“You’re going to guide school today,” said Roger Clinton to me way back in the spring of 1997.
Clinton was the owner of Ash Rapids Camp on Lake of the Woods, a resort popular with American anglers and I was looking forward to starting my first job. I was 14 years old and after a couple of weekends doing “camp work,” I wanted to start my guiding career.
Clinton knew that I could operate one of his boats – a 17-foot Lund with a 40 horsepower motor – and that my guests would catch some fish, but he was a little skeptical that I could cook a shore lunch, a big part of the fishing trip experience for many guests to northwest Ontario.
A lunchtime education
At lunchtime on this particular Saturday he gave me a break from the lawn mower and sent me out on the lake to meet up with some of the other guides, mostly lifers, who would teach me what I needed to know about cooking a shore lunch. I could clean a walleye as well as the next guy, but I learned how to remove the y-bones from northern pike that day.
After the fish were cleaned, the guides taught me things like how to know when the oil is hot enough to cook, how to drop fish into hot oil without being burned, how to cut potatoes so they cook evenly, and to leave the lid barely attached on a can of beans so that ashes from the fire don’t land in the can.
Cooking fire tips
Heck, I even learned how to lay logs parallel to each other on a fire so it stays flat enough to cook on – having a level pan is key so that one side does not get hotter than the other.
In northwestern Ontario’s Sunset Country Region, the shore lunch is an important part of the fishing trip for many visitors, and part of the culture and tradition of the area. Several species of fish thrive in the wide range of waters that offer world class fishing opportunities, and many are great cooked fresh. It’s the plentiful walleye, however, that are by far the most popular.
Documentation at the Lake of the Woods Museum in Kenora shows that shore lunches were happening as early as the 1920s. Over many years there have been a lot of really great spots set up on waters across the region.
Documentation at the Lake of the Woods Museum in Kenora shows that shore lunches were happening as early as the 1920s. Over many years there have been a lot of really great spots set up on waters across the region.
Get there early
On many of these locations, homemade tables used for cleaning fish, fire pits, and picnic tables have been used for decades. On busy summer days some guides will take their guests to a prime shore lunch spot at 11 a.m. so that other guides don’t beat them to the spot. When choosing a good spot, guides will consider the wind direction so that there is always at least some shelter from the wind.
Every fishing camp and individual guide in the region has a variation on the recipe for their shore lunch. Some cook with oil, others use the more traditional lard. There are hundreds of variations of fish batter, and potatoes can be cooked myriad ways. Some guides will even make coffee over an open fire.
One thing that remains constant is that fresh fish are usually easy to come by and very tasty.
If you book a fishing trip this season I recommend visiting northwestern Ontario and having your guide cook up a traditional shore lunch. You won’t be disappointed.
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