2021 SPEAKERS

AVERIE ROSE

Averie Rose is a young multi-species angler who simply loves to fish. She enjoys targeting anything from bass to giant sturgeon and is always up for a new fishing adventure. Fishing has always been part of Averie’s life and her love of the sport has only grown with each passing year. Now at the age of 14, she has made it her mission to introduce fishing to the next generation. In 2018 Averie, launched a Facebook video series and YouTube channel in hopes that sharing her adventures with the world would inspire youth to get outdoors and pick up a rod. Beyond her vlog series, she has lead demos and seminars, appeared on national television and started an annual youth fishing derby. Averie’s most recently launched project, the television show HOOKED has anglers tuning in all across North America

BOB IZUMI

Bob Izumi is Canada’s most popular fishing personality and one of the foremost spokespersons on the sport. For nearly 30-years his weekly Real Fishing Show has educated and entertained legions of anglers, both young and old.  Bob’s unmatched credibility in the fishing world is due in part to his incredible success as a tournament angler. In 1979 Bob Izumi became Canada’s first full-time professional fisherman and in over three decades of competitive fishing Bob has won more than 70 major events, far surpassing any other Canadian angler. He has won multiple Angler of the Year and Team of the Year titles and he is the only Canadian angler to win the Triple Crown of fishing; capturing the Canadian Open, the Classic Championship, and Angler of the Year title in a single season.

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Along with his television show and tournament career, Bob is an award winning author, seminar speaker, conservationist, and radio show host. His Real Fishing television show and Real Fishing Radio program are Canada’s longest running syndicated series in the television and radio categories. Bob’s fishing seminars regularly sell out and his Real Fishing magazine and web site attract consistently huge audiences. His expertly polished presentation skills coupled with a deep passion for fishing have kept him in demand for over three decades.

BIG JIM McLAUGHLIN

“Big” Jim as he is affectionately known has been an integral part of the Canadian sport fishing scene for over 40 years and shows no signs of slowing down. Having first gained notoriety as a tournament angler, “Big” Jim was vaulted into the sport fishing spotlight with two CFT Canadian Classics – Canada’s premier tournament title along with a slew of major tournament victories numbering 29 to his credit. Following his tournament success, “Big” Jim formed what has become Canada’s largest FREE fishing E-magazine JUST FISHING. 

This very successful E-magazine is presently entering its 28th year of bringing much needed angling information to Canadian and American anglers alike four times a year and is fully digitized.. 

The 2009 Spring Fishing & Boat Show saw “Big” Jim was awarded the Rick Amsbury Hall of Fame Award presented by the Canadian Sport Fishing Hall of Fame for going above and beyond the expectations of the angling community. Then in 2010 “Big” Jim was inducted into Canadian Sport Fishing Hall of Fame in the ANGLER division which is secretly his favourite… nothing beats recognition from your peers.

BRIAN LATIMER

Brian grew up fishing in South Carolina on Lake Hartwell, an early influence was his father.  After fishing as a kid and young adult under the wing of his father Brian began to expand his fishing skills through fishing local tournaments and BFLs throughout his 20s. Brian continued to hone his skills for many years at FLW Fishing the Everstart Series and later Costa Series until he was able to go full time as a professional fisherman in 2016.

CARA CARMICHAEL

Raised on the banks of the Ottawa River it wasn’t long before Cara was captivated by the outdoors, clinging to an early passion for both hunting and fishing. A multi species angler of walleye, pike, lake trout, and crappie - with a strong focus on bass, Cara’s competitive nature led her to start competing in Bass tournaments at an early age.

Cara also, is an all season angler that exercises her passion on the ice and in tropical climates while vacationing near salt water. She has become a great promoter for our sport and participates in seminars on the art of fishing at sportsman shows, elementary schools and at Cabelas / Bass Pro Shops. Cara enjoys teaching anglers the different techniques of fishing, and has been featured on the “Bob Izumi Real Fishing show”.

Cara is a Pure Fishing Ambassador and her sponsors also include Cabelas / Bass Pro shops.

CHRIS JOHNSTON

Bassmaster Elite Angler

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Sponsored By: Costa, Daiwa, DT Powersports, Gamakatsu, Garmin, GeigerTec, Lithium Pro, Mercury Marine, Power Pole, Ranger Boats, Spro & Under Armour 

COOPER GALLANT

Cooper grew up on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Durham Region, fishing for a variety of different species in the rivers, marshes and lakes close to home. Cooper’s father Carey put a fishing rod in his hands at age 5, and it did not take long for Cooper to realize that fishing was his passion. When he was old enough to drive, and too old to compete in the Highschool fishing tournaments, he worked a full year to save enough money to buy his first used Nitro. He then went on to continue to fish both in Ontario and south of the boarder, competing in the FLW Costa series, Bassmaster Opens, CSFL, Bass Nation, FLW Canada, and other local tournaments close to home.

