Thunder BayShow us your fish

Check out some of this summer's best fishing photos from northwestern Ontario

Fishing is a huge part of summer in northwestern Ontario, and anglers from across the region are showing off their catches as part of CBC Thunder Bay's annual Show us Your Fish contest.You can see the best entries here.

CBC Thunder Bay gives away rod and reel sets for Show us Your Fish contest, with over 130 entries

CBC News Posted: Jul 11, 2023 2:42 PM EDT | Last Updated: July 18, 2023

A father and son hold a fish. — Collin Hochstedler and his son, Micah, show off Micah's beautiful 19-inch, 3.6-pound smallmouth caught on Minnitaki Lake near Sioux Lookout in northwestern Ontario. (Submitted by Collin Hochstedler)

Fishing is a huge part of summer in northwestern Ontario, and anglers from across the region are showing off their catches as part of CBC Thunder Bay's annual Show us Your Fish contest.

We've askedfor the best pictures from monster pike to tiny trout and gaveaway two rod and reel sets plus a tackle box stocked by our resident angling expert,Gord Ellis.

Over the past two weeks, we've seen more than 130 entries come in from listeners near and far, and we've come down to three winners.

Carlo Cantera

A man holds a fish, with an excited expression on his face. — Carlo Contera shows off a fish he caught earlier this summer on a lake near Kenora, Ont. (Submitted by Carlo Cantera )

Carlo's smile says it all with this picture of a walleye he caught in Kenora. The feeling of catching a fish like that is something we can all relate to.

Shannon Zurevinski

A man in a swimsuit holds up a fish in front of a lake. — Shannon Zurevinski sent in this great photo of an adventurous catch by her son, Nick, on Lake of the Woods near Kenora. (Submitted by Shannon Zurevinski)

This picture comes with an incredible story fromShannon Zurevinskiand her son Nick's adventurous catch on Lake of the Woods. It's so good, we'll let her tell it herself:

"My son Nick bought a $17 Rapala with his first paychequeand wanted to test it off the dock the same night. But he caught it on the bottom. So he ran and changed into trunks to dive down and see if he could spot it. He dove down nine feet [three metres]and dislodged it from the rocks.

He then threw it up so it wouldn't get caught again andstarted to swim back up with the line in his hand. Then, he made it halfway to the surface when a fish grabbed the Rapala.

It was about a foot from his face as he tried to quickly swim back up to the dock. He reeled it in successfully.It was a 16-inchwalleye.We laughed about it for hours."

Andrew Faiers

A young woman holds up a picture of a fish. — Andrew Faiers sent us this great shot of his daughter, Lucy, with a great catch on Father's Day weekend. (Submitted by Andrew Faiers)

Andrew Faiers saidthis year's picture is brought to us from Lucy. He saidshe loves fishing and always manages to catch the biggest. Her winning entry is an 18.5-inchsmall mouth bass weighing3.5 poundsthat she caught on Father's Day weekend at the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park near Thunder Bay.

What a great memory.

Thanks to everyone who participated this year, scroll through to see some more of our favourite entries from anglers and the stories behind them.

A father and son hold a fish in their hands. — Jesse Harnden sent us this picture of a family fishing trip off the shore of Lake Nipigon. (Submitted Jesse Harnden)

A young man holds a fish he caught. — Susie Rietdijk sent us this photo of her nephew, Parker. 'We spend a lot of time fishing at our camp on Lake Superior,' she says. 'We have caught a lot of fish, but this one is the biggest one yet. Parker reeled in this 43-inch, 20-pound pike. It is a moment he will never forget.' (Submitted by Susie Rietdijk )

A young boy holds a fish — Here's what mom Jessica Kivell had to say about this beauty: 'Spencer, age 9, and his big catch. He caught this it on Pelican Lake in Sioux lookout. He almost didnt go fishing because he loves animals and is bothered by them potentially getting hurt while fishing. He caught and released this guy without any harm done. It was the highlight of the day for him.' (Submitted by Jessica Kivell )

A young boy holds a fish he caught. — Emerson Clark shows off a bass caught on July 1 at Kashabowie lake. (Submitted by Dustin Clark)

A woman poses for a picture with a fish. — Mark Deans sent us this photo of his daughter, Kayla Deans, with the biggest northern pike she's caught so far this summer, a 40-inch whopper. (Submitted by Mark Deans)

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