Welcome to Week CLXXIX 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.
Twice this year I have crossed the Birdtail River at Birtle, MB., and thought of fishing its waters.
The first time was on a hot July31 day when I attended the summer fair there. The event is noted for its heavy horse show, which is something I would have loved to just sit back and watch, but alas it was a volunteer working day for me. I was demonstrating disc golf, with a small area with our portable basket, I was able to let people throw a few discs and get to know the sport a little.
It must have helped, but a little more on that a bit later.
After the demonstration we drove through the park area in town, and area with several access points to the river to toss a hook. A small area which is a natural waterfall in the river looked promising. But there was no time that day, so I sort of filed the spot away to one day try.
As it turned out the disc golf demonstration helped start the ball rolling in Birtle, and led to the local decision to develop 50-acres of rolling hills on the valley of the Birdtail River into a disc golf course.
This past weekend myself and Trevor Lyons headed to Birtle to design the course.
It was two days of walking through foot-tangling long grass, up and down hills, over and over again. In the end we had a course, a long par 72 beauty which should challenge most disc golfers. It is now in the hands of local people to install, with a plan to host a tournament at the course May 28, 2016.
So late fall fishing in a small river is not usually going to result in many fish, and in this case, in spite of having some gear in back of the rig, by the time we had led the mower around the 6000-plus foot course for its first round to define fairways, I was far too tired to toss a lure anyway.
But the river still had its allure.
“When Alfred Morton, John Richardson and Andrew Bissett reached the Birdtail on Sunday, June 9th, 1878, they found themselves in a land not entirely strange,” details ‘A History of the Municipality of Birtle 1878-1974’ published by
The History Committee of the Municipality of Birtle Compiled and edited by Marion W. Abra. “These loyal Canadians must have been in part familiar with recent events in “Rupertsland”. In November 1869 the Hudson’s Bay Company released its hold on this vast territory for three hundred thousand pounds and a grant of land. Shortly before, the Government of Canada had attempted a new survey along the rivers in the Red River Settlement, only to be blocked by Louis Riel and the Metis. The ensuing “troubles” were resolved for the time being by the arrival of the Wolseley Expedition in August 1870. The way seemed clear for further surveys and more settlements.
“Quoting Edmund J. Wilson, founder and long-time editor of the Birtle “Eye-Witness”, “Surveyors - accompanied their maps with glowing descriptions of fine rolling timbered and prairie lands. The Winnipeg - Edmonton trail crossing of the Birdtail got a double share of boosting. Its sparkling waters, famous spring and camping grounds were heralded - A line twelve miles north through the Ranchvale reaches of the Birdtail (indicated) a paradise for stockmen. Large stretches of spruce and tamarack would supply building material for many years.”
“Alfred Morton heard and heeded the siren call to the west. He sold his farm, resigned his school and “spent the winter preparing to tackle homesteading. His enthusiasm induced a neighbor’s son, John Richardson and Andrew Bissett, a Scotch friend, to accompany him. Mr. Morton was to be the first permanent resident of the Birdtail valley, and one of the main supports of the new community that followed soon after.”
As might be expected a flowing river was important to early development.
“The lifestream of the Birtle district has always been the Birdtail River, or Creek, from which it took its name,” relates the history book. “An Indian legend, with the poetic truth of much of their lore, explains the origin of the name thus: “A band of Sioux Indians, following a herd of buffalo, camped beside a small river. The chief’s son noticed a lovely bird flying over the water. It was bright blue, and the scarlet of its breast flashed in the sun. At that moment a hawk swooped on the bird. It escaped, but a blue feather from its tail floated past the boy. He leaned over to grasp it, slipped and was drowned. When his body was recovered he was clutching the blue feather in his tiny hand. From that time the Sioux spoke of the river as the “Birdtail”.
“Percy W. Grant of Solsgirth, son of William Grant and born at Dowsford Crossing in 1885, devoted much time and thought to the story of the valley that he knew so well. “The Birdtail Creek rises in the Riding Mountains and flows for fifty miles in a southwest direction to empty into the Assiniboine in Township 15 Range 27. The area of the valley is about 535 square miles. The headwaters of the Birdtail Creek, where there are a number of small lakes, are hilly and forested, and form part of the Riding Mountain National Park and Game Sanctuary. The lower reaches flow through farming and grazing land. Bluffs of poplar, willow and various softwoods spring up quickly when prairie fires are not allowed to run.”
“Let us conclude this brief sketch of the natural features of the Prairie valley with a quotation from Col. W. F. Butler, who after arriving at Red River in the summer of 1870 to meet the Wolseley expedition was commissioned to go further west. He crossed the prairies in fall and winter in a journey he describes in vivid detail in “The Great Lone Land.” “In winter a dazzling surface of purest snow; in early summer a vast expanse of grass and pale pink roses; in autumn too often a wild sea of raging fires. No ocean of water in the world can vie with its gorgeous sunsets; no solitude can equal the loneliness of the night-shadowed prairie. This ocean has no past - time has been nought to it. One saw here the world as it had taken shape and form from the hands of the Creator.”
So the Birdtail River sits atop my list of ‘must-fish’ spots for 2016. The disc golf tournament in May is on a Saturday, so we are already booking a cabin for that night, in part to enjoy an evening of camaraderie with our new Birtle friends post the tourney, but also to hit the river Sunday for some fishing.
And the Birtle Fair is also on the calendar. A Friday/Saturday event, it is another time to book a cabin, take in the big horses, toss a few discs, and a few hooks, a trifecta of things which will add up to a near perfect weekend in my books. Maybe I’ll pack a graphic novel to read before bed to make it just a bit more perfect too.
