake Lodge,
which is where we were going.
He come uh he came in uh in toto greet us.
And um it was uh it was a greatthe the town is ridiculous.
(10:30):
It's amazing, it's an amazinglittle town.
The people are awesome.
Um, and uh and then we flew intoBuck Lake Lodge, and uh we were
going there on um the visions ofgrandeur um with like 12-pound
walleye dancing in our heads.
(10:51):
Um John had uh had um had toldus that um uh told Peter that
there were monster walleye in uhin this lake.
And we had no reason to doubtthat.
Um and we uh we went in thereand it was um it was uh it was
up to Dean and I to go in and uhand and get this show done in
(11:16):
the can.
And Pete was there as well.
He was uh he was doing um he wasdoing uh some shooting uh
without a camera operator.
Um this season, and you're gonnanotice on the show, uh, we did a
lot more shooting um um withouta camera.
We always had our our maincamera uh man with us, uh, but
(11:40):
we always had a second boat umrigged out with um GoPros and
Osmos, and uh we would micourselves up and did a lot of
work um solo.
Anyway, on Bach, Peter was doingthat solo work, and um we ended
up um fishing Dean and I fishinga spot really hard, and we were
(12:04):
in there with Live Scope, and umI learned a very valuable lesson
um about live scope, and reallyit um uh it makes sense when you
start thinking about it in theproper terms.
We went into this spot, and Johnhad been um just describing the
(12:27):
bottom as um uh like crevicesand cracks, and um he um he
thought that there could be likeum uh um water coming up from
the ground, groundwater comingthrough these cracks and
boulders and piles.
Like I mean, the bottom wasirregular and it wasn't a very
(12:49):
big spot.
Um and and uh we had actuallyand it always it always seems to
work this way.
Um, we had actually went and uhon our way in met guys on their
way out that had been fishing umthat spot and um they just
(13:15):
knocked it out of the park.
Like they showed us somepictures of walleye, and for
sure they're the 10 12s thatJohn was talking about and 13s,
whatever they were, they werethey were ginormous.
Um and um they told us wherethey were.
Um we went in and Dean and Ifished this spot and we fished
(13:38):
it hard and we scoped it and didnot see anything on the scope,
like didn't see a thing on thescope.
And when you don't see anythingon the scope, it does something
to your head, it changes yourconfidence and it goes twofold.
(13:58):
When you see something on thescope, your confidence goes
through the roof.
When you don't see something onthe scope, you feel like you
need to move.
You need to don't don't worryabout fishing because there's
nothing there.
Well, we went in and we fishedthis spot three four times.
(14:24):
And um we couldn't we and and Ithink honestly looking back on
it, we were scoping it more thanwe were fishing it.
And and that was the um that wasthe issue.
Um and we didn't get we didn'twe didn't luck into anything
that gave us any kind ofconfidence.
(14:45):
We just didn't didn't do wellthere at all.
And uh we had found another spotum that produced like crazy, but
there were no big ones, theywere decent, like you know, um
17 to 21s inches long walleye.
And um we got a lot of thatfootage um down and and um but
(15:11):
nothing big.
And the the the the one of thelast days that we were there, um
and and sly Pete, I'll tell you,he had um he told us that he had
caught um um a really nice one,and we saw the footage on the
very first night out in openwater, like um, I don't know,
(15:34):
nine nine pounder, ten pounder,I don't even know what it was.
It was like a 27 to 29 inchwalleye out in open in open
water.
He had caught that one.
And um so the last time Dean andI went into this spot, again, it
wasn't very big and we didn'tfish it very long because we
went through, scoped it, and umuh had zero confidence.
(15:59):
We went out to this other spotwe were doing well.
Pete was there, and I said toPeter, I said, Listen, Pete, um,
why don't you take um take Rick,our camera guy, Rick Delishny,
and go and see if you can makesomething of this spot.
Like, I I I I don't know whatwe're missing or what's going
(16:20):
on, but you know, and Dean and Iboth have um um really good uh
mechanical skills when it comesto fishing and also instinctual.
Like I mean, we usually can putthings together pretty quickly.
Um, but on this day, not somuch.
(16:42):
Uh anyway, so I said, Pete, justgo in there and and see what you
can do with it.
Well, Peter went in there and hefished it and he fished it
meticulously and he fished itwith drop shot, which is
something that we didn't use.
I I think that uh I was on uh Iwas fishing with a a J again
(17:05):
live bait.
Um Dino, I forget what Dino wasfishing, but Pete went in there
with a drop shot and live bait.
And literally in an hour, uhmaybe hour and a half tops, an
hour after Dean and I left wentin there and shot the whole
(17:26):
show.
I don't even think that the theshow that would Dean and I were
supposed to have done.
Okay, okay, I think we made itonto the show um in the lineup
for the shorelun.
SPEAKER_02 (17:42):
That was it.
SPEAKER_03 (17:44):
And Peter put together probably um one of the
um one of the best walleyeepisodes ever to be shot on Fish
in Canada.
And um um good on him.
That's why Peter is Peter.
That's Peter is and he's thething, and I've said this
(18:08):
before, and uh Peter will hehe'll he'll he'll he'll he'll be
upset that I even talk aboutthis, but that's okay, I can
take that.
Peter is one of the most humblepeople on the planet to the
point where um to the pointwhere it's too humble.
(18:32):
Like I I sometimes I wonderabout his confidence, but as
soon as you get uh a rod, areel, a boat, and uh in in
Peter's grasp, um, he is trulyone of the most talented anglers
this country has to offer.
And he proved that once again onBuck Lake, folks.
(18:55):
Um watch the episode.
It is um it is one of the best.
And it was 60% of it was was wasfilmed by Peter on on uh on the
boat.
The other we had uh like I say,we we we um we gave him Rick to
(19:17):
go in there and uh see what hecould do.
And man oh man, did he ever ohlight it on fire?
SPEAKER_02 (19:24):
Like I say, an episode that Dean and I were the
stars in.
We ended up in the uh in the theshorelunge line.
You can and and you gotta watchfor it, folks.
SPEAKER_03 (19:35):
So when you're watching, make sure you watch
for me, okay?
And uh, and I'll tell you, Johnand his wife, um um Moffitt,
they are outstanding people.
John is one of those guys.
He is um um, he is uh he is acharacter, a gr and and a great
(19:56):
one at that.
And uh the best part about it isum he's not overbearing, he's
always there when you need him,and uh, and he's got a great
heart, and uh so does his wholefamily.
It's a family-run business umthat uh that he and uh and his
wife um uh slaved on and andbuilt.
(20:19):
And um, I'll tell you what,folks, um it is a um an
experience that everybody shouldhave.
The hospitality uh is second tonone.
And the fishery, well, I'll tellyou what, you watch that
episode, the Buck Lake Lodgeepisode, and uh, and you'll
you'll you'll get a little tasteof the fishery.
(20:42):
And I'll tell you what, Dean andI found thousands of of um you
know 16 to 21 inches, man, likebango, bang, wango, tango,
doubleheaders, you name it.
In any other, in any othersituation, we would have put
together a pretty decent show.
(21:04):
But um, yeah, yeah, folks, youwanna you you want to look for
that one in 2026 for sure.
And then um uh there was onethat was put on the docket, and
I was a little, you know, I wasI I wasn't sure how to feel
about it because um right offthe bat, Ange told me that um
(21:25):
that I was gonna be on thisshoot in particular.
And um the reason I was alittle, you know, I was a
little, I don't want to say putoff because it's ne I'm never
ever put off by any of theseshoots because all of them are
unbelievable experiences.
But this one was um we went toWedgeport, Nova Scotia, and it
(21:53):
didn't involve us fishing atall.
And uh what it was, we went andshot um the oldest blue fin tuna
fishing tournament um in in theworld.
And um the this the this part ofthe tournament, um uh because it
(22:14):
was shut down in 1970, I want tosay 72.
So in the early 70s, it was shutdown because the tuna um moved
because there was a big wharf ora pier or a uh roadway or
something, a causeway built, andit changed the um it changed the
patterns of where the tuna went.
(22:36):
Um, but this was the revival ofthat Wedgeport tournament.
And the and the originalWedgeport tournament was a
national uh tournament with umuh countries from all over the
world participating in it.
And it it like the history runsum really, really deep.
(22:56):
And um, but I love to fish,right?
Um but this that that tournamentand that shoot I I'm I'm
confident in saying that um itwas the highlight of the year
for me as far as the shooting umgoes.
(23:18):
As far as our as far as all ofthe the shoots that I was on and
all of the things I did thisthis year, um that Wedgeport uh
tuna festival was the highlightof my day, uh or of my day, of
my of my year.
And um the people were what madeit.
(23:39):
I I remember and we had a bit ofan itinerary, and um our our
job, and you guys can be thejudge when you see the
tournament, but our job was tocapture the tradition, the feel,
and the people of thistournament, um, to bring it to
(24:01):
to light on a national um on anational stage.
And um the people were amazing.
Um the first the first nightthat we or the first day we we
got there and and uh um well wegot night there the night
before, but our first workingday, we went to the museum, and
(24:25):
the whole premise of this umtournament um is to raise money
for the museum in Wedgeport, thetuna um tournament museum.
And um all of the the proceedsbasically go to the museum and
(24:46):
uh the fish that are caught aresold, and that was a whole um an
amazing process all in itself.
But all of the proceeds from thefish caught go to the museum,
and like first place isbasically bragging rights
because you the the the thefirst place purse was like
(25:08):
fourteen hundred dollars, whichcovered like the first hour and
a half of fuel in thesegiganormous boats, you know.
Wow, they're they're all umlobster fishermen um who have
tuna quota and tuna is uh kindof like the secondary um the
secondary source of revenue forthese people.
(25:29):
And um lobster is the first.
But um in our first meeting, wewent down and uh I we heard
rumblings of uh of a guy who umwho was uh who was there in the
50s and he was going to bethere.
(25:50):
Uh and um um sure enough we findhim and uh he's he's there with
his grandson.
And his grandson is on one ofthe boats with with his dad and
grandpa.
And um the whole idea was um hisgrandpa was on a tuna boat or uh
(26:12):
on a in the tuna tournament whenhe was um 18, and his grandson
is now 18.
And um uh we were hoping we werefollowing that whole story.
And then um um we sat down andhad a meeting with all of the
local historians and the peopleinvolved with uh with the
(26:34):
tournament itself, and and therewas this big man, uh, and uh,
you know, he kind of reminded meof like a Jacques Cousteau, and
and he had this stoic look abouthim.
And uh when he talked, his voicewas this uh low kind of rumble
(26:54):
in a uh Acadian, they're allAkkadian there, and uh in a in
an Acadian accent.
And um his name was EricJacquard, and uh he was one of
the uh captains, actually, bothof his sons captain boats, and
um um meeting them and talkingto them about the fishery and
(27:18):
how it's been over the years andall of that stuff was was uh
unbelievable.