Besides being a tournament angler, Cooper is an avid YouTube content creator and actively shares his fishing adventures on various social media platforms showcasing his passion for multi species angling. He also loves to travel and has fished and filmed videos in such far-flung locales as Brazil and Africa.

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His ultimate goal is to have a TV show, or fish the Bassmaster Elite Series and qualify for the Bassmaster Classic. While that sounds like a tall order, you can’t come away from a conversation with Cooper thinking anything is out of reach. “I love to try to do what people think is the impossible,” he said. “That's what inspires me.”

CORY JOHNSTON

Bassmaster Elite Angler, 3x Forrest Wood Cup Qualifier & 3x FLW Northern Division Angler of the Year

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Sponsored By: Costa, Daiwa, DT Powersports, Gamakatsu, Garmin, GeigerTec, Lithium Pro, Mercury Marine, Power Pole, Ranger Boats, Spro & Under Armour 

DAN DANNENMUELLER

Dan is Professional Fisherman and Publisher. He is the 2011 & 2012 Angler of the Year for the Crappie Masters Tournament Trail. He is the CEO of Knowledge Management Services, based in Millbrook, AL as well as owner of the largest digital crappie magazine, Crappie Now and a new digital magazine, Catfish Now. Dan shares his 40 years of successful Bass and crappie tournament fishing thru how-to-seminars, TV and radio, Skype lessons, writers’ camps, online articles and informative & educational YouTube videos. http://crappieNOW.com and http://catfishNOW.com. 

DAVE MERCER

Fishing funny-man, Dave Mercer, host of television’s Facts of Fishing® THE SHOW and Bassmaster  Classic and Bassmaster Elite Series Emcee spends over 250 days a year fishing for just about anything that swims.

He is one of today’s most sought-after seminar speakers. His off-the-wall blend of edutainment has had audiences rolling in the aisles while teaching them how to catch more and bigger fish than they ever imagined. Whether you’re seeing him on TV, DVD, online or in person get ready to laugh, learn, and get hooked on Dave Mercer’s Facts of Fishing.

You can catch Facts of Fishing® THE SHOW on the SportsNet360 Saturdays & Sundays at 9AM as well as on The World Fishing Network, Sportsman Channel and Outdoor Channel.

ERIK LUZAK

MLF Pro Circuit Angler

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Sponsored By: Daiwa, DT Powersports, Lunkerhunt, Power Pole, Ranger Boats, Sheldon Hatch Design & WOO Tungsten

GARY SIMMONDS

Gary has been a member of The Fogh marine Hobie fishing team for 9 years. He lives and enjoys fishing in Northern Ontario from his location in Muskoka. Gary built his first kayak at the age of 18; he's been paddling and fishing Georgian Bay and many Northern Ontario lakes ever since!

As a member of Foghs team Gary has fished in many tournaments in the past from every kayak that Hobie makes and also from several of the Old town line of boats. Last year was Gary's first year using their IS 11 sit on top inflatable and will be in their new Trek 11 version of this amazing craft this year. As he loves back country fishing the inflatables start at 20 lbs it makes for a go anywhere fishing machine that you inflate in 5 minutes. Thus great for traveling in an rv or airplane. Gary loves to get others out for the experience paddling and fishing from these boats, no two are alike!

GORD PYZER

Gord Pyzer is the only person ever to be inducted into the Canadian Angler Hall of Fame, National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and Canadian Outdoor Hall of Fame. 

Gord is a sixty-two (62) time national award winning writer, multiple National Magazine Gold and Silver Medal Winner and recipient of the 2014 Canadian Magazine Cover Award.

Known in fishing circles as “Doctor Pyzer”, Gord has a Master’s degree in Resource Management and worked for thirty-one years as a senior manager with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, including Policy Advisor to the Assistant Deputy Minister for Northern Ontario.  

While serving as the OMNR District Manager in Kenora, Ontario, Gord established the first conservation-oriented, modern muskie management regulations (for Lake of the Woods) in North America.  Using sonic tracking devices and scuba gear, Gord and his team of biologists also initiated one of the most extensive, multi-year tracking studies of smallmouth bass and largemouth bass ever undertaken.

An internationally sought out speaker and seminar presenter, Gord is the Fishing Editor of Outdoor Canada Magazine, Field Editor of In-Fisherman Magazine, Radio and Television, Contributor to JUST FISHING! and a featured blogger for Ontario Tourism.

