About Ray


Whether he is on a lake trolling for early season trout, producing his television show or competing in a tournament, it's easy to see that Ray Carignan was born to fish and share his passion for the sport with others.

His love for fishing and the outdoors started when he was 4 years old. His first memories of fishing include catching a 10 inch brook trout. Those magic moments in Canada and Florida spent fishing with his father Roger and his uncles made him a fishing fanatic at a very young age. The pastime that his family introduced to him soon grew. What was just fun for most became a passion for Ray.

Then one day after catching a huge amount of fish, his father sister Rosanne told him; Ray you have received a gift of catching big fish from St-Peter the fisherman's saint. If you use this gift wisely you will reach goals way beyond your imagination. These words coming from a hard working religious nun who received the Canada Order as recognition from Prime Minister Brian Mulroney himself made a big impression on the young man.

Since that moment, not a day has passed that he did not either go fishing or think about it. He quickly evolved into an accomplished multi-species angler.

At 14 years old, he entered his first derby and ended up winning first place. After this, there were many other derbies where he made some money. For Ray that was better then having a summer job.

A year later after winning all those derbies he figured he could make more bucks by guiding clients to his secret fishing spots with his small boat. So he became a very popular fishing guide. Also he wanted to share his love for the sport that consumed him. So Ray started to write for local fishing magazines. Being able to share with others his observations, adventures and tips on the water was very rewarding. This worked for a while until he found out that some major fishing tournaments were offering big money to the winners. So at 18 years old he decided to try his luck in professional fishing tournaments for bass and walleye, between guiding trips. His rookie year was disappointing. He found out that there were many good hard working anglers out there, and they had more experience. He would need more knowledge to win first place.

This hard lesson was learned well. The next season in his first tournament of the year he won The Budweiser National Walleye Championship in Ontario with a world record mark. Imagine 10 walleyes with a combined weight of 72 pounds. Winning the tournament money, plus the boat-motor and trailer rig that came with the lunker prize, gave Ray the confidence to attack the North American Tournament trails.

4 Years later Ray beat his own record at the same tournament to prove that records are made to be surpassed.

Soon after this feat. His second passion; video production erupts with the release of Walleye Strategy an educational DVD that reached record sales all over North America. Many other DVDs followed that release including the famous Strategies & Technique series.

With over 200 successful tournaments from Ontario to Florida under his belt including his qualification for the East Coast Pro Bass Tournament Classic in the US we can say that Ray did use his sacred gift to it's full potential. Ray wanted to do something new and unique. His main goal was to share his passion with everybody. He needed to get more exposure. He spent a few years in college learning all about video production and working part time for CBC.

That's when Outdoor Passion was created. This fast-paced, fun and energetic series of fishing is for all levels of anglers from beginner to pro. He quickly found that underwater footage and HD equipment made the show superior to all the other TV productions.

So in late December 2001 the Outdoor Passion TV show that was shot and edited on a new revolutionary technology called High Definition was broadcast all over North America. This very first HD fishing series was an overnight success all over Canada and the USA. Also Outdoor Passion holds the most rating records for an outdoor production in many major markets all over North America. Within the following next 9 years the series won multiple awards in 10 countries including 8 Golden Moose Awards for being the best outdoor series in North America. No other outdoor show ever won so many awards before.

Right now Ray is working on exciting new cutting edge technologies projects like the production of Blu-ray high definition DVDs with surround sound and the very first fishing show ever made in stereoscopic 3D HD video.

The future looks bright!

Many more things can be said about Ray Carignan's career. Out of all his accomplishments, Ray still holds those days in nature with Lucy at the top of his memories, That is what it's all about. Spending time on the water with the ones you love and if we can motivate more persons to take advantage of the great outdoors, then Outdoor Passion has been a success”.

Outdoor Passion the leader in HD outdoor productions.