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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 122: Walleye, Wolves, And A Year in the North
Some seasons don’t just hand you fish; they hand you perspective. We kicked off with cold rivers, hot saunas, and the truth every lodge owner knows—how you close determines how you open—then rolled into a year that tested instincts, technology, and our sense of community on the water.
At Buck Lake, we arrived dreaming of 12-pound walleye and walked into a masterclass in humility. LiveScope showed “nothing,” confidence dipped, and we over-scanned instead of fishing. Then Pete stepped in with quiet precision, rigged a drop shot with live bait, and built a standout walleye segment in under two hours. We unpack why that worked, how irregular rock hides fish from forward-facing sonar, and how to keep your head straight when screens go blank. The takeaway: tech is a tool, not a verdict, and good mechanics still win.
The road took us from the shining floors and dialled service of Lodge 88 to Air Dale Lodge and Timmins’ Cedar Meadows, where cabins back onto a timber wolf reserve. Timmins surprised us with urban lakes stacked with walleye, plus a bigger story: six-figure mine jobs, real housing affordability, and a life where you can clock out at 4:30 and be casting by five. And in Wedgeport, Nova Scotia, we witnessed the revival of the world’s oldest bluefin tuna tournament—run by volunteers, powered by heritage, funding a museum, and reminding us what a fishing community can feel like when everyone shows up.
We close with family-first choices, a fall muskie that was short, thick, and heavy, and a new way to troll: watching baits ride over rock in real time, spotting fouled lures instantly, and seeing follows as they happen. Those moments stitched together a theme—balance the screen with your senses, lean on people who care, and make space for the traditions that outlast any bite window. If you love walleye, muskies, bluefin lore, or the craft of using LiveScope without letting it use you, you’ll find something here to take to the boat.
We went through, scoped it, and um had zero confidence. Pete was there, and I said to Peter, I said, Listen, Pete, um, why don't you go and see if you can make something of this spot? Well, Peter went in there and he fished it. And Peter put together probably one of the best walleye episodes ever to be shot on Fish in Canada. This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Networks, Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North, we're taking a look back at 2025, a year packed with unforgettable Fish in Canada shoots, lazy days at the cottage, and the excitement of our annual fall muskie hunt. On this show, we're going to reveal those key moments that define the season. From casting lines on camera to winding down at the lake and chasing that elusive big muskie in the crisp autumn air. So settle in. Get ready to join us on a reflective journey through a year of lodge adventures and lessons learned. All wrapped up into the stories we all love to share. Here's some of the best moments of 2025. Welcome folks to another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner Stories of the North. And today we are going to talk about the season that has been. That's who Abby was. And um the world is gonna miss you. Um and uh it leaves such a big hole as losing the people that are close to you does and and people that um like I mean anyway. Rest in peace, Abby, and thank you for everything. But well, why don't we start with the beginning of our shooting season? Um and uh I had already opened the cottage, and that's always uh, well, why don't we start at the cottage? You know, opening up the cottage is always a very exciting um time of year for me. And when I owned the lodge, there were two extremely exciting times. Um, number one, opening, opening the lodge, and opening the cottage is still very, very much like that for me. When I was a lodge owner, the second most exciting time of the year was closing the lodge. Because closing the lodge meant it was time for me to have a rest. Um, it was time to lock the doors, go back home, and uh and plan for for the next year. And I didn't do a whole lot of um sports shows. Like, I mean, traditionally back in the day, lodge owners had their summer season at the lodge and their winter season traveling North America and um to from show to show to show to show, when primarily that was the way that people would book their trips. They would go to sports shows, they would see what um uh what uh uh lodges are available, and then they would book based on that. But the internet changed all of that for me, thankfully, um, because um uh when I bought the lodge, I had such a young uh family, there was no way I was going to spend May until October away from home and then come home and say, uh, Sayonara, I'm heading to uh um Novi, Michigan for 10 days. And then after that, I'm going to uh um uh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and then from there I'm heading to Dallas, Texas. Uh yeah, no, that wasn't happening. So anyway, that was the second most exciting time of the year for me then, but it seems to have uh it seems to have flipped. Um, and we'll talk about that a little bit later. But uh opening the cottage was great. I love getting up there. I've got a sauna on the dock, and um um it it's the time when I get to um spend some time in nature when the river is not busy at all, because I'll open it as soon as the ice goes out, which is any time uh from the third week of April until the first second week of May. And uh it's not busy, right? I'm up there and uh the water is really cold, which I love because I can go sauna and then jump in the river and then back, and and I get to see how well I did the year before closing. And um you never quite know how well you've done closing the cottage until you open it back up in the spring, because you're pressurizing your water lines and you get to count the leaks. And um this year I had none. This year was a good closing and a great opening. That's the thing. A good closing makes a great opening, a poor closing makes an even poorer opening. Uh, because when you open, that's when all the work comes. But um, yeah, so then um I was lucky enough to um head up. I missed the first shoot