Illustration by Sara Wilde Take it serious when you take on fishing with the kids or risk being reduced to the laughingstock of the family, and I know this from experience. Jackson was nine and Gloria was seven when their old man demonstrated such a lack of maturity and grace that I’ll admit I may have ruined them. We were shore fishing from that spot in St. Vital Park known for a mixed bag, reliable bite, and snag-free waters. I whistled the theme from Andy of Mayberry to annoy the kids as we scoured amongst the dogwoods for a stick…
Author: Don Lamont
Don Lamont
Don Lamont - The Complete Angler Don Lamont has been a full time professional angler for 41 years, hosting and producing the award winning “The Complete Angler” television series for fifteen of those. Don has received several awards for his commitment to public education and the future of recreational fishing in Canada. Don had a regular fishing column in the Winnipeg Free Press for 30 years and is currently editor of Hooked Magazine. He also recently took on the role of Executive Director of the Manitoba Lodges and Outfitters, if he wasn't busy enough already! He recently published a book that highlights many of his adventures over a lifetime of fishing. It can be purchased online at donlamont.com
Guide proven tactics for when the going gets tough. When it comes to winter walleye fishing it seems like the trend is either feast or famine. One day they’re smashing everything you put in front of them and the next they’re nothing more than marks on your flasher. Trying times on the ice get more common during the mid-winter timeframe, too. When walleyes aren’t co-operating try turning to finesse techniques to coax bites from inactive fish. WATCH FOR SIGNS There are no hard and fast rules saying when it’s time to start finesse fishing. On a day-to-day basis I let…
Pete with a nice one!When I saw the weather forecast for Thursday this week, I knew I had to get out to Traverse Bay for some greenback walleye. Word on the street had anglers heading up from as far away as South Dakota to get in on a late season bite. Friend Pete Hiebert and I arrived at the boat launch just after 8:30 in the morning and there were already a number of boats launched. As we had driven up that morning the wind was gusting from the northwest, the worst possible direction for Traverse Bay. Once on the…
Manitoba has a new record goldeye! Jim Tarsiuk with his monster goldeye!Jim Tarasiuk has been fishing with friend Terry Tooley on the Saskatchewan River for the last seven years. Terry held the Manitoba goldeye record for five years, from 2007 to 2012. So, it was only fitting that the two were fishing together at the time when this fish was caught. Jim wasn’t sure what kind of fish he had on the line when he set the hook given the variety of species that exist in that stretch of river near The Pas. In fact, given the pull on the end…
Jim and Dale with another Red Zone fishTOBIN LAKE: DAY THREEOur captain had to head to Saskatoon for a wedding so we jumped in with Dale and Russ in the big 21 foot Ranger. Since there were four of us fishing today we decided to jig. With a water temperature at 46 Fahrenheit, the use of a jig at this of the year is always a great option. As it turned out, we had a tremendous day on the water with 16 Red Zone walleye caught. I have done a lot of jig fishing over the years and I have…
Don and the Captain!DAY TWO: TOBIN LAKEThe sun broke out on day two of our trip and so did our spirits. Funny how a little sun can cheer things up and erase some of the disappointment of the day before.Jim and I were in Boyd’s boat again as we headed back down to the river from Tobin Lake Resort where we were staying. A strong west wind made heading out to the big lake an impossibility. Jim taking a bit of a breakGiven the success we had trolling yesterday (Jim!), we decided to put some time in today, fine tuning…
DAY ONE: TOBIN LAKEThe long range forecast was very encouraging, sun and temperatures getting over the ten Celsius mark, a heat wave at this time of year. We had moved up our annual fishing trip to Tobin Lake, Saskatchewan a week earlier than in previous years. After an uneventful ride from Winnipeg, we caught up with a number of old friends who make this trip so special for us.On day one we fish with Boyd Holmen, in his eighteen foot Yar Craft, a very nice rig indeed! This turned out to be the nicest day weather wise but probably our slowest…
This jumbo fell for the PK Spoon on a lift and drop flutter.Late fall is one of the best times of the year to find big smallmouth bass schooled up off of points at the mouth of bays. Most of the time, these fish are aggressive and love a piece of metal jigged in front of their face! Case in point was yesterday on Lake of the Woods, Ontario while fishing with top North American bass angler Jeff Gustafson. Jeff loves to catch both largemouth and smallmouth but the largies on this day were proving a bit difficult to catch. In…
I was out on Lake of the Woods today with one of the best bass anglers in Canada and in North America. Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson took time out of his busy schedule to take Hooked Magazine owner and publisher Kevin Stobbe and myself out for a day on the water. Jeff is a busy guy, so his commitment to a day in the boat was much appreciated. It was a beautiful morning as we launched the boat at Pye’s landing on the northeast end of the lake. Certainly way out of line for this time of the year. Jeff was…
This what the weather should have been like! Beautiful, rugged countryTRAIL END CAMP DAY TWO Chris with a nice bit of lumberHard to imagine but the wind was blowing even harder from the north when we woke up Sunday morning. As we left the dock at 10 a.m that morning I knew we wouldn’t be able to last long on the water with a wind chill of about minus three Celsius. We headed back to a sheltered bay were we had caught a few fish the day before. I decided to start trolling some shoreline in hopes of finding a school…