Diaries of a Lodge Owner

Episode 147: Life Behind The Guideboat Wheel

• Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Network • Episode 147

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A fishing guide’s job is not just finding fish. It’s reading people, managing pressure, and turning a tough bite into a day your guests will still talk about on the drive home. Around the table at Two Rivers Lodge, we trade honest stories about guiding in Northern Ontario, learning unfamiliar water near Kenora, and the moment you realize you’re not “just a fishing buddy” anymore, you’re responsible for the experience.

We get into what happens when yesterday’s shoreline pattern dies, how short strikes and changing conditions test your confidence, and why electronics like Humminbird side imaging and forward-facing sonar can feel amazing one day and confusing the next. We also talk about the stuff that truly builds a lodge’s reputation: guide teamwork, sharing information, and keeping guests engaged even when the lake makes you work for every walleye and northern pike.

Then the stories take off. Wolf pups at a shoreline den, a rescued golden eagle named Hope, and bush-job close calls involving float planes and a helicopter power loss that still makes your palms sweat. We wrap with hard-earned outdoor lessons, from hunting adrenaline to the simplest fishing truth of all: your chain is only as strong as your weakest link, and a cheap snap can cost you the fish of a lifetime.

If you enjoy fishing lodge life, multi-species angling, and real guide talk about walleye, pike, muskie, and trout, you’ll feel right at home here. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next one, share this with a buddy who lives for the north, and leave a review to help more anglers find the show.

A Moose That Was Not Done

SPEAKER_03

I remember one year my dad he was out hunting with you know my uncles and stuff and they had almost toy every year. They had a bull tag and a cow tag. So my dad was walking over this hill and he seen a bull and a cow standing there. So he shot the bull and it went down. The cow kind of trot up a few steps and stopped, waiting for the bull. So he shot her and she went over the hill. So he walked by the bull, it's dead, it's on the ground, poked it, nothing. Ghost takes off after this cow mouse. Well, she had just stopped at the bottom of the hill. So he put one more in her and finished her off.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

The rest of the guys come and they were looking after the cow. My dad went back to take care of the bull. So he walked up, he dropped the antler, it's dead. Grabbed the antler, set his rifle down on it, went cut the throat, and the moose stood up.

SPEAKER_09

This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Networks, Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North. We're stepping away from the usual format and gathering around the table at Two Rivers Lodge. I'm currently here on a two-week guide assignment, and after spending long days on the water, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to hear from the people who do this every single day. On this show, I sat down with four guides for an honest conversation about life behind the wheel of a guideboat. We talked about fishing, guests, memorable days, challenging days, and what it really takes to help people create the kind of memories that keep them coming back year after year. So pull up a chair and join us for a guide's eye view of life at a northern fishing lodge. These are the stories, laughs, and lessons that rarely make it to the brochures, but are very much part of the adventure. Here's my conversation with the round table at Two Rivers Lodge.

Welcome To The Guide Roundtable

SPEAKER_09

Welcome to another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, folks. I am sitting at the first guide round table here with all of my fellow guides, and uh I, for the first time, can consider myself a guide here at Two Rivers Lodge. Welcome to all of you. Thank you for joining us. So we have Paul, and you can say your last name. Salinas. Selinas, and we have Steve, Darward, Darward, and we have Cowboy. Cowboy John Bryan, who's no stranger to the show. And we also have Rick Payne, and he is another um uh no stranger to the show. We had uh both uh Rick and uh John on uh oh it's gotta be a few episodes back, but uh welcome back, boys and folks. Yeah, welcome again. So for me, this is the first time that I've actually guided. And um I I own Chaudi Air. I did guide, but um it was only when I um I messed up, overbooked, one of my guides got drunk and slept in, and uh I went on the water. And I went on the water um under the pretenses that I am not taking payment. I didn't even charge for the guide. The people that because I figured I messed up, um, but those people, um, I'm just oh yeah, here we go. Those people, they I took the burden off of myself because I didn't want to have to perform as a guide. And I would say, I'm not a guide because I wasn't on the water every day. And you guys know what it's like to be on the water every day. It can definitely be a grind, it can be a grind, and but you're following the fish. I was just following information that my guys were giving me and then going out and trying to implement it. So I would just say, you know what, I'm your fishing buddy for the day, and off we would go. So this is a new experience for me, and I'm gonna be honest with you. I wasn't even sure if I was gonna like guiding. Because I've seen lots of guides, I've hired lots of guides, and I've seen the grind day after day after day, and the sun and the heat, dealing with people constantly. And that, you know, it's great to deal with people, but sometimes it's not the easiest thing, right? And uh, I was a little nervous coming up here. I wasn't uh I wasn't sure if I was gonna like it.

SPEAKER_02

So here's a question for you, Steve.

New Guide Nerves And Expectations

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I remember back when we did an episode before, yeah, buddy Johnny asked you a question. Yeah. What's your head space going into a guiding situation that, you know, you'd where where you don't know what the outcome's gonna be and you're new to the system? What was going through your head doing this?

SPEAKER_09

Well, I um I got here on the first day, and um I went out with Mark and he showed me around a little bit here and there, and and uh honestly, uh that first day we went back into uh Dead End Bay and up in shallow and casted some spoons and some some things and um um we did well. And then we went and stopped on pontoon point, and then we stopped over on uh this side of Bear Island, which I actually haven't gone back there, um, and um um out in front of uh Halley's Haley's Bay, and every place we stopped, we didn't catch anything really big, but it was like we stopped for five minutes and it oh this is a spot and drop down, boom, boom, oh there's one. And then you go to the next spot and the next spot. And when I come in after that day, and it was a miserable day, it was raining and cold. I thought to myself, oh, this is gonna be easy. And then we start the next day, everything changes, it's now sunny, it's a little bit warmer, and I went back to um a couple of those spots and dropped down, and I I I didn't get into them right away, and now the um the pressure of having guests in the boat and trying to perform is start, and like I mean, I come in here, I'm I'm nobody special, but because I'm on the Fish in Canada show and you're special to us. Well, um, that comes with a little added pressure because people hear, I think because Willie tells them, um, that I'm hold I'm a co-host and this and that. So everybody thinks, oh my God. It was like when I was an owner. People think, I'm going fishing with the owner. This is great. And I'm thinking, oh my god.

SPEAKER_03

What did I get like?

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, Billy, Pat, where are the fish?

SPEAKER_02

This is what I hire guides for. That's right.

SPEAKER_09

So it was it was a little stressful right off the bat. And it wasn't until um, well, actually, that first day went pretty good. The first couple of spots we stopped, we hit fish right away. They were fish that were eaters, they were good in the box, this and that. And uh that day went fairly well. And uh at the end of the day, I thought, you know what? And great people in the boat.

SPEAKER_03

I thought that that makes the big difference. Yeah, right. People that you socialize with, yeah, you know, you joke around with that's that's what makes guiding important, yes, and showing them a good time.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, 100%. And I'm good at that. I'm just uh, you know, if it was the fishing, and actually it was the uh navigating too, because I come from the upper French River and um it's up and down like a toilet seat there, man. There is hazards everywhere. Although the Navionics is is pretty good, the mapping is pretty good, but still there's stuff there that you don't know. And the other issue that I was a little nervous about was being in somebody else's boat. You know, you're you're very comfortable in your own boat. You know where you put all of your rods, you know where you got your baits, you know where you got this and you got that. And Willie sent me out with a um uh ziploc bag full of crankbaits and and and a couple of uh uh jigs in a box and some and and just stuff because yeah, he hadn't even unpacked. So, you know, it's like I'm pulling shit out of Willie's box. I'm not 100% sure. I know we were catching him on crankbaits and spoons, but you know as well as I know that there's some situations when it's just not working, and now what? You always have to have something else, yeah. So I see, yeah. But for those first two days, um we put uh 35, 36 inch northern in in the boat, and guests were happy, and you know, they uh they love to drink, and and at by the end of the day, you know, they they they're they're

When The Easy Bite Vanishes

SPEAKER_09

having fun. Yeah, um, it wasn't until the last couple of days things started to change drastically.

