I will never forget the wonderful times I had fishing with my father in the Windermere River by our camp in Dalton Ontario. The cabin overlooking a tiny spring feed lake was simply breath taking. I remember scooping what seemed like thousands of smelts and whitefish to help them get over the small falls or up the treacherous streams to reach their destination...

I also remember traveling to Biscotasing by train to visit my Grandparents as a child in the 60's. They would meet the train with their horse and buggy, and off  we'd trot down the old bush path to their house. When we arrived, I would help my Grandpa cut and split wood, and then help Grandma put the homemade cinnamon buns in the oven of the old wood stove in the kitchen. After the work was done, we'd go fishin'...

Grandpa would drive the boat and bait the hooks... He knew all the great spots for fishing. As we fished, Grandma would talk about the good old days, how she delivered the Deschene baby who was the first white baby born in Bisco, and she would tell me stories of Archie Belaney better known as Grey Owl, stories that you would never read in any book, or see on TV...

In the early 70's, our family moved to Biscotasing and my parents became proud owners of a little country store on the shores of Biscotasi Lake. We had everything a fisherman or hunter could ask for; such as, boat and motor rentals, groceries, gas, clothing, fishing and hunting supplies, the store even had a little post office and eventually sold beer and liquor...

When I wasn't getting minnows to sell for the store or washing out the boats at the shore, I was guiding for the local tourist camps to make a little extra money. I would bait and untangle endless amounts of hooks, clean the tourists catch of the day and cook the shore lunches...

My mother did not fish; however, since she was the only Nurse in all of Biscotasing, she was usually the person  to call if a hook needed to be removed from a thumb or ear lobe. You would be surprised of how many hooked ears and thumbs there were...

Even though Biscotasing had no electricity until 1980, or the fact that we had to haul our water for drinking, cooking and cleaning, I never once thought that I was roughing it. What else could a person ask for, it was paradise, living by a beautiful lake, nothing but trees and sky...

Although I live in Sudbury now, I try to get back to Biscotasing with my children whenever we can, to fish for the big one that got away.
Why a fish mix?
Fishing is in my blood and I'm an excellent cook. That's Why!