September 21-25 2017- Somewhere south of Gogama Ontario in the wilds of beautiful Northern Ontario

About Aurora Trout:
Named after the aurora borealis because of their unique color patterns, the Aurora Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis) is a unique variant of the Brook Trout. It is a member of the Trout and Salmon family and looks similar to Brook Trout, yet adult fish lack the yellow marks throughout the dorsal region and exhibit few to no red spots along with those blue halos that brook trout are famous for. Adult’s average about 1 to 3 lbs, and the Ontario record is 6.44 lbs.

1) Accept Climate Change! It’s taken me awhile to accept that in my neck-of-the-woods (Lake Simcoe 40 minutes north of Toronto ON) late season ice is nothing like it used to be and there are no signs this will change anytime soon. It seems like just a few short years ago that I would be writing about that glorious perch bite that really doesn’t begin until early April – long after all the huts had to be off and lake trout and whitefish season was closed. That bite often lasted until mid-April and would consistently see perch moving in shallow right next to adjacent spawning sites.  Days of 100 or more jumbos were not uncommon and we’d take great pride in breaking the magic two pound barrier time and again. Unfortunately – those magical days and that typical late ice period has changed dramatically – but the perch fishing can still be absolutely incredible if you adapt to the changing conditions and accept climate change!

Many of the who’s who of the Canadian sportfishing industry gathered at the International Centre in Mississauga this morning for the induction of the latest member in the Canadian Angler Hall of Fame. As well, the Rick Amsbury Award of Excellence and the Conservation Project of the Year honour were presented. All three awards are presented annually in conjunction with the popular Spring Fishing and Boat Show.

This year’s Hall of Fame inductee was 57-year-old Wil Wegman, a tireless champion of fisheries conservation and recreational angling. “Wil literally lives fishing, from dawn till dusk, practically every day of the year,” said Outdoor Canada’s Patrick Walsh, who had the honour of introducing Wegman during the annual Industry and Conservation Breakfast. (For more on Wegman, see the full transcript of Walsh’s remarks, below. Also, please visit www.wilwegman.com.)

Story and photo courtesy of Patrick Walsh - editor of Outdoor Canada Magazine

For more visit Outdoor Canada: http://www.outdoorcanada.ca/HOF2017

The Greater Toronto Area is home to many species of sought after gamefish. Within the Lake Ontario waterfront portion of Canada's most populated region, trout and salmon reign supreme among elite anglers - thanks in no small part to the influx of over one million of these salmonids that are stocked annually by MNR. Rivers from the Ganaraska in the east to the Credit and Bronte in the west offer these anglers remarkable fishing opportunities. Further north well outside of the GTA ... rivers such as the Nottawasaga, Saugeen and Syndenham also produce. This spring has been no exception ... especially with delayed rainbow runs that provided remarkable fishing opportunities even on the regular trout opener (last Saturday in April) for fishing enthusiasts.

Well yesterday, we enjoyed another fine day on the hardwater chasing yellow perch on Lake Simcoe … undoubtedly one of the finest perch fisheries in all of North America. Today was remarkably similar to last weekend when my son Izaak and I took home about 15 jumbos for about three hours of fishing. Unlike last time though these perch were a little deeper (33-34') and way more finicky.  In fact, if it wasn't for the addition of a bunch of puny little items we brought this time- that we didn't before … we may have walked off the ice empty handed!

A detailed look at each tournament Wil fished in an exciting Angler of the Year race that went right down to the wire until the final tournament of the season.

The Aurora Bassmasters pride themselves in “Being more than just another fishing club”, and have become well known for their conservation and research projects, their community involvement and their dedication to engage today’s youth on a path that includes the outdoors and fishing. However as a member of this club since it formed in 1995, I can tell you- that we definitely like to fish and love to compete in our club tournaments!

Well bass season in 2013 began the 3rd week in June for many anglers who fish in Eastern Ontario but the traditional 4th Saturday opener held firm for Lake Simcoe and the rest of FMZ 16. Still it was an early start thanks to five Saturdays in June. It would not be surprising then to still find smallmouth bass on nests in Southern Ontario's largest inland lake. My pre fish on opening day however didn't point out any nesting bass pattern. Why? Because, the windy conditions and rough waters reduced visibility beneath the surface so I didn't know if the 7-9 foot pattern with drop shot included catching bedding bass or if they were just cruisers.  What pre fish did teach me however was that drop shot ruled and 7-9 feet was key for most bass.

For Immediate Release:  June 27th ,2013
Orillia Ontario: Although Wil Wegman of Bradford Ontario, might be more well known for catching fish than swimming with them ... it's exactly the latter that he will be doing on Saturday August 10th in the fish-filled waters of Lake Couchiching. “I'll be swimming in my first long-distance lake-swim event and I'm really excited about it,” said Wegman.  The annual charity event is called the Sun City Swim and is a fundraiser by the local hospital.  All proceeds from the Sun City Swim 2013 will benefit the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital ... supporting the tiniest and most vulnerable patients. To provide a small donation in to this great cause in Wil's name, please click on the link below.

With no signs of winter weather producing safe ice in southern Ontario anytime soon, my friend Gerry Heels and I were happy we had made plans to walk on hard water long in advance. It seems these late winters have now become the norm, so we booked our train tickets to northern Ontario and planned to spend six days ice fishing a couple of hours north of Sudbury over New Years.

Man it was cold! That morning in mid January 2009 we heard it was -35 with the wind chill in Toronto, and we were up along the north shores of Lake Simcoe so it was that much colder. "Perhaps the other guys who decided not to come at the last minute were smarter than we think," my son Izaak said as we headed out into the bitter wind onto the frozen lake. Still, the sunrise was gorgeous … and our hopes were high for yet, another terrific day on the ice.