SPEAKER_03

And um it was almost like someone switched that light off. Yes, fishing got tough, things changed.

SPEAKER_09

Things got tough, and that was when I was like, okay, what are we gonna do? And um I always had the my go-to spot was that Haley's Bay shoreline, and then the bay and behind it, that shoreline, and we were catching hammer handles, northern pipe, the smaller, and there were some big ones. Um, but it was it was tough. And then um I just kept telling myself, we gotta keep throwing, just keep them throwing, keep them throwing baits. And I haven't dropped a rod in the water with the guests at all. I tell them, you're my horses, you've got to do this for me. Yeah, you know, and um uh yesterday, um Aaron, the young, uh, the young fellow that uh that's here with um with Beth and Leon, his mom and dad, uh, we got back into that bay. I had heard Rick, you had told me yesterday that you did very well along a shoreline in back there. That's right. So I figured, well, I'm not gonna go and hit those spots because I didn't know if you were on them, on that spot. So I went right back to the home spot in the back of Haley's Bay, where I first was imprinted with big, beautiful fish, and got back in there, and I thought, holy shit, this is like three feet. The day we were in there, you it was it was overcast and raining, and I didn't have any idea how deep it was. So we got back and started throwing stuff around and uh really didn't hit anything at all there. So we started working our way out around the point, and Aaron cast it. And I always tell the guests, listen, we're fishing the shoreline, but one in every five or six casts, throw it out the other side, throw it out into deep water. And uh Aaron threw um um a big spinner he was throwing out behind him in deep water and hooked into probably the biggest northern that I've seen outside of the Northwest Territories. It was a monster, and he had it right up to the side of the boat, and um it had it just one hook right in in the in its bottom jaw, not even the top jaw. And he and I and I'm with the net, and I'm like, oh, I I I didn't even know what to tell him. Like, I mean, because if you say something, then all of a sudden they change and something happens, right? And he was he didn't do anything wrong at all. He was just pulling it to the to the to the boat, and I was there with the net, and it gave one last big head shake, and off it went. I near jumped in after it. My heart broke. I was like, oh my God. And it was it was the only, well, it was up until that point in the afternoon, it was the only fish that we saw. And um um we ended up going back to Haley's, the other place that I was doing well, and we we did catch some more, but nothing huge, but it was a great day. And um, so to answer your question in a long roundabout way, um, my headspace was uh nervous. Um but after the first conversation with the guests and you start to find commonalities and everything else, it's good. It's good. And um after that first day, it it feels fairly natural in the boat. It's just a matter of of for me of of learning the lake so that you know I can find the the transitions, know where the rock and sand is, know where the cabbage beds are.

SPEAKER_03

Um with the river, it constantly changes from one year to the next.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah. From one day to the next.

SPEAKER_02

The current can be ripping one day, the next day the current isn't ripping. Yeah. So personally, I think you did a great job at the amount of time that you were here.

SPEAKER_09

Well, thank you.

Electronics And Learning A New Lake

SPEAKER_09

Um the other thing that I um that I um I I noticed was um the electronics. I was struggling with the electronics in the beginning. Uh, I'm not used to hummingbird. And um on the French, I'm I'm used to fishing a little bit deeper water and being able to see hooks uh on traditional, seeing down scan. The side scan is really good, but I I I think part of the problem was they were fairly spread out, and I didn't find any schools to actually identify on that hummingbird what the schools looked like. I found one today, the first time that I saw a congregated group of walleye that weren't glued to the bottom. Because with with the with the live scope, my live scope, I have the same unit at home, but when I'm using it there, it's clear as a bell. And it and I know it has to do with water condition and everything else. And I was playing with the uh settings. I even called Pete Bowman and uh and talked to him a little bit about it. And he gave me he each, you know, he it's all the same stuff, right? Play with your game, you know, there's there's not a whole lot with the live scope that you can that you can really play with, right? Um yeah, but once uh once I started getting onto that, that helped a lot. But yeah, so that um that's kind of where I'm at. And the other question that you didn't ask that I will answer is um I think I do enjoy guiding, you know? Um it's uh it's just starting to feel good, um, even though today was a bad day. I didn't bring anything in for shore lunch this morning. Um but it wasn't just you. No, oh, I marked you like just before lunch.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I caught my last free walleye 15 minutes before I had heading in.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

But I mean, I was marking lots.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, yeah. And it's so it uh it's it's been very enjoyable. And the other thing that I will mention um with this group in particular, um, like I say, I had lots of guides in uh at Chaudiere. Um and since since starting with um Fish in Canada, I've had the pleasure of um visiting a lot of lodges. Um and um the uh the the the community that you guys have here as guides is is probably the best that I've ever seen. Because um even at Chaudiere, there were always guides that were very standoffish about their spots. Um and uh um I would always encourage them to share their information because I believe that all all ships rise with the tide, right? Um and and working as a cohesive group to figure out a body of water is so much more productive than than not.

SPEAKER_02

Than being at war than with each other.

SPEAKER_09

Yes, we're all on the same team.

SPEAKER_10

It's always changing, so you gotta work together, right?

SPEAKER_09

Yes, yeah, and that uh that helped me out huge. Like, I mean, the the information that I get from you guys, all of you, is uh is paramount. And that's really well.

SPEAKER_11

I came in just like you, like I was the system at all. Uh I was lucky to have Adam kind of tell me, like, follow me first beer or tooth and so get some tracks and how uh how did let's ask the same question.

SPEAKER_09

Um, what was your mindset when you come here to guide? Um it was similar to this is Paul, by the way, folks.

SPEAKER_11

Yeah, it was similar to when I went to North because I didn't know that system either. I just learned it a bit and followed for the first little while and then got the hang of it and pretty much replicated that here.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah. Great. Well, the other thing that I know by uh watching you with the guests is your good looks really, really help.

SPEAKER_07

Well, thanks for pointing that out.

SPEAKER_09

Oh yeah. That's a great idea. That's a great idea. So, Steve, how long have you been guiding?

SPEAKER_03

I've been guiding since my twenties, off and on. Yeah. Uh went and did some work in the rotaries and stuff like that, and did some home renovations on my own. And uh I met Will about four years ago. Rick took me under his wing, and here we are today.

SPEAKER_09

Beautiful, beautiful. And you're from here as well.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's correct. I've grew up and around Kenora for about, well, 49 years now, I guess.

SPEAKER_09

So, over the years, how tell us a little bit about um some of your crazy guide stories. Do you have any or even Bush stories or your parents like well?

SPEAKER_03

I mean, my dad he always hunted and fished, and we always got out, and I think the first moose that I was taking a picture with was when I was three years old. Oh, really? Uh north of north of Igneys. No way. Up by Valora. Really? Spent all my summers up there as a kid and good times.

SPEAKER_09

Nice. Have you ever wrestled any bears?

SPEAKER_03

No, but I did come close to one that one of my guys shot, and I was about five feet from it when I noticed it. It was looking at me and I was looking at him.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, he was looking at you thinking lunch.

SPEAKER_02

That's that's locked eyes. And for all who's listening, Steve looks like a bear, so yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Radon. Well, listen, let's open up the table, guys. Let's have a just a regular conversation.