that the boys did. They did a uh northern swing up uh Kenoraway, and uh they shot at um at two uh places up there. Um Ted Putnam at uh Hawk Lake was one of them, and uh the other slips my mind. Um, but it was also a wonderful, uh, a wonderful um facility, and you'll have to check that out. Our season's actually getting fairly close. Like, I mean, uh first Saturday in January, folks, that's uh that's uh our our uh season premiere, 40th season. Um, so you'll have to watch that. But I was lucky enough to go on the uh second um shoot of the year, and that was to a place out of horn pain. And let me tell you, um I've heard of horn pain, never been there until now, um, but heard a lot about horn pain through um our good friend Chris King, who was um uh he was actually not born, he was born in Bracebridge, but uh his dad was working up on the um on uh there was a big um um train hub, and uh he was um uh a switchman or whatever it was, it was related to the uh to the trains up there. So I had heard a lot about horn pain through Chris. But this place, honest to God, is a place that's that's um it's it's like the people out east on drugs. They are so over-the-top kind. Um the the the people at the hotel were unbelievable. And it was just it's a hotel, but but they were unbelievable. Um, and uh I met uh John Moffat, the owner of Buck Lake Lodge, which is where we were going. He come uh he came in uh in to to greet us. And um it was uh it was a great the the town is ridiculous. It's amazing, it's an amazing little town. The people are awesome. Um, and uh and then we flew into Buck Lake Lodge, and uh we were going there on um the visions of grandeur um with like 12-pound walleye dancing in our heads. Um John had uh had um had told us that um uh told Peter that there were monster walleye in uh in this lake. And we had no reason to doubt that. Um and we uh we went in there and it was um it was uh it was up to Dean and I to go in and uh and and get this show done in the can. And Pete was there as well. He was uh he was doing um he was doing uh some shooting uh without a camera operator. Um this season, and you're gonna notice on the show, uh, we did a lot more shooting um um without a camera. We always had our our main camera uh man with us, uh, but we always had a second boat um rigged out with um GoPros and Osmos, and uh we would mic ourselves up and did a lot of work um solo. Anyway, on Bach, Peter was doing that solo work, and um we ended up um fishing Dean and I fishing a spot really hard, and we were in there with Live Scope, and um I learned a very valuable lesson um about live scope, and really it um uh it makes sense when you start thinking about it in the proper terms. We went into this spot, and John had been um just describing the bottom as um uh like crevices and cracks, and um he um he thought that there could be like um uh um water coming up from the ground, groundwater coming through these cracks and boulders and piles. Like I mean, the bottom was irregular and it wasn't a very big spot. Um and and uh we had actually and it always it always seems to work this way. Um, we had actually went and uh on our way in met guys on their way out that had been fishing um that spot and um they just knocked it out of the park. Like they showed us some pictures of walleye, and for sure they're the 10 12s that John was talking about and 13s, whatever they were, they were they were ginormous. Um and um they told us where they were. Um we went in and Dean and I fished this spot and we fished it hard and we scoped it and did not see anything on the scope, like didn't see a thing on the scope. And when you don't see anything on the scope, it does something to your head, it changes your confidence and it goes twofold. When you see something on the scope, your confidence goes through the roof. When you don't see something on the scope, you feel like you need to move. You need to don't don't worry about fishing because there's nothing there. Well, we went in and we fished this spot three four times. And um we couldn't we and and I think honestly looking back on it, we were scoping it more than we were fishing it. And and that was the um that was the issue. Um and we didn't get we didn't we didn't luck into anything that gave us any kind of confidence. We just didn't didn't do well there at all. And uh we had found another spot um that produced like crazy, but there were no big ones, they were decent, like you know, um 17 to 21s inches long walleye. And um we got a lot of that footage um down and and um but nothing big. And the the the the one of the last days that we were there, um and and sly Pete, I'll tell you, he had um he told us that he had caught um um a really nice one, and we saw the footage on the very first night out in open water, like um, I don't know, nine nine pounder, ten pounder, I don't even know what it was. It was like a 27 to 29 inch walleye out in open in open water. He had caught that one. And um so the last time Dean and I went into this spot, again, it wasn't very big and we didn't fish it very long because we went through, scoped it, and um uh had zero confidence. We went out to this other spot we were doing well. Pete was there, and I said to Peter, I said, Listen, Pete, um, why don't you take um take Rick, our camera guy, Rick Delishny, and go and see if you can make something of this spot. Like, I I I I don't know what we're missing or what's going on, but you know, and Dean and I both have um um really good uh mechanical skills when it comes to fishing and also instinctual. Like I mean, we usually can put things together pretty quickly. Um, but on this day, not so much. Uh anyway, so I said, Pete, just go in there and and see what you can do with it. Well, Peter went in there and he fished it and he fished it meticulously and he fished it with drop shot, which is something that we didn't use. I I think that uh I was on uh I was fishing with a a J again live bait. Um Dino, I forget what Dino was fishing, but Pete went in there with a drop shot and live bait. And literally in an hour, uh maybe hour and a half tops, an hour after Dean and I left went in there and shot the whole show. I don't even think that the the show that would Dean and I were supposed to have done. Okay, okay, I think we made it onto the show um in the lineup for the shorelun.
