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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 112: Finding a Voice in Canadian Fishing
What happens when someone who grew up with a speech impediment suddenly finds themselves co-hosting one of Canada's most iconic fishing shows? Dean Taylor's journey from behind-the-scenes team member to on-air personality for Fish'n Canada reveals the power of facing our fears head-on.
Dean never imagined he'd be in front of the camera. Growing up with a stutter that made classroom presentations nearly impossible, he channeled his passion for fishing into writing instead. But everything changed during an unexpected filming session at Lodge 88 when Angelo Viola threw him into the hosting role with zero preparation. Watching the footage later, Dean was stunned to see himself speaking fluently – a breakthrough moment that opened doors he thought would remain forever closed.
The conversation between Steve and Dean reveals the genuine wonder they both feel about their roles with the legendary Fish'n Canada brand. As the show celebrates its 40th season on air, there's a palpable sense of responsibility and gratitude from both men. They share candid stories about adjusting to on-camera life, navigating co-hosting dynamics, and the surreal experience of working alongside industry icons they once watched on television.
The episode takes an unexpected turn when Steve recounts his harrowing experience fighting a forest fire on the French River – what began as a small campsite fire quickly exploded into a ten-acre blaze threatening nearby cottages. His firsthand account of community members rallying with fire pumps alongside professional firefighters offers a powerful reminder about outdoor safety and responsibility.
Whether you're an aspiring outdoor content creator, a fishing enthusiast, or someone facing your own obstacles, Dean's story demonstrates how our greatest limitations often exist primarily in our minds. Subscribe now to hear more conversations with the personalities shaping Canadian outdoor culture and get a behind-the-scenes look at what makes Fish'n Canada a national treasure four decades running.
it's funny because when I got hired by fish in canada I told ang I want to end up hosting. The biggest thing ever was. I got thrown into. Ang gave me no notice we were at lodge 88 two seasons ago and he just put the cameraman and nick and i's boat for an evening and said you guys are the hosts and I had no time to prepare, which I actually think helped me because there was no time to overthink anything. We were just fishing and there was a camera in the boat.
Speaker 2:This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio podcast Networks Diaries of a Lodge Owner.
Speaker 3:Stories of the North, we're welcoming a fresh face to one of Canada's most iconic outdoor programs. Every generation of anglers looks for a new voice, a new perspective and a new storyteller to carry forward the traditions we love, and my guest today is stepping into exactly that role.
Speaker 3:On this show I sit down with Dean Taylor the newest co-host of the legendary Fish in Canada television show, dean, is bringing his passion for fishing, his genuine connection to the outdoors and his unique storytelling style to a series that has entertained and inspired anglers for decades. As he takes the helm alongside one of the most recognized fishing brands, he's not just joining a program. He's becoming part of a tradition that reaches right into the hearts of Canadian fishing culture. So if you're curious about what it's like to step into one of the most visible seats in Canadian sport fishing, how Dean is making his mark, then you're in for a great conversation.
Speaker 2:Let's welcome the newest face of the Fish and Canada television show, Dean Taylor.
Speaker 3:Canada television show, dean Taylor. Welcome folks to another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, stories of the North, and I am, as always, really excited to have a very special guest on with us this week, and that special guest is co-host of the Fishin' Canada television show, dean Taylor. Yes, I got the best co-host on here. How you doing, dino?
Speaker 1:I'm good. I appreciate you having me. It's cool to hear you do the interview. I'm normally like the one who's doing like the listening and the editing and stuff. It's cool to hear it when I'm online live.
Speaker 3:Yeah, have you noticed? I've been thanking you and Mancini at the end of the shows.
Speaker 1:I did. It's very, very nice.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I gotta give props where props are due, boys.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's mostly Mancini. I can't take too much credit. He's the man.
Speaker 3:Yeah, he does a great job for us, that's for sure. Well, without both of you, it's it wouldn't be. It wouldn't be easy like it is for me. All I've got to do is is get the content Well, and you know what Content is not an easy thing either, folks. So listen, anything that you would like us to talk about, or any ideas, fire them off. You know how to get me at stevein at fishincanadacom. Ideas, fire them off. You know how to get me at stevein at fishincanadacom, and I would love your input, because it's not easy to find amazing guests like Dean Taylor. All right. So, dino, the last time I had you on Diaries, I think, was Obabaca Lake Lodge last year, when we really started shooting on our own, co-hosting together and, you know, doing some shows without Pete and Ange. How do you feel about where we're at today?
Speaker 1:It's actually crazy to think how fast things have changed, because that doesn't feel like that long ago and it really wasn't. It probably just about a year ago. But yeah, that was my first time ever hosting and if you asked me, like probably before I did that show, I probably wouldn't have said I could. I was relatively confident that I would be able to do it, but I thought it would be a slower process. I was relatively confident that I would be able to do it, but I thought it would be a slower process. I definitely didn't think that coming into this season, I'd be able to host multiple shows and be a big part of the in front of the camera part of what we're doing on the Fish and Canada show. It's still I say it's surreal a lot and I try not to overstate it, but it really is like pretty crazy to be hosting this show with you and Pete and Ange. It's just, it's crazy.
