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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 126: Ice Village On Lake Simcoe
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Ever seen a town pop up on a frozen bay? We sat down with Donnie Crowder of Hot Box Huts to explore how a three-hut hobby became “Hogtown,” a 52‑hut ice fishing village on Lake Simcoe built around safety, comfort, and catching more fish. An early cold snap laid down a rare shelf of white ice, and Donnie explains how that milky layer creates low light cover in three feet of water—turning the shallows into one giant dock where perch and pike cruise all day.
We dig into the nuts and bolts of an on‑ice operation: staging lightweight huts during a soft start, running covered sleighs for short, safe rides, and staffing the village so someone actually knocks on the door to help you dial in your rig. Donnie shares the “runway” layout along a gradual drop that tracks how perch move from shallow to deep, why schooling behaviour makes efficiency everything, and how a beaded spoon out-fishes bait when the school arrives. For families and first‑timers, sight fishing in clear, shallow water becomes an instant tutorial. For gearheads, underwater cameras reveal tiny tells—gentle flares, bloodworm rooting—that change your presentation and your results.
Predators add drama and insight. Pike ride high, hunting shadows under the ice, so quick‑strike rigs set inches below the surface can be startling and deadly. We also get into harvest choices on a heavily fished but healthy bay, why leaving 14‑inch breeders helps the biomass, and how short modern seasons compare to those in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Donnie’s tech philosophy is practical: live scope for specific situations, cameras for learning, and a 24/7 YouTube lake cam that doubles as a safety update and a front‑row seat to passing bald and golden eagles.
If you’ve wanted a winter day that feels welcoming instead of punishing, this one’s for you. Warm huts, clean washrooms, kids fed through a new on‑ice food partner, and nonstop lessons that make your next drop better than the last. Hit play to learn how to read white ice vs black ice, set up for perch that won’t sit still, and turn a frozen bay into a place your whole crew can love.
Enjoyed this conversation? Follow and subscribe, share it with a friend who needs a winter adventure, and leave a review to help more anglers and families find the show.
Early Ice And A Rare December Start
SPEAKER_02I think 2018 or so was our last time that we were able to get out this soon. It doesn't happen very often, so we're truly blessed this year. And the best part is uh like today we had four groups out, and every single one of them was seeing fish, catching fish, like just to just to pick up on that excitement at this early in the season, you know, and a couple of the groups, they're bringing their kids, you know, over the Christmas break. Like they had that much fun and they want their kids to experience it too. And that that's what we're all about just getting people out and and and helping them get outside.
SPEAKER_04This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Networks, Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North. We're heading out onto the frozen paradise of Lake Simcoe to talk about Hot Box Huts.
SPEAKER_05Today's guests have built a wee village not far offshore, affectionately known as Hot Town. 52 Huds strong, and with that type of infrastructure, it's a lot like running a lodge right on the ice.
SPEAKER_04And it is now my pleasure to introduce to all of you Donnie and Ashley Crowder. On this show, we'll dive into how for him.
Meet Donnie Crowder Of Hot Box Huts
SPEAKER_05Just like us lodge owners, it's about the lifestyle rather than the money. But we share the same core principle. When you put customer experience first, the profits take care of themselves. So settle in and get ready to hear. Turning a patch of ice into the bustling we metropolis of Hogtime. It's a tool created to provide outstanding experiences and another testament to this. If you focus on sharing what you love with the world, success naturally follows. Here's my conversation with Donnie Crowder. Welcome, folks, to another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner Stories of the North. And last week we had Wild Willie the oil man on talking about ice conditions up in Kenora. Well, I thought it was quite appropriate because uh I live in southern Ontario, and uh I've got a friend of mine, Donnie, who we've been uh texting back and forth. And Donnie has a ice fishing business on Lake Simcoe. And um this year I thought that we had better find out what's going on on Lake Simcoe. So we have Donnie Crowder of Hot Box Huts here to uh talk about uh the ice conditions and his business, how he got involved and and what's going on with it. Um it sounds a lot like what I had to deal with at Shaudier Lodge. And uh um I would love to welcome Donnie to the uh to the show and uh uh say hello to the Diaries family.
SPEAKER_02Oh, hello, family. Uh nice to be on with you, Steve. I've uh probably listened to every single one of your podcasts by this point. Uh working out in the garage, I uh I throw them on when I'm there getting my chores done or or during my drives too. It's it's a good way to kill an hour on a drive, you know, in and out of the city. But um, yeah, I've been following for a while. You're doing a good job, man. And there's always something new and entertaining. I'm happy to be part of it.
SPEAKER_05Awesome. Well, hey, listen, thank you so much for joining us. And um let's start by uh finding out a little bit about yourself. Um how did you get into this industry and and what was the path that you took and where where what what brings us up to date on where you're at now?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I can go back uh as a child. I grew up in the Lindsay Peterborough Quarth Lake area. Um fishing is a part of life where we grew up. You know, we had the Skugog River, right? Basically uh five-minute walk from our house. So we were down there fishing for walleye whenever we could when we were kids. If we were loud and we were well behaved and we weren't grounded, we'd go down there and get some fishing in. Um the Lindsay Locks was a popular spot for us as young guys. Um, and of course, that that turned into ice fishing too. The uh the risks we took when we were children back then were much different than what we do now. Um we're we're more playing.
SPEAKER_05That was that was good for that, those risks are good for kids. You know, they uh that uh being outside and climbing trees that are just a little bit too high and you know, down by the water and in the like obviously when the ice is coming out, that's that's a serious risk. Um, but um those risks that we took when we were kids um shaped how our life um um turned out. And I think it made us better people. Um, I couldn't imagine living in this world where everybody knows exactly where you are because they're tracking you on your phone and and um you're not outside like we used to be, and everything else. So growing up in that area is awesome. And uh I went to college in Lindsay, so I know all about exactly where you're talking and and fishing. So yeah, that tell us a little bit more um uh of that background. Well, like I mean, take us, continue.
From Three Huts To A 52‑Hut Ice Village
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely, Steve. So yeah, those ricks uh 100% make us who we are now. Um, they help me do my job now as a HUD operator. Um, they helped me be comfortable and be aware of the hazards and dangers that do exist and how to mitigate them, you know, through through the course of my duties out there. Um yeah, so all that life growing up in Lindsay and the wild fish and stuff we did. We we didn't have YouTube back then. We had to learn the hard way. Um we didn't catch as many fish as we do now, but it was all a learning experience for sure. Um, spent some time living on uh Schmong Lake where we played out in the ice there a bit. Unfortunately, when I was living there, ice season was closed. Um, we weren't allowed to fish there, ice fish there, but you know, some of the kids may have snuck out here and there and still made it happen, of course. So we're going back a few years. I think uh I think we're safe to say that. Um as an adult there, I still uh I moved over to the west side of Lake Simcoe uh probably about 12 years ago. Uh the Innisville area is where I chose to chose to land and uh picked up fishing again here, ice fishing as a hobby. Uh was going out, had uh had a hut set up, a permanent hut, as well as a portable hut, doing the same thing everybody else does, but I wanted more than one spot. So I I bought another hut and then I bought another hut, and then I had three huts out there. Well, then I wanted to buy more stuff. And living in Innisville, most of the stuff for sale on Kijiji is what I used back then mostly, was in Toronto or in the city, right? In the you know, more developed areas. So I would offer guys an opportunity to come up and fish in one of my personal huts in exchange for delivery for bringing me the goods that I was purchasing. Uh that's true. Yeah, you know, it was like, you know, the guys would come up, bring me the stuff, and I wouldn't have to pay shipping or have to drive to the city, and they got a chance to get out and go fishing. Well, it wasn't long after, like only a short month after doing that. I think uh the guys started messaging me, hey, can I can I rent your hut? Can I can I bring my buddies a hut?
