Founder – Blind Fishing Boat Author /

Speaker – Feel the Bite!

President – Blue Fish Canada

Picture of Lawrence with his new guide-dog Moby

Top 10 2012 Highlights

10-Catching my personal best Sunfish 11”

9- Biggest fish and 3rd over-all at the Blind Anglers International Tournament

8- Recruited to HobieCat’s Kayak Fishing Team

7- Finishing 7th out of 52 at the Canadian Ranger / Stratos Invitational Bass Tournament

6 -Appointed Director of Conservation for two area fishing clubs and President of Blue Fish Canada

5- Named pro staff writer for Gary Yamamoto’s Inside Magazine

4- Earning my SCUBA certification and diving on the St. Lawrence River

3- Winning the B.A.S.S. Multi Species Spring Tournament

2- Being included in the national exhibit, “From Far and Wide – Honouring Great Canadians”

1- Meeting my new Mira guide dog “Moby”!

Show Exhibits / Seminars:

This year my show seminars focussed on how fish use their different senses. Six outdoor shows featured my exhibits for a total of 14 days (131 hours). The exhibits included various watercraft and the latest in both blind technologies and fishing innovations. A big hit were the over 750 autographed cards I brailed with the names of kids who visited my booth.

Tournaments:

I competed in a total of 19 competitive events in 2012 earning 7 top five finishes including one first and two big fish. I finished 15 out of 30 in the Ottawa Valley South Bass Masters series, and 7th out of 38 in the Ottawa Regional Walleye League. My competitive fishing season ended with a 7th place finish out of 52 teams competing in the Ranger/Stratos Invitational Bass Tournament, not bad considering we were up against many of the region’s best Bass fishers.

Fish Captures:

Water levels throughout Ontario were the lowest in years resulting in fish moving into deeper waters. This worked to my advantage as I prefer vertical touch-based techniques over sight fishing (LOL). It also meant I caught all manner of fish species in unorthodox ways such as  Lake Trout and Musky dropshotting on my favorite Trokar TK150 hooks, catfish and drumb on ultralight Shimano spinning gear, and quite a number of amazingly large panfish bottom bouncing Lindy spinner rigs. Suspending jerkbaits like Rapala’s Clack’n Minnow seem to out shine spinnerbaits this year and accounted for many of my largest Bass and Pike.

Picture of Lawrence holding an 11″ sunfish

Picture of Lawrence holding a 4 lb large mouth bass

Picture of Lawrence holding a 12lbs lake trout

Blind Fishing Boat:

I gave the key note address again at the 24th “Blind Anglers International Tournament”, and organized a 5-day technology training program for the blind at the CNIB Lake Joseph Centre. I’ve been actively sea-trialing aboard my 12-foot Porta-Bote various versions of a new talking compass called MaxPAC, and even managed to orchestrate what could very likely be the world’s first treasure hunt for the blind using six of HumanWare’s talking Trekker Breeze GPS systems.

Plans for next year include organizing in partnership with area Lions a blind kayak fishing tournament for elite blind fishers. Jenda Paddle sports has agreed to provide HobieCat kayaks with Mirage drives, a leg-powered propoltion system coupled with a hand- controlled rudder. As well, my continued volunteer commitment as a director with the CNIB Lake Joseph Centre, a 48-room facility for the blind located on the shores of beautiful Lake Joseph in central Ontario, will hopefully soon result in the Centre acquiring a dedicated fishing boat.

Feel the Bite!:

It’s through innovations such as Shimano’s graphite fishing rods, no-stretch Power Pro fishing line, and ultra-dense Ultra Tungsten fishing weights that I’m able to feel as much as I do – making it possible for me to write and speak with authority on the use of touch when fishing. I think I set a record this year on the number of articles published under my Feel the Bite! tag-line. In addition to contributing twice-weekly to Lindy’s on-line audio fishing report service, I’m also writing for Gary Yamamoto’s Inside Magazine, ODU (Outdoor Unlimited) Magazine, National Pro Staff.com, and Ontario Fishing Network. There are also the numerous “how to” and adventure reports I post on my blogs “Blind Fishing Boat” and “Feel the Bite!” at www.LawrenceGunther.com.

Ranger / Evinrude:

With support from Ranger Boats, BRP Evinrude and the good folks at Orleans Boat World, I spent the year competing aboard a 619 Ranger Fisherman powered with a 225hp Evinrude E-TEC. All my guest pilots / fishing partners couldn’t say enough great things about this rig. This year’s weather was also one of the windiest on record; providing ample opportunity for the Ranger’s rough water handling and tracking characteristics to shine. The 619 Fisherman’s performance haul saved our butts during the B1 Berkley Bass Tournament on the St. Lawrence River when 30 boats out of 150 competitors broke down due to severe weather.

Picture of Lawrence and his Ranger boat a the beach

As always, the E-TEC performed flawlessly and its quiet operation made communications with my guest pilots painless. The Minn Kota Terrova’s I-Pilot continues to awe my guests with it’s quiet power and “spot-lock” anchorless GPS-based holding feature. The new Scotty high performance electric down riggers are amazingly fast meaning more line time in the water. Configuring the two Lowrance HD sounders to display water depth readings from both the transom and below the Terrova at the bow made it possible to accurately track the ledges and drop-offs that we had little trouble finding thanks to Navionic’s highly detailed maps.

SCUBA Certified:

To better understand how fish live I put in over 60 hours of training with the good folks at Freedom at Depth to certify in SCUBA. Covered head to foot in 7mm of black neopreme and relatively dry throughout thanks to the new “Aqua Lock” water-tight seals at neck, wrists and ankles built into the new Henderson wetsuits, the only part of me actually touching water directly are my lips.