SPEAKER_02:That was it.
SPEAKER_03:And Peter put together probably um one of the um one of the best walleye episodes ever to be shot on Fish in Canada. And um um good on him. That's why Peter is Peter. That's Peter is and he's the thing, and I've said this before, and uh Peter will he he'll he'll he'll he'll he'll be upset that I even talk about this, but that's okay, I can take that. Peter is one of the most humble people on the planet to the point where um to the point where it's too humble. Like I I sometimes I wonder about his confidence, but as soon as you get uh a rod, a reel, a boat, and uh in in Peter's grasp, um, he is truly one of the most talented anglers this country has to offer. And he proved that once again on Buck Lake, folks. Um watch the episode. It is um it is one of the best. And it was 60% of it was was was filmed by Peter on on uh on the boat. The other we had uh like I say, we we we um we gave him Rick to go in there and uh see what he could do. And man oh man, did he ever oh light it on fire?
SPEAKER_02:Like I say, an episode that Dean and I were the stars in. We ended up in the uh in the the shorelunge line. You can and and you gotta watch for it, folks.
SPEAKER_03:So when you're watching, make sure you watch for me, okay? And uh, and I'll tell you, John and his wife, um um Moffitt, they are outstanding people. John is one of those guys. He is um um, he is uh he is a character, a gr and and a great one at that. And uh the best part about it is um he's not overbearing, he's always there when you need him, and uh, and he's got a great heart, and uh so does his whole family. It's a family-run business um that uh that he and uh and his wife um uh slaved on and and built. And um, I'll tell you what, folks, um it is a um an experience that everybody should have. The hospitality uh is second to none. And the fishery, well, I'll tell you what, you watch that episode, the Buck Lake Lodge episode, and uh, and you'll you'll you'll get a little taste of the fishery. And I'll tell you what, Dean and I found thousands of of um you know 16 to 21 inches, man, like bango, bang, wango, tango, doubleheaders, you name it. In any other, in any other situation, we would have put together a pretty decent show. But um, yeah, yeah, folks, you wanna you you want to look for that one in 2026 for sure. And then um uh there was one that was put on the docket, and I was a little, you know, I was I I wasn't sure how to feel about it because um right off the bat, Ange told me that um that I was gonna be on this shoot in particular. And um the reason I was a little, you know, I was a little, I don't want to say put off because it's ne I'm never ever put off by any of these shoots because all of them are unbelievable experiences. But this one was um we went to Wedgeport, Nova Scotia, and it didn't involve us fishing at all. And uh what it was, we went and shot um the oldest blue fin tuna fishing tournament um in in the world. And um the this the this part of the tournament, um uh because it was shut down in 1970, I want to say 72. So in the early 70s, it was shut down because the tuna um moved because there was a big wharf or a pier or a uh roadway or something, a causeway built, and it changed the um it changed the patterns of where the tuna went. Um, but this was the revival of that Wedgeport tournament. And the and the original Wedgeport tournament was a national uh tournament with um uh countries from all over the world participating in it. And it it like the history runs um really, really deep. And um, but I love to fish, right? Um but this that that tournament and that shoot I I'm I'm confident in saying that um it was the highlight of the year for me as far as the shooting um goes. As far as our as far as all of the the shoots that I was on and all of the things I did this this year, um that Wedgeport uh tuna festival was the highlight of my day, uh or of my day, of my of my year. And um the people were what made it. I I remember and we had a bit of an itinerary, and um our our job, and you guys can be the judge when you see the tournament, but our job was to capture the tradition, the feel, and the people of this tournament, um, to bring it to to light on a national um on a national stage. And um the people were amazing. Um the first the first night that we or the first day we we got there and and uh um well we got night there the night before, but our first working day, we went to the museum, and the whole premise of this um tournament um is to raise money for the museum in Wedgeport, the tuna um tournament museum. And um all of the the proceeds basically go to the museum and uh the fish that are caught are sold, and that was a whole um an amazing process all in itself. But all of the proceeds from the fish caught go to the museum, and like first place is basically bragging rights because you the the the the first place purse was like fourteen hundred dollars, which covered like the first hour and a half of fuel in these giganormous boats, you know. Wow, they're they're all um lobster fishermen um who have tuna quota and tuna is uh kind of like the secondary um the secondary source of revenue for these people. And um lobster is the first. But um in our first meeting, we went down and uh I we heard rumblings of uh of a guy who um who was uh who was there in the 50s and he was going to be there. Uh and um um sure enough we find him and uh he's he's there with his grandson. And his grandson is on one of the boats with with his dad and grandpa. And um the whole idea was um his grandpa was on a tuna boat or uh on a in the tuna tournament when he was um 18, and his grandson is now 18. And um uh we were hoping we were following that whole story. And then um um we sat down and had a meeting with all of the local historians and the people involved with uh with the tournament itself, and and there was this big man, uh, and uh, you know, he kind of reminded me of like a Jacques Cousteau, and and he had this stoic look about him. And uh when he talked, his voice was this