PPS Destinations Report
PRAIRIE HILLS DENTAL MEETING, RUSSELL, MANITOBA, CANADA
Date: September 24/25 2004
Reported by Ernst 'Ernie' Schmidt 
Here is another dental seminar right in the heart of some great fishing. Having said that, here is the bombshell. Russell, Manitoba is the town that would and, it seems, could. Get this, it boasts being a world-class still water fishery, in fact, it says it may be one of the very best. Russell, Manitoba? Are you serious? Well, believe it or not, they just might have some justification to this claim.
I left Vancouver and flew to Regina, Saskatchewan. From there, I rented a car and drove approximately 3 hours through the Prairie heartland of Canada. Although there are no tall snow-capped mountains along the way, the country is every bit as beautiful as you drive along the golden wheat fields surrounded by the beautiful fall colours. On arrival in Russell, I was amazed to find that my home for the next few days, The Russell Inn, was a fairly large, clean and modern motel/convention facility where the accommodations and food were very good. Russell is a small Prairie town with a group of people displaying some amazing vision.
This vision started with people who felt that the area could be the home of world-class trout fishing. It already has amazing walleye, bass and pike fishing, however, making it into a world-class trout fishery took a lot of vision. This vision seems to have started with people like writer/sportsman, Bob Sheedy - (Check out his website at http://www.mwflyfishing.net . You will get a better idea of some of the huge fish in the Area. Bob nicknames them Shamu; after a popular killer whale) - and others who decided to convince others that this could come about. One of my hosts, Dr. Vern Rosnoski, dentist and former mayor, was a fantastic host and amazed me with his vision for Russell. It seems that Russell is not different than other small rural towns. Shrinkage, loss of young from the community and brain-drain are all too familiar. Not wanting just another factory or mill, people like Vern (who incidentally doesn't fish) had the vision to see the possibilities of a trophy fishery and, even more remarkable, bring the whole community into the fold as well. Ok, enter Dr. Lee Brend of Bismarck, North Dakota. Here is an avid sportsman who found this fishery about 8 years ago and decided that Russell, Manitoba needed a dental seminar. I was lured to this seminar by his tales of monster trout. It was my privilege to be the presenter at this year's meeting.
So, how good is this fishery? Well, all the lakes in the area were basically sterile to begin with and, once stocked, could not exist without aeration in order to prevent winterkill. The result is a slough of shallow very productive lakes that can be stocked and controlled. The concept here is that once these lakes are stocked, they can be controlled and maintained in staggered cycles. At any given time, there will be at least one or more lakes that are 'switched on'. These fish grow to amazing proportions very quickly. For instance, we caught exotic tiger trout (cross between a brown and brookie) that were 14 inches in September but were stocked the same spring at four inches. Same thing for the browns and rainbows. They grew so fast, that in their third year, they could get up to 26 inches with such tremendous girth that they would easily reach 10 to 12 pounds! The down side is that these fish are not always hungry since they have a constant supply of insects and tons of forage/bait fish. During my two days of fishing, I managed to catch a 20 inch rainbow that ran between four and five pounds and about a dozen tiger trout. I also spent two hours on another trophy lake. I did not have success there, although, Dr. Ron Witzke of Russell caught a 24 inch rainbow running over 6 pounds. Several fish boiled along the weeds and, if I didn't know better, I would have thought that they were coho salmon. Had the fishing been switched on, this could have possibly been the best still-water fishing I may have ever experienced. I gotta go back and strike gold. If you decide to go and catch what may be the biggest trout of your life (this is no idle boast), your best bet will be to contact John Yuri of Northern Anglers. John, and his wife Tracy, own and run a full-service fly shop in nearby Dauphin, Manitoba and provide full guiding and equipment services. Check out their website and take a look at some of the pictures. Remember, you heard it hear first!!!
Keep an eye on this venue as I am sure you will hear more of this in the future. In fact, I am considering this as a future PPS venue especially since it boasts numerous possibilities for large fish, a whole variety of species but also a very cost-effective one too.
If you wish to participate in a future PRAIRIE HILLS PROFESSIONAL dental seminar, please contact:
Dr. Lee Brend, 1143 W. Turnpike Ave, Bismarck, North Dakota, USA 58501, 701-255-2467. Tell him I sent you!
For good measure, I have included a picture of one of my colleagues holding one of many aggressive Tiger Trout from an un-named lake. Next year they are expected to be over 4-5 pounds!!! In addition to Tiger Trout, this area also boasts another exotic hybrid species; Spar.
