Hosts Jamie Pestilli and Ryder Knowlton also update listeners on the latest fishing conditions in North Carolina before welcoming expert fishing guide Tyler Dunn. Tyler provides an insider's look at the diverse angling opportunities in the St. Mary's Rapids, from Atlantic salmon to steelhead, and the rich variety of species in the Algoma region.
Ever wondered what it's like to be a full-time fishing guide with a year-round schedule? Get the scoop on Tyler Dunn's seasonal calendar, targeting everything from steelhead in April to musky trips before the freeze-up. We explore the unique challenges and rewards of fishing different species across varied water conditions. Tyler breaks down his strategies for each season, revealing the secrets behind successful fishing trips. This chapter is packed with invaluable insights for both novice and seasoned anglers looking to make the most of their fishing adventures throughout the year.
And don’t miss our deep dive into the world of brook trout fishing in Lake Nipigon, home to record-breaking trout. Tyler Dunn shares his expertise on the best techniques and gear needed to tackle these waters. We also discuss the resurgence of salmon in the Great Lakes, celebrating the collaborative efforts that have revitalized these fisheries. From casting flies at lake trout in shallow waters to recounting thrilling fishing adventures, this episode promises to be a treasure trove of tips, stories, and expert advice. Tune in for a packed episode that’s sure to ignite your passion for the great outdoors!
Hosts Jamie Pestilli and Ryder Knowlton also update listeners on the latest fishing conditions in North Carolina before welcoming expert fishing guide Tyler Dunn. Tyler provides an insider's look at the diverse angling opportunities in the St. Mary's Rapids, from Atlantic salmon to steelhead, and the rich variety of species in the Algoma region.
Ever wondered what it's like to be a full-time fishing guide with a year-round schedule? Get the scoop on Tyler Dunn's seasonal calendar, targeting everything from steelhead in April to musky trips before the freeze-up. We explore the unique challenges and rewards of fishing different species across varied water conditions. Tyler breaks down his strategies for each season, revealing the secrets behind successful fishing trips. This chapter is packed with invaluable insights for both novice and seasoned anglers looking to make the most of their fishing adventures throughout the year.
And don’t miss our deep dive into the world of brook trout fishing in Lake Nipigon, home to record-breaking trout. Tyler Dunn shares his expertise on the best techniques and gear needed to tackle these waters. We also discuss the resurgence of salmon in the Great Lakes, celebrating the collaborative efforts that have revitalized these fisheries. From casting flies at lake trout in shallow waters to recounting thrilling fishing adventures, this episode promises to be a treasure trove of tips, stories, and expert advice. Tune in for a packed episode that’s sure to ignite your passion for the great outdoors!
As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear, but they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Jerry Ouellette and I was honoured to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources. However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as chaga, a tree conch with centuries of medicinal use by Indigenous peoples all over the globe. All over the globe.
Speaker 1:After nearly a decade of harvest, use, testimonials and research, my skepticism has faded to obsession and I now spend my life dedicated to improving the lives of others through natural means. But that's not what the show is about. My pursuit of the strange mushroom and my passion for the outdoors has brought me to the places and around the people that are shaped by our natural world. On Outdoor Journal Radio's, under the Canopy podcast, I'm going to take you along with me to see the places, meet the people. That will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature. And under the canopy Find Under the Canopy now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2:Thank, you, hey, welcome to this week's episode of Untamed Pursuits on the Outdoor Radio Journal Podcast Network. I'm your host, jamie Pestilli, here with my wingman, mr Ryder Knowlton, down in Carolina. Ryder, what's going on today?
Speaker 3:Jamie, we are excited that lacrosse season is wrapping up and, after a good season, I'm ready to get out on the water.
Speaker 2:Yeah, here too we had kind of a delayed. We had an extended time right. There was no ice fishing because all the ice was gone and then it got cold and rainy again. So it's a good thing, because our water levels were super, super low. Now we got regular flows coming in and we got sunshine coming this weekend. So next time we speak, hopefully we'll have a fishing report or two for you, oh yeah, no, that's great we.
Speaker 3:you know this time of the year in North Carolina, you get these just fantastic. You know this time of the year in North Carolina, you get these just fantastic. You know variety of things to fish for in the rivers over in eastern Carolina. And you know the rain's been hit or miss. You know levels have been high, muddy water, that kind of stuff. But you and Ange and I I know we're talking just the other day and the striper sizes are really big this year, which is great to see Some really nice big fish being caught on those kind of central atlantic rivers. So anyhow, I'm ready to get out there oh yeah, me too.
Speaker 2:It's funny. We got off our inaugural podcast that we did and you were talking about what species you'd love to catch and you would one of the top things on your bucket list and you mentioned a gigantic brook trout. So I was kind of flipping through my rolodex and there was one man who popped in my mind right away tyler dunn, from, uh, sioux saint maria fish. With tyler we did a show a couple years ago and he fishes all over. He's uh from sioux saint maria, fishes the rapids, fishes oh boy, so many different rivers in that area. And then he also does these great trips up to nipigon. So I reach out to Tyler he's going to be joining us today, pretty pumped to have him on to talk trout salmon, musky pike I don't know if there's a place that has more species available than the Algoma country, right near Sault Ste Marie.
Speaker 3:Hey, Tyler, thank you for joining us. Man, how are you doing?
Speaker 4:Very good, thanks for having me, guys.
Speaker 2:Hey, good catching. Thank you for joining us, man. How are you doing Very good? Thanks for having me, guys. Hey, good catching up with you again, Tyler.
Speaker 4:Yeah, buddy, it's been a while, jamie.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir. So I don't even know where to start. I guess we can start with your start close to home, right, the beautiful St Mary's Rapids and all the other tributaries. What's been going on down there?