Picture of Lawrence in his scuba suit in mid-air jumping off a dock

Nothing is more freaky than suspending 90-feet down and having no idea whether I’m rising or still sinking – never mind knowing which way is up. My only means of communicating with my dive partner are through a series of hand-to-hand gestures developed by Freedom at Depths Director and primary trainer, Hubert chretien.

Feeling my way along the bottoms of lakes and rivers is giving me a new perspective of how fish associate to cover. My next goal is to acquire two-way radio SCUBA masks to compensate for the intense sensory depervation associated with diving blind.

On Ice:

Ice fishing conditions in eastern Ontario were excellent. I focussed most of my energies on Walleye, pike and pan fish with good results. A Rapala gas auger, a frabill flip-over shelter and a Lowrance sounder with the audio bite alarm made all the difference.

Picture of Lawrence and Maestro sitting in the ice-fishing shelter

Kayak Adventures:

With support from Jenda Paddle Sports I was fortunate to be recruited to HobieCat’s Fishing Team. I’ve always been a paddler going all the way back to 1977 when, at the age of 13, a group of Venturers (one above Scouts) and myself paddled two 25-foot warrior canoes from Port Credit on Lake Ontario, down the St. Lawrence River, along the eastern seaboard, and over to Prince Edward Island, a trip that covered over 1,200 miles (2,100 km).

I really wanted to try the Mirage drive offered by HobieCat, and I’m pleased to say it lives up to all the hype and more. Not only does the peddle drive system allow me to fish more effectively by freeing up my hands, but in combination with the hand controlled rudder, I’m able to effect far greater control over my course headings. In fact, it works so well I’ll be organizing, with support from local Lions clubs and Jenda, a blind kayak fishing tournament on the Ottawa River this coming spring for elite blind anglers using HobieCat kayaks outfitted with Mirage Drives, and Trekker Breeze talking GPS systems.

Picture of Lawrence on the water sitting in the kayak

Media:

News Talk 1010, Renegade Bass, 580 CFRA, and Angelo Viola’s show are some of the radio programs I interviewed on this year. NBC Sports Outdoors began in January to air a TV episode of “the Best and Worst of Tred Barta” that I featured in alongside Tred fishing for Sails in Guatemala. AMI TV (Accessible Media Inc.) also began airing nationally the episode of “Accessibility in Action” that featured me fishing in my Blind Fishing Boat.

“Honouring Great Canadians”:

Being included in Canada’s Governor General’s new exhibit, “From Far and Wide – Honouring Great Canadians”, was quite the surprise. The exhibit is located directly across from Canada’s Parliament buildings, and features 32 Canadians with photos and descriptions of why we received our various medals of honour.

Picture of Lawrence and Governor General David Johnston shaking hands

Blue Fish Canada:

I launched the “Blue Fish Canada” charity in 2012 to protect Canada’s fishing heritage. Our mission is to conserve native marine ecosystems and to promote sustainable fishing practices. It took a year to secure the necessary incorporation and tax certifications, but as of November, Blue Fish Canada is now a federally incorporated non-profit and  registered charity. All proceeds raised from my documentary go to Blue fish Canada.

Documentary:

At the time this report was written, my producer, Mr. Alex Sliman, CEO of Cinilande, and my director, Mr. Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais, were busy organizing the next steps associated with the production of the documentary. It’s been 2.5 years since this amazing trip commenced, but I’m told that isn’t unusual in the world of media. There’s now “sound at the end of the tunnel”, and it would seem a completely new and relatively unknown to me phase of this project is about to commence. Film festivals, theatres, TV and radio appearances, or at the very least a really cool U-Tube video! The waiting hasn’t been easy, but if nothing else, fishing has taught me to be patient.

Wrap up:

I will always be pushing the envelope to make fishing more accessible to the blind, and I enjoy the pressure and challenge of fishing competitively; however, the need to preserve Canada’s marine ecosystems and promote sustainable fishing are issues I want to focus on more. Ensuring fishing is an activity that everyone can enjoy for years to come can only be guaranteed if native fish stocks are able to flourish. It’s why I pursued and earned a Masters degree in environmental studies. It’s why I pushed to have the documentary made, and it’s the reason for the creation of Blue fish Canada. Stay tuned

Thank You:

A super big thanks to all those who have volunteered their time to participate in blind fishing adventures, to Salus Marine for providing the PDF’s that kept everyone including Maestro safe , and to my sponsors, friends and, of course, my family. I know that without your support all of what I’ve documented in this report and more would not have been possible. My hope is that, on balance, I’m able to give back far more. And of course a big thank you to my departed buddy Maestro.

Picture of Lawrence and Maestro fishing

Contact:

If you know someone who’s wrestling with vision loss, a number which is expected to double from 14 million Americans and Canadians in the next 20 years, offer them a seat in your boat. After all, nine fish out of ten are felt on the line way before they are ever seen. Just stay away from bobbers – no one has invented one that beeps yet. Shoot  me an email if you have questions, (lawrence@lawrencegunther.com), or visit my website www.LawrenceGunther.com for tons of how-to tips for both sighted and blind fishers alike.

It’s mind-boggling just how fast a dog’s health can slip away.  Over the next 3-4 months, following Maestro’s retirement, he went from being a super active dog, to one whose quality of life had slipped below the point of no return.  It was one of the hardest things my young family had ever witnessed. I owe a huge thank you to my wife Anne for all she did for Maestro during this time, as much of his care rested in her already full hands with my being at work.

During Maestro’s period of illness my heart was broken twice each day.  Once in the morning when leaving for work and having to tell Maestro to, “stay”, and the second time when I came home and took him for a walk along the river.  Each evening the walks grew increasingly shorter.

We knew the time had come when, one evening after the family had finished dinner, Maestro couldn’t summon the energy to go further than the end of our driveway.  His will was strong, but not his heart. There were other signs of his failing health too, but out of respect, let’s just say all signs pointed to the same conclusion.  It’s a moment one never wants to contemplate, but it’s a horrible day that arrives nevertheless.

