A tornado on Lake Nipissing. Fifty anglers. Cameras sprinting through bush while boats pound eight‑footers—and a single log that quietly holds the winning bag. We pull back the curtain on The Last Call, the 2004 reality fishing series that pushed us to the edge and then reshaped our lives. From chaotic GPS races to head‑to‑head heats, you’ll hear how split‑second choices, sketchy weather, and unclear rules forged the kind of lessons you can’t learn from a highlight reel.

What surprised us most wasn’t just the production scale. It was the people. Roland Martin maps wind and structure like a cartographer, Hank Parker brings championship calm, Jimmy Houston turns pranks into legends, and David Fritz feeds the crew with moon pies after 60‑ounce steaks. Those moments—equal parts grit and grace—opened doors to a decades‑long career in the fishing industry at Lund, Berkley, and Rapala, and they taught us why a lost card can still be a winning hand.

We also dive into photography that actually works for anglers. Yes, phones can beat pro gear when the shot is right. Think face, light, background. Clean the lens, angle into the sun, frame out clutter, and set 4K 30 if video might make TV. We share the stories behind magazine covers, a 100‑foot trailer wrap, and a day on the water where a young hammer sticks a six after five minutes because passion doesn’t care about age or titles.

If you love fishing stories with real stakes, practical tips you can use this weekend, and a heartfelt look at how mentors and mistakes shape a life outdoors, this one’s for you. Hit follow, share it with a fishing buddy, and leave a quick review so more anglers can find the show.

Some seasons don’t just hand you fish; they hand you perspective. We kicked off with cold rivers, hot saunas, and the truth every lodge owner knows—how you close determines how you open—then rolled into a year that tested instincts, technology, and our sense of community on the water.

At Buck Lake, we arrived dreaming of 12-pound walleye and walked into a masterclass in humility. LiveScope showed “nothing,” confidence dipped, and we over-scanned instead of fishing. Then Pete stepped in with quiet precision, rigged a drop shot with live bait, and built a standout walleye segment in under two hours. We unpack why that worked, how irregular rock hides fish from forward-facing sonar, and how to keep your head straight when screens go blank. The takeaway: tech is a tool, not a verdict, and good mechanics still win.

The road took us from the shining floors and dialled service of Lodge 88 to Air Dale Lodge and Timmins’ Cedar Meadows, where cabins back onto a timber wolf reserve. Timmins surprised us with urban lakes stacked with walleye, plus a bigger story: six-figure mine jobs, real housing affordability, and a life where you can clock out at 4:30 and be casting by five. And in Wedgeport, Nova Scotia, we witnessed the revival of the world’s oldest bluefin tuna tournament—run by volunteers, powered by heritage, funding a museum, and reminding us what a fishing community can feel like when everyone shows up.

We close with family-first choices, a fall muskie that was short, thick, and heavy, and a new way to troll: watching baits ride over rock in real time, spotting fouled lures instantly, and seeing follows as they happen. Those moments stitched together a theme—balance the screen with your senses, lean on people who care, and make space for the traditions that outlast any bite window. If you love walleye, muskies, bluefin lore, or the craft of using LiveScope without letting it use you, you’ll find something here to take to the boat.

The fish of 10,000 casts can feel like a slot machine with a mind of its own—and that’s exactly why we can’t stop chasing it. We dig into why muskie obsession grips so hard, how one strike wipes out weeks of slow days, and why the best stories aren’t always the biggest fish. Pat Tryon joins us to separate myth from data, sharing two decades of logs that show how lunar majors and minors consistently open bite windows—and how local weather still calls the shots.

We get tactical without getting gear drunk. Pat breaks down a minimalist setup that covers almost everything: a nine-foot-six extra-heavy casting rod, a 400-size reel, 100-pound braid, and a simple leader strategy. From there, we go deep on tuning. Learn how tiny adjustments to crankbait line ties unlock depth and stability on the troll, and how bending a Suick’s tail turns a weed-choked flat into a surgical strike zone. This is the difference between passing through fish and provoking them.