uh low kind of rumble in a uh Acadian, they're all Akkadian there, and uh in a in an Acadian accent. And um his name was Eric Jacquard, and uh he was one of the uh captains, actually, both of his sons captain boats, and um um meeting them and talking to them about the fishery and how it's been over the years and all of that stuff was was uh unbelievable. Um and uh the friendships that you foster there and and all the people coming together. Like, I mean, I bet you there's a hundred people in the town of Wedgeport, maybe two hundred, and there was uh at least that in volunteers. Everybody volunteered, and it was a throwback for me because the festival was like um back when I was a kid uh in Shelburne, Ontario, we had a festival that was year after year after year called Fiddleville. And it was the it was the largest open, uh largest Canadian open fiddle contest. So anybody could go and for years it was the social highlight of of my being. Um, you know, the next to the the the and and in second place was Paul and Gina Smith's Christmas party on the 23rd of December, which happened every year, too. And um Fiddleville was a magical time when a community came together, and there was no worry about all of the regulations and liabilities and and all kinds of stuff. And this tuna tournament and festival was that. It was a community come together. They had a talent show on the one night, they they had all kinds of different things for people to do. And they had a the the final night, they had a big party where it started on the wharf on all of the on all of the the lobster boats, and you could go on board and and uh you know have a few have a few pops with people. And you it was just a uh a community getting to know each other and coming closer together. And it is something that is so rare to see today. Um it was uh it was inspiring that uh that that stuff still actually happens because it doesn't happen in Shelburne anymore. That stuff does not happen. And I'm not sure why. I have my I have my ideas and feelings and and you know that they that that's uh first and foremost is regulation, and I get it, you know, um people have to be safe, uh, but uh there's something to be said about events that build community and um We just don't do it anymore. And whether our community is changing, um, and the I don't, I don't know what it is, but it does it that doesn't happen here anymore. And um honestly, it's something that I would travel to to do again. Never mind shooting, never mind showing the world. I would go just to experience it again because it was it was great, it was a lot of fun, and um the community and the people there are second to none. And uh good on you guys, good on Wedgeport and all of all of you folks out there that work so hard to put that stuff together. Uh, believe me, from a fella from Ontario who used to experience that kind of stuff, it is worth it. Don't ever let it go. Do everything you can to hold on to those traditions tight because it's special. 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. We don't just sell you gear, we stand behind it. Lakeside Marine. Rugged, reliable, ready.
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SPEAKER_03:Moving on from Wedgeport and the uh the the tuna, I um I ended up on a on a shoot that I didn't think I was gonna get to go on. Um, but this one was fairly exciting to me as well. And um this one was at Lodge 88. And uh I've had uh I've had the guys from Lodge 88 on, uh, you know, and they are unbelievable people. Uh Dave McLaughlin is um is uh the uh the GOAT, the OG of the lodging industry right now, and he's involved with uh so many things outside the lodge within the industry, um, and and does such a great job of it. And when I first bought Chaudiere and Ange become such a big part of my life, uh he would always, he would always say, Hey, listen, look up Lodge 88, go and and and talk to Dave, get to know Dave, see what they're doing, because they are the gold standard. They're the they're the gold standard. And um, I was going to get to go to Lodge 88, and um um it lived up. You know, it uh the the the housekeeping and Ange the biggest thing he always said was they've got the Vegas model down pat. And what Ange described the Vegas model to me as was when you walk into your room, you need to feel like you are the first person walking into that brand new room, and that is what you strive for. And um, and uh through my tenure at Chaudi Air, I always try to, and and and even you're on you're on an island, you're in the bush, there's there's cobwebs that form overnight, literally. Um, but you have to figure out how to how to make that impression on people. And um Dave and Terry at Lodge 88, they've got it nailed to this day. Even back in the day when Ange was uh when Ange was uh when I was at Shaudiere and Ange was saying, hey, you gotta you gotta look at these guys. And uh um when we were there and we walked into the cottage, literally the floors were shining. It smelt like um pine um pine fresh. Um and and the beds were immaculate and it it it was it was really, really um, it blew my mind. I thought I had it down, and I did a really, really good job. Uh, but these guys, right down to a uh um almost wet looking floor, um, I think they bought and they they refinished um their their cottages so that they could they had they had the the the the tile floors that you polish and they polished them, you know, they would buy their their their they would remodel their cottages so that they could make them look brand new every time and good on them. And um we had a wonderful time. It was the only shoot that uh that um I was um um on this year with Ange and Nick and um had a great time with them. It it was a it was a it was a tough shoot um in a sense that um um it was after Abby passed and and um it was uh it was a tough it was tough that way. Um but a lot of the experiences now, you know, um are tough that way. Um but anyway, um great, great shoot at um at um Lodge 88. And again, walk into those cottages. I feel