Untamed Pursuits
Embark on a wild adventure like never before with the groundbreaking podcast, "Untamed Pursuits."
Join the intrepid duo of renowned author and outdoor enthusiast, Ridr Knowlton, alongside the seasoned professional fishing guide, Jamie Pistilli, as they traverse the globe in pursuit of the world's most exciting fishing and hunting destinations, and the fascinating creatures that live there. From the lush rainforests of the Amazon to the icy depths of the Arctic Circle, each episode promises heart-pounding encounters, captivating tales, and invaluable insights into the natural world.
With Ridr's profound storytelling and Jamie's unparalleled expertise, prepare to be transported to the front lines of adventure, where every roar, splash, and rustle ignites the senses and leaves listeners on the edge of their seats. "Untamed Pursuits" isn't just a podcast—it's an adrenaline-fueled odyssey that will redefine your perception of nature and leave you craving more. Buckle up for the ride of a lifetime!
Untamed Pursuits
Episode 12: Mailbag Day
Ready to embark on an angling adventure like no other? In this episode of Untamed Pursuits, Ridr regales us with tales from his epic journey through the Bolivian jungle, battling relentless insects and treacherous travel to hook the elusive Golden Dorado. As he shares the gritty and exhilarating details, Jamie’s contrasting experience teaching young anglers in Ottawa provides a refreshing perspective on the world of fishing, showcasing the joys and challenges of nurturing the next generation of anglers.
Then, we transport you to the breathtaking landscapes near the Andes Mountains, where pristine rivers and indigenous territories offer a rare glimpse into the habitat of the Golden Dorado. Learn about the unique fishing conditions during the Amazon's dry season and the electrifying experience of sight casting in crystal-clear waters. Plus, Ridr dives into the thrill of hunting pacu in the South American jungle, while recounting encounters with jaguars, pumas, and the infamous bullet ant, adding an extra layer of excitement to the adventure.
For urban fishing enthusiasts, Jamie and Ridr offer valuable tips on fishing hotspots in cities like Montreal, Toronto, and New York City. From the shores of Algonquin Park to the bustling waters of Long Island, discover the diverse species and techniques that make city fishing so rewarding. They also highlight accessible half-day trips from major cities like Denver and Salt Lake City, emphasizing the importance of curiosity and continuous learning in becoming a successful angler. Whether you’re casting in the jungle or the urban jungle, this episode is packed with inspiration and practical advice for every fishing enthusiast.
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Speaker 3:Welcome to this week's episode of Untamed Pursuits. I'm Jamie Bastilli here with back from Bolivia. Oh man, it's mailbag day. But before we crack open the old bag, I gotta say Ryder just came back from an unbelievable trip. Now this is the longest, I think. Think since we started the podcast, the longest we've gone without texts or anything. Ryder's pulling up to the airport and I'm like dude. He sent me a couple pictures. I'm like we've got to do podcasts right now. So this one's going to be kind of live and raw. I sent him over a couple of the mailbag questions that we got. We're going to just rock and roll with this back from Bolivia.
Speaker 4:Dude, I miss you here on the Astro.
Speaker 5:Journal Radio Podcast Network. I miss you, man.
Speaker 3:It's been too long I miss you too, man, oh geez, sending virtual hugs or whatever we got to do? Yeah for sure, Right, so you just got back, you've traveled, I've traveled, I've traveled, but this is one of those destinations that and I think, before we get going on this, when we first started this podcast, I think one of the things we wanted to do was to make this podcast not only full of stories but also kind of a resource for the travelers out there, whether near and far on on places to go, and kind of have this as a reference and kind of use us as a touching point, because we've been to so many places. But Bolivia, wow, what a cool location. And you are honestly the only angler or hunter that has ever gone on purpose to Bolivia on an outdoor adventure. Come on, let's go, let's hear about this.
Speaker 5:I can tell you that the reason I know I've been in the jungle for probably too long is because the only part of my body that was exposed to the elements because of the bugs was the tips of my fingers. So I have wading boots on. We're literally hiking rivers in the jungle, so I have wading boots on. I have full, you know quick dry pants on, long, quick dry shirt, full face mask, glasses covering the eyes, hat, and then I've got Sims fingerless casting gloves. So the only part of my body, jamie, that is exposed to the outside world is like my top knuckle, on like the top inch of each of my fingers, and as I'm looking at my fingers right now, they are just torn to heck. I'm counting at least an average of 30 bite marks on each of those fingers where gnats and mosquitoes and who the heck knows just tore the hell out of my hair.
Speaker 5:I can't imagine if I hadn't had other parts of the body covered. But that's how I know I'm back from this trip is because I'm sitting here. I got some kind of anti-itch cream right next to my podcast studio here and I'm looking at just, you know, the top inch of my fingers, just torn to heck. But anyways, yeah, good to be back. And yeah, man, I missed you, I missed you I missed you too, man.
Speaker 3:While you were there, I did a couple of weeks of Ottawa fish school, teaching the young kids how to fish. So we're in the exact opposite elements Now. I wish I was on vacation with you. I too am itching. I got a bad case of poison ivy all over my feet and, like you, thank God I was covered up on the rest or this is going to itch your podcast. Thank God I was covered up on the rest. It's your podcast, yes, it is. So what part of Bolivia were you in? Ryder?