SPEAKER_05Light bulb started to go on.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and uh that lasted for a year, and then the very next year I bought a business that was closing. And uh, you know, that's probably around the 10 year ago or so, Mark. And we found ways to be as efficient as possible in our operations. Um we weren't afraid to spend money. Um we weren't trying to make money right away. We still really don't make much, but we put everything that we were making back into the business, into equipment, into bodies, into uh better equipment, and and duplicating equipment, redundancy, um, so that we wouldn't be that operator that had a machine breakdown and make you have to walk back off the ice. Or if a machine got stuck, uh, we don't have to worry about getting it out. We'll go get another one. And we can get it out on our own time, not on yours when you're a paying customer. So that kind of took us to where we are now. Um, we bought multiple businesses as they've closed around the lake. Um, a lot of them have due to ice conditions and some of the challenges that the uh I don't want to say global warming, but weather change has uh has caused for us, right? Our seasons are shorter, we're getting more precipitation, our shorelines aren't what they used to be, and we're actually getting more snow. Um, so conditions are tougher to operate in, and a lot of the guys uh they're done. And we're okay with that. We'll uh we've been buying up a lot of their stuff and and their businesses at the same time. Perfect. And now we've ballooned to about uh we run over 50 huts at a time out there on the lake, and uh we build our own village. We call it Hog Town, because we're in Jumbo Purkins. No way, and uh that's where we are right now. Right now we're getting set up. We actually have huts on the on the lake right now, you know, and we're we're just a couple days before Christmas, we're recording this.
Soft Start Strategy And Training On Thin Ice
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I I um uh the season opened the other day. You texted me, what was it, yesterday or two days ago when we were talking?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05So when did your season open?
Three Feet Of Water, White Ice, And Big Bites
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we're ready to, it was two days ago we started. So we're uh pretty much all of Lake Simcoe is wide open right now. But we're down on the bottom end of in about halfway down Cooks Bay on the west side, and Cooks Bay was completely frozen over with uh not the kind of ice that we would want to be running machines on, but the kind of ice that we can put some of our smaller, lighter permanent huts out on um and get them staged for when the good ice comes. So we put those out for ourselves to fish out of. They've been out for maybe two weeks or so. And we've been out catching fish on our own. We use them as training for the guys working with us. Um I may I flat out intentionally let them sink through the ice. I flat out intentionally put them in spots close to shorelines where there's runoff, knowing what's going to happen, so that the guys working with me can experience what it's like to get them out with no harm and no risk, right? No clients involved. And we're talking shallow water situations, right? So they're learning how to mechanically move these big heavy objects using boards and ropes and winches, um, just so if something ever does happen down the road, they're prepared. Um two days ago, we started bringing our first clients out. We have enough ice to feel comfortable walking and bringing our clients out, and the bite has been insane. Uh, we're in we're literally over three feet of water right now, Steve. And people do not believe that you can catch fish in three feet of water on Lake Simcoe. And I'm telling you, there is nonstop perch, there's jumbo perch cruising through. Today we had three pike broken off out of four huts. Um fish are there, and we're talking in three feet of water, man. It's uh three feet, it's where it's at. Um, we think that a lot of it is because we're on a shelf and the shelf is uh white ice, so it's not uh it's not clear, it's not the black ice. Further out in the lake right now, we don't have snow cover, and it's all black ice. So we we think the fish are using that shelf as cover. So we're literally fishing on top of their cover. It's like fishing one big dock right now.
SPEAKER_05No way. That's very cool. So the the white ice is causing um uh a low light condition. Um the black ice, the light is going through, and um the fish are relating to that low light condition at the edge of where the black ice is, and they're using that as cover. That is that is amazing. I I've not uh I've not even thought of something like that, but I've not been on the ice to be able to experience that kind of thing. And that is that is awesome. That is awesome. So now you've got your lighter huts and you're walking out. How thick is that white ice? Like how thick is it um safe to trust to get out there um when you're first moving out?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so our our magic number for running machines out on the lake and operating over deeper water is six inches of black ice, regardless of the amount of white ice above that. We want six inches of black. Right now we have about six inches of a white black mixture, which is over that three feet. Um, we're not comfortable running machines. We're running walkout huts only, but with our huts being as light as they are, like we're talking roto molded huts that weigh maybe 400 pounds, spread out over a large area. Um, there's no risk at all. Um, it's it's more than enough to support the weight. But that that's our start, and we're lucky to do it. We call it a soft start, you know, it's walking out, but it's what a time of year to be doing it. Like we're doing it during the holidays when everybody's off, which is a very, very rare thing for us to be able to do. Like during the Christmas break, we are off, we're we have bookings on Christmas Day, man. You know, we will and we're taking them out because it's literally right out our back door, right out our in our backyard. I'm looking at my huts as I'm talking to you right now, out the window.
SPEAKER_05Really? That's awesome. So just to put it in um um perspective, how often have you been able to open this early?
Ice Thickness, Walk‑Out Operations, Holiday Rush
SPEAKER_02Um I think 2018 or so was our last time that we were able to get out this soon. Um, we have had a shelf like we have now, where we've been able to stage huts uh with an open center. So Cook Space open in the middle, but the ice shelf freezes over and keeps building, where we've had that build up to as much as 10 inches before it freezes over completely. So we will bring huts out. It just speeds up the process for us, too. It's a lot of work to transport them down the highway from storage and get them on the lakes. We do as much of that as possible ahead of time if we can. Yeah, but uh it doesn't happen very often. So we're truly blessed this year. And the best part is uh like today we had four groups out, and every single one of them was seeing fish, catching fish, like just to just to pick up on that excitement at this early in the season, you know. And you know, everybody that came today, I think, or not everybody, but a couple of the groups, they're bringing their kids, you know, over the Christmas break. Like they had that much fun and they want their kids to experience it too. And that that's what we're all about is just getting people out and and and helping them get outside and get, you know, and to to fish a shallow like three feet is amazing. Like you're literally talking, being able to fish and and see everything that you're doing, man.
SPEAKER_05Right on. That's uh that's amazing. I um I uh I got a and ice fishing, you know, for me, uh I did it for for years, and um um the ice fishing that I did was no hut. You know what I mean? There was um there was no um um uh nothing. And um I uh I I I gotta tell you, it was a bit of a struggle for me. I um I uh being out in the freezing on the ice, you know what I mean? I uh I just um um it wasn't something that I would do every day, let me put it that way. But once I got to a hut, that changed everything. And uh I think what you're doing is you're making ice fishing comfortable for the average angler, right?