like I am the first person that has used it. And good on you guys. Great job. Um and then, you know, we did um uh we did our uh our week trips with the uh with um a couple of families and our family at the cottage, and those are always great. And this this time, you know, the fishing for me, I was excited. Um because I bit the bullet and I went out and I bought um live scope. Um I bought uh the um the um the GPS map live scope, uh 12-inch and a 10-inch screen, and the um L VS 34 um um transducer, um, and then the the stock uh transducer. I forget what it is, the GLS 20 or I know the GLS 20 is the black box, but anyway, it doesn't matter. I was going to be scoping on my own now. And I always um because I didn't have live scope, I always deferred to either Peter or Dean in the boat. Um Pete has been, you know, he he was he he's the mother of LiveScope. He he's had live scope before live scope knew what live scope was. Anyway, but now I was able to to um get a hold of live scope and use it on my own. And um that was a revelation. The things that I learned with Live Scope. And now that I've brought up the live scope, I just want to go back to um that very valuable lesson that I learned on Buck Lake with uh with Dean. Um and that is those crevices and boulders and all of that irregular bottom. If you can imagine um that same kind of bottom in an in a in an empty dark room, okay, we're not on we're not in the water anymore. We are we are in an empty dark room, and we're standing um on a platform in the top corner of this dark room, and you have a flashlight in your hand, okay? And from that point of view, on the far corner of the room, when you're looking out at all of these crevices and cracks, let's call them, you know, let's call them um um boxes for lack of a better term. And you shine that light down, there are places that you obviously can't see because you're hiding in a crack behind a big cardboard box on the floor in the middle of the room, and there's several of them kicking around. So now you can move in between all of these cardboard boxes and you can avoid being hit by the light because when the light shines one way, you can move through a crack to move behind another box, or maybe you're just moving and and the light actually hits you. But because you're in amongst all the boxes, it's very hard for the guy holding the flashlight to actually see what is going on between all of them. And that's what was happening to Dean and I. Those fish, they were there. It's not like they weren't there, and it was just a matter of of us going through with that live scope, shining it at these rocks, but having the there's so many areas for those big fish to be sitting down in between them and never to be seen by LiveScope. So, you know, as great as live scope is, uh you need to understand its limitations and uh you need to to to be able to not let it affect your emotional state um as much as it can. Because if you if you don't see fish, that does not mean there are no fish there. Now that's in that situation with all of the crevices and uh boulders and things to for them to drop into, because obviously that light just shines straight across the top of of the the the close side of the of the crevice, and then it shines maybe an inch onto the back side on the far side of the crevice, and the canyon down in the middle is all is is invisible, you know. I'm sure you can envision what I'm I'm talking about. But if you're on a sand flat, not easy for fish to hide. And um, and and you know, so there it's a little easier to say, yeah, there's no fish here, than to say that there's no fish on these crevices. But I'll tell you what, um just by looking at the live scope, it was hard to determine that there was crevices there until you actually get on top of them and you see them with your eyes, because it was clear enough to see down there and you could see boulders and you could see all of that stuff, right? So that was the lesson. Just because the live scope says there's no fish there, or you or you don't see what you perceive as fish does not mean that there are no fish there. Anyway. So yes, I um I I I bought Live Scope, and um right off the bat, the uh and I and and I should I had of I have a lot of experience looking at live scope, looking at the screen, seeing things on the screen. So I already kind of had a uh I had a great base for the live scope, but until you get your hand on that live scope um handle, um you you your the learning curve does not go up exponentially. As soon as you put your hand on the live scope um handle and you now control where you're looking while looking at the screen, now the learning curve goes up exponentially because there's something in your brain that when you know what direction you're pointing and you you you're you're you're good at determining on what that is, um it just it clicks so much faster than just staring at it and not knowing what direction it's pointed. And you know what I mean? But once you get a hold of that handle, you're good. And the first couple of walleye spots, I took the girls out fishing, um uh Maddie and and Violet, my two girls and their friends, and and um I would pull up on on marks. Uh I've got thanks to myself and Pat over the years, I've got hundreds of walleye marks where we've seen walleye before. And uh I pull up on the first spot, stop, and um uh I usually stop, you know, 100 feet, 150 feet away from from the juice, from the icon. And um the first time I pulled up on a spot and stopped and put the live scope down and uh looked at looked ahead at the spot, I saw nothing. I turned that live scope uh pole like uh um to to three o'clock directly uh uh off the side of the boat, and you know, uh uh 80 feet to to three o'clock, it's loaded. And I would have never like I mean, just because I always approach the spots the same way, and then you turn on your your traditional um sonar, you drive around your icon and look for them, uh look for the hooks on the sonar, don't see them, uh don't even drop an anchor, don't