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Eating Wild
Hosted by three hunting and fishing buddies with a lifetime of culinary experience between them, Outdoor Journal Radio's Eating Wild podcast brings folks from all walks of life to the boat, tree stand, and kitchen to tell the stories and answer the questions around the pursuit and preparation of wild fish and game.
Eating Wild
Episode 63: The Moose Is Loose Pt. 1
Ever wondered how a unified champ and a nurse balance their lives while finding time for a thrilling weekend getaway? Join us for an unforgettable adventure in Niagara Falls, where we spent an action-packed weekend with our families and none other than Cody "The Champ" Chovancek and his inspiring partner, Danielle. Hear the delightful story of Antonio's daughter, Chloe, who hilariously questioned Danielle's fighting skills based on her attire, sparking laughter and bonding among our group.
Our journey didn’t stop there. We trekked to the iconic Bass Pro Shops in Niagara and crossed paths with a seasoned waterfowl hunter, only to find ourselves somewhat let down by the fishing section but thoroughly impressed with the hunting gear. From there, we headed to the casino, where the blackjack tables tested our luck. Our evening wrapped up with an engaging dinner with Cody, which filled us with anticipation for the upcoming musky and hunting seasons. Moose also shared his fascinating transition from the professional culinary world to reigniting his passion for fishing, narrating a unique blend of culinary skills and fishing adventures that highlighted his entrepreneurial spirit.
The episode takes a deep dive into the essence of outdoor adventures and how they enrich our lives and relationships. Moose's journey from Scarborough to British Columbia, interwoven with spontaneous connections and lifelong friendships, sets the stage for a thrilling narrative. You'll hear about our RV road trip to Lake Nipigon, complete with wildlife encounters and epic fishing tales, and the growth of the Ontario Fishing Club—from a humble gathering to a thriving community. We wrap up with Moose's incredible balancing act in the competitive fishing world, as he juggles organizing and competing in tournaments with grace and perseverance. Tune in for a heartwarming, humorous, and exhilarating episode that celebrates the joys of outdoor escapades and the bonds they forge.
Follow Eating Wild on Instagram! To reach out to the boys, drop us a line at eatingwild@odjradio.com
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Speaker 5: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, ange and I will be right here in your ears bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio. Now, what are we going to talk about for two hours every week?
Speaker 4:Well, you know there's going to be a lot of fishing.
Speaker 2:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be, and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
Speaker 5: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 6:Me and Garth and Turk and all the Russians would go fishing To scientists. But now that we're reforesting and letting things breathe.
Speaker 2:It's the perfect transmission environment for line fishing.
Speaker 3:To chefs If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated, you will taste it.
Speaker 5: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 welcome back folks.
Speaker 3:Welcome back to another episode of the Eating Wild podcast. I'm your host, antonio Smash Maleca, in studio, joining me. My beautiful co-host, we got Christopher Showtime. Jansen Guess, who's back? Guess, who's back in studio? Siege man, we just had a crazy weekend together, brother, we're getting used to being around each other way too much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'm really liking it and the fact that we have families with daughters that are the same ages Kind of crazy. So we did a little Niagara Falls trip.
Speaker 3:And not only did we do a Niagara Falls trip, folks, but we had a special guest meet us for dinner. Oh, the champ, the champ, the unified champ, cody Kovacek took time.
Speaker 2:He was on the water, yeah, man, and we put together that he signed the contract, our contract Eating while contract.
Speaker 3:Official E-dub and it was awesome to meet Danielle. Yes Is his partner, yes, and boy does she pop.
Speaker 2:I can't believe it, man. She's a petite. You know young lady? And then we watched her YouTube videos of her fighting Holy. You know young lady? And then we watched her YouTube videos of her fighting Holy smokes.
Speaker 3:She'd take both of us bud. You know what the crazy thing is. One, there's a quick story you got to say about what your daughter said to her because she does not look like a fighter at all. Not at all, not at all. And she came and your daughter said to you, or said to her, something about her skirt.
Speaker 2:So she mentioned her skirt. Chloe complimented her on her skirt and then later that day on way home, she's like daddy, she goes. You know, you know that one gentleman that was there, he's a fighter. I'm like, yeah, he goes. Does his girlfriend fight too? And I'm like, yeah, she's a. She's a nurse by day and a fighter by night. Yeah, yeah, and she goes. She can't be. I'm like, why can't she?
Speaker 3:Cause she was skirt. Yeah, and I'm like my daughter's, like she's so pretty, yeah I'm like what?
Speaker 2:just because she wears a skirt, she can't fight. Look at you, tony. You wear skirts every friday and you gotta you know what.
Speaker 3:You better take that comment back. You know what I mean. Let's be honest, and people can't see us right now so they don't know what I'm wearing. But that's another. That's another topic. But listen, the champ we brought him in. It was so great to sit down. He literally got off the water from a bass tournament. He did, and he drove as quick as he could back down to niagara to meet us yes, and then earlier that day the girls went shopping.
Speaker 2:What did we do, bud?
Speaker 3:you know what we got to get into it. But I'm wondering if we should get into it with our in-studio guest. Uh, but we went to bass pro shops niagara first time for me, obviously it's in your neck of the woods and uh, boy was I I don't want to say disappointed because I don't want to talk bad about bass pro. I grew up going to bass pro shop. Every time I got a gift card. It was like christmas for me, but a little bit on the understock and heavy on the bass pro shop gear. Uh, hunting is hunting, we talked about it. Hunting is hunting, that great, great quality hunting stuff. Their apparel was great. But fishing wise, I was a little disappointed, I would say. But I mean, what was your take on it? Siege, we talked about it. I mean it's.
Speaker 2:We're not hiding anything here no, we're not, and and no discredits of bass pro shops. But I think we've been spoiled to him because we go these mom-and-pa local fishing tackle places, you know where it's kind of like cheers when you go in. Everyone knows your name. You know what I mean. You can't beat that vibe. You go to these big box stores and it's kind of. You know, it is what it is it's.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would say it was my first time in bass pro for only a half an hour yeah, does that make sense to you?
Speaker 3:and half of that time we we met a gentleman that was 75 years old who we talked about at the gun shop and he was talking about waterfowl and this guy, you know, popped 100 million ducks in his career. We got kind of all choked up talking with him because it was cool to hear his stories. But other than that Siege, I mean, we walked out of there. I had nothing in my hand and I had $1, hand and I had a thousand dollars worth of gift cards. I looked like a lunatic. I had this big stash of Bass Pro and I didn't buy anything.
Speaker 2:I'll paint a picture for our listeners. When Tom was walking into Bass Pro shop, his one leg was limping just because in his left pocket there was a thousand dollars worth of gift cards of Bass Pro. And it wasn't like they were all hundreds and twenty fives, I think, they're like tens. So this guy could have made it rain with bathrobe.
Speaker 3:It felt like Santa Claus.
Speaker 2:You walked out with what A bag of beef jerky.
Speaker 3:Beef jerky because I had to try the new jalapeno flavor, beautiful, yeah. And then you got me my gun cleaner from my Benelli.
Speaker 2:Shout out to G2 gun cleaner. That stuff's amazing. And then I walked out with a pair of not a pair one of the six packs of hunting socks. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Cardinal, you know what Tone? Maybe we have everything.
Speaker 3:Possibly. I mean, we're up there in age now. I'd say we're at least middle age. Now we do have, I mean, our tackle box, our rod, like we have enough stuff for the rest of our lives. I don't even think I need another rod or reel or my boat's decked out as much as it can mean hooks at you know, our boat. We got all the new, latest technology. I don't even know, like I was looking at the new live scope stuff and yeah. So you know, technology changes yearly. Yeah, it was cool to see it.
