Thank you to today's sponsors!

- The Invasive Species Centre: Protecting Canada’s land and water from invasive species
- SAIL: The Ultimate Destination for your Outdoor Adventures
- J&B Cycle and Marine: Your Home for all things powersports, boats, and equipment
- Freedom Cruise Canada: Rent the boat, own the memories

- Anglers Leaderboard: Real-time AI angling platform where everyone is welcome, and every catch counts!

- Silverwax: Proudly Canadian since 1999

On today’s episode of Outdoor Journal Radio, Ang and Pete sit down with Mark Melnyk, host of The New Fly Fisher, for one of the most in-depth conversations ever recorded about the show’s past, present, and future.

Mark opens up about the passing of Colin McKeown, how he stepped into the host role, and the massive behind-the-scenes workload that came with running a long-standing fly fishing institution. He also shares travel stories from Canada’s far north to Patagonia, explains how fly fishing documentaries are made, and reveals why guides are the real stars of the sport.

We also get into:
• The origins of The New Fly Fisher and Colin’s legacy
• How Mark developed the show's modern documentary style
• Shooting fly fishing in remote, untouched waters
• The insane logistics behind international fishing trips
• Why 4K YouTube episodes changed everything
• Mark’s early days with TSN, OLN, WFN, and “Reel Fishy Jobs”
• What fans can expect in Season 25

Whether you’re a fly angler, a fan of outdoor TV, or just love behind-the-scenes filmmaking stories, this is a must-listen episode.

Thank you to today's sponsors!

- The Invasive Species Centre: Protecting Canada’s land and water from invasive species
- SAIL: The Ultimate Destination for your Outdoor Adventures
- J&B Cycle and Marine: Your Home for all things powersports, boats, and equipment
- Freedom Cruise Canada: Rent the boat, own the memories

- Anglers Leaderboard: Real-time AI angling platform where everyone is welcome, and every catch counts!

- Silverwax: Proudly Canadian since 1999

On this episode of Outdoor Journal Radio, Ottawa is dealing with a stormwater pond overflowing with goldfish and we brought in Dr. Steven Cooke to help us figure out what the hell is going on. Are goldfish spreading across Canada? Can they survive winter? And what should we do about them?

We also dig into a surprising new concern with round gobies and their link to botulism in birds, how smallmouth bass behave when ice forms, and why Ontario’s salmon have dropped from forty pound giants to fish half the size. Grass carp updates, wildfire impacts, and a behind the scenes look at Canada’s fishing tourism industry round out one of our most loaded episodes yet.

If you fish the Great Lakes, chase bass, love salmon, or care about invasive species, this is the episode you cannot miss.

Thank you to today's sponsors!

- The Invasive Species Centre: Protecting Canada’s land and water from invasive species
- SAIL: The Ultimate Destination for your Outdoor Adventures
- J&B Cycle and Marine: Your Home for all things powersports, boats, and equipment
- Freedom Cruise Canada: Rent the boat, own the memories

- Anglers Leaderboard: Real-time AI angling platform where everyone is welcome, and every catch counts!

- Silverwax: Proudly Canadian since 1999

This week on Outdoor Journal Radio, we have a packed show from start to finish. We kick things off with updates on some of the wildest stories in Canadian fishing, including new details on the kayak tournament cheating scandal and why fellow anglers ended up turning the cheater in. We also break down the latest news on invasive Grass Carp in the Great Lakes and what anglers need to watch for this season.

From there, we look at FishingBooker’s new list of the best ice fishing destinations in Canada and debate what they got right, what they missed, and which lakes should really be at the top. We also answer a listener question about why we run console boats instead of full windshields, especially on big water.

Then we sit down with Princecraft’s new general manager, Jean-Philippe Martin-Dubois, for an inside look at the all new Platinum 190. JP walks us through the boat’s design, layout, construction, and the engineering that went into creating Princecraft’s flagship fishing platform for 2026. We also talk about what is happening behind the scenes in the Canadian boat-building world, from aluminum supply issues to new hull designs and how pontoons, deck boats, and fishing boats are evolving.

Topics covered
• New details in the kayak tournament cheating scandal
• Grass Carp updates and what anglers need to report
• Canada’s top ice fishing destinations for 2026
• Why Fish'n Canada runs console boats
• First look at the Princecraft Platinum 190
• How the new hull design boosts speed and efficiency
• What JP learned from 17 years inside Princecraft
• The future of aluminum boats in Canada
• Deck boats vs pontoons vs deep-V fishing rigs

Whether you are shopping for a new boat, following Canadian fishing news, or just love behind-the-scenes stories from the water, this episode has something for you.