Speaker 5:Yeah, so I think you hit it on the head, this show. When we started doing this show, and hence the name Untamed Pursuits, the point of the show was to talk about real cool destinations, maybe places people have been to, but maybe sparking some ideas on some new places folks could go. And then, as you said, maybe it's a bit of a resource on ideas, whether it's travel ideas or location, destination ideas or maybe ways to save a little money, just practical ideas on how to think about some of these spots. So Bolivia for me, was a bucket list and the last couple episodes we've done we started talking about bucket list trips and where might we want to go. And you know I have always wanted to go do a real Golden Dorado trip and there's different places you can go. I've actually fished for Golden Dorado before. I fished for him over near Buenos Aires in Argentina, but I'd never gone on like a proper, like a real golden Dorado trip where you're immersed in those jungle rivers and exploring for the fish, and that's something I'd always wanted to do and I had an opportunity to do it this year. And so we man, you talk about planes, trains and automobiles. So I live in North Carolina and the first flight to Houston where we kind of met our group. This was a group of about a half a dozen people. Various people in the fly fishing world, okay, were part of this group, which was a very interesting group of characters, some fly shop owners, some professional guides. It was a neat group. We kind of got together in Houston and then the first flight down was to Panama City and I had never been to Panama before, so you got a chance to see the boats lined up at the Panama Canal. You got to see the incredible skyline of Panama City. You know, for those listeners who might be offshore guys or gals and might have fished, you know some of those famous tropic star kind of places outside of. You know black marlin areas outside of Panama city that you know they might've been there before.
Speaker 5:For me it was a first and then from from Panama city you fly down into Bolivia and, um, you know La Paz and Santa Cruz are the two main really the main, I guess areas you fly into, into Bolivia, which is really down in Southern South America, southern part of the Amazon. Um, we flew into Santa Cruz, which is really down in Southern South America, southern part of the Amazon. We flew into Santa Cruz, which is the largest kind of airport, you know, arriving into Bolivia. If you can picture Brazil being the majority of the Amazon, bolivia is kind of the Southwest quadrant of the Amazon jungle and then from there this was really cool. You know, when we first started putting this trip together, I was picturing going from La Paz, from Santa Cruz, kind of northeast, into the Amazon right, it was kind of my expectation towards the Andes Mountains, because the waters we were going to be fishing were literally the transition from the Andes down into the Amazon and on that transition, which is crazy to think about one of the most dramatic mountain ranges in the world, the Andes Mountains, transitioning into one of the most intense, deep, dark jungles of the world, the Amazon, that transition does occur and you actually have this area where the jungle goes up into the foothills of the Andes and you have dense jungle in a mountainous terrain. It's very interesting. You wouldn't expect it. It's almost like when you think of pictures of Hawaii or some super tropical but very mountainous areas where it almost feels like Jurassic Park, you know, and that's kind of what this place felt like. It felt like Jurassic Park because it's a very mountainous area.
Speaker 5:The water source, of course you know, because of the steepness of the mountains, you know you've got a lot of runoff, but a huge percentage of the water that is created for these river systems, believe it or not, is from moisture, humidity and moisture that collects in the jungle. It's not just runoff and that's how much moisture is collected and then falls into these river systems. This is very remote area. It's actually closer to La Paz and Santa Cruz. We're right at the foothills of the mountains and we're in a huge national park area that they had allocated as indigenous territory.
Speaker 5:So we had the ability, through the outfitter, to fish indigenous lands and had all the permits and part of our fishing license. When we paid for our fishing license to do this trip, a meaningful amount of that license cost is a donation to the indigenous tribes of that area to help them with things like infrastructure, schools and so forth, and so it's a very mutual type of arrangement. But what it does is it allows somebody like me who's going there to fly fish to really experience. Somebody like me who's going there to fly fish to really experience, in many cases, some of the most pristine for me, probably some of the most pristine habitat I've ever fished in my life and fishing waters that probably I'm sure I was casting into pools on those rivers that you know that it was the first time that a non-indigenous person had probably fished some of those pools, and so that's where we were. We're actually west of Santa Cruz, right up on the foothills of the Andes Mountains, in thick jungle habitat. What a place to be.
Speaker 3:It's funny. I actually just pulled it up on my phone. I'm pretty good at geography obviously not. I'm sure you probably got 90s there back back in high school, but I had to check exactly where it was. And that's pretty, that's amazing stuff like and and fish wise. What were you targeting down there? I've already posted one picture on the uh on our instagram account. That's gotten a lot of comments, a lot of questions. So talk about the golden dorado and then what else?