One of the first public commitments I had to attend after Maestro’s passing was a ribbon cutting for the Governor General of Canada’s new exhibit, “From Far and Wide – Honouring great Canadians.  I was selected to be part of the exhibit for my work on improving life for Canadians with disabilities and low literacy, which led to my receiving the Meritorious Service Medal. On one of the 8-foot panels there was a detailed description of my contribution to society, and a photo of Maestro and I standing at the end of a fishing dock.  When my wife began to describe the photo, it was all I could do not to cry; however, Anne claims my eyes did water.

Photo of Lawrence and Maestro standing on a fishing dock next to the boat

I miss Maestro.  Every day I get up and he’s not there to escort me down the stairs to the main floor.  He’s not there to walk with me each morning on our usual 2-mile walk along the river on our way to work.  His bark no longer rings out the minute we re-entre our home at the end of the day and he leaps up the few steps to the landing and proclaims the day a success.  And most of all, he’s missing on those early mornings when a buddy shows up at my house at some un-godly hour, the side door to the house is opened, and Maestro bounds out and leaps into the rear of my SUV — refusing to get out until we arrive at the boat launch.  My wife had even purchased a folding ramp so Maestro could walk up – saving me from having to lift 90lb of squirming fur.  He only got to use the ramp a few times.

Maestro was no stranger to travel.  From Port Alberni on the west side of Vancouver Island to Cape Spear on Newfoundland’s east coast, as well as trips to Yellow Knife, Inuvik and Iqaluit in Canada’s north, there weren’t many corners of Canada he didn’t visit.  He was a totally bilingual Canadian dog; having grown up in Quebec.  I also wouldn’t be surprised if he was one of the first Burnese Mountain dogs to visit the Carolinas in the U.S.A., or Florida, or for that matter, California.  He was such a huge hit in L.A. I started telling people who stopped me on the street that he was a “bog”, from Canada — half dog and half bear.

Photo of Lawrence and Maestro fishing on the beach in North Carolina

This summer sure wasn’t the same without Maestro though.  I also haven’t had the desire or time to get trained with a new guide dog either, with every weekend up until mid-October being booked solid with shows, tournaments and outdoor adventures.  Anne’s 2-year old 2.5 pound Yorky has been trying hard to fill Maestro’s boots, or in this case, a boot. Even though Maestro may have taught her much about safe road crossing, it’s just not a good fit.

Photo of Lawrence walking with his 3-pound yorkie Dixie

To be frank, losing Maestro is like going blind all over again. He was such a big part of who I am as a person. It’s not until one experiences the loss of something so intimate that one could ever imagine what it’s like to have both your best friend and sight taken away at the same time.  It’s only since his passing that it’s hit home just how profound a roll Maestro played in my life.  After seven years, he and I were one.

Photo of Lawrence and Maestro sitting in the boat

Dogs have been part of my life going all the way back to my childhood when doctors first determined I was losing my sight, and I would pretend my family’s pet was my guide dog. I did inevitably, get a guide dog in my early 20’s following a near-fatal accident involving my being struck by a car that was travelling at over 100 km/h. Maestro was guide dog #5.

Over the very short seven years Maestro was in our life he was still part of quite a few significant moments. Maestro arrived very shortly after our youngest daughter was born.  He watched her learn to crawl, and played a part in her learning to stand and walk by allowing her to grasp tiny fists full of his fur.  Maestro was there to welcome our new-born son home from the hospital as well, and was soon giving rides to the little cowboy on his back. One of our favorite games during family walks involved Maestro waiting just before a bend in the path while the kids ran ahead and hid behind trees. After counting to ten, I’d release Maestro who would then tare around until he found both — causing the kids to squeal with laughter.  When my wife brought an 8-week old T-Cup Yorkie home, Maestro could have easily crushed her under one paw. He more than tolerated her nips and yips though, and it wasn’t long before they were best friends.

Photo of Maestro sitting with Lawrence’s two youngest children

I always have mixed feelings about getting a new guide dog. The process is exciting, but I can’t help feeling guilty like somehow I’m betraying a best friend. And then there are the comparisons.  It’s difficult not too, but I just can’t help thinking how each new dog just isn’t measuring up to the standards set by those who came before. The first few weeks are hard, but then something happens and I start to appreciate the personality of the new dog and my heart starts to open up. However, feelings of frustration re-surface time and time again over the first year as I’m constantly reminded that the new dog just doesn’t know all the places I like to go. In Maestro’s case, I’m not sure if there will ever be another dog that will measure up. He definitely raised the bar.

I can’t keep mourning Maestro for ever.  Winter is coming and a white cane is no match for deep snow. If I don’t get trained with a new dog soon, my connection with the outdoors will become strained.

The kayak and boats will soon be put away, camping season has already come to an end, and thoughts are already turning to fishing through the ice.  There’s no getting around it.  I need a guide dog with a very bushy coat and sure footing on black ice. It’s time.

Photo of Lawrence and Maestro sitting in an ice fishing shelter

I miss you Maestro — my friend. Thank you for dedicating your life to making my life safe. Thank you for the boost you would give to my spirits when they were low and for the joy you brought to my family.  Thank you for introducing me to all the amazing people we’ve met over the past 7 years.  And most of all, thank you for your totally unwavering friendship, and yes, your love. I love you too my friend.

Photo of Maestro lying down on his belly facing the camera

Once again I took part in the Ranger – Stratos Invitational Bass Tournament.  The charity fund raiser is organized each year by Orleans Boat World.  This year saw 52 teams competing on the Ottawa River out of Rockland Ontario.