Speaker 3:But then I'm thinking about it. I'm like, do I really need to buy anything here? So I, I didn't spend a dollar and our, our wives stayed at those outlets for another five hours. So what do we? We do Me and you got in the car. You called up Wendy, come get your keys. My wife comes out, grabs the keys, we head back to the casino. And that was a mistake, siege, because if the listeners remember, back when we went over to Windsor, when we fished the Detroit River, when we went out with Simon Berth in April, right, we had to pull Lou Top Dog Pereira from that craps table. So it wasn't like we didn't plan on going there. We were going to go play a few tables, but me and you got murdered at the blackjack table.
Speaker 2:We did hey Falls View Casino. Your limits during the day, $25 per hand is ridiculous.
Speaker 3:Come on, Come on man.
Speaker 2:Go to 15. We saw empty tables sitting there. If they would have put them to 15, you know it would have been better. But yeah, we had a good time. The girls were shopping and we were at the sports bar and then we were playing a little bit of cards. But, kids, if you're listening, gambling's terrible. Don't do it. Booze and gambling don't do it. Don't do it, don't be like us so we, uh the girls, come back.
Speaker 3:Great, we met cody the champ kovancek for dinner. Um, you know some crazy things coming up with, uh, with the champ we're going to talk about. Um, you know, we got musky season, big fish season around the corner, hunting seasons around the corner, and we're excited. But I don't think I'm even more excited than to talk about who. We have Siege we have in studio again. What's going on here, brother? This is huge for me because we've been talking about this guy a lot.
Speaker 2:We have and we have. I guess what? Do they call it A bromance? Yeah, it is a bromance. Since the sportsman show I guess what it is and we met this gentleman and man. Our listeners are in for it. This guy, he's not new to the scene and I'm not aging him by any means. I think he's around the same age as us, but he, I'm surprised we haven't met him earlier with the circle we have, and we have always heard his name and all that stuff. Well, we.
Speaker 3:we've had quite the day already and we're going to talk about it, because he came down early to the Gourmet Craft and Catering headquarters and it was. You know, we'll get into it, but he said the same thing. He's like how did we not meet each other five years ago? Right, you know, and it's crazy how the fishing brings us together. But yet when you hear the backstories, there's so many similarities and it's a pleasure to introduce our next guest. Folks here live in studio at the Eating Wild Podcast Studios in Oakville, ontario. We got Mr Moose. Moose is loose Moose. Thank you for joining us today, brother, and making the trip down to sit down and chat with us today, brother.
Speaker 7:It was a pleasure, man. It's been a fun day so far. I mean watching you run around and do your thing and the catering and the food. It's really nice to be back in that atmosphere. You know talking to people about food and watching them pile food on their plates and opening up. You know chafing dishes and replacing sternos and that's where I grew up, man.
Speaker 3:I got to tell you, siege, when Moose came, we had 415 background. It was on Gen V today, if anybody watches the Amazon show the Boys, this is the spinoff Gen V season one. We're on season two right now. He texts me. He's like I'm coming in at 1255. Right, okay, we're at UFT in Toronto and I'm with Chef Craig. Everyone's heard Chef Craig on the podcast this guy's nuts. And I looked at Craig. I said Moose, my podcast guest Moose, is coming here right now to set to help out with our service. That's so cool. And Craig says to me well, well, he's got five minutes because the crew's breaking at one o'clock. That's correct. I went outside, I spoke to the locations guy. I'm like, listen, you're about to see a guy pull up in an suv. You park his car. He's gonna throw the keys at you because he's got to come help me. He's like, sir, he's got to go park at tech land. I'm sorry there's no spot for him.
Speaker 3:So I'm a nervous wreck, yeah so moose pulls up we're down to three minutes at this three minutes left, I I jump in moose's car, we go park. So happens that uh, uh, one of the drivers we were following him, I don't even know what that guy was doing over there. We jump out of moose's car, we go up to the driver, we're like, hey, man, can you take us back to the lunchroom? He's like, sure, we hop in. I haven't even had a conversation yet with moose and he's jumping into a fire. I don't even think he knew what he was walking into. And the moment he walked in craig sees him. He knew he was coming because I told craig he was coming apron.
Speaker 3:He says grab an apron. That's craig. Grab an apron, buddy moose didn't hesitate. Siege, yeah, didn't hesitate, fuck jumped on the line with us and next thing you, within three minutes, those people started coming through and people are like excuse me, sir, can you tell me what this is? Moose is like absolutely, you got butter chicken here. We had rice. Is this vegetarian? It's actually vegan. Like you, tell him the menu once and you could tell that this guy's backstory. He's got food in his blood, so would he been hired today? Craig, the moment he left, craig's like sign this guy, get him a contract. Oh, hear that, moose. He was cleaning shafers.
Speaker 3:We were answering questions and then we had one of the biggest producers, dops. Franco, good friend of mine, shout out to Frank came up to us and we're shooting shit with this guy and Moose is talking to him. It's like Moose knew him too. You know five years working with him on Star Trek Discovery back in the day. So you know, moose, you just jumped right in, brother, and thank you for coming.
Speaker 3:Now we got to talk about your backstory for our listeners because you know, you say the name Moose and you said it already. Our good friends at Extreme Marine there's only one Moose. There's only one Moose in Ontario. There's only one moose in Ontario. There's only one moose. And then people listening if you don't know who moose is, we're going to get diaried into it. So, moose, let's go back to the early days, because obviously food has been a part of your life before the fishing. We'll get into the fishing folks because this guy is, you know, he's not only a stick, but he's been around the industry for a very long time. But you know, let's talk about the roots. Brother, where did you start? Where did the food background and your actual worth ethics? Where did this come from? Because it's crazy, brother.
Speaker 7:You know what? I've got photos of me. I was maybe one. Everybody keeps saying I was born in a convection oven. You know my dad obviously being a chef and teaching all over the world. Really, we sort of followed him Everywhere he went. We followed, Okay, Years and years and years ago.
Speaker 7:It all started in Egypt, Alexandria, along the coast, right on the waters. Dad would take me out fishing. I was young, young, young one, two, three like there I am on the beach with him. He's hand lining, you know, on the coast of Alexandria, Egypt, Wow. And in the afternoons I was in the kitchen with him.
Speaker 7:Mom, we all lived on the resort, Like I grew up on a resort my whole life, whether it was in Alexandria or in England or Spain or France. We went all over the place. He taught in France, he taught in Spain culinary arts and we just sort of followed. And next thing, you know, we're in Canada. I was six years old at the time and he was working downtown Toronto and we were living in Scarborough Good old Jane and Finch and from there I grew up in a kitchen, I grew up around food. My dad, my uncles, all of them, everybody was involved within the culinary arts world. So all I knew was food Right and it just sort of flourished. From there we got to know some people. We moved out west. I started working with dad in a kitchen, I did my culinary arts program and that was it. My love of food has always been there since I was a baby.
Speaker 2:What a great guest for us.
Speaker 3:It's crazy you know what you got to hear this story, siege. So let's backtrack now to March. Yeah, and we're at the Toronto Sportsman Show, correct? We're there at the you know, fishing Canada booth with all the boys are there? Viola and Bowman, top Dog Hookset. We had Jay Siemens was there that day joining us and it was really cool. And Moose comes in and he's talking with Lewis and you know what do you guys do? And you know, obviously we're fairly very new to the podcast world.
Speaker 3:Not too many people knew who we were and we just started talking about food and and and because of our spices right it was all about our spices and moose was telling me about his you know his father and with the french culinary background, that he had this and that, and I showed him our lose a jerk seasoning right and I said this is for you, buddy. We had a great conversation and I said this is for you and I want you to try it. Give me your honest opinion. Obviously, he knows his way around the kitchen. The next day, siege, we're there four days. The next day, moose shows up with a Tupperware with the jerk chicken that he made using our spices. Oh, it's delicious. And everybody was around our booth and we weren't selling it, but everybody. Next thing, you know you, you got people got sauce all over their face. You got, you know, frank from the Ugly Pike. He's eating jerk chicken. Lou's eating jerk chicken. Lou's handing out the Tupperware. He's like you guys got to try this, you got to try this.
