Stranded: Gord Deval at our makeshift camp while waiting for the Otter to arrive

Trout killer: Scot Benson caught the big pike of the trip; this one was cruising beneath the falls at our base camp

Dinner! I caught this walleye our first night waiting for the plane to arrive. It went well with our last can of beans

Fall fish: I caught a few of these smaller brookies in the tiny pools dotting the falls above our main camp

Good eating: David Johnson with a nice walleye for dinner back at the main camp

What a trip to the Broadback River in northern Quebec. We were having so much fun, in fact, we decided to stay an extra two days. Okay, it wasn’t really our idea: the Turbo Otter failed to show up at the pick-up spot at the appointed time (2 p.m.) on Sunday due to bad weather. The upshot:  we had to spend an extra two nights waiting for the ceiling to lift and the squalls to subside before the plane could come fetch us. That explains why I’m so late with the update on the trip. We were finally picked up Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. and got on the road by 1:30 p.m. for the 15-hour drive from Chibougamau back to Toronto.

Without giving too much away, suffice it to say that fish (brook trout, walleye and pike) were caught, despite the bottom falling out of the barometer. Here are a few pics (I’m saving the big brookie shots for the magazine!). Of course, coming back to the office two days late has met me with a wall of work, an overflowing e-mail in-box and no time to provide all the details of the trip. No mind: the full story about this storied fishery will be told in Outdoor Canada’s summer 2011 issue.

In the meantime, a big thanks to my three fishing buddies (Scot Benson, David Johnson and Gord Deval) for a great time and true backcountry camaraderie. And to 80-year-old Gord goes a an extra special thanks for imparting his decades-long  knowledge of the Broadback, and for sharing with us what surely must be his favourite place on earth. Cheers Gord.

That’s my girl: Molly tackles the South Jersey surf

Things have been hectic around the office since I returned from my two-week vacation this past Monday. Not only have I had to deal with an overflowing e-mail in-box and other editor-type matters, I’ve also been getting my ducks in a row for my next big fishing adventure: the Broadback River in northern Quebec.

Actually, the impending Broadback trip explains why I largely took it easy (in terms of fishing) during my family vacation last week at Sea Isle City on the South Jersey coast. I had intended to do a lot of surf fishing, but my elbow was having none of it (my followers on Twitter will already know that I’m suffering from lateral epicondylitis, more commonly known as tennis elbow or, as in my case, fisherman’s elbow). My youngest daughter, Molly, and I caught a few tiddlers in the surf (see photos), but I felt it best to save my elbow for the Broadback.

The trip gets underway tomorrow morning with the 1,100-kilometre drive north to Chibougamau in northern Quebec. From there, we’ll meet our hired floatplane at 10 a.m. on Saturday for the 65-air-mile jaunt to our secret put-in spot on the Broadback. I’d tell you where exactly, but the trip instigator, Gord Deval, would kill me.

Gord has been making the pilgrimage up to this stretch of the Broadback for more than two decades now, a journey immortalized in the late Paul Quarrington’s hilarious Fishing With My Old Guy (Gord being the Old Guy). In that this may well be Gord’s final trip to the Broadback (he’s 80 years old now) and given that Paul died of lung cancer earlier this year, it just made some kind of poetic sense to me that I should finally accept Gord’s longstanding invitation to tag along. With us will be two other hardy souls, Scot Benson and David Johnson.

Back to my elbow. The reason I want to save as much tendon as possible (I have my latest round of physio and acupuncture later today) is that we’ll be fly casting nine weights into fast water for, with any luck, lots of brook trout approaching 10 pounds. That’s the plan, anyway. Even if the fish aren’t that big (hell, I’d be happy with a five-plus), I’ll still be casting-and I’ll need my elbow.

In all, we’ll be camping and canoeing up there for eight sleeps, with the plane returning to pick us up on September 5. As I will be out of blogging and tweeting range, expect to see a big gap in my communications until we return. Stay tuned for my report after Labour Day.

Survivorman: Can you make a spoof of Les Stroud's fire-making techniques?

Anyone doing any more camping this summer and fall? I’m heading up to the Broadback River north of Chibougamau in northern Quebec on Friday, and I’m thinking it might be fun to take up Survivorman Les Stroud’s fire-making challenge. Basically, you film yourself, in Survivorman fashion, trying to start a fire without benefit of matches or lighters, etc. It’s Stroud’s latest self-deprecating Spooferman challenge; you gotta like a guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously. Go to www.spooferman.com and check it out.

