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Diaries of a Lodge Owner
In 2009, sheet metal mechanic, Steve Niedzwiecki, turned his passions into reality using steadfast belief in himself and his vision by investing everything in a once-obscure run-down Canadian fishing lodge.
After ten years, the now-former lodge owner and co-host of The Fish'n Canada Show is here to share stories of inspiration, relationships and the many struggles that turned his monumental gamble into one of the most legendary lodges in the country.
From anglers to entrepreneurs, athletes to conservationists; you never know who is going to stop by the lodge.
Diaries of a Lodge Owner
Episode 90: Northern Pike, Missed Opportunities, and TV Drama on Ontario's Upper French
Ever had that perfect fishing moment slip away? Now imagine it happening on international television.
When British angler Matt Hayes and German social media star Babs Kijewski arrived at Chaudière Lodge in 2015, Steve Niedzwiecki was determined to showcase the best of Ontario's Upper French River for their series "Castaway Canada." What unfolded instead was a masterclass in Murphy's Law and human dynamics pushed to breaking point.
This episode pulls back the curtain on what happens when the cameras stop rolling during outdoor TV productions. From a massive television crew that occupied three cottages to the unbridled enthusiasm of an influencer who couldn't resist casting even when explicitly told not to, the behind-the-scenes tension is palpable throughout Steve's retelling.
The heartbreak is visceral as Steve recounts not one but two trophy fish—a monster muskie and a 40-inch northern pike—that were hooked and lost before cameras could capture the action. The resulting friction aboard the boat reached critical mass, culminating in one host being effectively "grounded" to her cottage for the remainder of the shoot.
Beyond fishing drama, Steve also touches on the devastating ice storm affecting southern Ontario and shares thoughtful reflections on the upcoming Canadian federal election. But it's his candid analysis of how negative energy spreads that provides the most powerful takeaway from this unforgettable shoot gone wrong.
Whether you're a fishing enthusiast, a content creator, or simply someone who appreciates genuine stories about human nature under pressure, this raw account of missed opportunities and clashing personalities offers invaluable perspective on what it truly means when we say "the one that got away."
I've got these guys on a spot. The fishing has been more than difficult. We've got a beautiful, beautiful northern pike and, like I mean, the whole situation has just gone atomic. This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Networks, diaries of a Lodge Owner Stories of the North, it's another episode of Behind the Rod. This time two outstanding anglers from the UK team up to do a cross Ontario tour highlighting the most amazing and iconic places in the province. And it was my pleasure to showcase the Upper French River with Matt Haynes and Babs Kiewski on their television series called Castaway Canada.
Speaker 1:On this show I talk about the spring ice storm affecting southern Ontario and yours truly, the national election that is looming large and the importance to get out and vote, and, of course, I recount the events behind the scenes in the filming of episode six of seven in a crazy cross-province tour. And what an experience it was. So perk up those ears. This behind-the-scenes peek is off the rails. Folks, folks, welcome to another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, and I'm your host, steve Niedzwiecki, and looking forward to getting back into the saddle after missing last week. This week Willie is under the weather. You know, when you live up in Kenora, with the cold and everything else, it's inevitable that you end up catching something, and I think he's got strep throat or something that is keeping him from talking. So it's difficult to do an episode of Diaries without being able to talk. So that's totally cool, brother, you get better and we'll get you back on sometime in the near future. But today is a great day and I'm going to be digging down into the old memory banks once again. We've got a behind the scenes in the episode. It's actually episode six of Canada Castaway with Matt Haynes and Babs Karowski. Oh, I said that wrong, sorry, babs. She really gives Matt a hard time about it too in the show. But what a wonderful experience that was. And we'll get into that a little later on the show. But first I want to potentially apologize. You know I've got. Anthony Mancini is our producer and Dean Taylor, as you all know, is one of the main magic men behind the scenes and I am currently sitting in my kitchen because I'm out of my studio. Upstairs.
Speaker 1:We had a epic well, I don't even I'm going to call it infamous ice storm in the Shelburne and southern Ontario area over the past weekend and I am still without power while it's now going on. I am still without power while it's now going on. We're going on three days and Hydro One has updated our reconnection to unknown. So I think that's probably a bad thing. Not only a bad thing. They're calling for another massive storm. They're saying I choose not to believe it, but you never know for tomorrow, which is today if you're listening, so we'll find out about that. I may be without power for God knows how long, but I'll tell you what this ice storm was.
Speaker 1:Something else, and I do like experiencing weather and weather events. I like snowstorms. You know it's just and and, as long as you're not driving, obviously. Um, the odd time when, when a big storm rolls through here, I'll go outside and just stand in it just to feel the force and and what goes on.
Speaker 1:And and I've witnessed two tornadoes that come through. Well, I saw the second one. The first one I didn't see, I just saw the aftermath. The first was in 1985. And a tornado ripped through. I guess it's my hometown. We lived outside of the town of Grand Valley, ontario, but in 85, there was a number of tornadoes in southern Ontario that did a ton of damage, namely in Grand Valley Ontario, a little bit of damage in Orangeville, ontario, and Barrie was another place that was affected greatly.