Speaker 2:I saw some old lady put some in her pocket. I was five minutes too late.
Speaker 7:They had just finished three or four pizzas and I walk, yes. And I thought nobody's going to touch this. Are you nuts? Everyone went nuts. Everyone went crazy for it.
Speaker 2:It was crazy. It was like Halloween and everyone was just grabbing chicken. It was trick or treat Everyone was just chicken.
Speaker 3:People were signing. Pete Bowman was like what's going on there? He's signing hats and he's like what's going on? In that corner we had all the people around us because they thought that we were like chicken for people and the best thing is Antonio, like he knows obviously the cooking world and he knows the fishing world as well, but not as not that much, right.
Speaker 3:So he's like yeah, this guy, you know, he thought you were just showing up at the show as uh, as uh, not a fan, but just as like like grazing like he was, and then, and then we had the April Marine girls with us, who we had on our podcast the week before, and it was cool because we got to be there when they actually went up to moose and said you know, congratulations, yeah, you're, you're gonna be part of their team and we were there for that, so it was turns out he's in.
Speaker 2:I'm like tone, he's boys with cooper. I see him on videos all the time. He's been in the industry for long. You're like buddy. I just thought he was a really cool guy. You know what I mean.
Speaker 7:I just lay low, man, I you do the background, I lay low, I do my thing. Yeah, the girls from Imperial Marine, they were great they were. We've been talking forever and it was at in your booth there like congratulations, you're the Ontario ambassador, so we had to.
Speaker 2:It was the eating wild effect here.
Speaker 3:Maybe we were there for the signing. Yeah, it was huge press for press report live from the eating wild booth. But then then we start hearing more about Moose and what he does and you know. So you left, obviously, the kitchen food industry. I know you went to school for culinary arts and stuff and you are quite the entrepreneur.
Speaker 7:I know what I had to make a decision. My dad was the one that kind of hammered it into my head. He grew up in the kitchen. It was really tough back in the day to make it in the culinary arts world. Once he got to a specific position he looked at me and says is this what you want to do? He says I know how much you love it and you do great work. Is this what you want to do? He says I know how much you love it and you do great work. Is this what you want to do? You've seen the life I've led and the traveling and the this and that, and I looked at him and I said no, it's not. I love cooking way too much to sacrifice everything, like it was different 20 years ago than it is now, and I think the best thing I could have done was leave the culinary arts world and venture off into something else.
Speaker 2:And that something else is another eating wild. Thing. What do we do, tom? We cook we fish. Guess what? We pop and cook. Siege, I'm so curious as to how you got into fishing that world.
Speaker 7:Well, the fishing thing started again with my dad back in the day, right, but it wasn't until, oh geez, I was. Uh 16 years old buddy of mine said come up to my cottage. I said sure, we went up to the cottage. He says you like fishing? I said I love fishing, uh, and I had made my own. You remember, gimp, back in the day girls used to make bracelets oh, yeah, yeah so I used to make my own lures at a gimp.
Speaker 7:No, that was what I did to kill time at home. Right, right, right. And he says, yeah, come up to the cottage, we'll go fishing. I said absolutely. We went up, I caught some fish on my own new lures that I made. I was all pumped and that was sort of what really sparked the love of the sport was I can make something and catch these fish, and I can. It was just the adventure of what's next. And so my buddy Scotty was really the guy who, like, got me into fishing again, just kind of revamped that love of the sport. So every weekend we were on a body of water, on a river or just somewhere, just casting a line. It didn't matter what we were fishing out of, it was just let's see what we can catch wow, that's crazy how it starts.
Speaker 3:it's always the one friend that sort of introduces you to a body of water.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, your father, your uncle. We've had guests on the show Moose, where it was their grandmother that got them into hunting. Yeah, you know, and it's just, there's someone that plants that seed and we always. It sounds a little cliche here, but always bring kids out 100%.
Speaker 7:Bring kids out, you never know.
Speaker 2:You never know. And look at Moose here. I mean, now he's the journey brother.
Speaker 7:This journey is insane. It's all about the journey. Regardless of where you are in the world, you meet people with the same interests. You're going to learn so much If you're on a body. I met a guy five years ago. I was in Florida for my buddy's kid's baseball game. He was youngest pitcher to ever get drafted to Team Canada, and so I went down there to take some pictures and have some fun with him. I'm going to go fishing for a couple hours. I met this Spanish guy on the pier. We're like this right now. He wants to come up here and spend time with my family. Come down, my wife misses you, great guy, and it was fishing that brought us together. So, regardless of where I go around the province, around the country, it's insane to me the number of people that I come across that are like you're Moose right. I'm like, yeah, I watch your fishing stuff. I'm like that's crazy, like you're Moose right. Yeah, my dad taught you and this is a crazy story.
Speaker 7:I grew up in Scarborough, moved to British Columbia, I'm living in this small town, fairmont Hot Springs Resort and I'm living in this small town, which is a resort, but it's a tiny little town schools in infirmary, bc on the columbia river, columbia lake. We're in the columbia valley, about an hour and a half outside of banff, alberta. We live there. I work on the resort in the kitchen with my dad. I got to know some people. Whatever we end up leaving there we're, we moved to alberta and then we move back here years later.
Speaker 7:I take a bunch of guys out snowboarding and I said to to one of the guys you know what? I'm going to go visit some friends in Fairmont. We only had one vehicle. You guys keep the car, don't worry about it. Everybody hitchhikes around there. Oh yeah, yeah. So I'm in the middle of the Rocky Mountains and I'm hitchhiking. I'm going to go highway and some lady picks me up, drops me off 15 minutes down the road. Another guy picks me up, drops me off 15 minutes down the road and I'm hitchhiking, hitchhiking. Nobody's picking me up. I look like this, obviously, but nobody's picking me up.
Speaker 7:All of a sudden it starts to get a little darker, a little darker, a little darker. Finally, this SUV stops and nobody knows I'm in town. This SUV stops, door opens Moose, get in. What you got to be kidding. So I run in. I don't recognize a soul. I get in the car. I'm like, how do you guys know my name? Oh man, my dad taught you and this, that and the other thing. We were looking at photos and videos. We had a I didn't know this kid from Adam Right and his dad taught me in culinary arts, in culinary school. They found me on the side of the, the, the trans canada highway, picked me up and took me all the way to my destination, no, middle of the rocky mountains, mental, and from there and my wife jokes about it all the time I can't go anywhere without being recognized for something and I'm like I don't see it. She's like we're at the airport and people are stopping you. Oh, moose man. Yeah, we went to high school together, almost.
Speaker 3:We went to elementary school, the elementary, but it was always something there's only one moose, but that's got to be a compliment for you, rather, because you're doing something right and and the reason why I say this is because we, we know we meet a lot of people day in and day out in our career especially. You see, you're on the road, you, you're. You know people know you all across Ontario for what you do, and me, obviously, being on film sets every day. You know there's hundreds and hundreds of people. But when somebody can recognize you hitchhiking on the side of a road, you've got a problem. You are probably really too nice. You're doing something right because the day you left the sportsman show Moose, I got to tell you, buddy, it's like, obviously, with the way that Moose looks, if everyone doesn't know how Moose looks, you got to you know, simply just go on his socials, you'll see the Moose. He's always, you know, he's supporting the white beard. Not too long ago I saw that.
Speaker 7:I didn't get rid of that, yeah, he got the full white beard going.
