Blackened Pike

By: Steve Cegielski

I've eaten a lot of shore lunches over the years…and traditional fried walleye, potatoes and baked beans is still my favorite. A fishing trip to Canada isn't official until I've eaten one.

There are many varieties of shore lunch in Canada including fish chowder, which is great on a cold rainy day, stir fried fish and vegetables is awesome too – plus you have every kind of baked fish imaginable. But on one trip I was exposed to something new and so good it is now my second favorite shore lunch.

After frying up some walleye our guide drained the frying pan and added a squirt of zesty Italian salad dressing. Then he pan fried bare northern pike fillets (no breading) in the dressing, boiling off the liquid and searing the pike in what remained…just scrumptious!   The main trick being – very little Italian dressing….not boiling the fillets, rather burning / blackening with the Italian dressing flavor.

This is now a staple in my shore lunch recipe collection. If you have a favorite shore lunch recipe…pass it on to us.

American Plan or Housekeeping??

By Rodney Schlafer 
Former All-Canada Show Director 

One of the first steps in planning a trip to Canada is deciding what type of trip to take. It is truly a personal preference and for me I like them all. There are basically two options for trips (however some have modification to appeal to different needs), they are American Plan (AP) or Housekeeping (HKP). The short answer to explain the difference is it the food.

The American Plan:
With the American Plan option your food is included in the price of your trip. When comparing trips make sure you compare Apples to Apples. Some lodges make their AP all inclusive including everything including your food, boat, motor, gas, and guide. Typically license and bait are extra, but again some do include those as part of the package. The AP is more of a structured trip with hours when the dining room is open usually with a few hour blocks to accommodate everyone. This package is great for those that want to relax and have everything done for them.

The Housekeeping Plan:
With this plan you cook your meals; most HKP camps have all the cooking utensils, you just need to bring your own food. Again when comparing your options know what is included as some lodges include a boat, motor and gas in their plan. This package is perfect for families with kids who may be picky eaters, or for those who enjoy cooking and want to save a little money by doing it on their own. It also lets you set your own schedule. Some lodges offer a Modified Housekeeping plan where you have the option to eat in the lodge for Breakfast or Dinner if you choose and you just take care of a lunch.

After you choose the plan, you next decision will be whether you want to drive-in, boat-in or fly-in…so what type of trip are you taking this year?

May is around the corner - here comes "Spring Trip"

By: Jennifer Young, owner of the All-Canada Show

The Spring flew by with some weird weather, hot as August then cold as December. We never really seemed to get our Spring in stride and now May will be here in a few days.

Rodney is driving up to Ontario for the All-Canada Show version of "Spring Trip" (nothing like the college version). This consists of traveling North and visiting over 100 camps, lodges, and outfitters in a week. Rodney will be attending the annual KDCA (Kenora Disctrict Camp Association) dinner http://www.kdca.ca/ on Friday night, April 30th.

Then he will travel up to Red Lake for the annual Red Lake Sportsman Dinner. www.tourismredlake.ca

Not only is it fun to control the satellite radio and jam out to his own music for a week, Rod will also not have anyone (mostly me) telling him what to do. Best of all he will get to see our show exhibitors face to face and visit new potential customers and see how they have their camps set up. He will also discuss their marketing plans with them. As a final bonus, Rod should be able to fish for some huge pike on Saturday. He will be posting photos very soon. I hope that he catches a big one!

Planning the All-Canada Show for next year

Jennifer Young, General Manager - It is always fun to start planning next year. The shows went well in 2010, and we had some tight turns (shows back to back). We had a great group of staff from truck drivers, to sales, to office, to seminars on the road this year. The photo is of the Chicago show held at Pheasant Run in St Charles, IL. We will be posting our 2011 show dates and locations on www.allcanada.com by the end of the week.

Thanks for all of you who attended the shows. We are looking forward to seeing you next year.