Speaker 1:But I'll tell you what. These ice storms obviously not tornadoes or anything like that. They're never good and they can do a lot of damage. But I would take a snowstorm over an ice storm every day of the week. You know when the ice starts to form on the trees and you know it can be pretty. But, man, that beautiful sight turns into horrific aftermath.
Speaker 1:And you know we lost our hydro Saturday night and I thought, ah, you know, we'll get hydro by the morning. Well, the morning rolled around and things started. I heat the house with wood, so we're never really worried about heat, but we've got fridges and freezers. So I pulled out my generator at 5.30 on Saturday morning and, needless to say, say after sitting for so long, the um float pin in the carburetor was seized and I and um, you know I was pulling the carburetor off, this thing out in the uh, out in the back air back deck area and uh, the point of this part of the story is we were kind of at the height of the storm, in that things had not started melting yet and the ice was still accumulating on all of the trees and the ground and everywhere.
Speaker 1:And you know I don't live in a bush per se, but I am in farm country and there's a lot of trees and bush close and every couple of minutes you would hear a crack and then you'd hear all of the ice shattering as the tree fell and branches were dropping. Like I say, we're going on three days without power where I'm at now and um the uh, the devastation it does to these big old trees. I got a, I got a hard maple out in my backyard on the fence line and um, uh, every crack that I heard. On Sunday morning I was peeking around the corner to make sure that big old boy was still standing and he made it. I went out and I gave him a hug after it was all over. But you know we've got another storm coming this direction and hopefully it won't freeze. It'll either be snow or rain.
Speaker 1:That ice in between is crazy and some of the big trees that you lose is a shame. A couple of my buddies have maple bushes out on their farms and good, healthy, big maples that were able to withstand the weight of the ice Because they were at the edge of the bush. Um, the, the weight, just tore them right out of the ground by the roots and um, it's sad to see, especially when you've got all your uh, all your maple sap, uh, buckets, um, um, uh, pegged into all those trees, and then the next thing you know, you lose your, your sap, you lose your trees, you lose, you lose a, you lose a bunch of of really awesome I don't want to call them creatures, but trees, that and those hard maples, they, they, they're hard, they resist, but when they do go they take so long to grow again, like I mean, you don't. When you lose a big tree like that, you don't see another one growing in your lifetime. But anyway, enough of that. And with all of these the spring storms and weather, we've got another spring storm here that's taken the province, storm here that's taken the province, and really it's something that I don't typically dabble in.
Speaker 1:But we've got a national federal election coming up and you know, I do have my choice and that's not what this is about. This little monologue here I'm going to go into isn't so much about who I think should win. But this is one of those elections where I said to a friend of mine over the weekend, it's becoming fairly Americanized, where there's a lot of discussion from both sides about what the other side is doing wrong and not so much how they're going to fix all of the issues that have been presented to us Canadians and all of the negative impact that we've felt over the last number of years in our economy and everything else. Um. So really, what I want to say, number one, most importantly to a lot of people there were a lot of really really great people who fought and died to give us our freedoms, to give us the right to vote, and they sacrificed the. They give the ultimate sacrifice without thinking about it, and to not vote is one of those things that really you're. It's disrespectful, it's disrespectful to the people who fought for our freedoms. So get out there and vote, and the excuse of well, I don't know who to vote for, that's no excuse. You get out there and vote.
Speaker 1:I remember the very first, um first time that I was able to vote, my grandfather, gramps Nidzwicki. He fought in the Second World War and you know the story that I heard and he wouldn't talk about the war really at all to me, wouldn't talk about he. Wouldn't talk about the war really at all to me, but um, he, um, he and and again this is kind of family lore and and uh, he never really spoke much of it, but um, apparently he ended up in uh Auschwitz and um was, uh was somehow broken out. They got him out of Auschwitz. He was as a prisoner and straight from there went to England and fought for the British and the story goes, and he was bald as a pool cue, like I mean he well, I shouldn't say that the top of his head was bald as a pool cue. He had, I guess what you would call it these days is a skullet. But the story is he lost all his hair while he went into that concentration camp and lost it overnight. Concentration camp and lost it overnight.
Speaker 1:And anyway, when I come of age to vote, he sat me down and he said Steph Joe, you go vote. He didn't tell me who to vote for and at the time I just followed my parents who, funny enough, were liberal, and I went and cast my vote and then in the next election I ended up voting green because I was concerned with at that time I think it was the ozone layer problem or story or whatever, however you want to spin it. But it's funny how that never surfaces anymore. But anyway, and then after that I started to educate myself. And after that I started to educate myself and I really got out and every election I made sure to go and vote, because I couldn't imagine being in a country where you were so oppressed that there was no vote, that you didn't have the freedoms that we have today, although some of them are under attack. So it's really important to go out and vote.
