The Dryden Observer » Fish Tales

Kids, cops and fishing

Ally Dunham — Wed, 25 May 2011 14:48:02 +0000

Kids, cops and fishing. What a great combination. Partner that with Bob Izumi and Dryden Canadian Tire, and you have a day sought by many children.

The Kids, Cops and Canadian Tire is coming to this year’s Walleye Masters Tournament on Saturday, June 18 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Government Dock.

Kids aged 9 through 12 will be given the opportunity to fish in their very own tournament, at no cost, chaperoned by the Dryden Police Service and OPP.

The tournament will offer a brand new bicycle for first place, free fishing rods, tackle, hats and many other prizes along with free lunch and other activities hosted by Standard Insurance.

The Kids, Cops and Canadian Tire Fishing Day is part of a grassroots program to encourage children to enjoy the benefits of recreational fishing supported by Fish For Ever.

According to Bob Izumi, chair of the Fish For Ever Foundation and star of Real Fishing Television, there is nothing that puts a smile on a kids face faster than catching a fish.

“That’s why I love to create opportunities for children and families to go fishing,” stated Izumi. “Fishing is one of the very best ways for parents and other adults to establish productive and healthy relationships with children. Police officers spend their entire careers protecting children. This program is a perfect way for kids to learn that these dedicated men and women care about them as individuals, not as potential young offenders.”

For more information on this event, or to register, please see the Shaw Walleye Masters website at www.drydenwalleyemasters.ca or call Andi Kidd at the Dryden Recreation Complex at 223-1426.

By Ally Dunham

Culture of the ice shack

Ally Dunham — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:05:31 +0000

This ice shack belonging to Pat Wood is decorated proudly for the Pimp your Shack challenge as part of Dryden’s annual Winterfest. Sporting an outdoor washroom facility, and Christmas lights to show the way, this shack took honourable mention. Photo by Ally Dunham

Some would think we are a little smidgen of crazy, sitting in a small wooden box, drilling holes in the ice to get tonight’s supper. Driving on the ice, building fires on the ice, and heated bathrooms on the ice?

The ice road in Dryden has been home to dozens of different families and different ice shacks over the years. They shanty’s can be seen in various places all over Wabigoon and Dinorwic Lakes at any given time throughout the winter. So what is the pull to this hobby?

Fishing, first and foremost. Socializing is a major factor, and getting away from the wife is probably a part of it too. Some of the shacks you may see are a home away from home, with running water, beds, couches, stoves, and yes, even a heated porta-potty. Oh, and of course, a couple holes drilled through your living room floor.

Pat Wood, a first year ice shack dweller, says the sense of community is amazing. “It’s very friendly down here. My ice auger has been broken for a month, and I’ve never had any problems asking people to do me a favour and dig me out a whole.”

Wood says with seasonal employment, he spends a large amount of time in his shack, and it’s rather new to him being an original resident of Nova Scotia.

“I think it’s pretty neat,” said Wood. “Where I come from, the only ice fishing that takes place is Cape Breton. It’s a really neat culture and the people are a lot friendlier here on the ice. It’s like everybody is your neighbour.”

With the Winterfest activities taking place at Van Horne Landing, there were hundreds of vehicles parked on the ice road on Mon., Feb. 21. Some muttered hesitations of that many vehicles in one small area, but some residents of Iowa thought it was pretty amazing to see.

“I think it’s a great thing, a little city comes out and goes fishing all day,” says Randy Cheers of Des Moines. “I think it’s neat, the different ideas, the different creativity like the palm trees.”

Winterfest also marked the annual “Pimp Your Shack” challenge, which saw some very interesting sights that one would not normally coincide with an ice shack. Pirates chests, hula skirts and pimp hats do not normally scream fishing, except that one day of the year in February.

By Ally Dunham

Dryden angler goes international with online outdoors radio show

Ally Dunham — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:32:09 +0000

Local professional angler, John Butts, working on the development of his new radio show, That Outdoor Show, heard internationally online. Photo by Ally Dunham

Local angler John Butts is moving into the world of radio. Creating a new online radio show with partner Richie Boggs from Minnesota, their weekly “That Outdoor Show” can be heard all across North America.

The two angler/hunters discuss many topics in the industry, focusing on many different topics. There is nothing off limits with this pair, and discussion is open to “the good, the bad and the ugly.”

Having just produced their third episode on February 10, the duo feature nationally recognized outdoor personalities from all across North America. Discussions will take place on a variety of topics, and not focused solely on sponsor product.

“We’re going to talk about fishing and hunting, what’s going on in the industry, what’s new, what’s old, what’s in, what’s out. We’ll talk about the good stuff and the not so good stuff. We’re not going to hold anything back as far as that’s concerned,” commented Butts.

Boggs and Butts have been touring partners on the professional tour for the last ten years and have a long-standing friendship.

“It was just something I decided to come up with to help promote my sponsors, myself, Richie. There’s a few out there right now (radio shows), but I think, we’re kind of taking from the angle that it’s going to be fun, entertaining, bring on guests, and bring as many people in as we can,” says Butts.