Speaker 3:I know the feeling. Yeah, you know it's something that, well, I'm not going to say new to me, but fairly new Well, I'm not going to say new to me, but fairly new and to have the opportunity to co-host, and sometimes host outright, one of, well, the longest airing fishing show in the country and one that carries a legacy, like the Fish in Canada television show. It is surreal and, to you know, it's one of those things where I just love it and I pinch myself sometimes, you know, thinking about being able to do it and it is, I feel, very blessed and I know you do to be in this position. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:It hits me every now and then the vote. I don't know if you ever get it because you've known Pete and Ange so much longer than I have, but sometimes you know I'll be. There was one time this year where I was hosting by myself but Ange and Pete were out kind of floating around doing some scouting and I just do an on-camera little piece and I release this fish and then Ang comes over to the mic and asked me how it went and stuff. And I was like it's just so crazy having Angelo Viola, you know, talk to me on a walkie-talkie, asking me how it was to fish or to host a fish in Canada. Show, it's just so like.
Speaker 1:I was like like you know, and just like as much as he is like a boss and stuff, he's a friend too or it's really more of a family type thing with this type of job because you spend so much time together. So it's easy to kind of get caught up in that and you start. You know it's not always top of mind, but every now and then it really hits me. I'm like holy, like this is, this is nuts.
Speaker 1:Like it really is crazy.
Speaker 3:I know and and I do still have some of those moments um, myself and I've known Ange now since we first formally met uh, on the last cull, and that was in 2004. So since I've known Ange since then. So I don't even know how many years. That's a lot of years. But we really didn't begin to build a relationship together until 2010, when I had already bought the lodge and Pete and Mike Miller came up and shot a show for me.
Speaker 3:But before I bought the lodge I went to Pine Post Productions, the head office, which at that point was in the old Barclays building in Oshawa, and I had asked Ange their advice about buying a fishing lodge and you know they've been in more fishing lodges than any other pair of gentlemen that I know and from that point we kind of started to build a relationship. And then it was the. It was the famous Leaf game that I took the boys to Mike, ange and Pete in the winter of 2011. So my first season was in the books and to thank them I had four Leaf tickets and took them down to the Leaf game. And at that point I realized that Ang was as sick as I was, and when I say sick, I mean, we have a true, genuine disease that is called Leaf fandom. That is called Leaf Fandom. And when you're a true Leaf fan and your blood and sweat and tears and everything is blue, you forge friendships with those people and there's some out there, but there's not a whole there's. There's some out there, but there's not a whole lot, that are that are scarred as deeply as Ange and I were, and and that's when we started building relationships. So, um, yes, I've known both Ange and Pete for many years and and I'm blessed to be able to call Ange one of my best friends but still, like you say, I have those moments every once in a while when you know I'm sitting in the boat and quietly, for whatever reason, I'm in a boat with them, not in front of the camera, and we've got Vova or Mike Mooring back in the day or Rick Delishney now between us.
Speaker 3:They're at the front, I'm quietly at the back, I'm doing whatever support I can, but I'm watching a Fish in Canada episode in real time. And those are the moments that I really think how did I ever find myself here? You know a farm kid from Amaranth, ontario, who was a sheet metal mechanic, and now I'm in the boat with two of the most iconic on-air fishing personalities in the country and maybe in North America these guys are. You know, when you start talking about North America there's a lot of big bass anglers, but they have a presence in the United States.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, if you remove bass, then for sure you could make that statement. It's just the weight that tournament bass fishing and like largemouth kind of personalities has in the States kind of overshadow some stuff. But like, yeah, it's angioped and the lenders they're the, the multi-species guys oh, yeah, yeah, so it is.
Speaker 3:uh, it is pretty surreal. But, um, now listen, I'm I'm really interested to um, to ask you. You say you, you didn't think that you would be able to do it and that's, that's because of your speech. Yeah, but, um, you've well proven that you can. And um, um, how is your confidence coming with with that? Like, obviously it's good because you're doing it, but where's your mind when we're talking about that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I actually don't think I've ever mentioned it on camera or on a podcast or anything. But yeah, I grew up with a speech impediment that was like bad enough, where you know, I couldn't make presentations in class I would never like try to get out of them or anything but it was like a known thing I had to deal with and dealt with that for most of my life, until probably high school, and then started going to speech therapy and really trying to fix it and a lot of times I'll have to dodge words with like vocabulary, like pick a different word if I know it's going to come on or whatever. And I'm sure people have heard it, like on the podcast or on the show or whatever. But that was definitely something where I assumed okay, people with speech impediments don't host TV shows, they sit in offices and write and I love to communicate. I've always wanted to be able to. People with speech impediments maybe more than others even. They really want to be able to get their thoughts out, because you're getting out about a quarter of what you want to say.
Speaker 1:Ever, a lot of people people, I think have the luxury maybe of being able to just speak whatever they think, and at least for me. Anyways, I had to be very careful, or I'll just have to at some point, be like you know what? I can't. It's not going to come out and I just have to accept that. So I was always more, I gravitated more towards writing, so I would always like write and stuff. I kind of was in university when the blog was still a bigger thing than it is now. Um, so I started my own one for fishing, um, and did some stuff that way. Um, I ended up, uh, getting published by Outdoor Canada for just like harassing and harassing Patrick Walsh for years and years and years, and he finally published me for just harassing and harassing Patrick Walsh for years and years and years, and he finally published me.