Speaker 1:And the other thing, too, as a lodge owner or former lodge owner and business owner, the policies that our government put forward and pass are so, so, so important to the success of your business. And one of the successes that I took advantage of was a government grant and, funny enough, the Conservatives were in power at that time and they're typically well, they're more Conservative. They try and balance the budget and look after big businesses and you know there's people that agree, disagree. There's two sides to every coin. Right, and I took advantage of a grant called a Young Entrepreneur Grant and, because of my age at the time and the fact that I owned a business, I got an infrastructure grant and that really set me up for success and it was a great success story and whether or not Stephen Harper was the architect of that. He was the one that was in power at the time, and so you know, and when I mentioned the Americanized election, the one thing that is so, so, so, very difficult today, and I'm just going to pose the situation and how how I see it, you can make you, you can draw your own decisions.
Speaker 1:I'm not. I, for one, am fairly skeptical of sources that get paid by one side or the other, and our legacy media is a place, and what I mean by that is CBC and CTV and all of the traditional legacy media sources. They're paid for by the government and it's kind of hard sometimes, although I'm going to give them credit. The last little while there has been, they have carried some of the stories that are affecting both sides and I'm saying both sides, because there's not the NDP in this country right now are negligible. They might not even be a party by the time this is over with, and my prediction is the Bloc Québécois are going to hold more seats than the NDP when the chips fall.
Speaker 1:But as a business owner, it's important to understand the policies and the agendas of the two parties, the liberals and the conservatives, and we have a liberal leader who is the sitting prime minister in Kearney and he wrote a book that basically lays it all out for us and that book, like a lot of the ideologies in that book, are I don't agree with, but I'm not going to point them out. I just want to point out that you should go and read it, and I'm the one, the one. It's educating yourself honestly. It's educating yourself honestly and that is what you need to do. And it's not a long book and it's called Values by Mark Carney, and you can see that he has a bit of a globalist view, which means I don't believe he has the Canadians' best interest at heart. On the other hand, you've got Pierre Pauliev, and Pauliev is the conservative leader.
Speaker 1:A lot of people are comparing him to Donald Trump, because conservatives in this country are more like the Republicans and the liberals are like the Democrats. But I would caution you on that. Again, educate yourself, go out and see what his platform is, what his plan is, and educate yourself. That way. People always, they always say well, you know, he's a career politician, and that very well may be true politician, and that very well may be true, and and the other thing like and again, it very well may be true, and most people that get into these positions are career politicians. There's really only one that I can think of that that isn't a career politician, and that's Mr Trump, next door, and I'm not sure whether that's good or bad for us, although I think that in his mind, he's doing the best that he can for the United States, and how can you blame him on that?
Speaker 1:But again, you need to remove the whole Trump and tariffs thing away from this election. Please look at the people that are running and the parties that there are, and it's a two-horse race, two horse race, and any vote that is cast for one or for neither of the two horses does affect how the other one does. They're votes that are diluting that race. And again, if you're for the NDP, that's great. Cast your vote, understand the platform, understand our economic position, understand where we are as Canadians. What are the things that matter to you most, whether it's the cost of housing, whether it's these tariffs?
Speaker 1:But again, honestly, folks, these tariffs are a smokescreen. Donald Trump, in my opinion, is using this as a negotiating tactic and guaranteed it doesn't matter who wins the election and who becomes our prime minister. The minute that that person falls into that seat, there is no more, there will not be any more of the elbows up baloney and we're going to fight the United States and this, and that Our prime minister is going to get on a plane, go down to Washington and they are going to negotiate NAFTA III, and that is the bottom line. You cannot fight the United States. Their economy is 10 times our size. They actually have a military, which we don't, and has, you know, in the last number of decades, our military has degraded to the point where you know we just don't have one. And no disrespect to all of the people that are in our military right now, but I am sure if you ask those people if they need help, they're going to say yes, we need help, and it's important to understand the tariffs, and all of this rhetoric is just a smokescreen.
Speaker 1:Dig down into the values of each one of the parties and vote for the person that you feel is going to make the biggest difference in your life. Okay and um, uh, for me, uh, and you can take it for what it's worth. I am not, I don't want to influence anybody on making their own decision, but for me, making their own decision, but for me the best vote is Conservative and Pierre Pauliev. And enough of that stuff. I've always tried to stay out of the political realm on this program and that is it. That is the last that you'll hear of policy unless it directly affects the lodging or outdoors industries. When you're in the wilds of northwestern Ontario, you need gear you can trust and a team that's got your back. That's Lakeside Marine in Red Lake, ontario Family owned since 1988. They're your go-to pro camp dealer, built for the North, from Yamaha boats and motors to everything in between.
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Speaker 3:Hi everybody. I'm Angelo Viola and I'm Pete Bowman. Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's Favorite, favorite fishing show, but now we're hosting a podcast that's right. Every Thursday, angelo and I will be right here in your ears bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio. Hmm, now, what are we going to talk about for two hours every week? Well, you know, there's going to be a lot of fishing.
Speaker 5:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors, from athletes, All the other guys would go golfing Me and Garth and Turk and all the Russians would go fishing. To scientists.
Speaker 5:But now that we're reforesting and all that, it's the perfect transmission environment for line to be.
Speaker 2:To chefs If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated, you will taste it.
