It all began the summer of 2019, when our family had planned the holidays of holidays and decided to drive across Canada in our motorhome. We did our research and had a basic idea of where we wanted to go, and what we wanted to see, though nothing was set in stone, except for some friends that we wanted to visit coming back from the east coast to break up the drive. There was four of us, my wife (Brooke) and I (Ryan) and our two children Danilo (8) and Danika (7). The primary goals were to visit every province and their capital city and to get to the most easterly point - Cape Spear. Brooke and I packed what we needed and asked the kids to do the same. When it came time to loading the motorhome, it was of no surprise that Danilo had packed as if he was going on a two-month fishing trip. He had his rods, reels, hip waiters and every piece of fishing tackle he could find in the house. From a young age, Danilo has loved to fish and anytime he passes a body of water, he must stop to "have a look" to see if he can spot any fish with the hopes of toss’n a line in. He spends hours reading about fishing, watching fishing shows and talking to those who fish to learn all he can from techniques, to lures, from what bait works best, to types of fish. Off we set June 29th and hit our turn around point Cape Spear Aug. 8th. Danilo had literally fished from British Columbia to New Foundland and had caught some new species along the way – Stripped Bass, Mackerels, and Cod to name a few. We had many great fishing experiences, but his best was yet to come. On our way back from the east coast (Kamloops is home), we planned on stopping at our friend’s place in Lockport, Manitoba. We had been talking to them throughout the trip and our kids were excited to be going there as they had two sons around their age, a pool, and a dock to fish from right on the Red River. Rolland, our host, had told Danilo many stories of fishing off his dock. We had finally arrived at Rolland and families place late in the day on Aug. 21. We had barely parked the motorhome before Danilo was unloading his fishing gear and heading to the river. Though, not having fished or knowing too much about Channel Cats, he thought he was good to go. What Danilo did not realize was that our rods and reels were far too small for what he would soon encounter. Our friend knew Danilo's passion for fishing and already had a rod and reel set up for him! Without barely saying hi to our hosts, Danilo headed for the dock. Call it luck, call it fate, but all it took was one cast.... It was a beautiful afternoon with a light breeze and clear skies. The river was higher than usual and running at a good pace for this time of year given all the rain they had had in the area over the past months. Due to this rain, it was full of silt and not overly clear to see through. The four of us, Rolland, his eldest son, Danilo and I (our wives, Danika and their youngest son were by the pool) set up for an afternoon of fishing. Danilo took some final tips from Rolland of where the holes were, different current patterns, and hot spots to try. He took it all in, baited his hook and cast out his line. You would have thought he had used that rod and real hundreds of times with the perfection of his cast when using a set up that was at least twice as large as what he normally uses. Within minutes there was a tug, he yanked hard to set the hook, hollered “fish on” and his battle began. The fished fought hard and started peeling out line at lighting speed as it swam down river. At first, it seemed like he had hooked a decent one, but soon it became apparent it was more then that… battling back and forth reel, reel, reel, out goes the line, reel reel reel, out goes the line ... the two fought each other for what seemed forever until suddenly out of the murky water the whale (in Danilo’s eyes) appeared. He was bound and determined to land his catch and did all he could from being pulled in (even I stood a little closer as I thought for sure he was going to be pulled in). He was tired, he was sweating, but he would not give up and was rewarded for all his efforts with his first Channel Cat. He reeled it to the edge of the dock where we netted and brought it up. To say he had a smile, is an understatement. Beaming with pride he hollered up to the pool for all to come see. Being his first Channel Cat, he was not only excited for the fight and catch, but was keen to learn more about it. He asked Rolland all kinds of questions, felt its skin, examined its whiskers, and ran a finger along what he called its "sandpaper lips", all the while treating it with respect. Rolland pulled out his tape measure and scale and it measured 36 inches long and was just shy of 21 lbs, What a beauty! To date it has been the biggest fish he has caught! Before releasing it back to the river, we snapped some photos to capture the moment. Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Rolland told us about Manitoba's Master Angler program. We looked up the requirements and low and behold he had qualified. I down played it and secretly submitted the submission on his behalf and within weeks he was recognized by the Master Anglers Program for his catch. He received the Master Angler designation for Channel Cat's, the Bronze Badge (first qualifying catch of a species), and the Release Award (given for catch and release). It has been 7 months since he caught it and he still talks about it. I look forward to spending many more days on the water with him and sharing in these great experiences and successes. Spending time and seeing the joy it brings him to do something he loves, is my reward. Brooke and I could not have been prouder of him and his success and know this is going to be hard to top! Tight lines!

Fishing cats on the Red

First trip to the red river produced 1 fish a 37.5” 30 pound channel cat landed by my wife. I hadn’t even reeled one in and I was “hooked”. A few weeks later I was back out and landed numerous masters.( nothing bigger then my wife’s unfortunately). I was able to get my channel cat specialist badge for Manitoba Masters program in one outting. What a thrill it was to reel in monster after monster. It will now be a yearly destination no doubt

Our grandson catches his first...

Our grandson catches his first (cat)fish! We were fishing on the Red River off the Selkirk docks.