Speaker 4:Well, you know what that's actually. It's been fishing well the last couple weeks. Um, I do with the early spring, but it's really just starting to heat up. Uh, the saint mary's rapids is probably the latest steelhead run I know of on the great lakes. Um, you can go in there in march and catch them. But the really big push of fish typically doesn't show up until first second week of May and it fishes well into June on most years, especially with the high water, it stays cool. Lots of bug hatches, bait fish around. So with the higher water a lot of times they haven't left until the Atlantic show up.
Speaker 2:And you guys have a unique Atlantic salmon fishery. I know we've got lots of buddies out east that fish. You know the Miramichi and a whole bunch of New Brunswick waters and a lot of Gaspé waters and I've been telling them about the fishery that you guys have down there and you got open water fish.
Speaker 4:Yes, yeah, they're landlocked salmon. A lot of people you know have to clarify that we call, with the different they're landlocked salmon. Um, a lot of people you know have to have to clarify that. Um, we call them atlantics. They're atlantic strain fish, but they're landlocked salmon, but they um. But they come up to the zoo they're chasing. They're chasing bait where I think for the most part on the east coast rivers are coming up river to do their business. They're pretty lockjaw. You're fishing days for a bite where on the saint m Mary's you can have multiple fish days in a row. You know there's tough days. They're Atlantic salmon, no matter what. There's still tough days. But you can have a lot of days where you get two, three, four, five different chances at fish.
Speaker 3:Hey, tyler, walk us through the timing of this because, as Jamie said, you know you've got this incredible list of species my gosh, there's got to be a half a dozen, right you know, like legit trophy species of fish that you guys can pursue where you guide and walk us through like a calendar, you know what, kind of through steelheading into the salmon seasons and of course, let alone the you know the pike, et cetera. So kind of walk us through how it works in the typical calendar year alone, the, you know, the pike, etc.
Speaker 4:So kind of walk us through how it works in the typical hounder year. Yeah well, actually what I? When I started guiding full-time I was kind of ran myself ragged, uh, doing a little bit too much sometimes just to make sure I was busy. So one day I was doing small malls, next day I'm doing pike two hours away, next day I'm doing steelhead back in the zoo. So now last couple years I've really worked on um, sectioning off my years, doing like for this part of May I'm doing this, for this part of June I'm doing that.
Speaker 4:So typically I start my year off, uh, with open after ice fishing season, of course. Uh, with open water, uh, steelhead on Lake Superior rivers. That's typically an April thing for me. Um, entire month of April is usually pretty good. Uh, once May rolls around I'm still doing some trips up there. Uh, I started hitting the rapids, like I mentioned, doing that for steelhead for a couple of weeks and I'm just starting next week my smallmouth trip start. I do lots of that east of the Sioux around Blind River, but several inland lakes are trophy smallmouth fisheries. So I'll spend about two to three weeks doing that, mid-may to early June. Then from early June I switch gears to the brook trout and I'm heading up to Nipigon and I do pike and brook trout up there for a good chunk of the month before I come back to the Sioux and I spend most of the summer around the Sioux fishing resident rainbows, what's left over for steelhead and the Atlantic's, like we just spoke about Doing that until about typically the water in the St Mary's is in the 60s up until early August and once it hits that terrible 70-ish, 70-degree water level, I've learned it's time to fish somewhere else.
Speaker 4:So I go back up to Nipigon and that's when I do mostly brook trout for about two weeks the end of August and you're getting the colored up big, beautiful males that time of the year. I did a show with the new fly fisher last year in August. If anybody wants to watch that they'll get a little idea of the fishing there at that time of the year, at that time of the year. And then, once I've done that, I come back. And then Jamie came, I think early September, mid-september I forget. No, maybe it was October, but that's the pink salmon, king salmon, the very start of steelhead comes around then and I'm doing that until October, and then it's steelhead from there to about freeze up. I'll slip in the odd musky trip in the fall, but for the most part I'm doing steelhead.
Speaker 2:It's crazy. Like the pinks, I guess. One year the pinks are big and one they're smaller?
Speaker 4:Yeah, exactly, they come every year. We have a run every year and there's the big year, the even number years is the big run and odd numbers the smaller run. Honestly, they run. Honestly, they're almost about the same. Now I find, um, this year is supposed to be the big run, but we had big fish last year too, and you know you could walk across the damn thing some days the, the saint mary's river.
Speaker 2:I fished there probably four days and I hooked up all day, every single time, regardless of when um ernest hemingway fished there back in the in the day, for all you history buffs listening to our show. But there's, there's also a unique fish that is only available in the same area is the, the mighty pinnock, which I was lucky enough to catch one, and I thought somebody was making that up, right, but all right, hang on, jamie.
Speaker 3:You got to explain to your american buddy here what the heck a pinnock is. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I didn't even know it came to that. Oh, it's a pinnock, Like what? So it's half chinook, half pink, oh no kidding Natural hybrid. Yeah, and they got some pretty cool colors, kind of like a purpley. I'll have to figure.
Speaker 4:It's got like a pink salmon head with a king body. It's kind of a fish looking thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we'll have to get a photo and put it on the socials there. That was a beautiful fish and I've never mounted a fish. But when I was before I released that puppy, I thought, well, you know what. That might look nice up on the wall.
Speaker 3:But she's still. Hey, tyler, it's interesting what you're saying about the pinks, though you know coming in. As a US fisherman, you know we'll go up to Alaska, right to you know, to go after the pinks and the silvers. And of course it's every other year, just like you said, even years the pinks come in with a cohoes. But what I'm hearing you say is that in the Great Lakes the pinks are running each year. It's just maybe a bigger run on even years.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yes, exactly A, yes, exactly A bigger run and a bigger fish is what they're saying. But honestly, even on Lake Superior tributaries, I was fishing up on the Steel River last October with a buddy of mine after we finished up a lake trout shoot on Nipigon and we were looking for steelhead but there were so many pink salmon in the river that we could literally 10,000 every hole. It was unbelievable. We caught some steelhead, but there was just too many salmon still in there 10,000 every hole. It was unbelievable. We caught some steelhead, but there was just too many salmon still in there.
