Canadian Walleye

Northwestern Ontario - July 7 - 11, 2013

Dad grew up in Minnesota, and as a kid the highlight of his year was the annual walleye fishing trip to Western Ontario.  About ten years ago my Dad and uncle finally had the finances and career freedom to start venturing on these trips again.  Each summer Dad and my brother Connor make one or two long trips from Utah to Northwestern Ontario to fish for walleye.  Through the years they have fished a number of different lakes, and last year they even went on a bear hunt.  My other brother Scott and I make the trips when we can, which normally ends up being once every three or four years.  Luckily for me, this year I was able to make it!  Unfortunately Cheryl and the kiddos weren't in a position to come along, so it was just me.

My 28 inch walleye.  The biggest of the trip for anyone, and my personal best ever.

Connor has Down Syndrome, and his passion in life is walleye fishing.  He reads books and magazines, and watches any video he can convince my parents to buy.  He has his own tackle box full of walleye gear, and it continues to grow.  Ironically, he doesn't like to fish much when we actually get out on the water.  He loves netting the fish, and he loves telling other people what they should be doing.  In the end, he is just happy to be there.


Connor and his 26.5" pig!

 The crew for this trip was small:  Dad, Mom, Connor, Me, Grandpa, and Uncle Steve and Aunt Marsha.  We brought Uncle Steve's boat up and rented one from the resort that we stayed at on the big lake, where we spent three days fishing.  The daily routine was to get up, eat breakfast, fish most of the day, get back to the cabin, eat dinner, cast Rapalas for smallmouth, and go to sleep.  Repeat.



Dad and a pretty 25 incher.

This excursion was a family trip first and foremost.  Nobody wants to fish as much as I do.  I tried fly fishing for a couple hours one evening and didn't catch anything, so I switched back to my spinning gear and had a blast!  Sadly, I don't have a group picture or a picture of Mom or Grandpa.  Mom took all of the pictures in one boat, and Grandpa doesn't have the patience for pictures - the fish either goes back in the water or in the cooler - now.  We had a great trip, and I look forward to sharing it with you over the next 4 days.