Speaker 3:Well, good for you, Patrick. It took you long enough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, he put up with me for a long time. I'd email him every week. Nice, and it's kind of cool being in the same industry as him. Now I see him all the time.
Speaker 1:But yeah, the confidence thing, it's funny because when I got hired by Fish in Canada I told Ange I want to end up hosting, but I never, like I meant it, but I was also like if you put me on camera that day I would just struggle through it and it wouldn't have worked. Yeah, but Ange, I was very open with Ange about all that, like what I thought my limitations were, and he just basically said, like well, you just got to kind of power through it. And we've had a lot of really good conversations about how a lot of it is mental anyways, um, especially with my unique speech impediment. I mean, I, mine, is hereditary, like my grandpa had it, my dad had it, um, but they all were able to move past as well and some people aren't that lucky, um, which is why I think there's probably a big mental component with mine. So that was the biggest part of getting over it. And the biggest thing ever was I got thrown into. Ang gave me no notice.
Speaker 1:We were at Lodge 88 two seasons ago and he just put the cameraman in Nick and I's boat for an evening and said you guys are the hosts and I had no time to prepare, which I actually think helped me, because there was no time to overthink anything, we were just fishing and there was a camera in the boat and I was told to ignore it and I don't even hardly any of it made the final show, but I remember watching it and I was just seeing myself speak without stuttering at all and I that proved to me like oh man, like I did it, like I can do that. And that was the biggest game changer, because all I ever thought about when I thought about myself on camera was like back to those like middle school school presentations, just like stumbling my way through it and sweating and being uncomfortable, yeah. And so the thought of watching myself do that was just like a nightmare to me, and hearing my own voice and having to suffer through that, I thought would just be like torture for me. And then I watched it and I was like it's not great, but it's not that bad, like it's fine. So I just realized that I could do it and then that thankfully allowed me to get over the hump really quick.
Speaker 1:Of that I probably got lucky that I must have just been in a decent headspace that day and I didn't. I was able, like Ange, put me in a good situation where I had no heads up. Yeah, because I think if I stumbled through that and really butchered it, it may have taken me a lot longer to get over that hump. Yeah, because I would have had to prove to myself I could do it. But I got lucky and kind of got through it right away.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I don't know how lucky that it was. I think that when you're put under the gun, you either sink or swim, and some people sink and some people swim, and your guy, especially with the intelligence level that you have, you really well, you swam and you swam hard and I think, from what I've seen, possibly because of the speech impediment that turned you on to reading, writing books, and you are one of the most learned people at your age that I've ever met. Oh, I appreciate that. So you take credit for that. Yeah, like I mean, and you should be proud of where you're at. I'm a little worried for my job. No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1:Well, we've been able to host a lot together, which has been cool and it's been nice. I actually found, for some reason, anja and I were actually talking about this the other week Because the next year after that first experience, ange watched it and he thought it was good enough to give me another shot. So we both got sent to Obamacare and we hosted by ourselves, yeah, and I found that was like the perfect situation for me because it's another one of those kind of sink or swim things. There's nowhere to hide, and I'm almost glad that that happened then because you and I have hosted together and it's really nice.
Speaker 1:But I can hide behind you really easily because you're willing to just take the camera and kind of lead and you're a lot louder than I am and it's the same. Like you know, I could easily hide behind Andrew Peet. Just let them go, and I think that would have probably been my initial reaction to do that. So I think it was kind of it was actually kind of nice getting the second experience as by myself. So that host, yes, because you're just thrown out there, there's no, yeah, like you have to be a professional or that or there's no show, like if I stuttered my way through the whole thing.
Speaker 3:There's no show if I, and it turned into a great show man yeah, yeah, the fishing was great, yeah the fishing and the, the, the, the whole thing, the information, uh, the, the show, the way it come together, it turned into a great show.
Speaker 1:Have you found that too, with solo hosting at all Like? What's your thoughts of that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, like I mean with solo hosting. I find that for me, anyway it's harder, anyway it's harder. It's harder because when you're with a co-host you can play off of each other's knowledge right. When you're out there all by yourself and I shouldn't say all by yourself because I'm not sure people know that there's other people in the boat, like I mean, peter was in the boat with us, coaching us along right as a, almost like a, a producer, executive producer in the boat, um, which makes, makes it a lot easier, um, but um, I do really like I enjoy the um, the dynamic of, uh, of two hosts for sure, yeah, so, but I don't mind doing it myself either. Those ones are great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I've loved like I've got to host. I've actually never hosted an episode with Ant that has aired. I don't know if that'll change this year or not, but we did a fly fishing thing in the Northwest Territories that hasn't aired yet.