Speaker 2:Even when we fished last time too, we had a problem with the Chinook. We were trying to get some steelhead.
Speaker 4:Exactly. And you know what On that shoot. I remember it was like 20 degrees that day. It was really warm, and I remember the steelhead showed up just a few days after, a few days after he left on that shoot. But there was a ton of salmon and they were still kind of doing their thing and you almost couldn't keep it out of their mouth on some spots. So they were just, they were eating it.
Speaker 2:No, and if you're new to fly fishing or new to angling, catching one of those big, huge Chinooks is an experience and a half. They fight like hell and you know, if you know, you know, but you hell and uh, you know they're if you, if you know, you know, but yeah you know, for somebody starting out, they they do provide quite good practice too for fighting fish and nymphing and stuff like that.
Speaker 4:It's very good practice because you get lots of bites. Um, yeah, again, ethics comes into. Ethics comes into factor, and sometimes there's guys lining fish, there's guys snagging fish and you can legitimately catch them too oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2:We saw people, you know, throwing gigantic spoons and big, huge shovels. Oh, I caught this nice fish in the back, which you know. I don't know if you really need a photo. That bad.
Speaker 4:I think people should even know about, about the sioux, saint maria, even the algoma region in general. Like I just mentioned, all the timelines on the fish, that's just the best timelines for the best bite. I'm following around. You can literally fish these salmon, troll them all summer in places outside the Sioux. You can fish bass year-round with year-round fishery. I'm doing pike fishing the last couple of days with the guys out on Superior. It's just a special request and it's a great time of year for big fish, so I'm doing that just kind of. It's a unique thing that I do offer, but it's just I don't have it on my website. Uh, so there's, there's all the. You can fish these species year round, a lot of them. I'm just I'm just promoting certain times of the year.
Speaker 3:It's kind of to fit my schedule us about the the big pike this time of the year you had mentioned um some of them getting, you know, backed up into shallow water and as a fly fisherman I'm curious is that a legitimate um scenario to be um sight casting and some of those fish applies?
Speaker 4:100 today% today alone actually. I was out yesterday with the same group and we had nasty wind, we couldn't see it very far, we had no sun, we were in water that was about 46, 47, 48 degrees. I found one spot with 50 degrees. Sure enough, there's a pike in the shallow. We caught a couple of bass there. So today it was a lighter wind and sunny.
Speaker 4:Day Took a different launch. I went and fished a different area that was a little shallower, with a lot of sand flats, two, three, four feet of water, and within the first hour we were there we seen four fish over 40 inches in that shallow water and they weren't that spooky, they just weren't moving, they were just really lethargic. So we spun back up on them later in the day when the water had warmed up. But the wind picked up out there, so it kind of pushed them off those sand flats and we fished further in the river and we did get them in there. We got about a dozen pike in there.
Speaker 4:No giants, but high 30s, mid 30s. Oh yeah, sure Nothing wrong with that. No, guys are super happy about that. But tomorrow, sure nothing wrong with that. Um, no, guys are super happy about that, but tomorrow's our last day and we have flat calm conditions, and we're gonna go back to that same area and I'm expecting. I've seen 55 degree water today, so I'm expecting to see this bigger fish again up from the shallows sunning themselves like they should be.
Speaker 3:Uh, I'm hoping all day, though, with the late winds I can't imagine anything more fun than sight casting at a bit of pike. I mean, at the end of the day, muskies is kind of the journey fish, right, and all this stuff's fun, and of course losing a tugging battle to a big Chinook is pretty awesome. But at the end of the day, man, sight casting to a big pike is still water.
Speaker 4:Yeah, when you're chasing a 40-inch pike, that's one thing, but you're like, you see, you see one today that was 46, 47 inches. That's a whole nother ball game. Uh, oh yeah, it's like. It's like fishing musky that are 30 inches compared to a 50 incher type thing. Yeah, exactly, it's, it's uh, it's a big different. They just look different, they feel different, they, they fight different. Um, they're done. That's one reason. Like when I got the request, I know there's pike on superior that are 50, 50 inches. So I like doing that stuff. I don't really have a lot of interest in doing the hammer handle thing with people anymore, unless they really just want to catch some pike, but I really like to offer people shots at trophy fish.
Speaker 2:On trophy fish. You have your pick. Let's talk a little bit about your trips up to Nipigon.
Speaker 4:And you know what? Back to the pike thing with nipigon. I'll start with pike up there. Um, that's a numbers place for trophies too. We're superior. It's definitely a couple bites a day sometimes, but typically they're big fish or nipigon. You're gonna get fish. You're gonna get smaller fish in the mix too, but you're gonna get numbers. You know 50, 60 fish days sometimes. Uh, we have tough days out there too, so not every day you're pounding like that, but when the fish are on there, great numbers. Um, you can get multiple fish over 40 inches. Um, I've caught my biggest pike there more than once. Um, right now it's about 47 and a half inches is my personal best there. Um, I've got a few about the same size, but it's the ones we've seen and lost. That really keeps the interest going.
Speaker 2:So for the listeners out there, where exactly is Lake Nipigon and what's entailed to get up there?
Speaker 4:Lake Nipigon from Sault Ste Marie, where I live. It's about a six-hour drive north on Highway 17. A lot of my clients now just fly into Thunder Bay. It's a lot like they're coming from Toronto. They're coming from anywhere down in Michigan, anywhere down in Ohio even further. You're talking an 18, 20-hour drive.
Speaker 4:So a lot of guys are just jumping on a flight, flying to Thunder Bay, renting a car 45 minutes south from there. You don't need tackle, you don't need gear if you don't want. So a lot of guys will fly with their fly rods, obviously, and some some flies, um, but you don't have to bring much more than that on the trip. But uh, if people do want to drive up there, there's a lot of camping places people can camp out. Um, most of my clients get a hotel right in town in nipigon and each morning I meet them at the gas station around some motel and they follow me from there to whatever lunch we use that day. I usually cut them loose around 4 or 4.30. So they're back in town for something to eat around 5.30. And that's a typical day up there.