Speaker 5:What a predator man. I mean, it's one of those classics and I would put it right there. When you think about Canada, obviously you think about the muskie, right, you know, just the dominant top predator, you know, and you know, when you think about Africa, you think about the tiger fish. But you know, for South America, obviously you got the very voracious peacock bass, but right up there with it would be the golden dorado. The best way to describe this fish for our listeners is it's a very stocky, strong, muscular fish. It kind of reminds me gosh I'm trying to think of the best description of it Maybe like a great big bass, I guess, a similar dimension, similar body structure as a big bass. The difference is it is absolutely glowing golden, yellow. And the colors of this fish, the scales, are a combination of yellow, gold, black, maybe a little bit of red, but when it's held at the surface of the water it just glows yellow and these fish have. Obviously it's a top predator. So this is a very, this is a toothy fish. You know we're pulling out flies with seven-inch pliers, not, you know, not our fingers, but you know the. You know the fish itself is just a very aggressive, aggressive predator, and so certain times of the year, two things happen. One, they go into the dry season, and this is the dry season for most of the Amazon. During the wet season you could never fish it, because the rivers would be flooded, the water would be up into the jungle area, and whether you're fishing for peacock or dorado, it doesn't matter, the waters would all be flooded. The water would be up into the jungle area, and whether you're fishing for peacock or dorado, it doesn't matter, the waters would all be flooded and all the predators would be in the jungle, swimming through the trees in the jungle. They would be out of the river banks, and so the window to do these types of trips is during the dry seasons, and the dry seasons tend to be kind of that August September timeframe for the Southern Hemisphere. So that's kind of the first thing. And then the second part is there are runs of what's called sabalo. Sabalo is a very prevalent fish in those rivers of the Amazon, but it's the primary food for the golden dorado, and these sabalo can be anywhere from three inches long to three feet long. Imagine a predator that's going after fish of this size. You'll see schools of hundreds of six-inch sablo spawning their way up the rivers, and then you'll see 12-inchers, and then you'll see 18-inchers, and then you'll see a group of 10 two-foot sablo, and all of them are prey. And so the Dorado are patterning based on these things right Locations, based on water depths, obviously following the prey, which are the Sabalo baitfish, and that then kind of dictates when you go, the Dorado is what people go to Bolivia for. That's the trophy fish, that's the thing you see on Instagram, these incredibly gorgeous yellow fish.
Speaker 5:Most of what we're doing is sightcasting, which is so cool. You're walking the rivers, you're stalking the rivers very, very slowly, looking at pools, looking at rapids. The Dorado tend to live in rapids, so you're actually looking at the areas below the rapids, into the deep pools at the bottom of rapids. Not unlike trout, you know that you might be fishing for, but what's interesting is, in that clear alpine water, you know you'll see the sablo coming across as like anything from a light tan, almost to a dark gray, and then you'll just, and in the water with the Sablo, suddenly you'll see a fish that just tends to almost glows green. You know it almost has like a glowing green look and you know that you're like holy cow. Well, there's a Dorado, it's in with the Sablo and you, you know, and so we were doing a lot of sight casting.
Speaker 5:That's the fish that gets people down there, that's the trophy fish Most people, the bucket list fish, if you will. You know a good, you know a 10 pound golden dorado is a great fish. A 20 pounder is huge. You know. We, our group, was catching, you know, regularly fish in the I don't know, I would say probably six to 12 pound range and then, you know, you definitely have be bringing in a couple of those 12 to 15 pounders. My big fish of the trip was a 22 pound giant. I was so lucky I got, I got an 18 pounder and a 22, along with lots of that more traditional size range. But the real bonus, I'll tell you, the real bonus, was another fish that lives down there. It's called a Paku. Oh, nice, it's, yes, and that's. You know, that's the one that you I don't think you go there necessarily targeting Paku, but they're there and if you're lucky you get a shot, you know, at one of the Paku.
Speaker 3:Are they vegetarian Like I? If I'm thinking the right fish they eat like yeah, yeah, yeah, they're pretty cool. They kind of look like a piranha, but they're, they're crazy. Dude, you got it.
Speaker 5:You hit it right on the head.
Speaker 5:You know you do know your fish. So, yes, a paku is, is is a cousin to the piranha. Um, and they look like a giant piranha, you know, instead of a, you know, a palm size piranha. Just picture a piranha Instead of a palm-sized piranha. Just picture a piranha. That's 15 pounds and bigger than a dinner plate.
Speaker 5:But the big difference, the glaring difference between a paku and a piranha, obviously a piranha has those razor-sharp teeth and are famous for tearing apart whatever's in the river. A paku if you open the mouth of a paku, the teeth look like human teeth. It's the craziest thing you've ever seen. So you know you'll spend your day catching these beautiful golden dorado which have lines of sharp teeth, you know, just like a predator would. And then, if you're lucky and you hook into one of these paku and you can examine, you know you look at their mouth, it's almost creepy and you can examine. You know you look at their mouth. It's almost creepy, because you look in there and there's this row of I swear to God, dude. It looks like human teeth and it's because they're plant eaters and they grind the plant material.
Speaker 5:You hit it right on the head and what's crazy is, when you're on the river, you're focused on Dorado and you might come to, whereas the Dorado live in the runs and the rapids and the pools below the rapids, where there's more current, the Paku are stagnant water fish, and so you're going to fish for the Paku in the big bends in the river, the backwaters, the eddies, and it's all sightcasting.
Speaker 5:So you're really examining those areas and you look out and suddenly you see this thing that looks like a giant black permit or a pompano. You know, and you're like, holy smokes, there's a paku in that pool and they are, as plant eaters, they're literally eating leaves that are floating on the water, and so the locals, the guides in that area will wait for wind If you're fishing, if you're going up a river and you know, working your way up a river looking for Dorado, and all of a sudden you feel the breeze on the back of your neck and you know a breeze is coming up the river. You can see the guides react and they're like, oh, you know, paku, paku, time. And because the breeze is knocking dead leaves off the trees, the leaves will filter down to the water and darn it if you won't start to see paku eating the leaves like flies, just like if you're fly fishing and you're casting dry flies at trout. Same thing with a leaf landing on the water.
Speaker 3:And so what you're saying is me hooking weeds. I would be like quite the amazing paku fisherman.