Speaker 5:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But I've done one, I've done a couple with you now and I've done some with Pete and it is. It's more fun like it feels like you're kind of out with one of your buddies, but just for a new host. I find I like the sink or swim thing. I think some people probably don't like ease your way into it and that's one thing Ang said he would never recommend. In this business you can't ease your way into anything and I'm glad I let him take that approach with me because I think it probably allowed me to be able to do it. Otherwise, if I eased my way in and had places to hide, I probably would have taken it just based on my perception of how I speak.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but you haven't stuttered once on this podcast as we've been talking, and not only that, we're talking about it. So you know, it's something that I think you're growing through wonderfully and this co-hosting gig is a great one for us. And we just got back from Wedgeport, nova Scotia, together. Yeah, and that actually was an experience for me that I've never experienced on the Fish and Canada television show, not in a sense that I didn't fish, like, we didn't actually do any meaningful fishing there. We did a little bit of hand lining, but we were sent there to cover the tuna festival and tournament in Wedgeport, nova Scotia. But that's not. Yes, I've never been to Wedgeport and I've never covered a tuna tournament.
Speaker 3:But the thing that was very different this time was it was just you and I and our cameraman Vova. Yeah, right, so we were in charge of uh, of, uh, everything the production, uh, making sure we got the storyline and everything else. And, to be honest, you, you're really the one that kind of organized all of the thoughts to start with, and then, once we got there, we kind of worked together on making sure we had a figuring out what the storyline was, number one and making sure that we had all of the visuals to support it and you know interviews, and that was a really cool experience as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was kind of a different perspective that you and I and pretty much anyone but Ange, we never get it on these shoots, where the money that's being spent and the expectations that are being held for the shoot are all on our shoulders and it's like if you mess up, there are serious consequences. If we came back and they're like oh, we missed the final weigh-in, we messed up the timing, we don't have a show and there's a lot of money and reputations on the line, it changes how you look at the shoots like I know ang does. You know he probably he doesn't get to relax very often when we're on the road and you can see why. Like there's a lot of moving parts that you're responsible for and to be honest with you, I never even thought about that once.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I never thought about who's paying for it, the expectations, nothing. The only thing I thought about was how can we show the world this beautiful part of the world and this amazing event.
Speaker 1:Well, that's what I mean too by the expectations, because the goal of that show was not to highlight someone catching a tuna. If that's what we came back and we filmed someone hooking up and we filmed away, that would be such a disservice to what Wedgeport is and to what we were trying to do. We pitched the province of Nova Scotia. We wanted to highlight fishing culture and communities that are so deeply embedded in fishing that, like people's lives rely on it and revolve around it and whole communities and families are built on it, and if we came back and didn't deliver that it'd be such a shame and disservice to that area. So I felt a lot of that pressure, actually like when we're doing, when we went on that Acadian tour and the interviews we had with people and you just you didn't want to miss anybody or anything.
Speaker 3:No, not at all.
Speaker 1:Like we interviewed as many people as we possibly could, and I'm sure there were 50 people there that would have told us the best story we've ever heard. Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:I know, and we probably interviewed 25 people- yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, like it was an awesome, awesome experience and, like I say, we went there and I'm really interested to see how it all unfolds and how the show turns out, because you have a little bit of influence when it comes to the production or post-production of that show. I don't For everybody out there listening, I'm basically a co-host, and that's where it begins and ends. I don't do a whole lot of the stuff behind the scenes. I wish I could, but my life doesn't allow it. I'm too far away, and that's really about.
Speaker 3:The biggest issue is my daily commute. If I was to travel to the office would be five hours, yeah, and I can't commute five hours a day, no, you know. So I'm really interested in how our field work is going to turn out, and I have a feeling, with Ange's ability to grasp a story even though he's not there, and your ability in writing and knowing what we did, and then you've got our other editors there between Rick and Joe, I think, and Pete too. Pete has a hand in a lot of this, oh yeah, and Nick to a certain extent like I'm really excited to see how it turns out yeah, I think it.
Speaker 1:it would almost be impossible, with how like potent the culture was there, to not capture it. Like if you just turned on a camera and left in a room, I think you'd pick up on some of it. Oh yeah, um, the people out there are just like so genuine, and it was actually kind of interesting when we were interviewing people. A lot of the times when we go to places and this is like not faulting anybody, I'm like as bad as it for anybody, but when a camera's turned on, you change, yeah, and these people just they can't change Like, they're just like, yeah, they're exactly the same. They're just like the most genuine people on the planet.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it was a great experience. And then now we're back and I get the call we're heading to Lodge 88.
Speaker 1:I heard yeah, that's exciting. Yeah, You're back for a few of them now.
Speaker 3:Actually, your schedule got kind of busy, Well yeah, I was scheduled originally for the two at the end of the month the Timmins and White River air and then I was not scheduled for the Lodge 88, but things have changed and I'm on the docket, which is wonderful, and in the podcast that we just did, ann dropped a hint that I might be coming to Nova Scotia again. Yeah, I think I saw you on the list there.
Speaker 1:I thought he told you, but that's how things work here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. What are the dates? By the way, Do you know?
Speaker 1:off the top of your head. I do October 13th to 17th.
Speaker 3:Okay, october 13th. I better get this in my calendar the October 13th to 17th. Yeah, all right, perfect, that's not Thanksgiving weekend is it that is Thanksgiving weekend. Oh my God, Okay, yeah, all right. Well, I guess I'm going to have to come home one day, so we're leaving on the Thanksgiving Monday. Yeah, yeah, okay. Well, we'll just have to make that work.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, that's. Are we driving or flying?