Working from a home studio and using technology such as Skype, Butts says it was a lot of work, but once he figured out the system, it’s working great.

“We’re working on tweaking the audio a little bit and getting some new equipment and a new mic.”

Having many contacts in the industry, Butts says a request has already come in to carry their radio show by a large angling organization.

Each show is approximately 30 minutes each and can be heard at www.johnbuttsoutdoors.com and on the John Butts Outdoors Facebook page.

Butts is currently working on uploading all the shows onto YouTube to make it easier for listeners.

By Ally Dunham

Hooking the big ones

Ally Dunham — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:26:27 +0000

John Butts caught the big one last week in Osborne Bay on Eagle Lake. With plowed roads and easy access, Butts was fishing off a point in 13 feet of water using a Nuckle Ball Jitt-R Jig and caught his 26” walleye along with several other nice eaters.

The jig has lots of flash and dash when jigged aggressively and all the fish ended up hitting when the jig was at rest. Butts says ice conditions are very good and driving a vehicle out is not much of an issue.

Camps make headway on Border Services issues

Ally Dunham — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:16:35 +0000

Regional tourism operators are hoping to maintain the momentum of a recent pledge by Canada’s Ambassador to the United States, Gary Doer, to examine longstanding issues with Canada Border Services at the Fort Frances entry point.

While the issue seems to flare each summer, Temple Bay Lodge owner Bob Paluch says the problem has only escalated.

Recently, Paluch mailed envelopes to media outlets and politicians brimming with true-to-life Northwestern Ontario vacation horror stories. Each, a tale of someone being detained at the Fort Frances entry point of the Canadian border, stranded with only the clothes on their back after they were barred access to the country based on charges ranging from 30 to 50 years old.

It’s a problem Paluch he believes public pressure might help resolve.

“We haven’t been getting to the right people on this issue somehow,” said Paluch. “These are people that have been our customers for 10 years, then all of a sudden they are denied entry because of something they did 50 years ago.”

While he respects Canada Border Services need to diligently screen entrants to Canada, he says their actions, in regards to many of his clients, have been neither consistent, nor reasonable and it’s costing the region and its residents tourism dollars and jobs.

“We’re laying people off — people aren’t getting enough weeks for their unemployment. It’s affecting a lot of things,” he said. “It might only be two per cent of people in this situation, but that likely represents another 20 per cent that won’t be coming to Canada. The ‘bad word’ gets out twice as fast as ‘the good word’.”

One Illinois man, Ed Pokorski, says he was turned away from the Canadian border based on incomplete records of a 30 year-old incident which resulted in all charges being dismissed.

Pokorski writes: “I won’t be able to attend a week of fishing at your lodge — since I don’t intend to spend a lot of time and money trying to prove that my case was dismissed all those years ago. Forget Canada!”

Paluch said the appeals process for these minor convictions is costly and onerous, a process Ambassador Doer said he would attempt to improve, speaking at a pulp and paper sponsored meet and greet event in International Falls, Aug. 25.

The website of the Kenora District Camp Owners Association also states that the Thunder Bay Rainy River MPP John Rafferty has expressed concern with the reports from the regional tourism industry.

By Chris Marchand

Former Drydenite wins big at bass tournament

Sarah Madussi — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:56:47 +0000

Former Dryden local, Troy Norman and his fishing buddy Andrew Carlson hit the jackpot at the Sturgeon Bay Open Bass Tournament last month after setting a new tournament record for biggest fish.
The two, currently living in Fort Frances, traveled to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and joined the other 199 boats for the two-day event. After enduring some rough weather in the pre-fish, the guys headed out to catch the big one.
Day one of fishing, the two brought in a good weight of 26.29 lbs after catching a fair amount of fish over the course of the day. The excitement, however, came on day two.
Norman says he was up at the front of the boat when he saw the fish swim by and told his partner not to move.
“The fish cruised out of sight so I casted out in front of it and walked to the back of the boat and let the bait dropped slow and it hit. I’m like ‘Yep! I got it! I got it, man! I got ‘er!”
Norman says his partner was looking out for the fish as he reeled it in and asked if it was a big fish. No sooner were the words out of his mouth, the fish came out of the water and Carlson jumped and lost his rod.
“He let out this little girlish scream, grabbed the net and he netted the fish and brought it into the boat. We were just screaming, just pumped up. I told him ‘Let’s do it man, let’s win this thing.”
The fish, a 7 lb. smallmouth, was the largest bass ever brought in to the weigh-in in the 20 years the tournament has been running.
Norman says the team knew they needed another big bass to seal the deal and earn a win so they casted again but they encountered a small problem.
“I started casting and Andy starts looking around and he’s like ‘Uh, where’s my rod?’ When he saw the fish come out, he was so excited, he threw his rod right into the lake. So we went back to the spot where we were and we ended finding the rod in about seven ft. of water.”
The two kept fishing and Norman brought in another bass just under 6 lbs. The team headed to weigh-in with a whopping 29.69 lbs worth of bass.
The team won top spot of a new bass boat, $10,000, $2,000 for big fish of the tournament and they each received 14 karat gold diamond bass tournament rings valued at $7,000 each. The retail value of the grand prize was set at $52,500.