Speaker 5:You'd be the world's best paku fisherman, with all the sticks and weeds that you've hooked over the years you would just be awesome.
Speaker 5:I'm a stick roll master, that is for sure you are the sticker master and and you'd be great at this and, uh, these crazy face this. This is crazy. So here you go. So so the fly for a pacu is, you know, all you're trying to do is like carp. You know you're never going to really match a hatch or a carp, you, but you do the best you can to find, figure out something that looks like something it's eating. Same thing with a paku. And we figured out that the closest thing we could find were these big foam floater grasshopper flies, bright yellow, bright green, basically the same color as the leaves coming off the trees. And so if you find one, you're basically just, you know, you're casting this big floating foam hopper and then, just like a permit, sure enough, this big giant, piranha, comes up, turns, looks at the fly, turns, looks nine times out of 10, swims away. That's a paku and if you're really lucky, if you're really lucky, they'll grab it and go. And then it's. They fight like the dickens, much even harder than a dorado. A paku's one of the hardest fighting fish you can catch down there.
Speaker 5:But what's so crazy is, of course, in the jungle. You're seeing all the wildlife and half the adventure of the trip is the critters and the jungle life that's around you every day. Well, one of the biggest animal of the South American jungle, other than, I guess, maybe equally in size, a little larger than a jaguar even, is the tapir. And a tapir I'm trying to, you know almost looks like a small elephant. The trunk, it has its trunk apparatus, but it's a short trunk, a very unusual looking big, stocky animal. You know, maybe I don't know 300 pounds, 400 pounds. It's not the size of an elephant, but it's size was. It looks like a small elephant kind of wading through the water.
Speaker 5:And the first couple of times you see one, you're in awe and you almost forget you're fishing. But by the time you get to used to seeing them in the river, the guides would talk about how the paku would follow the taper, because the taper that eat the plants and then the seeds of the plants that come out in the taper shed are food for the paku. And so we eventually started, after me being in awe and not being able to move first, three or four taper I saw. You know, you get to the point where you realize, holy cow, we can cast at these taper. In other words, that taper is walking up through the river and there's a really good chance. There's three or four paku following the taper.
Speaker 5:Just like Jamie, you and I might cast at a permit following a ray on a saltwater flat, here we are casting at a taper in the jungle trying to get a tailing paku. It was just amazing and I was very lucky. I did hook and land one paku, which was the unexpected, you know, bonus of the trip, but what an adventure.
Speaker 3:Wow, so Dorado and paku, and then animal-wise, what else is down there, I guess?
Speaker 5:Yeah, you know, one of the really viable things that, if you're super lucky, you can get into. There are some giant catfish that live in these rivers. There's two different species. One of them almost looks like a sturgeon. It's got a big hard outer shell, three, four feet long, and one of the guys caught one of those. That's pure luck. It's a bottom feeding fish, happened to suck up the fly pure luck, but what a photo. And then there's another big, big catfish gray and white, dramatically colored, and you see them in the pools.
Speaker 5:Man, You'll be looking at these pools for Dorado. Maybe you see a paku if you get lucky, but every once in a while you'll look in one of these bends of the river or a pool below a runoff and there'll be this five foot log at the bottom of the pool and the guide will go. You know catfish, that's what that is, catfish. And the play is not unlike a regular you know catfish cast, where all you can do is just try to have the fly land on the thing's nose and maybe you get lucky and it swipes at it. One of the guys caught one of those giant catfish. It's an amazing photograph, Wow.
Speaker 5:One of those deals where you're in the water and you're holding a five-foot catfish all caught on fly, but lots of cool fish. You know fresh jaguar tracks all over Every day we're following fresh jaguar tracks. Didn't see a jaguar, but there's lots of puma and lots and lots of jaguar in this area. You know. You realize what an impressive animal a jaguar is just from watching the videos that the guides had. You know there's a big one spotted like the week before we got there, and you know an incomparably bigger, stronger animal than a leopard. You just cannot compare a jaguar to a leopard. It's a whole different animal and but the crazy one here's one for you.
Speaker 5:Of course, the thing people wonder about are the. You know the spiders and biting critters, right, and so the one of the animals that you talk about down there, which YouTube has kind of made famous, is the bullet ant. You know, you see these YouTube videos of these crazy guys that get stung by different things and they rank the pain of the stings. What's the most powerful sting in the world. Well, theoretically, the most painful sting you can get of anything, of any spider, scorpion or ant is the bullet ant of the Amazon, and they live in Bolivia and it's about an inch long ant and it is supposedly the most painful bite or sting you can get from any insect in the world. And we knew they were there. And of course you're talking to some of the indigenous folks and some of the guides about who've had seen them. I talked to two people who've been bitten by a bullet ant, stung by a bullet ant, talked to them about that experience.
Speaker 5:And damn it, if one morning I wasn't kind of getting organized for the day and about ready to lean on the handrail, you know where these little kind of huts were staying in and there's this little walkway in front with a handrail and I was just about to lean on the handrail and I put my bare hand down, just about to grab it, and right on top of the handrail was a bullet ant walking down the handrail.