even drop the trolling motor, don't even stop, and off to the next spot. This one, look to the right, boom. Uh a school of 50 walleye that is in an area where I never driven over top of before, right? And it happened like that all summer. And when you're trolling, to be able to to scope around and look for for fish was unbelievable. Um uh Rayburn and I were up, oh, I'm gonna say in July, and uh he wanted to go cast for Muskies. So I said, okay. So we went out onto uh onto the lake and went to a couple of spots that uh that he had picked out because um you know Pat and uh and Rayburn had been um uh Pat is mentoring Rayburn and doing a wonderful job. They've become very good friends. And um Rayburn had picked a few spots he wanted to check out, and uh, and I had just got the scope. So I started scoping around, and um, we got to one spot with a weed line um and uh and a sharp drop on it, and um I started scoping that weed line for for I was looking for muskies, um, trying to find and scope to see if I could see muskies. Um and then I started scoping out into deep water, and I saw schools of fish, um, and uh in a spot that I I would have never come. Uh I I would have never fished. And uh that spot, um, I think Mike Scase and his family come up um uh on the Moilan week with the Moylans, and uh we went out there and on that spot and uh lit it up. Probably had one of the best fishing days that I've had in years, and we caught uh we caught walleye, we caught big smallmouth, we caught drum, like uh the I think we caught two or three drum. The biggest was like 10 and a half pounds. And um, you know, um to fight a 10 and a half pound drum is a thrill, man. Uh I don't care who you are. If you like fishing, you like fishing when you get a drum on. And if you're disappointed, well, sucks to be you because you're missing out, honestly. And that spot proved out for it bailed me out of two guiding situations. I started guiding a little bit for uh for Shaudi Air. And um, and I I found that I really enjoyed it. Um and that spot bailed me out that uh on both occasions, you know. Uh we had done okay and then go to that spot and light it on fire. Um and it's wonderful when you can do that as a guide. So thank you to the live scope because that was key. And that was just the first experience with Live Scope that um that I had this year. Um, but then um uh we went on um another uh not the longest um on the road, but a long one, like a 14, two, two week, two, two plus week uh trip that saw us uh um go to uh Airedale Lodge um and uh with uh Martin and Jen uh Wern. And uh they're great people again. And then uh we went to Cedar Meadows uh resort in Timmins, and um their claim to fame is sleeping with the Timberwolves, and they have uh five cottages that back onto a game reserve that they have uh I think they said 11 Timberwolves in there now, and that was they were beautiful, but Airedale Lodge was was awesome, and Martin and Jen are were were great, and they had actually uh it was end of September, maybe getting end of September, um, because it was early October when we got home, but um um they were actually already kind of shut down because they do a American plan. Um, but uh their cottages, man oh man, they were they were outstanding. They were very nice cottages. Um and the fishing was was great too. Um we had some pretty tough uh conditions to fish in, but um um one of the coolest um one of the coolest um um uh sequences that I have ever been involved in and possibly while Peter said it was a really cool um um uh sequence for him too. Um he's got like 35 years of cool sequences. I've only got like eight. Um, but it was definitely the coolest sequence that I was ever involved in, and it involved uh uh a team effort to uh to um um land uh uh a big fish. And um that's another one. I can't I can't tell you the details until you go and watch them. So you guys go out there and watch that episode uh from Airedale and um and uh and watch that sequence. Um I think you're gonna love it as much as we did. And uh and then once it airs, I'll tell you the behind the the uh the behind the story or behind the scenes part of the story as well. Um and that's the rest of the story. Um but that was a great trip. And uh the um uh the Cedar Meadows in Timmins, that was the second half of our shoot. Uh that was another fantastic trip. And um uh um one of uh one of Fishing Canada's uh sponsors, actually, I think it's uh the outdoor journal as well. Maybe more the outdoor journal, but um JMB Marine in Timmins, uh great guys there. And uh they kind of set up a few different things for us while we're in Timmins. Um I fished a a lake right inside the city limits and um and caught um walleye, awesome walleye. The lake probably wasn't much more than a couple hundred acres. And um the one day, the first day we got out there and uh oh, it was tough. It was tough fishing. I thought, oh no, here we go again. Um, but the second day um we got onto onto it just um, and again, the live scope was key. Um along a weed edge and and weed clumps out on on the lake, and it was wasn't deep. I think the deepest part of the lake's 15 feet. And um basically we were scoping, I was scoping the fish and pitching my uh pitching my Jagan uh live bait or Jagan uh uh maybe it was a um I forget what it was. It was probably a Jagan live bait, either that or uh Ned Rig or something along those lines. Uh, but pitching it right out to them and um uh it was like clockwork. If you could get it to them, they were gonna eat. And uh um I put together what I felt like was one of the better shoots that uh that I was able to uh to do on my own. Um and then um uh Dean also uh he uh he fished a couple of uh lakes just on the outside of the city limits. And um uh we went for a tour at a goal mine, a local goal mine. And the underlying current for Ontario um is uh promoting Timmins as a destination for young people to relocate to. Uh because number one, there's work, uh the gold mines are always looking like this this goal mine operation um could very