Speaker 3:And whoever else will pick up the phone Wherever you are. Outdoor Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy being outside. Find us on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1:So Behind the Rod and this Behind the Rod is going to be one of my more favorite Behind the Rods Because in 2015, I believe I got a call from Jimmy from Jimmy Greyston and he told me that there was a television show Actually it was a limited mini-series that was coming to Canada and the hosts, matt Hayes and Babs Kiewski, were coming. Babs was from Germany, matt is from England and they're going to come and they're shooting some of the most iconic or the most iconic places in Ontario and the French River in Chaudière Lodge made the radar. And that was really, really exciting to me because at the time I was in like my fifth year and really we had started to gain traction through the television model that I was employing, simply because I didn't have time to do shows with a young family and being gone for all of the summer and into the fall and I was relying on TV and it really was at that point in time, it was really gaining traction and I was excited to have to have a foreign television show and it was going to air in something crazy like 126 different countries. So Jimmy said would you be able to accommodate and the the television show and I and you know me I was like, yes, jim, absolutely name the time, tell me what you need and it's done. So he did, and I was a little surprised.
Speaker 1:The first, the first thing, that um, that um, uh, I don't want to say caught me off guard, but was different. And at that point in my career I was, I was very used to dealing with television shows. We probably already had in the neighborhood of 10 to 12 shows shot at Shodier and I was very used to the North American TV shows, namely Fish in Canada You've heard the Behind the Rods that included, like I said just two seconds ago, I will repeat myself Fish in Canada and Angelo Viola and Peter Bowman, bob Izumi, charlie Ray you know so many of these North American shows Jim Sarek from Muskie Hunter and for all of the other ones I'm forgetting, I apologize, but the biggest difference right off the bat was the size of the crew. And with this television show, castaway Canada, the crew and um with uh, with this television show Castaway Canada, um, the crew was big, it was really big, um, like three cottages full big, um, they had, um, um, their two hosts, um, and and again, they had never really teamed up with each other before. Babs, I'm sure, was like a social media influencer and she was young, beautiful, and I think that at that point there were a couple of of television shows who were looking for, uh, looking to open up the, the um, um, the niche to a younger female audience, and they were targeting these, these people, and um, babs was one of them, uh, from Germany and um, uh, so there was Bab, there was her boyfriend, who was like an agent of hers, I guess, I don't know, didn't really see much of him. He just kind of hid in the cottage for the week. There was a producer, an executive producer, matt, two cameramen and they even had a guy that was there specifically and solely used for time lapse, with the, with the cameras and and man. They did some pretty cool stuff and and I will, I'll just as, as we're, we're getting into this you can go and watch this episode on YouTube. Like I said before, it's six of seven and if you go to YouTube and Google Matt Hayes, castaway, canada, all seven episodes will come up and they're longer episodes, like for TV. They're longer episodes like they're the for tv they were meant for, they were our episodes and um, uh, here, without the commercials, you're about 46, 47 minutes for each one of them. So, yeah, google, matt hayes, uh, castaway canada, episode number six, and you're going to find us.
Speaker 1:So, anyway, they had this massive group of crew and when they got there, well, actually it was just leading up and I don't remember who. It might've been Jimmy, it might've been, I forget who had mentioned it to me. Have been Jimmy, it might have been, I forget who had mentioned it to me, but they worked from north and they headed down to the south. So we were the last stop, I think they. I think they did one more episode on Rice Lake or something like that.
Speaker 1:But originally I was slated for Bath and, looking back on it and thinking about it, it must have been. I don't know why I didn't take them back into Marshy Bay, because that was my go-to spot. Maybe it was before I knew about it, but I don't think so. Anyway, I was slated for Bath and a day or two before they arrived I got word that the two chutes that were north, one was Canora, on Lake of the Woods. There was another one on another famous muskie lake, but they had not caught a muskie yet, and because the French river is one of those destination places for large muskie. Um, they wanted to do, they wanted to catch a muskie, and I was like, oh my God, take a deep breath, because muskies, nevermind catching them on camera. Um, muskies, never mind catching them on camera. Muskies are just a difficult fish to catch. And he wanted to catch one on a fly rod which, like I mean, I didn't have much experience. Well much, I had zero experience on catching muskie on a fly rod anywhere, and definitely not on the Upper French River. At least, I kind of knew where some spots were and I had some good guides, actually, the legend Pete Stefanik, he made an appearance in this one. But so, anyway, they arrive. I'm thinking, okay, let's just try and get. I wasn't going to say anything about muskies, but the first thing everybody's talking about is hey, you know, can you catch muskies this and that? And I said, well, yeah, you can catch muskies this and that, everything else. But I talked them into um, going out and um, let's just get the bass segment done first and see if we can get some nice fish, and and then we'll work on the muskies.
Speaker 1:Well, this was another show, unlike the azumi show, where we hit, the conditions bang bang on and the weather was perfect. The fish cooperated and it was like easy. This was another typical oh my God. The cold front moved in, we had weather all over the place. You know, just like typical baloney, like when you go on a fishing trip and the first thing that the lodge owner says to you is wow, you should have been here last week. The fish were on fire. And you're thinking, oh well, what about this week? Well, we got weather coming in. You know it could be tough, but they're out there. Anyway, it was one of those.
