Author: Don Lamont

Rob Olson is the Managing Director of the Manitoba Wildlife Federation. Since being hired one and half years ago he has provided the organization with a new focus and energy that has the group moving once again to place of prominence in this provinces conservation circles. Hooked had a chance recently to sit down with Rob and discuss his background and his vision of the future. “When I came here the Federation was grappling with the issue of what is the right mix of volunteers and staff. You will always need the great volunteer support but you need a strong…

Some anglers get intimidated by hot weather and their ability to catch fish during the dog days of summer. As it turns out, some of the best angling for walleye occurs during the heat of the summer. Action might be better early or later in the day, but if the wind blows, action can be brisk all day long. Last month I got a call from friend Boyd Holmen about fishing a small walleye tournament on Tobin Lake. Seems he needed a last minute replacement in his boat. I don’t really fish tournaments anymore, haven’t for years but since all…

Jake’s first fish Jake with the greedy pikeKnown for its wildlife, great golf course and scenery, Riding Mountain National Park is also an angler’s paradise. The gem of all the lakes within the park though, is Clear Lake. Over the course of my life, I have always found time to visit this beautiful park. One of the most popular tourist destinations in Canada, the majority of people that launch their boats use it for watersports such as tubing and water skiing. The Lamont family has a long history with this region, having made the Wasagaming town site a summer destination from…

The year was 1983, my second year guiding for Eagle Nest Lodge on the Winnipeg River. I spent three seasons working at this remote lodge and during that time I made two portages into Big Echo Lake. Eagle Nest had two boats cached in Big Echo when I arrived and I can remember carrying in the third. In my second year I had also taken over as the manager so it was on me to portage a sixteen foot Lund in there down a rocky, windy trail that was just plain nasty. With me were two young students who were…

In my 36 years in the sport fishing industry I have sampled a lot of water and heard about a lot of great fisheries. So when Hooked Magazine contributor and guide Ben Beattie talked to me about coming and fishing Lac Seul and area I didn’t have to think twice before I agreed. Lac Seul is noted for its gargantuan muskies, some of the largest in the world. Linda Rice owns the record for the largest muskie ever caught by a woman, an incredible 57 inch fish that was estimated to be 57 pounds. She also happens to own Moosehorn…

Ever fished for crappies in Manitoba?  More and more people are realizing that this species should be added to their list of species to target in this province. Many of the lakes in the Whiteshell region of this province are now home to impressive populations of this popular gamefish.  I can remember vividly to this day the great time we had on Caddy Lake ten years ago when I took my daughter out for a day on the water. She caught a massive 15 inch fish that is still the highlight of her fishing career. When I got an offer from…

High, fast, dirty water along with some cold temperatures this past weekend might have scared some anglers away from the Red River, but it didn’t stop the mighty channel catfish to go on a feeding frenzy. Jeff and Nicolas Connelly had arrived in town Friday to go after these tremendous sportfish with me on Saturday and a little cold weather wasn’t going to spoil the party. Jeff had arranged the trip to celebrate Nicolas turning sixteen years of age and a day catfishing with me was one of the presents. Neither had caught a catfish before so this was to…

Part Four- Minnitaki Lake Our final half day in Sioux Lookout was to be spent trolling in hopes of catching a trophy lake trout.  Ben Beattie really enjoys this challenge, knowing that on a good day, one or two fish is tops. We boated away from the main dock at Moosehorn Lodge at 7:14 that morning across Lost Lake to the entrance of Minnitaki Lake. This large body of water has a myriad of bays plus some large stretches of main lake basin, ideal habitat for lake trout to grow big. This lake also holds some good smallmouth bass and…

Part Three, Ben Beattie and Lost Lake Ben with a nice walleye caught dead stickingDay four finally saw us meet up with Ben Beattie, muskie fisherman extraordinaire and a darn good outdoor writer. Ben has been guiding out of Moosehorn Lodge for seven years, with a waiting clientele to book his services. We arranged this trip so we could work around Ben’s schedule but unfortunately none when the muskie season was open. So on this day we were going to try our luck on walleye, bass and pike on Lost Lake, a small body of water just south of Lac Seul…

Sioux Lookout Part Two Day three promised more great weather, but this time the wind was to be a factor in fishing success and location.  After some discussion with the guides at Moosehorn Lodge, Jim and I decided we would trailer the boat to Big Vermillion Lake. This was only a short hop from the lodge, one of many lakes in the region that hold multi species. TROLLING FOR TROUT On this particular day we wanted to try for the lake trout that swim everywhere in this relatively large and deep body of water. Since the surface water temperature…