well turn into one of the biggest in the country. And uh they're looking for people to work in the mine. And um uh it's a high-paying job, you know. The the fellow that picked us up, he was saying that you could make, you know, 110, 120,000 to 150,000 or more uh a year, and um you can still buy a house in Sudbury. And this is gonna sound unbelievable to people down in southern Ontario, but you can still buy a house in Sudbury for under$100,000. You know, um it's a it's it's a place where you can go and you can afford as a young couple to buy a house and a cottage and have toys and a good life and um and a and a solid um uh a solid job, right? And uh I you know I would consider it. Um I would consider it. The uh the it is fairly far north. There's no doubt about it, but Timmins has just about everything you need in there. Uh they've got uh everything from you know Home Depot, lots of restaurants, they've got uh Canadian Tire, they've got Walmart, they they they've got it all. They've they've got it all. They got a good hospital. Um, I don't mean to sound like a uh a promoter, but listen, it's uh I understand how difficult it is for people um in this country in our in the current um uh economic climate. And this seems a um a breath of fresh air uh for young people who who are avid outdoors people, hunters, you know, fishermen. You can you can be done your shift at 4 30 and and on on the water fishing before five. It's uh it's really, really, it's a cool spot. And um, and uh the uh the resort was very cool, really high-end, um, nice rooms. The the um they have the a main area where you've got uh hotel rooms, and then they've also got uh these five uh nice small cottages that um that you can sleep with the wolves and and they come out. You can actually, we did a podcast from uh from the the the glass room on the back that's in the uh in the paddock, and um it's your bedroom. Uh, but we moved the uh the the bed out of the way and uh and set up and and did a podcast there, and you can see the uh the timber wolves frolicking in the background.
SPEAKER_02:The most excited person in the room was Rick.
SPEAKER_03:He's uh he's our cameraman. I love Rick Great dude. Rick Delishny, you're the man. But uh he was behind the camera because we uh we shoot the uh the uh outdoor journal podcasts for uh YouTube and uh his eyeballs were lighting up. Yeah, but uh no, Rick was uh Rick was great. And uh and then uh I was I was hoping to uh over Thanksgiving uh get away the the whole crew went out to um um uh uh Kanso, Nova Scotia, uh, and fished um uh bluefin tuna and uh had a great uh wrap uh uh wrap up the season shootout there. Uh but unfortunately I could not make it. Um we have a family tradition that um that is a uh that's um a gold standard, if you will, uh never to be broken. We spend Thanksgiving on the Upper French River at uh at the cottage, and um it uh it it didn't work out. Uh the the guys left on uh the Thanksgiving Sunday and uh they were on uh the Atlantic Ocean on uh on the Monday afternoon. So I uh I was uh I was Thanksgiving it with uh the family on uh on the upper French River and uh had an absolutely wonderful time there. Rayburn Bogarded the boat with uh Jessica's girlfriend, and uh and they uh they fished every day and I got To sit uh in front of the fire and uh uh and the TV with the rest of the family, and we just relaxed and saunted and did all the good stuff that uh comes along with Thanksgiving on the French. And uh, and then uh I guess the last um fishing excursion was uh was our our um year-end muskie hunt with uh Chris and Eric King and uh Pat, myself and and Rayburn were there this year. And um we didn't end up catching at that point. Um we did catch a beauty, well, the biggest, the heaviest muskie that I've ever uh held um later on that week. And um what a what a experience that was. Um it was uh and and it was a short fish. It was it was uh um uh 48 and three quarter by almost 25 inch girth. And um, and it was it was heavy, it was heavy, and made for some great pictures and uh and wonderful memories with uh with um Rayburn and and Patrick. And uh uh I was on the rod for the first time in five years uh doing the um the fall muskie trip. Um I was on the rod. They Rayburn and Pat told me I was on the rod the day before and I lost one. And uh it was uh it was um I don't want to say it was my fault. I was rusty though. I was rusty when it came to um um fall trolling muskies. And uh they were gonna kick me off the rod, and I almost had to pull the old uh ownership uh uh card out for uh the right bower there, but they uh they when I said nope, I'm not I'm not giving the rod up yet, they both backed off fairly quickly. And uh thankfully, because um it was a a great memory, um wonderful memory. And you know, between that and then when I closed up, which was just last week, using that live scope um trolling has been uh again um a ridiculous experience. The the amount of data that you can acquire um in such a short period of time as far as the depths of your your baits, what the bottom structure looks like. For years, you know, I've watched Pat and Matt and Kyle and and all of these guys figuring out their their dive curves on on their musky baits, and this bait goes down 20 feet at this distance behind, and all of the stuff, and and figuring that out by finding a you know 20-foot rock, a rock that tops out in 20 feet somewhere, and driving over top of it until you can feel your bait touch it. That's how you used to figure out exactly how deep your baits were and and how far back you had to go to get there. Now you spin that um LVS 34 back behind the boat, and you can see that bait swimming in the water. You can tell how deep it is right away. You can watch now, instead of imagining it and visualizing in your mind's eye that bait going over top of a structure that you know the structure's 21 feet, and you know that your bait is 20 feet down, and you're just going over the top of it, now you can see that in real time. You can see your bait swim over top of of