Speaker 1:I think we're flying in there.
Speaker 3:Oh nice, that's, good.
Speaker 1:That drive to Nova Scotia in the fall would be really nice. Yeah, I'm sure it would, but I mean it's a long one, it's tiring, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a long one. It's the borders that throw a wrench in the works. New Brunswick to go straight across and drive and not have to dip down into the United States and back is much better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when you're carrying all that equipment, those like hard cases I think look kind of sketchy. Oh yeah, they cause a lot of attention when you're trying to bring over like 25 hard cases over the border with batteries and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and some American dude in Vermont is not going to know who the Fish and Canada television show is no no, you know yeah, so yeah, no. Well, that's all pretty exciting news.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
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Speaker 3:Tight lines everyone find ugly pike now on spotify, apple podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts uh, we're heading to lodge 88 and I'm not sure who is going to be on, but I'm really looking forward to that.
Speaker 1:You've never been eh.
Speaker 3:No, I've never been to Lodge 88, and that's why I bring it up, because when I bought Chaudière, ange come up in my second year and Pete and Mike had already been there and I had talked to both Ange and Pete, uh, prior to buying Chaudière and, um, it was important to me to know what they thought of my business and, um, uh, they were all. They were all impressed and they of the, not just like not impressed of me and the business itself, but I'm talking the infrastructure, what was there, the condition it was in. And always he, the, he would, he would help me and point things out. And as I was growing as a business, he would always say listen, you need to go online and check out Lodge88. Check out Dave McLaughlin. Give Dave McLaughlin a call, because that is what you're aspiring to be and that is what you have the ability. You've got the potential to have a facility, similar right you have. You have the ability to, to put the staff in place, to and Ange was always very big on make sure that when your guests walk into their cottage, they feel like they're the first ones to ever walk in to that room, to that building.
Speaker 3:It needs to be that clean. It needs to smell building. It needs to be that clean, it needs to smell new, it needs to you know, it needs to give you the feel that you are the first person to use that building. And that's what Dave does, yeah, and that's the way you feel at Lodge 88. And that's how the staff makes you feel and that is where you need to be.
Speaker 3:So I always remembered that and I've met Dave on a number of occasions, whether it be at the tourism summits or the sportsman show or just in passing, and he is a wonderful guy and I've always told him. I said you know, I was modeling myself after your business. I've never been there, though. I was imagining what your business was and through what Ange had told me and through pictures I saw and through meeting you and getting to know the kind of person you are. But I've never experienced the business.
Speaker 3:And I was a little bit disappointed when I saw that Lodge 88 was on our docket for this year. But I wasn't scheduled to be on it and that was okay and, to be honest, the dates got moved around a little bit because the first date didn't work anyway, because Mikey was leaving for France, right Well, and that went a week late, like we just got him on a plane on Friday to go for his one-year student exchange. But hey, it's worked out and I'm going to. Finally. I'm going to. Finally, after 15 years of hearing about Lodge 88 and how that is the gold standard and you know dancing all around it, I'm finally going to get there to see it.
Speaker 1:That's a lot of pressure for Dave. I hope he doesn't hear this before we go up.
Speaker 3:No, I hope Dave hears this. Dave, if you're listening, I can't wait. Yeah, so no, but you know what. I know, dave, and I know the business and I know what people have said and I see the pictures. There's no pressure for Dave because he's got it. He's got it figured out. You don't run a lodge for I don't know how long. Well, he's been there his whole life. His dad or his uncle, was the one that started it At the 88 mile marker on the rail line and he told. I had him on the podcast and he told some awesome stories about getting a bulldozer back there and and just a bunch of different stories. And you know when you are the gold standard for 20 years. You got it figured out. You know it's, it's um. The only way you lose it is if you get tired of it, and that's not where Dave's at. He's a big part of the whole industry. Oh yeah, and I'm truly excited to see it and I'm going to have to do a Diaries of a Lodge Owner podcast up there with him for sure.
Speaker 1:See, it's funny to me that you guys have never, that you've never been there, because even before I started at Fishing Canada there's like a few lodges you kind of associate with the show and I think even like other shows, like Charlie Ray he's like the Cree Lake guy, he's always at Cree Lake. But I remember my perception of fishing Canada was like I knew Lodge 88. I knew Chaudiere, I knew Hawk Lake. There's a few others that are kind of like in that that's like a fishing Canada lodge, like they're always there, they tell me about it all the time, you see it, and that you and Lodge 88 were like in that same, like that's a fishing Canada lodge. That's funny that you've never been there. You've never.
Speaker 3:Dave's never been to Chaudiere either.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, but that was what it was and honestly, dave, like Lodge 88 is legendary. It's the place where dreams are made, you know, when it comes to service and all of that experience. And yeah, so I'm going to be very excited to go and finally see it. Yeah, and I don't even care if I'm in front of the camera, I'm just going to experience Lodge 88.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That'll be a great trip.
