Author: Don Lamont

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. Linda Rice with the replica of her…

I have known Jim Lindner for years, back when he was filming for the In Fisherman television show. I did a number of shows with his uncle Al with Jim behind the camera both for In Fisherman and my show The Complete Angler. I caught up with Jim recently when he was the Mid Canada Marine Dealer’s Boat Show doing seminars. Hooked: When was your first fishing experience? Jim Lindner: It came about when we visited our grandmother’s place in northern Illinois. We would fish off the docks and wander the shoreline collecting turtles and frogs, just learning the love…

Persse Lake     It was noon when Ryan Suffron and I decided to load up the boat from Laurie and head west back towards the edge of the Duck Mountains to Persse Lake. Located just to the east of Twin Lakes, the 132 acre lake was fully developed in 2010 to include a road, parking lot, launch area and hydro right of way. An aerator building is on site and this equipment keeps the lake alive during the long Manitoba winters. This lake has a large population of both brown and brook trout. According to Suffron, because of a…

Laurie Lake- Part TwoI had deliberately delayed my ride home a day so I could get a chance to fish with Ryan Suffron of Alpine Country Outfitters. Working out of his home south of Benito at the base of the Duck Mountains has allowed Ryan to become an expert on the different trout species that exist out his back door. Funny, but on this day, he too wanted a crack at the big brown trout that exist in Laurie Lake. In fact the Manitoba length record brown of 31 inches comes from this beautiful lake.Ryan fishes out of 16 foot…

Master Browns Part One Yours truly with a chunky brown   It had been a number of years since my last visit to the Duck Mountains in west central Manitoba. This past week that all changed when I spent five days in the region. I was on a speaking tour to six schools in the Swan Valley region as part of a Stewards for the Resource program sponsored by Swan Valley Sport Fishing Enhancement Inc.  I travelled up from Winnipeg on the Saturday to participate in their annual banquet and fish fry in the community centre in Swan River.…

Shore fishing 101!!!Part OneBy Don LamontHow did you get your fishing start! Was it out of a boat? Chances are pretty good that it wasn’t but rather from shore. Did you know that the majority of anglers that fish in North America fish from shore? In a recent interview with James Lindner from the Angling Edge television show, he told me that 52 per cent of the angling effort in this hemisphere is indeed along the shoreline. Lindner is just developing a pilot series that will highlight this huge part of the industry. Brent Jakobson, who manages the Fishin Hole…

Hard to believe but in 32 years of full time fishing, including the making of a 156 episodes of The Complete Angler television show I had never been to a fly-in outpost camp. I guess call me spoiled but when we did our visits it was always the American plan five star plan. So when I agreed to host a trip for five people to Harrop Lake Outpost as part of a fundraiser for a worthwhile cause, I had no idea what to expect. Owned by Jacksons Lodges and Outposts, this camp was an hour and fifteen minute float plane…

An incredibly strong March sun was beaming down on the frozen surface of Lake Winnipeg as hundreds of vehicles streamed out to experience some of the best angling for trophy walleye in the world. Watching all of this and standing beside me was Bob Izumi, Canada’s most famous angler. We were taking part in an event called the “SnoBear Migration”. Izumi was totally impressed by the angling effort that was taking place before his very eyes. With easy access onto the lake via Warner Road on the southwest corner, many anglers were in four wheel drive vehicles, snowmobiles or All-Terrain…

It was five years ago that I first heard about the fantastic fishing for jumbo perch on this shallow prairie lake. Having to check it out for myself the first perch I caught on East Shoal measured 38.10 centimetres or 15 inches.I had never seen a perch this big before, never mind landed one. I knew right away that this was a special lake and since that time the fishing has gone down a bit as more and more anglers make the trip. The important part in all of this is to remember to release those trophy fish. A perch…

Mike shows how it’s done!It was 1991 when I last visited Nestor Falls Ontario! Now that is a long stretch in anyone’s books but when I heard the crappies were back on the bite, I knew it was time to return. Friend Brent Kruger had lined up a two day trip with the owner of Sunset Cove Resort, Mike Gate. Mike and his wife Erin had purchased the resort three years ago, and have worked tirelessly to build up the business and update the resort and building. Located right on the shores of Sabaskong Bay, Mike has plowed a road…