Author: Don Lamont

Cross Bay Late Summer Pike!Day One:When people ask me about a great drive to place for big pike I mention Cross Bay and portions of Cedar Lake. This fishery is located above the dam at Grand Rapids, Manitoba, some four and half hours by paved highway from Winnipeg. The Grand Rapids Generating Station was built between the years of 1960 and 1968, and this huge structure was the first major hydro-electric project in northern Manitoba. Grand Rapids was the logical spot to build the dam because of a series of natural waterfalls along this stretch of the Saskatchewan River that…

CLEAR LAKE DAY TWO: Sunshine again greeted us the next day as we headed out early to visit the Clear Lake Golf Course. Unfortunately the restaurant overlooking the 9th green was closed for business, a very disappointing turn of events. Heading back into town at 7:30 in the morning we were only able to find a cup of coffee and a bagel to sustain us to the 9th hole. As we teed off, I ran into a retired teacher who had coached against me when I was a player in High School at Windsor Park Collegiate. Maybe that is why…

CLEAR LAKE DAY ONE: AL CATCHES THE BIG ONE AND SAVES A ROD! Friend Al Beaver had arrived back to Winnipeg all the way from Australia were he was working in fire control. Now he was headed up with me on what had been an annual fishing trip before he moved away. Every year we would get together with two friends from Prince Albert Saskatchewan on a fall trip that included both fishing and a round of golf. In past years we had visited Lake of the Prairies but this year we decided to try Clear Lake and Riding Mountain…

It was my first trip north of Pine Falls in quite a few years but finally I was headed up to fish the Manigotagan River as it empties into Lake Winnipeg. The nice part about this drive, despite it being five in the morning, was that Highway 304 was paved all the way to our turnoff. As the rain clouds gathered we enjoyed the solitude of the country at this early hour of the day in mid June. One small channel catfish and a walleye, a unique doubleheader! The Manigotagan is a challenging whitewater river that wends its way from…

The Miles Mac Angling Club is back for another year, with more students than ever interested in learning how to fish and raising money for a good cause. The Club is once again raising money for the “Kids Fishing for a Cure” organization. All students participating will be getting pledges and organizers Tim Au and Corey Kapilik will be presenting a cheque to the organization on June 2. This earmarked money goes to Child Oncology at Cancer Care Manitoba as well as for taking children who are current or past patients and their families fishing!Last year The Miles Mac Angling…

As we pulled up to the sunken island on Regina Bay at Sioux Narrows, memories from eleven years previous came rushing back. I was with friend Darrin Bohonis and he had invited me down with him from Winnipeg to fish springtime smallmouth bass. Now Darrin is an awesome angler, and he had won a tournament on this body of the fall previous so when he decided to start on this spot it was no surprise. Still, when I started to laugh he had no idea what was so funny. I explained to Darrin that it was here in 2001 that…

 Boyd and Odie enjoying some pike action Three days of fishing in central Saskatchewan, what could be better! So when I got an invite to speak at the annual Porcupine Plain Wildlife banquet just before the close of the ice fishing season, I was all in. Friend Jim Price and I headed up to Carrot River to hook up with our friends to fish Tobin Lake and area beforehand.We were not to be disappointed with some great fishing for both pike and walleye. Our first evening upon arrival saw us out on the Saskatchewan river jigging up walleye. As…

April Northwestern Ontario PikeAn extremely early spring in southern Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario actually has some anglers out already in boats on open water. In fact in Manitoba some anglers have been trailering their boats to Pine Falls before the season closes March 31st. When that closure happens many will just change their destination to Northwestern Ontario or target trout, a species that knows no closure. In Northwestern Ontario, anglers can not only fish for trout but pretty much any other species except walleye at this time of the year. This discrepancy has rankled some tourism operators in southern Manitoba…

As I looked at the long range weather forecast for the middle of March I started to panic. It stated that we were going to get weather near plus 20 Celsius! Yes that’s right we live in southern Manitoba and we were going to be golfing the weekend of March 17th. So I got on the phone  and organized an ice fishing adventure to Shoal Lake Ontario for Sunday, March 12th, then a another trip the next day to Shoal Lake Manitoba for perch with friend Jim Price. I figured it was now or never and boy was the weatherman…

Hey folks, if you happen to be in central Saskatchewan towards the end of the month I will be the guest speaker at the Porcupine Wildlife Club Banquet on March 31.The banquet includes Wildlife Awards, a Wild Meat supper, Silent Auctions and raffles, dance and much more. Porcupine Plain,is located in North Eastern Saskatchewan just 15 minutes away from Greenwater Provincial Park. Don lands a shark in Cabo San LucasHere is organizer David DeVos- “This is our second banquet since re-establishing the club that had been inactive for 15 years. We have become the fastest growing club in Saskatchewan, topped…