Speaker 5:I couldn't believe it. I mean, at first I'm like holy smokes. I can't believe how lucky am am. I looked down first and then you realize what it is and it kind of goes from fear to awe real quick. You know you and I are total nerds on this kind of stuff and so you know suddenly I'm taking pictures and video. But there it was and I've never seen a more unafraid little critter you know, who just stops and looks at you and almost challenges you to do anything. But it was a legitimate and honest to goodness, you know inch long bullet ant right there that I almost leaned into. That would not have been a good thing.
Speaker 3:When we get off my internet search history is going to be something. Let me tell you it'll be National Geographic a la Bolivia. Google bullet ant. Yeah, it's on the list and you'll see the guys get.
Speaker 5:You'll see the crazy dudes getting stung by bullet ants and rolling around on the ground. You know, one of the people on the trip videoed me, you know, watching this thing and I said I was like. You know that easily could have been. You know, look at this jackass screwing around with a bullet ant. I could have been the guy in other words on the video and part of you was going it can't hurt that much.
Speaker 3:Come on, how much could it really hurt? Hit record, let's try this. I know.
Speaker 5:Hey, Jamie, check this out.
Speaker 3:What we do for a couple more listeners Right this will be great for ratings.
Speaker 5:Oh yeah, Speaking.
Speaker 3:Right, it'll be great for ratings. I love it. Speaking of ratings, thank you everybody for for, uh, all the positive support. Uh, you know our our production team, anthony, nick and Dean are doing an awesome job keeping us organized and, and everybody at the outdoor journal radio podcast network has just been an absolute. Who who to to work with. This has been a. This has been a great, great fun, and I gotta go. We're has been a great fun. I got to go. We're going to have a little break. I got to go. I got to hit Google find out what a bullet ant is. It's driving me crazy. We'll be right back and we're going to get back to the mailbag. It's mailbag day. We love mailbag day.
Speaker 6:What brings people together more than fishing and hunting? How about food? I'm Chef Antonio Muleka, and I have spent years catering to the stars. Now, on Outdoor Journal Radio's Eat Wild podcast, luis Hookset and I are bringing our expertise and Rolodex to our real passion the outdoors.
Speaker 2:Each week we're bringing you inside the boat tree stand or duck blind and giving you real advice that you can use to make the most out of your fish and game.
Speaker 6:You're going to flip that duck breast over. Once you get a nice hard sear on that breast, you don't want to sear the actual meat. And it's not just us chatting here. If you can name a celebrity, we've probably worked with them and I think you might be surprised who likes to hunt and fish. When Kit Harington asks me to prepare him sashimi with his bass, I couldn't say no. Whatever Taylor Sheridan wanted, I made sure I had it. Burgers, steak, anything off the barbecue. That's a true cowboy. All Jeremy Renner wanted to have was lemon ginger shots all day. Find Eating Wild now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 7:Hi, Find Eating Wild now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts. Hi everybody, I'm Angelo Viola and I'm Pete Bowman. Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's favourite fishing show, but now we're hosting a podcast. That's right every Thursday, Ang 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?
Speaker 3:Well, you know there's going to be a lot of fishing.
Speaker 6:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
Speaker 7:Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show.
Speaker 4:We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors, from athletes, All the other guys would go golfing Me and Gararton Turk and all the Russians would go fishing To scientists.
Speaker 1:Now that we're reforesting and letting things breathe. It's the perfect transmission environment for life.
Speaker 6:To chefs If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated, you will taste it and whoever else will pick up the phone Wherever you are.
Speaker 7:Outdoor Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy being outside. Find us on Spotify.
Speaker 3:Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back. We love Mailbag Day. We got a couple of questions here, mostly from Instagram and one from my old MySpace account that I forgot to close. I don't know how anybody found that, but anyway we got. We start with a question here. Wow, this, this goes you know, you just talked about the planes, trains and automobiles to Bolivia. Janelle writes to us asking if there's any good, easy access fishing trip locations. So that's a great question.
Speaker 5:It's a great question and that's. You know, those are the kinds of questions that we love, because that's what we were trying to do with this podcast. You know, the podcast again is talking about new places maybe places you've been, but maybe some new places but also just practical advice. You know what are some of the things we've done or that our our friends right, you know that we've learned about that can maybe help you save a buck, or help with logistics, or help with planning. Most importantly, help get you out there onto some of these adventures. So, yeah, that's, that's an awesome question. What, jamie? You take that one first and then I'll dive in. What do you think?
Speaker 3:I think, um, um, back in the day I hosted a show, um, where we'd go to big cities and fish. So I think, uh, I grew up kind of being a shore fishing guy, um, and then get on to fly fishing later, but in terms of just bare bones fishing. Um city like montreal, fantastic um, toronto as well has got a lot of tributaries and, depending on on the time of year, you can catch steelhead, you can catch various species of salmon. Do check the regulations because there are some special zones you can and cannot fish in. So make sure. But usually if you go to a local tackle store, especially in Toronto, they'll let you know and you can actually tell. When the rivers are busy, usually the fish are moving through. But that's two quick ones, I think.
Speaker 3:If you're looking for a little bit more of a destination, here's two quick ones um, algonquin park, um, which is kind of between ottawa and toronto, probably about a two and a half hour drive from ottawa, is a great spot. If you want, if you're looking to portage, something easy, you know, you bring your canoe or kayak, bring a tent, you're there for a couple of days. You have access to some amazing smallmouth bass fishing. There's walleye. There's muskies in the lac traverse system that goes all the way down to McManus and flows into the Ottawa river system and uh, kind of think what else? And then there's a bunch of lakes that have great brookie and lake trout fishing too. So if you want to kind of do a mixed bag when you're there, I think Algonquin Park is a great, great place and besides that, if you're thinking a little bit more of a destination, you can either drive I've done it a few times or you can get cheap flights.