Speaker 3:It's crazy man. So it's got to be complimentary because you're a super nice guy, you're well-connected, like he's here in my office before we come, his phone's ringing. It's JP to Rose. Say what I'm like what His phone's like yeah, say hi to Smash. It's JP to Rose. I'm like who gets a call from JP to Rose? I want a call from JP to Rose, yeah. Yeah, just hung out today on set with tone and I'm just like it's crazy man and and your journey is incredible moose. And one thing that I I really, after you left the show and I was looking through your socials and I was looking at your story, it was really cool to see that you had that really cool thing going on with cooper gallant and you were, you were the chef bro. You were cooking up a storm, yeah, and we got to talk about that. It was something that you, um, you guys were traveling, obviously.
Speaker 7:yeah, we were in an rv, in an rv and you, you were, you were chef brother, yeah you were, yes, chef, for years we talked about, you know, just renting an rv and getting a couple buddies and going, and I just bought the boat, I just bought the lund. Yeah and uh. I said, dude, this has got to be the year like we, we need to rent an rv, like you're getting busier and busier with fishing, I'm getting busier and busier with my shop and everything else, and let's just grab an rv next month and go. Where are we going? I said I don't know. Ask your brother, I don't want to plan anything other than getting the rv and the food. That's it. That's like you, antonio yeah, and and that was it.
Speaker 7:Let's just do a road trip, let's go. We wanted to do originally we were going to do 14 days and try to go as far north as possible and come back. Then his brother was like no, no, we can only do 10 days, you got to think of this and that. So Cooper and I are a bit of free spirits I'm a bit of a gypsy, right, yeah, yeah, and Coop loves to travel and loves the adventure and the chase and his brother sort of brought us back to planet Earth and was like, realistically, let's figure out gas and time.
Speaker 7:So we did 10 days, we did Ontario, we dragged the boat through the whole province and we met a whole bunch of really cool people that were doing really cool things. Some guy was walking from one end of the province to the other to just prove a point, and this was at the same time the truck thing was going down and come back. So he was walking from BC or Alberta to the Capitol and we met him along the way and heard his story and just, we met some really cool people. So here we are, the four of us, in an RV and we're stopping at every body of water that we can find, just to fish, fuck and man, the scenery, the people. The experience was unbelievable. And I looked at him and I was like I think we're onto something. We need to do this again.
Speaker 2:So, Moose. So every lake you were going to I was a big fan of that, it's the journey, was it was called no, the road trip, the road trip, yeah. So every to tell our listeners every lake you were going to, you were targeting different species, Different species yeah. So what was on the?
Speaker 7:original list. So originally my idea and his idea were very similar. And then when we sat down and put it all together, him and his brother had been talking about the same thing for years, right, but his brother knew a few people along the way and said, okay, let's target. Since it's the end of the season, let's target. You know, lakers and Muskie was the first trip. And so we went to Nipigon. Yeah, and I had never been to Nipigon. Yeah, and I had never been to Nipigon. He had been there, his brother had been there once, and then the other two boys had never been there.
Speaker 7:And when we got there we were so remote. There's two boat launches on the whole lake and it's a giant lake. We're the only people at this like campsite type of thing and we get out onto this lake and there isn't a soul for hours. So cool, no reception, nothing, and it was just you and the fishing. And we stumbled upon something within the first five minutes and, dude, we were catching giant lake trout as if they were smallies in like three feet of water. What Three feet of water? We were catching giant 35 to our biggest that day was 39 inch lake trout.
Speaker 7:So when they're in the three feet of water could you pretty much sight fish for them. We were sight fishing for lake trout. Oh, buddy, it was unbelievable. I've never even heard of that.
Speaker 7:It was one day before the season closed. Oh, wow, so we had gone. It was the end of, uh, end of october or end of. It was either end of october, end of september, but it was. I will never in my life forget that day.
Speaker 7:We didn't know what to expect. We didn't know what we were fishing for at the time. We knew we were going to target lake trout, yeah, but I'm sure there was going to be smallies and walleye, and and and and. Then, soon as we stumbled upon the lake trout and three feet of water you want to talk about a good time? Oh, you could. It was. It was crazy, it was insane. The first fish that so coop caught the first fish and there's a reaction on his face. I've never seen that. When the lion's just screaming yeah, that says it all. Yeah. And then every fish after that was bigger and bigger and stronger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. And then just some of the things that happened through it, like watching the wildlife, the moose, just yeah, yeah, you know. Watching bears swim alongside the boat yeah, that was the coolest thing it was. It was you. You cannot if you've never been to lake nipigon. Yeah, you can't explain it.
Speaker 2:You need, people need to experience that lake and the cool thing was you would, uh, since you're like our version of antonio, you guys would get like a walter here and there or whatever. Yeah, and next thing, you know, um, I'm speaking for you, um, I shouldn't, but I apologize, but they would be in an rv and they'd be. Obviously you're going through all these crazy roads to boat launches and you and you would see moose just moving, all the moving camera and the guy's trying to make a dish, but he's got it down pat, he's just like stirring stuff up.
Speaker 7:He's like all the boys are like all fired up and then, yeah, man, so with the, with the lakers that we were catching, all the boys are like all fired up. And then, yeah, man, so with that, with the lakers that we were catching, all the whitefish were mixed in between. All was the white. So the lakers are out spawning doing their thing and the whitefish are running around eating all the eggs, right? So we caught in, we, I caught a whitefish, or no, I think it was greg that caught the white for the first one. Anyway, I said you know what, let's keep this one. This is going to be dinner tonight.
Speaker 7:So, and we were making our way up to canora to meet up with jeff gust, or, uh, not jeff brian gustafson, okay, uh, owns lake of the woods outfitters out there. We were staying at his place and we were going to do some musky fishing and, uh, so it was about I don't know 8, 30 at night. We got back into the rv, packed it up, boys, you, you hungry, yeah, let's eat. And here we are on this bumpy, dirt road doing 80. And I'm cooking in this like mobile kitchen. Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean.
Speaker 7:It was an experience, but it was a blast. It was a blast we had. I think the first night we had fish, second night we had meatballs. We did bacon and eggs for breakfast. But we were always on the go and we were well fed.
Speaker 3:I don't even think.
Speaker 2:I'd be able to do that siege. When I saw it I thought of you, antonio, and us as our group for the Eating Wild podcast. We always had that same passion to get an RV and tow a boat. We've always talked about it and then when that popped up the road trip I didn't even know who was in it whatsoever. I'm like I got to watch this just because we always talk, always dan dan always says it's.
Speaker 3:It's one of those things where we're gonna take our families. Let's go across canada, we're gonna fish all these remote lakes like moose is talking about, and the fact that he got to experience that be the camp chef, be the popper, you know they're catching fish like crazy. Yeah, and the company was a great the company was I'll tell you.
Speaker 7:It's two different worlds when you go with two or three buddies and when you go with your whole family in the case, oh yeah it's too completely different forget the fishing it's all about the experience at that time.
Speaker 7:But it's all. You know the bugs and I'm tired. Oh yeah, I'm bored and so, but honestly, that was. That was just something that I think everybody needs to do. Yeah, rent an RV. And at the time the boys were like, where are we going to get an RV? And I was working on an RV sponsorship at the time and it didn't pan out. But RVZ man, rvz cost me a thousand bucks for the RV. Wow, it was another three grand for gas and propane. Yeah, so for four grand, the four of us had 10 days that we'll talk about for the rest of our lives.
Speaker 2:I got to ask you driving the RV with the boat, did that ever?
Speaker 7:get a little sketchy. The first 15 minutes on the highway dragging a boat is a bit sketchy. Especially, the RV we had was not the nicest and we had to go to Ottawa to get it. So at the time there was no RVs available in the area so we actually left my house in Oshawa. I was living in Oshawa at the time. We went to Colin's house, bowmanville, to pick up Coop, colin's house in Newcastle, drove all the way to Ottawa to pick up the RV and then went north.
Speaker 2:So Colin is Coop's younger brother or older brother?
Speaker 7:Colin's Cooper's older brother. Okay, cooper's the youngest. He's a good stick too. He's a good stick too. He's a good stick, he knows his stuff.