Speaker 1:So we went out and we fished really hard for the first couple of days and, honestly, um, out of all of the television shows that I shot, this show is probably the weakest in as far as um, as far as fish caught, and and big like. We caught fish. We caught some, like I, I well, there's two instances we're going to talk about but, um, we caught enough fish. We caught lots of little fish, that's what I'm trying to say. And little fish make for a shit show. Um, so we, we, we caught a ton of little fish. We got one nice large mouth and we had two encounters and Babs, I'm sorry about throwing you under the bus, girl, but the and you got to watch this show Like Babs is high strung, ridiculously high strung, um, ridiculously high strung. Uh, she, she had a wonderful, wonderful personality for a YouTube influencer.
Speaker 1:Uh, and um, um, I think that at the point where, where I run into them and and knowing where I run into them, and knowing that, after coming off of our last shoot of the year last year and being gone for three weeks and understanding how grueling three weeks of travel could be, these guys did eight weeks, they did eight weeks of travel could be. Uh, these guys did eight weeks, they did eight weeks of of travel together and, um, we were, we were, in the end, parts of the of that travel and, um, tensions were, were, were evident. Uh, they were. You know, like I mean, you get your producers, you get your camera people, you get your hosts, you get your boyfriend, you get all kinds of these people living together in close quarters, traveling, not sleeping the way that you would normally sleep, working long hours and long days. And man, oh man, did it ever make for an interesting behind the scenes? And I think, matt, this is bringing me back to the point, my point with Babs being a YouTuber, I don't think he knew what he was getting himself into.
Speaker 1:Again, an absolutely gorgeous girl, but just off the wall she was, and you go on, go watch it, you'll see what I'm talking about. But like we had squirrels at the lodge and she would walk down the path and Matt and I'd be heading to the boat and we'd look around and we would, and Babs would be gone and she would be running across the property chasing squirrels, and she was and and Matt's like hey, hey, babs, what are you doing? And she, she called them shivils, I'm chasing shivils, and and um, and then he would rein her back in and we get in the boat. Anyway, after two days of hard fishing for bass, um, I took them to a spot that I call Dolly Parton's tits, and that's a spot where it's good for walleye in the evening and they're two big rock piles, so you can imagine where the name come from, and they're kind of located in a spot, in a position that reminds me of breasts, anyway. So we were there and we were fishing these big rock piles for smallmouth and dozen babs hook into a big muskie and she had it. She was only using bass gear, but she got it up to the side of the boat fairly quickly. Like it hit right at the side of the boat. I saw it come in and it grabbed the I think she was using like a long A bomber. It was a crankbait of some sort or whatever it was. It was hooked right in the outside of the mouth. She couldn't have hooked it any better, but it was on bass gear gear and this thing went for a monumentous run.
Speaker 1:Um, and the whole time I was sitting there and I and I was trying to coach her because she was tightening the drag and I and I kept saying, babs, don't tighten the drag, don't just let it go, let it go, don't tighten the drag, because obviously, don't tighten the drag, don't just let it go, let it go, don't tighten the drag, because obviously if you tighten the drag too much, that fish is so powerful it's just going to break the line, like like, like nothing you know. And um, she and I and I said on a couple of occasions and Matt is I, like, I mean his eyeballs were like saucers and I again I said, babs, don't do that, don't tighten the drag. And, as I'm saying, don't tighten the drag. She gets all excited. She's like she's so excited it was. It was great to see that excitement. And Matt. Matt said don't, don't do that, babs, listen to Steve. And she grabbed the spool and stopped the spool with her hand rather than let the fish pull, drag, and it just broke off. It broke off in a massive swirl at the side of the boat and I remember looking at Matt because I knew it was going to happen.
Speaker 1:And I, like I as a lodge owner, when you're out and you're fishing with a television show, the pressure that sits squarely on your shoulders is huge. Number one, because they're touting you as a world-class guide and folks, you know as good as I think I might be, I you know, I I was a lodge owner, uh, not a world-class guide. I wasn't on the water every day. I knew where there were fish, I know how to fish, but world-class guide and lodge owner are two different things. Um, but I had to wear that hat and I wore it. Um, I wore it proudly and I wore it to the best of my ability.
Speaker 1:And short of going up there and tackling her to get her to not lose that fish, she just was in a one-track mindset. And when I looked at Matt I was like, oh, buddy, I'm sorry. And he's like wasn't your fault. And then he told Babs, you know, he said he, in not so many words, said listen, from now on, when Steve or I tell you to do something, you are going to take our coaching. I tell you to do something, you are going to take our coaching, because this is the difference between an outstanding show and a show that's not so outstanding. And she, you know, giggled in a you know 20-something-year-old, beautiful influencer girl way and went on about fishing.