that structure. You can see when your bait has picked up weeds. You can see that. So now instead of oh I did you see that rod tick? Did it did it did it hit the bottom? Did it or is it is it uh reacting the same way? Is it do you think it's hung up? Do you think there's weeds on it? No. Oh yeah, I can see. Look at there's weeds on that, or at very least, that bait's not reacting the same way. I can tell. Reel that bait up, reel that bait up, clean it off, put it back in the water, and the other baits are fine. Instead of putting, oh well, you know, if we're gonna check one, we might as well check them all. No, you don't need to. You can still run with those other baits. And having those baits in the water more gives you a better opportunity to catch more. And you see the fish following, you see those fish come up, and it it's um, and and how they react to the bait. The Rayburn was reeling one of the baits in, and it just happened that I was I had the scope on that bait. I was following it, and all of a sudden, a big muskie come up behind the bait. And you know, I wasn't before you actually have seen muskies on LiveScope and in different situations, like different depths change the size of the palette, and you know, but when you see one, you know what it is. And Rayburn was pulling in a bait, and there was a muskie come right in behind it. And every time he jerked, because Pat was like, okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. And then he would he stopped reeling, and then Pat's like, okay, give it a jerk. And Rayburn would jerk it, and that you watch the fish react to that bait leaving its nose, that bait swimming away quick, right? We didn't end up getting it because the the bait was so close to the to the boat, it it it it broke the surface. But um just to to to use that live scope in that manner really is um was eye-opening. But um and then it was close. Um, so the the first trip that uh we had our muskie hunt with Kinger, um, and then um we uh let a week elapse and and Matt and Kyle were up there uh for uh the last uh well about a month. They were up there until um um end of November. Um so last week. And uh the weather um chased us out. I think Pat left on Rayburn left Sunday, Pat left on Tuesday, and Scotty and I were up there closing, and um um we barely made it out. We barely made it out. The um the one line from the main cottage to the bunky, cottage to the bunkie, uh where the line went up into the into the bunkie froze the when we were shutting the water down. We were cleaning the cot and to clean the cottage is like you don't tidy, right? There's there's the difference between cleaning the cottage in the summer when you're going to leave versus cleaning the cottage when you're shutting it down for the winter, because it needs a deep cleaning. And this again is where you find out how well and how good a cleaner you are, because if you don't clean the main cottage very well, when you go back in the spring, you have a class A infestation of rodents and uh been there, and I do not like that one bit, not one bit. And uh, we spent basically a day cleaning out the cottage, and it's just a small cottage, it's a 1950 Sears cottage kit, and I think it's about 20 by 30, it's nothing big, but it took us basically all day to clean it, and uh by five o'clock in the afternoon, um the the temperature was dropping, and the one line into the car into the bunkie um froze, and I was like, oh my god, I can't, because there's like lines in the walls and this and that. But we had pressured uh we had um uh hooked the air compressor up to the uh the water lines, and um we ended up finally getting it to let loose. It let loose and and crisis averted, really, really close. And um I'm not gonna know exactly how well we did until spring. But fingers crossed. So, you know, there there you have it. That was the uh that was the year in review when it come to uh outdoors and uh fishing and and uh my uh my uh escapades for 2025. But listen, thank you all for getting to this point. Uh I really appreciate uh appreciate everybody. Um Lakeside Marine, they're uh they're wonderful up in Red Lake. Uh thanks to uh our producers, Anthony Mancini and Dean Taylor. Uh, you guys are awesome. And folks, if you haven't already, head on over to fishingcanada.com and get your name into whatever free giveaways there are there. Um uh drop your ballots in as often as you can every day, and uh go from there. And uh again, thank you all because without you, I wouldn't be here doing this, and uh I appreciate every single one of you. And on that note, thus brings us to the conclusion of another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North.
SPEAKER_04:I'm a good old boy, never meaning no harm. I'll be the whole you ever saw been reeling in the hog since the day I was born. Bending my bra. Spenging my life. Someday I might on a lodge and that'll be fine. I'll be making my way, the only way I know how. Working hard and sharing the north with all of my plows. About a lodge and live my dream, and now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Hi everybody, I'm Angelo Viola. And I'm Pete Bowman. Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's favorite fishing show, but now we're hosting a podcast. That's right. Every Thursday, Ann 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 gonna be a lot of fishing.
SPEAKER_08:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors.
SPEAKER_00:From athletes, all the other guys would go golfing. Me and Garchomp Turk, and all the Russians would go fishing.
SPEAKER_08:The scientists. Now that we're reforesting or anything, it's the perfect transmission environment to line the people. Chefs. If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated for you will taste it.
SPEAKER_05: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_01: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 Oulette, and I was honored 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. 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.