SPEAKER_02

So let's open a beer.

SPEAKER_09

That's great. Sounds right there. Um, any guide stories or interesting things come to mind for anybody?

SPEAKER_02

We're not talking about that.

SPEAKER_09

Well, we can talk about anything. This is a lot. This is a safe space. That's okay, John.

SPEAKER_02

It's like your therapy. Yeah, there's some very interesting groups that come up. Yeah.

The Weirdest Guest Moments

SPEAKER_09

Uh yeah. I remember one group that came to Chaudi Air. They um uh a a group of uh Italian fellas from uh Vaughn, they sent their wives to um um down south and they come up. And when they come up, I assumed they had their wives with them. And uh they went out fishing, and the girls stayed back at the cottage, and you know, and and it was weird because they were at the cottage, but I never the for the first two days I never I didn't see them, right? So this one evening we come back in. This is really this is a lodge story, not a guide story. We come back in. And um it was dinner time. Uh the the the guys come walking from the cottage around the front of the lodge with all the windows, and they had these two girls. And the one girl had a mini skirt on that was so short, it was ridiculous. And they walk into the dining room. Well, it turns out she wasn't wearing any underwear. And when she would bend over, her pooter would fall out. Yeah. And I had to deal with this. And there were there were women in the lodge. And how do you deal with that? Well, to be honest with you, oh, buddy. You should have seen the looks that these guys were getting. And um, you should have seen the looks the guys were giving, right? And then the looks that the wives were giving their husbands while they were looking.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, it's the vicious circle.

SPEAKER_09

Oh, it was a it was a it was a and and I'm in the middle of it walking around the dining room and nobody ever said anything. And I couldn't, I couldn't bring myself to go over to this woman and the group and say, excuse me, ma'am.

SPEAKER_02

You gotta put that away.

SPEAKER_09

Would you mind putting on underwear?

SPEAKER_08

So I just I just pretended I didn't see it. Yeah. Although I did see it. You're only allowed to cook topless. Yeah, I did it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah. And uh when they left, I asked the guys, I said, listen, um, when the girls come out of the cottage, please ensure that they're wearing proper attire. That's appropriate needed. And that problem was looked after thereafter. But um, as you can tell, I'm pretty sure they weren't their wives because they were on holidays and they weren't their daughters. I think not. I really think not. So, Rick, when we were on the dock uh last night or the night before, yeah, I heard uh a couple of stories that you told.

Float Planes And Helicopter Close Calls

SPEAKER_09

And this was back in your uh in your uh forest firefighting days. Well, you're still forest firefighting, but back when you were um you were in the field a lot, and one of them involved a float plane. Um tell us a little bit about that experience.

SPEAKER_10

Actually, that uh then I I was working for uh Boise Woodlands, the forest company. Uh uh, I wasn't with the MR quite yet. So um, yeah, well what what I was doing, we we were locating road at the time. So uh so locating road, so you would we were we'd fly into a lake and we need to establish new roads through the bush. So gotcha. You know, it's remote. So we would fly in, we'd walk in with ribbon line, we'd locate where we wanted the road to be built. And so that's what we were doing. We were locating where the road would go through the forest, and we'd land on one lake and get picked up on another at the end of the day. Yeah, yeah. So so we we fly into this little lake, side lake, it was the name of it. Um and the the plan was we were gonna taxi by uh a grass point, and and the two of us were gonna jump off the pontoon and on the grass point and go do our work for the day.

SPEAKER_09

So taxiing means you're you're on the pontoon while the plane is still running and driving, and you're gonna jump, jump off the moving plane.

SPEAKER_10

Correct. Okay, yeah. So the I was gonna jump second. The first guy he hesitated, so I didn't get time to jump off the pontoon. So the pilot thought I was off the pontoon. He he just kind of figured I was off the pontoon and and slapped the hammer down, and because it was a short lake, and he was at the proper end of the lake, so he he just started to take off. Silly me. I I chose to stay on the pontoon and not jump off.

SPEAKER_07

I didn't want to get wet.

SPEAKER_10

So so I you know, I kind of scurry up the pontoon a bit and get a hold of the ladder. Um, I got a hold of it, and I'm hugging it tight. And you're now flying. And yeah, buddy's going across the across. We won't say any who it was, we'll say buddy. Um yeah, a really good buddy by the sounds of it, and uh so so he actually takes off and he's like off the water and and clearing the trees at the end of the lake. He's you know, he's going up over the trees, and I kind of got work my way around the ladder while he's flying, and then I get enough around that I could start pounding on the door. So I'm pounding on the door and kind of peeking in the window and thinking what yeah. He looks over at me and I'm like staring at him, like we're going to he's going, What the fuck? And I'm going to say, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08

Like a tear in a head like no shit. So, how high did you get?

SPEAKER_10

We had to be like we cleared the trees at the end of the lake. So I don't know, five, six hundred feet in the air. Yeah. So then he, you know, he carved it back around and it came down on the lake and well, of course, soaked me now, anyways. Yeah, no doubt. So yeah, I I taxied in. There was no hesitation. I was quick to depart.

SPEAKER_02

Get off this flight now.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah. I might use your head as a stone to get to the shore.

SPEAKER_09

Holy shit. Now, I gotta I got a question. How how was the wind up there? Oh, it was crazy. Well, yeah, behind the prop.

SPEAKER_10

You've probably stuck your head out the window of a car the highway, right? Yeah. How hard it is to breathe. Yeah. Yeah. And and take a June bug in the forehead. Yeah, so you know, you turn to face the accrue and to get a breathe.

SPEAKER_08

How long was the flight if he didn't stop? Oh, well, at least an hour.

SPEAKER_10

Oh we were we were well north of Otaculkin, and he would have been going back to Fort Francis.

SPEAKER_09

So wow. And then while we're on the aviation uh side of things, uh but there was another story that followed that night with a helicopter. With a helicopter. No, that's a fire story.

SPEAKER_10

Oh, that's a fire story. Good. So actually, I uh had just found a new fire. We were out. Um, I was uh area fire boss at the time. This big fire flop going on. We were finding a lot of new fires. So I was I was low on fuel. We found this new fire, and I told the pilot just just get up over top of it there, and I'll take a quick GPS location of it. We'll get fuel, we'll come back and and get a better readout and stuff on this fire. And so so he came on quick on the fire, and and uh as he was um coming up to hover over the fire, then the helicopter actually stalled.

SPEAKER_09

And and do helicopters usually stall, not not generally, but it's usually bad news.

SPEAKER_10

It wasn't like it stalled, it was a power loss, put it that way. He you know, it didn't die, the engine didn't die, it just didn't have any power. Oh yeah, even better. So so um so so with a helicopter, the way the the blades rotate on the helicopter, it gives centrifugal force. So so the helicopter when it loses power, whatever it wants to lift to the direction that the blades are for using. So for us, that would be like on if you were in your vehicle, it would be the passenger side of your vehicle, yeah, would want to lift to that that direction.

SPEAKER_08

So you're looking at the ground.

