When my wife and I started dating one of our favourite times of the year was our annual canoe trip into the backcountry of Nopiming Provincial Park with her dog.
We would spend the day fishing from the canoe while paddling around the lake; enjoying the peace and quiet afforded to us by the remote location. Fast forward 5 years, and the two of us, our 2 dogs and our son don’t quite fit in the canoe anymore.
After cramming us all into our tent at campsites for a couple of years we picked up a 1976 boler trailer and made the trek to as many of Manitoba’s provincial park campsites that we could get to. Our son loved collecting stamps in his ‘Passport to Adventure’
These trips served to indulge our need to get outdoors, but it also introduced our son to the outdoors and fishing. In 2016, at the age of 3, he caught his first fish and by the end of the season he had caught 7 different species, 2 Master Anglers and even a few personal bests, that top his parents.
Koselig
With winter approaching and the arrival of our daughter, we packed the trailer away in storage, but we didn’t want to let that be the end of our outdoor adventures. In the spirit of ‘koselig we picked up some snow shoes and bundled up the little one and headed to the urban oasis that is Fort Whyte Alive. This was our son’s first introduction to ice fishing and he loved it. My son and I would head out with our flip-up and go ice-fishing once a week.
Snobear
We did manage to get all four of us in there on a few of the milder days, but it wasn’t ideal. After reading about the Snobear in Hooked Magazine, my wife and I made a trip to Manitoba’s Outdoor Showto check it out. While we couldn’t justify the cost for ourselves, it was obvious that this was the ultimate way to get out on the ice as a family. Our first question to the sales rep was where can we rent one in Manitoba. Her answer was “nowhere, yet”. When we got home my wife turned to me and said “why can’t it be us?”.
Not one to turn down the opportunity at getting my hands on a new toy, we quickly came up with a business plan and Icebound Excursions was born. With the goal of making ice fishing more accessible for families and excursions easier for avid anglers we set everything in motion to start rentals late in 2017.