Speaker 1:And then we actually made a montage of that situation. So we kind of they have all of the live footage that they got when Babs lost the fish, although they did edit out my voice sayings don't do that, babs, stop babs. You know, because you can't hear that they edited that out, um, and then, um, once it had broke off, um, um, the producer who was in the boat and that's very unusual, the only time it's ever happened where we would be driving around with a producer plus the two hosts plus a cameraman. We set it up so that they took facial shots of us after the fact, when it was, and we're supposed to recreate the look on her face when she lost this fish. And, having rewatched it, I didn't do such a great job. I could have really embellished it to make it look like how I felt, but it was crushing to see that fish go. But anyway, and so you know, the day ended. We had some bass and everything else, and I actually borrowed a buddy of mine, tony's boat, to do this, and it just so happened that he had bought his boat from Ange and the Fish in Canada television show a couple of years prior to. So it was a Fish in Canada boat that we were fishing out of. So, interesting enough, when you watch it, you'll see that it's still wrapped and it has the the Fish in Canada logo on the side of it, which was great. A little bit of a plug in there for my brother, ange.
Speaker 1:But we finished up with that day, went back, you know, and come up with another game plan, and we decided that I was going to take them back into a place called Clearwater Bay, and I knew in Clearwater Bay that there was one big northern and it was. There's a in the backside. There's basically kind of two bays in the back of Clearwater with a point that comes out into the middle of the bay and the one on the as you're going in. The one on the right is a bigger bay, it's deeper, it's got a bunch of rock shoals that come out from the North Shore line and we fished bass in there. We got a couple of nice ones on the inside of that point that was created by the two bays that comes out into the middle of the clear water and it was around that point, but in the left side or the southern bay, and it was really shallow in there and in the back of it there was an old duck blind. Really shallow in there and in the back of it there was an old duck blind.
Speaker 1:But, um, so we went in and we fished, uh, we fished that other bay, um, for the bass first, and, uh, we kind of come up with this game plan and I didn't, uh, you know, to be honest with you now thinking back on it um, we had decided to go back in there for bass to try and catch the, the, the, the lunker, to complete that part of the show. And, um, it wasn't until I got in there that uh, and started fishing that I that I remembered, um, I was a week or two or however long prior to uh, this moment, I was in there and I had been guiding a couple and we had a massive northern come up on us on the other bay and I said to Matt I said, hey, listen, matt, I'm pretty sure that there's a northern pike and it's a really, really good one in the bay right next to us here. Do you want to go after it? And he's like oh yeah, absolutely, let's do that, let's go after it. So, anyway, we pull up, I throw the trolling motor down and Babs is the one that's going to go after this northern. So she's at the front of the boat and as I'm pulling the boat around with the trolling motor, I'm sitting in the, in the um, um at the cockpit and I'm just running it with the uh, with the key fob.
Speaker 1:I pull up and the producer says hey, steve, just, uh, just hold on, um, um, I've got to, I've got to switch the battery out of my camera. And I said, yeah, no problem. And I had already explained to everybody what the situation is as I'm coming around the point. It's beautiful, it's flat, and Babs is on the front of the boat. I'm explaining to Babs and to Matt. There's that weed line that you can see right there with the pencil reeds and then there's some lily pad out front. It drops off into a deeper channel that runs kind of come out of those, out of the in front of the lily pads, over by those pencil reeds and this and that. And then the producer's like hey, steve, just hold on, I got to change my battery in the camera. Or the producer said the cameraman's got to change the battery in the camera.
Speaker 1:The cameraman didn't say that and he made a very, very clear point of looking to the front of the boat and saying Babs, do not cast, babs, do not cast, we don't have the camera. Well, I'm on spot lock. I'm not really right, I'm not really close enough to the spot, but what does Babs do? You're right? Yeah, are you thinking it? Yes, yeah, I was. I wasn't thinking it until I saw Babs turn around after, like I don't even know. The guy was still, he hadn't even reached for the battery, and I'm seeing Babs cranking back to make a cast and I'm still not thinking that. You know, like I mean, the guy looked her in the eyes and said Babs, do not cast. Well, I'm going to give Babs the benefit of the doubt, I'm going to say that she thought that the producer said Babs, cast away. You know, have fun, just catch whatever you want and we'll see what we can do about getting it on camera. I'm not.
Speaker 1:Anyway, babs casts and Matt, as soon as she cast, said Babs, what are you doing? Like, what are you doing? And she turned around. She didn't say anything and she got two cranks into the retrieve and the water exploded. It was like epic. It was epic.
Speaker 1:And now the producer is losing his mind, like losing his mind. The cameraman is so disgusted with what's going on in front of him he drops the camera right on the bottom of the boat and he said what do you want me to do with this now? What do you want me to do with this now? What do you want me to do with this now? And the producer, between yelling at Babs and then telling the cameraman to get the battery in the camera, and me thinking, oh my God, they're going to blame me. I'm the one that pulled in and, having said that, it wasn't until I stopped the boat right when I got word that we got to change the battery. And Matt is livid, livid, and I think there's a lot of tension already built up amongst the group because of the strain of travel and shit was coming undone in the boat in front of me. I didn't know what to do. I did not know what to do.