Speaker 2:He really does when it comes to salmon and trout and he's really good with. Does he do a lot of the filming? Yes, oh, really good at that.
Speaker 7:Phenomenal videographer and photographer. I mean, the whole family is just blessed with skill, right, you know Cooper with his fishing and videography and Colin with he's a very smart guy and he loves the outdoors Him, loves the outdoors Him and his wife both. And he's an incredible cameraman Incredible. We were actually last night. We were sitting around at my shop and we were watching season one, episode one, season three, episode one, and then we just watched the Outer Banks episode because we're planning on an Outer Banks trip. So, oh, did you hear that Tone?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're dropping that. What's going on? Are we dropping that Because? There was three seasons of.
Speaker 7:Road Trip. Four seasons of the Road Trip, okay, and I believe this one. I'm not 100% sure, but I think this one's season five, episode one. I don't know how he's got it numbered, but that's exciting. Yeah, I was involved with a few of the episodes and then him and Colin took off with it and they dude off with it and they dude, they went to some pretty well. There's one episode where they were catching bluefin tuna. Oh, it was in south carolina or north carolina or no, it wasn't even south carolina, it was in um somewhere in new york. It was awesome.
Speaker 3:you didn't even see the tuna, but the footage itself of just fighting that giant oh, it's crazy, man, I've, I've been blessed to go out tuna fishing myself, marathon hump and it's it's. It's crazy because you know you could be like coop is amazing, obviously bass fishermen, but you know to be well skilled and and going out to the ocean and saltwater fishing it's a totally different animal. Yeah, and you know I don't think anyone really can can experience it you in their mind, unless they actually go do it themselves. You know what I mean, siege, and it's one of those things like when I I remember fishing with you know I'm going to drop the fishing fire stuff again. But you know, when we had Cameron Jordan okay, this guy's a pro bowler monster, new Orleans Saints and to watch him struggle, siege, to bring in that tuna fish and it probably wasn't even as big as the one that you know the boys were getting out in New York, but it's a different animal, man.
Speaker 3:It's like bringing in a 25 pound salmon from like 400 feet of water and it doesn't give up.
Speaker 7:They're just so strong Saltwater fish and even if you've never saltwater fish, it's very basic, there's not much to it. If you can drop shot or if you can, you know, any sort of bottom fishing, that's saltwater fishing is very, very, very basic, right, unless you're getting into the trolling and the kite fishing and the balloons and yeah, yeah, you know what I mean like there's a lot to that side of the world.
Speaker 7:But uh, we went down to florida one time and I went to a local tackle shop. I'm like, hey, I'm from canada, I don't know anything about saltwater. Guy was like, oh, you're from canada, come with me best two days of my life. I didn't know this guy from adam stayed at his place. He took me out snook fishing. We went trolling, dude, and I said to him I go, my goal this week is to catch a tarpon. Oh, he tried so hard. Oh, he did. We didn't get into any because it wasn't tarpon season, right, but I still haven't caught a tarpon and I will eventually. Oh, buddy.
Speaker 3:That's crazy. Tarpon fishing is one of those things too. You just said it, you got to get them. We fished under the Seven Mile Bridge seven mile bridge in the florida keys, which is world renowned for tarp. And yes, we went um. You know, I brought jesse winchester he played for the ottawa senators and erica branson was playing with the florida panthers at the right and he's still playing. He's still with columbus and sean and I took these guys out to the uh, seven mile bridge, florida keys.
Speaker 3:Right, you got to go right when the sun's going down, right, and the current, the current changes from the Gulf over to the Atlantic, so you have to be very careful. You got to anchor down almost, almost underneath that bridge, but the current is insane. Like if you hook into a tarpon, you'll notice these guys dropping these massive buoys down almost to mark their spot. Right, but literally it's. You have to get on, like when Jesse hooked into that first tarpon. You know it's a tarpon because they jump 100 feet in the air, yeah, but your reel starts screaming and right away Sean's like drop the marker, gets onto the wheel and starts driving. And when you're going through under those undercuts, under the bridge, it's so dangerous, yeah, you can literally smash into the wall if you're not. So you got. You got the fish going, your adrenaline's going, you're, you're got. Your captain is the most important person on the boat when you're tarpon fishing and you, once you get out and out of the, out of that current, you fight that fish siege.
Speaker 7:The undertow and the, the, the. It's insane. You know what? You know who can have you ever hand fed the tarpon? Yes, hand feeding the tarpon. It is wild. Wait till wait, till jp comes to see you guys, he'll he. Just that's what he loves to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's a goat oh, he's a goat technical video. Uh, goat of how to. Yeah, he is this. He, like I was telling you earlier, moose, he, he dumbs it down, but at the same time, you can relate to him and ever since, he's the encyclopedia of fishing yeah, I was like 16, 17 watching the guy and it's just, it's just amazing.
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Speaker 6:How did a small-town sheet metal mechanic come to build one of Canada's most iconic fishing lodges? I'm your host, Steve Niedzwiecki, and you'll find out about that and a whole lot more on the Outdoor Journal, Radio Network's newest podcast, Diaries of a Lodge Owner. But this podcast will be more than that. Every week on Diaries of a Lodge Owner, I'm going to introduce you to a ton of great people, share their stories of our trials, tribulations and inspirations, learn and have plenty of laughs along the way.
Speaker 5:Meanwhile we're sitting there bobbing along trying to figure out how to catch a bass and we both decided one day we were going to be on television doing a fishing show.
Speaker 6:My hands get sore a little bit when I'm reeling in all those bass in the summertime, but that might be, for more fishing than it was punching.
Speaker 3:You so confidently?
Speaker 6:you said hey, pat, have you ever eaten a trout? Find Diaries of a Lodge Owner now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 7:You know what was cool is he saw something back in the day. I've never been one for sponsorships and I don't go asking for nothing.
Speaker 3:I see it I want it, I buy it.
Speaker 7:That's how I operate right and with the old C thing and when it all kind of got going, I'd see him at the trade shows and we knew one another. He says what are you doing? I said not much. He says giving a lot of gear away. I said all Shimano gear. You got a sponsorship. I said no. He says well, let me help you with that. He called, he made a couple of calls, and some guy calls me and he says what are you doing? I go nothing, I'm just doing my thing.
Speaker 7:Man, like people, support me, support back. Yeah, uh, well, stop stop buying those reels, like I'm gonna. I'm gonna send them to you. If you're giving them away to your followers, I'm gonna send you. That was the coolest thing to me. Someone saw and the value in what I was doing and it was jp out of all people, right, man, I, I grew up watching, yeah, yeah, and he was I. He was the reason why I ended up getting my sponsorship with. Uh, shimano Mahoney called me up and said listen, how many reels did you buy? I said I've given away 10. He says, all right, I'm going to send you 10 reels. He says don't buy them. You know, we'll give you a sponsorship. Just help us out and we'll help you out. And that was the first time anyone had ever reached out and said hey, like we like what you're doing, can we like what you're doing? Can we work together?
Speaker 2:Is that when you were doing the OFC? Yeah, yeah, so the OFC was.
Speaker 7:it was by accident, we sort of stumbled upon it about 12 or 13 years ago.
Speaker 2:So that's Ontario.
Speaker 7:Fishing Club, ontario Fishing Club and the Canadian Fishing Network was doing the same thing. So there's two guys, scotty and Red, who were absolutely hilarious Filipino guy and a big, chubby white guy and he's a gem, he's like a big teddy bear. At the same time, jeff and I got the Ontario Fishing Club Facebook page going. They were doing this thing called the Canadian Fishing Network. I got a phone call one day from a buddy of mine. He says do you want to go fishing next weekend? There's a group of guys that are going to a lodge and I said I'd love to. Who are these guys? He says I don't know them. He goes.