Um and uh the friendships thatyou foster there and and all the
people coming together.
Like, I mean, I bet you there'sa hundred people in the town of
Wedgeport, maybe two hundred,and there was uh at least that
(27:39):
in volunteers.
Everybody volunteered, and itwas a throwback for me because
the festival was like um backwhen I was a kid uh in
Shelburne, Ontario, we had afestival that was year after
year after year calledFiddleville.
And it was the it was thelargest open, uh largest
(28:04):
Canadian open fiddle contest.
So anybody could go and foryears it was the social
highlight of of my being.
Um, you know, the next to thethe the and and in second place
was Paul and Gina Smith'sChristmas party on the 23rd of
(28:25):
December, which happened everyyear, too.
And um Fiddleville was a magicaltime when a community came
together, and there was no worryabout all of the regulations and
liabilities and and all kinds ofstuff.
And this tuna tournament andfestival was that.
(28:48):
It was a community cometogether.
They had a talent show on theone night, they they had all
kinds of different things forpeople to do.
And they had a the the finalnight, they had a big party
where it started on the wharf onall of the on all of the the
lobster boats, and you could goon board and and uh you know
(29:10):
have a few have a few pops withpeople.
And you it was just a uh acommunity getting to know each
other and coming closertogether.
And it is something that is sorare to see today.
Um it was uh it was inspiringthat uh that that stuff still
(29:30):
actually happens because itdoesn't happen in Shelburne
anymore.
That stuff does not happen.
And I'm not sure why.
I have my I have my ideas andfeelings and and you know that
they that that's uh first andforemost is regulation, and I
get it, you know, um people haveto be safe, uh, but uh there's
(29:54):
something to be said aboutevents that build community and
um We just don't do it anymore.
And whether our community ischanging, um, and the I don't, I
don't know what it is, but itdoes it that doesn't happen here
anymore.
(30:14):
And um honestly, it's somethingthat I would travel to to do
again.
Never mind shooting, never mindshowing the world.
I would go just to experience itagain because it was it was
great, it was a lot of fun, andum the community and the people
(30:35):
there are second to none.
And uh good on you guys, good onWedgeport and all of all of you
folks out there that work sohard to put that stuff together.
Uh, believe me, from a fellafrom Ontario who used to
experience that kind of stuff,it is worth it.
(30:56):
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Do everything you can to hold onto those traditions tight
because it's special.
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(31:17):
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SPEAKER_03 (32:56):
Moving on from Wedgeport and the uh the the
tuna, I um I ended up on a on ashoot that I didn't think I was
gonna get to go on.
Um, but this one was fairlyexciting to me as well.
And um this one was at Lodge 88.
And uh I've had uh I've had theguys from Lodge 88 on, uh, you
(33:19):
know, and they are unbelievablepeople.
Uh Dave McLaughlin is um is uhthe uh the GOAT, the OG of the
lodging industry right now, andhe's involved with uh so many
things outside the lodge withinthe industry, um, and and does
(33:40):
such a great job of it.
And when I first boughtChaudiere and Ange become such a
big part of my life, uh he wouldalways, he would always say,
Hey, listen, look up Lodge 88,go and and and talk to Dave, get
(34:04):
to know Dave, see what they'redoing, because they are the gold
standard.
They're the they're the goldstandard.
And um, I was going to get to goto Lodge 88, and um um it lived
up.
You know, it uh the the thehousekeeping and Ange the
(34:27):
biggest thing he always said wasthey've got the Vegas model down
pat.
And what Ange described theVegas model to me as was when
you walk into your room, youneed to feel like you are the
first person walking into thatbrand new room, and that is what
(34:51):
you strive for.
And um, and uh through my tenureat Chaudi Air, I always try to,
and and and even you're onyou're on an island, you're in
the bush, there's there'scobwebs that form overnight,
literally.
Um, but you have to figure outhow to how to make that
(35:14):
impression on people.
And um Dave and Terry at Lodge88, they've got it nailed to
this day.
Even back in the day when Angewas uh when Ange was uh when I
was at Shaudiere and Ange wassaying, hey, you gotta you gotta
look at these guys.
And uh um when we were there andwe walked into the cottage,
(35:37):
literally the floors wereshining.
It smelt like um pine um pinefresh.
Um and and the beds wereimmaculate and it it it was it
was really, really um, it blewmy mind.
(35:58):
I thought I had it down, and Idid a really, really good job.
Uh, but these guys, right downto a uh um almost wet looking
floor, um, I think they boughtand they they refinished um
their their cottages so thatthey could they had they had the
(36:22):
the the the tile floors that youpolish and they polished them,
you know, they would buy theirtheir their they would remodel
their cottages so that theycould make them look brand new
every time and good on them.
And um we had a wonderful time.
It was the only shoot that uhthat um I was um um on this year
(36:47):
with Ange and Nick and um had agreat time with them.
It it was a it was a it was atough shoot um in a sense that
um um it was after Abby passedand and um it was uh it was a
tough it was tough that way.
(37:08):
Um but a lot of the experiencesnow, you know, um are tough that
way.
Um but anyway, um great, greatshoot at um at um Lodge 88.
And again, walk into thosecottages.
I feel like I am the firstperson that has used it.
(37:31):
And good on you guys.
Great job.
Um and then, you know, we did umuh we did our uh our week trips
with the uh with um a couple offamilies and our family at the
cottage, and those are alwaysgreat.
And this this time, you know,the fishing for me, I was
(37:53):
excited.
Um because I bit the bullet andI went out and I bought um live
scope.
Um I bought uh the um the um theGPS map live scope, uh 12-inch
and a 10-inch screen, and the umL VS 34 um um transducer, um,
(38:20):
and then the the stock uhtransducer.
I forget what it is, the GLS 20or I know the GLS 20 is the
black box, but anyway, itdoesn't matter.
I was going to be scoping on myown now.
And I always um because I didn'thave live scope, I always
(38:41):
deferred to either Peter or Deanin the boat.
Um Pete has been, you know, hehe was he he's the mother of
LiveScope.
He he's had live scope beforelive scope knew what live scope
was.
Anyway, but now I was able to toum get a hold of live scope and
(39:08):
use it on my own.
And um that was a revelation.
The things that I learned withLive Scope.
And now that I've brought up thelive scope, I just want to go
back to um that very valuablelesson that I learned on Buck
(39:31):
Lake with uh with Dean.
Um and that is those crevicesand boulders and all of that
irregular bottom.
If you can imagine um that samekind of bottom in an in a in an
empty dark room, okay, we're noton we're not in the water
(39:54):
anymore.
We are we are in an empty darkroom, and we're standing um on a
platform in the top corner ofthis dark room, and you have a
flashlight in your hand, okay?
And from that point of view, onthe far corner of the room, when
(40:17):
you're looking out at all ofthese crevices and cracks, let's
call them, you know, let's callthem um um boxes for lack of a
better term.
And you shine that light down,there are places that you
obviously can't see becauseyou're hiding in a crack behind
(40:41):
a big cardboard box on the floorin the middle of the room, and
there's several of them kickingaround.
So now you can move in betweenall of these cardboard boxes and
you can avoid being hit by thelight because when the light
shines one way, you can movethrough a crack to move behind
(41:05):
another box, or maybe you'rejust moving and and the light
actually hits you.
But because you're in amongstall the boxes, it's very hard
for the guy holding theflashlight to actually see what
is going on between all of them.
And that's what was happening toDean and I.
Those fish, they were there.
(41:26):
It's not like they weren'tthere, and it was just a matter
of of us going through with thatlive scope, shining it at these
rocks, but having the there's somany areas for those big fish to
be sitting down in between themand never to be seen by
LiveScope.
(41:47):
So, you know, as great as livescope is, uh you need to
understand its limitations anduh you need to to to be able to
not let it affect your emotionalstate um as much as it can.
Because if you if you don't seefish, that does not mean there
(42:13):
are no fish there.
Now that's in that situationwith all of the crevices and uh
boulders and things to for themto drop into, because obviously
that light just shines straightacross the top of of the the the
close side of the of thecrevice, and then it shines
maybe an inch onto the back sideon the far side of the crevice,
(42:37):
and the canyon down in themiddle is all is is invisible,
you know.
I'm sure you can envision whatI'm I'm talking about.
But if you're on a sand flat,not easy for fish to hide.
And um, and and you know, sothere it's a little easier to
(43:02):
say, yeah, there's no fish here,than to say that there's no fish
on these crevices.
But I'll tell you what, um justby looking at the live scope, it
was hard to determine that therewas crevices there until you
actually get on top of them andyou see them with your eyes,
(43:24):
because it was clear enough tosee down there and you could see
boulders and you could see allof that stuff, right?
So that was the lesson.
Just because the live scope saysthere's no fish there, or you or
you don't see what you perceiveas fish does not mean that there
are no fish there.
(43:45):
Anyway.
So yes, I um I I I bought LiveScope, and um right off the bat,
the uh and I and and I should Ihad of I have a lot of
experience looking at livescope, looking at the screen,
(44:07):
seeing things on the screen.
So I already kind of had a uh Ihad a great base for the live
scope, but until you get yourhand on that live scope um
handle, um you you your thelearning curve does not go up
(44:29):
exponentially.
As soon as you put your hand onthe live scope um handle and you
now control where you're lookingwhile looking at the screen, now
the learning curve goes upexponentially because there's
something in your brain thatwhen you know what direction
(44:51):
you're pointing and you youyou're you're you're good at
determining on what that is, umit just it clicks so much faster
than just staring at it and notknowing what direction it's
pointed.
And you know what I mean?
But once you get a hold of thathandle, you're good.
And the first couple of walleyespots, I took the girls out
(45:14):
fishing, um uh Maddie and andViolet, my two girls and their
friends, and and um I would pullup on on marks.
Uh I've got thanks to myself andPat over the years, I've got
hundreds of walleye marks wherewe've seen walleye before.
And uh I pull up on the firstspot, stop, and um uh I usually
(45:38):
stop, you know, 100 feet, 150feet away from from the juice,
from the icon.
And um the first time I pulledup on a spot and stopped and put
the live scope down and uhlooked at looked ahead at the
spot, I saw nothing.
I turned that live scope uh polelike uh um to to three o'clock
(46:05):
directly uh uh off the side ofthe boat, and you know, uh uh 80
feet to to three o'clock, it'sloaded.
And I would have never like Imean, just because I always
approach the spots the same way,and then you turn on your your
(46:26):
traditional um sonar, you drivearound your icon and look for
them, uh look for the hooks onthe sonar, don't see them, uh
don't even drop an anchor, don'teven drop the trolling motor,
don't even stop, and off to thenext spot.
This one, look to the right,boom.
(46:49):
Uh a school of 50 walleye thatis in an area where I never
driven over top of before,right?