Watch this space, incidentally, for more about my 10-day DIY fly-in fishing trip in the days ahead. I won’t be blogging or tweeting from the bush,  as we’ll be well out of cellphone, etc. coverage.

Canadian Open champ: Derek Strub

A big shout out to my friend Derek Strub-the Elora, Ontario, angler won the Canadian Open of Fishing yesterday on Lake Ontario. Strub hauled in 60.75 pounds of bass over three days to claim top bragging rights and the main prize of $40,000 in cash. While he’s placed in the top 10 before at the prestigious catch-and-release event, this is the first time he’s owned the podium. Bravo, buddy. It’s well deserved.

Second place and $15,000 in cash went to Sault St. Marie’s Rob Laframboise, who bagged 56.60 pounds of bass, while Chris Johnston of Peterborough came third with 53.65 pounds, earning $7,500. As for the co-angler/non-boater division, Stuart Naylor’s 57.8 pounds of fish earned him a $20,000 boat, motor and trailer package. Remarkably, it was his first-ever fishing tournament.  Darren Izumi followed in second with 52.15 pounds, while Dave Miller came third with 51.75 pounds. Payouts were made down to 20th spot in both the Pro and Co-Angler divisions.

Held out of Kingston, Ontario, the three-day tournament raised $22,000 for Soldier On, an organization dedicated to helping injured Canadian soldiers and their families. Colourful hockey commentator Don Cherry did the honours, handing over the cheque to Warrant Officer Andrew McLean.

The Canadian Open of Fishing is run by the Competitive Sport Fishing League.

American Mary Beth Harshbarger, charged in connection with the shooting death of her husband during a 2006 hunting trip to Buchans Junction, Newfoundland, will finally get her day in court. Two weeks have been set aside in the Newfoundland Supreme Court starting September 13.

Harshbarger, 45, has already pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence causing death with the use of a firearm. She was extradited to Newfoundland and Labrador in mid-May following a lengthy legal battle with U.S. and Canadian authorities. A second charge of careless use of a firearm was dropped in May during her first court appearance in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland.

The details surrounding the shooting were the focus of a major investigative article (pictured here) in the Winter 2010 issue of Outdoor Canada magazine. The Meshoppen, Pennsylvania, woman maintains she thought her husband, Mark Harshbarger, was an approaching black bear when she shot him six minutes before the end of legal light with a scoped .30-06 at 65 yards.

Harshbarger was granted bail last month, but has yet to post the requisite $200,000 bond. In a recent interview with CBC Radio, Mary Beth Harshbarger’s current partner, Barry Harshbarger, suggested she declined bail in order to garner time served against any future potential sentence. The brother of Mark Harshbarger, Barry Harshbarger had accompanied the pair during the ill-fated hunting trip.

A Canadian lure maker is making a big splash this week down in Las Vegas at the 53rd annual International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, or ICAST, the world’s biggest trade show for all things angling. St Catharines, Ontario-based Koppers Fishing and Tackle Corporation has just received the New Product Showcase Award for best soft lure with its new LIVETARGET Hollow Body Frog (pictured here).

Rounding out the roster of award recipients were the usual suspects, including industry giants Rapala, Pure Fishing, Shimano, Frabill and Minn Kota. Upstart French lure maker Sébile also made it once again to the winners’ circle. In all, 14 companies took top honours in the annual Best of Show competition, selected from 210 different manufacturers exhibiting some 750 new products.

The overall star of the show, though, is undoubtedly G.Loomis with its NRX series of rods, earning the both the Best of Show distinction and the most innovative product in the freshwater rod category.

Outdoor Canada Fishing Editor Gord Pyzer is currently at ICAST surveying the myriad new offerings to find the top gear suited for Canadian anglers. His roundup will appear in the magazine’s 30th anniversary Fishing annual, to be published in January 2011.

Here is the complete list of the 2010 ICAST New Product Showcase Award winners:

• Overall Best of Show - G.Loomis - NRX
• Apparel - Frabill, Inc. - FXE Stormsuit
• Combo - Ardent/Lamiglas - C400/XC704 Fishouflage Bass
• Electronics - Lowrance-Navico - Lowrance Elite-5 DSI
• Eyewear - Maui Jim Sunglasses - Guy Harvey Collection
• Fishing Accessory - Adventure Products, Inc. - EGO S2 Slider Landing Net
• Giftware - Boating Expressions, Inc. - Fishfenders
• Kids Tackle - Pure Fishing - Pflueger-Spinning Combo-Apprentice
• Line - Rapala - Sufix 832 Advanced Superline
• Soft Lure - Koppers Fishing & Tackle Corporation - Live Target Hollow Body Frog
• Hard Lure - Shimano American Corporation - Waxwing Sub-Surface Swimming Jig
• Marine - Minn Kota-Johnson Outdoors, Inc. - Talon-Shallow Water Anchor
• Freshwater Reel - Shimano American Corporation - Stella FE
• Saltwater Reel - Shimano American Corporation - Trinidad A
• Freshwater Rod - G.Loomis - NRX
• Saltwater Rod - Shimano American Corporation - Terez
• Tackle Management - HYI, Inc. - Openwater Tackle Backpack
• Terminal Tackle - Sébile Innovative Fishing - Soft Weight System

