MANITOBA
Many new anglers in the province are finding the joy the fishing for bullhead in the Netley Marsh area of the province. These fish are willing biters in the hot weather. Carp are also on the bite right now in the Assiniboine and Red Rivers. In the Whiteshell, crappies have been starting to school up a bit.
The smallmouth bass have moved out to main lake points and humps in water 10 to 20 feet.
The walleye are still biting on Lake of the Prairies and it has been one of the best years on record for numbers of fish caught.
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO – DON LAMONT
As my son and I pulled up to a main lake point on Perrault Lake, my Helix 10 depth finder lit up like a Christmas tree! There was big mark after big mark showing in 20 feet of water. Dropping the front troll motor, we threw out a couple of jigs with leeches. Instantly my line was cut by some sort of toothy creature!
I said to my son Kristjan, I think we need to put some cranks on and troll this point. Whatever is on this spot is really big!
Moving the boat off the spot, I grabbed my two trolling rods with line counter reels. I hooked on a # 9 Flicker Shad in a natural shad colour and he put on Rapala Husky Jerk. Lining up the boat I made sure we had our lures out about 100 feet before we hit the spot. This would allow them to dive about 18 to 20 feet, the range we wanted to target. As we entered the target zone our cranks were just ticking the rocks on the end of the point when all of a sudden my crank stopped dead, my rod bending over to the water.
SUCCESS
I knew I wasn’t snagged given the violent head shakes happening on the other end of the line as this massive fish tried to shake the lure. After a hard-fought battle, I got the see the fish ten feet down in the water. “What kind of fish is that dad?” asked Kristjan. We had lucked into a big musky, a fish my son had never seen in person. He did a masterful job on the net, and we quickly released this beautiful fish back into the lake.
It had been more than 20 years since I had fished the Vermillion Bay area of Northwestern Ontario. Finally, I had put together a trip with my family to Rainbow Point Lodge on Perrault Lake this past long weekend.
Over the course of the next four days, we enjoyed some great fishing and relaxation. We mostly fished for walleye but landed a variety of species, including musky, smallmouth, and pike. There are also perch and crappie in this fertile mesotrophic body of water.
NORTHWEST ONTARIO-MINAKI AND AREA BY GUIDE KRIS GAUNE
Memorable Musky
SASKATCHEWAN-LAST MOUNTAIN LAKE-ROB SCHULZ (G7S MARINA OUTFITTERS)
The bite is hot right now on Last Mountain lake. The water temperatures have warmed up to approximately 74°F. This has moved the Walleye into their regular summer locations and patterns.ELECTRONICS CRUCIAL
Remember never fish deeper than 30’ so you don’t kill those Walleye as they cannot withstand the trauma of coming out of deeper than 30’ depths.
ALBERTA-WES DAVID
Justin Trudeau had yet to open the Canadian border when I booked my flight to ICAST 2021 in Orlando, Florida. There was still a great deal of confusion with the information being provided for Canadian travelers going and returning home from the U.S. However, ICAST 2021 was set in stone for July 20-23, so I boarded the “red-eye” flight for Orlando, Florida to get back to face-to-face business.
As expected, ICSAT 2021 was loaded with new products from industry leaders, product and fishing seminars, but best of all, the buzz of business returning to face-to-face meetings, conversations, and handshakes was clearly what everyone in the Orange County Convention Center was missing.
Aqua-Vu
Aqua-Vu, the industry leader in underwater viewing solutions introduced Strike-Vu, an in-line, high-definition camera that offers a unique underwater perspective on a fish’s behavior and strikes on an angler’s presentation. Aqua-Vu also revealed their new recording system at ICAST 2021. The AV Connect HD provides an effortless connection of your HD Series Camera directly into any IOS phone or tablet for live viewing, recording, and sharing. Imagine, not only viewing the strike from a fish of a lifetime but recording and sharing the footage with your family and friends so they can share in your experience.
Liquid Mayhem
Chad, the owner of Liquid Mayhem based out of Plympton-Wyoming Ontario, was also at ICAST 2021, featuring not only his all-natural and biodegradable scent attractant, but also his new line of soft plastic baits that come with a small tube of Liquid Mayhem in every package.
EGO Fishing
Grant, the owner of EGO Fishing based out of Caldwell, Idaho, was born and raised in Hope BC where his family still calls home was at ICAST. EGO Fishing is most famous for its quality rubber nets, however, EGO Fishing revealed its new lineup of tackle and dry bags and EGO coolers at ICAST 2021. With the exception of 2020, Grant returns home every year to fish the white sturgeon on the Fraser River with his family and friends.
Gill Fishing
Gill the world leader in marine apparel for over 45-years is making a major splash in the fishing world with their Gill Fishing lineup of quality clothing for all anglers. Regardless of how much you fish, Gill Fishing believes you should be warm, dry, and comfortable.
ICAST 2021, was well worth the 16-hour red-eye!
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES REPORT-WES DAVID
I just returned home from an amazing self-guided lake trout fishing trip north of the 60th Parallel with Nonacho Lake Fishing Adventures in Northwest Territories. Nonacho Lake Fishing Adventures is the only lodge on Nonacho Lake which is the 8th largest lake in the NWT and as you would expect, the lake trout fishing was non-stop, however, nothing could compare me for what I was about to experience over the four days.
THREE WAY RIGGING THE TICKET
I was three-way rigging, (often referred to as a poor man’s way of downrigging), a one-two punch combination between a #4 Len Thompson Lure and a 6 ½” Alaskan Lucky Plug from Lucky Plug Lures in 70 to 100 feet of water. The larger lures reduced the bites from smaller lake trout but greatly increased the bites from large lake trout resting on the rocky bottom of the lake.
EQUIPMENT
I had 12oz weight on my three-way to maintain bottom contact and 50lbs Sunline spooled to a reel-counting reel to maintain precise depth taking into account trolling speed and line deflection. Lake trout ranging from 20lbs to 40lbs laying on the bottom couldn’t resist the larger lures moving past as they rested on the bottom. Along with a few smaller lake trout ranging in size from 10lbs to 15lbs, three or four larger lake trout were caught and released every hour all day long.
Nonacho Lake Fishing Adventures had all the comforts of home including fully equipped cabins and on-demand hot water in the shower house, and although it was a self-guided fishing trip on such a big body of water, untouched lake trout were abundant and easy to find often less than five minutes from camp.