Welcome to Week CVXXIV 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.
There are always new and intriguing lures to attract at least fisherfolk, and at best of course fish.
For example there are Unfair Lures (www.unfairlures.com) a company perhaps not as well-known in Canada, but thanks to the Internet I discovered.
The U.S.-based company focuses on the designs of Paul Van Reenen.
“I just love, love, love fishing and absolutely hate badly designed lures,” details the website. “Been fishing with them unhappily for too many years… Now three-years later with fabulous Unfair Lures’ lure patterns established, I never need to tie on any other company’s lures again
“I would love to share my designs and skills with you.”
So what sets the Unfair Lures apart?
Well a couple of things are immediately notable.
The first thing is that the lures are rattlers. All right a lure with something inside which rattles around as the lure is retrieved is not new, nor unique, but it is something which has proven effective. Noise vibrations in the water at least help get the attention of fish, and that is a good thing.
More interesting is the ‘bleeding gill’ on the lures.
The lures incorporate material along the gill line, in bright reds, which looks a lot like a fish with its gill protruding. Predator fish like injured prey, so that is a good thing.
The red colour is bright too, so that never hurts.
So let’s look at what the company says about a couple of its own lure lines.
First the Rip-n-Slash which is targeted at freshwater species, for us that means pike and walleye primarily with these lures.
“Paul’s UNFAIR Rip-n-Slash is a hybrid search bait molded after a Cigar Minnow head and tail section. It casts a mile and swims like it’s about to be ‘crushed’. It features the 3D Gill and carefully selected holographic tones to give it the edge over those ‘old’ no design featured lures. Tie one on and fish with your camera ready. New hybrid features; swivel for better action, knots and no line twist, and ‘living eye’ with life sized pupil makes an easy target for predators. Transverse hook hangers for single hook options. Hydrodynamic fins add natural swimming action. Quality PvR Turbo-Set 3 X hooks will hold on to your catch. The holographic colour change finishes and dynamic swimming angles are hard for fish to resist. There’s no need to spend hours filling a baitwell, when you have the fish calling erratic action from a Rip-n-Slash in your hand, ready to cast,” details the website.
Paul’s Dinkum Mullet is listed as a saltwater lure, but one look at it and its perch look, and you just know pike are gonna love it.
“Paul’s UNFAIR Mullet is the first mullet bait with radical and new ‘hybrid’ features. It has the exact visual profile and sonic signature that fish identify with their lateral sensory organs as easy prey. The Mullet has the patented 3D Bleeding Gill that screams “attack me”. This exclusive gill also holds scent which can last cast after cast. No more failing split rings; the stainless swivel line connection ensures better knot strength, improved action and eliminates line twist. ‘Living eyes’ have life sized pupils that make easy targets for predators. Transverse hook hangers for single hook options. Hydrodynamic fins create a natural swimming action. New quality PvR Turbo-Set 3 X hooks stand up to the toughest gamefish. The holographic ‘color change’ finishes and dynamic swimming angles are hard for fish to resist. Don’t spend all your time getting bait, spend it fishing—when you have this cutting edge Mullet ready to go in your hand,” details the website.
While this style of lure is a crowded one, the gill modification, and rattle combo is one to definitely check out.
And as autumn falls upon us, the evenings grow dark ever-earlier.
With longer evenings there is more time to do things other than fish, like reading a great fishing mystery.
A great choice would be Crazy Mountain Kiss by Keith McCafferty.
The book is the latest addition to the acclaimed Sean Stranahan mystery series.
I have been a fan of the Stranahan series since book one ‘The Royal Wulff Murders’.
McCafferty’s ability to weave a solid mystery, and keep fishing as a nicely complimentary aspect creates just the right read for an avid mystery lover and fisherman.
It helps that the author has long been not just an avid fisherman, but a wordsmith who has a long resume of writing prior to launching his mystery series.
Keith McCafferty is the Outdoor Skills and Survival Editor of Field & Stream, a recipient of the Traver Award for angling literature, and has twice been a finalist for a National Magazine Award. His first novel in the Sean Stranahan mystery series, set in Montana’s Madison River Valley, The Royal Wulff Murders, was a Book of the Month Club and Mystery Guild selection and received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly. Keith was one of three finalists for the High Plains Award for the Novel, along with Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Ford and National Book Award recipient Louise Erdrich. Keith’s second novel, The Gray Ghost Murders, was selected by the Oprah Winfrey Book Club as one of the “5 Addictive New Mysteries We Can’t Put Down.” His third Dead Man’s Fancy, also received a star review from Publisher’s Weekly. “Crazy Mountain Kiss” will be released by Viking in the summer of 2015. Keith lives in Bozeman, Montana, relates www.penguinrandomhouse.com
In Crazy Mountain Kiss PI Stranahan and Sheriff Ettinger reunite to investigate a young girl’s death.
“Spring snow still clings to the teeth of Montana’s Crazy Mountains when an unsuspecting member of the Madison River Liars and Fly Tiers Club discovers a Santa hat in the fireplace ashes of his rented cabin,” details the Penguin site. “Climbing to the roof to see what’s clogging the flue, he’s shocked to find the body of a teenage girl wedged into the chimney. A rodeo belt buckle identifies the recently deceased victim as Cinderella “Cindy” Huntington, a rising rodeo star. Hyalite County sheriff Martha Ettinger has been hunting for the girl since she went missing the previous November.
“Was Cindy murdered? Or was she running for her life—and if so, from whom? Suspicion falls on a buckskin-clad mountain man who calls himself Bear Paw Bill. But Etta Huntington, Cindy’s high-strung mother, herself a famous horsewoman, thinks the evil might lie closer to home. She hires fly-fishing guide and private detective Sean Stranahan to find the answers. Setting aside their after-hours relationship, Sean and Martha find themselves deep in an investigation that grows to involve a high-altitude sex club, a lost diary, cave pictographs, and the legends of the Crazy Mountains. With his signature wit and wry humor, McCafferty writes a pitch-perfect mystery that is as haunting as the Crazies.”
You can keep up with McCafferty, who has two more books in the Stranahan series scheduled, at www.keithmccafferty.com