Weather for the day was gray with light drizzle – perfect for Smallies.  My partner, Myles West, and I blasted off as team #32 aboard my 2012 Ranger 619 Fisherman powered with a 225 hp E-Tec from Evinrude.

We started by working weed lines along the openings of bays and picked up three quick keepers.  However, when we started throwing cranks around a stone retaining wall all heck broke loose.  A 4lb Largie was quickly followed up with numerous 3lb+ Smallies. By 10: we had culled ourselves into a fairly decent bag.

Our second largest fish of the day didn’t seem to be fairing all too well so we decided to release it back into the river.  It was a 3.5lb Smallie, but thankfully, we caught a suitable replacement.

With five hours to go, we switched up baits with the hopes of landing a real kicker.  The Ottawa River is known for some amazingly big Bass – they have to be if they want to avoid being Eaton by the numerous super-sized Musky that make this river their home.  Unfortunately, other than some amazingly large Catfish and Northern Pike, we just weren’t able to bring aboard a kicker to finish off the day.

Our weight of 14.75lbs was enough to earn Miles and I 7th place over-all and a cheque for our efforts.  19lbs took first place.  The weigh-in was orchestrated by Renegade Bass folks using Shimano’s live release system, and the BBQ and prize bags were sponsored by Ranger Boats, Evinrude, First Mate Lures, and last but certainly not least, Orleans Boat World.  Most importantly, a sizeable chunk of cash was raised for charity.

For the 4th year in a row Berkley, along with a host of other premier sponsors, staged the Berkley B1 Bass tournament.  The event was held on the St. Lawrence River out of Valleyfield Quebec, a section of the St. Lawrence famous for incredibly large and strong Smallmouth Bass.  The event itself has been a sold-out affair since its conception by its founder Ben Woo, and is arguably the largest Bass tournament on Canadian waters with 150 teams competing. It’s not only the largest, but some might argue the most challenging.  However, the rewards more than make up for the effort with a brand new Bass boat and 200hp E-Tec going to the winning team.This year I had the pleasure of being joined aboard my Ranger 619 Fisherman powered with a 225hp E-Tec by my good friend Scott Campbell.  Both Scott and I fully appreciate the enormous task trying to find where the Smallmouth are staging on this huge stretch of water, and our goal for the day was to turn in a respectable finish.

Staging for trickle start

Ste. Francis was formed as part of the St Lawrence Seaway project in the 1960’s when large sections of the river were flooded to allow ocean-going ships to pass between the Atlantic Ocean and North America’s Great Lakes.  Ships are restricted to a relatively narrow channel that ranges in depth from 20 to 60 feet, and is bordered by vast stretches of shallow water ribboned with shoals that come within inches of the surface.

Bass on Ste Francis can either be found in water less than 6 feet in depth, (Largemouth), or over 20 feet deep, (Smallmouth).  This means the remaining 99% of Ste Francis’s vast acreage is relatively devoid of fish.  Additionally, it’s not all waters below 20 feet that hold the monster Smallmouth.  This productive territory too is limited to only those sections of the channel noted for fast current and structure.  Knowing where these spots within the spots are situated comes only with countless hours of pre-fishing.

Lawrence with big sunfish

Lawrence and a bass

O.K., now that I’ve set the stage, it’s time to bring on the main characters.  One would assume this would consist of the 149 other teams Scott and I were competing against, but not on this day.  Front and centre were winds of 30km/h gusting to 50 out of the north-west, swinging around to the south-east by noon.  Unfortunately, neither of the two weather patterns made the drive to and from our chosen fishing grounds pleasant.

We exited the Valleyfield harbour with the idea of running for 30 minutes up towards Cornwall; however, the mounting waves turned this into a run of almost an hour and a half.  Coming back was no easier.  Thankfully, the hull design of Ranger Fisherman multi-species boats are designed to handle rough water by permitting their operator’s to maintain sufficient speed to skip from one wave top to another.  Too much or too little speed would have the boat landing on either the face or back of waves, making crisp throttle control and engine response paramount.

Scott was up to the challenge and brought us safely through the worst of the rough seas un-scathed. Unfortunately for many of our competitors this wasn’t the case, with numerous boats experiencing breakdowns on the water, including damage to their lower ends while attempting to skirt around the waves by following the shoreline. Many other teams who did make it back on their own power reported having speared waves resulting in rods and sonar units being washed overboard.

Rather than waiting aboard our boat to weigh in after day one, Scot and I realized our bag of fish wasn’t going to put us in the money. We elected instead to get the Ranger up on to the trailer before things got hectic at the launch.  Having the Ranger safely stowed also allowed us to show support for the remaining competitors as they weighed in their catches.  A 25lb bag of Smallmouth was the top catch for the day.

With weather conditions for day two not looking any better, tournament organizers decided instead to avoid sending competitors out for another round of pounding from the elements.  There’s no doubt that Ste Francis is a large body of water, but even if you have the right equipment and experience, it isn’t always enough.

Big thanks to Ben, Vicky and all their team for staging another great event.  Thanks too to my sponsors for making it possible for me to compete in tournaments such as this with a fishing boat package that keeps me high and dry.

Somehow it got into my head that organizing a treasure hunt using talking GPS technology for a bunch of blind people might be fun.  Normally, thoughts like this generally pass before I have the chance to verbalize them aloud which, this time, wasn’t the case.  The next thing I knew I was organizing what could possibly be the world’s first blind GPS treasure hunt.

Location for the treasure hunt was the CNIB Lake Joseph Centre. A 61-year old facility recently rebuilt to the tune of $7 million.  The Centre is located just south of Perry Sound Ontario, and sprawls out over 13 acres of Canadian Shield including the nicest beach on Lake Joseph.

The technology of choice was five of HumanWare’s Trekker Breeze handheld talking GPS units.  Participants included 25 blind and low vision adults gathered at the CNIB LJC facility to take part in a week of technology training.  The only thing missing was a plan.