Speaker 7:I got a message from some guy saying we're going to a lodge and the more people we have, the better the discount. Yeah, cool, where is it? He says French River, say less. Didn't know a single person there. It was me, a buddy and some other guy that he met through Facebook. Yeah, so at the time my girlfriend, my mom, like where are you going? I was like I don't know fishing with a bunch of dudes. Have you ever met them before? I'm like no, we're just going to meet up at a lodge and fish. Like sounded odd, right, like okay, you're not coming back, or if you are, you're going to be, you know, weird for life, kind of thing. But so we get there and I meet this guy and he's like, hey, welcome, blah, blah, blah, this is the French river. This is who this person is. That person is, uh, we call we call ourselves the Ontario fishing club, because there's no.
Speaker 7:At the time there was nothing on Facebook where you can communicate with other fishermen to just share your experiences or, you know, get some areas where you can go and fish or direction or nothing. There was nothing like that before. No, I was like that's kind of cool. I'm like have you started a Facebook page? He's like, well, we're on Facebook, but we're just the fishing crew, we call each other cool. By day three we had come up with the idea of the Ontario Fishing Club. Jeff and I Drew out a logo and a napkin and I'm like this is awesome, this is fun, this is something different. How many people do you think you know can come on the next adventure, kind of thing. And it was always about getting others involved and, obviously, getting a break at some of these lodges right.
Speaker 7:So it started with 28 and then it got to 40. 40 became 80, 80, 80 became 120, 2000, 2000 became four and it just started growing. Amazing. And I looked at it and I was like, dude, like we've got a pretty cool following. And this is before. Social was social. Yeah, yeah, again we're going back 15 years.
Speaker 7:You didn't care how many people followed you, you didn't care who was watching your videos, and we still don't. To be honest with you, we just do it because it's fun. Jeff man, we got like 4 000 followers. This is pretty cool. We should like do a hat with the logo or a shirt. Sure, did a hat, did a shirt sold out, did a hat, did a shirt sold out, cool. Well, let's do the trade show. Let's set up a booth and get more followers and sell more apparel to fund events. The events were charity tournaments. Jeff's company used to host a charity tournament every year on Sturgeon Lake. 50, 60 people would show up. We'd fish for two days. Everybody would walk away with a grab bag. What a blast it was. Then it got bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. Next thing, you know, we're at I don't know 40, 50,000 followers right and we're thinking that's pretty cool.
Speaker 7:But at the same time, those two guys that we were telling you about, we start seeing them at these trade shows. So first trade show we did was the Spring Fishing and Boat Show with Andy Pallotta Didn't know Andy. You show we did was the spring fishing boat show with andy palotta. Didn't know andy. You know andy had. I'd called him. I said I need a booth.
Speaker 7:He says who are you? What are you doing? Oh, we're just a local fishing club. Blah, blah, blah. Uh, facebook, online social thing. Cool, I'm gonna set you up with a space. Um, who are you? What's your story? I've heard your name a couple times. He says this is what I do. He says oh, you want a bar. I said said I used to. The bar burned down, we'll get into that. I heard you do karaoke. I said yeah, I've hosted karaoke before. I need to do karaoke on a Saturday night at the show. Can you host it? Sure, why not? So here I am meeting this Andy Pallotta guy that everybody in the industry knows. I don't know him. I don't know him. I don't know who he is. Big, chubby Italian guy, loves to eat and talk.
Speaker 3:That's all I thought Sounds familiar.
Speaker 7:Instantly became brothers, like he was like an older brother to me, like he was just. He's one of those characters you can't help but fall in love with. Yeah, he'll drive you nuts, he'll drive you bananas, but you can't help but fall in love with him, give you the shirt off his back, kind of thing. So anyway, I've got jeff who's who's my buddy and but he's not much of uh. At the time I owned a bar and I was into the, the party and fun.
Speaker 7:Well, we all did that right like yeah, yeah, yeah, the simple party and fun. Yeah, yeah, I had to be the responsible one at the bar. Yeah, uh, and I meet andy and I've got jeff and jeff goes to bed and andy wants to do karaoke and scotty and red are there and I'm like scotty and red go canadian fishing network good to meet you guys. And then it sort of clicked. I'm like you guys are doing the same thing we're doing, and so why compete when all we're doing is trying to grow the industry, bring more people into it, educate, empower, that sort of thing you want, want to work together? Sure, it sounds like fun, why not?
Speaker 7:So we set up a couple of events. We set up a couple of lives. We started doing lives before lives were even a thing. Oh, really, facebook had just introduced Facebook Live and you can actually like bring in somebody right from the messages. Yes, yes, it was before really anyone was doing anything. We were just doing these live chats and it was like let's just have some fun with it. And every month we were doing this thing called a tackle box giveaway and people were donating and you know, they'd give it to us and we'd give it away and we weren't reaping any of the benefits. You know people think, oh, you're getting so much free stuff. We're like no, we're not.
Speaker 7:We're giving it all back You're doing it for the passion, yeah, so Scotty and Red are doing their thing, jeff and I are doing our thing. And then we partnered up and created the OFC Nation. So it was. You know, you can go ahead and use my network and I use your network and together we are a network. And it was something that nobody in the industry had done.
Speaker 7:Nobody ever plays nice together in the pond, and from day one I'm not going to mention any names, but from day one somebody was like, somebody approached me and was like listen, man, like you've grown a following and you're sharing it with someone. Why it's never going to work. It's never going to work. I'm like, see, that's your mentality, that's your way of thinking, and I personally think that we proved the industry wrong 12 years ago, where you took two people who were doing the same thing, who wanted the same outcome, and we managed to make it work, and it's worked flawlessly, beautifully. So, years later, those people that told us they would never work, you know they're, they're, they've changed their tune and, yeah, they adapted and and and yeah, and here we are the ofc nation.
Speaker 2:So I've been on the page several times when I like about the pages, uh, with the socialists is. I've been a lot of groups with instagram and facebook, but I always see a lot of hatred. I hate to say you shouldn't see it in the fishing world, but it's a very positive community that you guys have and I see people sharing like you know what's biting down at, you know scugog or you know sturgeon, and people are showing.
Speaker 2:I just got this one yesterday and there seems like it's a real, and it's all ages too, I'm noticing too, too, it's not just guys in their 40s like us, and then it's just like younger guys getting into it and I have to tip my hat to you because you were the pioneers of that and you know I think so. I think so in ontario.
Speaker 7:There was groups, I think there was groups around they just. But at the at the time they were um, where were they like uh, what do you call them? Vlog or not? Vlogs, uh, forums forums at the time, forums was a thing, but again, we had no tolerance for BS. Yeah, we had people that wanted to be involved, so we had moderators, people following the page, and don't get me wrong- We've had a fair share of crazy. I've had people show up to my house at all hours of the night.
Speaker 7:Oh my goodness, I've had people show up to my house at all hours of the night. I've had court cases with you know psychopaths, people that just seem to think that I owed them something. You know what I mean. Like, all of a sudden, I'm seeing packages of baits on on a shelf at a local tackle shop with my logo on it. I'm like well, who gave you permission to use my logo? Like no man, you can't do that. Like I'm sorry, you know, and it just weird, odd things would happen. But we try to stay simple. We cater to the average Joe and the weekend warrior. Yeah, there might be tournament guys, there might be, you know, pros, but at the end of the day it's not about one product or one person, it's the whole community. Whether it be salmon, pike, trout, crappie, bass, smallmouth, largemouth, doesn't matter what you fish for, it's all about the whole community. So right, and I hope that that's what we sort of have taught a lot of people along the way.
Speaker 2:But yeah and then uh, after that, like I mean you did that and then you kind of got involved in, like you were in, tournament fishing. You're quite the stick.
Speaker 3:Like we're not even talking about this guy's talent on the water. We know about the talent off the water. Yeah, but you know there's a stat you talked about right before we started, you got to drop it.
