Author: Don Lamont

It’s getting close to that time! The open water season is almost upon us. Unfortunately, cooler temperatures have slowed the melt of lake ice in Manitoba and Northwest Ontario. Despite that there soon should be plenty of optionsOur season in southern Manitoba opens on May 11th this year. Don’t forget to purchase your angling license for the new year and check any regulation changes that might have occurred.Finding early season hot spotsI was on the water on Lake of the Woods on April 30th two years ago. While it was a cool day, the sun was shining, and the fish…

SMALLMOUTH ARE EVERYWHERE! For many anglers in this part of the world, smallmouth bass is a forgotten springtime choice once the ice is gone on our lakes, rivers and reservoirs. Since few places in the world have a better population of smallmouth than the section of lakes from southwestern Manitoba to northwestern Ontario, you’re missing out on a great sportfish. In Northwestern Ontario, bass have made their way into virtually every lake, river and stream in the region. Originally stocked out of milk canisters by workers of the railway, the Canadian Shield country is ideal habitat for the smallmouth. Many…

It has been a wild month of April in northern Manitoba as anglers get in their last ice trip of the year. Three friends and I fished up in Snow Lake country for three days this past week. We managed to catch five species of fish! This included burbot, pike, walleye, sauger and whitefish. The walleye bite on Wekusko Lake was the highlight though some big burbot and some large pike made things real interesting. The weather was the real champion though. Over the three days we had sunshine, temperatures near 12 Celsius and no wind. Luckily, I had the…

The Early Years Like many young anglers in Manitoba, I grew up fishing a healthy dose of Len Thompson spoons, pickerel rigs, and gummed up jigs left over in Dad’s tackle box.  As years passed, gaudy push button reel combos were upgraded with spin reel setups. When I was old enough to carry a wallet I started purchasing more expensive lures for my own tackle box. At some point in my teens the routine pike and walleye fishing lost its allure. I was curious about other species and eager to learn different tactics. Being opportunistic I poked around the local…

March is one of the best fishing months of the year in this part of the world. With longer days come warming temperatures, melting snow on lakes and rivers down to the bare ice. This diminishing snow cover also allows light penetration to the depths of our lakes, triggering our cool water species to become more active. While lake trout and whitefish are active all winter, other species like smallmouth bass, walleye, crappies and perch can become quite dormant in the frigid conditions. This can severely restrict feeding activity so even when you do find the fish, it can be…

The walleye!  Whether it’s called pickerel, dore, or marble eyes, the hardy walleye is no doubt one of North America’s most sought after fish. Anyone looking for a battle on his or her tackle will be disappointed. To quote Lefty Kreh: “ No one ever got a heart attack fighting a walleye”.This “twilight feeder” has specially designed eyes that allow them to see well during low light. They feed effectively any time of the day, but they are most successful during twilight, when the prey is still active but their ability to see is significantly less. Fooling the walleye:  The…

Hooked contributor Tom Armstrong tries to get out on the ice any time he can. Things have slowed down just a bit with a new addition to the family. Still, he does live on the north shore of Lake Superior though, so access is not too far away. One of his favourite species through the ice are lake trout. For those in the know, right now is a pretty darn good time to target them. Tom recalls a trip a few years ago when he was out with a group of friends on a lake noted from lots of eater…

Over more than thirty years if ice fishing, I have been caught in some wild storms, with some of my biggest fish caught with snowflakes swirling around me. During summer, we always take into consideration cold and warm fronts and changes in temperature. In the winter, not so much, which can be a huge mistake, because fish are still effected tremendously by changes in weather patterns no matter time of year. Changing conditions Snowstorms in our part of the world also usually mean warmer temperatures to accompany the front. Once the storm is over in 24 hours we mostly have…

If you were to believe the number of searches we get on our Hooked website for crappie fishing in Manitoba, you might figure it to be the most popular game species we have. A long history in this province Over the years I have had some decent luck catching crappies in Manitoba. Back in the day when I had The Complete Angler television show one of my most popular shows was in Lake Minnewasta. Friend Dino Branfield and I had a great day in late fall, catching both numbers and size of fish. That fishery is still in good shape…

On our way! The weather forecast didn’t look promising as we boarded our flight north to Burntwood Lake Lodge in early June this past year. Heading up the west side of Lake Winnipeg rain clouds met us most of the way. When we approached the Snow Lake airport, a thunderstorm could be seen just to the east. We landed after the storm had passed and were quickly whisked to the Gogal float plane and helicopter base. Helicopter service to the front door Here we boarded one of the three helicopters that service the lodge for a short twenty minute flight.…