Martin’s team

I started by scouting out the grounds of the Lake Joseph Centre and quickly settled on braille signage as the objects of the search.  All the signs I chose could be reached without having to leave any of the numerous paved pathways that loop in and around the facility.  I then fired up six Trekker Breeze units and recorded landmarks while standing next to each sign.  A unique number was assigned to each landmark, and repeated on each Trekker Breeze.

The rules of the hunt were as follows.  Each team was randomly assembled.  Team leads received five minutes of instruction on the use of the Breeze over lunch, but were not given the opportunity to try out the technology.  Teams were told not to leave the paths, but were permitted to determine in what order landmarks would be searched. Winners would be chosen by the team who made it back to the rallying point first with the correct names of the selected landmarks.

Jennison’s team

The five teams started at the same time making things even more interesting as each team attempted to sort out their course headings while at the same time avoid entanglements with the other teams all sharing the same path.  Since there were no street maps for the Trekker Breezes to use for offering direction, the coordinates of the chosen landmarks were communicated by both articulating the distance to the selected landmark in feet, and the recommended direction  to take using the clock, (e.g. 192 feet, 2 o’clock).

Each time a team located a landmark they would then select a new heading and receive directions, “by the crow flies”. This meant the recommended direction was given according to a direct line between where the team stood and where they needed to go.  Since the teams weren’t allowed to leave the paths, triangulation was used to pin-point the location of each landmark.

To my surprise, the first team finished within 40 minutes, and each of the other four teams within another ten.  All teams experienced little difficulty using the technology, and each team found all four landmarks.  Even more interesting was the fact that few of the participants had explored the paths used during the hunt prior to the event, but still managed to stay oriented within the boundaries set out by the locations of the selected landmarks.

The only tip I gave the teams prior to starting the hunt was to move steadily in a straight direction so the GPS units could calculate their direction based on sequential satellite readings.  Unlike compasses, GPS units do not know which way the user is heading until several readings can be obtained that are further apart than the standard error of margin for GPS, which is about ten feet.  Those teams that stopped or changed direction too often, or who walked too slowly or frequently paused, received confusing feedback.  However, it didn’t take the teams long to figure out that steady forward movement was the key.

Theresa’s team

The fact that all the teams managed to successfully finish the hunt within ten minutes of each other says to me that the technology works as intended. The strong interest participants expressed in taking part in the event is also worth noting since almost none had previous experience using accessible GPS technology.

Upon reflection, I wonder if navigating by the crow flies is something that perhaps developers of GPS devices for the blind may have undervalued?  Currently, most GPs systems for the blind focus their way finding on establishing specific routes based on street maps.  Personally, I often find this type of navigational assistance to be somewhat rigid in terms of limiting my options, and prefer to choose the streets I travel to reach my intended destination.  The fact that the treasure hunt participants enjoyed the experience means I’m probably not the only one who appreciates the freedom of choosing my routes while using GPS to find a “new-to-me”  destination.

Jeff’s team Scavenger hunt

A big thanks to HumanWare for lending me the Trekker Breeze systems, and to the staff at the CNIB Lake Joseph Centre for assisting with the execution of the event.

As you are no doubt aware, advances in workplace technologies are being introduced at an ever increasing rate.  What you may not know is that a number of these technologies are not necessarily built to comply with accessibility standards or best practices.  Further challenging blind professionals is a nation-wide deficit in training programs developed for such individuals to maintain maximum proficiency through the use of technology.

The market the CNIB wishes to address by offering a technology training program includes those blind or visually impaired Canadians who currently use computers, but who would like to know more about how to better utilize what they have at hand and are interested in developing the skills needed to adopt more recent innovations  relevant to the working professional.  Programs such as Windows Seven and MS Office 10 are examples of two recent office place innovations for which customized training will be of assistance.Federal employees with vision loss will make up a sizeable portion of the CNIB technology training program’s intended beneficiaries.  To this end, I have attached a description and registration form for the training program the CNIB plans to begin delivering this September.  We hope this information will assist your employees with visual disabilities and their managers to plan their training objectives for the year.  Please feel free to share this information with your counterparts in the other federal departments.

Should you have any questions or suggestions, your input would be highly valued.  I thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide in disseminating this information.

Sincerely,

John

John M. Rafferty President and CEO CNIB

end of day jammin’ session

Volunteers at work

18 paddlers aboard the Lake Joe Voyageur canoe

The 225hp E-TEC ran twice that day – five minutes leaving the start, and another five getting back.  Otherwise, we spent the day moving around a large weed flat using the Minn Kota Terrova with plenty of occasions holding stationary with the Terrova’s I-Pilot anchor lock feature.  Claude himself uses a Minn Kota Talon to achieve a fixed anchored position necessary to dead-stick soft plastics at the end of long casts.

Claude is a huge proponent of fishing Senkos wacky style unweighted using octopus style hooks.  By noon that’s pretty much exactly what I was throwing too.  Instead of an octopus hook however, I elected instead to use a weedless wacky hook, but on reflection, I don’t think I was that much better off in terms of keeping weeds off my line.

Claude’s method is to make long casts into gaps between the weeds and simply wait.  He’ll give the Senko a few twitches once it’s resting on the bottom, and sometimes let it sit for as long as a minute before quickly reeling in.  We both picked up weeds on the retrieves which meant we only actually fished the spots where our baits initially landed.

Claude’s slow and systematic style of fishing has paid off on many occasions.  He and his partner finish routinely near or at the top.  It also confirms what many of us already suspect but often have difficulty putting into inaction.  It isn’t necessary to be in constant motion to find fish.  Even if the fish aren’t biting now, at some point in the day, they will feed.

