Nipigon: Fishing festival a hit

By SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE-JOURNAL
Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The 44th annual Nipigon Fall Fishing Festival has been declared a huge success, with the fishing derby bringing in 268 fish plus 61 perch from the kids.

A total of 96 salmon were entered, along with 132 walleye and pike combined and 40 lake trout. Prizes are now given by draw rather than size, a format organizers say increases entries. Ryan Bonde of Thunder Bay got the top salmon prize while Emily Cooney of Red Rock had the largest perch in the kids‘ Huck Fin Derby.
Thunder Bay‘s Drifters won the 16-team slow-pitch tournament.

Winners in the inaugural Nipigon Idol contest were Terri Lee Lanigan of Thunder Bay, Tim Albertson of Dorion and Tatum Blanchette of Nipigon in the senior category; Kayla Netemegesic, Nipigon, Nakita Dubray, Nipigon, and Cole Larson, Thunder Bay in the intermediate division; and Jory Zechner, Nipigon, Jonna Zechner, Nipigon, and Hailey Tees, Red Rock, in the junior category.

Kylie Perala was delcared festival queen and Taria Turri festival princess.
John Zechner Jr. of Nipigon was overall winner in the annual Walkathon/Run. Kayla Kjellman, Nipigon, was tops in the female division.

Read more at The Chronicle Journal

Find Nipigon at NOmap.ca

Recipes: Walleye

Walleye with Beer Batter:

Serves 4

2 lbs. Walleye fillets
3 eggs
1/2 can cold beer
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal

Beat eggs until fluffy. Add beer and 1 tsp. salt. In separate bowl, combine flour, cornmeal and remaining salt. Dip fillets into liquid batter then into dry mixture, and back into liquid batter. Fry in butter until light brown and fish flakes with a fork.

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BBQ Bacon-Wrapped Fish Skewers

4-5 lbs walleye (or Northern Pike) fillets -- cut into 1" cubes
1 lb bacon strips, cut in half
Italian style dressing
Your favourite BBQ sauce
Bamboo skewers


Marinate cubed fish in Italian style dressing for 1 hour. Wrap bacon strips around marinated fish cubes. Spear into skewers so bacon doesn't unravel. Repeat until skewers are full. Cook over medium heat on barbecue; turn continually. Brush on your favourite BBQ sauce when the bacon begins to get crisp. Continue turning periodically until fish is white and bacon is crisp.

Caution: Keep a watch on the skewers. The fat from the bacon causes flare-ups.

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Orange Pecan Walleye with Wild Rice

Freshwater Fish thanks Chef Christian Ticarro
in Minnesota
for this delicious recipe!
For the Pickerel/Walleye:
2 Pickerel/Walleye fillets, 8 - 10 oz each
Salt & pepper
Canola oil

For the Orange Butter Sauce:
1/4 cup white wine
1 - 2 shallots
1 sprig fresh thyme (optional)
Splash of heavy cream
1/2 tsp unsalted butter
Lemon juice
Orange juice concentrate
Salt & pepper
Toasted pecan pieces

For Wild Rice:
Combine:
2 cups cooked wild rice
1/4 cup dried white figs
1/4 cup diced dried apple
Chicken stock (or water)
Salt & pepper

Pickerel/Walleye:
Season fish with salt & pepper. Sear fish top side down in a hot pan until almost cooked through (5 minutes) and remove from heat.

Orange Butter Sauce:
Roughly chop shallots. Add wine, shallots and thyme to sauce pot, reduce until almost dry. Add cream and butter into mixture. Strain shallots and thyme out. Season with lemon juice, salt & pepper, orange juice concentrate and toasted pecans.


Top Pickerel/Walleye with butter sauce and serve with wild rice.
Serves 2

Outdoors Guide 2008

The July edition of the Outdoors Guide is now available!

Covering Northern Ontario's best hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation information, the Outdoors Guide has a little something for everyone. Best of all, it's free!

This months issue has articles on Outdoor Wisdom, Bowhunting, Crankbaits, and the list goes on.

Read it online Here!

The Geraldton Walleye Classic 2008!

Main Street was overtaken on the evening of Friday June 20th for the inaugural Geraldton Walleye Classic Parade of Boats. The overwhelming participation of 32 angling teams and hundreds spectators, created quite a buzz throughout the Greenstone region. The teams of Neil Sheach/Mitch Assad and Lebel clan reeled in a cash prize of $100 each for the most creative boats. Teams, spectators and sponsors then gathered at the Barton Bay Waterfront for a great weekend of fishing and relaxed atmosphere despite the weather and bugs.

Moving the tournament to the waterfront from the Kenogamisis Fish & Game/Sno Club turned out to be success after all; parking, launching and the morning boat take off worked out well and with many suggestions for improvements from anglers will only get better. The Municipality of Greenstone, its Public Works and Recreation staff played a key roll in the preparation of the new location.

The anglers braved some wet weather on Sunday to have one of the most exciting finishes this year on the Northern Ontario Professional Walleye Trail (NOPWT) circuit. The Geraldton Walleye Classic marks the third stop of the five tournament circuit in the NOPWT. Sunday saw the top ten weigh-in, in reverse order of Saturday’s total weight! This meant the team in first, on day one, would weigh in last on day two, knowing the weight they would need to claim the title. Craig Salmonson and Toru Garneau who lead day one, thanks to a 7.59lb tournament big fish, had the lead after day one and the honor of weighing in last. Unfortunately, their catch fell short and left them in fourth. Larry Kelly and Trevor Zimak of Thunder Bay were also unable to catch a fish like the 6.89lb they caught day one and finished where they had finished day one, in third place. Dan Goulet and Caroline Ritch of Nakina also struggled, day two, to repeat the great catch of day one and fell to fifth for the tournament. The only two teams in the top ten to break the ten pound mark during day two were Denis Martin and Jean Paul Laflamme of Hearst, and the team of Cory Nephin (Geraldton) and Tom Friday (Thunder Bay). The two teams were also tied, following day one, so the final outcome would be based on the best catch of day two. The Hearst duo would weigh-in first with a catch of 11.38lbs. Cory and Tom stepped to the scale knowing what they needed to claim the first place prize. Their catch anchored by a 4.98lb fish would be enough to claim the event, by less than a pound! Complete tournament results can be found at http://www.geraldtonwalleyeclassic.ca/ !

Written by Donna Pelletier

Photos by Lise Koning and Dylan Tittaferante

Location: Geraldton on Nomap.ca