Speaker 2:Wow, and you know the pike are huge. But let me tell you I think we've had many debates on where in the world is the greatest brook trout spot, and I know the Woods River system up in Labrador. There's a couple other spots, but Nipigon comes up in that discussion more often than not.
Speaker 4:Yep, always will. I think Nipigon is obviously the world record holder for 14.6. Yep, always will. I think Nipigon it's obviously the world record holder. 14.6 pounds, I believe. I've seen fish personally. My biggest brook trout is 26 inches. It's a fairly lean fish. I'd put it at about 7.5 pounds, but I've seen multiple fish overeat about the same length, even a little bit shorter, but I've seen pictures of fish that are 27, 28, 29 inches. Every year, um river, river and and lake fish. Um, yeah, it's. It's a place that I've got, a place like the sutton river. I fished last summer with a guy for 10 days and we caught, you know, 100 fish a day. We did catch a couple 23, 24-inch fish, but we were catching 20, 25, 18 to 20-inch fish before we got a big one. We're on Nipigon. You're probably going to get a 24, 25-inch brook trout before you catch 100. You'll get one probably, you know, every couple days. You have a good chance that I've drove you.
Speaker 3:Well, and you know what's amazing is, you're talking about a fish ship, for a lot, of, a lot of of uh of fishermen would be their brook trout or their life. Yeah, I imagine a 24 inch brook trout.
Speaker 4:I can't even imagine you know that's funny to bring that up. I get that here all the time in the sioux with my steelhead trips. Um, I'd be fished a little bit of coasters on our tributaries, um, kind of in a mix with the steelhead, and I'm fishing steel with these guys. We're catching some nice steelhead and then they catch about a 15-inch brook trout and that makes their day, oh for sure, because they've only caught eight, nine 10-inch brook trout and living in this area I kind of forget that sometimes that people don't have that opportunity and they really appreciate the Nipigon fish, that's for sure. For the most part the average fish is about 20 inches and you know I don't get excited until it's over 22 inches coming towards the net.
Speaker 3:Really, that's an incredible fish. You know you hit it right on the head. We've got you know. We have good brook trout fishing in the US and of course, the famous for us is up in Maine on the Rapid River system and so forth. Famous for us is up in Maine on the rapid river system and so forth. But for most regular folks out fly fishing in the eastern US, let's say, a 12 to 14-inch brookie man, that's a beautiful fish, that's your fish of a weekend. We've got a lot of little brook trout streams down here where you're catching six to eight-inch fish. Trout streams down here where you're, you're, you know you're catching six to eight inch fish and you're talking about you know you're talking about not even getting you know excited until you see a brookie over 20 inches and you're 24 plus. It's a whole different world.
Speaker 4:Yeah, like that's. That's no joke either. And the thing about nepal gone is uh, there's other other places, arrival for sure for numbers, for size. It's the access. Anybody can drive to it. You can drive right to the lake. You don't need a guide. I recommend you go on with a little bit of intel, but don't go out there blind, because there's no charts, there's not much for cell service, there's no cabins out there really that you can call for help. You're on your own out there, but you can drive up on your own, access the lake and do your own thing and have a legitimate shot at catching a 22, 24-inch brook trout.
Speaker 3:Tell us about the brook trout fishing on Nipigon Meaning. How do you approach it? Is it a deep water? Because you did mention you know both river fish and lake fish. So is it a I mean, is it deep water trolling for the bigger fish, or is it a legitimate fly fishing destination? For that? Is it more of a plug? You know how do you approach it.
Speaker 4:Both ways. It all depends what people are like. A fly group obviously will be fly fishing, but I find the lake always fishes fairly shallow, where we get to fish on the river a little bit deeper, for whatever reason, I'm not sure, but I'm always fishing the lake, I'm pounding shoreline, I'm pounding rock piles. It's like you're bass fishing. People always ask me how to relate it to something and I try and relate. Or let them picture you know fishing a rock pile for smallmouth or a rocky point for smallmouth and it's just brook trout that come out instead of smallmouth in that lake. It's just incredible. It's kind of freaky because guys will show up and you know they'll have their three, four weights with these tiny long, like no, no, no.
Speaker 3:Oh for sure, here's a seven eight weight Exactly.
Speaker 4:Seven, eight weight, with like big meaty sex dungeon and because they're chasing down four or five inch smelt sculpins, other bait fish, other brook trout, other meat eaters on that lake. They're definitely on a bug bite on the river especially and sometimes on the lake, but for the most part those things got meat on their mind.
Speaker 3:They're eating bait the size of the brookies we fished for back in the state. I'm not kidding.
Speaker 4:Legitimately. Yeah, legitimately.
Speaker 2:And another thing too we never mentioned the lake trout. There's some beautiful lake trout up in nippon as well it's.
Speaker 4:You know what? It's the best lake trout fishing I've personally ever done. Uh, I'm not a big laker guy until I'm up there, um, you know it's, um, you know it's no bad an eye at a 15 pounder up there. That's what we shake off. 10 pounders, um, you know, we got a couple in the 30 pound range. Lots of 20s, 25s, uh, for the lake trout, um, it's good all year. But I did a fly fishing trip there, uh, closing week uh, which is the end of september, and those fish push up on the shallow. So you're casting two, four or five feet of water for for lake trout on the fly and you're catching 20 pounders like that holy cow, yeah. Yeah, there's a good video on YouTube of us doing that too. It might be on my website, but we catch. We never got any giants on that trip, but fish. A couple of them are pushing 40 inches.
Speaker 3:Tyler, tell us for the listeners. You know a lot of US fly fishermen. Just when they're thinking lake trout, you know their mind immediately goes to great slave. They're thinking of going up to the Northwest Territories, right, and their mind immediately goes to great slave. They're thinking of going up to the Northwest Territories, right. So compare it. When you talk about Nipigon, obviously a 20, 30-inch fish on fly in four feet of water is a great experience anywhere. But compare it. Compare it to maybe fishermen that aren't as familiar with the various fisheries and might just instinctively be thinking they got to go to the top of the world, you know, to catch that giant lake trout.