Funny enough, when comparing notes at the end of the day with the other anglers, many reported catching most of their fish in the first 2-3 hours – the same time period Claude and I caught nothing.  Conversely, when Claude and I started catching Bass, the bite for many of the other competitors dropped off.

Claude and I may not have won the event that day, but what I learned was invaluable.  Slow down, and catch more fish.

Big thanks to the Renegade organization for allowing me to participate in the event, to the volunteers who assisted with launching boats and hosting the free BBQ, and to Renegade’s 2012 MC Big Jim McLaughlin for making us all feel like winners.  Shimano, Berkley, Paddle tails and Bennett’s also stepped up to the plate in big ways to reward each and every amateur – an over-all experience that’s well worth the investment.

As most know, the time to fish for Lake Trout in southern Ontario is shortly after the ice goes out – certainly not in late August.  However, I made a promise to join a good friend for some lake Trout action during one of those mid-winter conversations while sitting in an ice shelter, the bite had slowed, and thoughts had turned to planning all the things we were going to do that summer.  Six months later found us on Big Rideau Lake, along with 75 Renegade Bass Club boats, bobbing along in my friend’s 16-foot aluminum dragging cannon balls near or on bottom 100 feet below.

Now, we could have taken my SUV and my 619 Ranger fully equipped with two electric Scotty pro-series downriggers and a Lowrance HDS 7 at the console, but nope, I was the guest and we were going to do this the same way my host had been doing it for over 15 years – back to the basics.  Manual downriggers, a trolling plate on the main 2-stroke motor, and a 20-year old depth sounder that, at best, was able to provide intermittent depth readings.  My only condition was that I be able to use my new Shimano Claris 10’3” Medium-light action Steelhead rod equipped with a Shimano mooching reel spooled with 300 yards of 16lb mono (I usually spool up this combo with 8lb mono, but when using downrigger clips, 16lb is pretty much minimum if your going to have any chance of effecting a line release at 100-feet down).

The Big Rideau out of Portland has plenty of water 100 feet deep and more.  There are also ample deep-running shoals and humps which can make for some interesting contour trolling action.  Amazingly enough, we weren’t the only boat out there that day trolling for Lakers with as many as four others in sight at one time.

Three months earlier would have had us trolling much higher in the water column, which would have eliminated our present need to bottom contour troll.  It would have also eliminated the stress of keeping the two cannon balls from lodging on yet another surprise shoal or hump and sinking the boat.  We were trolling without the benefit of GPS or maps.   And, given the time of year, we had little choice but to follow, if not drag, the bottom.

On the plus side, with our coming off one of the hottest 12-months ever recorded, we knew the comfort zone for the Lake Trout had shrunk considerably.  This, theoretically, should have made finding fish that much easier.  As the thermo cline descends, the zone in which Trout can live comfortably, shrinks.  It doesn’t mean Lakers won’t move up to take advantage of the ample food supply suspended balls of bait represent, and with a good GPS / sounder package it would have been possible for us to drop down to these bait balls with 1-2 ounce jigging spoons; however, the challenge is finding and maintaining position over-top of these balls, which requires a good sounder / GPS unit.

We started off trolling dodgers followed by fresh minnows rigged on a 3-foot leader with a small size #4 treble.  The treble was attached to the leader by first using a baiting hook to fish the loop of the leader in through the mouth of the minnow and out again through the belly just ahead of the tail.

Our first 3lb Laker came on a minnow rigged behind a blue and silver dodger in 98 feet of water. Given the depths we were running at, it wasn’t long before we had each tied on small 5-blade gang trolls.

Admittedly, towing around a gang troll creates considerable resistance which can take away from the ability to detect strikes from smaller fish.  However, by using my hand to maintain direct contact with the downrigger’s steel cable I was able to not only determine if the cannon ball was dragging too aggressively, but feel a fish thrashing prior to the line clip releasing.

Using my sense of touch also made for efficient deployment of the riggers as I simply lowered each cannonball until making contact with bottom, and then gave several quick turns of the handle.  I had to be careful using this method however, as the ball would drop completely vertically which meant our forward movement would place the boat considerably ahead of where the cannonball would make bottom contact, requiring a few additional turns to the handle to compensate for the cannonball’s return swing forward.

All said and done, we managed to boat five Lakers throughout the course of the day, with a lovely 5lb eater coming up right at the end.  Proof positive that it’s still possible to catch fish using less than state-of-the-art technology.  And, while catching Lake Trout early in the season flat line trolling may have offered us more excitement in terms of feeling the bite and a fight based more on moving fish horizontally than vertically, deep contour trolling is still fun– especially on light tackle and a mooching reel where applying drag means releasing the handle to allow the reel to spin in reverse.  I will say though, my pour arm and shoulder paid the price for our success.

Lawrence paddling the Hobbie Cat

At age 12, I along with 15 other 1st Georgetown Venturers took part in a canoe trip that started in Toronto an ended at Summerset P.E.I. Our Venturer Company was made up of avid paddlers, and this voyage was our chosen method of travelling to the 1977 world scout jamboree.  Travelling by canoe obviously didn’t represent the most efficient form of transportation, but we chose it because we love canoeing.  Kayak fishing too is a personal choice based on one’s spirit of adventure.

Now that my sight has gone completely, the sensation of being so closely linked to the movement of water has become that much more powerful.  The feel of digging in a paddle and knowing that concluding a voyage depends totally on each and every stroke represents a tangible relationship that can’t be any clearer.  Canoe tripping in Algonquin Park, shooting rapids on the lower Madawaska River, or riding ocean swells along Cape Breton’s rocky coastline are experiences I enjoy reliving over and over.  Fishing from a kayak ranks as one of my favourite sports as it combines two of my greatest pleasures.  And while I don’t claim to be the first, 35 years ago I did carry with me a small hand-line throughout the 2,000 km 36-day canoe trip to P.E.I.

