We just completed a very successful Northern Ontario Fish’n Canada shoot in the Kenora and Nipigon areas. I’m going to blog the Kenora one and Mike will give you the Nipigon stuff.

Our first leg of the trip was to drive (in a brief snowstorm) to the Best Western in Kenora, deemed the tallest fishing lodged in Canada and hit what could be the best “all-round” body of water in the country! Our plan was to shoot Lake Trout, Smallmouth, Largemouth, Walleye and Crappie and maybe throw in a Pike show. It sounds like a tall order but this is where it could be done.

We actually ended up about a week early for the Lakers but the Bass were definitely on the move (it’s legal to fish early season Bass providing it is catch & release; see regs). Ang took first shift on Smallies and he wasn’t disappointed. The jerkbait bite and tube jig bite were on. I have no idea how many he boated but it really felt like the area we were fishing just kept replenishing itself with fresh fish! Suspending jerkbaits and Yamamoto tubes (green) were the ticket. Water temperatures actually hit into the 60’s and that’s what cranked these fish.

Mike was next up with a shot at Largemouth and they too were on their way into the shallows. He was using Swimming Senkos, Flukes Jerkbaits and Spinnerbaits. The Largemouth were using sparse reed patches in about 4-6 feet of water and then moving to the back of the cove which also had reeds in it. It seemed like every time Mike cast into a hole in the reeds he got bit. The best part of his shoot was when a big Northern chased a smaller fish to the boat and then swam away. Mike cast in the direction of the fish and wham… about a 40” beast!

I was up next for the Walleye and Crappie. As far as the Walleye were concerned, I caught quite a few small fish, then worked my way to a couple of bigger ones and finally nailed one that would probably push 7 pounds! I love Walleye like that one. Jig & minnow was the best bet that day.
As for the Crappie, we had a very small area which had some really nice Crappie in it and as with all spring Crappie, it’s just a matter of firing a small tube (or something similar) into the area and wait for the float to go down. I don’t know how many I caught but I do know it was fast and furious on 12+ inchers and a bonus big Smallie.

All in all it was a great shoot. I’d really like to thank Scott Dingwall and Jeff Gustafson (2 local guides) for their amazing help. I got to spend part of a day with “Dinger” on Smallies and we had a great time. These guys really know their stuff and if you need their info just let us know.

On a rare day off, after dropping Angelo off at the Thunder Bay airport, Mike, Brent our cameraman and I got to slip out for a few hours of fun fishing on Cloud Lake. We smashed the Smallies. Mikey was really apprehensive with the cold-front around us and the cold water temps (still in the 40’s) but I convinced him to try it (it didn’t take much). We almost immediately started getting fish on Suspending Jerkbaits… and lots of them… and some nice ones too.
After a bunch of fish I decided to try dropshotting a Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm and got fish on 3 of my first 4 casts! Although that pace didn’t keep up, I could consistently get bit whenever I grabbed that rod. Even Brent got onto the dropshot and jerkbait tricks. Man what a blast.

It was also great talking to the guys at D&R in T- Bay again. If you’re ever in Thunder Bay make sure you drop in and see them.

Our first shoot of the year was a great success… thank god! It all took place just outside of the town of Dunnville on the Grand River. Mike, Brent (our cameraman) and I set out on a Catfish excursion in hope of discovering an Ontario alternative to Manitoba’s famed Red River. What we found was exactly that! The Grand is Ontario’s answer to the Red. Now although we didn’t catch any of the mid to high 30 pounders, we did score some great fish.

Upon arrival we met up with Steve Hardcastle of Fishmaster Ultimate Charters www.fishmastersultimatecharters.com. Steve’s a fishing nut-bar… he lives for the sport of fishing. He’s the type of guy that would rather be guiding every day of the year than having any time off… that’s hard core!

The previous reports Steve had given me were astounding, lots of fish and big ones to boot. Of course as soon as we arrived the water temp skyrocketed up and the fishing started out very slow. Add to that the bites we were getting were literally “nibblers”, they just wouldn’t take. We figured these were small fish because anything that we eventually caught over 5 pounds hit with aggression.

As time went on, Steve told me about his summer Cat hole so I said “what the heck, let’s try it, we’ve got nothing to lose and it sounds just like the stuff we used to fish in Manitoba”. From then on, the fishing was fantastic! We not only pounded big fish, but we consistently doubled up on them.

As far as gear and technique are concerned, we used the following:

• heavy duty baitcast and spinning gear
• 3 ounce egg sinkers (sliding type)
• Bait holder and circle hooks
• Cured sucker meat
• Shad
• Minnows
• Worms

We would simply heave a big cast out into the channel, let the bait sit on bottom and wait for a bite. It’s not the most exciting way of fishing but when you get a big one on, the enthusiasm quickly changes.

Thanks to Steve for a great outing.