Speaker 4:Yeah, well, you know what? For the most part, you do have to head pretty far north, but don't quote me on this. But I want to say that the Lake Nipigon, lake trout are the fastest growing strain of lake trout in the world. I believe they go twice as fast as other fish. I don't know why, but I'm pretty sure that's, that's the, that's the, the stat on that, but it's just under. I think on the whole it's an underfish fishery. There's guys out there fishing lake trout, but not like the other fish, and the lake's so big and, uh, it's now preserved the limits and and there's no more building. And there's no, it's, it's just, uh, it's a lake trout factory. It really is.
Speaker 2:And do the Lakers hit your offerings for smallmouth when you're out casting around, oh yeah.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, you get lake trout. I've caught them on worm harnesses, trolling for walleye. Caught them on fly fishing casting to shorelines, cleos, all the time, hair jig. You do catch lake trout, especially in the spring and obviously in the fall when they're moving shallow again. That's when you get the majority of them. But right in the middle of summer when you get some good chop, they'll push up on those shoals. You can get them casting, especially with live scope and stuff like that. Now you can pull up on those shows and cast 20, 30 feet, catch lake turtle all summer. Basically that's incredible. Yeah, yeah, like I know guys that lake lake trout fish with the fly rods. You know 40, 50 feet of water. They got the type 7 lines and their long casts and just letting it sink down and kind of doing nothing with it. But they're nailing them some days.
Speaker 2:So your garage must look like mine, right?
Speaker 4:So you fish and fly fish. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you fish for 100 different species Exactly.
Speaker 4:Well, like I said, I'm in between houses for just the next two, three weeks. So we have three storage units and I got one's a fishing unit, and my truck's just loaded. It's, yeah, it's, it's. It's a little bit overwhelming actually, and that's like again, like I mentioned before about how I was a bit of a road runner always all over the place. The tackle thing was an issue too. Always have me re-rig every second night A little steelhead trip and then tomorrow the bass trip and then the next day the walleye trip and having to tie up all the lines. That kind of got a little bit excessive at times. But when you're getting going you take what you can get and you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:If you were to admit.
Speaker 3:Sorry, go ahead, ryder. No, as you just said, I'm amazed at hearing the variety of this area, given such an accessible place as Tyler's saying. I mean, you and I daydream, jamie, about all these far-off places we want to go and, man, there's just so much of it that's just so accessible If you just learn about it and talk to the right people and realize, man, there's places that are a lot closer than you think.
Speaker 4:Exactly, do a little bit of exploring, contact the MLR, get the stocking sheets to get the GPS coordinates to the stock lakes. You do a little bit of research, a little bit of reaching out. You know it's, it's, it's a lot of. There's a lot of information about a lot of good areas available to anglers now with the internet especially. Um, you know, back in the day it was all the talk forums and stuff, but I think those days are kind of gone now it's a little bit. A little bit. It's not as easy. It's not just you're not going to get a bunch of free information on the internet, but it's all about networking, meeting people. Um, you know, even just going to a fly shop, attack local tackle shop, you'd surprise what you'll get when buying a pack of worms or a pack of you know a couple of different flies. You'll get some information out of the local pros for that.
Speaker 2:So, Tyler, as a guide, what we fish together, you guide me. What do you think makes a good guide?
Speaker 4:I'm making a bad day.
Speaker 8:good, anybody can have a good day.
Speaker 4:Anybody can have a good day fishing and be a rock star. But if you have a bad day fishing and still teach them something and they rebook you or they're smiling, that's a good fishing guide, or that's just a good guide in any trade, because it's fishing that's the bottom line. A good guy can usually pull a rabbit out of his hat on a bad day of fishing and make it happen, but sometimes it doesn't work. It's not that easy and some days you just can't and just suck up your pride and realize that and you know, kind of turn whatever negative it is to some kind of positive, rather than teaching them techniques, how to read a graph, you know, even offering them a discounted trip on the next time, something to sweeten the pot, just to make sure that they don't leave with a sour taste in their mouth.
Speaker 3:Hey, tyler, when you're on Nipigon and you've got this great variety of fish right and I guess based on the time of year, but is there a go-to species? Let's say you have a tough day. Let's say you got your client out, you're working hard, the fish just aren't cooper, and that happens to everybody Down here in the Central Atlantic. That species for us is bluefish. If you're going out, whether you're looking for redfish or maybe false albis, whatever it is you're chasing, at the end of the day, if the fish just aren't there, you can always rely on going to catch finding some little chopper blues. Is there a species like that on Nipigon? That is kind of your go-to if it's tough, you know what I kind of do.
Speaker 4:I kind of I wouldn't say a species kind of a couple different areas and they're mostly brook trout areas. So there's a few spots where they're kind of I don't take people that are right off the hop. I'll save it for a tough day of fishing or just certain scenarios, uh, just for that, just just to keep in my back pocket for a tough day or tough weather or something like that. But a lot of times what I'll do is I know fish don't bite all day. So especially in june, I'm going up for mainly pike but I do some brook trout.
Speaker 4:So what I do in the mornings is I'll start off with brook trout for about an hour, hour and a half, because I don't find the pike fishing that great when the sun's just coming up. I find it better from, you know, nine, 10 o'clock in the morning to about three o'clock in the afternoon. The sun's out gets them moving, where I find the brook trout bite a little bit better in the mornings. So I'll kind of do it like that and then brook trout slow, you know, by 9, 9, 30, let's go for some pike because it's almost not guaranteed but a lot, a lot, a lot less guesswork going into the pike bays than it is. Look chasing on brook trout. So I wouldn't say there's a fail safe uh species. But there's a few spots that I feel are fail foolproof. Where I can, you know, get a few bites for my clients?
Speaker 2:Even down in the Sioux you even have some really good walleye fishing as well, right Like we could just talk about every species.