Speaker 3:We'll probably be in front of the camera at some point, for sure, but it's going to be a great trip and I really look forward to seeing Dave. He's a wonderful, wonderful guy. So no, and you know what? Dino Any other things going on down in your neck of the woods?
Speaker 1:Not really. I mean the focus here. I mean it's been a bit hectic here with a lot of stuff going on at the office, and it's our 40th year this year, so there's been a lot of things going into it and it's just been the way our summers work. It's just hard to to. You can never get ahead. You're just trying to keep up, basically. So it's like just from one place to another, to another, and it's starting to wind down now.
Speaker 1:So this is kind of when you start to feel the pressure of like, oh man, we're done everything in the field and it's going to have to start getting into post production time like a little bit more seriously. Yeah, no doubt. So it's been a hectic summer for me too, especially taking on more responsibility on the road. It's not your typical job anymore, especially in the summer, so it's there hasn't been much time for anything to go on other than just trying to maintain what we're doing with the 40th season and make sure it turns out the way we thought, which I think it is. We've seen a couple episodes so far that have already been produced, and I think it captures it pretty well. I mean, this is a pretty special year in a lot of ways, and I think we've captured that pretty well.
Speaker 3:That's great and it is a special year, like I mean, 40 years um on the air nationally. Yeah, that's a, that is an achievement. Uh, like I mean, I don't know, I don't know how many other television shows if any um are are in their 40th season on national TV.
Speaker 4:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:You know, Like game shows and stuff maybe I'm not even sure about game shows, like I don't think the Price is Right is on television anymore, is it?
Speaker 1:I have no idea. No, I'm not home during the day anymore.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would have to. Maybe a soap opera.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, like the Days of Our Lives, days of Our.
Speaker 3:Lives or Another World or something like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But we're way cooler than those. Yeah, I agree, but no, the 40th season is a huge season and it's awesome to be a part of that uh season. Um with you and um and uh, the way that you've overcome everything with uh, with everything we talked about, and and uh, uh, where you're at with it, where I'm at with it, and uh, pinching ourselves every day. Yeah, you know For sure. Yeah, you know For sure. Yeah, oh, I didn't tell you or any of the folks out there listening. I was up at the cottage and I'm a forest firefighter now.
Speaker 1:Oh, really, you had an incident up there?
Speaker 3:Oh yeah yeah, I was up on the French with Maddie and two of her girlfriends right like end of August, August 3rd. We come home September 2nd or 3rd or something like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And we're up there for Maddie's second annual muskie fishing trip for the girls. That's so cool. We didn't catch any muskie this year, but that's okay. We did more sauna and cliff jumping and swimming and stuff like that Nice. But anyway, the one day we did go out to Lake Nipissing on our way back at about I don't know, 3, 4 o'clock in the afternoon, I was in the back channel heading back to the cottage, and there come a point where you got to decide whether you go left to go out into the main channel or you go right and stay in the back channel. The back channel is a little longer but it was windy Dean it was.
Speaker 3:I think it was like a 40 kilometer an hour sustained wind with 60 to 70 kilometer gusts. So I was like I, 40 kilometer an hour sustained wind with 60 to 70 kilometer gusts. So I was like, ah, I don't want to go on the main channel because it was coming right down the pipe, coming straight from the southwest and I'm heading, you know, right into it. So I thought about going the main channel and then I thought no, and I turned the boat and as I turned the boat between the like Allison Island I turned the boat between the like Allison Island is in the middle of the channel and you go to the left to get out into the main channel, you go to the right to stay in the back channel.
Speaker 3:As soon as I turned right, I saw smoke. I was like uh-oh, that's not good. And it was enough smoke that it was like I'm going to say if you had a fire in your backyard and you threw like 20 skids on it, oh, really, okay, you know like about that much smoke, yep. So I said to the girls I said, oh, we got to go check this out. Drove over and as we're pulling up, I could see that it was a fire out of control and it looked like there might be a quarter of an acre on fire at that point.
Speaker 1:Did it look like it started out a campfire? Oh yeah, it did oh really.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was a campsite, 100%, 100%. So I said to the girls I had a big cooler, you know those blue coolers with the white lid, two-hander, like a big size cooler. I said empty the cooler right now. So I pulled around into this wee bay where the campsite is and as I was pulling up to the shoreline, thinking that I was going to be able to jump out and use the cooler in the river and then run it up and then throw it onto the fire and put it out, a 50, 60, 70 foot pine tree basically exploded.
Speaker 3:Really, it just went and the whole tree was on fire from the bottom to the top, wow, and we were probably, I'm going to say, 80 to 100 yards away from it and you could feel the heat Really. Oh yeah, and I said to Maddie and Erica and Eden yeah, I don't think we're going to get this one with the cooler, yeah, and then, as I'm saying that, and wind, like 40 kilometer an hour winds, as I'm saying that, another one Foo On fire.
Speaker 1:That's kind of cool to see as destructive and dangerous it can be. I mean, that's got to be pretty powerful to see.
Speaker 3:Oh my God, and I had no cell service Because on the French you you got limited cell service. So I was trying to text Bud at the Doquise Marina or the Riverview Marina and like I mean, and on Apple now they got that satellite texting thing, but I couldn't figure out how to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you have to point your phone to a satellite. Yeah, you got to point your phone to access the satellite.