Walleye Masters almost upon us

Ally Dunham — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:57:32 +0000

The 21st Annual Walleye Masters is almost upon us, and organizers say it’s going to be a great year for the event.

“The goal is to bring back the Walleye Masters tournament to a level it was at in years past. There has been a bit of decline in the past few years, and we’re really working hard to inject new life into it and make it a fun event,” says Don Bruner, Chamber of Commerce representative for the Dryden Walleye Masters.

Dates for the event are June 19 and 20 this year, with the main venue being the Dryden arena. There was some previous controversy after a request to City council was rejected to waive the fees of the arena rental for the event.

Don Ames, Chamber Manager for the Dryden Chamber of Commerce says, “We received some support from the community in that regard, and the Dryden Marketing Association came on to help us with the sponsorship for that. They came with a $1000 sponsorship so we’re all okay for the venue.”

Prize amounts will not be a predetermined set amount this year, as they have been in the past. The goal of the Walleye Masters committee is to pay out more, to more teams this year, while still maintaining a very large grand prize.

“We’re hoping to structure the payouts based on the number of registrants we get in. If we get 75 registrants, we’ll have a different payout versus 100 teams,” reports Ames.

Morning checks will continue to take place at Government dock, with the weigh-ins taking place at the Duke Street dock. Beer gardens and a proposed trade show will take place in the arena, as well as the awards event.

There are currently 46 registrants, with an ideal goal of 100 entrants to celebrate the 100th year. Ames says the current registration numbers are above par at this point from previous years.

“The tournament will go on no matter what, but it looks like the public demand will put us right back into our normal numbers for the past couple years,” confirms Ames.

All key positions for volunteers have now been filled, but the committee will accept names of anyone who wishes to participate.

As with previous years, the tournament will be based on a catch and release system, with live bait encouraged and barbless hooks . As the centennial year, there are some proposed extra events taking place in the arena, but the tournament itself will remain the same.

With a dinner provided for anglers and their guests on Saturday evening, there is no scheduled late night entertainment, as the anglers have an early morning start again on Sunday. The committee is currently securing food vendors to be onsite during the festivities, which will attract more spectators out during the day, and their continued presence.

More information, including online registration, can be found at www.drydenwalleyemasters.ca or by calling the Chamber office.

- Ally Dunham

Where the walleye are…

Ally Dunham — Tue, 11 May 2010 17:59:20 +0000

With this year’s changes in the environment, the water levels, and the temperatures, you may wonder what the fishing is going to be like on opening weekend.

This was a remarkable year for the ice to be out, with it leaving up to four weeks early on some lakes. While this was great for those who were still doing winter fishing from a boat, this is going to cause some major changes in spring fishing normality’s.

“This year, being about a month ahead, a lot of people are going to caught get fishing where they would normally fish for the opener.” says John Butts, Pro fisherman and sportsman. “The fish are weeks ahead this year, so you want to fish now, where you would normally be in the middle of June.”

With the differences in water levels, this will affect how we fish, and where the fish are living. The water on most lakes is down substantially this year, and in areas where you may have previously fished that were “hotspots” may not be now.

Butts predicts that the fish populations shouldn’t fluctuate too much this year, unless a typical spawning area is in a deep water location. This year, with the water levels being drastically lower in some lakes, the fish will not return to their usual spawning location as they no longer feel safe with the lower water levels.

The ones who do take the risk and continue to their spawning areas, are then at risk of predators from above the waves. They become a target for birds, bears, and other fish-eating creatures that can now see them below the water surface.

According to Butts, shallow fishing is best for walleye, and minnows tend to dominate in the early spring season, due to the transition of how the bait fish work. Leaches and worms are effective, but not until later into the season when the water temperatures are warmer.

One benefit that the more seasoned fishermen have is locators with temperature monitors built in. Butts says this is a very effective tool as you can monitor the temperature of your chosen fishing spots. Walleye tend to migrate to warmer pockets, where you will find the minnows and small bait fish, along with the flies that have hatched.

“If it’s 4 or 5 degrees warmer in a bay, it can make a huge difference in the fish populations” says Butts. “That can change from one day to the next mind you. If the wind switches and blows cold water in, the fish will move to a warmer location.”

When it comes to lures, due to the water having warmed earlier this year, Butts says the traditional spinners and jig with minnows are the best choices for lures. He also comments that slip bobbers are very effective, but very under-utilized in this area.

When asked about colors, Butts says that glow in the dark jigs are great, and he uses them a lot. Where most people tend to choose the brighter, more florescent colors, Butts recommends the use of the darker jig heads in the murkier waters.

“A darker color in the type of water we have, will show up better. A color like chartreuse will blend out much quicker than a black or dark red,” say Butts.

Butts, feeling very hopeful about this years fishing says, “Things are falling into place, and could be one of the better openers that we’ve ever had in this area.”

- Ally Dunham