Speaker 4:It's really tough to do it all because I get requests for a lot of walleye stuff too and I just don't do it enough sometimes to feel confident to bring people out there just like next day type of thing, because it is phenomenal. If you go on YouTube again and do some YouTube searching, you'll see some walleye tournaments down in the Sioux and big, big fish weights. Daytime fishing too, I do it mostly at nighttime when they kind of move to the shallows. I just did that as a kid growing up so I had a lot of confidence doing it. So a lot of times I'll fish rainbow trout or Atlantic's till dark, then I'll stick around for walleye for about two hours in the dark or Atlantic's till dark, then I'll stick around for walleye for about two hours in the dark and we're just trolling shorelines with stick baits or casting shorelines with stick baits. You can catch them right offshore. A lot of locals just go downtown at night, tie on a rapla fish for an hour, catch a walleye or two, head home.
Speaker 2:Can't beat that.
Speaker 4:No, you can't beat it at all.
Speaker 3:Hey, let me ask you you know, the things that we read about down here is the Chinook fishery, and I guess this is a question, tyler, maybe for you and Jamie. I'm always just curious you know the Atlantic salmon fishery. Really, it's such a great success story up there and people are realizing it. Yeah, they're landlocked salmon, but they're Atlantic salmon. They're Atlantic salmon. Yeah, are you kidding me? It's an Atlantic salmon. And so tell us a little bit, jamie, I'd love to get your take too. You know, obviously, that has really come into its own, but what are you guys seeing with a king salmon? Is that something that you think just has ups and downs? You see it? On a more concerning trend, what are you seeing there?
Speaker 4:When I was growing up, up until about 10 years ago, it was heavily stocked. We had a phenomenal salmon run. It was as a kid it was just you know as many salmon as you can want to catch, type of thing. Going after high school and high school we go catch six, eight salmon a night. A little tin boat and a six horse where they stopped stocking them after the bay fish crashed on huron. It's got to be 10, maybe 15 years ago and went from catching multiple fish a day to they were. They were raffling off the derby prizes. Uh, you know 100 rods and two fish caught.
Speaker 4:Um, so it was a struggle for about I don't know a good seven, eight years, up until about four or five years ago. They've started to come back and the numbers aren't even close to what they used to be, but they're coming back. But the size is back Big fish, a lot of fish, 25, 28, even 30 pounds. Last year's Superior salmon I've never seen it like that in my life. The numbers a few of my buddies fished up on Wawa and they were getting 25, 30 pounders up there and numbers of them were typically they were 10 pounds. Uh, 10 pound. Chinook was a good one on superior and I, from what I know, I think michigan has done some stocking, which I'm sure has helped, and the bait fish, our smelt population, has been crazy the last four or five years, so I'm sure that has something to do with it too. If the bait fish are back stockings back from the michigan side, ont Ontario's reaping the benefits.
Speaker 2:They're off to get some 30% discount on their shopping.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we're getting almost 40% discount right now, just crossing the border. It's crazy eh. Yeah, I was just down in Traverse City actually for a bachelor party. I didn't even look before I went down there. I figured it out and I was down there and I was like, oh no, I don't know, but it was good. Michigan knows how to party, that's for sure.
Speaker 2:It's a fun state oh, and they, they sure like the, the fishery on on both sides of the rapids is, is you know?
Speaker 4:second to none? Yeah, second to none, it's. It's actually well taken care of. There's a group here in town, the Goma Fish and Game Club. They do a bunch of stuff in the same areas. The US side does stuff. The US side does all the stalking and takes care of that kind of stuff. We put a bunch of lamperside in the river to take care of that. But yeah, like I said, there's even the same areas as I think 82 river miles. Um, down river you got the bass you got. I did a show with Pete. My first show with Pete was for largemouth on the same areas. Um, that was his favorite.
Speaker 4:Yeah, honestly, pete's favorite.
Speaker 2:Of all the species he picks, largemouth.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it blew his mind that we were catching largemouth on the same river. Um, it was cold mind that we were catching largemouth on the St Mary's River.
Speaker 2:It was cold water and he was all teeth, All teeth. Yeah, that would be Pete for sure. I fished with him for months.
Speaker 3:Oh, go ahead. I was going to say I was curious. You mentioned, as you're going through your calendar, the different species, times of the year, and it sounds like, though, you spend more time up on Nipigon, I guess, then down on the St Mary's Is that? Is that fair, um?
Speaker 4:I go up there for cause it's it's. You know it's a six hour drive. I go up usually for two weeks stints. I go up there twice a year for two weeks. So I spend about a month up there. Um, where the St Mary's, it's kind of my year round thing. I get a phone call what are you doing tomorrow? I'm open. We go to St Mary's. It's, it's my it's where I've been fishing since I've been a kid. I can go out there any day with blind and catch fish. That's it's, it's my, that's my home waters.
Speaker 2:Um Nipigon.
Speaker 4:I kind of promote now as my, my dream, a hosted trip.
Speaker 2:I do, and I'm usually booking those about a year advance. Now with people Ryder, we should start booking.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we just found a lot closer place to go to catch our big brook trout.
Speaker 4:Yeah, honestly the deal with a lot of people. That's what they realize. They don't have to go up to Labrador or spend $10,000 for a crazy trip. They can go to Nippagun four times for $10,000 for a crazy trip. They can go to Nipigon, you know, four times for $10,000 type thing.
Speaker 3:Well, what's so cool is is you just don't think about that with a sight fishing you know so much of the fly fishing world is so you know, is focused on sight casting and just that dynamic, right, that interaction with the fish. And what you're talking about here is, you know, is shallow, is you know, is shallow water, not only shallow water, brookies and pike, but you were even saying shallow water, lake trout. How crazy is that it really is.
Speaker 4:It's something I've, you know, I've like, grown up. I watched the tv shows up in great slave great bear, all those athabasca I'd buddies guide all those lakes and seen I never thought six hours from the soup you have to do the exact same thing. You know they're getting better shots at 40, 50 pounders up a great slave great bear.
