If I ever get my hands on you!

This morning, Tuesday October 18, I woke up to my iPhone “bark” alarm. Quickly my half-asleep body slapped down my hand to kill the annoying barking. I headed to the shower to freshen up; it seemed to be a normal morning. After my eyes finally opened to at least 50%, I rushed through getting dressed, grabbed my laptop, and headed out the door. Once again, everything seemed normal, but that “normal” feeling to my day quickly received a kick in the balls.

When I approached my SUV I was saw a light from inside my truck beaming into the dark morning sky. I unlocked my doors and took a look inside only to see that my rear-passenger window had been smashed…just f#cking great. 

Another dumb thief.

  

There was a mess of my Creative Communications papers scattered across the seats. The glove box was open but didn’t contain anything that it used to be in there. After about a minute of staring at my smashed window and open glove box I realized that I should be checking for my possessions. Anything that was worth more than $10 was gone. Before I knew it I was running late, so I had to suck it up and take my angry show on the road.

The further I drove down Provencher the further my anger was pushed. This is mostly due to the fact that freezing cold wind was being shot into my truck through the smashed window.

Now, I’ve had a little more time to “cool my jets.” Thoughts of teaching those punks a lesson are still circulating through my head, but the odds of figuring out who they are, are slim.

When I lived in the small Manitoban town of Lorette I never had any problems with break-ins. Never! Even hearing of a friend or family member running into break in problems was rare.

However, the case in the city is completely different. I’ve been living in St. Boniface since March 14, 2011 and already my roommate had her car broken into, and now I’ve had my truck broken into. It’s easy to understand why people with safety concerns flock to the country. Theft is rampant in Winnipeg, even in the “nicer” areas.

But really, what can you do to protect yourself from these cowardly thieves?

We set up a spotlight in the back lane back in March when my roommate was broken into. Still, the spotlight didn’t prevent thieves from smashing my window and helping themselves to my possessions.  Besides having a “stakeout” (which could last months or years), there isn’t much one can do.

Setting up security cameras might detour some criminals, but even then, that’s nothing a mask can’t fix for them. Even if you’ve caught the criminals red-handed and have their face on video, it might not put them in jail. Setting up security cameras is the next step for our household, but that’s no crime-free guarantee.

Maybe crime would decrease in Canada if we abandoned the “slap on the wrist” justice system that we’ve been praising for so long. Recently I came across a story where two Manitobans living on a reserve beat a man with a baseball bat and a 2x4 piece of wood, and then they proceeded to stab the man 35 times in the neck.  Guess how long these two got in jail? Just guess… 50 Months in addition to 23 months already served. They got a break because they were “too drunk” - technically speaking: 4x over the legal limit. This sentencing absolutely disgusts me. (More on the story here.) My point here is that, anywhere else this case would have gone differently. In Texas this pair would probably be dead or waiting to die. Regardless, all I wanted to say is that Canada is very laid back when it comes to their justice system and there are major problems there.

In the end, I’ll live, worse things could’ve happened. I’ll pay my deductible, buy some new stuff, and have a beer with some friends to get my mind off of the whole thing. Eventually, I’ll get around to setting up those security cameras, and who knows, maybe I’ll do that stakeout and catch those bastards. So, the bastard(s) who broke into my truck last night got tipped over in The Outhouse and ran away, leaving a giant shit trail that I can hopefully follow back to my possessions, and maybe revenge. 

At least that's not my car

This guy has the right idea.

Crow Duck tests The Outhouse

Fishing is, and always will be one of my favorite things to do over the weekend or anytime - Nothing like kickin’ back, casting out, and hauling in a big ol’ pike or walleye. 

This summer, I had more free time, which meant I had more time to hit the water. I fished in several lakes and rivers over the summer such as Buffalo Point, The Big Whiteshell, The Red River, Caddy Lake, and Crow Duck Lake. Buffalo Point and Crow Duck I visited a few times.

For my last two trips I went to Crow Duck Lake. The only difference between Crow Duck and the rest of the places I visited (besides the great fishing) is that you have to pay to fish at Crow Duck, unless you portage.

Crow Duck Lake is the biggest lake in the Whiteshell Provincial Park. If you don’t portage in, it’s a two-mile cruise across Big Whiteshell Lake and then you face a 2-mile trail where you’re driven by truck.

After the trek, you’re at Crow Duck Lake.

One of the first feelings that I felt when I saw the lake was a feeling of ease and comfort. Tranquility surrounds you at Crow Duck and the nature takes you away from the big lights of the city.

Once you unload all your gear, the staff there will set you up with a 16.5ft boat with a 25HP Honda on the back. There will be minnows for sale right at the dock, and the staff there was extremely helpful, I’m sure they would do their best to meet your every need.

The first time I went out, it poured rain – from 8AM until 6:30PM. So that’s why I never wrote a review after that experience, I didn’t feel that I would be able to write a proper review because the rain put a damper my fishing and fun.

The second time I went out, this past Sunday, the weather was still rather miserable, but at least there wasn’t a hurricane out on the water.

Instead of starting at 8AM, like on the first trip, the second trip got off to a 10AM start. The amount of time spent fishing suffered, but the amount of fish caught didn’t.

My boat of three journeyed off to the left of the docks, and we found ourselves in a nice and calm part of the lake. It was more like a creek but technically a bay. Within an hour we had all caught our first walleye of the day. Quickly my luck started to get better, as I was pulling in 20” walleye every 10-15 minutes. I found that my pink jig with a minnow worked best, however the only other thing I tried was a yellow jig with a worm.

After reeling in a steady stream of walleye in that spot, we decided to pack up and head to deeper water in search of some Northern Pike.

We didn’t have to travel too far in order to find them. Within a half hour of fishing in the deeper water I hooked onto a 30” Northern Pike. Usually, I only fish for walleye, but the walleye are stocked at Crow Duck so Northern Pike and Bass were the only fish I was interested in bringing back.

Overall, my boat of three caught 22 fish. I must have worn some lucky underwear or socks that day, because 14 of those were mine.

Crow Duck is a great place for a fisherman who has been “shutout” too many times. If you aren’t concerned with keeping your fish or just want to catch a bunch, then Crow Duck is ideal.

You can really tell that the people running Crow Duck know their stuff. There were only a few things I had a problem with, and really they weren’t very big deals. I thought it would’ve been nice if they ‘d had the option to rent a trolling motor and GPS. But, next time I’m just going to bring my own. The other thing was that the anchor for the rental boats was a little too light. If a heavy wind hit the lake, or you were in deeper water, the anchor wouldn’t do much.

Crow Duck Lake is really an outdoorsman’s paradise. Who could really complain about massive amounts of Walleye, great scenery, and an amazing lake. The staff really made me feel at home, both times. They even brought us a 6-pack of Budweiser when we were taking shelter from the torrential downpour that was bombarding us.

Sure, you might spend a little extra cash when going fishing. But really, for a little extra you’re getting a day that’s jam packed with action and a much needed break from the big city or everyday grind. Other fishermen that have fished in Crow Duck claim that they’ve caught over 100 fish in a day. Most of them aren’t lying either. Unfortunately for me, I haven’t reached that benchmark yet, but maybe next summer will have a wonderful walleye-filled experience. 

So, yes, Crow Duck Lake entered The Outhouse and made it through with ease and a stringer full of walleye. 

                                                                                         

Crow Duck offers 6 night stays in their cabins for $1185.00 or Day trips with boat rental for 2-3 people for $123.00.