Making Ice Fishing Comfortable For New Anglers
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. And new anglers too. So like our goal isn't to have you necessarily come out and fish with us and only us. Um, we we suggest if you're even interested in in trying ice fishing, before you go buy all the gear, before you spend all the money on all the equipment and uh the required even clothing, you know, we're talking probably a thousand dollars to get into this game safely. Um book a hut, come out, see what it's like, see what we do, see what we wear, see uh see what equipment we use, and and maybe adapt that to what you buy. We have a lot of clients who have come out with us once or twice, maybe even sometimes a season or two, and then uh they become friends and they're and they're out fishing near us, and we see them at the shoreline when they're out on their way on their own, and we and we actually love that, you know, being the stepping stone and just helping people get outside. Um, the other nice thing is uh for experienced fishermen, um, I know myself, I don't shy away from guides at all, and I'm an experienced fisherman. When I go up to the French River and ask for help, I stay at a lodge. Um I I take advantage of the people that know the area better than myself. So what we can do is if you're if you're an experienced fisherman and you want to bring friends or family out with you, well, now you've got the you can eliminate the cold part. You know, they can come out and be in a comfy, warm hut. You can eliminate them trying to find somewhere to go to the washroom because we have plenty of those. Um, there's there's absolutely no shame in an experienced angler coming out as well. Sometimes we've had guys that are tournament anglers, um, they'll come out and pre-fish for a week. They'll literally sleep in one of our huts for a week and use it as a home base and hit the lake with their own machine and cover the lake. But at the end of the night, they're still on the lake, so first thing in the morning they can get back to work.
SPEAKER_05That's a great idea. Well, I was gonna ask you if you had any condos.
SPEAKER_02We do have uh the sleeper huts, yeah. We run three of them. Uh they're like eight by sixteen. Now they're not quite nipassing size. Um but they are the best that we can do on Lake Simcoe. Um, you know, given that our ice doesn't typically get as thick and as solid as it does up on nipissing. But uh, you know, for Southern Ontario huts, they're about as good as we can get. And uh they still got the wood stove and they're comfy and there's still fish underneath them. Um especially if you're into perch fishing or you're bringing kids along with you, uh there's usually a lot more to look at down the hole here on uh in the shallower area of Cooks, you know, or of Lake Simcoe on Cooks Bay for sure.
SPEAKER_05Oh, I can I I can imagine for sure. Uh I know the last time I ice fished on Simcoe, I was with a buddy of mine, um uh Glenn Barry, and we had a camera that we Dropped down the hole, and uh it was literally like an aquarium, and the ice was black, so you could see like it was light. There was light down there. We were in probably 10, 12 feet of water, and uh it was like Ripley's aquarium. There were I could I could not believe how many um uh perched there were down there and big, you know, it it's ridiculous. Um, and such a it's it when you're in that hut, um eve and and you've got transportation, right? I looked at your your website, you've got you've got your transportation to the hut and back from the hut. Tell us a little bit about that transportation.
Sleepers, Family Trips, And Sight Fishing
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so we we run uh covered sleighs of various styles. Um some of them are fully enclosed, some of them might have an open front and back. Um, and we pull those with various machines, could be uh one of the snowmobiles, an ATV, uh could be a tracked razor, tracked Argo. Um, we do have a Bombardier snow bus that we use on occasion as well. Um, that's usually for larger groups or or some special trips that people have. But yeah, the transportations uh is is is part of the package. We get you out, we get you back. Um we're honestly not that far out. Uh we're less than a kilometer from shore. We're we're not we're not a far run at all. Um it's walkable. Um that's awesome. Yeah, if you we have a lot of locals that uh over the years we participated in some ice harp ice hut art projects here with the town of Innisville. And those huts are now out on the lake, and we still have an interest in those huts um from a lot of tourists that that know about that project. So we still make them available for viewing right in the middle of Hogtown. And uh we do have a lot of foot traffic out there still for that. Uh we have locals, you know, getting exercise. They know that the road that we run is safe because obviously we check it every day before we work on it. And uh we do maintain that, and and that of course is open to everybody to use, right? It's it's the lake is everyone's, it's not just ours. Yeah. We try to take a small sliver of uh of the area, keep we keep our huts as close together as uh reasonably possible, um, because perch are schooling fish, and perch is our main target, and it's actually better to have more lines in the water, keeping them busy and keeping them entertained so they don't they don't take off and head somewhere else.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah.
Cooks Bay Biology And Jumbo Perch
SPEAKER_02But you were saying you were saying the uh the aquarium things like I can speak to that a little bit uh on Lake Simcoe itself. Um there's maps that actually show like where where the food sources are uh in Lake Simcoe for fish, right? And we're talking uh we're going down to zooplankton level, even right. And uh Cooks Bay is a very special area of the lake, it's very, very silty. Uh the soil is very, very rich in nutrients. At the very bottom of the bay, there's a lot of reeds and vegetation, and that makes this area uh more likely to hold more food for fish like perch, right? And uh our maximum depth is about 40 feet. So we don't really see white fish and lake trout here in the summer. It's a bit too warm for them. But in the winter they start to move in, just takes them a little while to migrate this way. But that's why you'll see so many perch down here is because this is where the food is, and you're gonna see all sizes. Yes, you're gonna see what they call the dinks, the small ones, you're gonna see a million of them. But along with that, you're also gonna see your jumbos. And you know, the largest perch that I know of that came right here recently is 16 and a half inches. You gotta be you know that that's just getting to be insane. Like that that is a absolute monster perch. And that was just on the other side of the bay here.
SPEAKER_05For sure. Wow, what what is the what is the what is the the record perch? Like an Ontario record. That's gotta be close.
SPEAKER_02It's by weight. Um, I don't remember right off, Steve, to be honest with you, but they do the records by weight, not length. Yeah, but that would have been pushing it. Um from what I recall, he did not attempt to enter that one. And if I recall right, he did check the weight, and I think it didn't qualify.
SPEAKER_07Gotcha.
SPEAKER_02But yeah, that that's pushing it. That's getting close for sure.
SPEAKER_05Wow, like I mean, as far as I'm concerned, the perfect eating size walleye is 15 inches, and you're you're you're an inch longer for purge.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I hear you, man. And you know what? You're talking about the perfect eating size. So uh you'll you'll hear arguments on both sides, right? People are saying, oh, leave the small ones to grow or uh leave the big ones to breed. And you know what? When it comes down to it, that there's so many perch here, and it's such a healthy fishery that when you come and visit Lake Simcoe, as long as you're within your legal limit, you take what you feel comfortable home for food. Personally, I usually grab as long as they're not super small, you know, the first 10 that'll make a meal or so, and these might only be little eight inches, and I'm fine with that. They're they have a sweeter taste and a sweeter flavor. Um when when I'm fishing to eat, I'm not all that selective, to be honest with you. I I just want to get that done and get home and have my uh fresh fish fry. So there's no there's no shame in taking the smaller ones. Um I like to see the bigger ones left, like when we're talking anything above 14 inches, if possible, because those are super capable breeders, you know, they're dumping 10 times the eggs in the water that something smaller would be. But even then, I'm not gonna hold it against you if you take take your share of those two, as long as you're being reasonable, because the uh the the bio uh the total biomass of perch here is unbelievable. And it's it's it's been known to survive. Um there's days where we have over 10,000 people fishing on this lake, um, is is the estimates that I've heard. And there's still a lot of fish here. Like we we are the closest big lake to Toronto that you can ice fish on. Um, especially where we operate on Cooks Bay, we're one of the first access points coming up the 400, really.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, for sure.
