Welcome to Week CCII 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.
Last week I touched on how spring is a great time to visit the magazine racks because there are a number of fishing annuals and magazines that are worth a look at as we have the down time between ice fishing and the opening of a new season in a few weeks.
This week I am back at the magazine rack to introduce readers to a new offering ‘Wild Guide’.
This magazine is a split publication. By that I mean it is not exclusively about fishing, but also contains articles on the sister activity of hunting.
While it has been nearly 30-years since I shot my last ruffed grouse or mallard duck, I certainly appreciate the two activities hold much in common with many enjoying both, so as long as fishing is well-represented each issue, a joint publication is fine.
But what is really interesting about ‘Wild Guide’ is that it is a Canadian publication.
There are never too many publications telling of all the great fishing opportunities there are across a county as vast as Canada, so to have a new one on the stands is certainly welcome and for that alone well worth a look.
Brad McCann, Publisher and CEO at the magazine opens the inaugural issue.
“Welcome to the premier issue of Wild Guide Magazine and thanks for reading,” he writes. “We are so excited about the launch of our new magazine and we hope you are too. For the premier issue I want to walk you through the concept behind Wild Guide Magazine and the reasons we exist,
“First off, who are we? Wild Guide was started by myself, Brad McCann and long-time friend and hunting and fishing partner Tony Griffiths. We are avid outdoorsmen, devoted husbands, and fathers, passionately dedicated to each one of those things. From this passion is born Wild Guide Inc.
“So why Wild Guide? At first glance it may look like we are simply trying to turn our passion into a career, and yes there is an element of that, but more accurately, we wanted to turn our career into something that allows us to share our passion with others.
“Tony & I recently came to some realizations which have led us to this point. The first is that Canada has a lack of good information for hunters and anglers, particularly those who are new to the sports. While the internet is a trove of information, it is often difficult to find rich, informative material that applies specifically to the areas in which we hunt and fish. So our first objective is to bring educational content from across Canada that will help you become more successful in the wilderness.”
While McCann goes into more detail on plans for Wild Guide, I’ll stop the direct quoting here, because I think education sums up all the rest well.
That is what a magazine is at its heart, much as is that of a newspaper like the one you hold, to educate.
Articles provide an array of information. In a newspaper’s case it might range from a 4-H show, to a provincial election, to what is happening in court. The reader is informed on local happenings and in the process educated.
In a magazine the focus may be more targeted. In the case of Wild Guide it will be fishing and hunting in Canada, but the basic premise remains the same, to inform and educate through the process.
In the first issue of the magazine the diversity of articles is excellent.
There is a section detailing favourite lures, which is always something I will check out.
The first one I noted was the LiveTarget Lures Hollow Body Frog, a nice surface lure you will find in my tackle box as well.
“Our favourite colours are green/yellow and albino/white – www.livetargetlures.com,” writes McCann.
“There’s nothing more exciting than catching a largemouth bass on a top-water and this lure will not disappoint.
“The beauty of this bait is its weed-less design and ability to slide across the top of the worst muck you can find. Throw it deep into the thick of it and ‘walk’ or ‘hop’ it back to the boat. Make sure to pause frequently for a few seconds in the gaps between weeds and pads. This is most often when they’ll strike.
“The key to remember when using a soft frog like this is to resist the impulse to set the hook immediately on the strike. When you do this you’ll most often pull the bait from the fish. Once they strike, give them a second or two to take it down before giving a good hook set. Once the hook is set, get ready to crank like there’s no tomorrow. You’ll want a long 7’ medium-heavy to heavy rod to rip the fish out of the weeds.”
There are a number of other lures mentioned, but I’ll leave those for you to discover when you grab this fine publication.
I will however provide a small taste of one more article for my readers.
The Science of Colour was the article by Steve Starling that drew my interest. It seems when you approach a row of lures in a tackle shop your senses are accosted by just about every colour scene imaginable. We’ve all seen the simple copper or silver spinners, the red and whites, the five of diamonds, but today there are pumpkin seed patterns and neons and about 707 others.
Looking at rubber split tails and worms, and it’s the same thing.
I’ve never been sure whether the myriad of colours is about catching fish on certain days, or about catching my attention as an angler, knowing we are likely to try new patterns in our never-ending effort toy catch the one great fish.
The Wild Guide article at least provides some solid insights into the impact of colour when fishing.
“Because light absorption is greater for longer wavelengths (the red end of the spectrum) than for shorter wavelengths (the blue end of the spectrum), perceived colours are rapidly altered with increasing depth or distance through the water,” states the article.
“The precise rate at which this loss of colour occurs varies depending on the intensity of the sunlight, whether the sun is directly overhead or low on the horizon, the amount of cloud cover, as well as the clarity and colour of the water itself, and the presence of and suspended matter such as weed or plankton. Even in very clear ocean currents far from shore, less than 25 per cent of available sunlight hitting the sea’s surface will penetrate much beyond 30 feet or so. By the time we reach a depth of 300 feet, the remaining light may be as little as 0.5 per cent of that available on the surface. In other words, it’s a pretty gloomy place down there. In freshwater lakes and rivers, this loss of light with depth is even more dramatic.
“As already mentioned, red is the first colour visible to our eyes to disappear, and is typically gone within 15 to 20 feet of the surface. Much less in turbid water, Orange disappears next, then yellow, green and purple. Blues penetrate deepest of all. Both the tones visible to our human eyes and also the shorter, ultra-violet wavelength many fish can see.
“This phenomenon has a profound impact on the way things look to us, and also to fish underwater. White objects will appear bluish or gray underwater, and the darkness of that blue/gray appearance increases rapidly with depth. Red objects will begin to look dark brown or even black within a few metres of the surface. Down at 40 or 50 feet, even in very clear water, the world appears to be composed entirely of shades of gray, blue and black.”
Again the article offers additional material, but you get an idea of the importance colour may play, and a bit more insight into what this publication offers.
Just for the record the first issue does include an article on hunting black bears, and a really interesting one on how to go about making a good cooking fire in the wilderness. The idea of a ‘split single log stove’ is quite ingenious.
Oh and a final nod to Wild Guide for its recipe sections. The photos of goose breast with apricots and leak sauce with anna potatos are enough to start the drool dripping.
Of course it’s the same with moose burgers with smoked gouda, deep fried oyster mushrooms and pickled onion mayo, or paprika marinated duck breast with rutabaga puree, fried orange wedges and chimichurri.
Check out the publication at www.wildguide.ca