Speaker 1:And then Babs is up there and she's squealing and she's dancing around and making this whole scene like she's on camera, knowing full well there is no camera. So now I'm trying to bring the temperature of the boat like from the temperature of the surface of the sun down to something that's manageable. And I said to Babs Babs, listen, just keep tension on the fish, let it run a little bit, but keep it out of the weeds, just keep, just leave it in the water. And she's like no, no, no, we're going to of the weeds, just leave it in the water. And she's like no, no, no, we're going to hurt the fish. We're going to hurt the fish. I'm like Babs, the fish will be okay, let the cameraman get the battery in the camera and leave the fish in the water. Let him just be away from the boat, let him settle down and it'll be fine. It's better in the water. No, no, no, no. And like a defiant person I don't even know how to describe it. I don't even know how to describe it.
Speaker 1:She put a show on of the likes to this day I've never seen. She run around the front of the boat from side to side, fighting this monstrosity of a fish, and we didn't get a measure on it. But this fish would have been. I think it was probably close to a 40-inch northern. It was the showstopper, other than you know, the massive muskie that all we saw was the swirl and the big run and the nightmare. But it was a beautiful northern and she's up there running around and the more she hoots and squeals and laughs and reacts to this fish, the more upset the three men in the back of the boat get.
Speaker 1:And at that point I said Babs. And now, after trying to explain to her, just take a breath, let's get this on camera, let's, you know, let's make everybody happy and let's get a good show. She starts yelling at me to give her the net and I don't know what to do. I looked at matt, I looked at the camera guy, I looked at the producer, I looked at babs and again she's like steve, steve, give me the net, I need the net, I need the net. And I looked, looked at Matt. I said Matt, what do you want me to do? I don't know what to do. Buddy, there's very few situations in my life that I've been in and I don't know what to do. Okay, but I'm in one of them right now. What should I do? So, matt, disgustedly, he reached over, he grabbed the net from under my chair and he threw it. He threw it to the front of the boat. He didn't even get up and give it to her, he just tossed it. She grabbed this net, pulled in, got the Northern. Hey, I'm going to give her credit. She got the northern into the net. She got it at the side of the boat.
Speaker 1:And now again, I'm trying to find ways to bring the temperature in the boat down. So I'm like, okay, I'm thinking, how can we salvage any of this? So the thought come to my mind We'll get some stills of it, we'll get some stills of it, we'll get some stills and maybe they can get her holding the fish on camera. And the cameraman, he's like I mean, he's not even, he's still, he's disgusted. He's got to the point where the camera's on the floor of the boat. He's sitting in the chair behind me with his arms crossed.
Speaker 1:So I'm thinking stills. So I'm like, okay, babs, just leave it in the net. And she again she's like no, no, no, no, we're going to hurt the fish. We got to release it, we got to give blah, blah, blah, blah. So I'm like, okay, whatever.
Speaker 1:So she unhooks it, picks the northern up, and now she's wanting to get pictures of this fish and she's holding the fish at a full arm extension over the side of the boat because she's worried if she drops it it's going to bang its head on the floor. And I said, babs, for the love of God, pull the fish inside the boat please. And she's like grab the camera, grab the camera. And none of the guys in the back are even open to entertaining anything to do with this fish. Now, and I've got these guys, um, on a spot. The fishing has been more than difficult. Uh, we've got a beautiful, beautiful and, like I mean, the whole situation has just gone atomic.
Speaker 1:Anyway, as I'm sitting in well, actually standing in front of the steering wheel pleading with her to bring this fish into the boat, and nobody's doing anything in the back and she's squawking while this northern decides to kick and kick it. Does it kicked so hard I thought it near pulled the fingers off of Babs, out of the gill plate, and, as she lost control of this big, beautiful, unbelievable, show-stopping piece of awesomeness when you're in the television business, it did a somersault in the air and smashed its head off the gunwale of the boat and ended up back in the French River and swam away. And now she's making the same. Oh, oh, we lost it. Oh, and the guys in the back of the boat.
Speaker 1:I got the feel that this isn't the first time that's happened. Well, I know it wasn't the first time because I was present for one of the times and it was one of the most uncomfortable situations that I've been in ever really situations that I've been in ever really Like. There was a lot of nasty things said and Babs was told to sit down and I was told to leave, take us back to the lodge. Babs is going in, and after that Babs never come out of the cottage cottage, I don't even know if she come down to eat and they were there for two more days.
Speaker 1:Um so, and both side like I mean Babs was was nothing short of obstinate and I want to give her the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe she didn't understand because English is not her first language, but she understood just about everything else I said. And it was almost like I don't know if anybody out there has ever experienced buck fever. If you're hunting and a buck walks out and you just go into like a trance. Well, babs seemed to get buck fever with every fish she caught, which is great in a sense. But, man, if you watch the episode, think about having a 45 to 50 inch muskie on that show and a 40 inch northern and then think about how much that would have changed the show and how much it means to.
Speaker 1:Number one, the province of Ontario. Who's paying these people to be here to promote our wonderful province? Number two, matt Haynes, who is the celebrity angler from England who is footing the bill to produce this show. Footing the bill to produce this show? The lodge owners in Ontario and everything else that trickles down from that and it was really hard to watch. And boy oh boy, those fellas didn't have anything good to say about working with a person like that.
