Welcome to Week CLXV 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.
It’s funny how some things stick with you, even as time and experience bring into question their validity.
It’s Sunday, the end of a hot week and weekend, and we decide to head out to Whitesand Regional Park to throw a few spoons.
As we hit Highway #16 west, the clouds on the near horizon are thick and dark. That was not a surprise. The forecast may have been downgraded from rain showers, at least on the website we had checked, but when you live in Saskatchewan you are aware every sweltering summer day may conjure evening thunderstorms.
So before we had traveled far enough to have the city fade in the rear view mirror, there were spots of rain on the windshield.
And by Springside it was raining, sometimes a few spots, others coming down quite hard.
There was a discussion about whether to turn back, but there was a voice in my head, my Dad saying that fish bite better when it rains.
Now considering that shore fishing this year has been slow in general, the prospect of rain-enhanced fishing kept us going down the highway.
I’ll interject here that I am not the only one thinking fishing has been slow.
A recent Global News story touched on the reason.
Beaver Creek conservation’s Kenton Lysak has seen the decrease of the water level at the creek. Water levels are a fraction lower than they should be and the sight of this could worry fishermen, noted the story posted at www.globalnews.ca
“If water flow continuously decreases, it might affect the insect population which is really important for fish, for food, also affecting the freshness of the water,” said Lysak, senior interpreter of Beaver Creek for Meewasin Valley Authority.
By the time we arrived at Whitesand the rain was down to sporadic spits, and so out came the gear, and to work we went.
It was surprising we were the only ones at the site. It’s usually busy on weekends, and even with the rain I had expected others since it was Free Fishing Weekend in Saskatchewan.
“The Free Fishing Weekend is an excellent chance for people to get out and enjoy fishing with friends and family on some of our province’s exceptional lakes and waterways,” said Darrell Crabbe, Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation in a release recently.
With nearly 100,000 lakes and rivers, Saskatchewan boasts some of the best freshwater fishing in the world. Close to 250,000 anglers participate in recreational fishing each year, including more than 40,000 out-of-province anglers. Almost 70 different species of fish inhabit the province’s lakes, rivers and streams. Northern pike and walleye are common species throughout the province, with an abundance of yellow perch in the south and central fishing zones. Northern lakes teem with walleye, Arctic grayling, northern pike and lake trout.
The free weekend is a great event as it allows people who have not fished before to try the great pastime without having to invest in the cost of a license. That is particularly true of new immigrants to the province from other countries who may not be familiar at all with sport fishing.
However, I might suggest a weekend other than mid-July be selected for the event. Yes July tends to be the prime month for holidays and weekend get-aways, but in terms of good fishing July and August are never the best fishing. In fact, when the weather is hot, like it has been of late, fish get downright lethargic it seems. Their interest in feeding wanes, and the likelihood of being skunked on a fishing trip increase greatly.
It would be less than a great first experience for anyone to head out to fish, even if it was free, and catch nothing. I’ve fished for decades and I am still never exactly a happy camper heading home from a fish-less excursion.
Moving the free weekend earlier in the spring would increase the likelihood of a memorable first fishing experience for those taking advantage of the weekend, and that would likely mean more people falling in love with the activity.
I will add here Global News also reported the Saskatchewan government is planning to hold a second free fishing weekend this summer as a result of the forest fires in the province’s north.
A date for the second free fishing weekend will be confirmed when wildfire conditions no longer pose a significant threat to northern communities and people have returned home, stated the story.
So what about our little excursion Sunday?
Well, let’s see, the water was warm, like tepid tea actually, not usually a good sign.
And the weed beds were certainly growing well. I dragged out enough of it to make salads for the summer.
The rain at least petered out, and it was cooler than the weekend had been, so that was a positive.
But the number of casts kept going up, the hook changes more often, and the result the same.
My mind wandered to the bologna and cheese sandwich in the cooler. There really isn’t a shore lunch any better than the simple bologna and cheese sandwich, and it became my focus; the one thing still to look forward to on an evening when the likelihood of a fish grew increasingly remote.
Of course it was about this point a guy who was likely camping at the park happened by to ask how the fishing was going.
I told him it wasn’t, which of course had him relating how he recently had a big day fishing at Stony Lake. It was good to hear, really it was.
I go to the cooler in anticipation. The sandwich is in a ciabatta bun, which sounded like it would only make it better.
Then even that part of the excursion turned to disappointment. The bun was dry, so dry I ran out of spit halfway through. The expectation lost.
So back the rod, and more casting.
Another camper happens by. The same scenario is repeated as he asks how we are doing.
Hearing of our woeful evening he regales us with a tale of good fishing at Fishing Lakes recently, a day the walleye were apparently lining up in single file and jumping into the boat in search of lures to chew on.
It was great to hear; truly it was — well sort of at least given our complete lack of luck.
Finally, I admitted defeat.
And with that admittance I also came to realize my Dad was not necessarily wrong about fish biting after a rain, any more than he would have been suggesting they bite of a day ending in ‘Y’.
Fish are fickle to put it bluntly.
There will be days in the rain they bite and others they won’t.
And no matter where you are, or the weather, fish will be biting better somewhere else nearby. That is just the way it seems to be.
