Costumer story - Good-time Roger

Roger Véronneau started fishing around the same time he learned to walk. His father taught him light tackle techniques at a young age on Lac des Deux Montagnes. This is where he discovered just how happy fishing could make him. At 63, Roger feels happiest with a rod in his hands and his feet in a boat.

The Véronneau family was living in Montreal’s West Island when Roger took his first steps into the world of sport fishing. “One of my earliest memories is being in a boat with my father. I must have been five years old,” recalled Roger. “My Dad would take the three oldest kids fishing for the day on Lac des Deux Montagnes about ten times a summer.” Soon enough, day fishing turned into weekend trips, and then into four- to seven-day stays at outfitters.

Roger was 14 when he first visited Wapus Lodge in Maniwaki. “We went there a lot in the 70s with my father to fish for walleye and pike.” At 18, he took his future wife. Did she have a choice? “No. It’s part of the package," said Roger, laughing.

After visiting over thirty outfitters, the avid fisherman now calls Pourvoirie Mekoos in Mont-Laurier his second home at least three times a year. “It’s easy to get there, with nicely maintained roads. The wilderness is beautiful, the fishing is excellent—there’s great native brook trout—and the territory is well managed. Plus, it’s just three hours from Montreal.”

Hospitality Dumoulin style

The territory at Pourvoirie MekoosThis link will open in a new window holds no secrets for Roger. “We’ve explored it from end to end, by quad and on foot. We’ve fished on every lake. The Dumoulin family will agree . . . we know the land by heart.”

His best-kept secret? Baker Lake. “It has three types of fish: walleye, brook trout and lake trout. There’s also a fine-sand beach.”

The outfitter has changed hands since Roger’s been going there, but really the only thing that’s changed is the many improvements. The welcome centre is great, the fishing is good and the cabins are comfortable. “The Dumoulin family has mastered the art of hospitality. We became friends right away. Today, three of the Dumoulin children have taken over, and the service is still impeccable.”

From one season to the next

Roger has been a loyal customer for 45 years. While spring fishing is just with the guys, summer is all about family. “Also, we’ve started a fall tradition where we go up to Pourvoirie Mekoos as a couple along with my brother and sister-in-law.”

If spaghetti is a recurring menu item on the ‘guys only’ trips, the couples’ trips are a different story. “We treat ourselves to seafood and drink excellent wines. That’s also part of life’s little pleasures.”

Outfitters offer good times to those who know how to appreciate the present moment . . . like happy hour, Roger’s favourite time of day! “That’s when we tell stories as we prepare dinner. Then it’s everyone around the campfire, looking up at the starry skies.” A bit of a cliché, perhaps? Never. This is where Roger has found his true nature.

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Written by Diane Laberge