Speaker 3:I'm like, okay, I think I can do this, but under the pressure and feeling the heat of the forest fire, I'm like son of a bitch. So I just pulled out of the bay and about I don't know half a kilometer down the shoreline, directly in the line of fire, there were two cottages and I saw a boat that was just out in front of the one and I drove right over to them quickly and it was a younger couple in their teens. I said do you, do you guys own? Do you have that? Is that your cottage? They said, yep, do you have a phone? And I was thinking like a corded phone in the cottage. Yeah, yeah. I said you need to call 9-1-1 right now and tell them that there's a forest fire here, because you've got less than an hour before your cottage burns down and they pull out a cell phone. I'm like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don't think it's gonna work. Mine doesn't, doesn't work. Yeah, so then they said go over to that cottage and they pointed to their neighbors across the bay and they were out on their dock and I drove straight over and they knew they could smell the smoke. Yeah. And they said is there a campfire? I said, oh yeah, there's a campfire. All right, you need to call 911 right now, because you've got very little time before it's here, and you need to call Riverview and you need to call the Doquese Marina. And she got her cordless phone but like a landline, and she phoned all three.
Speaker 3:And then I headed back towards back home to get my fire pump and met one of the guides at Chaudière and Corey's like hey, did you see the fire? What do we do? I said, corey, you go straight back to Chaudière right now and grab the fire pump and come back. We gotta, you gotta go now, right, yeah. And then Riverview, they had had there was a boat out on the um, out on the water, so they saw us there and they've got the two-way radios on board and most people on the river from back in the day even now still have a two-way radio base. Uh, and the river channel I think it's 13, I forget it is, but there's a river channel and they put out an SOS, call fire, fire, fire and said where it was.
Speaker 3:And by the time we drove from the site of the fire back to the cottage and my fire pump is hard piped in so Bud wasn't at the marina so I jumped in. Bud said use mine. So the three girls and myself drove over to the marina, grabbed this fire pump, filled up a tank of gas, drove back out by the time and that would be about a 20-minute drive no, 15 minutes at 30 mile an hour. 20 minute no, 15 minutes at 30 mile an hour. So you're probably about 10 kilometers from Dokis to where this fire was burning. It started just as a little area like I thought I could put out with a cooler. Yeah, about 40 minutes later when I pulled out maybe 35 minutes I could see the smoke for 10 kilometers away. Wow, like it was raging. So we got back to that fire Round trip was probably a little over an hour and it had burned close to 10 acres.
Speaker 3:Oh my God, it was. The wind was ridiculous and it was dry, and there was probably 10 or 12 boats from cottagers Riverview myself Chaudière with fire pumps that we have at our cottages up fighting this fire. But this is a serious like now. It's a pretty serious fire, yeah, and as soon as we pulled out of Doquise I could see there was a helicopter out there, so they called a water bomber to come, but they couldn't use it because there were too many cottagers fighting the fire. Oh no, and they couldn't drop water on because we were all there. Yeah, yeah, but they were dropping firefighters, like the helicopter was landing in the bush. They found a spot where they could land in the bush and then firefighters were jumping out of it with their pumps and they were putting the pumps in.
Speaker 3:So when I pulled in, I pulled in to where the fire started, because it was still burning fairly heavily at the backside, and put the pump in and started. I had 200 feet of hose. So I stretched the first hose out and whenever you're fighting fire folks make sure you don't leave your hose unattended in the bush, because I near burnt Bud's hose in half because I stretched it out, but then the fire burnt up to the hose, burnt the hose, yeah Right. So anyway, I started fighting this fire and the firefighter come out of the blue.
Speaker 3:There was a girl and a guy and the guy come up, introduced himself and wanted to know my name.
Speaker 3:So I said Steve.
Speaker 3:He said can you do me a favor?
Speaker 3:I said you want me to get the hell out of your way?
Speaker 3:He said no, no, no, no, not at all. He said our pump site is a very important part of this mission and our pump we're putting it in right here, basically beside where I've got mine, and we need you to make sure that our hose doesn't burn. So if you could secure the pump site, we'd be very grateful, because they were taking the hose and walking out and around and fighting the front of the fire as it's moving right and pushing it back towards the water and away from the cottages, and then there were other cottagers up on the front and on the other side fighting the fire back as well. So I spent three hours fighting this fire and you'd spray and like with a fairly proper pump Like I was pumping some gallons and we were I would spray an acre of land all on the one side, like I had. Like I say, I had 200 feet of hose, so I would fight it on this side. By the time I'd get it fought on that side, I'd look over where I just sprayed and it was burning again.
Speaker 1:So I'd have to.
Speaker 3:Yeah, buddy, it was an experience when I was. I wasn't too worried. Like it had already burnt a lot of the trees like higher, so there wasn't fire much fire above my head it would. It had already ripped through that part of the bush and burnt all of the oils out of the pine needles. Right, yeah, but on the forest floor it was in all of that Spanish moss and dead trees, like the dead hollow trees and the dead standing trees.