And it happened like that allsummer.
And when you're trolling, to beable to to scope around and look
for for fish was unbelievable.
(47:12):
Um uh Rayburn and I were up, oh,I'm gonna say in July, and uh he
wanted to go cast for Muskies.
So I said, okay.
So we went out onto uh onto thelake and went to a couple of
spots that uh that he had pickedout because um you know Pat and
(47:33):
uh and Rayburn had been um uhPat is mentoring Rayburn and
doing a wonderful job.
They've become very goodfriends.
And um Rayburn had picked a fewspots he wanted to check out,
and uh, and I had just got thescope.
So I started scoping around, andum, we got to one spot with a
(47:54):
weed line um and uh and a sharpdrop on it, and um I started
scoping that weed line for for Iwas looking for muskies, um,
trying to find and scope to seeif I could see muskies.
Um and then I started scopingout into deep water, and I saw
(48:16):
schools of fish, um, and uh in aspot that I I would have never
come.
Uh I I would have never fished.
And uh that spot, um, I thinkMike Scase and his family come
up um uh on the Moilan week withthe Moylans, and uh we went out
(48:37):
there and on that spot and uhlit it up.
Probably had one of the bestfishing days that I've had in
years, and we caught uh wecaught walleye, we caught big
smallmouth, we caught drum, likeuh the I think we caught two or
three drum.
(48:59):
The biggest was like 10 and ahalf pounds.
And um, you know, um to fight a10 and a half pound drum is a
thrill, man.
Uh I don't care who you are.
If you like fishing, you likefishing when you get a drum on.
And if you're disappointed,well, sucks to be you because
(49:19):
you're missing out, honestly.
And that spot proved out for itbailed me out of two guiding
situations.
I started guiding a little bitfor uh for Shaudi Air.
And um, and I I found that Ireally enjoyed it.
Um and that spot bailed me outthat uh on both occasions, you
(49:43):
know.
Uh we had done okay and then goto that spot and light it on
fire.
Um and it's wonderful when youcan do that as a guide.
So thank you to the live scopebecause that was key.
And that was just the firstexperience with Live Scope that
(50:06):
um that I had this year.
Um, but then um uh we went on umanother uh not the longest um on
the road, but a long one, like a14, two, two week, two, two plus
week uh trip that saw us uh umgo to uh Airedale Lodge um and
(50:30):
uh with uh Martin and Jen uhWern.
And uh they're great peopleagain.
And then uh we went to CedarMeadows uh resort in Timmins,
and um their claim to fame issleeping with the Timberwolves,
and they have uh five cottagesthat back onto a game reserve
(50:53):
that they have uh I think theysaid 11 Timberwolves in there
now, and that was they werebeautiful, but Airedale Lodge
was was awesome, and Martin andJen are were were great, and
they had actually uh it was endof September, maybe getting end
of September, um, because it wasearly October when we got home,
(51:18):
but um um they were actuallyalready kind of shut down
because they do a American plan.
Um, but uh their cottages, manoh man, they were they were
outstanding.
They were very nice cottages.
Um and the fishing was was greattoo.
Um we had some pretty tough uhconditions to fish in, but um um
(51:43):
one of the coolest um one of thecoolest um um uh sequences that
I have ever been involved in andpossibly while Peter said it was
a really cool um um uh sequencefor him too.
(52:04):
Um he's got like 35 years ofcool sequences.
I've only got like eight.
Um, but it was definitely thecoolest sequence that I was ever
involved in, and it involved uhuh a team effort to uh to um um
land uh uh a big fish.
(52:25):
And um that's another one.
I can't I can't tell you thedetails until you go and watch
them.
So you guys go out there andwatch that episode uh from
Airedale and um and uh and watchthat sequence.
Um I think you're gonna love itas much as we did.
And uh and then once it airs,I'll tell you the behind the the
(52:50):
uh the behind the story orbehind the scenes part of the
story as well.
Um and that's the rest of thestory.
Um but that was a great trip.
And uh the um uh the CedarMeadows in Timmins, that was the
second half of our shoot.
Uh that was another fantastictrip.
(53:10):
And um uh um one of uh one ofFishing Canada's uh sponsors,
actually, I think it's uh theoutdoor journal as well.
Maybe more the outdoor journal,but um JMB Marine in Timmins, uh
great guys there.
And uh they kind of set up a fewdifferent things for us while
(53:30):
we're in Timmins.
Um I fished a a lake rightinside the city limits and um
and caught um walleye, awesomewalleye.
The lake probably wasn't muchmore than a couple hundred
acres.
And um the one day, the firstday we got out there and uh oh,
(53:53):
it was tough.
It was tough fishing.
I thought, oh no, here we goagain.
Um, but the second day um we gotonto onto it just um, and again,
the live scope was key.
Um along a weed edge and andweed clumps out on on the lake,
and it was wasn't deep.
I think the deepest part of thelake's 15 feet.
(54:16):
And um basically we werescoping, I was scoping the fish
and pitching my uh pitching myJagan uh live bait or Jagan uh
uh maybe it was a um I forgetwhat it was.
It was probably a Jagan livebait, either that or uh Ned Rig
or something along those lines.
Uh, but pitching it right out tothem and um uh it was like
(54:38):
clockwork.
If you could get it to them,they were gonna eat.
And uh um I put together what Ifelt like was one of the better
shoots that uh that I was ableto uh to do on my own.
Um and then um uh Dean also uhhe uh he fished a couple of uh
(54:59):
lakes just on the outside of thecity limits.
And um uh we went for a tour ata goal mine, a local goal mine.
And the underlying current forOntario um is uh promoting
Timmins as a destination foryoung people to relocate to.
(55:19):
Uh because number one, there'swork, uh the gold mines are
always looking like this thisgoal mine operation um could
very well turn into one of thebiggest in the country.
And uh they're looking forpeople to work in the mine.
And um uh it's a high-payingjob, you know.
(55:41):
The the fellow that picked usup, he was saying that you could
make, you know, 110, 120,000 to150,000 or more uh a year, and
um you can still buy a house inSudbury.
And this is gonna soundunbelievable to people down in
southern Ontario, but you canstill buy a house in Sudbury for
under$100,000.
(56:03):
You know, um it's a it's it's aplace where you can go and you
can afford as a young couple tobuy a house and a cottage and
have toys and a good life and umand a and a solid um uh a solid
job, right?
(56:24):
And uh I you know I wouldconsider it.
Um I would consider it.
The uh the it is fairly farnorth.
There's no doubt about it, butTimmins has just about
everything you need in there.
Uh they've got uh everythingfrom you know Home Depot, lots
of restaurants, they've got uhCanadian Tire, they've got
(56:48):
Walmart, they they they've gotit all.
They've they've got it all.
They got a good hospital.
Um, I don't mean to sound like auh a promoter, but listen, it's
uh I understand how difficult itis for people um in this country
in our in the current um uheconomic climate.
(57:10):
And this seems a um a breath offresh air uh for young people
who who are avid outdoorspeople, hunters, you know,
fishermen.
You can you can be done yourshift at 4 30 and and on on the
water fishing before five.
(57:31):
It's uh it's really, really,it's a cool spot.
And um, and uh the uh the resortwas very cool, really high-end,
um, nice rooms.
The the um they have the a mainarea where you've got uh hotel
rooms, and then they've also gotuh these five uh nice small
(57:53):
cottages that um that you cansleep with the wolves and and
they come out.
You can actually, we did apodcast from uh from the the the
glass room on the back that's inthe uh in the paddock, and um
it's your bedroom.
Uh, but we moved the uh the thebed out of the way and uh and
set up and and did a podcastthere, and you can see the uh
(58:16):
the timber wolves frolicking inthe background.
SPEAKER_02 (58:19):
The most excited person in the room was Rick.
SPEAKER_03 (58:23):
He's uh he's our cameraman.
I love Rick Great dude.
Rick Delishny, you're the man.
But uh he was behind the camerabecause we uh we shoot the uh
the uh outdoor journal podcastsfor uh YouTube and uh his
eyeballs were lighting up.
Yeah, but uh no, Rick was uhRick was great.
(58:44):
And uh and then uh I was I washoping to uh over Thanksgiving
uh get away the the whole crewwent out to um um uh uh Kanso,
Nova Scotia, uh, and fished umuh bluefin tuna and uh had a
great uh wrap uh uh wrap up theseason shootout there.
(59:07):
Uh but unfortunately I could notmake it.
Um we have a family traditionthat um that is a uh that's um a
gold standard, if you will, uhnever to be broken.
We spend Thanksgiving on theUpper French River at uh at the
cottage, and um it uh it itdidn't work out.
(59:30):
Uh the the guys left on uh theThanksgiving Sunday and uh they
were on uh the Atlantic Ocean onuh on the Monday afternoon.
So I uh I was uh I wasThanksgiving it with uh the
family on uh on the upper FrenchRiver and uh had an absolutely
(59:51):
wonderful time there.
Rayburn Bogarded the boat withuh Jessica's girlfriend, and uh
and they uh they fished everyday and I got To sit uh in front
of the fire and uh uh and the TVwith the rest of the family, and
we just relaxed and saunted anddid all the good stuff that uh
comes along with Thanksgiving onthe French.
(01:00:14):
And uh, and then uh I guess thelast um fishing excursion was uh
was our our um year-end muskiehunt with uh Chris and Eric King
and uh Pat, myself and andRayburn were there this year.
And um we didn't end up catchingat that point.
(01:00:40):
Um we did catch a beauty, well,the biggest, the heaviest muskie
that I've ever uh held um lateron that week.
And um what a what a experiencethat was.
Um it was uh and and it was ashort fish.
It was it was uh um uh 48 andthree quarter by almost 25 inch
(01:01:07):
girth.
And um, and it was it was heavy,it was heavy, and made for some
great pictures and uh andwonderful memories with uh with
um Rayburn and and Patrick.
And uh uh I was on the rod forthe first time in five years uh
(01:01:27):
doing the um the fall muskietrip.
Um I was on the rod.
They Rayburn and Pat told me Iwas on the rod the day before
and I lost one.
And uh it was uh it was um Idon't want to say it was my
fault.
I was rusty though.
I was rusty when it came to umum fall trolling muskies.
(01:01:50):
And uh they were gonna kick meoff the rod, and I almost had to
pull the old uh ownership uh uhcard out for uh the right bower
there, but they uh they when Isaid nope, I'm not I'm not
giving the rod up yet, they bothbacked off fairly quickly.
And uh thankfully, because um itwas a a great memory, um
(01:02:14):
wonderful memory.
And you know, between that andthen when I closed up, which was
just last week, using that livescope um trolling has been uh
again um a ridiculousexperience.
(01:02:37):
The the amount of data that youcan acquire um in such a short
period of time as far as thedepths of your your baits, what
the bottom structure looks like.
For years, you know, I'vewatched Pat and Matt and Kyle
and and all of these guysfiguring out their their dive
(01:03:01):
curves on on their musky baits,and this bait goes down 20 feet
at this distance behind, and allof the stuff, and and figuring
that out by finding a you know20-foot rock, a rock that tops
out in 20 feet somewhere, anddriving over top of it until you
(01:03:22):
can feel your bait touch it.
That's how you used to figureout exactly how deep your baits
were and and how far back youhad to go to get there.
Now you spin that um LVS 34 backbehind the boat, and you can see
that bait swimming in the water.
You can tell how deep it isright away.
(01:03:45):
You can watch now, instead ofimagining it and visualizing in
your mind's eye that bait goingover top of a structure that you
know the structure's 21 feet,and you know that your bait is
20 feet down, and you're justgoing over the top of it, now
you can see that in real time.
(01:04:06):
You can see your bait swim overtop of of that structure.
You can see when your bait haspicked up weeds.
You can see that.
So now instead of oh I did yousee that rod tick?
Did it did it did it hit thebottom?
Did it or is it is it uhreacting the same way?
(01:04:27):
Is it do you think it's hung up?
Do you think there's weeds onit?
No.
Oh yeah, I can see.
Look at there's weeds on that,or at very least, that bait's
not reacting the same way.
I can tell.
Reel that bait up, reel thatbait up, clean it off, put it
back in the water, and the otherbaits are fine.
Instead of putting, oh well, youknow, if we're gonna check one,
(01:04:50):
we might as well check them all.
No, you don't need to.
You can still run with thoseother baits.
And having those baits in thewater more gives you a better
opportunity to catch more.
And you see the fish following,you see those fish come up, and
it it's um, and and how theyreact to the bait.
(01:05:12):
The Rayburn was reeling one ofthe baits in, and it just
happened that I was I had thescope on that bait.
I was following it, and all of asudden, a big muskie come up
behind the bait.
And you know, I wasn't beforeyou actually have seen muskies
on LiveScope and in differentsituations, like different
depths change the size of thepalette, and you know, but when
(01:05:38):
you see one, you know what itis.
And Rayburn was pulling in abait, and there was a muskie
come right in behind it.
And every time he jerked,because Pat was like, okay,
whoa, whoa, whoa, stop, stop,stop, stop, stop.
And then he would he stoppedreeling, and then Pat's like,
okay, give it a jerk.
And Rayburn would jerk it, andthat you watch the fish react to
(01:06:00):
that bait leaving its nose, thatbait swimming away quick, right?
We didn't end up getting itbecause the the bait was so
close to the to the boat, it itit it broke the surface.
But um just to to to use thatlive scope in that manner really
(01:06:20):
is um was eye-opening.
But um and then it was close.
Um, so the the first trip thatuh we had our muskie hunt with
Kinger, um, and then um we uhlet a week elapse and and Matt
and Kyle were up there uh for uhthe last uh well about a month.
They were up there until um umend of November.
(01:06:44):
Um so last week.
And uh the weather um chased usout.
I think Pat left on Rayburn leftSunday, Pat left on Tuesday, and
Scotty and I were up thereclosing, and um um we barely
made it out.
We barely made it out.
(01:07:05):
The um the one line from themain cottage to the bunky,
cottage to the bunkie, uh wherethe line went up into the into
the bunkie froze the when wewere shutting the water down.
We were cleaning the cot and toclean the cottage is like you
don't tidy, right?
There's there's the differencebetween cleaning the cottage in
(01:07:28):
the summer when you're going toleave versus cleaning the
cottage when you're shutting itdown for the winter, because it
needs a deep cleaning.
And this again is where you findout how well and how good a
cleaner you are, because if youdon't clean the main cottage
very well, when you go back inthe spring, you have a class A
(01:07:50):
infestation of rodents and uhbeen there, and I do not like
that one bit, not one bit.
And uh, we spent basically a daycleaning out the cottage, and
it's just a small cottage, it'sa 1950 Sears cottage kit, and I
think it's about 20 by 30, it'snothing big, but it took us
(01:08:14):
basically all day to clean it,and uh by five o'clock in the
afternoon, um the thetemperature was dropping, and
the one line into the car intothe bunkie um froze, and I was
like, oh my god, I can't,because there's like lines in
the walls and this and that.
(01:08:34):
But we had pressured uh we hadum uh hooked the air compressor
up to the uh the water lines,and um we ended up finally
getting it to let loose.
It let loose and and crisisaverted, really, really close.
And um I'm not gonna knowexactly how well we did until
(01:08:58):
spring.
But fingers crossed.
So, you know, there there youhave it.
That was the uh that was theyear in review when it come to
uh outdoors and uh fishing andand uh my uh my uh escapades for
(01:09:18):
2025.
But listen, thank you all forgetting to this point.
Uh I really appreciate uhappreciate everybody.
Um Lakeside Marine, they're uhthey're wonderful up in Red
Lake.
Uh thanks to uh our producers,Anthony Mancini and Dean Taylor.
(01:09:39):
Uh, you guys are awesome.
And folks, if you haven'talready, head on over to
fishingcanada.com and get yourname into whatever free
giveaways there are there.
Um uh drop your ballots in asoften as you can every day, and
uh go from there.
And uh again, thank you allbecause without you, I wouldn't
(01:10:04):
be here doing this, and uh Iappreciate every single one of
you.
And on that note, thus brings usto the conclusion of another
episode of Diaries of a LodgeOwner, Stories of the North.
SPEAKER_04 (01:10:21):
I'm a good old boy, never meaning no harm.
I'll be the whole you ever sawbeen reeling in the hog since
the day I was born.
Bending my bra.
Spenging my life.
Someday I might on a lodge andthat'll be fine.
(01:10:46):
I'll be making my way, the onlyway I know how.
Working hard and sharing thenorth with all of my plows.
About a lodge and live my dream,and now I'm here talking about
(01:11:08):
how life can be as good as itseems.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (01:11:16):
Hi everybody, I'm Angelo Viola.
And I'm Pete Bowman.
Now you might know us as thehosts of Canada's favorite
fishing show, but now we'rehosting a podcast.
That's right.
Every Thursday, Ann and I willbe right here in your ears,
bringing you a brand new episodeof Outdoor Journal Radio.
Hmm.
Now, what are we going to talkabout for two hours every week?
Well, you know there's gonna bea lot of fishing.
SPEAKER_08 (01:11:38):
I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and
how to catch them, and they wereeasy to catch.
SPEAKER_05 (01:11:43):
Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show.
We're going to be talking topeople from all facets of the
outdoors.
SPEAKER_00 (01:11:48):
From athletes, all the other guys would go golfing.
Me and Garchomp Turk, and allthe Russians would go fishing.
SPEAKER_08 (01:11:56):
The scientists.
Now that we're reforesting oranything, it's the perfect
transmission environment to linethe people.
Chefs.
If any game isn't cookedproperly, marinated for you will
taste it.
SPEAKER_05 (01:12:09):
And whoever else will pick up the phone.
Wherever you are, OutdoorJournal Radio seeks to answer
the questions and tell thestories of all those who enjoy
being outside.
Find us on Spotify, ApplePodcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts.
SPEAKER_01 (01:12:26):
As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons
of our natural world becomeharder and harder to hear, but
they are still available tothose who know where to listen.
I'm Jerry Oulette, and I washonored to serve as Ontario's
Minister of Natural Resources.
However, my journey into thewoods didn't come from politics.
(01:12:49):
Rather, it came from my time inthe bush and a mushroom.
In 2015, I was introduced to thebirch-hungry fungus known as
Chaga, a tree conch, withcenturies of medicinal use by
indigenous peoples all over theglobe.
After nearly a decade ofharvest, use, testimonials, and
(01:13:10):
research, my skepticism hasfaded to obsession.
And I now spend my lifededicated to improving the lives
of others through natural means.
But that's not what the show isabout.
My pursuit of the strangemushroom and my passion for the
outdoors has brought me to theplaces and around the people
that are shaped by our naturalworld.
(01:13:31):
On Outdoor Journal Radio's Underthe Canopy podcast, I'm going to
take you along with me to seethe places, meet the people that
will help you find your outdoorpassion and help you live a life
close to nature and under thecanopy.
Find Under the Canopy Now onSpotify, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever else you get yourpodcasts.
We went through, scoped it, and um had zero
confidence.
Pete was there, and I said toPeter, I said, Listen, Pete, um,
why don't you go and see if youcan make something of this spot?
Well, Peter went in there and hefished it.
And Peter put together probablyone of the best walleye episodes
(00:31):
ever to be shot on Fish inCanada.
This week on the Outdoor JournalRadio Podcast Networks, Diaries
of a Lodge Owner, Stories of theNorth, we're taking a look back
at 2025, a year packed withunforgettable Fish in Canada
shoots, lazy days at thecottage, and the excitement of
(00:52):
our annual fall muskie hunt.
On this show, we're going toreveal those key moments that
define the season.
From casting lines on camera towinding down at the lake and
chasing that elusive big muskiein the crisp autumn air.
So settle in.
(01:13):
Get ready to join us on areflective journey through a
year of lodge adventures andlessons learned.
All wrapped up into the storieswe all love to share.
Here's some of the best momentsof 2025.
Welcome folks to another episodeof Diaries of a Lodge Owner
(01:36):
Stories of the North.
And today we are going to talkabout the season that has been.
(04:05):
That's who Abby was.
And um the world is gonna missyou.
Um and uh it leaves such a bighole as losing the people that
are close to you does and andpeople that um like I mean
(04:27):
anyway.
Rest in peace, Abby, and thankyou for everything.
But well, why don't we startwith the beginning of our
shooting season?
Um and uh I had already openedthe cottage, and that's always
uh, well, why don't we start atthe cottage?
(04:48):
You know, opening up the cottageis always a very exciting um
time of year for me.
And when I owned the lodge,there were two extremely
exciting times.
Um, number one, opening, openingthe lodge, and opening the
cottage is still very, very muchlike that for me.
(05:10):
When I was a lodge owner, thesecond most exciting time of the
year was closing the lodge.
Because closing the lodge meantit was time for me to have a
rest.
Um, it was time to lock thedoors, go back home, and uh and
(05:33):
plan for for the next year.
And I didn't do a whole lot ofum sports shows.
Like, I mean, traditionally backin the day, lodge owners had
their summer season at the lodgeand their winter season
traveling North America and umto from show to show to show to
show, when primarily that wasthe way that people would book
(05:57):
their trips.
They would go to sports shows,they would see what um uh what
uh uh lodges are available, andthen they would book based on
that.
But the internet changed all ofthat for me, thankfully, um,
because um uh when I bought thelodge, I had such a young uh
family, there was no way I wasgoing to spend May until October
(06:23):
away from home and then comehome and say, uh, Sayonara, I'm
heading to uh um Novi, Michiganfor 10 days.
And then after that, I'm goingto uh um uh Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, and then fromthere I'm heading to Dallas,
Texas.
(06:43):
Uh yeah, no, that wasn'thappening.
So anyway, that was the secondmost exciting time of the year
for me then, but it seems tohave uh it seems to have
flipped.
Um, and we'll talk about that alittle bit later.
But uh opening the cottage wasgreat.
I love getting up there.
I've got a sauna on the dock,and um um it it's the time when
(07:09):
I get to um spend some time innature when the river is not
busy at all, because I'll openit as soon as the ice goes out,
which is any time uh from thethird week of April until the
first second week of May.
And uh it's not busy, right?
I'm up there and uh the water isreally cold, which I love
(07:32):
because I can go sauna and thenjump in the river and then back,
and and I get to see how well Idid the year before closing.
And um you never quite know howwell you've done closing the
cottage until you open it backup in the spring, because you're
pressurizing your water linesand you get to count the leaks.
(07:56):
And um this year I had none.
This year was a good closing anda great opening.
That's the thing.
A good closing makes a greatopening, a poor closing makes an
even poorer opening.
Uh, because when you open,that's when all the work comes.
But um, yeah, so then um I waslucky enough to um head up.
(08:22):
I missed the first shoot thatthe boys did.
They did a uh northern swing upuh Kenoraway, and uh they shot
at um at two uh places up there.
Um Ted Putnam at uh Hawk Lakewas one of them, and uh the
other slips my mind.
Um, but it was also a wonderful,uh, a wonderful um facility, and
(08:43):
you'll have to check that out.
Our season's actually gettingfairly close.
Like, I mean, uh first Saturdayin January, folks, that's uh
that's uh our our uh seasonpremiere, 40th season.
Um, so you'll have to watchthat.
But I was lucky enough to go onthe uh second um shoot of the
(09:05):
year, and that was to a placeout of horn pain.
And let me tell you, um I'veheard of horn pain, never been
there until now, um, but heard alot about horn pain through um
our good friend Chris King, whowas um uh he was actually not
(09:26):
born, he was born inBracebridge, but uh his dad was
working up on the um on uh therewas a big um um train hub, and
uh he was um uh a switchman orwhatever it was, it was related
to the uh to the trains upthere.
So I had heard a lot about hornpain through Chris.
(09:48):
But this place, honest to God,is a place that's that's um it's
it's like the people out east ondrugs.
They are so over-the-top kind.
Um the the the people at thehotel were unbelievable.
(10:08):
And it was just it's a hotel,but but they were unbelievable.
Um, and uh I met uh John Moffat,the owner of Buck Lake Lodge,
which is where we were going.
He come uh he came in uh in toto greet us.
And um it was uh it was a greatthe the town is ridiculous.
(10:30):
It's amazing, it's an amazinglittle town.
The people are awesome.
Um, and uh and then we flew intoBuck Lake Lodge, and uh we were
going there on um the visions ofgrandeur um with like 12-pound
walleye dancing in our heads.
(10:51):
Um John had uh had um had toldus that um uh told Peter that
there were monster walleye in uhin this lake.
And we had no reason to doubtthat.
Um and we uh we went in thereand it was um it was uh it was
up to Dean and I to go in and uhand and get this show done in
(11:16):
the can.
And Pete was there as well.
He was uh he was doing um he wasdoing uh some shooting uh
without a camera operator.
Um this season, and you're gonnanotice on the show, uh, we did a
lot more shooting um um withouta camera.
We always had our our maincamera uh man with us, uh, but
(11:40):
we always had a second boat umrigged out with um GoPros and
Osmos, and uh we would micourselves up and did a lot of
work um solo.
Anyway, on Bach, Peter was doingthat solo work, and um we ended
up um fishing Dean and I fishinga spot really hard, and we were
(12:04):
in there with Live Scope, and umI learned a very valuable lesson
um about live scope, and reallyit um uh it makes sense when you
start thinking about it in theproper terms.
We went into this spot, and Johnhad been um just describing the
(12:27):
bottom as um uh like crevicesand cracks, and um he um he
thought that there could be likeum uh um water coming up from
the ground, groundwater comingthrough these cracks and
boulders and piles.
Like I mean, the bottom wasirregular and it wasn't a very
(12:49):
big spot.
Um and and uh we had actuallyand it always it always seems to
work this way.
Um, we had actually went and uhon our way in met guys on their
way out that had been fishing umthat spot and um they just
(13:15):
knocked it out of the park.
Like they showed us somepictures of walleye, and for
sure they're the 10 12s thatJohn was talking about and 13s,
whatever they were, they werethey were ginormous.
Um and um they told us wherethey were.
Um we went in and Dean and Ifished this spot and we fished
(13:38):
it hard and we scoped it and didnot see anything on the scope,
like didn't see a thing on thescope.
And when you don't see anythingon the scope, it does something
to your head, it changes yourconfidence and it goes twofold.
(13:58):
When you see something on thescope, your confidence goes
through the roof.
When you don't see something onthe scope, you feel like you
need to move.
You need to don't don't worryabout fishing because there's
nothing there.
Well, we went in and we fishedthis spot three four times.
(14:24):
And um we couldn't we and and Ithink honestly looking back on
it, we were scoping it more thanwe were fishing it.
And and that was the um that wasthe issue.
Um and we didn't get we didn'twe didn't luck into anything
that gave us any kind ofconfidence.
(14:45):
We just didn't didn't do wellthere at all.
And uh we had found another spotum that produced like crazy, but
there were no big ones, theywere decent, like you know, um
17 to 21s inches long walleye.
And um we got a lot of thatfootage um down and and um but
(15:11):
nothing big.
And the the the the one of thelast days that we were there, um
and and sly Pete, I'll tell you,he had um he told us that he had
caught um um a really nice one,and we saw the footage on the
very first night out in openwater, like um, I don't know,
(15:34):
nine nine pounder, ten pounder,I don't even know what it was.
It was like a 27 to 29 inchwalleye out in open in open
water.
He had caught that one.
And um so the last time Dean andI went into this spot, again, it
wasn't very big and we didn'tfish it very long because we
went through, scoped it, and umuh had zero confidence.
(15:59):
We went out to this other spotwe were doing well.
Pete was there, and I said toPeter, I said, Listen, Pete, um,
why don't you take um take Rick,our camera guy, Rick Delishny,
and go and see if you can makesomething of this spot.
Like, I I I I don't know whatwe're missing or what's going
(16:20):
on, but you know, and Dean and Iboth have um um really good uh
mechanical skills when it comesto fishing and also instinctual.
Like I mean, we usually can putthings together pretty quickly.
Um, but on this day, not somuch.
(16:42):
Uh anyway, so I said, Pete, justgo in there and and see what you
can do with it.
Well, Peter went in there and hefished it and he fished it
meticulously and he fished itwith drop shot, which is
something that we didn't use.
I I think that uh I was on uh Iwas fishing with a a J again
(17:05):
live bait.
Um Dino, I forget what Dino wasfishing, but Pete went in there
with a drop shot and live bait.
And literally in an hour, uhmaybe hour and a half tops, an
hour after Dean and I left wentin there and shot the whole
(17:26):
show.
I don't even think that the theshow that would Dean and I were
supposed to have done.
Okay, okay, I think we made itonto the show um in the lineup
for the shorelun.
SPEAKER_02 (17:42):
That was it.
SPEAKER_03 (17:44):
And Peter put together probably um one of the
um one of the best walleyeepisodes ever to be shot on Fish
in Canada.
And um um good on him.
That's why Peter is Peter.
That's Peter is and he's thething, and I've said this
(18:08):
before, and uh Peter will hehe'll he'll he'll he'll he'll be
upset that I even talk aboutthis, but that's okay, I can
take that.
Peter is one of the most humblepeople on the planet to the
point where um to the pointwhere it's too humble.
(18:32):
Like I I sometimes I wonderabout his confidence, but as
soon as you get uh a rod, areel, a boat, and uh in in
Peter's grasp, um, he is trulyone of the most talented anglers
this country has to offer.
And he proved that once again onBuck Lake, folks.
(18:55):
Um watch the episode.
It is um it is one of the best.
And it was 60% of it was was wasfilmed by Peter on on uh on the
boat.
The other we had uh like I say,we we we um we gave him Rick to
(19:17):
go in there and uh see what hecould do.
And man oh man, did he ever ohlight it on fire?
SPEAKER_02 (19:24):
Like I say, an episode that Dean and I were the
stars in.
We ended up in the uh in the theshorelunge line.
You can and and you gotta watchfor it, folks.
SPEAKER_03 (19:35):
So when you're watching, make sure you watch
for me, okay?
And uh, and I'll tell you, Johnand his wife, um um Moffitt,
they are outstanding people.
John is one of those guys.
He is um um, he is uh he is acharacter, a gr and and a great
(19:56):
one at that.
And uh the best part about it isum he's not overbearing, he's
always there when you need him,and uh, and he's got a great
heart, and uh so does his wholefamily.
It's a family-run business umthat uh that he and uh and his
wife um uh slaved on and andbuilt.
(20:19):
And um, I'll tell you what,folks, um it is a um an
experience that everybody shouldhave.
The hospitality uh is second tonone.
And the fishery, well, I'll tellyou what, you watch that
episode, the Buck Lake Lodgeepisode, and uh, and you'll
you'll you'll get a little tasteof the fishery.
(20:42):
And I'll tell you what, Dean andI found thousands of of um you
know 16 to 21 inches, man, likebango, bang, wango, tango,
doubleheaders, you name it.
In any other, in any othersituation, we would have put
together a pretty decent show.
(21:04):
But um, yeah, yeah, folks, youwanna you you want to look for
that one in 2026 for sure.
And then um uh there was onethat was put on the docket, and
I was a little, you know, I wasI I wasn't sure how to feel
about it because um right offthe bat, Ange told me that um
(21:25):
that I was gonna be on thisshoot in particular.
And um the reason I was alittle, you know, I was a
little, I don't want to say putoff because it's ne I'm never
ever put off by any of theseshoots because all of them are
unbelievable experiences.
But this one was um we went toWedgeport, Nova Scotia, and it
(21:53):
didn't involve us fishing atall.
And uh what it was, we went andshot um the oldest blue fin tuna
fishing tournament um in in theworld.
And um the this the this part ofthe tournament, um uh because it
(22:14):
was shut down in 1970, I want tosay 72.
So in the early 70s, it was shutdown because the tuna um moved
because there was a big wharf ora pier or a uh roadway or
something, a causeway built, andit changed the um it changed the
patterns of where the tuna went.
(22:36):
Um, but this was the revival ofthat Wedgeport tournament.
And the and the originalWedgeport tournament was a
national uh tournament with umuh countries from all over the
world participating in it.
And it it like the history runsum really, really deep.
(22:56):
And um, but I love to fish,right?
Um but this that that tournamentand that shoot I I'm I'm
confident in saying that um itwas the highlight of the year
for me as far as the shooting umgoes.
(23:18):
As far as our as far as all ofthe the shoots that I was on and
all of the things I did thisthis year, um that Wedgeport uh
tuna festival was the highlightof my day, uh or of my day, of
my of my year.
And um the people were what madeit.
(23:39):
I I remember and we had a bit ofan itinerary, and um our our
job, and you guys can be thejudge when you see the
tournament, but our job was tocapture the tradition, the feel,
and the people of thistournament, um, to bring it to
(24:01):
to light on a national um on anational stage.
And um the people were amazing.
Um the first the first nightthat we or the first day we we
got there and and uh um well wegot night there the night
before, but our first workingday, we went to the museum, and
(24:25):
the whole premise of this umtournament um is to raise money
for the museum in Wedgeport, thetuna um tournament museum.
And um all of the the proceedsbasically go to the museum and
(24:46):
uh the fish that are caught aresold, and that was a whole um an
amazing process all in itself.
But all of the proceeds from thefish caught go to the museum,
and like first place isbasically bragging rights
because you the the the thefirst place purse was like
(25:08):
fourteen hundred dollars, whichcovered like the first hour and
a half of fuel in thesegiganormous boats, you know.
Wow, they're they're all umlobster fishermen um who have
tuna quota and tuna is uh kindof like the secondary um the
secondary source of revenue forthese people.
(25:29):
And um lobster is the first.
But um in our first meeting, wewent down and uh I we heard
rumblings of uh of a guy who umwho was uh who was there in the
50s and he was going to bethere.
(25:50):
Uh and um um sure enough we findhim and uh he's he's there with
his grandson.
And his grandson is on one ofthe boats with with his dad and
grandpa.
And um the whole idea was um hisgrandpa was on a tuna boat or uh
(26:12):
on a in the tuna tournament whenhe was um 18, and his grandson
is now 18.
And um uh we were hoping we werefollowing that whole story.
And then um um we sat down andhad a meeting with all of the
local historians and the peopleinvolved with uh with the
(26:34):
tournament itself, and and therewas this big man, uh, and uh,
you know, he kind of reminded meof like a Jacques Cousteau, and
and he had this stoic look abouthim.
And uh when he talked, his voicewas this uh low kind of rumble
(26:54):
in a uh Acadian, they're allAkkadian there, and uh in a in
an Acadian accent.
And um his name was EricJacquard, and uh he was one of
the uh captains, actually, bothof his sons captain boats, and
um um meeting them and talkingto them about the fishery and
(27:18):
how it's been over the years andall of that stuff was was uh
unbelievable.
Um and uh the friendships thatyou foster there and and all the
people coming together.
Like, I mean, I bet you there'sa hundred people in the town of
Wedgeport, maybe two hundred,and there was uh at least that
(27:39):
in volunteers.
Everybody volunteered, and itwas a throwback for me because
the festival was like um backwhen I was a kid uh in
Shelburne, Ontario, we had afestival that was year after
year after year calledFiddleville.
And it was the it was thelargest open, uh largest
(28:04):
Canadian open fiddle contest.
So anybody could go and foryears it was the social
highlight of of my being.
Um, you know, the next to thethe the and and in second place
was Paul and Gina Smith'sChristmas party on the 23rd of
(28:25):
December, which happened everyyear, too.
And um Fiddleville was a magicaltime when a community came
together, and there was no worryabout all of the regulations and
liabilities and and all kinds ofstuff.
And this tuna tournament andfestival was that.
(28:48):
It was a community cometogether.
They had a talent show on theone night, they they had all
kinds of different things forpeople to do.
And they had a the the finalnight, they had a big party
where it started on the wharf onall of the on all of the the
lobster boats, and you could goon board and and uh you know
(29:10):
have a few have a few pops withpeople.
And you it was just a uh acommunity getting to know each
other and coming closertogether.
And it is something that is sorare to see today.
Um it was uh it was inspiringthat uh that that stuff still
(29:30):
actually happens because itdoesn't happen in Shelburne
anymore.
That stuff does not happen.
And I'm not sure why.
I have my I have my ideas andfeelings and and you know that
they that that's uh first andforemost is regulation, and I
get it, you know, um people haveto be safe, uh, but uh there's
(29:54):
something to be said aboutevents that build community and
um We just don't do it anymore.
And whether our community ischanging, um, and the I don't, I
don't know what it is, but itdoes it that doesn't happen here
anymore.
(30:14):
And um honestly, it's somethingthat I would travel to to do
again.
Never mind shooting, never mindshowing the world.
I would go just to experience itagain because it was it was
great, it was a lot of fun, andum the community and the people
(30:35):
there are second to none.
And uh good on you guys, good onWedgeport and all of all of you
folks out there that work sohard to put that stuff together.
Uh, believe me, from a fellafrom Ontario who used to
experience that kind of stuff,it is worth it.
(30:56):
Don't ever let it go.
Do everything you can to hold onto those traditions tight
because it's special.
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(31:17):
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SPEAKER_03 (32:56):
Moving on from Wedgeport and the uh the the
tuna, I um I ended up on a on ashoot that I didn't think I was
gonna get to go on.
Um, but this one was fairlyexciting to me as well.
And um this one was at Lodge 88.
And uh I've had uh I've had theguys from Lodge 88 on, uh, you
(33:19):
know, and they are unbelievablepeople.
Uh Dave McLaughlin is um is uhthe uh the GOAT, the OG of the
lodging industry right now, andhe's involved with uh so many
things outside the lodge withinthe industry, um, and and does
(33:40):
such a great job of it.
And when I first boughtChaudiere and Ange become such a
big part of my life, uh he wouldalways, he would always say,
Hey, listen, look up Lodge 88,go and and and talk to Dave, get
(34:04):
to know Dave, see what they'redoing, because they are the gold
standard.
They're the they're the goldstandard.
And um, I was going to get to goto Lodge 88, and um um it lived
up.
You know, it uh the the thehousekeeping and Ange the
(34:27):
biggest thing he always said wasthey've got the Vegas model down
pat.
And what Ange described theVegas model to me as was when
you walk into your room, youneed to feel like you are the
first person walking into thatbrand new room, and that is what
(34:51):
you strive for.
And um, and uh through my tenureat Chaudi Air, I always try to,
and and and even you're onyou're on an island, you're in
the bush, there's there'scobwebs that form overnight,
literally.
Um, but you have to figure outhow to how to make that
(35:14):
impression on people.
And um Dave and Terry at Lodge88, they've got it nailed to
this day.
Even back in the day when Angewas uh when Ange was uh when I
was at Shaudiere and Ange wassaying, hey, you gotta you gotta
look at these guys.
And uh um when we were there andwe walked into the cottage,
(35:37):
literally the floors wereshining.
It smelt like um pine um pinefresh.
Um and and the beds wereimmaculate and it it it was it
was really, really um, it blewmy mind.
(35:58):
I thought I had it down, and Idid a really, really good job.
Uh, but these guys, right downto a uh um almost wet looking
floor, um, I think they boughtand they they refinished um
their their cottages so thatthey could they had they had the
(36:22):
the the the tile floors that youpolish and they polished them,
you know, they would buy theirtheir their they would remodel
their cottages so that theycould make them look brand new
every time and good on them.
And um we had a wonderful time.
It was the only shoot that uhthat um I was um um on this year
(36:47):
with Ange and Nick and um had agreat time with them.
It it was a it was a it was atough shoot um in a sense that
um um it was after Abby passedand and um it was uh it was a
tough it was tough that way.
(37:08):
Um but a lot of the experiencesnow, you know, um are tough that
way.
Um but anyway, um great, greatshoot at um at um Lodge 88.
And again, walk into thosecottages.
I feel like I am the firstperson that has used it.
(37:31):
And good on you guys.
Great job.
Um and then, you know, we did umuh we did our uh our week trips
with the uh with um a couple offamilies and our family at the
cottage, and those are alwaysgreat.
And this this time, you know,the fishing for me, I was
(37:53):
excited.
Um because I bit the bullet andI went out and I bought um live
scope.
Um I bought uh the um the um theGPS map live scope, uh 12-inch
and a 10-inch screen, and the umL VS 34 um um transducer, um,
(38:20):
and then the the stock uhtransducer.
I forget what it is, the GLS 20or I know the GLS 20 is the
black box, but anyway, itdoesn't matter.
I was going to be scoping on myown now.
And I always um because I didn'thave live scope, I always
(38:41):
deferred to either Peter or Deanin the boat.
Um Pete has been, you know, hehe was he he's the mother of
LiveScope.
He he's had live scope beforelive scope knew what live scope
was.
Anyway, but now I was able to toum get a hold of live scope and
(39:08):
use it on my own.
And um that was a revelation.
The things that I learned withLive Scope.
And now that I've brought up thelive scope, I just want to go
back to um that very valuablelesson that I learned on Buck
(39:31):
Lake with uh with Dean.
Um and that is those crevicesand boulders and all of that
irregular bottom.
If you can imagine um that samekind of bottom in an in a in an
empty dark room, okay, we're noton we're not in the water
(39:54):
anymore.
We are we are in an empty darkroom, and we're standing um on a
platform in the top corner ofthis dark room, and you have a
flashlight in your hand, okay?
And from that point of view, onthe far corner of the room, when
(40:17):
you're looking out at all ofthese crevices and cracks, let's
call them, you know, let's callthem um um boxes for lack of a
better term.
And you shine that light down,there are places that you
obviously can't see becauseyou're hiding in a crack behind
(40:41):
a big cardboard box on the floorin the middle of the room, and
there's several of them kickingaround.
So now you can move in betweenall of these cardboard boxes and
you can avoid being hit by thelight because when the light
shines one way, you can movethrough a crack to move behind
(41:05):
another box, or maybe you'rejust moving and and the light
actually hits you.
But because you're in amongstall the boxes, it's very hard
for the guy holding theflashlight to actually see what
is going on between all of them.
And that's what was happening toDean and I.
Those fish, they were there.
(41:26):
It's not like they weren'tthere, and it was just a matter
of of us going through with thatlive scope, shining it at these
rocks, but having the there's somany areas for those big fish to
be sitting down in between themand never to be seen by
LiveScope.
(41:47):
So, you know, as great as livescope is, uh you need to
understand its limitations anduh you need to to to be able to
not let it affect your emotionalstate um as much as it can.
Because if you if you don't seefish, that does not mean there
(42:13):
are no fish there.
Now that's in that situationwith all of the crevices and uh
boulders and things to for themto drop into, because obviously
that light just shines straightacross the top of of the the the
close side of the of thecrevice, and then it shines
maybe an inch onto the back sideon the far side of the crevice,
(42:37):
and the canyon down in themiddle is all is is invisible,
you know.
I'm sure you can envision whatI'm I'm talking about.
But if you're on a sand flat,not easy for fish to hide.
And um, and and you know, sothere it's a little easier to
(43:02):
say, yeah, there's no fish here,than to say that there's no fish
on these crevices.
But I'll tell you what, um justby looking at the live scope, it
was hard to determine that therewas crevices there until you
actually get on top of them andyou see them with your eyes,
(43:24):
because it was clear enough tosee down there and you could see
boulders and you could see allof that stuff, right?
So that was the lesson.
Just because the live scope saysthere's no fish there, or you or
you don't see what you perceiveas fish does not mean that there
are no fish there.
(43:45):
Anyway.
So yes, I um I I I bought LiveScope, and um right off the bat,
the uh and I and and I should Ihad of I have a lot of
experience looking at livescope, looking at the screen,
(44:07):
seeing things on the screen.
So I already kind of had a uh Ihad a great base for the live
scope, but until you get yourhand on that live scope um
handle, um you you your thelearning curve does not go up
(44:29):
exponentially.
As soon as you put your hand onthe live scope um handle and you
now control where you're lookingwhile looking at the screen, now
the learning curve goes upexponentially because there's
something in your brain thatwhen you know what direction
(44:51):
you're pointing and you youyou're you're you're good at
determining on what that is, umit just it clicks so much faster
than just staring at it and notknowing what direction it's
pointed.
And you know what I mean?
But once you get a hold of thathandle, you're good.
And the first couple of walleyespots, I took the girls out
(45:14):
fishing, um uh Maddie and andViolet, my two girls and their
friends, and and um I would pullup on on marks.
Uh I've got thanks to myself andPat over the years, I've got
hundreds of walleye marks wherewe've seen walleye before.
And uh I pull up on the firstspot, stop, and um uh I usually
(45:38):
stop, you know, 100 feet, 150feet away from from the juice,
from the icon.
And um the first time I pulledup on a spot and stopped and put
the live scope down and uhlooked at looked ahead at the
spot, I saw nothing.
I turned that live scope uh polelike uh um to to three o'clock
(46:05):
directly uh uh off the side ofthe boat, and you know, uh uh 80
feet to to three o'clock, it'sloaded.
And I would have never like Imean, just because I always
approach the spots the same way,and then you turn on your your
(46:26):
traditional um sonar, you drivearound your icon and look for
them, uh look for the hooks onthe sonar, don't see them, uh
don't even drop an anchor, don'teven drop the trolling motor,
don't even stop, and off to thenext spot.
This one, look to the right,boom.
(46:49):
Uh a school of 50 walleye thatis in an area where I never
driven over top of before,right?
And it happened like that allsummer.
And when you're trolling, to beable to to scope around and look
for for fish was unbelievable.
(47:12):
Um uh Rayburn and I were up, oh,I'm gonna say in July, and uh he
wanted to go cast for Muskies.
So I said, okay.
So we went out onto uh onto thelake and went to a couple of
spots that uh that he had pickedout because um you know Pat and
(47:33):
uh and Rayburn had been um uhPat is mentoring Rayburn and
doing a wonderful job.
They've become very goodfriends.
And um Rayburn had picked a fewspots he wanted to check out,
and uh, and I had just got thescope.
So I started scoping around, andum, we got to one spot with a
(47:54):
weed line um and uh and a sharpdrop on it, and um I started
scoping that weed line for for Iwas looking for muskies, um,
trying to find and scope to seeif I could see muskies.
Um and then I started scopingout into deep water, and I saw
(48:16):
schools of fish, um, and uh in aspot that I I would have never
come.
Uh I I would have never fished.
And uh that spot, um, I thinkMike Scase and his family come
up um uh on the Moilan week withthe Moylans, and uh we went out
(48:37):
there and on that spot and uhlit it up.
Probably had one of the bestfishing days that I've had in
years, and we caught uh wecaught walleye, we caught big
smallmouth, we caught drum, likeuh the I think we caught two or
three drum.
(48:59):
The biggest was like 10 and ahalf pounds.
And um, you know, um to fight a10 and a half pound drum is a
thrill, man.
Uh I don't care who you are.
If you like fishing, you likefishing when you get a drum on.
And if you're disappointed,well, sucks to be you because
(49:19):
you're missing out, honestly.
And that spot proved out for itbailed me out of two guiding
situations.
I started guiding a little bitfor uh for Shaudi Air.
And um, and I I found that Ireally enjoyed it.
Um and that spot bailed me outthat uh on both occasions, you
(49:43):
know.
Uh we had done okay and then goto that spot and light it on
fire.
Um and it's wonderful when youcan do that as a guide.
So thank you to the live scopebecause that was key.
And that was just the firstexperience with Live Scope that
(50:06):
um that I had this year.
Um, but then um uh we went on umanother uh not the longest um on
the road, but a long one, like a14, two, two week, two, two plus
week uh trip that saw us uh umgo to uh Airedale Lodge um and
(50:30):
uh with uh Martin and Jen uhWern.
And uh they're great peopleagain.
And then uh we went to CedarMeadows uh resort in Timmins,
and um their claim to fame issleeping with the Timberwolves,
and they have uh five cottagesthat back onto a game reserve
(50:53):
that they have uh I think theysaid 11 Timberwolves in there
now, and that was they werebeautiful, but Airedale Lodge
was was awesome, and Martin andJen are were were great, and
they had actually uh it was endof September, maybe getting end
of September, um, because it wasearly October when we got home,
(51:18):
but um um they were actuallyalready kind of shut down
because they do a American plan.
Um, but uh their cottages, manoh man, they were they were
outstanding.
They were very nice cottages.
Um and the fishing was was greattoo.
Um we had some pretty tough uhconditions to fish in, but um um
(51:43):
one of the coolest um one of thecoolest um um uh sequences that
I have ever been involved in andpossibly while Peter said it was
a really cool um um uh sequencefor him too.
(52:04):
Um he's got like 35 years ofcool sequences.
I've only got like eight.
Um, but it was definitely thecoolest sequence that I was ever
involved in, and it involved uhuh a team effort to uh to um um
land uh uh a big fish.
(52:25):
And um that's another one.
I can't I can't tell you thedetails until you go and watch
them.
So you guys go out there andwatch that episode uh from
Airedale and um and uh and watchthat sequence.
Um I think you're gonna love itas much as we did.
And uh and then once it airs,I'll tell you the behind the the
(52:50):
uh the behind the story orbehind the scenes part of the
story as well.
Um and that's the rest of thestory.
Um but that was a great trip.
And uh the um uh the CedarMeadows in Timmins, that was the
second half of our shoot.
Uh that was another fantastictrip.
(53:10):
And um uh um one of uh one ofFishing Canada's uh sponsors,
actually, I think it's uh theoutdoor journal as well.
Maybe more the outdoor journal,but um JMB Marine in Timmins, uh
great guys there.
And uh they kind of set up a fewdifferent things for us while
(53:30):
we're in Timmins.
Um I fished a a lake rightinside the city limits and um
and caught um walleye, awesomewalleye.
The lake probably wasn't muchmore than a couple hundred
acres.
And um the one day, the firstday we got out there and uh oh,
(53:53):
it was tough.
It was tough fishing.
I thought, oh no, here we goagain.
Um, but the second day um we gotonto onto it just um, and again,
the live scope was key.
Um along a weed edge and andweed clumps out on on the lake,
and it was wasn't deep.
I think the deepest part of thelake's 15 feet.
(54:16):
And um basically we werescoping, I was scoping the fish
and pitching my uh pitching myJagan uh live bait or Jagan uh
uh maybe it was a um I forgetwhat it was.
It was probably a Jagan livebait, either that or uh Ned Rig
or something along those lines.
Uh, but pitching it right out tothem and um uh it was like
(54:38):
clockwork.
If you could get it to them,they were gonna eat.
And uh um I put together what Ifelt like was one of the better
shoots that uh that I was ableto uh to do on my own.
Um and then um uh Dean also uhhe uh he fished a couple of uh
(54:59):
lakes just on the outside of thecity limits.
And um uh we went for a tour ata goal mine, a local goal mine.
And the underlying current forOntario um is uh promoting
Timmins as a destination foryoung people to relocate to.
(55:19):
Uh because number one, there'swork, uh the gold mines are
always looking like this thisgoal mine operation um could
very well turn into one of thebiggest in the country.
And uh they're looking forpeople to work in the mine.
And um uh it's a high-payingjob, you know.
(55:41):
The the fellow that picked usup, he was saying that you could
make, you know, 110, 120,000 to150,000 or more uh a year, and
um you can still buy a house inSudbury.
And this is gonna soundunbelievable to people down in
southern Ontario, but you canstill buy a house in Sudbury for
under$100,000.
(56:03):
You know, um it's a it's it's aplace where you can go and you
can afford as a young couple tobuy a house and a cottage and
have toys and a good life and umand a and a solid um uh a solid
job, right?
(56:24):
And uh I you know I wouldconsider it.
Um I would consider it.
The uh the it is fairly farnorth.
There's no doubt about it, butTimmins has just about
everything you need in there.
Uh they've got uh everythingfrom you know Home Depot, lots
of restaurants, they've got uhCanadian Tire, they've got
(56:48):
Walmart, they they they've gotit all.
They've they've got it all.
They got a good hospital.
Um, I don't mean to sound like auh a promoter, but listen, it's
uh I understand how difficult itis for people um in this country
in our in the current um uheconomic climate.
(57:10):
And this seems a um a breath offresh air uh for young people
who who are avid outdoorspeople, hunters, you know,
fishermen.
You can you can be done yourshift at 4 30 and and on on the
water fishing before five.
(57:31):
It's uh it's really, really,it's a cool spot.
And um, and uh the uh the resortwas very cool, really high-end,
um, nice rooms.
The the um they have the a mainarea where you've got uh hotel
rooms, and then they've also gotuh these five uh nice small
(57:53):
cottages that um that you cansleep with the wolves and and
they come out.
You can actually, we did apodcast from uh from the the the
glass room on the back that's inthe uh in the paddock, and um
it's your bedroom.
Uh, but we moved the uh the thebed out of the way and uh and
set up and and did a podcastthere, and you can see the uh
(58:16):
the timber wolves frolicking inthe background.
SPEAKER_02 (58:19):
The most excited person in the room was Rick.
SPEAKER_03 (58:23):
He's uh he's our cameraman.
I love Rick Great dude.
Rick Delishny, you're the man.
But uh he was behind the camerabecause we uh we shoot the uh
the uh outdoor journal podcastsfor uh YouTube and uh his
eyeballs were lighting up.
Yeah, but uh no, Rick was uhRick was great.
(58:44):
And uh and then uh I was I washoping to uh over Thanksgiving
uh get away the the whole crewwent out to um um uh uh Kanso,
Nova Scotia, uh, and fished umuh bluefin tuna and uh had a
great uh wrap uh uh wrap up theseason shootout there.
