Author: Don Lamont

It’s a constant grind on the FLW Tour. For those pursuing their dream of becoming the champion of the Forrest Wood Cup, tournament anglers understand the commitment involved. It’s a long winding road, that starts in Florida and covers an number of states as far north as Michigan. The weather changes, the competition is intense. Three Canadians have been making an impact on the FLW Tour over the last three years. This past week, two of them, came through on the big stage once again. Chris Johnston and his brother Cory from Ontario have been pushing the envelope on the…

For anyone who ice fishes for trout, if it isn’t already in your tackle bag, one thing you must have are white tube jigs. They are an absolutely dynamite bait for winter trout, and something that just about all trout can’t resist.  They are one of my go to baits for lake trout, stocked rainbows and splake, and even slightly smaller tubes for whitefish. Here are a couple quick tips to make your tube jigs even more effective. When jigging, I’ll often jig with a bare tube, and don’t really feel a minnow is always necessary. If fish are being…

2017 Top 12 Competitive Angler Rankings for Central Canada We look back on the past year of competitive angling to highlight a handful of impressive season performances. The second year of this annual list compiled by Kickerfish is based on tournament performances during the 2017 season within the region and beyond. This Top 12 and Honourable Mentions list are comprised of anglers who hail from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, or Ontario. These talented sticks are only some who cashed multiple cheques and dominated local leaderboards. Four anglers from the 2016 rankings made the list again this year. Factors considered were strength of…

It’snot often that I get to fish for largemouth bass. Living in Winnipeg means that I am a fair haul from water that holds these extremely popular game fish. Lake of the Woods has a good population but here in Manitoba there is really no largemouth water. When I ran into Randy Duvell a couple of years ago he jogged my memory about his fishing lodge near Ft. Francis Ontario. I first heard about Slippery Winds Wilderness Lodge, back in 1992 when I had met Randy at an Outdoor Show a year earlier and he invited me up to fish…

When it comes to premiere ice fishing destinations, hardwaters within the borders of Manitoba have risen to the top of many lists. The phenomenal rise in popularity amongst visitors and residents alike choosing to fish here, owe in large part to the Lake Winnipeg craze that took the angling world by storm during this last decade. What many anglers are starting to uncover however, is that we have countless other lakes and rivers that offer incredible fishing for all number of species. We embarked on a recent trip across the province to get an up close glimpse at just a…

As the cold snap eases slightly in this part of the world, time to put on your explorer’s cap and head into the backcountry of Manitoba for some world class crappie fishing. The whole Caddy Lake chain made up of North and South Cross Lake, Sailing Lake and Caddy itself can kick out some awfully nice fish. There are other areas though that will start to produce for those willing to do the work. Places like the Pinawa Channel, Big Whiteshell Lake all have trophy fish. Populations of these fish are ever expanding and down the road the Winnipeg River…

Despite some warmer than normal temperatures for most of December in Manitoba, we have plenty of ice now on almost all of our lakes.  Earlier in the week I headed out to check the perch action on East and West Shoal Lakes with a group of friends. While we only caught two perch and one pike in a half day of fishing we did mark quite a few fish that wouldn’t bite. I am sure this fishery will pick up as the winter goes on. No problem driving around with 18 inches of good solid ice with minimal snow cover.…

As we opened up our motel room door on Monday morning we were greeted by deep snow. There must have been about eight inches of the white stuff to push off of our vehicle. Snow plows were busy in the town of Roblin as we met up with Phil Paczkowski at Patch’s Bait Shop. While Phil owns this tackle store, he is too busy with the other parts of his business to spend much time there. He has his sister run the store while he runs Yo-Fisherman Outfitting. He has a minnow trapper’s license and supplies live bait to the…

It was a wintery wonderland as we left Winnipeg for our three day trip to the Parkland region of Manitoba on Saturday morning. Overnight frost and no wind had coated the trees with a glowing white cover of snow and ice. As we pulled into Roblin the temperature was just under freezing. West Goose Lake, right in town limits was our first lake to fish on this trip. We met up with Phil Paczkowski, who owns Patch’s Bait Shop in town and who is an outfitter in the region. Phil has been a hardcore fisherman all his life and…

As ice fishing season swings into action here in the great white north, anglers in Manitoba are flocking to their local retailers to find the next hottest item. When Ardisam (a Wisconsin company) came out with the new ION X last year I knew I had to have one. The original ION had a 3 amp battery, which while dependable had some anglers concerned they would run out of charge on cold day with plenty of drilling. That has all changed. The ION X features a new single piece cast bottom design as well as a 5 amp-hour XC5 lithium…