Harvest Choices, Pressure, And Fishery Health
SPEAKER_02So yeah, we get heavily, heavily pressured, but the uh the perch seem to thrive, and that is because we we have a healthy lake and the lake has lots of food for the perch.
SPEAKER_05Um so and overall, I think over the years, the pressure, the pressure when the ice is uh when the ice is good, the pressure is high. But I bet you, if you looked at uh the stats from the 1980s and 1990, early 90s, when it was commonplace to be ice fishing by you know middle of December and go straight through into almost the beginning of April, probably, um the pressure was a lot heavier back then. Um, how many I because I I the the average number of days that you can fish ice fish Lake Simcoe has to be going down.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, 100%. In the last hundred years, it's dropped by a month. Um there you go, by a month. Yeah, one one whole month we've lost, and that's trimming both ends of it on average, and that that's going back a hundred years.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah. So there's some of that, but still, when you have a healthy fishery, it's a healthy fishery. And I'll tell you what, uh, I live over in Shelburne, Ontario, and uh so I'm about a uh you know, 50-minute drive straight across Highway 9. And I used to bring my bass boat and and uh launch right out of uh I forget what road it was. Right, right around 89.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, probably right at the end of 89. It's called Shore Acres.
SPEAKER_05Uh Shore Acres. That was one place, and if that was busy, I went a little bit north and uh launched out of another um little little hamlet.
SPEAKER_06Yep.
SPEAKER_05Um and then uh I'd drive that bass boat of mine. I had a 16 and a half foot skeeter, and uh I'd drive it all the way to Thora Island some days.
SPEAKER_02That's a good haul.
SPEAKER_05And oh yeah, really good haul. Well, getting there is was always easy. It was it was spending too much time on uh Big Shoal around Georgina or getting out between there and Thora and then having the wind pick up in the afternoon. And then uh, you know, that's where I learned a lot of lessons with a 18 and a half foot boat and a lake the size of Lake Simcoe with uh waves that the frequency are are really tight. And um yeah, I had believe me, I mean one rough ride back for sure.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely.
Pike Patterns And High‑Set Tip‑Ups
SPEAKER_05Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I only did that once or twice, you know, but um the smallmouth fishery on Simcoe is ridiculous as well. Like, I mean, some of the, well, not some of all of the largest smallmouth that I've personally seen, like the biggest of the big, have been on Lake Simcoe absolutely.
SPEAKER_02And when you said you were running to Thor Island and making that run, I knew we weren't talking perch anymore, Steve.
SPEAKER_05No, no, no, no, I've never really targeted perch on Simco, to be honest with you. Um even when uh even when we ice fished um um when I ice fished on Simco with my with a couple of buddies that were doing it quite often, it was that white fish and uh lake trout bite that that um that they were looking for. But honestly, for me, and they were on the sleds and we would stop, punch a hole, uh, drop down the uh the technology was was uh not um well it was it was was it was what it was for the day and I'm talking you know 15 years ago 20 years ago and um rarely did we have great days enough to make it worth getting frozen. But I, you know, when it comes to the thought of of jumbo perch and coin going with the family, bringing the kids, even going out with the buddy with your buddies and uh and doing the ice condo thing. Um the action that you'll get. Uh I'm you know what? Uh thinking about what you said the other day uh with the perch on fire has got that it's lit a bit of a fire under my uh under my ass. I I'm I'm gonna have to come and experience perch fishery. Because I'll tell you one, the one thing that I love to do, I love to catch fish. And that uh perch fishery, especially when you're in water as shallow as that, I imagine your your release rate um is uh is is quite high. Like I don't imagine you lose many perch that you're throwing back, or if you get that lake trout or northern um that are in there, um those fish aren't gonna aren't gonna die. The live release is is gotta be close to you know 95%.
Efficient Perch Tactics And Beaded Spoons
SPEAKER_02I'm with you on that. I I think we're pushing close to 100% on on releasing when we're fishing that shallow. Um the perch themselves when we do get out to deeper waters during the year, like like when we're out, even then our perch release well. Um we know they all don't, and this this is also a little give you a little tip here, too, um, for northern pike fishing in our area. We do have a lot of northern pike in Cooks Bay. Um, MR is aware of the population changes over the years. Uh, they do have fish traps and they do count, and uh it it's slowly shifting towards a a pike dominant area, um, and we're okay with that. But what we find during the winter for pike fishing that's a little bit different than other lakes or even other areas of this lake is we pike fish, even if we're in, let's say, 12, 18 feet of water, we drop our bait down about a foot below the ice and we fish up high because it took us a while to figure out why, but we believe that the perch that don't release well, um, they float. And the pike are literally following under the ice, just looking for shadows, and that's what they feed on all winter long. Um, so the perch that don't release well here, I think we are actually actively feeding the pike, and it's keeping them super high in the water.
SPEAKER_05They're hanging around Hogtown looking for the uh looking for the uh easy meal.
SPEAKER_02You got it, and it's it's almost startling. Um, I've jumped myself a few times, like sight fishing, looking down the hole, because the pike don't swim by down low, they swim by your hole. Um, and it's it's very startling to all of a sudden it have something appear that fast right there, like that. Um, but it is what it is. So, pike there's wicked opportunities for pike here. Um, release.
SPEAKER_05We'll talk a little bit about that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's uh it's an all-season fishery. Like in the summer here, um, trolling for pike is is actually my favorite option. I like to just troll something like a Johnson spoon, uh, something weedless, and try to just hit the weeds behind the boat. Um, you know, so you're fishing maybe 12, 18 feet of water and you want to drag that thing just maybe three feet down so that they come up and out of the weeds to hit it. It's not unusual to get a limit in an hour. You know, and our limit here is six. Um they're not always giants, but uh, you know, the biggest one that I've ever had when I was guiding here was only I think it was 39 and a half. So the pipe don't seem to get as big here, but the numbers are definitely there. In the winter, it's as simple as a tip up with a quick strike rig, you know, you got your two trebles on that, and we use frozen mackerel from the grocery store.