SPEAKER_10

Well, luckily, like we so this happened on the north shore of Lake Superior, one of those big hills uh along there, and they're rather steep. So if he'd come in from the other direction, we would have lifted and went directly into the fire. But lucky for us, he came in from the proper direction. Yeah, and when we lost power, the machine started to lift and it was falling. We were losing altitude about the same as what the grade of the hill was. So like a rock flying out of the yeah, yeah, we're falling, you know, equivalent with with the smoke. So you weren't actually losing the altitude at that point. At that point, we weren't, no. So he's he's playing his games and monkeying around there, trying trying to get some power back to the helicopter. And I was doing a Mayday call, and and I looked up, and uh we're along North Shore of Lake Superior, there's the big high-tension hydro wires with his big steel towers, and we were about to fly into to one of those wires. And I looked up and uh I was during my Mayday call. It's like, holy watch those wires. And pilot, like luckily, he he managed to get under those wires, and uh so now we're up to this point. You're close to the ground. Yeah, well they're they're they're tall a little weird, but still, yeah, we're we're getting closer to the ground. And and so they're cut through the bush too. Now, each side of that, there's a there's a uh row of trees. So now we're below the wires and we're flying like into the trees. So so this story works better. Oh yeah. As so as we're flying, like we're kind of preparing to to hit hopefully not hit the trees, but yeah, and we're kind of it seemed like all of a sudden we caught a little bit of ground effect from from the blades, and it kind of just pushed us up maybe 10 or 20 feet, it seemed, and and our skids went through the tops of the poplars, and we just missed a big white spruce there.

SPEAKER_02

And there was some soiled pants that day. There wasn't any time yet, not even the old stuff, I guess.

SPEAKER_10

So now he's so we we managed to do that, and the hill was falling off rather quickly now, and so he's he's starting to lose, lose, you know, ground speed, and and we're losing altitude. So he's looking at me and he's okay, are you getting ready? So he was gonna, he had the machine, it was it was flared up in the air, and he was just getting ready to shut the masters off for the fuel and the power and everything, and we were getting prepared to to like stick it into the tree skids first. And I was looking at him, going to say, Okay, I'm ready. And I went, I looked and there was a clearing or something. I said, There's something right there.

unknown

Go there!

SPEAKER_10

And he just instinctively banked it, and we come down. There was a creek bed there. We come down this creek, and what I saw was the powwow grounds at Pinch Platte on the shore of North Lake Superior. And we just cleared the the hydro wires at the highway, and we went and we basically crashed into the powwow grounds there, and we did our spinning and you know, tumbling crazy. Whatever.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's freaking crazy. Yeah, did you buy a lottery ticket?

SPEAKER_10

No, no, actually. You probably should have. I should have. I uh there was another helicopter in the area. He heard the May Day call. He came in and landed, make sure we were all right. I pulled all my equipment off of that helicopter, put it on his helicopter, and that's brave.

SPEAKER_02

You got in another one and the other one right now. Yeah, you can't get struck by lightning twice. I guess not.

SPEAKER_10

I went and Kamoli did my mission. And then they made me go to the hospital and get jacked up.

SPEAKER_03

Well, John Boy, when you fall off a horse, don't you get right back on? Yes, you do. You're not wrong.

Lodge Life And Network Messages

SPEAKER_09

Welcome to Two Rivers Lodge, where we know that our hard work and determination creates your best experiences. You'll arrive as a guest but leave as family. Surrounded by a multi-species fishing mecca like no other. Our elite cabins and professional staff are ready to make your stay unforgettable. Experience the difference. Because at two rivers, every cast is a story, and every guest is a part of the family.

SPEAKER_05

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.

Northern Manitoba Cold And Big Fish

SPEAKER_09

So, John Boy, Cowboy John. We last talked to you at Northern, or Nordic.

SPEAKER_07

Yep.

SPEAKER_09

What have uh what's your guide experiences been since?

SPEAKER_02

Um, pretty good. I've been in northern Manitoba since then. Um I'm here now on Two Rivers Lodge, you know.

SPEAKER_09

So what was Northern Manitoba like?

SPEAKER_02

Cold. I'm telling you, it was colder than here? It was two t-shirts, a sweater, and a rain jacket, and your bibs, and possibly two pairs of pants all season. Didn't matter. Really? Four days of hot weather, and when those four days were there, the fly hatch happened. And oh my god, you were eaten alive. It didn't matter. Didn't matter. You were eaten alive. Really? But it was cold. But the fishing, it was good. It was good. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it was really good. There was you know, 100 walleye mornings, there was 46, 47-inch pike being caught. You know, you get 40s all day. It was a good time, but uh what lake? Uh it was uh knee lake.

SPEAKER_09

Oh knee lake. Yeah, right on Charlie Ray likes that lake.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's it's pretty fun out there. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, pretty north. But cold, eh? It was cold, it was not a warm summer when I was there. Wow, yeah. Well, when we were up in um up in the Northwest Territories, when it wasn't cold.

SPEAKER_02

No, Northwest Territories is actually pretty warm when it's in the summertime, although you don't get dark. No, not at all. Right, 24-70.

SPEAKER_09

Not at all. I we were there two years, two or three years ago on uh June the 16th was one of the days.

SPEAKER_11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

And um right close to the solstice, which we're on. Is it today? Is today the 20th or the 21st? Tomorrow's tomorrow's the longest day of the year. Oh wow, yeah, there you go. Happy Father's Day, gentlemen. Happy Father's Day to all you folks listening out there. Um, yeah, it was um the one thing that I was astonished with when you're talking about that. 10 o'clock in the morning looked like 10 o'clock at night. Absolutely. It's just the sun was in two different spots.

SPEAKER_02

I was in an Airbnb when I first got to Yellowknife, and I'm hanging out in my Airbnb and I'm laying down, you know, I'm on my phone, whatever, just passing time. I look outside and I'm like, hmm, I'm gonna go for a walk. I'm gonna go explore. So I get my shoes on and I'll get ready, and all of a sudden I look at the time on my phone and it's 3 a.m. And I'm like, oh, I'm not going out. I'm going to bed. I have a flight tomorrow. Like, no thanks. Went to bed, and it was so hard to go to sleep there for the first while. Unless you have blackout curtains, you like seriously won't be able to sleep that well because it will affect you.

SPEAKER_09

I I totally understand.

Wolf Pups And The Perfect Memory

SPEAKER_09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

You went back to the lodge you worked at last summer, John. You were telling me a story about the shore and what you've seen and what you're feeding all year.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, yeah. So and on me lake there, I was I was going around, I was guiding every day. So what the what the system was was if there was 10 guides, five go north, five go south. And then we alternate every day. So every time I'd go north, which was every other day, I would go down about five-minute drive from the lodge, and there was a wolf den. I found this one day while I was just casting the shoreline for some pike. And it's literally a little hole in the side of the beach with you know, you can see the skin, you can see whatever they they dug in. So now I'd go check it out once in a while because I was curious. I want to see what's coming out of it. Didn't know it was a wolf den at the time. So then the one day I go over there and all of a sudden I see these wolf pups walk out. And I'm like, oh my god. They're it's like three little black wolf pups. They look like tiny little puppies. It was the cutest thing you've ever seen. And so they would walk out and they were a little skittish at first, which understandable. They've never seen a human before, right? Yeah. So I would drive the boat and get a little closer and get a little closer until they were uncomfortable. But right there, phenomenal spot for hammer handles if you ever wanted. Yeah. So I figured, I got a plan here, boys. I would go, I'd take my guest there, catch a hammer handle, you bump it on the head, and you toss it at the at the uh at the den. So every every second day they would get a pike from me. So it got to the point where I could drive my boat right up the shore and they'll be running in front of my boy. I swear I could almost pet those things. And uh they were they were really cool. So I got to basically watch them grow up throughout the season. It was a short season, three months, but wolves, three months is is a lot of growth. Yeah. Okay, so like a puppy. Yeah, absolutely, right? So the I got to kind of watch these guys grow up a little bit, and it got to the point where I was like, I've never seen mom. Like, where's mom? She's probably out hunting and stuff like that. So one day I go and I I used to do a whistle, and I did a whistle and they would come out of the den. So I had them trained, it was pretty cool. Yeah. So I did the whistle and nothing came. I'm like, what the heck? I'm waiting, I'm waiting. I throw the fish, there's nothing there. I'm like, they must be out with mom. So I did a whistle again, and all of a sudden I heard the babies start howling in the woods. They're practicing their howl, they're finding their voice, and it was the cutest thing in the world. And then out of nowhere, you hear mama start up. And then I was like, Oh, she's teaching them their voice. And then so they're going off, and I'm like, this is amazing. My guests are freaking out. So then we end up seeing the two pups run back. We see the last one run back, and then sure enough, here comes mom. This big beautiful black timber wolf, and I was like stunned. Uh, it was beautiful. I have pictures of it on my phone, and it's a big thing. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, yeah. That right there is a guide's dream. Everybody wants to go with you.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

And I'll tell you what, I bet you your tips were better every other day.