Speaker 3:Now would be Florida. Florida, I think, if you have an eight-weight fly rod or a medium heavy action spinning rod, there's tons of spots either from the beaches, there's loads of piers and if you want to get on a boat, depending on your budget, there's guides everywhere, but they do have drift boats where you can get on for 40, 50 bucks and catch. I think part of this podcast is trying to catch fish you've never caught before. So I think going to a different spot like Florida is a great way to do that.
Speaker 3:Nighttime. Don't sleep on nighttime. Whenever my family and I go, everybody goes to bed. It's time for me to go fishing. I'll hit a lot of the docks. I'll have these little glowing lights. That's amazing. To go catch snook, you don't have to pack too heavy. Either you know simple white bait, fish flies, white jigs, or you know fluke style plastic baits and you're good to go. And then if you bring some smaller, small, small hooks piece of shrimp you can catch some live baits and then bring some bigger circle hooks and toss her out and you never know what might be at the end of your line. What about you, ryder? Any good, easy access?
Speaker 5:trips. It's so funny. You said big cities. That was what my notes had as well, and I was trying to think of practical trips that folks are going to be going on. And let's start with that. Let's just start with it. Maybe it's a business trip, maybe you got a family trip.
Speaker 5:I'll tell you a really good example. And if you can fish here, you can fish anywhere. But a really great fly fishing or fishing destination is New York city. Who would have thought that in a million years? But I, you know the Albie runs, the striper runs, you know the.
Speaker 5:The fishery around Long Island is is is fantastic, and some of those Albies and stripers move right up in there, literally up against Midtown Manhattan and the fly fishing scene. I'm sure the spin casting scene is the same way, but the fly fishing scene around New York City is incredibly advanced. There are, you know, big time guides. You know it's a very established fishery. It's a place that you can very easily make a few calls, do a little searching on the internet, find a guide or two, and they are tuned in and they know how to, whether you're staying in Midtown Manhattan or if you're out on Long Island, they're very tuned into those areas and how to coordinate getting you on a boat for the day, and that's a super easy man. You talk about a super easy trip. You got two or three days of business in New York. Add a day to the end of it and go try to catch a false albie or a striper off of Long Island, and it's a. It's a great trip and it's something you'll be amazed at how easy it is to do. You can do a half day into a full day. It's such an easy add on, I think.
Speaker 5:And what's crazy, man, is you know the big city fishing scene is really established in so many places. You know, you talked about Miami. What a great example. You know my gosh, you know, between Biscayne Bay and you and I talked the other day about the Peacock Bass and some of the canals and the easy day trips for that. Surely you know South Florida, miami, fort Lauderdale, any of those places are easy, easy day trips to add, and those are places that again are very established guide scenes, meaning very credible professional guides that you can feel confident booking a trip with.
Speaker 5:And you know, and very accessible and easy to do, even overseas. I mean, look at, you know, and very accessible and easy to do, the even overseas. I mean, look at, you know if you got a trip over to Europe. If you're, you know, let's say you know a flight over to Copenhagen, for example. It's amazing, just like New York City, you can go to a city like Copenhagen. There's a great fly fishing scene in the waters around Copenhagen that are super easy for a half-day trip. So I think the first answer, man, I'd be right with you Big cities.
Speaker 5:If you've got a trip, it's worth investigating and Googling your area and see if there isn't some very accessible guided fishing trips that you can add a half day or a day to a big city trip. A very classic big city in the US anyway, is probably the one people think about most in the world of fly fishing. But we can offer some specifics here. Of course is Denver, and Denver whether you're heading west and it's a layover, heading east and it's a layover but just Denver is one of those cities. Of course you got Salt Lake as well, you know and Minneapolis I'm thinking about big cities that are very typically the midpoint on a flight connection, somewhere where it's not unusual to have layovers. Let's talk about Denver. You know a Denver I-70 heading west out of Denver. That takes you up into the mountains from downtown Denver and you are very quickly on rivers like the Blue River and the Eagle. You know those are unbelievably accessible.
Speaker 5:Day trips out of Denver, meaning if you have a half a day to spend to tie it into a trip you've already got planned. Take a half a day. If you want to be guided, you can be guided. Or, as you said, jamie, the great thing about a lot of these lures and flies is whether you're fishing the Ottawa or the Eagle, a lot of these are very reusable flies. You get yourself some white flukes or white streamer patterns, or get yourself some green or black woolly buggers and you're fishing pretty much anywhere in the world.
Speaker 5:You can go to Bolivia and catch golden dorado on a white fluke or a black you know woolly bugger. I can promise you that. And so it's not like you necessarily need a day of picking up certain flies. You can kind of bring a half a dozen of what you might have at home and, if you're fishing Denver, bring a five or a six weight. And you know, I think Salt Lake you have the same thing. Of course, salt Lake is a great layover city and the famous place there is the Green River. You know that's a very easy day trip out of Salt Lake. So yeah, I think my answer to the question would be don't overlook big cities and if you happen to have a trip to a big city and you can add a day to it, just even one day, it's amazing how many of these places have super credible, very professional, trustworthy guide world that could really hook you up for a half day or a day out of a big metropolitan area.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I think one of the ways we connected so well is how we love to geek out and plan trips.