Electronics become tools, not crutches. We explain why mapping is the foundation for boat control and casting angles, how side imaging finds trees, spines, and edges in minutes, and where forward-facing sonar accelerates learning responsibly. Use live sonar to confirm bait and presence, build smarter waypoints, and return with confidence rather than guesswork. Along the way, we wrestle with the ethics of “pummeling” marked fish and land on a practical balance: discover fast, fish with intent, and keep the hunt alive.

It all comes back to persistence. You’ll hear a gutting net mishap with a heavy October fish and a soaring high as a seventy-something guest lands her first 50 at the lodge—two moments that define why we keep going. Ready to time your next window, tune your spread, and make better passes? Follow the show, share this with a muskie-crazed friend, and leave a review telling us your best heartbreak or hard-won high.

We sit down with French River muskie guide Pat Tryon to explore what actually makes a trip unforgettable: humility, timing, and a sharp eye for what guests truly want. From long days chasing a single follow to easy afternoons spotting eagles and picking blueberries, we unpack how reading people—more than reading side imaging—defines success on the water.

Pat takes us back to the moment that reshaped his career: watching a guest catch a bigger muskie than he’d ever landed and choosing joy over jealousy. That decision set the tone for a guiding philosophy built on service, not scoreboard. We get into the real craft: teaching mechanics like figure eights and lure cadence when it matters, keeping quiet when it serves the day, and knowing when to protect a spot without shortchanging a paying guest. We also dig into the ethics of information sharing among guides, the practical impact of walleye slot limits, and how bass tournaments can shift entire ecosystems when fish are weighed far from where they were caught.

Behind the scenes, Pat opens the playbook on the invisible work that makes everything feel effortless: off‑season waypoint management, hyper‑organized tackle systems, and end‑of‑day resets so the boat is turnkey at dawn. On the lodge side, we talk pairing the right guide to the right guest and keeping personal drama “behind the line” so mornings start with calm water, good coffee, and zero tension. The thread through it all is respect—for guests, for colleagues, and for the resource. And the payoff? Friendships that outlast any bite window, the kind that bring people back year after year because they feel part of something bigger than a single fish.

If you enjoy thoughtful stories about guiding, lodge life, and the reality of pressured fisheries on the French River and Lake Nipissing, you’ll feel right at home here. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves the craft as much as the catch, and leave a review to help more anglers find the show.

A northern lodge season can turn on a single moment: a kid’s jig drops to a LiveScope mark and a 41.5-inch pike surges from the deep. We ride that energy across a year of big fish, bigger decisions, and the quiet math of winter planning that keeps a remote camp alive. Willie the Oil Man joins us for a no-filter catch-up on Two Rivers Lodge—what worked, what broke, and what we learned while chasing muskies in 55-degree water, stacking 100-walleye days a mile from the dock, and filming fly anglers who make a boatside figure-eight look like art.

We dig into the nuts and bolts of remote operations: mapping safe ice around current to tow 500s and drums, cutting barge runs with smart logistics, and leaning on customer-first partners who keep fleets humming. On the water, we talk fly fishing for trophy pike with Orvis talent, boatside eats, and the patient mechanics of a cast that becomes a strip and then a perfect figure-eight. Off the water, we take cabins from good to elite by following one rule—every arrival should feel brand new—and back it up with professional visuals that finally match the experience.

The wilds push back too. We break down a bull moose encounter at ten feet, deer that treat town like a buffet, and coyotes smart enough to lure dogs. Most importantly, we walk through Ontario’s Bear Wise protocol step by step—who to call, what to report, and how to act when a bear turns from curious to dangerous. It’s a frank look at safety, responsibility, and the judgment that keeps guests protected without grandstanding. We wrap with show circuit plans, rehab progress, and some pure fan joy—Bills Mafia highs and Blue Jays postseason grit—because up here, community matters as much as any catch.

