alyssa leblanc fishing

Alyssa Leblanc

3 minutes

Every adventurer has a different path that takes them to the water. And, that brings them back; some day by day, and some after years away.

Alyssa LeBlanc’s is the latter.

Born and raised in small-town Nova Scotia with nature as her playground, Alyssa started hunting and fishing with her brothers, father, and grandfather at a very young age. A family activity that was the throughline in life, she kept up the outdoor adventures and marine foraging into her older years - only slowing down once the pressures of corporate jobs and ‘adulthood’ pulled her away.

young woman on a boat cutting and gutting fresh fish to cook

Alyssa Leblanc Wears the Women's Callan Waterproof Pants

That distance remained until in 2015, when she was in a car accident that resulted in a traumatic brain injury (TBI) she needed to leave her corporate job to heal from. While resting and in recovery, she turned her focus to cooking...and found a whole new passion that ultimately landed her on Season 6 of MasterChef Canada (taking home 7th place!).

Her cooking is rooted in her roots; focusing mostly on food she hunts and fishes herself - keeping her freezer stocked for the year with what she harvests.

Another major turning point in Alyssa’s story came where her passion for cooking and comfort as a lifetime adventurer converged. Because hunting, fishing and foraging with family was always part of her upbringing, when a group canoe trip with her chef friends featuring world class trout fishing surfaced as a possibility, it was an easy yes. That trip was also the catalyst for Alyssa’s uncompromising advocacy for PFD use in all watercrafts - as a near drowning incident of one of her adventure-mates exposed her to the necessity of always being backed by a flotation solution you know and trust.

woman in red PFD holding up fresh caught fish with water and sunshine behind her

Today, you can catch her hunting, angling, and cooking up a storm - and always on the water in her Khimera Dual Flotation PFD.

Fast Facts:

  • MasterChef Canada Season 6 contestant (7th place)
  • Proud Nova Scotia Acadian
  • Hunter, Angler, outdoor enthusiast and cook who specializes in wild game that she hunts/fishes herself
  • Hobbies on land: musician, singer/songwriter
  • Go-to cooking tool: a cast iron pan
  • Favourite spot to visit by boat: The Tusket Islands
  • Has her own save story: jumped into action to save a friend from drowning on a canoeing trip with friends...more on that later
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