Speaker 3:They were all burning Right. So that's what we did and the firefighters finally got it under control around the front and he come up to me and said hey, listen, we appreciate you helping and keeping the pump site secure. And you know, because our hose very well would have burned if we didn't have somebody here, or we would have had to put somebody here. So, but we got her, we don't want to keep you, you can go. And I said to him I said so, were you going to bring the water bombers? Because I had no idea, I was just interested.
Speaker 3:And he said well, we did have a call out to the water bombers, but because of all the civilians here, we couldn't drop water. And I said so is it better, if there's a forest fire, that we just call it in and then leave it to you, or is it better if you call it in and do what we did and everybody comes to help fight the fire? And he said oh no, in this situation, I guarantee you, you and everybody else on the river that come out saved that person's cottage. That person's cottage would have burnt down if nobody had reacted to this fire, the way that you guys reacted and, like I say, there was 10, 12 boats all with fire pumps out there on a Wednesday afternoon.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's lucky that many people were up and about. Yeah, yeah, oh good for you. That's hilarious that it went from a cooler size to that so quick. Oh my God, that's crazy yeah, and you could tell it was just like someone's campsite, eh.
Speaker 3:No, I know it was a campsite.
Speaker 1:Were the campers around.
Speaker 3:No, I know it was a campsite. Were the campers around? No, no, no, it was a fire pit. You could see there was a fire pit with a grill and I don't know whether it was canoers coming through and they used it and they didn't camp there, or campers that used it and they left.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure, but it was amazing how I don't think a lot of I think people who are, you know have a couple of campfires a year or whatever, and maybe aren't always the ones in control of them how quickly they can spark up again.
Speaker 1:Because I think people think, like you know, it's so hard to start a fire intentionally, a lot of the times anyways, like if you don't know what you're doing, it takes you like an hour to get it started. If you're not good at it, yeah. But so you would think like, okay, there's no way it can just explode. But I've had times where, like, I've dumped water on fires, like cooler after cooler, and you wake up and it's like there's still a flame going. Yeah, like it's not. You have to be really careful with stuff like that.
Speaker 3:Oh, a hundred percent. I know from on my island. I've got a spot where we've cleared off a big flat rock out to the left of the cottage and I have a fire pit there and I use that for shore lunches with the big pan and everything else and I have a hose that reaches that fire pit. That was you know. I had the hose there. That's how I decided. Where I was going to put the fire pit is how far away I can get with the hose.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And to have a good campfire that you can cook over. This year I did it and I stood with that hose and I doused water on it for 15 minutes yeah, To continue to spray it, and then you know you'd stop, the water would run out of it and then the coals that are burning from the inside dry off the charcoal wood and then, with a little bit of wind, they're sparking up again.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And you know, and that was with a hose, and I washed, I soaked it for 10, 15 minutes and then, you know, put the hose down for 10, 15 minutes and then you know, put the hose down and I was cleaning up all of the pan from the oil and the fish fry and the garbage, and you know I'm doing it myself because I'm doing it for the kids, yeah, and it starts to smoke and fire up. So, yeah, you got to put those fires out. Yeah, you got to put them out, especially when you have wind and you have dry conditions. And there wasn't even a fire ban up there yet, it was on just before the fire ban. So I guess it might be red or orange, right, but there was no fire ban. So you got to be mindful of it. Yeah, but listen, dino, thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Oh, I appreciate you having me. It's been great coming on here. I mean, it's crazy. You've been doing this for over a hundred episodes now. I think the last time I was on it was like episode nine or something. I know I know.
Speaker 3:Wow, now we're episode 112. Nice, in honor of our good friend, chris King. Yeah, number 12. So yeah, 112 episodes. That's a little while, and I don't think we've missed a week. No, might have been late on one or two, but we didn't miss a week.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no one remembers that. No, hell, no, no, okay, buddy. Well, listen. Thank you again, dino, and I look forward to seeing you in the next day or two. And thank you, folks, for listening to this point. If you've got to this point, I really appreciate it. If you've got to this point, I really appreciate it. Dean and Ange and the Fish and Canada crew and the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Network appreciates it, because without you, we wouldn't be here doing this. And again, if you enjoy this content, like subscribe, send me messages full of love, and I love getting them and I appreciate you all for it.
Speaker 3:Thanks to Mr Mancini for producing once again Lakeside Marine in Red Lake. If you guys are up there, you guys get up there and see these folks. They are number one. You can't ask for better service. And get on over to fishingcanadacom and check out everything we've got as far as merch goes and the free giveaways. I am not sure when the big stuff is going to hit, but it's going to hit and you need to get in there so that you hit on it. All right, and uh, hey, I haven't wished Nixon night night in a in a little while. So night night, buddy. And uh, folks. Thus brings us to the conclusion of another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner.
Speaker 3:Stories of the North.
Speaker 2:I was born 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, working hard and sharing the north with all of my pals. Well, I'm a good old boy. I bought a lodge and lived my dream, and now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems. Yeah.
Speaker 6:Hi everybody. I'm Angelo Viola and I'm Pete Bowman. Yeah, brand new episode of Outdoor.
Speaker 4: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. I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
Speaker 6: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 To scientists To chefs. 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 5: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 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 5: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, 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.