Author: Don Lamont

MANITOBA Many new anglers in the province are finding the joy the fishing for bullhead in the Netley Marsh area of the province. These fish are willing biters in the hot weather. Carp are also on the bite right now in the Assiniboine and Red Rivers. In the Whiteshell, crappies have been starting to school up a bit. The smallmouth bass have moved out to main lake points and humps in water 10 to 20 feet. The walleye are still biting on Lake of the Prairies and it has been one of the best years on record for numbers of…

BORDER REOPENING DOESN’T MEAN A RETURN TO NORMAL For many tourism operators in this province, the announcement that the border was reopening on August 9th was BIG news. In these pandemic times, though, there will be a learning curve for both lodges and guests. In addition to receiving a full series of a vaccine authorized by the Government of Canada, fully vaccinated travellers must also: provide COVID-19-related information electronically through ArriveCAN (app or web portal) including proof of vaccination prior to arrival in Canada; meet the pre-entry testing requirements; be asymptomatic upon arrival; and have a paper or digital copy…

EDITORS NOTE: Shaun and Brandon had left for Chile just before Covid hit. As you will read in this second part of their adventure, it was to cut their trip short. PART TWO Puerto Montt was a pleasant ocean side stopover in which to regroup. Here we grabbed road trip supplies, much needed rest, bought our fishing licenses (not with guide anymore), and picked up our rental SUV.  After much research into rental car companies I settled with Chilean Rent-a-Car.  We were pleasantly surprised with a free upgrade to the Nissan X-Trail SUV. This was a stroke of good fortune…

PART ONE OF OUR ADVENTURE TO CHILE When one thinks of Chile the Andes Mountains, the longest mountain chain in the world, jumps to mind. Most of us might not realize the incredibly diverse geography and climate this country possesses. Chile is more than 4000 kilometres in length and ranges in width from 64 kilometres to 356 kilometres at its widest! The climate is extreme, with the far north boasting alpine desert or semi-arid conditions while central Chile exhibits Mediterranean and Subtropical conditions. In the southern half the climate ranges from temperate, sub polar, tundra, semi-arid, to icecaps. I have…

MANITOBA Hump Walleyes-Matt Gelley Reef season is upon us! Shield Walleyes are stacked up on mid-lake structure as clouds of baitfish move offshore. Most walleye anglers will drop down live bait on a jig. I like to approach things a bit differently with plastics. One sleeper bait that outright catches em’ is the NED rig. My favourite way to fish these is to drag them on the bottom vertically or by pitching them on top of the hump depending if there is a nice flat. Another option is to cast swimbaits on top of the reef or on the sides.…

MANITOBA Crazy heat has kept people off the water for full days but early and late in the day has been perfect. Walleye are still using the shallow water in many of our lakes and reservoirs. Matt Gelley had a good day recently on a nine foot hump. He found the walleye and smallmouth bass mixed together. Aaron Wiebe of Uncut Angling fame was out on Lake Winnipeg at Hecla Island competing with Clayton Schick and Jay Siemens in a nine hour full walleye event. Aaron was a but surprised when he found all the active walleye in less than…

KEY IN ON OPEN WATER FORAGE FOR SUMMERTIME BONANZA Ciscoes were popping up all over the surface of the mirror calm lake, scooping up insects that were struggling to break the surface film. Occasionally, a huge splash would interrupt the calm. With the ciscoes up on the surface and vulnerable, marauding pike were making short work of these tasty morsels.  The insects were hatching out of the mud on a huge mid lake flat and we had stopped the boat at the eastern most tip of this flat and thrown out a marker buoy to orient us on an otherwise…

MANITOBA TOPWATER SMALLMOUTH-MATT GELLEY July is an excellent time to pull out the topwater plugs. Bass are post spawn and usually back on the feed. Who doesn’t like explosive surface strikes on a hot summer evening? I do! Surface temps in the 70-80F range are ideal. Locations can be tricky during this period. It’s dependent on where the food is! In the past, we have done great on rock/pencil weed transitions and on rocky points. Bass are usually foraging on Crawfish. One of my all time favourites topwater baits has been the Live Target frog popper. Casts a mile and has…

Narrow Hills Provincial Park is an angler’s dream come true. I’m not normally one to give away my fishing spots that easily. I put a lot of time and effort into finding them and working them out and I do not part with that information easily. I will however, if you ask, tell you exactly where I will be fishing this fall: The Narrow Hills Provincial Park. It still surprises me how many anglers stare back at me with blank expressions having never heard of it. Truly one of Saskatchewan’s magnificent gems, the Narrow Hills Provincial Park has it all.…

MANITOBA “Although this year has been difficult for Manitobans, our government is continuing a summer tradition by making recreational fishing free of charge this weekend of June 12th and 13th. I encourage all Manitobans to explore MB’s abundant fisheries and parks.” This announcement by Blaine Pederson, Minister of Agriculture and Resource Management. EASTERN MANITOBA CRAPPIES BY MATT GELLEY The spring Crappie bite this year has been challenging to say the least. Once the water temps hit 65F, schools of crappies usually invade the spawning bays. This year, however, something strange is happening. It has been a very staggered spawn. We…