Speaker 5:A lot of geeking out on this show.
Speaker 3:Two big geeks, but I think you know the whole trip planning and figuring out what lives there, how to catch, and then kind of reaching out to people and making connections from around the world and then going and doing it. I love you know I'm a guide. I suggest always hiring a guide. It helps the learning curve. I get guides when I go on vacation but at the same time, when you bring your own stuff down, if you're doing a little D, do it yourself. There's nothing better than going out with no knowledge and catching fish, especially in a brand new place. It's pretty rewarding whether you know, regardless of species.
Speaker 5:So no doubt, and if you're a trout fisherman in Canada, you can go to the Blue River or the Eagle River and very easily figure it out and catch fish, you know, on your own, without a guide, in Colorado and the Rockies. You know that skill set takes you anywhere around the world.
Speaker 3:That's why getting out there and fishing and getting that shore knowledge and or boat knowledge is is crucial to becoming a better angler and spending time on the water. So thank you, janelle, for that awesome question. That was a good one. So next in the mailback we got a regular listener here. He's been here since beginning. Big, a big fan of the network to Nick try on, nick, what's going on? Buddy? Nick asked us a great question when guiding, do you ever learn from your guests? Wow, that's deep, but you know what I think? Great question.
Speaker 3:I think every time you fish with anybody, you should be learning and paying attention, regardless if it's a novice, an expert, whether you're with another guide or whether you're with somebody who just started fishing. People do things differently and sometimes different works. So you know if you pay attention when you're on the water, some of my best guests ask lots of questions and if you are with me, never be afraid to ask questions. I love questions and if I don't know it, I'll hit Google. When you're not looking, I'm just kidding, but it's often questions bring conversations and I think when you're out with guests or when you're out with guides, paying attention to what's going on, pay attention to the little things. Sometimes it might be a different kind of knot, sometimes it might be color, sometimes it might be speed, sometimes it might be a different way to cast or a different way to jerk or a different way to anything. Regardless, like we said before, the more you're on the water and the more you pay attention, the more you're going to learn and become a better angler.
Speaker 5:So funny man. So I'm looking at my notes and you were. Once again we're hitting the exact same things. So the answer is absolutely. You're always learning and you know whether you're the guide or the customer. Both are learning from each other and when you think you don't have anything else to learn, you're kind of missing out. You're always learning whatever seat you're in on the boat. Specific examples of that and geez, jamie, I just lined right up with your comments again is for, right off the bat, number one I had knots and I don't care if you're the guide or the customer.
Speaker 5:There are always people that have new ideas on knots and I can tell you that last week, you know, I was fishing with people that were showing me new knots, including very interesting pressure knots that never involve cinching down on the knot, in other words, knots that can be retied specifically for the Pakaku, because obviously, when you've got such a very delicate fish that refuses so many presentations and because they're in backwater, that means they're in still water and you don't get the camouflage of ripples and movement. You know the presentation is so delicate and they have these. You know, I learned about this a new type of loop knot that tightens on itself but never cinches. So when you're switching over flies from the green grasshopper to look like a green leaf to the yellow grasshopper that looks like a yellow leaf. You're just pulling it apart and you put on the new hopper and then it tightens down. In other words, it's two knots together tied into a knot. They tighten on each other. Never knew about it and that's a great example of yes man, knots are a great thing that you can always learn.
Speaker 5:I'll tell you another thing that both guides learn and obviously if you're the guest on the guide's boat you're surely learning from the guide. But guides also learn is fishing techniques and presentation techniques. And on this trip last week the big discussion was transition from the cast to stripping. And how do you transition more effectively from the fly hitting the water into that first initial stripping movement? That's not super important. If you're casting a trout and you're trying to match a drift, that might not be super important. But if you're casting at a very voracious top predator like a Golondrado, that's a prey and ambush animal, or a muskie, I can promise you this is important with muskie or pike the transition from cast to the fly landing on the water into an immediate stripping action for an ambush predator is super important and last week everybody guides and customers were learning on that. And then my last note on that was home waters Whether you're at the guide's home and they're home waters and of course you're learning everything from the guide.
Speaker 5:But the guides have customers from all over the world and with Jamie's up in Ottawa, he might have folks obviously coming up from various parts of the world and you know, you know, if Jamie's up in Ottawa, you know he might have folks obviously coming up from various parts of the state. He might have folks coming over from Europe who are salmon fishermen coming over and how cool is it, jamie, for you to learn? You know from them on techniques. They may have an Atlantic salmon in Scotland or Iceland or Norway that you know you could apply to what you're doing. You know up on the on the peninsula, you know up on the St Lawrence.
Speaker 3:We had this year anglers from six different countries Right that came to Ottawa to fish and a lot of we're getting a lot more pike fishermen from Europe coming over and some some of the lures that they bring over and the flies are similar but they're not exactly the same.
Speaker 3:So there we going out again get more flies and get more lures, and it's nice to sometimes have something that's a little different. That's why, you know, in a couple of months it'll be show season again. There's going to be these new exciting baits out there that everybody's going to have to grab, and then opening day it's lure add where you're keep changing. I'm going to have to try that, uh, that knot technique where I have to keep re-tying.