Fish on! A quick reminder to everyone across the land that National Fishing Week kicks off this Saturday, running through to July 11. Coinciding with this great Canada-wide celebration of angling are family fishing weekends in every province and territory, complete with special events and other incentives to encourage folks to try their hand at wetting a line.

In Ontario, for example, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters has more than 120 locations across the province for anglers to borrow rods, reels and lure through its TackleShare program. Several provinces are also offering licence-free fishing days.

If you know of people interested in taking up the sport, National Fishing Week is the time to get them out on the water-especially if they’re youngsters. The event is coordinated by the Canadian Sportfishing Industry Association.

Award winner: Hunting editor Ken Bailey earned first and third place finishes for his hunting features

Outdoor Canada magazine rounded out the annual journalism awards season on June 17 with even more trophies for the mantle: four National Communications Awards from the Outdoor Writers of Canada. These latest honours follow the four honourable mentions and one Gold National Magazine Award the publication received back on June 4, making it the country’s top fishing and hunting magazine in terms of award-winning content.

Announced during the Outdoor Writers of Canada conference in Whitehorse, the winning Outdoor Canada articles and writers include:

• Magazine Feature Hunting
  First Place: Hunting Editor Ken Bailey, “Buck fever” (October 2009)
  Third Place: Hunting Editor Ken Bailey, “The odd couple” (Hunting 2009)
• Magazine Feature Fishing
  First Place: Editor Patrick Walsh (that’s me!), “The Tree” (March 2009)
• Magazine Column
  Second Place: Fishing Editor Gord Pyzer, “Man overboard” (October 2009)

Gord Pyzer, incidentally, also earned two awards for his work with In Fisherman magazine: second place for Magazine Feature Fishing, and second place for Magazine Feature Other.

The people have spoken. Well, 802 Atlantic salmon anglers have, at least. And the word is this: catch-and-release works. According to the results of the Atlantic Salmon Federation’s recent live-release survey, an overwhelming 94.6 per cent of respondents said live release is important to Atlantic salmon conservation. Not only that, 94 per cent also said they believe they’re able to safely release fish to ensure their chances of survival.

Included in the survey, conducted this past April, was an opportunity for respondents to add their comments about catch-and-release. Here is one of the more poignant replies, a sentiment shared by many of the respondents:

“Anglers cast their flies out into the river anticipating a strike. The adrenaline rush is the strike and the sound of your reel singing in the wind, while the salmon leaps out of the water. Why kill something that gave you so much joy? This same fish just may be the salmon that gives another angler this same rush, and that angler just may be your child or grandchild.”

For the complete survey results and additional comments, go to the ASF Web site.

Ladies and gentlemen...Elvis has left the building: Ted (right) and Mr. Presley with our boat's last decent fish of the day

Today began overcast, much chillier and with 20-knot winds, which pretty much directed the plan for the day since a trip down to the Collin River, the Sneak Hole or the sand flats for lakers would have been bumpy at best. And so it was we fished Maurice Bay near camp, once again, for big northerns.

Not that we minded. In fact, we probably would have hit Maurice anyway, since it held out the best chance of topping our big fish for the trip. I almost did just that, too, early on in the day, when I tagged a beauty on a #5 blaze Muskie Marabou. I swear it was my 45-incher, but then again, I’m the only guy in the boat who saw it, so let’s make it a 50-incher.

Seriously, here’s the straight skinny on the trip’s big fish. Between Ted and I, we caught 30 pike longer than 40 inches (one 41-incher each on our fly rods, no less) and 27 lake trout topping 20 pounds. I’m not sure where else you can fish like such a king, but I do know this: I’m now completely spoiled when it comes to angling for numbers of big lakers and pike. It’s a good thing there’s no smallies here…

Well, it’s time to sign off and dig into our last big meal of the trip: ribs. So, now would be a good time to say a big thanks to all the folks here at Lakers Unlimited’s Spring Bay camp. Cheers all!