Speaker 1:And again, I think it all boiled down to a combination of things. Babs, she was who she was. She wasn't doing anything different than what she would do as an influencer different than what she would do as an influencer. She wasn't very good at taking coaching advice. I'll give you that. And then you've got a bunch of guys who take their job very seriously, take their job very seriously, travel with a huge entourage of production crew and understand the costs and how difficult it is to produce a show like this, and understand when you miss out on these opportunities. You only get one shot and we squandered two and those were the two best options. Those were the two best moments that we squandered and I don't like I say it was heartbreaking.
Speaker 1:It was heartbreaking on all fronts because I know that after the fact, babs felt terrible, not to mention the fact that she got grounded and got sent to her room and the guys were devastated. Like it just changes the whole and we didn't at that point have a real good fallback for a show. And those moments change the feel of the, of the, of of being there. Those moments change. Those moments of intense negativity do nothing but attract negative thoughts and for the rest of that day the crew was, they were done Like. I mean, all they could talk about was how bad that was and every terrible situation that's happened to them on this whole trip and you know it's just and that's a lesson for you that negative attracts negative and unfortunately, it all started with Babs trying to be positive but really attracting negative by totally ignoring the help and advice of the people that were around her and were put there to help her. Um, but anyway, that was that.
Speaker 1:So we were left with a very difficult road to to climb and, um, our last shot, uh, was uh, uh, I said listen, um, I got to put you out with a musky guide. I said, listen, I got to put you out with a musky guide and I had Pete Stefanik. The legend was available for Matt's last day. So we got Matt out with Pete and, with high hopes, we put the pair of them together. But, alas, it was not meant to be and Matt came to Ontario, traveled from north to south, caught absolutely wonderful, wonderful fish, different species, but he left the muskie in the water and that was always a sad thought for me. They spun it pretty decently, but unfortunately it's one of those shows that I was involved in, that I was super excited about and, um, I wish I could, I had another shot at doing it because, um, we just, uh, we just missed our opportunities. Um and um, the two opportunities that we talked about, um, they were. They were big ones, there's no doubt about it. Those were big ones. Even getting one of them in the boat would have made all of the difference.
Speaker 1:But it turned into more of a travel and tourism episode and that's not what I had envisioned, but it is what it is. I learned a lot. I learned a lot about people and it was so much, like I mean, I remember thinking in the boat and listening to everybody and feeling the um, the friction that, uh, that was present. Um, and I remember thinking, man, this is like running a fishing lodge, like I mean, when you get, when you get a bunch of people who live together and work together for long periods of time, um, the the inevitably this stuff comes out and, um, it's uh, it was uh, it, you know, uh, and you got to understand how to deal with it, at least for me and the lodge. I had a lot of experience dealing with with, with that type of thing and with people's egos and and how people interact with each other and and some of the warning signs and everything else. But when you're on a eight week. You know, trip, that is important and there's no space, no time, no room for recovery.
Speaker 1:It was one of those behind the scenes that I'll never forget and unless you hear this recount, you would never know by watching Well, actually you watch it. It you'll see some of the little things that, uh, that I picked up on. Uh, after I watched it, after I re-watched it, um, that matt says about babs, that, uh, that, um, kind of that, that, that we're foreshadowing the, the events and of what happened. So it was, it was, it's an interesting one and it's one that folks, I would, I would highly recommend you go and watch. And that there you have it.
Speaker 1:Another behind the rod, and they were, they were wonderful people, all of them, babs included. I had an excellent time and unfortunately, two of the most memorable parts of that series were were two negative ones, but I truly am grateful that they came. I got to meet them and hopefully at some point our paths will cross again. But I think folks thus brings us to the conclusion of another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, stories of the North. And folks, don't forget to head over to fishingcanadacom and get into those giveaways and for anybody that wants to partner up with a wonderful podcast. We would love to have you on and build up a wonderful relationship and again I'll sign off. Thanks, guys, love you.
Speaker 5:Don't forget to vote. Bending my rock, stretching my line, someday I might own a lodge, and that'd be fine, I'll be making my way the only way I know how.
Speaker 3:Working hard and sharing the north with all of my pals. Working hard and sharing the North with all of my pals. Boy, I'm a good old boy. I bought a lodge and lived my dream.
Speaker 5:And now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems. Yeah, back in 2016, frank and I had a vision to amass the single largest database of muskie angling education material anywhere in the world.
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Speaker 4:As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear, but they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Jerry Ouellette and I was honoured to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources. However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as chaga, a tree conch with centuries of medicinal use by Indigenous peoples all over the globe.
Speaker 4:After nearly a decade of harvest use, testimonials and research, my skepticism has faded to obsession and I now spend my life dedicated to improving the lives of others through natural means. But that's not what the show is about. My pursuit of the strange mushroom and my passion for the outdoors has brought me to the places and around the people that are shaped by our natural world. On Outdoor Journal Radio's Under the Canopy podcast, I'm going to take you along with me to see the places and meet the people that will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature and under the canopy. Find Under the Canopy now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts.