Author: Don Lamont

WHAT WILL 2022 BRING? While I don’t fish the 200 days a year when I started in this industry,  I still love to travel and fish new water. I think that has always been in my DNA and why I loved doing my television show for 15 years.  It doesn’t hurt that I am editor of Hooked Magazine plus the fishing columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press. It all means I still get opportunities do what I love the most. For a year and a half when COVID hit everything came to a standstill. There was very little human interaction…

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS It is a great time to spend time with your family and one of the best ways is in the outdoors. Anglers across the west have been streaming out to lakes, rivers and reservoirs to enjoy ice fishing. Here at Hooked we wish you a safe and happy holiday season. MANITOBA The Red River has returned to its glory days with many Master Angler fish being registered. The walleye fishery continues to bounce back and many of the Lake Winnipeg guides attribute it to the increase in mesh size on the south basin from 3…

MANITOBA WILDLIFE FEDERATION TO SPEARHEAD INITIATIVE The MWF has signed on to a new project for Big Windy titled “Improved Fisheries Management through Angling Assessment and Education Project”   The project has two components. PART ONE: ANGLING AWARENESS The MWF is hiring a recreational angling coordinator to assist with public communication around angling awareness. This person will also deal with staff recruitment and provide education to anglers on Manitoba’s impending angling regulation changes. PART TWO/ CREEL STUDIES ON ANGLER HARVEST This part of the project is designed to improve the understanding of angler use and harvest on Lake Winnipeg.  Money for…

COLD WEATHER DOESN’T LAST MANITOBA A few cold nights has helped tighten up ice in most parts of the west, but a return to warmer temperatures for the next week will slow things down. Anglers have been walking on many of the lakes and rivers in the southern half of the province and ice conditions are good for the most part. Ice cleats are a must on some of the ones that have frozen fairly smooth. With no snow cover, it makes walking without them an issue. In the last two weeks the three biggest stories have been the following:…

CRAPPIE STUDY HELPS WITH FISHERIES MANAGEMENT MacKenzie Hauger completed her Masters of Biological Science at the University of Manitoba over the last few years. Why is that of interest? To complete her Masters, she decided to do research on our black crappie populations. This information is critical to make informed management decision on this great sport fish. In the summer of 2018, she finished Phase 1 of her research, finishing Phase 2 the next summer. The completed study was designed to get a handle on the crappie population in the province of Manitoba. Crappie have become one of the most…

MANITOBA With the onset of cooler temperatures, many areas of the province have lakes with enough ice to walk on. Many of the trout lakes in the central and northern parts of the province are producing some outstanding catches of rainbow, brook trout and brown trout. Jay Siemens and crew drove all the way up to Lynn Lake to fish a couple of lakes stocked with big brook trout. They fished both Gemmell and Digney Lake just west of Lynn Lake off of Provincial Road 396. You can look up both lakes on the Manitoba Lake Information for Anglers website.…

A TIME TO GIVE THANKS It is Remembrance Day so I am going to start off the last open water report of the year remembering those who have served our country.  My dad was a navigator in the Royal Canadian Airforce during the Second World War. His Lancaster flew over Germany on solo reconnaissance missions during the latter half of the war. Many of his friends and colleagues never made it back. He was one of the lucky few and even met my mother there who served as a Wren for the British Army.  He never talked about the war…

I headed out yesterday (November 5th) with friend Jim Price on a bright sunny balmy November day to try our luck. The boat launch at Selkirk Park was probably the busiest it has been all season. We quickly got the boat ready for launch and were soon heading south toward Lockport. I decided to stop along the north side of the Selkirk golf course to try a trolling run with some crankbaits. Over the many years I have fished the Red, this spot has produced some really large walleye. While not as popular as others, it is always worth a…

With a number of fairly dramatic changes to angling limits and seasons the Department of Agriculture and Resource Development wanted to get public feedback to see if they were on the right track. The Strategy outlined a suite of proposed angling regulation changes aimed at increasing opportunities for angling, while enhancing protection of Manitoba’s valuable fish populations. The “What We Heard”  report provides an overview of the engagement results and outlines modifications being made to the Strategy based on the feedback received. Stakeholder organizations that represent over 10,000 anglers participated in 15 engagement meetings and events. In addition, over 1,440…

MANITOBA THE RED RIVER It took all fall but there are finally enough walleye in the Red River to make it worthwhile. Most of the better catches I have been closer to Lockport and the stretch called Doc Reed’s has been decent as well as the Miracle Mile. It might just be worth one more launch of the boat or maybe an afternoon or evening from shore. LAKE WINNIPEG As has been the case all open water season, the best walleye fishing has been in the big lake itself. At this time of the year you have to pick your…