Welcome to Week CLXXX of ‘Fishing Parkland Shorelines’. Like most of us I am a novice fisherman, loving to fish, but far from an expert. In the following weeks I’ll attempt to give those anglers who love to fish but just don’t have access to a boat, a look at some of the options in the Yorkton area where you can fish from shore, and hopefully catch some fish.
Anytime you get to go out fishing in the latter days of October is a definite bonus.
If you get out on water in late October and don’t freeze in the process it is even better.
So on Sunday, Oct. 25, it was one of those rare days. My son and I go for lunch, and decide it is a perfect afternoon to toss a few late season hooks.
We decide to give Whitesand Regional Park a chance.
Now I’ll admit I have never fished the spot this late in the season, so I had limited expectations, but of course lots of hope, which is part of being a fisherman.
We arrived to find one boat trailer, but no one on the shoreline. That was an immediate red flag. It was a gorgeous day, and if no one else was there, it was likely the spot was not exactly a hot spot in October.
But we settled in. We washed a bunch of lures, and never had a nibble.
However, fishermen are not easily deterred, and we picked Whitesand in-part because there was a nearby option. As a back-up plan we knew we could head to the Theodore Dam.
I knew a grid road connected the two, but (I add this in here for my son), I managed to point Adam down the wrong road.
It was a nice sight-seeing jaunt to a huge pile of gravel, not exactly the biggest tourist draw to be sure, but we did see a skunk and a coyote on the slight, 20-minute detour.
Once back on track we added a red fox to the critters seen.
Now you might be guessing by now that my mentioning various animals seen might be because there were not many fish to talk about. Well that might be the case, but there is still some fishing ahead.
We get to the dam and as we climb out of the truck the only two people on the shore are climbing up the bank back to their vehicle. That they were readying to leave was likely to mean one of two things, the fishing was fantastic and they had limited out, or they had enjoyed the same success we had.
It was sadly the latter.
We of course struck up a conversation, and found out quickly the pair had had zero luck — not so much as a nibble tug on their lines.
Now common sense should have kicked in about this time. My son and I had had no luck down the lake a few miles a half hour earlier, and the two fisherman leaving had been skunked. We should have admitted the fish were sleeping away the Sunday afternoon, climbed back in Adam’s truck and headed home.
Instead, we grabbed our gear, walked the same path the pair has just ascended empty-handed, and started tossing lures.
We were alone on the water, except for a duck which must have been somewhat antisocial as it was not part of a south-bound flock, and some people on the far side of the water pulling an airplane with pontoons behind a John Deere tractor. The latter was another sight you don’t see every day at least.
It was still a nice afternoon, not too cold, a time for a father and son to lament the American League Championship loss to the Kansas City Royals. As an aside how feeble was the Jays offence in Game Six when it came to plating runners in scoring position? Runners on second and third in the ninth, no one out, and they couldn’t find a way to score a run to tie the game. It was a hurt which will long stick with Jays fans.
On a more positive note there was time to talk good starts by our favourite National Hockey League teams, the Winnipeg Jets in my case, Montreal in his.
And there was the start of the Saskatchewan Rush season in the National Lacrosse League, the home opener Jan. 15, in Saskatoon on our list to attend.
But I digress. We were fishing as I recall, although it was a bit hard to call it that since there were no fish. Not as much as a false tickle over a rock that we could convince ourselves was a fish.
We finally gave up, headed towards home, stopping in Springside for a quick 18 on the disc golf course. We both ended two under, so not a bad way to finish a great day.
Even without fish it was a great day.
It was still a beautiful late fall day, on the water, a rod and reel in-hand with the hope of a fish coming with every cast. I’d take an Oct. 25, like it anytime at all.