Speaker 2:So this could be fake news. We have a little segment on the eating wild podcast fake news or not, fake news or not? So we had some, uh, we had ai generate some facts about you. Oh, so this might be ai fake news. So it's saying that you have been fishing competitively for over 12 years. Yes, sir, so that's so, that's not 15. Ding Ding, we got one right. So, and then last year a little bird told me, you fished over 24 tournaments last year, 26 actually 26.
Speaker 7:So that is big news, if you count my own charity tournament.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we have to talk about your charity tournaments and we have to talk about what is the Kortha Cup? Yeah, quartha Cup. We fished this lake before Antonio. Yeah, what lake is it?
Speaker 3:Tone Is it the home waters Close to Sturgeon, oh buddy Sturgeon Lake.
Speaker 2:Mr Moose had a. Well, I'm going to let you tell the story about it. So yeah, he's got the Quartha Cup. And what was your partner's name, dan?
Speaker 7:risotto the gooch.
Speaker 2:The gooch, he's a legend legend yes yes, and there's a story behind that too. So let's, before we get the story about the gooch, let's, let's hear about your day like it was a two-day tournament, three-day tournament the so andy's so andy csfl pro series or the pro tournaments, uh, cup cup series sorry he calls them.
Speaker 7:They're all two-day tournaments. So right, kawartha cup uh, I think last year was kawartha cup, quinny cup, bronzeback cup he's got four or five of them. But uh, we fished the kawartha cup. It's two days and uh, yeah, we killed it. Man, it was awesome. It was awesome. We didn't think we were. We didn't think we were, we were actually gonna win it. Yeah, like, we're on stage and dan kind of mutters to me he's like holy shit, I think we're gonna win no way. And um, yeah, so for day one, we've we fished. So rewind, two weeks before we had a clubby. So, uh, we run. I, I I'm involved with a group of uh guys that we call each other the, the durham anglers. Okay, small a group of guys that we call each other the Durham Anglers Okay, small, elite group of guys. We just want to have a good time. I got invited into it as a boater and we mix it up. Every week or every event, we take someone out who's not a boater, like a non-boater, okay.
Speaker 7:And we mix it up blah, blah, blah. We take someone out who's not a boater like a non-boater, okay and we mix it up blah, blah, blah. So the Durham.
Speaker 7:Anglers had an event there two weeks before and myself and my tournament partner, colby Baker young guy, 16 years old at the time that's so cool. We won Right and everyone was like, how'd you pull it off? I'm like, I don't know, I just won, I don't know, it just happened. It's good feeling, this great blah, blah. You know the kid was over the moon. It was incredible. The next week we had another gathering. I think it was like 30 boats, just for fun. We won again. Oh wow, it's cool. The following week was going to be the core of the cup, but originally I was supposed to do it with my little buddy, colby, and he wasn't available. And I got talking to Dan and Dan's like, do you want to fish it with me? And I'm like I'd be honored. Dan Risordo is a stick in hell Like dude, this guy. He's a gem of a human being. For one, for two. I fished beside him, side by side, throwing the exact same bait. One of those guys.
Speaker 7:And it's just like there's one, oh, there's another, yeah, oh, there's another. And I'm like dude, I like what is it like? They see my bait and your bait. They're like, oh, that one says gooch on it. Yeah, he says you want to fish together. I'm like, absolutely, you just want to fish with me because I won two weeks in a row, yeah, you got the hot hand.
Speaker 7:So I was bugging him about that. But, um, I was pumped to fish with Gooch because, a I would learn a lot and B he's a good buddy of mine. So we get out there and we're fishing all my water and it's not producing any fish. And he looks at me and he's like are you sure you caught these fish in this lake? I was like no, I'm like, just give me an hour, give me two more spots, we'll be good. I'm like, just give me an hour, give me two more spots, we'll be good. We get to the last spot, we finally catch one fish and it was about 1130. We had two fish in the live. Well, so I'm sweating and I instantly was like man, I let this guy down Like I'm fishing my. Okay, let's try A, b and C his spots. We go here, we go there. Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. It's about two o'clock and we've got two fish in the boat and I'm thinking that I, we, that's it, we've lost this.
Speaker 7:And so he turned. I turned around. I was like I'm sorry, man, I don't know what's going on. I was so bummed out I know how that is so bummed out. And he looks at me. He goes what are you sorry about? He's like I've had an incredible day. He's's like dude, I haven't stopped laughing all day.
Speaker 7:And he's like are you having a good time? I was like yeah, I'm having a good time, I just want to catch more fish. He's like so, get up here and catch more fish. We got an hour left. There's no way. He's like ah, anything's possible. Pick up my rod. I cast out boom, now we got three.
Speaker 7:I look at him. I'm like whoa. He casts out boom, now we got four. And he looks at me. He's like I need a five pounder out of you by the end of the day. I was like we got half an hour left. He's like check-in is like right there, like five minutes away. Not even I need a five pounder out of you by the end of the day. I'm gonna do a, you're gonna do b, I need a five. And I remember making that cast, thinking I wonder if this is gonna be the one and I look down and isn't there a giant smallie behind my bait? Like I mean giant to the point where, like I'm already on my toes, I haven't even hooked into this thing and I'm like, oh please. And I'm like Dan, dan, dan, I got your five pounder baby and I brought this thing into the boat and he's squeezing my face. We're jumping up and down like crazy, holy crap.
Speaker 7:Like we just caught, like we got 19 and a half pounds within a matter of like. I looked at him and I was like, wow, I was this close to giving up. And I got up and made a couple of casts and boom, okay, fantastic. So I think we were sitting in third place after the weigh-in and I looked at him and I was like like third's, pretty good start for day two. Yeah, yeah, do we fish the same water? Do we go back to the water where we thought there was fish? Let's see how it goes in the morning. So we start off right off the hop in the morning One, two, three, four, five. We got five before nine o'clock. Amazing, no pressure. We've got good weight, but it's not good enough. There's three bag killers. So he looks at me and he goes I need one five-pounder out of you today. Another nickel.
Speaker 2:Right and I go man that's a lot of pressure.
Speaker 7:Yeah, man, and he's like one five-pounder. I was like I need a six-pounder out of you, Just joking around. Right, he goes no problem, Makes a cast Boom Six-pounder. You gotta be kidding me. He pointed, he pointed his shot. This is also a guy that I he's the only one I know to catch a 685 or 675 on that body of water. Giant fish.
Speaker 2:Any lake that's a giant fish, but that lake especially Two years ago.
Speaker 3:He brought in a largemouth Unreal. So let's just paint a picture here. I'm with you, siege, we're fishing, we're in a tournament, we're in third spot and I look at you and I say, siege, I need you to point your shot. It's not happening, no, but like it's not happening because I don't think that could ever like the story is insane.
Speaker 2:It's insane. I have a similar one. I'm not going to go on about, but Louis, if you're listening, you know the pike tournament and he need. I was like moose and I was just, I wasn't having fun and I just started thinking about numbers and the fish we caught and I was down and out. I was just being a little B word and he's like what's wrong with you, man, suck it up, let's have some fun. It was similar to you. We had an hour left before we got to the weigh-in. It was a pike tournament tournament and he had a nice size pike come up on his top water. It missed it and I threw back with the chatterbait and it ended up being the kicker fish we needed. And it's just like you said you were beating yourself up and your, your co-partner, brings you back down. You just had fun, yeah, and and that's that's insane.
Speaker 3:It's crazy how tournament fishing can really really it messes with your head, messes with you mean hook set, so mean. It's funny because we were oh my god, you mentioned that that pike tournament mean hooks that were right close to you guys you got, you were down. You were pissed, I was, and I remember it was close to the south shore. Yeah, and those pencil weeds. Yes, you guys were casting those pencil weeds and me and dan were like, hey, we got our five, yeah, we're going.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you were, you were down yeah, you were down in her voice and then her voice on the water is uh is a nasty thing and you came back to the launch and you guys were in the money.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you guys were in the money. I was like what happened? You're like crazy story luke catches we see that. I follow it up with a chatterbait bang.