ITALO LABIGNAN

In the late 70's and early 80's Italo pursued a career as an outdoor writer and started promotional work representing several leading fishing tackle and outdoor equipment manufacturers. 

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In 1985 Italo pioneered a concept for his own sport fishing television series that would set a new standard of quality on Canadian television. The series would combine conservation and education with entertaining fishing action!

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In the fall of that year, the Canadian Sportfishing Show was picked up by TSN. The series was so well received that TSN broadcast 26 original episodes in the first season. Canadian Sportfishing continues to be broadcast 3 times a week, 52 weeks a year, for over 21 years. In addition to TSN the Canadian Sportfishing & Here’s the Catch! TV series is also available on Amazon Prime!

J.P. DeROSE

Raised in southern Ontario, Canada, JP’s passion for angling has remained a constant in his life. Throughout high school and university, JP‘s are ardor for competitive sports carried over into fishing and flourished while chasing salmon and trout drifting rivers, which eventually led him to lake fishing and then local bass tournaments.

In 2005, JP entered the pro-am circuit as a boater after only five years of competing in small tournaments, winning rookie of the year in convincing fashion.

Since 2006, JP has hosted 3 Fishing shows airing across North America. In 2013 JP changed directions creating his current show Breaking Boundaries which returns for it's 7th season this year, showcasing the plethora of angling opportunities that exist.

From fly-fishing to trolling, Bluewater to brackish, JP experiences the fascinating world of angling using different genres, techniques, species and locations which may or may not relate to his expertise in convectional freshwater bass fishing. Focusing on angler education and travel entertainment, Breaking Boundaries continues it's reach, recently expanding with distribution in Spain and Portugal, Global On Demand though Waypoint TV and available in the US and UK through Amazon Prime.

JAMIE STEVENSON

Jamie is from the Great Lakes region of Ontario, where her love of the outdoors was developed from an early age on the family farm where she grew up. Farming, hunting, and fishing were always a big part of her life. But it wasn't until 2018, when she purchased a Hobie Outback,
that she found her true passion: fishing from a kayak. She fell in love with the versatility of kayak angling, with a particular passion for chasing walleye and bass. Jamie competed in her first bass tournament with the Ontario Kayak Bass Trail in 2018 and continues to compete with the circuit learning to fish new lakes in the province. She strongly believes that being outdoors benefits people on many different levels and that kayak fishing is for anglers of any skill level. Having completely abandoned fishing from a boat, Jamie now prefers to hook into trophy fish exclusively from a kayak.

JASON BARNUCZ

Jason Barnucz is an avid multi-species angler from Norfolk County in Southwestern Ontario. A dedicated industry ambassador, Jason works with several great companies including Berkley, Abu Garcia, Fenwick and more. Jason works as a full time Fisheries Biologist and is a regular contributor of angling and fish biology content to outdoor media. A passionate angler, Jason loves to chase fish year round. From summer bass fishing to fall steelhead to ice fishing, he is always on the water.

JEFF GUSTAFSON

Jeff Gustafson grew up in Kenora, Ontario, on the shores of Lake of the Woods. He has made a living as a fishing guide, promotor, outdoor writer and competitive tournament angler since graduating from the University of Manitoba. After several years competing on the FLW Tour, you can now find him competing on the Bassmaster Elite Series, where he is a two-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier, in addition to competing in as many tournaments as he can around his home in NW Ontario. 

JEREMY SMITH

Jeremy Smith from Lindner’s Angling Edge Television. 

Jeremy love to catch anything that swims and tries to take full advantage of the best bite going. Given the time he is going searching for new water off the beaten path. Whether it's for largemouth, smallmouth, muskies, cats, sturgeon, lake trout, whitefish or carp, anything is fair game.

JIM SARIC

Jim is the host of “The Musky Hunter” television series, which is in its 15th season.  In 2012, Jim was inducted as a Legendary Angler into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame.  For 21 years Jim was the Editor/Publisher of Musky Hunter magazine. Jim has produced 17 musky fishing DVDs, including 12 seasons of “The Musky Hunter.”

Jim wrote Muskies My Way and co-wrote The Complete Guide to Musky Hunting. He has a monthly column in Midwest Outdoors magazine, and is a contributor to many other publications. He frequently guest hosts many radio programs and podcasts nationwide.

A seven-time musky tournament winner, Jim conducts seminars and teaches classes on musky fishing throughout the country. Jim has over 40 years experience on lakes, reservoirs and rivers from Minnesota to New York and all across Canada, and has boated more than 200 muskies larger than 50 inches.

