Author: Don Lamont

GETTING READY FOR THE SEASON EDITION As we transition from the ice to open water season it’s time to get the boat out of storage and get the tackle organized if you haven’t done so already. I have been doing the same ritual for over 40 years. Let’s start with the boat. In early November I added stabilizer to my gas in the boat for over the winter. I then add a bit in spring to get ready for the first trip of the year. I have plugged in my onboard battery charger and charged my two trolling motor batteries…

INCREASING YOUR ODDS CATCHING SPRING PIKE Pike are the first fish to spawn in the spring, moving to shallow bays to lake their eggs as soon as there is open water. The big females don’t stay long, heading out of the bays to suspend or scatter along shoreline points or some other kind of structure. This all happens when the water temperatures are from 40 to 50 Fahrenheit or 2 to 10 Celsius. Basically, these big females are in full recovery mode from the stress of the spawn. They don’t move much and they like the deeper water for temperature…

MANITOBA With the walleye season in the south closing last week, many of the hard core anglers switch over to either stocked trout or head north were seasons remain open longer. Then there is the access issue with warmer temperatures this past week, ice conditions start to get iffy in our southern lakes and rivers.  April can be a beautiful time to explore all the things that northern Manitoba has to offer. In the last week there have been some great stocked trout catches including this 23.5 inch bruiser caught by Curtis Funk on Bower Lake! This edged out the…

MANITOBA Mid Term Break is upon us but we still have some time to chase those big greenback walleye on Lake Winnipeg and other lakes and rivers in the southern region. Here are the dates for the southern closure and the opening date. Walleye/Sauger  Closes April 7, 2025 to and including May 9, 2025 It opens again May 10, 2025 to and including April 5, 2026.  The 2025 Anglers Guide is available on line at https://www.gov.mb.ca/nrnd/fish-wildlife/pubs/fish_wildlife/fish/angling-guide.pdf LAKE WINNIPEG – ROGER GERES Made the trip again to lake Winnipeg  and the weather was incredible! We caught some nice fish with Matt…

MANITOBA If you like ice fishing this is the time of the year you should take your holidays! Some amazing catches of fish over the last couple of weeks. Pick your favourite species and you should be good. LAKE OF THE PRAIRIES – ROGER GERES Big pike are slowly showing themselves again on LOP with lots of reports of Master Angler fish coming out. We took our friend Emily again as part of another Fish Donkey tournament.  She didn’t catch a pike big enough to lead yet but we have a few days yet so hopefully can get out with…

MANITOBA We are almost into March, the favourite month for most hardcore ice anglers. The sun can be hot and sunburns occur and the fish are usually more active and hungry. It all adds up to some fun times on the ice. One of the hottest lakes in the province right now is West Shoal Lake. There are numerous perch 13 inches and over being caught and registered in the Master Angler program. I have spent many days on this body of water and March is a great time to head there. West Shoal is fairly shallow so you have…

EDITORS NOTE: The deep freeze continues across the prairies as anglers struggle to deal with mother nature. The good news is that Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan are offering a free fishing weekend! MANITOBA Yes, it is that time once again. If you haven’t tried ice fishing before you can head out this weekend for free even without a license. Anglers must follow all possession limits and size restrictions during this weekend including regulations for specific individual waters. For more information about all provincial angling regulations, refer to the Manitoba Anglers’ Guide at: https://gov.mb.ca/nrnd/fish-wildlife/fish/index.html. AGGRESSIVE STOCKING PROGRAM I don’t think anglers…

MANITOBA The Mid-Canada RV and Boat Show Sale is currently being held at the Winnipeg Convention Center. You can come down and pick up a copy of the latest Edition of Hooked Magazine. The Hooked Booth is right by the main entrance so make sure to drop by. Our Special Edition is hot off the press and our cover features Sarah Henuset, a hardcore angler whose special passion is fishing especially through the ice for big pike. You can catch her at the Piccadilly RV booth at the show. Yesterday she dropped around to say hi and it was great…

MANITOBA Lake Winnipeg is once again the big story as anglers venture out on good solid ice.  Jeff Gustafson even ventured over from Lake of the Woods to fish with his good friend Cory Johnston in a deluxe ice shack. Of course Gussy caught a good one! Anglers have also been storming the tackle stores, buying up all the latest gear. I was in The Fishing Hole recently and their stock was just coming back in after a crazy Christmas season. Out in the western part of the province there was a big ice fishing event held on Lake of…

Well, January has come in with a vengeance and cold temperatures have tightened up ice conditions considerably.  Time to get the warm clothes on and get out there. MANITOBA Friend Jim Price has been driving out on Lake Manitoba for over a month now . He says the walleye remain shallow and the best action is towards evening. This is pretty standard stuff for this body of water and a special approach is needed to find and catch these shallow fish. Jim uses forward facing sonar to scan the shallows. Once a school is located the team drill a series…