Author: Don Lamont

Hooked writer Eric Labaupa having fun with his girls on famed Lake Winnipeg going after greenbacks through the ice. Visit his website kickerfish.ca to stay on top of the upcoming fishing tournament news for 2017! In this episode of Go Fish, Kayla ices a new personal best walleye! https://youtu.be/mOR1mJH2m3k

Standing atop a frozen lake in Northwestern Ontario, in the dark: that is a long way from sunny California, but that’s where my friend Chris Shaffer found himself this past winter.  Shaffer is the Director of Operations for Pautzke Bait, and he flew to Thunder Bay for a few days of ice fishing, Northern Ontario adventure, and to film for Pautzke Outdoors.  We had big plans for his trip, and we had an amazing few days on the ice: we spent a day chasing big lakers and had an epic day fishing for stocked brook trout, but the real adventure…

Laker Time! Snow and slush everywhere. Tough to get around is the way professional angler Jeff Gustafson describes conditions in Northwestern Ontario. Gussy loves to fish lake trout and early January is one of the best times to catch some big fish, as long as you can get to them. If you plan on heading out, its snowmobile only and travel in a group in case you get bogged down out there in heavy slush. I can remember a similar winter a few years back when you we had to leave a snowmobile on the lake. We just couldn’t get…

SASKATCHEWAN HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2016 (and other years) BY HOOKED EDITOR DON LAMONT Over the years I have spent countless days travelling the back roads of Saskatchewan, fishing the myriad of lakes and reservoirs that exist in that province. For the most part, Saskatchewan has done a great job of protecting its fishing resources. There were very few of those trips that ended in disappointment. These were usually caused by weather and water conditions, not a lack of fish. Big reservoirs like Lake Diefenbaker and Codette as well as Tobin can all experience drop off in fishing success, due to…

THE YEAR IN REVIEW BY HOOKED EDITOR DON LAMONT As we approach 2017, it’s time to reflect on the year gone by. One of the things that stands out about 2016 in my mind is the weather. It seems almost every year the fall fishing season gets longer and longer as anglers continue to launch their boats past the middle of November. This year, a stretch of cold weather finally discouraged anglers to stop visiting Pine Falls but not until near the end of November. It was an incredible stretch of fall weather combined with some tremendous fishing. I have…

With a week of extreme cold conditions, ice in this part of the world has been forming fast. Garther Cheung (Big China)  says conditions on the river and even Lake Winnipeg have been good. One angler last week landed close to sixty walleye north of the new bridge. There were also fish caught at the End of Main. Some hardcore anglers have found about nine inches of ice on Lake Winnipeg. Travel has been done mostly by snowmobile on the big lake but on the river, it is strictly a walk on deal right now. Extreme caution at this time…

Some hard core anglers have been doing extremely well this fall using jigging spoons and jigging hard baits like The Shiver Minnow and Jigging Rapala to catch late fall walleye. At Pine Falls one of the hottest baits has been the Live Target Golden Shiner. This is a direct transferal from the winter use of these baits on Lake Winnipeg. If you haven’t fished with one through the ice over the last five years, you have missed out on probably the hottest ice lure out there. These rattlebaits drive big Lake Winnipeg walleyes crazy, and this has transferred to open…

Illustration by Sara Wilde Guiding is a hands-on way of living. Hands that start fire in the rain, coax meat from game, offer a hot plate of food miles from civilization. Strong enough to tame a displaced northern pike, yet gentle enough to allow for its release. Hands that help call animals, with fingers that point the way. A hand-up when fallen, and pat on the back when you done good, because guides know their strength. Them smarts and that confidence come from choosing a profession where the work is your passion. As guides, there is something about the fish…

Water, water everywhere. Hooked Publisher Kevin Stobbe and I were out with contributor Garther Cheung yesterday on Lake Winnipeg. Cheung, known as “Big China!” in Manitoba fish circles, has become addicted to angling. This past season he fished 10 tournaments on the Central Walleye Trail, finishing the top ten in a number of them. With his big smile and infectious laugh he is also one of the most popular figures in competitive fishing circles. When he offered to take Kevin and I out on the big lake for a day of fishing, we jumped at the chance. It was a…

For those of us who love to fish late into the fall, the extended weather forecast for this part of the world looks pretty good. Stable temperatures should allow for excellent days on the water. Not only that, but we dodged the snow that has hit other parts of western Canada as well as central and northern Manitoba. Recent rainfalls though have increased the flow in many of our rivers. The Winnipeg River has some pretty strong current right now which means Lake Winnipeg greenback walleye have moved in to gorge on the abundant food available in the river at…