Jim’s sponsors include Ranger, RangerTrail, Mercury Outboards, Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Yeti, Ontario Tourism, MotorGuide, Shimano, G.Loomis, Joe Bucher Outdoors, Musky Frenzy Lures, Chaos Tackle, and Power Pro.

JOHN WHYTE

As former president of Legacy Data Corp, a pioneer in advanced data storage technology, John travelled and fished around the world. After retiring, John became an avid tournament angler and fishing community personality. 

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In 2007, John founded Time on the Water Canada, the highest traffic online media presents in the Canadian fishing industry. He has written or written about in all popular magazines and his instructional videos and underwater video content has been featured in many magazines, TV shows, and online publications. 

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John lives on Lake Simcoe and has become one of Ontario’s most popular personalities. 

JOSH BOROVSKY

Josh Borovsky is a full-time musky guide with 20 years of guiding experience. He spends most of his time on Lake Vermilion, a Canadian Shield lake located in northern Minnesota.

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Josh is an accomplished tournament angler with PMTT Top Gun and World Championship titles to his credit. He and his tournament partner also hold the all-time single season points record on the pro musky circuit. He has appeared in over a dozen TV show episodes including the Lindner’s Angling Edge, The Next Bite, We Live Outdoors, Ron Schara’s Minnesota Bound, Angling Buzz TV and Keyes Outdoors. Josh takes a very analytical approach to his fishing and is passionate and enthusiastic about empowering others to be successful on the water through his guiding, courses, and seminars.

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In June of 2019, Josh and Nick Lindner co-founded Musky Insider, a free weekly musky fishing publication delivered to its subscribers by email. Since then, it has grown a massive following of more than 20,000 subscribers. You can view past issues and/or subscribe at www.muskyinsider.com.

MARIKO IZUMI

Mariko is a seasoned TV host and producer, blogger and social media marketer with a background in public relations. She hosted her own Travel/Fishing TV show, Hookin' Up with Mariko Izumi, for 6 seasons for the World Fishing Network, where she traveled the world showcasing the local culture and activities. 

After graduating from Queen’s University, Mariko got a post grad degree in Public Relations from Humber College.  Along with her husband, Kevin Estrada, she owned the Canadian distribution rights for five years for the Fly Fishing Film Tour, a film festival that travels across the country.

Her current role as Sturgeon Slayers Director of Operations and past role as Fly Fishing Film Tour operator extends to event management, social media management, marketing activations, customer relations and administration. She lives in the mountains of British Columbia with Kevin and their two kids, where they work and play and spend a lot of time on the water fishing for and contributing to research on the majestic White Sturgeon.

MEGAN McGREGOR

Megan McGregor is an avid musky angler from the Shimano Canada pro staff team. Megan has always loved everything about the outdoors. After fishing some of the best musky fisheries in Ontario with her boyfriend she realized catching and releasing musky had become much more than a hobby to her. She now spends every opportunity travelling all over Ontario and Quebec with her fishing partner Luke Patterson hunting for trophy musky. During the off months, you can find Megan and Luke ice fishing on Chemong Lake in their ice hut pan fishing for crappie, perch and walleye before the musky season. Megan’s knowledge, outgoing personality and creative mindset have led to partnering with some of the largest brands within this industry.

She is a proud ambassador for brands such as; Shimano, Lululemon, Musky Maniacs, Dadson Blade Baits, Blue Water Baits, Musky Candies and DK Musky Lures. Megan is a proud member of Muskies Canada and Ontario Women's Anglers Association.

MIKE MILLER

“Getting up close and personal with big fish and game makes my heart race and truly tests a hunter’s skills,” says Mike. Mike Miller’s love for the outdoors, hunting and fishing, started at a young age. Like most hunters and anglers, conservation was a value instilled in him by his parents and mentors, and is still a big part of his passion. Growing up, Mike spent time in the woods with family and friends whenever he could. He lived near the Oshawa Creek and spent his summers at a camp on Sturgeon Lake in the Kawartha’s, so he had endless fishing opportunities. When school was done for the day and during summer holidays, there was a good chance Mike was on the water fishing or in the woods tracking wildlife trying to get a closer look.

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At the age of 21, Mike won his first competitive bass fishing event. He has since become one of Canada’s most successful professional bass anglers, with 28 major tournament wins. He toured as a bass fishing pro and worked for various sponsors, which eventually led him into television production. In 2004, he became co-host and co-producer of the popular Fish’n Canada show, where he honed his on-air skills. In 2011, Mike joined the OFAH’s award winning Angler & Hunter Television as host and executive producer. He launched the show’s 19th season in January 2012, and the rest, as they say, is history!

