Grant Ferris

Part 1

Grant Ferris
Grey/Bruce Outdoors

For more than a century, Ontario anglers have baited the lake bottom under their ice huts to attract fish. Until recent restrictions came into effect, Lake Simcoe rental hut providers used enormous numbers of summer-caught salted minnows to attract lakers and whitefish for their ice-fishing customers. About twenty-five or thirty years ago, a few Georgian Bay anglers ...

Beginning in October 2000 the Owen Sound MNR and Muskies Canada undertook a study to learn more about the river-resident muskie in the Saugeen River watershed. Very little is known about the biology of this magnificent fish within the Saugeen River and its tributaries. For years anglers have ...

One of the interesting parts of every derby is listening to the tales of the fish that got away. It happens to all of us anglers at times because catching fish is never a sure thing. Perhaps the lost fish was a prize winner, maybe even a derby winner but winner or not it is still frustrating to lose a good fish just ...

Children raised away from the big cities have a lot of advantages over their down-town peers. They have more access to outdoor recreation and in many cases their parents find it practical to get these kids a dog as a companion. Bonded early, the relationship is beneficial for both dog and child and the joys they experience together ...

The date was January 25, 1976, Rhoda Hill told me, when she slipped a net under the biggest rainbow trout ever caught by rod and reel in Canada. Her late husband George Hill caught the record rainbow in Kootenay Lake B.C. on a Silver Horde lure that still hangs in the mounted fish’s jaw on Rhoda's living room wall. ...

Many people find their sport or activity is more fun when done with finesse.

A good example of finesse is paddling a canoe or kayak when a motorboat would get you to your destination so much faster. It can be very enjoyable paddling quietly down a wilderness stream, making little more noise than a beaver or wading heron. Compare that to chugging downriver with a big inboard motor. ...

There are a lot of anglers out on the Lake during a derby. Most of these anglers use the same half-dozen lure patterns, rig their equipment the same old way and fish at the same depth and speed.

Lots of fish are caught during the good biting hours of first and last light with these tried and true methods but during ...

Occasionally, a good speaker will hold the complete attention of an audience for a few minutes at a time. It is rare however, for any speaker to hold that attention for over an hour. On February 7th, big game hunter, guest speaker and new SSA member Warren Winkler described some of his travels in Africa to an audience of over 95 people at the Sydenham Sportsman’s ...

This is a strange decade we live in, the stresses of modern society, so we are told, are responsible for road rage, aircraft rage and very little tolerance for people of different beliefs. I’ve even heard of river rage, temper tantrums thrown by people supposedly relaxing and enjoying themselves. The theory is that times are ...