North American Fisherman

Boat/US Magazine, Jan, 2002 by Elaine Dickinson

There is fly-fishing and then there's fly-in fishing. Most anglers might think it a bit extreme to take two jets, a turbo-prop and a sea plane a total of 2,000 miles into nowhere just to reach a nice fishin' spot. For Chris Edmonston of BoatU.S. Foundation it was worth the journey to make a point with anglers about life jackets.

Edmonston ventured to the northern reaches of Canada -- where many of the lakes don't even have names -- with a film crew to appear on a nationally televised fishing show to talk about inflatable life jackets. The crew endured swarms of black flies and mosquitoes, a marauding black bear, and were offered recipes for moose brains from their native guides.

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Their location was 26-square-mile Misaw Lake in northern Saskatchewan -- 125 miles from the nearest dirt road -- and will be featured on ESPN2's "North American Fisherman" in March.

"We passed over literally hundreds of lakes, never once seeing any sign of civilization," Edmonston said. Signs that they were in true wilderness were everywhere: they spotted moose, bears, bald eagles, beavers, even wolves. A pesky black bear came after the lodge's food stores each night and had to be discouraged with gunfire.

The producers invited Edmonston to participate in the filming of the show with host Bill Miller and discuss safe boating practices for anglers -- and of course, to catch trophy-sized lake trout, northern pike, and arctic greyling to show off for the folks back home. The Boat U.S. Foundation is a main sponsor of the show in 2002, using funds from a U.S. Coast Guard outreach grant to educate hunters and fishermen.

The TV show will be edited down from footage of four days of fishing, eight to 10 hours a day, all over the lake in 16-foot jon boats. "We fished every square inch of the lake using casting, spinning, and fly rods with equal success," Edmonston said. (All fish were caught and released using non-barbed hooks, except those kept for the evening's meal.)

Everyone with the TV crew wore life jackets at all times as the biggest hazard of the lake was its 50-degree water temperature. A glacial lake, Misaw is littered with rocks and Edimonston said the Cree Indian guides were essential as the lake could go from 80-foot depths to shallow rocks in an instant. The worst mishap of the outing was when Edmonston fell in at 10 p.m. -- when it's still light out -- while fly fishing from a slippery rock.

"Most anglers don't realize all the new life jackets that are out there, from belt packs to camouflage vests," Edmonston said. "Both Bill and I wore inflatable life jackets the entire time we were on the water and after catching dozens of fish each day we honestly didn't notice them at all."

Now in its third year, the Foundation's grant aims to raise the awareness of boating safety to America's hunters and anglers -- "non-traditional" boaters that the Coast Guard and other boating groups have found difficult to reach. Taking a different tack than previous efforts, the Foundation has teamed up with non-boating groups that have been very successful in reaching sportsman, such as the National Rifle Association, the Bass Anglers Sportsman's Society, the North American Hunting Club and the North American Fishing Club. These groups, along with BoatU.S., make up the "Sportsmen's Forum" and reach over 6 million members, plus millions of others through their magazines, TV shows, and Web sites

Why concentrate on sportsmen? According to the latest Coast Guard accident statistics, one out of three boating fatalities is a fisherman. "Each year sportsmen get themselves in trouble on the water because they have a false sense of security," says Edmonston. "A brief lapse of judgment frequently leads to an angler or hunter falling overboard."

The TV show, which features great fishing spots all over the world, agreed to have the host and all on-air "talent" wearing life jackets in every on-the-water segment. The weather in Saskatchewan was perfect for filming the show -- sunny and flat, calm water -- which is exactly the typical conditions when most angler's boating accidents occur.

The TV show sponsorships are just one aspect of the Foundation's efforts to reach sportsmen, which include advertising in fishing and hunting magazines and producing and distributing posters for launching ramps. For more information about this program, visit the Foundation Web site at www.boatus.com/foundation. Also be sure to tune in to see "North American Fisherman" March 2 on ESPN2.

For information about fishing at Misaw Lake, visit www.misawlakelodge.com.

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North American Fisherman

Boat/US Magazine, Jan, 2002 by Elaine Dickinson

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