SPEAKER_02

I said, Go find them. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Oh, that that is that is the epitome of guiding right there.

SPEAKER_11

Even yesterday we like, yeah, even yesterday there was a bear where the cooking tables uh and guests got to see glimpsed in the guests. She was like, Is that a bear? And I was like, Yeah, probably.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, I didn't see it.

SPEAKER_11

And then I was like, Oh yeah, that is a bear.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah. Well, those those guests, and that, like I say, that is the epitome of guiding. Um, when when uh I owned Chaudi Air, I knew I had great guides when about the third thing on the list that the excited guests were talking about were the fish. And um that guaranteed every person you had in your Boat that experienced that will never forget it. Nope. No, no. And they're probably going back to that lodge to this day.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. And going, let's go to the wolf den.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, 100%. Yeah. That is a wonderful story.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

That's uh that is outstanding. We had something similar, not quite as dynamic, but uh one of my guides, Pat, he had um he had trained an Osprey and he called her Abby because we had like shorelunge spots out on the lake, right? And uh um he would whistle and whistle for Abby. And they and she knew she was gonna get fed. Yeah. Because you're you're you're you're filleting your fish right on the shoreline, and then you don't throw them in the water, you throw them at the shore. And uh that's all the guests ever talked about. Abby, we saw Abby today, and then in the dining room, it's this big gathering spot, right? And people are hearing, we went with Pat today and we saw Abby. Well, what's Abby? It's this beautiful osprey. It comes down and we got pictures and this and that. Same deal. I couldn't imagine having Timberwolf pups that you're showing off. Yeah, that's uh that's great. We need to get some Timberwolf pups up here.

SPEAKER_02

I'll go find some. I'll go find some.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's unbelievable.

Saving A Golden Eagle Named Hope

SPEAKER_02

We had another case of uh there was a golden eagle that fell in the lake. And the guest and I went out and we picked this thing up. Fell in the lake. Yeah, it was a crazy storm the day before. This is when I was guiding on Lake of the Woods.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And uh, so this eagle fell in the lake, and we're seeing this thing flapping and flapping and flapping. I'm like, what the heck is that? It looked like a cormorant from a distance. And I'm like, ah, leave it alone, whatever. But then it just kept going. I'm like, Cormorans can fly, right? Yeah. Like, you know, they can land on water, they can fly.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But this thing wasn't flying. So we decided to drive our boat up to it, and sure enough, a golden eagle, a juvenile.

SPEAKER_09

Really?

SPEAKER_02

No way. So we net it, and I'm like, okay, guys, don't touch this thing. Yeah, it can mess you up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Seriously mess you up. So we brought it to the lodge and uh dried it off and everything, and had a nice warm box, you know, made it a little home. But like when I say a juvenile, this thing was huge. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It was huge, it was fully grown. I don't know why it did not fly away when we had it out of the water, but it felt safe. It was big. Wow.

SPEAKER_09

A golden can get what a wingspan of like eight feet. They're huge.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so large. We named her Hope. Her name was Hope because we had hope that she was gonna make it, right? Yeah. We decided to name her Hope. And uh what we did was every day we'd feed it sirloin steak, cooked her raw. Raw, nice, raw sirloin steak, walleye fillets, and perch fillets, and she loved it. You could feed her by hand, everything like that. You could pet her on the head. She was the sweetest eagle you would ever meet in your life. So eventually, you know, I made a perch for her. I would end up having like 40 rolls of newspaper taped to my arm so I could hold her on my arm and it worked. She would do it, she would she would sit there. And then so eventually I'm like, okay, she's gotta go eventually, right? Like, yeah, yeah. Number one, I'm sure this isn't legal. No, yeah, number two, like, you gotta go. You're an eagle and a guide. I have no time to have an eagle as a pet.

SPEAKER_11

You know what I'm saying? So and again, probably illegal. Probably illegal, yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, you can get licenses, I think.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, I'm pretty sure that's for falcons, but you know, yeah. So birds. Yeah. Uh so we started calling the uh the rehabilitation center. We wanted them to come pick her up and like take her on and get her back to the wild, right? Because we didn't know where she came from. We just found her in the middle of the lake. Yeah, yeah. So we're calling and calling, they finally answer, and they're like, okay, what's you know, what's going on? And we told them the situation. And they're like, okay, we'll send somebody down like within the week. A month later goes by. This is a month of sirloin steaks and walleye frigates. This this bird's feeding good, okay? So now after a month goes by, they finally call, say, okay, we're sending somebody tomorrow. I'm like, okay, perfect, because there's a lot of poop in this office, and I need to get this bird out. Yeah. I loved her death, but holy crap, does an eagle make a mess?

SPEAKER_09

Well, think about how much you were feeding her every day.

SPEAKER_02

Oh yeah, oh yeah. So they come by summer. Yeah, they come by, they checked her out, and they're like, wow, like this eagle is in very good shape. Like anybody who tries this, they're dead within a week. Oh wow. I'm like, really? Like, man, she's she's fine. Like, yeah, absolutely. So they're like, yeah, you did an amazing job. Like, we can take her, but we have one question. And I'm like, a question? Like, what kind of question? Yeah. They're like, incriminating? Okay, yeah. Yeah, yeah, right. Allegedly. So they're like, okay, you did such a good job with this eagle. Would you want another one? I'm like, no. I'm a full-time guy. I called you to take this eagle. I'm a guide. I can't I can't be doing this.

SPEAKER_09

I can't afford zeroloin steak every day.

SPEAKER_02

I love rehabilitating animals, but I can't own another eagle. I mean, please take this one and be on your way. And they're okay, no problem. And they took her, and that's crazy. She's back to the wild now, flying free somewhere.

SPEAKER_09

So that steak, were you cutting it up for her?

SPEAKER_02

Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I got videos and pictures of her. She's awesome. She's amazing.

SPEAKER_09

Oh, that is awesome. That's another great story.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

That's another great story.

SPEAKER_11

That's why we call him cowboy.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah. That's right. You're living up to that name.

SPEAKER_11

Yeah, buddy.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah.

Hunting Lessons About Animal Adrenaline

SPEAKER_09

So, Steve, what was it like to live in Kenora your whole life back when you were a kid? And your your parents were trappers? Your dad was a trapper?

SPEAKER_03

My uh dad worked in the bush.

SPEAKER_09

Oh, he worked in the bush.

SPEAKER_03

My mom was a stay-home mom.

SPEAKER_09

Nice.