Speaker 3:Of course they're in nipigon, but for 20 pound fish, 25 pound fish, there's a pathoar them hey, jamie, he's missing one very specific species, you know, that's near and dear to to your heart and my heart, which is the uh, long-nosed gar. I haven't heard anything about the gar fishing up in Nipigon, ah.
Speaker 4:No, that's the St Mary's River.
Speaker 2:You got some St Mary's River.
Speaker 4:Not even close to the caliber of gar you guys have. I'm talking like half the size. I see I haven't really targeted them too much, actually myself, but I don't think they're even close to the size you guys are getting on the Ottawa.
Speaker 3:Such a fun fish, such an underrated fun fish, neat looking.
Speaker 2:Must be species number 47 on your St Mary's list of what is Tyler doing today. Tyler, do you have a favorite way of fishing? Do you prefer spin center pin?
Speaker 4:You know what you would have asked me about 10 years ago? I would have said center pin. If you would have asked me 10 years before that, I would have said spinning. Now I'd probably maybe say fly fishing. But I kind of do it all. Now when I'm out fishing myself, I'll bring it all. If I can get them on the fly and that's the best way to do it, I'll fly fish but I have no problem switching up to whatever meat and potatoes I have to do to get a bite. But I'm definitely much more of a fly fisherman. Now for the trout anyway, like when I'm bass fishing, I'm usually gear fishing but I'm doing lots of fly fishing for the steelhead and the brook trout and stuff like that. Now.
Speaker 2:I'm the same way. It's like a golf bag, right.
Speaker 4:Yeah, no 100%.
Speaker 2:Nine rods. Different shots, different different species, absolutely I fly fish for musky sometimes and and it's usually an hour and then I go. No, I can.
Speaker 4:I can throw a big rubber bait right now yeah, but if you get a follower or two or or a bite, you're fly fishing for another couple hours oh no doubt that is that is it.
Speaker 2:That is it. Well, Tyler, thank you so much for joining us today on the Outdoor Pursuits podcast and the Outdoor Journal and Radio Podcast Network. How can folks get a hold of you if they have questions, if they want to fish with you in Sault Ste Marie, if they want to plan the trip of a lifetime and have you arrange something for Nipigon?
Speaker 4:I get most of my inquiries through my website, which is tylerdunguidingca, but I get a lot of stuff through my Instagram account and Facebook too, but a lot of questions and inquiries through my Instagram, tyler Dunguiding, both Facebook and Instagram. I get a lot of text messages and phone calls too, so I don't mind that from people, even if I've never met you or spoken to you. Fire me a text, give me a call, 705-206-0984. And if I don't answer your phone, I'm probably on the water and give me 24 hours to get back to you sometimes.
Speaker 2:That sounds amazing. We'll put your contact info on our Instagram page, just so people don't have a pen when they're driving, or if they're in the boat listening to this, they can make sure to reach out to you. Awesome, such a pleasure, buddy, and looking forward to doing it again.
Speaker 4:Thanks, guys, appreciate it.
Speaker 8:I need another road trip.
Speaker 4:I want to have you up here, buddy, that would be great man, Always a blast out there. I remember the last time I went up.
Speaker 2:I didn't sleep for two days knowing that I was going to fish the rapids. Well, I'll talk to you next time you're up. Yes, sir, tight lines. Keep those reports coming, and thanks again for joining us. Thanks, jamie, thanks Ryder.
Speaker 5:Thanks, tyler, you bet back in 2016, frank and I had a vision to amass the single largest database of muskie angling education material anywhere in the world our dream was to harness the knowledge of this amazing community and share it with passionate anglers just like you. Thus the Ugly Pike Podcast was born and quickly grew to become one of the top fishing podcasts in North America.
Speaker 7:Step into the world of angling adventures and embrace the thrill of the catch with the Ugly Pike Podcast. Join us on our quest to understand what makes us different as anglers and to uncover what it takes to go after the infamous fish of 10,000 casts.
Speaker 5:The Ugly Pike Podcast isn't just about fishing. It's about creating a tight-knit community of passionate anglers who share the same love for the sport. Through laughter, through camaraderie and an unwavering spirit of adventure, this podcast will bring people together.
Speaker 7:Subscribe now and never miss a moment of our angling adventures. Tight lines everyone.
Speaker 5:Find Ugly Pike now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 8:Hi everybody. I'm Angelo Viola and I'm Pete Bowman. Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's Favorite Fishing Show, but now we're hosting a podcast.
Speaker 6:That's right. Every Thursday, ang and I will be right here in your ears bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio.
Speaker 8:Now, what are we going to talk about for two hours every week?
Speaker 6:Well, you know there's going to be a lot of fishing.
Speaker 9:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
Speaker 8:Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show.
Speaker 6:We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors, from athletes, All the other guys would go golfing Me and Garton Turk and all the Russians would go fishing To scientists.
Speaker 9:But now that we're reforesting and letting things breathe. It's the perfect transmission environment for life To chefs. If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated, you will taste it.
Speaker 6:And whoever else will pick up the phone Wherever you are.
Speaker 8:Outdoor Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy being outside.
Speaker 2:Find us on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts Back. After a little break here on the Untamed Pursuits podcast, we had to come back and keep talking a little bit here. That, tyler Dunn, sure got my gerbils going, got my juices flowing, as they say.
Speaker 3:Now I got to tell you, I don't know the term gerbils flowing. I don't know where that came from either, but what a great guy, man. I mean holy smokes it's. You know I'm sitting here and you know, and I kind of forgot we were doing the podcast. I'm just you know, I was like curious for myself. I was asking questions, and you know, not to you know, beside the fact that he's such an easy to talk to great guy, but, man, we must have talked about what a half a dozen species of fish Jamie on the show I think there's even a half a dozen just salmon species that live there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think like it's crazy and as a guide, you know, I've been there before where you try to do everything and I think it's almost better to be a master of a couple of species instead of trying to learn 20, you know.