The idea of putting down the paddle and using my legs to power a kayak, for me, is a concept I initially dismissed as a trend.  At the same time, the obvious advantages of having my hands free to feel the bite made sense, but kayak fishing isn’t about making sense – it’s about passion.

After speaking throughout the winter with Jason Kirby of Jenda Paddle Sports, I agreed to give HobieCat’s Mirage drive system a try.  Already being the owner of a sit-on-top fishing kayak, the Mirage system was of interest for two reasons over and above the obvious advantage to trolling.  One, it has a hand operated rudder system beneficial to maintaining a true track – a feature of particular interest to me (LOL), and two, the peddle propulsion system is virtually silent.  Not to say someone well trained with a paddle can’t stroke without making sound — it’s stowing paddles and retrieving fishing rods that generates the clatter.

David Mingy, a seasoned kayak fisher, and I set out from Ottawa for a day on the water and fishing.  The lake we chose is closed to boats with motors over 9.9hp, and regarded as a consistent producer of quality Bass.

Lawrence’s buddy Dave Mingy

Normally, I’d have aboard my kayak talking compass and GPS systems, but for this trial, I wanted to fully experience what the HobieCat Revolution with its Mirage drive had to offer.  Instead, at the tip of one of Dave’s rods, we attached a small bell commonly used for ice fishing.

The idea being that the rod tip would move enough to ring the bell when Dave was underway so I could follow along.  The only drawback to a system such as this is that it doesn’t tell me which way Dave’s kayak is pointing until he travelled some distance and it was possible to determine his course.  Judging Dave’s speed and the distance between the two kayak’s also involved my maintaining concentration.  All this to say, that bell made Dave and his kayak a bit of a target.

Just to be stubborn, I paddled the HobieCat the first half of the day and used the Mirage drive the second half.  The HobieCat Revolution 13 tracked well with the rudder retracted, and paddled effortlessly.  However, even my experienced stroke and superb concentration resulted in my forward progress resembling more of a bird dog working hard to flush pray.

The lake itself was one typically found in this terrain, having clear water and a shoreline made up primarily of over-hanging deciduous trees and plenty of rock.  The bottom dropped off sharply, which meant the targeted area holding fish was between five and 10 feet out from shore.

The first Bass we spotted was floating dead.  On closer examination, we discovered a live Sunfish stuck in its mouth.  The Bass itself measured to be 19” in length, and while we weren’t able to extract the Sunfish, from all indications it was prospering from its predicament.  Ironic just how life can turn the tables on even the surest thing.

Dave and I caught plenty of Bass in the 1-2 pound range throughout the day, but no lunkers.  Sunfish were everywhere, and it wasn’t unusual to have a dozen or so directly below the kayak at any one time.

Half way through the day had us about 4km from our launch point.  It was time to reverse direction and switch over to the Mirage leg-powered system.  The first thing I noticed was just how quietly the Mirage system functions.  With periodic course corrections made through the hand-operated rudder system, I could easily parallel Dave’s kayak as we trolled 20 or so feet out from shore following the lake’s contours.  While the Mirage drive’s lack of reverse occasionally required I un-ship my paddle, I probably would have managed fine with just a ping pong racket.  (One need simply fully extend one of the peddles to flatten the Mirage’s two fins flat against the bottom of the HobieCat.)

By the end of our day, (six hours), I was definitely a convert to HobieCat’s Mirage drive.  The next day made me even a bigger believer when I awoke with stiff arms from paddling, but felt no ill effects in my legs.  The ease of use and virtual silent operation has made the Mirage drive a definite main-stay in my kayak fishing arsenal.

Last fall my good friend Doug Laurie-Lean and I began training with the “Freedom at Depth Canada” SCUBA program headed up by Hubert Chretien.  Huby trains people with disabilities to become certified in SCUBA, and after countless hours sitting at his kitchen table studying and in his pool practicing, we made our first five dives.

Doug and Lawrence by the pool

I understand that for folks with physical disabilities SCUBA represents the opportunity to experience true freedom in movement.  For folks like me who have no sight, it’s a completely different experience.  Not only am I without sight, but underwater, other than the sound of my own bubbles, I lose my sense of hearing as well.  Add to this a complete loss of orientation that occurs the moment contact with the surface is lost and lasts until contact with the bottom has been established.  As someone without sight, SCUBA provides a complete suspension of time and reality, and there’s more.

My gear consists of a 7mm neoprene wet suit, gloves, boots and fins, hood and mask, buoyancy control device, a tank of compressed air, regulator, and 20lb of lead.  I was literally covered from head to toe, and thanks to the innovative arm and leg cuff system designed by Henderson Sports on their new Aqua Lock wet suits, I remained almost totally dry.

Each of my first three dives on day one were to a depth of about 30 feet.  We were diving the St. Lawrence River along side ocean-going cargo vessels and the numerous cigarette style speed boats taking part in the Kingston poker run.  Regardless, once under the waves all that noise and disturbance was left far behind.  The river’s bottom, on the other hand, offered up a wide variety of both man-made and natural attractions to explore.  There was also junk, which frankly left me ashamed to be part of the land dwellers who think nothing of tossing waste into the river.

Everyone should experience directly just how obvious trash becomes on the river bottom.  For the most part, the river bed is barren and flat once your down over 25 feet, resulting in anything larger than an egg being more than obvious.  It did however, make me re-think the importance structure is to fish.

I detected countless Zebra Muscles on just about every hard surface, and fresh water clams on the more prevalent siltier areas of the bottom.  At about 25 feet the grass started, and by 15 feet algae blooms were flourishing.  And then there were the Round Gobies, which covered the bottom at all depths.

The first three dives included demonstrating the different skills I learned over the winter.  From mask and regulator recovery to buddy breathing, we did it all with the exception of three skills Huby was saving for day two.