SPEAKER_03

And uh it was good. Uh, lots of fishing, lots of hunting. I remember the one year my dad he was out hunting with you know my uncles and stuff, and they'd always go every year. So we're out hunting and they had a bull tag and a cow tag. So my dad was walking over this hill and he's seen a bull and a cow standing there. So he shot the bull and it went down. The cow kind of trotted a few steps and stopped, waiting for the bull. So he shot her and she went over the hill. So he walked by the bull, it's dead, it's on the ground, poked it, and nothing. The cow moves. Well, she had just stopped at the bottom of the hill. So he put one more in her and finished her off.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

The rest of the guys come and they were looking after the cow. My dad went back to take care of the bull. So he walked up and he dropped the antler and it's dead. Grabbed the antler, set his rifle down on it, went and cut the throat, and the moose stood up. Now, imagine this moose, not a very big moose, maybe 36 inches wide, yeah, standing up when your knee is on its shoulder and you're ready to cut its throat. The gun went one way, the knife coming out of his hand, and he lands in the middle. Going, oh shit.

SPEAKER_09

Well, yeah, because a small bull moose would stand, like I mean, in horse terms, it's gotta be huge. Like 25 hands.

SPEAKER_03

So it was a mad scramble for him to grab his rifle.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, because that bull's pest.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Right. So my dad grabs his rifle, empties a whole clip in this moose. Then he might have changed underwear. He was touching the wall. Oh, no doubt. They'll trample you. That was down the leg. Oh, it was down the leg and everywhere else. Yeah. But where he hit the moose was right across the top of the head, right in front of the antlers. So it stunned it and knocked it out.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Right? Yeah. So he learned a very valuable lesson every time you shoot an animal. Double tap. Make sure you give it one in the back of the head before you touch it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Or shoot the boiler. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Give it one in the head that you know it's dead.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

You know, and that that lesson stuck with me.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Right. Like even deer. You can knock a deer down and it could be laying there, eyes open, appearing that it's dead. It can still get up.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Right? Seen that? And a lot of people don't realize that.

SPEAKER_09

Wow. And the adrenaline that uh in an animal, the the first dough that I that I harvested, um, it was the last day of the hunt, and uh I had seen nothing. I'm sitting in the in the tree stand, and it was uh an open field in front of me with a fence row across the the back of the field, and it was it was long. It was probably 250 yards the fence row. And I'm dreaming at this point. I'm thinking, oh, you know, what if a a um a nice big buck walks right out from here and right in front of me, and this uh this doe appeared across the the fence row. And um I pull up and it's like 250 yards. It's like so, and it's shotgun hunt. So I had a rattle bag on my side, and I started rattling, and she stopped. Then I rattled again, and then she turned and she walked about 20 yards, and I rattled her all the way, well, halfway across this field. Oh, that looks very nice. There's some smoked uh northern pike fresh from the lake coming out onto the table now. Okay, but I rattled this dough halfway across the field, and it was getting to the point where it was it was dark, it was getting dark. Like the guys that were hunting the bush were already in the uh in the cabin. This is with Huey Spicer, actually. Yeah, yeah. And um, so I thought it's now or never. And she was standing looking at me straight on. And uh, so I pulled up the gun. I had those little um the uh fiber optic sights, the red on the two red on the back, the one on the front of the barrel. I pulled up and I aimed right above her head. Boom! And that deer, she jumped about six feet in the air, turned sideways, and run right across the field, which would have been at least 150, 200 yards and into the bush. And I unloaded my next two shots at her while she was running and and and missed. And I was so disappointed that this deer I I and I that I missed. It was a long shot. It was it was like 90 yards, 90, 100 yards. And um, I got out of the tree stand. By the time I climbed down, the boys were already at the bottom of the tree stand because our our hunt shack was 20 feet behind me.

SPEAKER_03

And there's what you're saying is you didn't have to go far for that.

SPEAKER_09

No, I didn't have to go far. And uh Huey says, uh, did you shoot one? I said, No, there was one out here. It was a long shot. I shot, and it and and the first shot I took, this deer jumped straight up in the air, and Huey stopped me right there. He said, It jumped. I said, Yeah, buddy, it it fucking jumped like six feet in the air, turned sideways, and ran as fast as a deer can run into the bush. And he said, Oh, wow, we gotta go take a look. I said, I don't think there's any reason to take a look. It was getting dark. It had just started to lightly snow. We walked out and I took him right to the spot where I thought she was. And you could see the paw marks in the plowed field where she had dug in, jumped, and turned and run. And Huey said, Okay, he took his toque off and put it right on that spot. And he said, Let's start doing circles. Look for blood, do circles. And the three of us, we were doing circles. My buddy Jake, Mikkel Pine, and Andrew Watson, the guy that owned the place, were out there doing circles around this toque. And Huey says, Oh, I got a drop of blood right here. I'm like, What? Yeah, there's blood right here. I said, Oh, maybe I did get her. And we followed these drops. You could kind of see in the plowed field where she had jumped, but it was starting to snow, and we followed and followed and got to the fence row. And as we got closer to the fence row, the blood trail got bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. And and at the rail fence, right underneath the trees, it looked like you had a garden hose and sprayed the rail fence. And I'm like, and that was the point where I said, I got we got this deer. And we walked about 30 feet into the bush, and there she was. And when we when we field dressed her, I pulled out the heart because I like eating hard, and I put that slug right through her chest, right through her heart, and out underneath her back hind leg. And with a hole put in her heart, she ran full speed 200 yards. Like I, if not for Huey that night, I would have never even thought about looking. And I can see that you, Rick, you know about the jump. Yeah, yeah. I learned about the jump that day.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah, if they look her or jump or do anything like that. You've hit them. Yeah, sure. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I always go with if the tail's down when they're running away, they're oh, I didn't see no tail.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah. Yeah. So, Paul, yeah, where are you from? I'm from Dryden. Dryden.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

So what was what was it like living in Dryden?

SPEAKER_11

Oh, it was good. It was good to grow up in Dryden.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, and where did you find your love for guiding and fishing?

SPEAKER_11

Well, like you, I was kind of like hesitant to do it and didn't haven't really done a lot.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11

Um I fish a lot.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11

So and I fish primarily the goon, a bit of the eagle. Yeah. Uh some of the lakes north of Vermillion Bay, the Indian chain.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11

Um, yeah. Um fish that a lot, so it's good for muskies. There is some monster muskies that are.

SPEAKER_03

It's very underrated.

SPEAKER_11

Yeah. Very, very underrated. Really? Yeah, no, I just love fishing and love chatting with people and having a good time, and those are the things. Those are the key things that go home. And yeah, so like you, I was hesitant. Yeah. Maybe a little bit uh nervous. Yeah. But uh once I got out there and started doing it, it's fun. Yeah, so I think I enjoy it. That's uh that's great. So basically, like I've got a full-time job as well.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11

And uh took some vacation, and it's kind of a nice way to relax.

SPEAKER_09

100%.

SPEAKER_11

It's busy, but it's yeah, it's relaxing to me. Fish just being on the water is relaxing to me.

SPEAKER_09

Right on. Any day in a boat's a better day than the in an office. Absolutely. So sitting around this round table, and it and folks, it actually is a round table, and I think it's granite. It looks like heavier than shit.

SPEAKER_11

It probably came from the Nelson granite. Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_03

200 pounds of granite made of the Nelson granite rock, but we don't make tables primarily.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah. Well, there is a ton of ours on the water. What are the biggest fish you've seen? Oh man. You don't even have to have them in the boat.

SPEAKER_11

I read a bit of a story about probably that's turned yesterday. Yeah, Paul. Yesterday was an awful day on the water in the morning. I and I felt personally responsible and bad that these people have paid good money to be here. That's always the fear. That's the biggest fear for me. That's the biggest fear for every guy. That's the biggest stressor. That's the biggest stressor of any guest.