SPEAKER_05Nice, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Literally, we have bags of it. We've tried different bait over the years. We use frozen mackerel from the grocery store, and all you have to do is pop that air bladder, you know, step on it a bit. If it's frozen, it's gonna want to float. So sometimes they thought it's a little better, but all you gotta do is add a split shot or two on there and get it down. But you're only getting down, you know. You only need literally to put out 24 inches of line from your tip up to be catching these things. We see guys out there with their lines on bottom, but that that's what you would do in most places, right? Yeah, you would have them just up off the bottom, but here it's the opposite. You want them right up high, and there's a contrast, right? When pikes see forward and up like most fish, and when they're looking forward and up and they see that shadow, they're coming to check it out. Yeah, you know, and that that's just how we get her done here, and it's it's pretty successful. It really is.
SPEAKER_05That's that's very cool. And then so I guess you you wouldn't like I mean, for a tip-up, you you'd almost want to have a uh ice fishing rod with a reel so that when that fish hits, you've got a little bit of uh drag so that it can run, you know what I mean?
Run‑And‑Gun Myth And Hogtown Layout
SPEAKER_02Especially for for new new people. Um I I I recommend that a hundred percent. Um what do they call that one? That's the jawjacker, that's a real popular one too, right? Um something that holds a rod is is ideal because they are really tough to handle by hand. And if you don't know how to lay your line out as you're bringing it in in case they take a run, um you can get a tangle and and pop that hook pretty easily. So yeah, or break the line or whatever. Yeah, we run we run 50-pound ice spray on ours that are made for tip-ups, so it's actually a thicker line. Um and it's black.
SPEAKER_05That's where you that's when you're targeting the northern.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_05You're not doing that for the uh for the perch.
SPEAKER_02No, definitely not. We we don't run tip-ups for perch. It's just there's there's such an abundance of them here that they just be driving you crazy all day. You know, you never get a chance to sit down if you're running a tip-up as well. It's it's tough to run, like you're allowed to run two lines here in the winter, like a lot of places, and it's tough to run two lines for perch here because when that school comes in, you're talking about tangling on yourself now, right? And it's it just keeps you too busy. But the real secret is efficiency with perch. Like uh, my big thing is I don't know if you ever heard of a slab grabber is there, Steve. It's like a beaded spoon.
SPEAKER_05Okay, no, I never heard of it.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so it's a it's a beaded spoon, so it's a spoon with a fixed hook on the bottom and a little bead. And what it looks like is kind of a small fish, um, with maybe an appendage falling off it or an injury or an egg, you know, etc. for that for that bead. Well, one of these beaded spoons, you can rip it up and down when there's no fish around and it's an attractor, it's flashing like crazy. But when it slows down and stops, when you have when you actually have some perch there, they just try to suck that spoon in and we or suck that bead in, and we think that they're trying to steal that bead from the spoon, is what we think they're trying to do. But as far as if now you've got a school of fish under you, well, you want to keep that school of fish under you. You want to be able to get that fish off your hook as fast as possible. Whether you're live releasing it or you're keeping it to take home for a meal, you want to get it off. And that's where the beaded spoons are absolute magic. It's one hook and it's fixed to the spoon, and they never put the whole spoon in their mouth because they're only targeting that little bead. So you just pick that, you pick them right out of the water by the spoon itself, invert it, the fish falls off, and you fire that spoon right back down and get back to that school. That's that's one of the ways that when the guys, that's the difference between the guys that catch one jumbo perch and and 10 of them right there, you know, is efficiency when they're on the water.
SPEAKER_05That is that is that is totally cool and interesting. I never thought about the efficiency, and and I wouldn't have like I don't ice fish enough to know that you've got to keep that school interested in what's going on. But I can totally see it. It would be like any other animal who who feed in in flocks, right? Or or schools. You know, whenever it's like smallmouth, whenever somebody's got something in their mouth, everybody else wants to get it.
Data, Bad Spots, And Annual Vegetation Shifts
SPEAKER_02100%. And Steve, like I've got this thing too where like I don't want to say I judge fishermen, but maybe I judge fishermen a little bit. And uh here on Lake Simcoe, and you know, I might I might upset some people by this because I will agree catching perch is not hard. Anyone can go out and catch perch. But as far as fishing for white fish, it ain't that hard. They're a bottom feeder, throw a three-way spreader down, or jig bottom, bounce bottom. It's the same technique over and over and over again. Um lake trout, very, very similar. Even smallmouth, uh, depending on the time of year, you know the presentation that works. We all know on Lake Simcoe where to go, and we all know how to catch them. Jumbo perch change constantly. Um, I'll honestly say that it I will if I see a fisherman out there that that regularly can catch jumbo perch and in numbers, that they are carrying a skill set with them that's a little a little above and beyond some of the other. Guys on this lake. And I and I really do mean that because they change what they do all winter long. In the beginning of the year, they're they're in mixed year class schools where your jumbo perks are on the bottom of a school, kind of acting like whitefish, picking up the little puked up bits from little ones when they have feeding frenzies. And by the end of the year, now the jumbos are schooled up by year class, getting ready to spawn. And what they do and how they behave completely changes. And you have to be so adaptive to and that's what perch fishing is so good about. What's great about perch fishing is that you can't master it in a season or two. And I really mean that. You can catch them, sure. Anyone can go catch a perch, but to be able to catch large perch regularly, it's a challenge, man. It really is. And it is doable. And the guys that do it, you know, I tip my hat to them because I know they put in their time.
Live Lake Camera, Ice Reports, And Eagles
SPEAKER_05That's very cool. You know what? What you're talking about right there reminds me of muskie fishing because all of the things that you say um apply to Muskie. The only difference is you just can't go out and catch Muskie. You really got to put your time in, big or small. And um that skill set of following big fish and actually trying to pattern what they're doing, why they're doing it, and where they're doing it, um, is what you were just saying about those big um, those big perch, the jumbos. And I'm it was very interesting to me, um, who uh I apply a lot of uh different thoughts to um try and pattern what big muskies are doing. To hear you say, well, the jumbo perch in the spring are at the bottom of the schools and they're feeding off of all of the the bits that are coming from the the school above, and then they do this, and then they do this because of this. And that is very cool. That's the part of fishing that I love the most is um and and really I I would probably call myself uh I'm I'm not so much a meat fisherman, and I don't know how many of those people are left. Um, but I would classify myself as a trophy hunter, and I love big fish. And um whether it is jumble perch or or big walleye or or muskies or northerns or whatever it is, I understand how difficult it is to pattern the big ones. You know, on the French, um uh you can take any one of those species. You can take uh northern pike, for instance. You can go out and and fish in areas, I call them the nurseries, and you can catch a shit ton of northern pike that are anywhere from you know 18 inches to 30 inches long. Um but to get over that 32 inch and into even 40 inch northern, those fish are not that common. No, but you can go out and find them if you know what you're doing. And that perch fishery sounds sounds awesome.
Service Philosophy And All‑Ships‑Rise Mindset
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SPEAKER_05So my question is when you've got Hogtown set up, how are you following? Like, are you are you just basically targeting the big school and and uh um you're getting those jumbos when they come in? Or do you have guys that come and uh and kind of follow um where they're going and they leave Hogtown and they'll they'll take their ATV and and go and move around a little bit and then come back?