Speaker 2:You guys got that big fish, yeah it was like he was, uh, like a you know the the bulls coach of the day. What was the bulls coach back in the dynasty days? Jackson jackson jackson and he compared me to jordan, which I should have been more of a pippin but uh he pointed and yeah, and like moose was saying, it's just, I think when those we're not big tournament guys, moose, but uh, I'm always the fun going, relaxing guy, but tournaments bring something out of me where I'm just like I don't.
Speaker 7:The competition is just yeah, and I'm the same way. So when I'm on the boat and I've got Colby, 16 years old, good kid, all he wants to do is fish. He's on the spectrum of, you know, autism versus disability, like learning disability kind of thing, or at least that's what his parents would tell me. But he's a like I don't see it at all. When he's in the boat with me, he's smart, well-spoken and he's sharp, and I'm always the positive one. Come on, buddy, it's all good. You know what you lost it? No big deal. It happens every day. So here I am on the boat with Dan and Dan's talking to me as if I was talking to Colby, and I'm down Like I'm on a boat with a guy that I look up to and I don't want to let him down. So at this point we needed one more fish After the six.
Speaker 3:After the six, you need another one. You still haven't gotten the five that he asked you to bring.
Speaker 7:I haven't gotten the five that he asked you to bring no, so we needed one more fish. We didn't know this until after, but we needed one more fish. And I'm fishing, fishing, fishing, fishing. And so he says, what were you catching him on? Last week I was catching him on a spy bait. Oh nice, really. I go, yeah, it was on this body of water. I was like, yeah, so I pick behind my spy bait and I'm like this is it. And in my head it was like it's happening right now. There's the five. This is all we need to win. Please eat my lure. And you know, a spy bait. Now, slow and go, slow. And so I'm slow, rolling, and now I'm at the boat and I'm wishing I had props on the back to take me backwards.
Speaker 7:I'm playing every scenario. What happens if it dives down? Do I drop the bait? It comes up and swipes at it. Well, don't I set hook before the fish is even on my bait and I looked at it. No, throw my bait back into the water and I just opened my spool and this thing comes right back up Sucks it in gotcha bitch sorry and that was it, and that was it again brought it into the boat.
Speaker 7:We didn't find out until after. We didn't even need that fish. We would have won that tournament with four fish.
Speaker 2:No way, that's awesome for you to throw back like that. That reminds me a lot of musky fishing, but to you to throw back and open your bail, whereas a lot of guys would have got so upset that that fish missed and they would have thrown their rod down and you know, you know, pull their hair out. But for you to throw back, good on you.
Speaker 7:And you know what that came from If you watch season one, episode one of the road trip. Right, there's a small clip and it's myself and Greg Attard, who's a phenomenal, really good phenomenal stick, incredible muskie fisherman and incredible guide. We're at the front of the boat and we weren't targeting this species and we were fishing for Lakers. And he turns to the camera to say something. His bait's out of the water and just his like muskie instincts. He hears a splash. We see it, I see it at the corner of my eye, you see it on camera and it was a beautiful brookie, beautiful. He drops his bait back in the water, starts to figure eight, and doesn't he hook the brookie on a figure eight, on a figure eight.
Speaker 3:So the fact that he figure eighted. That's because of the musky, that's musky mentality. Like you're obviously a musky fisherman, you're a great stick Right away. Your instants are great Get back in the water.
Speaker 2:I think it doesn't matter, a fish is a fish and they have that same instinct, like we've joked around, when Crappy comes streaming in the springtime, comes screaming in, and we'll do that oval and they'll hit it. But that instinct is, you know, that's incredible.
Speaker 3:So so you guys, you guys won the tournament, so we, we ended up winning the tournament um over the moon.
Speaker 7:You know I'm, I'm. What was the final weight? Uh, 20, Jesus, 21 or 23. I can't remember the exact numbers, so it was three weeks in a row. It was 19 and 21, or 21 and 23.
Speaker 2:Yeah, A sturgeon. Yeah we're talking Kawarthas lakes, and no disrespect to the Kawarthas, but as everyone knows, it can be a tough fishery. And to have a bag like that when he's talking about five and six pounders and these are all small at least Moose, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:But you know, siege bass opener scugog me and you fish the scugog river. Yeah, hookset, dan Martins and Lewis Top Dog, we get nickels, we do. We get nickels on jerkbaits. That's one of our fun, like one of my favorite trips that we do. They're there, they're there. There's a lot of pressure, there's a lot of pressure. I will say that you know the one thing I will say again you know Scugog, as everyone knows listening to this podcast, my home waters, my cottage is on there. I've been fishing it now eight years. I don't fish it enough. I admit it. I've talked about it a lot on this podcast that we don't get out enough siege. But I do hear stories from locals, my neighbors, that they got 20-pound bags.
Speaker 2:I believe it? Well, there's always this myth that back in the day it was a lot better. But for Moose to say he fished this tournament last year, it was last year, right, moose? And he's getting fives and six. So it's, they're there, they're there.
Speaker 5:No, they are, they are.
Speaker 7:This year is completely different. Like I'm sort of I'm blessed in a way where, like I'm your average angler you know, I love tournament fishing because I like to compete yeah. But when I'm watching these guys and I know who's going to bring in a bag and I know who's going to catch them and I know who's going to come in with some big numbers and the lakes this year are nowhere near as productive as they were last year, I wonder what that is nowhere near like, not even close. Like for a lake like balsam lake. For to win a tournament on balsam lake with 14 or 15 pounds is insane, yeah. But then you know, last year they were 19, 20 actually the mcdonald's. This year, balsamam Lake, they went back-to-back both days. I think it was 19 and 21 or 19 and 22, which was huge weights for Balsam, big weights for Balsam.
Speaker 3:I got to ask you this. So you guys finished first, was anybody even close to you guys? Were guys getting 18, 19 pounds, or did you guys just rip everything apart? I think I don't know if it was the Joey's, so Joey T and Joey D.
Speaker 7:I think they came in second or third, I can't remember who it was, but we were. We won it by four and a half pounds. Ooh, I think that's what. Like I said, we didn't need that last fish, you didn't need that kicker.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you didn't need that fish, you didn't need that fish.
Speaker 7:Well, we didn't need that last. I think we won by four and a half pounds. I could be wrong. I got to look at the numbers but yeah, it was wild. It was wild. But it goes back to that whole instinct Get your bait back in the water. That fish could still be there. And then there was a handful of people. Jp always taught me that Get back in the water. You know what I mean. You miss a fish, don't reel in, slow it down, let it drop, let it die, let it think it's harmed Topwater. You get hit. Don't pull it in, let it sit. The longer the better. It could have gone down. Looked back up, oh yeah, I injured that bait fish. I'm going to go back up and eat it.
Speaker 2:So you're quite the tournament fisherman, but at the same time you put on tournaments.
Speaker 7:Yeah.
Speaker 3:On tournaments. Yeah yeah, this guy does it all Well. I'm trying to figure this out because we haven't even gotten into Moose's business here.
Speaker 1:We haven't gotten to his business. We haven't even gotten to his business.
Speaker 3:He's fishing 20,. There's 52 weeks in a year CJ, I know and he's big Wait time out. He's got a family too. Yeah, no, I get it. I get it. They say how do you have time to do a podcast when you're going nuts every day at work? And you figure it out, you find time. But the passion that this guy has you find time to be flexible.
Speaker 7:Holy smokes. There's definitely going to need to be a part two. Stay tuned.
Speaker 3:Part two is coming right up folks.
Speaker 5:We've got the stars lined up. They're coming out ready to play. We'll be right back.