SPEAKER_03

Especially when you know there's fish there and they're just not gone.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11

But luckily, you know, the guests have been great and they just like they roll with punches, and you know, yeah. They don't know any better that it's that that was a bad day. Yeah. Luckily, sometimes, right?

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11

But uh, anyhow, I have a super horrible day, like one little stink of a pike.

SPEAKER_09

In the morning.

SPEAKER_11

In the morning.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11

We had shore lunch. I was a little bit podium, maybe a little bit difficult. Well, we could tell it was bothering you.

SPEAKER_09

It was really I think I even give you a hug.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, you did.

SPEAKER_11

And then uh we got out there and uh feel a tug. It's like she said the girl, yeah. It's probably a fish. And I'm looking on the graph and I didn't see anything. I was doing something, whatever. She's like, Oh yeah, it's a fish, and she's reeling it out, and the rod's just bending. She pulls the 28 out. 28 walleye. 28 walleye. Nice. I just you heard it across the little bit of a yell power. We all heard it. We all heard it.

SPEAKER_02

Uh white dog. Yeah.

SPEAKER_11

Yeah. I was just so happy for her to get it up. And the funny thing was, she barely had that fish.

SPEAKER_03

It was like the the fish, the last couple days have been bite really short. Yeah. I've had like my guests, they had fish on, and it was a 24. And I had the net in the water, and I told them, don't lift the fish out of the water. Yeah. That's the worst thing you can do. Yeah. Keep your head in the water at all. The rod was bent, and for whatever reason, she let her rod tip go down as I was going with the net. Well, the hook came out, and I got the fish, and the hook came out of the water, and the fish is in the net. Nice.

unknown

Nice.

SPEAKER_11

Like I said, this this hook was like on a thread, and she's moving back and forth here and starting to lift. Like, don't don't lift, don't lift. Like, I'll come to it. Yeah. And I just about beaked it.

SPEAKER_08

We've got duck calls going on in here, folks.

SPEAKER_11

Yeah, but got it on and got a picture.

SPEAKER_09

Nice.

SPEAKER_11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Nice. It was happy days after that. Nice. That's always totally gratifying.

SPEAKER_02

That one big fish can absolutely change the mood of the day. Oh, yeah. Instantly. Instantly. Change it all.

SPEAKER_10

Same thing this morning. We had terrible morning. And then this afternoon we went out. The first fish we caught was a 36-inch bike. And then we were getting ready to leave. We'd caught lots through the afternoon. Yeah. Let's do this last run. And then they caught another 36-inch. You thought it was that one last cat. Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Right. Yeah. I did it the same. I did it today too. One we it was it was the last song. Give it to the side. I was with um I was with uh Marcus and Tyler from uh from one of the groups here, and uh they're big Rush fans. And I said, uh great band. And I said, Have you ever heard of the Tragically Hip? Oh, even better. And neither one of them had ever heard of the Tragically Hip because in the States they weren't that big. No. So I said, okay, put on uh New Orleans is sinking. Or Little Bone. And yeah. And uh we're gonna troll around this point, and you guys are gonna catch a big one. So that's what we did. And it wasn't a big fish, but we caught a 23-inch uh walleye, which was a great fight and a wonderful way to end the day.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, poor Downey's always a stroke of good luck, right there. Oh yeah. That's a fish bite.

SPEAKER_09

Rest in peace, Gord. Yeah, yeah. Rest in peace. The other big song for us today was uh Cracklin' Rosie. Oh yeah, we we were catching during Crackling Rosie.

SPEAKER_11

Yeah. Actually, the guests I had, they had a killer playlist going. It was all like classic rock and like stuff I listened to all the time.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, and and and music I find is great in the boat.

SPEAKER_11

Absolutely. You know, I love that they think Bluetooth's like, yeah, put through the story. It's not gonna take that.

SPEAKER_02

We rolled into the dock today after musky fish and playing Rat in a Cage. Yeah, man. Nice pretty badass. I felt like a pro, even though we didn't catch any muskie today. Day one. It's day one. It's day one. Yeah, it's a musky opener to 10,000 calves. There you go. Only put 999.

SPEAKER_11

But we're eating some delicious.

SPEAKER_09

Oh, cowboy John. He's a man of many talents. We try.

SPEAKER_03

Well, we had a little taste of uh something that you don't always get every day.

SPEAKER_09

Oh, the mousse. Oh my god, that was delicious. You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you, Steve. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

We got treated twice this week.

SPEAKER_09

I know. Mousse sausage and uh mousse tenderloin. Yep. It was it was delicious.

SPEAKER_11

Like a back strap.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah. Rick, any big fish? Big fish? Your biggest your biggest fish that you ever caught or saw. Guiding? Or personal. It doesn't matter. This is we're talking about the years of angling sitting around.

SPEAKER_10

I've seen some pretty big sturgeon and stuff in the Rainy River, like eight-footers and stuff. And some big 50-inch, you know, muskie, and I guess biggest fish. Yeah, I don't know what the biggest fish I caught is a big musky, yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Do you have any memories of the big one that got away?

SPEAKER_10

I have memories of many that caught away.

SPEAKER_02

He still relives them. We all night with bulls in his eyes. I just went down those.

SPEAKER_10

Johnny wants to go there. Yes. Yes. Little secret lake that, man, it's just full of 30-inch walleye.

SPEAKER_09

And and listen, you you you talk about 30-inch walleye and full of and and I've seen the pictures.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

It is it is absolutely true. It like, I mean, the only other place in the world that I knew know of where you could do that uh was Bay Aquini. Yeah. And we used to catch a ton of walleye. I didn't even tell people how many walleye I caught over 10 pounds because nobody would believe me. Well, that's like Lake Winnipeg.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Right? Big green backs out there, boys. They're cute. And the funny thing about Lake Winnipeg, there's no reefs. It's it's all flat.

SPEAKER_02

It's a featureless lake, but the the moment you have a tiny little fluctuation in the depth, really hammer it. You'll hammer wall off.

SPEAKER_09

Really? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely. Or you get up into the north basins. Once you get up into the north basins, then you get into more structure. But if you're down towards the inlets and towards the mouth of it, it's flat. It's featureless, flat, like mucky bottom. But you're catching giant walleye consistently. Really?

SPEAKER_11

Yeah. The walleye is that where they coexist with trout, too, like they're just eggs.

SPEAKER_03

Well, and that's like the sturgeon wave.

SPEAKER_02

They're sitting in the current constantly, right? They have to keep moving to get those shoulders on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah. Well, I have a big fish story that uh one of those ones that uh I learned a very valuable lesson.

Big Fish Regrets And Cheap Snap Mistakes

SPEAKER_09

And um uh my fishing buddies and I always used to do a uh trip to Lake Nippigan. And uh we would go out with uh Dan uh Tacey? Is that how you say it? Tazy. Tazy. Dan Tazy. Out on the cabin cruiser, and he'd pull four boats behind, and then we'd go off on our little boats and fish. And I was with my Italian buddy Mario, and he is as Italian as it gets. Like, I mean, he had the the the blue van with with the with a bed in the back and a chain steering wheel.

