Welcome to Week CLIII 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.
If there is one thing fishing does, it’s that it teaches you that you never know enough about the activity to ensure you catch fish every day out.
I’ve written this series for a lot of weeks now, and readers will know I get skunked. Now I can offer up the excuse that as a shore fisherman the likelihood of going fish less is a bit higher. Shore spots are limited on any lake, and you can’t just power up the outboard and head to a more likely spot where fish might be on a slow day.
Then again we shore fisherman don’t deal with outboards that won’t start, flat tires on our boat trailers and other fun aspects of boat ownership, so I suppose in that respect it is a trade-off.
But whether you are casting from shore, or riding the waves in a boat in search of hungry fish, the more you know about what you are doing, the better.
Walk into any well-stocked tackle shop and you quickly realize there are dozens of options when it comes to fishing, spoons, spinners, poppers, divers, worms, and the list goes on. Overlay that with carrying sizes, more colours than a rainbow after a Prairie storm, and various ways to present and retrieve the chosen lure, and the options are limitless.
So it takes a bit to fully understand what is the best approach, and on those slow days, what alternate options to explore, and why.
I am far from an expert fisherman. I kind of hope that is the appeal of what I write at times. I don’t get to travel all over the country and world to fish the storied and historic fishing holes. I just head down the road and fish where you readers do, and on a good day the fish cooperate and I get to write about bigger fish, or lots of fish, and other days, it’s no fish.
Of course I’d prefer it was always fish, so picking up a few pointers is always a plus.
Now there are more sources of information on fishing these days than there are walleye in Good Spirit Lake. Seriously, I counted both and the combination of magazine articles, fishing blogs, books, television shows and other sources out-numbered the walleyes that filled out the survey I did by two-to-one. You can believe that because I am a fisherman, and fisherman never exaggerate — well maybe a little sometimes.
The point is information is out there by the tub full.
But for me, it’s often best to hear something told directly. That usually means getting a feew ideas from somebody fishing down the shore.
This time though I am talking about taking in a speaker, actually two speakers, at the recent Parkland Outdoor Show & Expo.
The team of Gord Pyzer and Dave Bennett made presentations both days, and I had to pop in for a listen.
Now a non-fishing co-worker of mine stopped in and quickly pronounced the presentation boring, which I get if you aren’t into fishing. It’s like me watching soccer, I have never been a fan and I quickly snore watching it.
My son said he wasn’t interested in attending because he didn’t want to hear someone else’s stories about catching big fish. Well he missed out because the tandem focused in nicely on giving some hints to help those listening catch more big fish.
And when Pyzer in particular speaks about how to catch more fish, it should be something you take to heart given his background.
Pyzer, who happens to be one of the great Canadian anglers who was good enough to send me his autograph for my modest collection is a 38-time national award winning writer, multiple National Magazine Gold and Silver Medal Winner, and recipient of the 2014 Canadian Magazine Cover Award, according to the Expo online bio.
“Known in fishing circles as ‘Doctor Pyzer’, Gord has a Master’s degree in Resource Management and worked for thirty years as a senior manager with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, including Policy Advisor to the Assistant Deputy Minister for Northern Ontario.
“While serving as the OMNR District Manager in Kenora, Ontario, Gord established the first conservation-oriented, modern muskie management regulations (for Lake of the Woods) in North America. Using sonic tracking devices and scuba gear, Gord and his team of biologists also initiated one of the most extensive, multi-year tracking studies of smallmouth bass and largemouth bass ever undertaken.
“An internationally sought out speaker and seminar presenter, Gord is the Fishing Editor of Outdoor Canada Magazine; Field Editor of In-Fisherman Magazine and Television.
Pyzer is also two-time recipient of the Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitter’s (NOTO) President’s Cup and winner of the Northwestern Ontario Tourist Outfitter Association’s (NWOTA) Conservation Award, Gord was named by The Fishing News as, “one of Canada’s most influential people.”
In 2003, Gord was also recognized as one of 30 Canadians … “who have had the biggest impact on hunting, fishing and conservation in Canada.”
In 2009, Gord was inducted into the Canadian Angler Hall of Fame at a special ceremony held at the Spring Fishing and Boat Show at the International Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
And Dave Bennett is also rather accomplished too. He is a full time multi-species guide and outfitter from Kenora, Ontario on Lake of the Woods offering deer hunts, winter wolf hunts as well as customized fishing trips for walleye, bass, lake trout, crappie, northern pike and musky.
“Growing up on Lake of the Woods, Dave was on the water constantly as a young boy. He was “guiding” family members and friends in his little 14’ boat at the age of twelve. Starting his career with one of the largest resorts in Canada at the age of 16, Dave now has over 20 years experience as a guide.
“Dave is also an accomplished bass tournament angler and one of only a few anglers to ever capture both the Fort Francis Canadian Bass Championship and the Kenora Bass International titles,” noted his bio.
Now I don’t want to simply parrot what the duo said at the Expo, but there were a couple of things which I found interesting which I want to try myself, and thought I would pass along here.
The first was Pyzer’s comments on the 90/10 realities of fishing.
As examples he said 90 per cent of the fish caught, are caught by 10 per cent of anglers.
That suggests the 10 per cent know good spots, and know how to fish them well.
Certainly knowing the spots matters, as Pyzer also stated that 10 per cent of water (lake or river), holds 90 per cent of the fish.
“Most of a lake is a dessert (in terms of fish),” he said.
The same rule applies to how we fish, said Pyzer. He said 90 per cent of fish bite on the initial drop of the lure, and only 10 per cent on the reel-in.
Now that is one I found interesting.
I can confirm that is at time very true. Fish at Indian Point on Crooked Lake hit on the drop usually, and the same at the spot I toss them at Pelican Lake.
But at Stony, Shellmouth and Canora Dam they seem more prone to follow the lure toward shore before striking.
In situations where fish are hitting on the drop, Pyzer’s suggestion about cast, drop, then a fast reel-in to cast again makes sense.
“He who makes the most coasters usually catches the most fish,” he said.
The pair also talked about fishing big.
They said big walleye in particular seek out the biggest meals they can find, so offer them big baits. They were talking 3/4-1 ounce heads, with five-six-seven-inch swim baits. That is larger than what I generally toss, but I’ll be stocking up a few for the new season.
And finally I’ll pass on the comments that colour matters far less than we tend to believe. They talked about sound, the rattlers, making a difference, as does vibration through lure movement, and even presentation, and then colour fits in after that. I found that interesting because we fishermen are so easily attracted to a new colour lure when we go to the tackle shop.