If this story from the North hooked you, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves wild places, and leave a quick review. Your support helps more anglers and adventurers find their way to the lodge.

What keeps you casting when the lake goes dead quiet and your fingers are numb? We sit down with Ugly Pike co-host and Passador BJJ owner, Frank Ungaro, to map the shared DNA between landing trophy muskies, leading a thriving academy, and growing a podcast people trust. The common thread is obsession paired with integrity—showing up, learning fast, and respecting the community that makes the chase worth it.

Frank takes us into a Lac Seul trip derailed by a brutal cold front, where structure, timing, and humility became the only tools that mattered. We talk fall muskie strategy on the St. Lawrence, Georgian Bay, and the Ottawa corridor, why the “fish of a lifetime” often arrives in freezing wind, and how local intel outperforms a suitcase full of the wrong baits. From blades tuned to skim thin weed windows to trolling tracks that hold under helicopter shadows, the tactics are hard-won and specific.

Off the water, we dive into building culture—how Frank refuses to be ruled by membership numbers, how attrition shapes a gym, and why promoting people is about character as much as skill. We trace the Ugly Pike Podcast from a scrappy two-episode start to a weekly platform that mixes advanced muskie talk with real life.

If you’re chasing bigger fish and bigger goals, this conversation will sharpen your edge. You’ll leave with practical fall tactics, a clearer sense of what real leadership looks like, and the reminder that patience isn’t passive—it’s active, disciplined pursuit.

We share the unspoken truth about rental boat damage, how to read buoys with confidence, and the specific checks that keep people safe and motors alive. Scotty brings years of lodge management and mechanical know-how to help guests, cottagers, and new boaters avoid costly mistakes and winterize right.

• following directions over copying locals’ shortcuts
• red right return explained for headwaters and return trips
• GPS as a tool with error margins and limits
• rental boat briefings, safety kits, kill switch and anchors
• cooling telltale checks and clogged intakes
• fuel planning for remote water with no cell service
• setting return times and basic rescue planning
• winterizing plumbing with air and RV antifreeze
• lower unit oil checks, seals, and prop shaft line

A glass wall, a dozen yellow-eyed timber wolves, and a wind that wouldn’t let up—our northern run from Wawa to Timmins had all the ingredients for a trip that teaches more than it takes. We hit record in the truck ride home to unpack what really worked: turning ugly chop into a pattern, trusting shade over sunshine, and letting a leaky tin boat and a pair of deep-diving cranks do the heavy lifting when cameras—and anglers—couldn’t stand.

We walk through the surprising spots and exact setups that changed our week. On big, windswept basins, we drift-trolled crystal minnows over 30–40 feet to target suspended walleye riding mid-column, no kicker required. When LiveScope lit up with fish that wouldn’t move on a rattlebait—after it crushed the day prior—we swung around the corner into the lee of a cliff, dropped live bait in 30–35 feet, and watched a neutral school switch on. Think of wind as moving structure: riprap gaps that funnel flow, single boulders that pin crayfish, narrow channels that compress current. We also dig into tools without the hype—Kraken/Spot-Lock anchor mode, five-foot jog moves to land precisely on marks, and the critical cross-check between traditional sonar and forward view to avoid chasing “mushroom” bottom returns.

Threaded through the stories are the small choices that keep you fishing: wearing auto-inflate PFDs, picking routes you can run back, and knowing when to call a windy hump and find softer water you can fish cleanly. We shout out local guides around Timmins, the bite heating up on Horwood Lake, and a can’t-miss sequence from Airdale Lodge you’ll see on Fish’n Canada. Come for the wolves, stay for the wind logic you can use this weekend—no matter your boat or budget.

Enjoyed this one? Follow and subscribe, share it with a fishing friend who fears the breeze, and leave a rating with your go-to wind bait—we’ll read our favourites on air.