SPEAKER_08

Like, I mean, he was as wob as you get. Oh, yeah. And I loved them. Straight up Gino's hanging out of the channel.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, and he he had fished, he loved fishing, but he never really fished a lot. And and we I we we said, Mayor, you're gonna come to Nippigin with us. Okay, Steve. So we we go to Nippigin and we're out, and uh this one morning in particular, we were um we were at the mouth of McIntyre Bay. Um I'm I'm pretty sure. And in McIntyre Bay, there's a river that runs into the back of it. And uh it was a rough morning. And um all the guys, we uh we have breakfast on the cabin cruiser. And folks, a cat this cabin cruiser, for lack of a better term, was like a 55, 60 foot tugboat that he put uh seven bunk beds in the berth, and he had uh a kitchen, and out the back there was like uh, well, however wide it was, it was probably it had to have been 12, 14 feet wide, maybe more, maybe 20, I don't even remember. But it was the width of the boat and about 15 feet long out the back. So there was this big deck, and he had a chest freezer full of ice back there where we tie our boats. So we were sitting having breakfast one morning, and uh Mare and I are sitting there, everybody else went out and it looked rough, and and uh they went back into the river fishing for northerns and walleye. And uh Dan was sitting there, he was kind of doing up the dishes and this and that, and and uh he looks at us with disgust and he says, Are you guys gonna go out there and fish for them stinky old northerns or walleye? And I said, Well, I don't know. You know, I was a I was basically a kid. I said, What would you do? He said, I'd go right out into the middle out there on that point, and I'd fish for for speckle trout. You don't come to Lake Nippigan to fish for walleye. You come here for trout. Come here for brook trout. Brook trout and speckle trout are the same thing. No, he's not wrong. Of course he's not wrong. So I looked at Mare, I said, What do you think?

SPEAKER_08

Well, Steve, I don't come here to fish for northern pike and walleye.

SPEAKER_09

He was just regurgitating what Dan said. I said, Okay, let's do it. So we jump in the in the boat. They're like, and they were 14 footers, like they weren't big. And it was and it and and I said, I said to Dan, I said, Dan, it looks pretty rough out there. He said, just ride the rollers, you'll be fine. Stay in going out of the ocean. Yeah, yeah. No, no shit. It's it's like going on the ocean.

SPEAKER_03

Isn't it the largest inland lake? Yes, yes. Yeah, and it covers uh what 4,848 kilometers?

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, something like that. Massive. So anyway, that's what we did. We went out, got out there. It wasn't terrible, you know. We were fishing and we had to stay in 15 feet or so. Yeah. And um um, I was driving and I was uh dragging and the the the the bait that was the bait, and it's not made anymore. It was called a delphin. And it was just a spoon. I don't know why it was so special. Dan would send me messages or back then he would phone me and say, Hey, you gotta go to this tackle shop in Toronto and buy all of their dolphins. I'm like, okay. Anyway, we get out there and I'm trolling. I'm trolling a uh spoon, and he said, if you're not bouncing it off the rocks, you're not doing it right. So I'm bouncing and trolling, and Mare's casting marabou jigs out at the shoreline, not tipped with anything, black or white. And he he's real and real and real, and he loses his shit. He's like, Oh, ho, ho, ho, Steve, it's the biggest fish I've ever seen. It's a brook trout. Oh and I'm like, yeah, okay, mayor. Anyway, we're driving and I mark it on on our little on our little uh sonar, and um um the the the this fish, I said, mare, I just marked it, and I'm fishing away, fishing away, and as my trolling bait comes by it, bang, I get this fish on. And now I'm starting to believe, mare. I'm like, oh my god, this is a big fish. And I'm fighting it and I'm fighting it and I'm fighting it, and Mario's now losing his shit. It's a 10-pounder! I tell you, it's a 10-pounder. Now, this is an Italian fellow that's never seen a 10-pounder, yeah, but I know this is a big fish, and I'm fighting and fighting and fighting. It I I fought it for probably three, four minutes, and as we're getting it just close enough that it it kind of turns at the surface, my rod goes slack, and I'm like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_08

And Mario, he he just sits down, disgusted. You lost that fish.

SPEAKER_07

I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, yeah, you gave me the fin, all right, and I'm like, oh my god. And I reeled in my line, and my snap had opened and straightened out. No way. Yeah. And now the moral of the story.

SPEAKER_02

Don't use sense.

SPEAKER_09

The the the the I would I would, you know, spend a thousand dollars at a time on the trip, spend another $350 on booze, go out and buy a really good rod and reel combination, go out and buy a portable fish finder so I can go there to find these fish. Spend all of this money and then buy a three cent snap. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Let's not do that next.

SPEAKER_09

No. The moral of the story is the chain is as strong as your weakest length. There you go. Uh, and and from that point on, I always bought the snaps that have the little saver, the little loop that you that that that'll save it. Because whether it was bouncing it off the rocks, the snap come open or it was just so cheap. I've had it happen, but the loops save it every time. The loops. So, folks, take that one to the bank. Spare, but you know, take the the the the the $50 you're gonna buy on one of those cases of beer and buy good snaps. Terminal tackle. Yeah, it's worth it. Right? Yeah. Well, fellas, any last thoughts?

Giveaway Details And Final Thanks

SPEAKER_11

Keep your odd tips up, yeah, keep your lights tight and catch fish.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, that's pretty good.

SPEAKER_09

Well, folks, thank you very much for getting to this point in the show. We always love when you listen and uh and you hear my voice at the end because that means that you've uh you've heard everything before that. So thank you again for doing that. And uh head on over to fishingcanada.com. We're uh sitting here with one of our our um our our previous winners to to the giveaways. Uh get as many um um uh entries in there as possible every day. Uh we're giving away a 12-inch Garmin screen, Rick. 16. 16. Wow. I'm entered. Yeah. Every day, folks, every day. Yeah. So and the more you enter, the better your chances of winning. I already know where it's going in my boat. Yeah, and Rick, Rick's a multi-uh winner here. So it it you can win. Um, and uh again, thanks to uh all of uh all of the sponsors. Two Rivers Lodge is uh is uh is a great sponsor of the Diaries of a Lodge Owner show. And Willie the oil man's running around here somewhere, but he's uh he's busy with uh with all of the guests and doing lodge things and uh and uh also night night next in. I'll talk to you soon, buddy. Hopefully we'll see you kicking around these shows and uh and uh feel free to send me a message. And thus brings us to the conclusion of another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North. I'm a good old boy, never meaning no harm.

SPEAKER_08

Stretching my line. Someday I might on a lodge, and that'd be fine. I'll be making my way the only way I know how working hard and sharing the north with all of my plows. I'm a good old boy. I buy the lodge and live my dream, and now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

Back in 2016, Frank and I had a vision to amass the single largest database of musky angling education material anywhere in the world.

SPEAKER_01

Our dream was to harness the knowledge of this amazing community and share it with passionate anglers just like you.

SPEAKER_06

Thus, the Ugly Pike Podcast was born and quickly grew to become one of the top fishing podcasts in North America.

SPEAKER_01

Step into the world of angling adventures and embrace the thrill of the catch with the Ugly Pike Podcast. Join us on our quest to understand what makes us different as anglers and to uncover what it takes to go after the infamous fish of 10,000 casts.

SPEAKER_06

The Ugly Pike Podcast isn't just about fishing, it's about creating a tight-knit community of passionate anglers who share the same love for the sport. Through laughter, through camaraderie, and an unwavering spirit of adventure, this podcast will bring people together. Subscribe now and never miss a moment of our angling adventures.

SPEAKER_01

Tight lines, everyone.

SPEAKER_06

Find UglyPike now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts.

SPEAKER_04

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, Ans 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_00

I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors, from athletes, all the other guys would go golfing.

SPEAKER_00

Me and Garchomp Turk, and all the Russians would go fishing. The scientists. And now that we're looking reforesting or anything, it's the perfect transmission environment to align with people.

SPEAKER_01

Chefs, if any game isn't cooked properly, marinated or you will taste it.

SPEAKER_04

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.