OFF GRID LOG CABIN with My WIFE and DOG, Catch and Cook TROUT & How to Sharpen a Knife

My beautiful wife and my cute dog, a golden retriever named Cali, join me on an ice fishing trip from the off-grid log cabin in central Ontario Canada. We start off the day with coffee – actually lattes made on the wood stove - before setting out with the sled and ice fishing gear to catch and cook rainbow trout for dinner. Our DJI Mavic Pro drone captures video and photos of the surrounding wilderness, and I film the trip with my Canon 80D and Canon 6D. Cabelas Canada was kind enough to provide us with a 6-man ice fishing hut, Jet Sled and ice chisel to make our fishing trip more comfortable.

We set out across the frozen lake with the dog running ahead of us, she climbs the granite cliffs to investigate the wildlife in the forest of the Canadian Shield. Once we find a nice spot to set up camp, we try out the G Stove for the first time. In the attached oven, we bake chocolate chip cookies and on the stovetop, I heat up a pot of green curry soup.
I auger (drill) several holes in the ice while my wife captures the scene using the drone. Once the fishing lines are set, we settle in and enjoy the amazing scenery of wilderness Canada on a remote lake in the backcountry. I have camped on this lake many times in the past and I know the fishing is quite good. Within no time, I catch 5 rainbow trout and I keep 3 of them the to cook for dinner later that night.
The weather is perfect; with relatively warm temperatures, partial cloud and intermittent snow flurries. In the late afternoon, we pack up the tent, camping gear, wood stove, axe and other bushcraft tools and head back to the log cabin for dinner. Before we leave, the clouds break up on the horizon and we are treated to a spectacular sunset over the lake, with granite islands and windswept pines in the background.

Back at the off grid cabin in the wilderness homestead, I light a fire in the stove and prepare the trout for dinner. Catch and cook fresh fish is one of our favorite meals, and this is no exception. We accompany the fish dinner with chili and red wine. Living off the land using primitive technology is my preferred method of procuring dinner, but this is a close second. My survival in the coming years as I prepare to move more off grid will depend on my bushcraft and survival skills.

Catching the trout was a little trickier than I anticipated. I had artificial lures as well as minnows and worms, and to my surprise, on the worms actually worked. All five trout were caught on worms actually, which I never would have predicted. In the days following this trip, Joe Robinet and I headed out to catch and cook warm water species of fish including pike, perch and walleye (pickerel). These fish much preferred minnows and were easier to catch. Plus, since we winter camped nearby in a hot tent, we were able to fish right until dark when the fish were more active.