(59:07):
Uh but unfortunately I could notmake it.
Um we have a family traditionthat um that is a uh that's um a
gold standard, if you will, uhnever to be broken.
We spend Thanksgiving on theUpper French River at uh at the
cottage, and um it uh it itdidn't work out.
(59:30):
Uh the the guys left on uh theThanksgiving Sunday and uh they
were on uh the Atlantic Ocean onuh on the Monday afternoon.
So I uh I was uh I wasThanksgiving it with uh the
family on uh on the upper FrenchRiver and uh had an absolutely
(59:51):
wonderful time there.
Rayburn Bogarded the boat withuh Jessica's girlfriend, and uh
and they uh they fished everyday and I got To sit uh in front
of the fire and uh uh and the TVwith the rest of the family, and
we just relaxed and saunted anddid all the good stuff that uh
comes along with Thanksgiving onthe French.
(01:00:14):
And uh, and then uh I guess thelast um fishing excursion was uh
was our our um year-end muskiehunt with uh Chris and Eric King
and uh Pat, myself and andRayburn were there this year.
And um we didn't end up catchingat that point.
(01:00:40):
Um we did catch a beauty, well,the biggest, the heaviest muskie
that I've ever uh held um lateron that week.
And um what a what a experiencethat was.
Um it was uh and and it was ashort fish.
It was it was uh um uh 48 andthree quarter by almost 25 inch
(01:01:07):
girth.
And um, and it was it was heavy,it was heavy, and made for some
great pictures and uh andwonderful memories with uh with
um Rayburn and and Patrick.
And uh uh I was on the rod forthe first time in five years uh
(01:01:27):
doing the um the fall muskietrip.
Um I was on the rod.
They Rayburn and Pat told me Iwas on the rod the day before
and I lost one.
And uh it was uh it was um Idon't want to say it was my
fault.
I was rusty though.
I was rusty when it came to umum fall trolling muskies.
(01:01:50):
And uh they were gonna kick meoff the rod, and I almost had to
pull the old uh ownership uh uhcard out for uh the right bower
there, but they uh they when Isaid nope, I'm not I'm not
giving the rod up yet, they bothbacked off fairly quickly.
And uh thankfully, because um itwas a a great memory, um
(01:02:14):
wonderful memory.
And you know, between that andthen when I closed up, which was
just last week, using that livescope um trolling has been uh
again um a ridiculousexperience.
(01:02:37):
The the amount of data that youcan acquire um in such a short
period of time as far as thedepths of your your baits, what
the bottom structure looks like.
For years, you know, I'vewatched Pat and Matt and Kyle
and and all of these guysfiguring out their their dive
(01:03:01):
curves on on their musky baits,and this bait goes down 20 feet
at this distance behind, and allof the stuff, and and figuring
that out by finding a you know20-foot rock, a rock that tops
out in 20 feet somewhere, anddriving over top of it until you
(01:03:22):
can feel your bait touch it.
That's how you used to figureout exactly how deep your baits
were and and how far back youhad to go to get there.
Now you spin that um LVS 34 backbehind the boat, and you can see
that bait swimming in the water.
You can tell how deep it isright away.
(01:03:45):
You can watch now, instead ofimagining it and visualizing in
your mind's eye that bait goingover top of a structure that you
know the structure's 21 feet,and you know that your bait is
20 feet down, and you're justgoing over the top of it, now
you can see that in real time.
(01:04:06):
You can see your bait swim overtop of of that structure.
You can see when your bait haspicked up weeds.
You can see that.
So now instead of oh I did yousee that rod tick?
Did it did it did it hit thebottom?
Did it or is it is it uhreacting the same way?
(01:04:27):
Is it do you think it's hung up?
Do you think there's weeds onit?
No.
Oh yeah, I can see.
Look at there's weeds on that,or at very least, that bait's
not reacting the same way.
I can tell.
Reel that bait up, reel thatbait up, clean it off, put it
back in the water, and the otherbaits are fine.
Instead of putting, oh well, youknow, if we're gonna check one,
(01:04:50):
we might as well check them all.
No, you don't need to.
You can still run with thoseother baits.
And having those baits in thewater more gives you a better
opportunity to catch more.
And you see the fish following,you see those fish come up, and
it it's um, and and how theyreact to the bait.
(01:05:12):
The Rayburn was reeling one ofthe baits in, and it just
happened that I was I had thescope on that bait.
I was following it, and all of asudden, a big muskie come up
behind the bait.
And you know, I wasn't beforeyou actually have seen muskies
on LiveScope and in differentsituations, like different
depths change the size of thepalette, and you know, but when
(01:05:38):
you see one, you know what itis.
And Rayburn was pulling in abait, and there was a muskie
come right in behind it.
And every time he jerked,because Pat was like, okay,
whoa, whoa, whoa, stop, stop,stop, stop, stop.
And then he would he stoppedreeling, and then Pat's like,
okay, give it a jerk.
And Rayburn would jerk it, andthat you watch the fish react to
(01:06:00):
that bait leaving its nose, thatbait swimming away quick, right?
We didn't end up getting itbecause the the bait was so
close to the to the boat, it itit it broke the surface.
But um just to to to use thatlive scope in that manner really
(01:06:20):
is um was eye-opening.
But um and then it was close.
Um, so the the first trip thatuh we had our muskie hunt with
Kinger, um, and then um we uhlet a week elapse and and Matt
and Kyle were up there uh for uhthe last uh well about a month.
They were up there until um umend of November.
(01:06:44):
Um so last week.
And uh the weather um chased usout.
I think Pat left on Rayburn leftSunday, Pat left on Tuesday, and
Scotty and I were up thereclosing, and um um we barely
made it out.
We barely made it out.
(01:07:05):
The um the one line from themain cottage to the bunky,
cottage to the bunkie, uh wherethe line went up into the into
the bunkie froze the when wewere shutting the water down.
We were cleaning the cot and toclean the cottage is like you
don't tidy, right?
There's there's the differencebetween cleaning the cottage in
(01:07:28):
the summer when you're going toleave versus cleaning the
cottage when you're shutting itdown for the winter, because it
needs a deep cleaning.
And this again is where you findout how well and how good a
cleaner you are, because if youdon't clean the main cottage
very well, when you go back inthe spring, you have a class A
(01:07:50):
infestation of rodents and uhbeen there, and I do not like
that one bit, not one bit.
And uh, we spent basically a daycleaning out the cottage, and
it's just a small cottage, it'sa 1950 Sears cottage kit, and I
think it's about 20 by 30, it'snothing big, but it took us
(01:08:14):
basically all day to clean it,and uh by five o'clock in the
afternoon, um the thetemperature was dropping, and
the one line into the car intothe bunkie um froze, and I was
like, oh my god, I can't,because there's like lines in
the walls and this and that.
(01:08:34):
But we had pressured uh we hadum uh hooked the air compressor
up to the uh the water lines,and um we ended up finally
getting it to let loose.
It let loose and and crisisaverted, really, really close.
And um I'm not gonna knowexactly how well we did until
(01:08:58):
spring.
But fingers crossed.
So, you know, there there youhave it.
That was the uh that was theyear in review when it come to
uh outdoors and uh fishing andand uh my uh my uh escapades for
(01:09:18):
2025.
But listen, thank you all forgetting to this point.
Uh I really appreciate uhappreciate everybody.
Um Lakeside Marine, they're uhthey're wonderful up in Red
Lake.
Uh thanks to uh our producers,Anthony Mancini and Dean Taylor.
(01:09:39):
Uh, you guys are awesome.
And folks, if you haven'talready, head on over to
fishingcanada.com and get yourname into whatever free
giveaways there are there.
Um uh drop your ballots in asoften as you can every day, and
uh go from there.
And uh again, thank you allbecause without you, I wouldn't
(01:10:04):
be here doing this, and uh Iappreciate every single one of
you.
And on that note, thus brings usto the conclusion of another
episode of Diaries of a LodgeOwner, Stories of the North.
SPEAKER_04 (01:10:21):
I'm a good old boy, never meaning no harm.
I'll be the whole you ever sawbeen reeling in the hog since
the day I was born.
Bending my bra.
Spenging my life.
Someday I might on a lodge andthat'll be fine.
(01:10:46):
I'll be making my way, the onlyway I know how.
Working hard and sharing thenorth with all of my plows.
About a lodge and live my dream,and now I'm here talking about
(01:11:08):
how life can be as good as itseems.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (01:11:16):
Hi everybody, I'm Angelo Viola.
And I'm Pete Bowman.
Now you might know us as thehosts of Canada's favorite
fishing show, but now we'rehosting a podcast.
That's right.
Every Thursday, Ann and I willbe right here in your ears,
bringing you a brand new episodeof Outdoor Journal Radio.
Hmm.
Now, what are we going to talkabout for two hours every week?
Well, you know there's gonna bea lot of fishing.
SPEAKER_08 (01:11:38):
I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and
how to catch them, and they wereeasy to catch.
SPEAKER_05 (01:11:43):
Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show.
We're going to be talking topeople from all facets of the
outdoors.
SPEAKER_00 (01:11:48):
From athletes, all the other guys would go golfing.
Me and Garchomp Turk, and allthe Russians would go fishing.
SPEAKER_08 (01:11:56):
The scientists.
Now that we're reforesting oranything, it's the perfect
transmission environment to linethe people.
Chefs.
If any game isn't cookedproperly, marinated for you will
taste it.
SPEAKER_05 (01:12:09):
And whoever else will pick up the phone.
Wherever you are, OutdoorJournal Radio seeks to answer
the questions and tell thestories of all those who enjoy
being outside.
Find us on Spotify, ApplePodcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts.
SPEAKER_01 (01:12:26):
As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons
of our natural world becomeharder and harder to hear, but
they are still available tothose who know where to listen.
I'm Jerry Oulette, and I washonored to serve as Ontario's
Minister of Natural Resources.
However, my journey into thewoods didn't come from politics.
(01:12:49):
Rather, it came from my time inthe bush and a mushroom.
In 2015, I was introduced to thebirch-hungry fungus known as
Chaga, a tree conch, withcenturies of medicinal use by
indigenous peoples all over theglobe.
After nearly a decade ofharvest, use, testimonials, and
(01:13:10):
research, my skepticism hasfaded to obsession.
And I now spend my lifededicated to improving the lives
of others through natural means.
But that's not what the show isabout.
My pursuit of the strangemushroom and my passion for the
outdoors has brought me to theplaces and around the people
that are shaped by our naturalworld.
(01:13:31):
On Outdoor Journal Radio's Underthe Canopy podcast, I'm going to
take you along with me to seethe places, meet the people that
will help you find your outdoorpassion and help you live a life
close to nature and under thecanopy.
Find Under the Canopy Now onSpotify, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever else you get yourpodcasts.
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