NICK COUSVIS

Tournament angler, trophy Bass guide and On the Water teacher

Sponsored by Megabass of America

Pro J Tackle

Daiwa Canada

Dirty Jigs

Smith Optics

OLIVER NGY

Oliver Ngy is a self-taught angler from Southern California, he learned the values of commitment and dedication at an early age. Since then, Oliver has become a familiar face in the bass scene and is renowned for catching monster fish of many species with a specialty in double digit largemouth and 5+lb smallmouth bass. To learn more about Oliver and his fishing adventures visit www.YouTube.com/OliverNgyor his website,www.bigbassdreams.com. 

Oliver will be competing for the first time on the Bassmaster Opens tournament trail in 2021 in an attempt to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic and an invite to the Elite trail.

PAUL POWIS

Captain Paul Powis has been guiding/chartering the Great Lakes for the past 30 years, as the owner and operator of J&P Fishing Charters and Guide Services.

Captain Paul has been featured in many fishing magazines and shows including Ontario Out of Doors, Ontario Fisherman and In-Fisherman. Captain Paul has been on TV Shows with Bob Izumi, Dave Mercer and JP DeRose and is seen regularly on WFN on Pro Talk giving trolling tips. Paul's Fish Cleaning Instructions have over 7 million hits on YouTube. Captain Paul can be reached at 519-897-1042 or by email jpfish@rogers.com 

PAUL WINKEL

Paul grew up in Midwestern Ontario,  close to awesome fishing, Lake Huron, Saugeen River and Maitland River. Currently owner and operator of Winhaven Farms ( Dairy Farm). Paul got into kayak Fishing in 2005 when his wife purchased his first kayak, She told him that he needed a hobby to get away from the farm and a kayak was a low cost, easy to transport way of getting away from bank fishing!

Paul started tournament fishing in 2009 and is still very active in tournament fishing, currently fishing the Ontario Kayak Bass Trail tournament Series along with entering a few tournaments in the USA. Paul currently has fished tournaments in Michigan Kentucky and Tennessee. He is Co-Tournament director of the Ontario Kayak Bass Trail Series also VP of the Ontario Kayak Bass masters club! He see the passion most kayak anglers have for this sport and with that,  many industry people are seeing the sport of Kayak fishing is growing quickly in popularity as it offers many advantages over owning a power boat.   

Supported by Fogh Marine, Hobie Kayaks and Scotty Paddle Products

SHANE THOMBS

Shane Thombs is the owner and operator of FINtastic Sportfishing that caters to clients that are looking for Lake Ontario Salmon and Trout or Lake Erie Walleye fishing experiences and more. He has been in the charter industry since the early 1990’s and finds nothing beats watching someone catch a fish-of-a-lifetime while on one of his boat.

Shane is a Lake Ontario fisheries management advisory board for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, provides a service of On-The-Water Clinics and has extensive experience providing seven to ten fishing seminars annually. Shane can be reached at 289-690-4221 or by email  fintasticsportfishing@gmail.com for more information and fishing charter services.

TED TAKASAKI

Ted Takasaki is a Hall of Fame professional angler who won the prestigious Professional Walleye Trail Championship in 1998. Ted and his partner recently won the Voyageur's Walleye Classic on Lake Winnipeg in October of 2019. Ted still holds the all-time tournament record for a one day limit of 5 walleyes which weighed an amazing 53.2 pounds! 

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Ted has been featured in many national outdoor magazines and has appeared on numerous fishing television shows. Ted is considered one of America's top walleye and multi-species anglers.

WIL WEGMAN

Wil Wegman is an award winning outdoor writer whose ice fishing articles have appeared in such magazines as Outdoor Canada, Ontario out of Doors, Real Fishing, Just Fishing, Bassmaster, BASS TIMES and In Fisherman. He is the Hooked on Fishing columnist with Lake Simcoe Living magazine. Other than during a pandemic, Wil offers ice fishing seminars across much of Ontario and into New York every winter.  His speciality is Lake Simcoe – and he was on Team Canada at the World Ice Fishing Championships there in 1991, has several top ten finishes at the Canadian Ice Fishing Championships, has won the Perch Attack and the Perchin For MS event on Lake Simcoe. He has ice fished across Ontario and has become a well-rounded multi-species ice angler. Wil was inducted into the Canadian Angler Hall of Fame in 2017, the same year he won the Rick Morgan Professional Conservation Award and the National Recreational Fisheries Award.