Tech Choices, Cameras, And Kid‑Friendly Gear
Food Partnerships, Rink, And On‑Ice Support
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so this is where um you know that's an excellent question, Steve. And uh this is where what I believe is the best course of action will go against popular opinion. Um I've lived here for over 10 years, and I have fished perched here in my backyard seriously that entire time. Um I know this area of the lake extremely well. Um other parts of the lake not so much. So anything I say, I'm speaking to this part of the lake that I that I know to this degree. And and in particular, only this side too of Cooks Bay, the west side. So we have a uh a bit of a drop here. So our water is shallow going out for a few hundred yards, and then it hit it gets to about 12 feet or so very gradually, and then the drop gets a little steeper. It's not it's not like your French river drops, but yeah, it eventually gets to 40 in the middle, and it's a it's a bowl. It's a bowl. We're talking like a Lake St. Clair, it's a bowl. But what we do is we stage our huts on that entire drop, and we usually do three rows. So it looks like a runway out there, starting at the top of the drop, going to the bottom of the drop, and then extending out onto the silt flat. So what we find is the perch, the early morning bite where we are, it's not that great because you've got your predator fish up shallow, um, the pike are active, and the perch comes up once the daylight starts to show up when they can see the predator fish and they know what they're doing. So they'll come from the depths up to the shallow, shallows, and get a lot of their food up there. Um and then later on in the day, usually around that, you know, before dusk, uh, we're talking 2:30, 3 o'clock or so, we notice that the perch start moving back down that drop. Now, this drop is kilometers long, so we're not on any secret spot. You could set up beside us, you could set up a kilometer in either direction, you're gonna have the exact same effect. So, what we'll find is the huts that are doing the best at one part of the day won't be doing so good at the rest of the day, but it gives everybody a chance. And then what we'll try to do is our shallower huts, if we know someone has kids, we'll try to put them in the shallower huts because they usually show up a bit later. Well, so do the perch. And they're also a little better for sight fishing, too. Um versus the deeper stuff. Um, we I used to try to chase perch around, and this is before live scope, mind you. Um my mindset on that and my belief on that, if you're running around drilling holes, trying to catch a fish that's also swimming around in a school blindly, um, you're better off to have your rod in the water than than your feet on the ground walking above the ice. And that's held true between me and my friends, and you know, we're all out fish, most of the guys that I that I know, because they they like to run and gun and move. I don't think perch are a run and gun fish, man. Um they're they're a school, schooling fish, perch are attracted to perch above all else. And if you can keep small perch underneath you, um the dinks that we call them, six-inch perch, if you can play with them and get them to rise up in the water column and get them as close to your hole as possible without hooking them, um, they are an attractor for other perch. That's what I do. Um, and that's why we have our huts the way we have them set up. That's why we don't mind when people fish the perimeter of Hogtown, because the more lines we have in the water, the more likely we're going to keep perch in that area. We're keeping them entertained. It's as simple as that.
SPEAKER_05That's fascinating. Um that is that is very cool. And the other thing that that um that you're doing too with that runway when you're setting up on that um that um that shelf and down into the uh the deeper water on the break, um you're collecting data. You've got data to to start to understand what the movements are. And um, and that is that is the foundation of patterning. Absolutely. And um, the more data you can you can get. I always say to Pat, to Pat Tryon, my uh my my uh former muskie guide and and longtime and still great friend, you know, we'll get out in the boat and we'll be fishing away or or trolling or casting or doing whatever. And um we'll be we'll be dreaming and thinking about where and what and how and why and everything else. And I'll just every once in a while, I'll look at them and I'll say, hey, it's it's just data. We need to we need to collect as much data as we can. And uh that is uh that that's that's amazing.
SPEAKER_02It's also important to know where the fish aren't, you know. Yeah, like we'll say for perch here, you know, we don't have a hot spot, they're always moving, but there is bad spots. Um so we could set all of our huts up, and if I right within the start of the first few days, we'll know if it's a bad spot. And by a bad spot, we're talking uh a 20 by 20 foot area, and it could just be a section that has a really tall weed that didn't die off and drop the bottom. That can be enough to make a bad spot because perch don't want to go near it because it could be holding a predator, it could be a bass or a pike in it, and it's as simple as that. And those bad spots here change every year based on the vegetation that's growing in those areas.
SPEAKER_05So that was my next question. Is Hogtown always in the same spot?
Wrap‑Up, How To Find Hot Box Huts
SPEAKER_02Pretty much. Um, it's it's within that drop, right? We've got a few kilometers of drop that basically is all the same. So we choose a spot that's very close to where we live. Like we have a live camera now on the top of the house looking out onto the lake that you can see on our YouTube channel. It's 24-7. Um, so that that gives us the ability to have a live camera aiming out at our huts, which we think is pretty cool.
SPEAKER_05That is cool. So tell everybody how they can they can go and look at that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so we do um, you may have seen them, Steve. We we publish uh ice reports whenever we see a change in conditions. Yeah. Or uh usually as the season's building, as we're building ice, we're a little more frequent with them. Um, or if we're losing ice, uh we'll do ice reports, you know, and they're just two to five minute clips just saying what's going on out there. And we'll sometimes have uh some local people on there. We might have, you know, our MP or MPP or mayor, uh locals. We just had the rescue like Simcoe Coalition do one with us. Um in addition to that on our YouTube channel, which you can find just by searching hotbox touchs on there, we have a 24-7 live feed. Um, it's a camera we have that's 15 feet high in the air, aiming out on the lake. Uh, it's a fairly decent camera. Sometimes it's a pan tilt and zoom, so we might be aiming in on a particular hut or a particular animal. Uh we're finding that there's a lot more bald eagles around here lately, and uh we have a golden eagle that's been frequenting the area. So we do uh we do throw uh like we're hunters. So some of our scraps are like a you know, we've so far this year we've thrown a goose carcass out there, and uh we we get to watch the the birds come in and enjoy that and see them up close, and it creates a great opportunity for people taking pictures. But uh the camera's new, it's only been up a few days, but we're gonna set it up with that camera and we're gonna actually aim that camera towards the food source we put out there so people will actually be able to see you know bald eagles eating food here on Lake Simco, which we think is just incredible.
SPEAKER_05That is incredible, that is awesome, folks. You gotta check this out. Go to the uh go to uh uh the YouTube channel, uh Hotbox Huts, and it's the that's what the YouTube channel is called, Hotbox Huts.
SPEAKER_02Yep, that'll that'll bring it up right there, and you'll be able to see our ice reports too. And if you subscribe, it's uh especially if you're interested in fishing in this area, hit subscribe and you'll know anytime that we come out with a new video. Because if we come out with a new video, it means the ice has changed. We either got more ice or or we were losing ice, or we're dealing with snow-covered uh situation that maybe you can't walk on. And that's just something that we do. It's not for our clients, you know. Um, our clients are gonna come out with us, we're gonna make sure we get them out in the hut regardless. But that's our way of giving back to the local fishing community too. You know, let them know what's going on out there. You know, we're not selfish, we don't own the lake. Everybody can come. There's a place for everyone, there's room for everyone, and we we do what we can to make that as strange as positive as possible for everybody, whether you're a client of ours or not.