Speaker 3:Well, and he's Tyler's, so he's so interesting to talk to because you know he can. He can just transition from one species to another. Obviously, each one's got its own strategies as a guide, but, man, what a great guy to have on the show. And what was interesting too is, I think that's a fishery, at least for folks from the US. I think that's a fishery that gets overlooked a bit, and it's a good reminder that some of these great fisheries are a lot closer than people think.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I forgot about the flying angle. I kept looking at the distance it takes to drive and you know 17 hours from Ottawa. You know I can be at your house and having a barbecue, but you know a little bit more. But that being said, you know having access to such giant brook trout and catching lake trout in the shallows like it doesn't get better than that.
Speaker 3:Oh, dude, you know we've talked so much about, you know, doing one of these lifetime trips to go after the big brookies, you know, and we're so, you know, and that's still, you know, a bucket list for me, right, still a bucket list for me, right. Someday I want to go to Labrador and someday I want to go up to Newfoundland and really go after some of those rookies at those classical camps. But what a great trip this would be to go do, and not only that, man, I think. Just as exciting for me. Who would have thought about casting flies at lake trout in shallow water? That blew my mind when you started talking about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had the experience. I went up to Yukon with buddies about 10 years ago and I got to live that and it was incredible. Four or five feet of water, you know throwing out a whitebait fish fly and you're getting a couple big fish falling at it. I caught. I didn't get any huge ones, but I got a 10-er on fly rod that my six weight, that we were fishing for grayling. That had me into my backing and it was moments like that you'll never forget.
Speaker 3:Oh no, you never forget it and it's a. It's a species that you know I didn't realize you could fish for that way, you know, I always when you think about you know I didn't realize you could fish for that way, you know, I always when you think about, you know, big lake trout, I just always kind of picture these, you know, big spoons down deep, you know, and you hook into those big giant fish which, to me, are one of the coolest photos. There's nothing, you know. The photo of a big giant spotted up, you know, lake trout is just so incredible, but I never thought of them as a fish you could, you know, really pursue shallow water. So talk about, you know, learning something new on the show and maybe heck man, that's a trip we need to start thinking about doing. We need to go, you know, and do that lake trout deal with Tyler, that'd be a hell of a trip.
Speaker 2:I think we need to go halfers on a van, the Untamed Pursuits van, and take this show on the road. You know, it's cool meeting so many different people from all over the world. Oh, it's fantastic. It's fantastic. After the van we'll have to get a small plane because we will have to leave the country. But so many fish, so little time, as they say.
Speaker 3:Yeah, if we do it right. You know we got to go get one of the old classic. You know the 70s, you know hot rod bands and we'll really make our mark as we pull in, blow out a couple. You know big, big exhaust the whole thing.
Speaker 2:We're going to go out in style, that's for sure.
Speaker 3:Well, it was a great show and what a Nice job man, Great guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've got to get back up there A few times fishing the river, and the first time I went up there, I think I caught a Chinook, a bunch of Pinks, an Atlantic, a Coho and a Pinnock. I caught the whole slam. Yeah, I was going to say the Nipigon slam, that was the St Mary's slam. Oh, the St Mary's slam. Oh, nice, nice, right in downtown sault, ste marie.
Speaker 5:So and that's accessible fishing.
Speaker 2:You could just there's a bunch of parks, a little bit of walking. Um, that's one thing with guides when they tell you it's a five minute walk, it's a 15 minute walk, backlight, but uh, yeah, sometimes, sometimes it's an hour walk. Oh, it is for sure. Yeah, but you know what? Next week another great guest coming and I guess, if you're out there listening, if you have any questions, check us out on Instagram, the Untamed Pursuits. We're just Untamed Pursuits, so if you want to drop us a line there, you can have your question read on the air. Ryder will read it, because he's a better reader than I am.
Speaker 3:Well, great guest man, Great show and really fun guest.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks so much. Thanks again, tyler, if you're listening to this part of the show later on, but we'll do it again soon. We'll catch up next week with everybody. And thanks again for listening to the Untamed Pursuits on the Outdoor Journal radio podcast network.
Speaker 9:What brings people together more than fishing and hunting?
Speaker 10:How about food?
Speaker 9:I'm Chef Antonio Muleka and I have spent years catering to the stars. Now, on Outdoor Journal Radio's Eat Wild podcast, luis Hookset and I are bringing our expertise and Rolodex to our real passion the outdoors. Each week we're bringing you inside the boat.
Speaker 9:Tree stand or duck blind and giving you real advice that you can use to make the most out of your fish and game. You're going to flip that duck breast over once you get a nice hard sear on that breast. You don't want to sear the actual meat. And it's not just us chatting here. If you can name a celebrity, we've probably worked with them and I think you might be surprised who likes to hunt and fish. When Kit Harrington asks me to prepare him sushi with his bass, I couldn't say no. Whatever Taylor Sheridan wanted, I made sure I had it. Burgers, steak, anything off the barbecue. That's a true cowboy. All Jeremy Renner wanted to have was lemon ginger shots all day. Find Eating Wild now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 10:How did a small-town sheet metal mechanic come to build one of Canada's most iconic fishing lodges? I'm your host, steve Nitzwicky, and you'll find out about that and a whole lot more on the Outdoor Journal Radio Network's newest podcast, diaries of a Lodge Owner. But this podcast will be more than that. Every week on Diaries of a Lodge Owner, I'm going to introduce you to a ton of great people, share their stories of our trials, tribulations and inspirations, learn and have plenty of laughs along the way.
Speaker 8:Meanwhile we're sitting there bobbing along trying to figure out how to catch a bass and we both decided one day we were going to be on television doing a fishing show.
Speaker 6:My hands get sore a little bit when I'm reeling in all those bass in the summertime, but that might be for more fishing than it was punching you so confidently you said hey, pat, have you ever eaten a drum?
Speaker 10:Find Diaries of a Lodge Owner now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.