Our second day of diving had us at an expired rock quarry which had long since filled with water.  We had two dives left and both would take me to a depth of 60 feet.  I know how tall my 3-story house is, having renovated it inside and out over the past dozen years, and 60 feet is twice its height.  The comparison didn’t help calm my nerves at all.

Lawrence taking a giant step

Day two also turned out to be the hottest June 20th on record for our area, with temperatures in the “feel like” range of 44 degrees C.  It wasn’t fun standing around in the heat encased in 7 mm of black rubber.  Thankfully, Huby tried hard to limit our on-deck time, but we still cooked like steamed lobsters.

The water temperature was a different story.  The first 25 feet down was refreshingly cool.  The next 35 feet was just plane cold.  Thankfully, my wetsuit was more than up to the challenge, and the only part of me that really felt the cold were my lips.  Turns out numb lips aren’t the greatest for holding on to a regulator, and on more than one occasion I had to concentrate on clamping down to avoid my regulator from being knocked from my mouth by Huby’s elbow.  (Huby and I travel underwater by his leading me by grasping my forearm.

The quarry delivered up quite a number of surprises.  First there was a 2-man submarine wresting on the bottom at 60 feet.  The craft measured about 25 feet in length and around 4-feet in diameter.  The second surprise was an old tug boat at 50 feet.  The hull was still in excellent condition.  The third wreck was a twin engine aircraft resting at about 30 feet.  Of course, having no means of communicating underwater except for the hand-on-hand system Huby uses to convey depth, air pressure and remaining dive time, it was up to me to figure out what all these foreign objects represented using touch.     Diving around wrecks had to be performed slowly as I was to learn all too well when my forward momentum suddenly halted due to my tank running up against a horizontal rudder connected to the sub’s conning tower.  Huby advises that one always begin with a preliminary swim around the wreck to assess its general condition prior to conducting a more detailed examination.  My 7mm neoprene gloves and the metal being somewhat older and slightly eroded made it safe for me to run my hands along all the different surfaces.  I have to admit the idea of diving on fresh wrecks to recover victims did cross my mind, causing me to wonder what it would be like to participate in an emergency recovery dive using just my hands.

On several occasions I lost contact with the wreck I was exploring and quickly became disoriented.  Being without sight means I’m not only unable to know where my dive partner is, but whether I’m sinking or rising and at what speed.  Without something to follow during descents and ascents, like an anchor rope, I have no way of judging the speed at which my depth is changing other than by the pressure in my ears.  Descending and ascending at no more than one foot per second is the general rule.  Any faster and one runs the risk of permanent impairment or death caused from sudden and significant pressure change.

Even knowing which way is up isn’t always obvious.  Swimming down increases the pressure in my ears, but then again, it feels the same as when swimming up.  Two tactile indicators allow me to judge my body position in relation to the earth’s gravitational pull.  The first is the direction bubbles are travelling as they leave my regulator – passing by my face means my face is pointed down.  The second is the weight of the lead weights in the front pockets of my BCD (buoyancy Control Device).  With my body horizontal and oriented down, the weights are pulling on my BCD.  With my body facing up, the weights are pressing down on my mid section.  The air tank itself offers no actual clue, which seems crazy since it’s full of air.  However, a full tank provides 4lb of buoyancy under water, and a near empty tank generates about 2lbs of weight.

Skills demonstrated during the two quarry dives included mask recovery, swimming ascent without a mask, and an emergency swimming ascent.  Taking off the mask down deep in that cold quarry water was anything but fun – similar to what bobbing for beers in an ice-filled cooler must feel like.

Dive five ended with my following the quarry wall where it met the bottom.  I was so focussed on the task it came as quite a shock when I finally ran out of water.  My first thought was that I had swam into some sort of thick soup.  My forward progress halted and everything grew heavy.  It was only after hearing the beach goers that it dawned on me that I had emerged.  My next thought was a realization of what fish must experience when they leap clear of the water.  Weightlessness and freedom of movement are suddenly things of the past, and one’s body feels so much heavier. Fish must find being out of the water their own personal hell.  Makes one wonder why early life forms crawled out from the oceans in the first place.

This is one land-lover that will be crawling his way back into the depths.  My goal is to develop a deeper understanding of the types of habitat fish associate with.  It’s already affected my fishing.  I am now covering water using larger dissections and spending less time in any one location.  I’m pretty sure that when down over 20 feet, any fish within ten feet of my bait knows it’s there.

I’ll never dive on a coral reef as touching coral can cause it to die and is generally regarded as a “no-no”.  Diving on wrecks is also not my goal as touching submerged ships and such doesn’t give me the same “wow” factor it does to divers who have sight.

I have heard of blind divers employed to use under-water suction equipment to empty hulls of ancient submerged ships where visibility is zero – making it impossible for divers dependent on sight to function.  I also once met a blind Swedish diver employed twice yearly to swim up a 3km 1.5-meter diameter intake pipe holding a camera in one hand and a spotlight in the other – a task sighted divers also refused.  Not being a big fan of confined spaces myself, having spent considerable time in Cape Breton coal mines with sealing heights of 4-dfeet and less, I’ll stick to exploring fish habitat.

It doesn’t bother me that I can’t see the actual fish underwater since I do this often enough aboard my boat fishing.  I simply want to gain a stronger appreciation of their environment and how we are impacting their lives.  My goal is to secure several underwater two-way radios so I can communicate with my dive buddy as we explore fish habitat.

As far as my complete state of dependency when diving at significant depths, I’ll just have to keep the faith and hope my dive buddy is reliable.  Fortunately, as a class “C” diver, I’ll always dive with two other divers, which is important since someone needs to be there to assist my buddy should he or she get into trouble.  And should trouble strike, a third person reduces my chance of having no safe means of regaining the surface.