SPEAKER_05Well, Donnie, that those are words of wisdom um uh from one business owner to another. Um that right there um is one of the true marks of a of a uh a successful business mind. Um if you can adopt the idea that all ships rise with the tide, um you will you will um be successful um no matter what. Um and then with the determination and the the love for what you're doing, I can tell that you've got so much passion for the business, for the for fishing, um uh for ice fishing. It's it's amazing. Uh and um what you've managed to build there, like 50 huts, that in itself is a uh an achievement that um that few people can say that they've pulled off. That's not a small, that's not a small operation.
SPEAKER_02No, it's not at all. And uh it's it's a year-round one too. You know, we're out there for 10 weeks if we're lucky, but it it's a 52-week a year job, you know, repairs, maintenance, moving these things. Um yeah, you you wouldn't do something like this if you didn't love it because you're not gonna get rich doing it, I can tell you that. Um, but it's it's it's a way of turning a hobby. You know, we're gonna be out there fishing anyways. Um, my wife Ashley is an avid fisherman herself, or fisher person, I guess, herself. Um, white fish is more her thing, but uh she's gonna have no choice but to have an open mind to purge because this is where we are now and our daughter's loving it too. But it's a way of life for us. So if we can the the way I look at it too is if I if I force it, force the business part of it, um, it means I don't have a choice. I'm going out there. Um, if I'm tired from work or I'm tired from this or I'm tired from that, I don't have the choice. I'm going out there. And once I get out there, I love it. Do you know what I mean? It's the the business part of it forces me to do what I want to do. Similar to when I guide with hunting, you know, if I don't feel it, I do once I get out there and I enjoy it once I'm in the field. So that's why I love guiding with hunting as well.
SPEAKER_05So before we move off of um off of um hotbox huts, I want to talk a little bit about how technology um is um a part of your business. Do you you what do you use, if any technology? Uh if somebody comes up to uh to use one of your huts, what can it be equipped with? Um do you go as far as using live scope in some spots? Do you use uh video uh cameras? Do you use what what type of technology are you uh are you using?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so we we try to keep it simple. Um we find things can get pretty busy. We tend to cater mostly to new fisher people, um, people with children, and um a lot of new Canadians, people have never been on the ice before. So for a lot of people, the the best part of the experience is just getting in a machine and going for a ride on the ice.
SPEAKER_05Um and catching fish, like I mean, it you go in a hut and you put your your line down a hole.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, basically, yeah. It's it's ice fishing, right? So you're stationary. Um, of course, there's techniques that you can apply. Um, we don't do the sonar, we don't, we don't rent sonar. Um the majority of our huts offer site fishing, which we think is is incredibly better than than any sonar out there. Um we we use live scope ourselves, not in Cooks Bay. Um unless we're trying to chase crappy, super, super late season, where you're trying to see which way the school went. Um that's where live scope's a benefit. But even then, before we had live scopes, Teve, I used to reach down with the transducer in my hand and aim it sideways. You know, no way. Oh, yeah. This is before live scope was even a thing. I'd reach down the hole and aim my transducer sideways with my hand. So it's um trying to look for which way the fish were going. So even though the technology is new, the concept isn't. I mean, I've been doing that for as long as I've had had ice fish and sonar. But what we what the really cool thing is, and this this comes from actually JP Bushy, who you also know.
SPEAKER_05Yes, I know JP very well.
SPEAKER_02He when he guides, like he he always said to me back when he was guiding perch, you know, and he's been down this way too many, many years. Ago, but it stuck with me. He says there's nothing that will give you more information than a camera. And he's right. So we do have camera rentals. And if you can't sight fish, let's say the water's a little cloudy or you're in a deeper spot, that camera gives you the ability to see what the fish are doing. I'll speak to perch specifically. If they have full bellies, when they come up and flare on your lure or your minnow or your hook, it's not always a super aggressive flare. Sometimes it's nothing more than a hen peck you'd give grandma. And uh you need that hook point to get in their mouth to catch them. That's where you gotta make sure that you know the first piece of that lure, if it's a jig or whatever you've got, is that hook to go in their mouth. And that's where a camera can really help pick up on small things like that. The camera can also help you pick up on uh, you know, like a blood worm hatch. Um, when you know, when they're in the mud, you'll see them digging up the mud a bit more, lets you know to maybe throw something a little similar on there. Sometimes we use mealworms as bait in that situation too, just to kind of match the hatch. Um, there's nothing like having a camera in the water. Uh, and and we do rent them, especially when you've got kids with you. Kids love screens, you know, oh, for sure. And uh to keep their attention. The other thing we're doing this year, um we're also we've we partnered with a local restaurant. Um is there's we find that you know, to have the full experience out there, a lot of our clients are bringing, you know, special meals from home. And you know, they're they're asking for ways of cooking it up. So part of the experience out there and part of fishing is keeping yourself fed, you know. Yeah. So we've partnered with a restaurant, we're gonna have a a menu with five items selected and made specifically for hot box huts and hog town. So you'll be able to come out, the kids now, because you gotta keep those kids fed. You keep the kids' bellies full, and that means you know, mom and dad can fish a little longer too and extend their day. So it's all about what we can do to help you connect with the fish and spend as much time out there as possible. Because at the end of the day, we want you to catch fish. That is our goal. Yes, you're gonna have a great time with the ride. Yes, you're gonna have a great time. Like we have a skating rink out there now, um, some different activities. But at the end of the day, we're running a hut business, and our goal is to have you catch fish. And the more time you spend in that hut learning with us, the better you're gonna do. And when you say technology, Steve, you're and you were talking data earlier. What we do with our operation that's a little different than most of the operations I've even been to is we have guys out there all day long. We run a very high staffing level. Um, you're gonna have your door knocked on a few times during the day, and they're gonna ask you if you're catching fish. If you're not, they're gonna ask you to pull up your presentation and they will judge you and uh hopefully correct what you're doing. And it's usually a small change. It could be from pulling that giant minnow off that you have there that they're trying to get in their mouth and get that hook in, but they can't, to simply pinching it down to just a head and having that hook point exposed. You know, so it's using the data and the experience that we have in the area to to connect with the people and shorten their learning curve.