Speaker 5:For sure, man for sure. Well, that was a great question. I love the question and thank you for that one. Um, I've got one from Jerry Kephart in Raleigh, North Carolina. Uh, who asked you know, are you guys always fly fishing or sometimes are you spin fishing? And that's a great question because people may just assume that you're a purist or you look down at one or the other, or are the fly fishermen too snooty, and this and that and those are heck yeah, man, all those things are, all those fun jabs at each other are out there. But I can answer that one and I'll be curious to see where you go.
Speaker 5:I love catching fish and heck yeah, I love to fly fish and heck yeah, I love to tie my own flies and the feeling of satisfaction of catching a fish on a fly that you tie is so cool and it's so satisfying. But I'll tell you, last year I took my dad on an old drum fishing trip in the Palico Sound. He was 80 years old and we're out there trying to catch big drum off the Outer Banks of North Carolina and you know what? We were throwing the biggest plugs you've ever seen in your life. I didn't care about flies, I wanted to see my 80-year-old old man hook into a 40-pound drum and that's all we cared about was catching fish. So from my perspective, man, just have fun. Have fun and catch fish, and if you enjoy the challenge of a little two-eight, go with a two-eight for a trout. But if you want to get out there and hook into a 50-inch drum in the Palmo, go Sound and toss that freaking tube socks. You know size plug. Do that too. Just catch fish.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I agree too. You know, it's always great to catch fish on a fly rod, but especially fishing for fish like musky. If they're eating two pound rubber baits, I'm throwing a two pound rubber bait, right, I'm going to put the odds there. If I'm fishing in Florida off a dock and I can catch some live pinfish, they're getting crushed as soon as they hit the water. So why not go with what works? And sure, it's nice to get fancy sometimes, and certain species have regulations on how you can fish for them. I'm not saying that if it's easier to throw a spinner down a salmon pool, do it. No, no, no, no, no. But at the same time you got to follow the regulations and also follow whatever it takes to get a fish to bite.
Speaker 3:My whole garage is just a mix of everything. I got bait casters, I got spinning gears, fly gear, ultralights and I usually in the boat, I'll bring an ultralight out if I'm fishing for bass it's fun to catch them on little tubes. Or you bring out a four or six weight fly rod and you can just have a great day mixing it up for the same type of species, right? But I, you know, musky, I love catching them on the fly, but I will be the first to admit I've caught 14 or 15 of them and I do not spend as much time anymore Once I kind of got it out of my system. It's frustrating, right, and I have so many good lures out there. Now that it's I do still do it, but not as much as I should. So maybe this fall and I think another thing if you want to learn, if you want to learn how to fly fish, do not bring your spinning gear, and vice versa. If you want to learn to do something, better leave one there. It's always easy to go with what you know.
Speaker 5:You can. It's absolutely. If you want to force yourself to learn, that's a great way to do it. Nothing replaces time on the stream. But on the flip side, I was going to say you know what, there's many times I bring both. You know like, for example, if you're, you know, especially offshore. If you're going offshore, let's say you're going billfish, if you're doing blue water fishing and you want to get a couple of sailfish in the boat, and then you're like, hey, man, we got a couple to the boat, let's try to get one on fly. You know what I mean. In those cases, heck yeah, I'm bringing spinning gear and fly gear on the same trip.
Speaker 5:Muskie is such a great example of that. It's such a spiritual journey and you know whether you're whatever you're throwing at, a muskie is, you know is, is is right, 10,000 casts of a journey for somebody. But you know but and in the world of hunting I'm the same way. You know I've been on plenty of hunts where I you know I'm a, I love bow hunting. You know it's, my favorite type of hunting is bow hunting.
Speaker 5:But I'm not too proud to say you know that there's been plenty of times I've had the gun case in the back as well. You know, sometimes you just don't have the chance. It might be a one-time opportunity and you're like, hey man, I want to get elk in the freezer and if they're just not moving down, and here's my chance. You know, I'll have the, I'll have a rifle as a backup. But same thing, you know, I, I there's plenty of times I bring a spinning rod and a fly rod on the same trip and use them both and you can always, you know you get a few caught, then you can always transition to that more challenging rod.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely Getting me all fired up. So now that you're back home, we got some guests lined up in the next few weeks. We won't be announcing them on social media, but if you're out there and you're a guide and you want to get on the show, fire us a DM. If you're out there and you're a guide and you want to get on the show, fire us a DM. If you know a guide, that would be a great guest. Please feel free to reach out to us as well. And for our next Mailbag Day, if you have a question, query, comment or concern, please also reach out to Ryan and I. It would be our pleasure to answer your question, either briefly or we can go in great depth, like we did today.
Speaker 5:Awesome man. Thanks everybody for listening.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much, everybody, for listening to Untamed Pursuits on the Outdoor Journal radio podcast. Stay tuned for next week's episode and tight lines and good hunting.
Speaker 8:As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear, but they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Jerry Ouellette and I was honoured to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources. However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as chaga, a tree conch with centuries of medicinal use by Indigenous peoples all over the globe.
Speaker 8: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.
Speaker 4:How did a small town sheet metal mechanic come to build one of Canada's most iconic fishing lodges? Can it come to build one of Canada's most iconic fishing lodges? I'm your host, steve Nitzwicky, 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 7: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's might be for more fishing than it was punching.
Speaker 5:You so confidently?
Speaker 4:you said hey Pat, have you ever eaten a drum? Find Diaries of a Lodge Owner now on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.