SPEAKER_05That is um, I wasn't expecting to hear that. I've never heard of a uh of an ice operation that has a staff that will walk around and um be at your one of your 52 huts to knock on the door, sometimes more than once, to say, hey, how are you doing? Are you catching fish? Is there anything that I can do? And you're teaching people how to to catch those fish and giving them an experience and improving upon their experience. Um Donnie, I'm I'm I'm honestly I'm very impressed with uh with um with what you're doing. All of those things that you're doing are um are things that you know when you go through and you have a a lodge like Chaudiere and you think about you know how you're gonna get people to come and how you're gonna retain those people. And uh what I had the the over over and above everything, um, I wanted people to come and have an outstanding experience. And and some of that was catching fish, some of that might have been jam nights, some of that might have been taking photographs of mushrooms behind the cottage, uh, you know, and um the way that I figured it all out or tried to was just to talk to everybody and find out what they wanted out of the experience. And what you're doing with that is exactly the same thing. And um, I like I say, now I've gotta come. Uh I gotta I gotta come and uh and experience what you're offering because to have an outdoor fishing experience this close to the GTA is um is uh is outstanding number one. Um and number two, to to get that experience the way that you're talking about, um hey, listen, guys, it's uh um everybody that's listening out there, this is something that we should do. This is something that you should take your family and do because it's first and foremost easy and it's fun, you know, and uh good on you. Like, I mean, I was the food thing too, like um uh the one thing that that I've thought about for years looking at Nipissing with uh with the number of huts out on the water, and um, and and uh somebody out there is gonna take this and run with it. And it's not it's not a uh a crazy idea, but Nipissing has cities out there. Uh-huh. And um, I don't know if anybody has ever tried to put together a coffee truck, you know, hole behind the sled. And uh that was what I was gonna ask you uh before you come up with your with the with the food thing, is is do you have a coffee truck that you take out? Because 50 huts, that's a lot of people out there. And and I imagine you could you could make some pretty good money just selling coffee and hot sandwiches and things like that. But yeah, um I'm already doing it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so what we we we try to do too, Steve, and like I'm I'm not just uh a provider to outdoor experiences, I'm also a consumer, right? Um, I stayed at Chaudier Lodge when you owned it. Um we're going back, geez, must be 10 years ago now. Um but I do remember you coming around at dinner every night and asking how our day went and focusing your questions on what was important to us. You know, yes. I'm all about fishing. That's all we talked about. Um, I do remember having a few questions where I was like, hey, I tried, I I like to do a lot of stuff on my own. And you know, uh, we we had used at that point, I didn't have my own boat up there. I used one of your sneater strips and uh like, hey, can I get to this spot? You know, like, oh, I don't know. But I'll talk to one of the other guys that might be pushing it, but given the weather, let's see how it be. And you know, you went and found that answer and got back to me. And then I went out and got a muskie the next day doing that, right? So, you know, it all worked out, but it goes a long way where as a consumer who also I I love fly-ins, I love outposts, I love lodges, I love fishing experiences and going out with guides and learning. Um, I base a lot on what we provide to our clients, is what I would want myself. You know, 100%. And it it really helps with things, you know, having clean washrooms, having multiple washrooms, you know, not having a lineup. Being warm is number one. You know, simple, simple things like because I don't like the cold. I'm an ice hut operator, I hate the cold, but I am dressed for it. I guarantee you, when I'm out there, I am always equipped. But learning from guys that that you know set the path and the and beat the trail before me, um, I'm not competing with them, I'm learning from them. And that and that includes you, Steve, and you know, my experiences at Chaudier when I visited when you were there, you know? And uh look at the food that you you guys provide there, you know, these outstanding meals. So it is it that and fishing and the outdoors kind of all go hand in hand, you know? And it's uh you gotta learn from what the guys are doing, and and sometimes learn from what people do wrong, too. You know, 100%. Learn from your own mistakes. It doesn't hurt to try something, and if it doesn't work out, don't be afraid to throw that idea away.
SPEAKER_05100%. Some of the most valuable lessons that one can learn are the most expensive ones. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02I certainly know what you're talking about. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_05100%. Well, listen, Donnie. Um, this has been wonderful. I really appreciate you um uh coming on. And um there's a couple more layers that we'll we're gonna have to get into um when it comes to what you do um on uh on another episode. I'd love to have you on for one coming up here uh uh sometime in the new year. And um I'm interested to know what you're doing in the other seasons, your guiding, your your um whether what you're doing on soft water and everything else. But um uh I don't feel we can do that justice in in 10 minutes. So um let's plan on doing this again.
SPEAKER_02For sure. I'm in, buddy.
SPEAKER_05That's that's great. And uh and thank you so much for this. Uh it has been uh it has been great. I I learned a lot today about perch fishing and about Lake Simcoe and how your operation runs. And um uh like I say, I I gotta I'm gonna have to come and uh experience this. It is uh it it sounds outstanding. I know it'll be very cool. And um, all you folks out there um hustle on over to uh Lake Simcoe. Uh it is uh it is one of one of Ontario's finest lakes. Um and it is it is tied for the second largest lake inside Ontario borders with Lake Nipissing. Uh so we're not talking about small water, we're talking about a very large and diverse uh ecosystem. And this is one part of it and a very cool part of it. Um so Donnie, uh listen, thank you so much again. And um uh just tell everybody again uh how they can get a hold of you, um, what uh what um outlets you're using as far as uh uh you know your TikTok or or YouTube or or all of all of that stuff. And hey, listen, from when I used to start doing these for other people, don't forget to thank your wife.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, Steve, uh we're pretty easy to track down. If you throw hot box huts in the search engine on YouTube or Facebook or Instagram, you're gonna get us there. YouTube's what we recommend the most because that's where you're gonna get our our actual videos and our ice reports as well as that live camera. Um, my wife, Ashley, she's also on uh Instagram as Canadian Outdoor Mama now. We involve our 16-month-old daughter in literally everything. Um when we're out there, she's out there. If we're baiting bears, she's strapped to mom's back. Um we also uh Ashley, my wife there, she's a big supporter, and she has uh a TikTok channel that that's done very, very well over the years. Um, and that is, I believe, Unbroken Outdoors. And Ashley Casperson or Ashley Crowder gets tough. She's got a name change in there now. Some of those uh outlets will let you change it, some of them won't. But yeah, you hit hot box touch in that search bar and you're you're gonna find us.
SPEAKER_05That's awesome. That is that is awesome. And again, thank you so much for for uh for doing this and uh Merry Christmas. We're coming up, uh we're coming up to uh Christmas in a couple of days. And and folks, merry Christmas to all of you out there. And uh now, uh, you know, I'd like to thank Lakeside Marine in uh in Red Lake, Ontario. Uh they've been uh they've been a supporter of the podcast now for uh just about a year, and um they are truly wonderful people up there. And uh I'd like to thank the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Network and Angelo Viola in particular. Ange, we love you. Merry Christmas. And uh thank you to Anthony and uh and Dino uh boys, there are producers, Anthony Mancini, Dean Taylor. Without you guys, we wouldn't be able to do what we do. And without you folks, I wouldn't be able to do this too. So thanks again, and thus brings us to the conclusion of another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North.
SPEAKER_03I'm a good old boy, never meaning no harm. I'll be the only who ever saw been railing in the hog since the day I was born. Special Today I might own a lodge and I'd be fine. I'll be making my way the only way I know how. And now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Hi 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.
SPEAKER_00That's right. Every Thursday, Angie and I will be right here in your ears, bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio.
SPEAKER_04Hmm. Now what are we gonna talk about for two hours every week?
SPEAKER_00Well, you know there's gonna be a lot of fishing.
SPEAKER_07I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, 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 Garchomp Turks, and all the Russians would go fishing.
SPEAKER_00And now that we're reforesting and letting things, it's the perfect transmission environment to line to check if any game isn't cooked properly, marinated or you will taste it.
SPEAKER_04And 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.
SPEAKER_00Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER_01As 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's 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.