Welcome to Week VII of 'Shore Fishing the Parkland'. 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 a boat a look at some of the options in the Yorkton area where you can fish from shore, and hopefully catch some fish for a good summer fry.
This week we are off to one of my usual fishing haunts in large part because it easy to access, and has a nice area which allows shore fishing.
Head to Theodore and follow the signage, basically heading northeast, to Whitesand Regional Park. The road from Theodore to the park is gravel, but it's a good grid, so even a rainy day you can head to the park.
Now as a regional park there is a fee for access. The daily fee is $5.25 per vehicle, with a yearly pass $40. So if you buy a pass just to fish you better visit Whitesand a lot. That said the pass does allow access to any regional park in the province, so has value that way too.
Being a regional park there is a small concession with limited supplies, cold drinks at least, although it's not always open either. The night we ventured there earlier in June the office was closed, and you were to leave your admission fee in a locked box. We did as requested, although we had to raid our purses pretty hard to find even five bucks in real money in an era of debit cards. Be forewarned to have some cash if headed to Whitesand.Now if it's raining you might want to park up near the concession and walk down to the water, as it is steep enough that coming and going in a rain might be a trick for some vehicles.
Once you do get to the water you are on the Whitesand River, downstream from Theodore Dam, which we visited here early this season.
There is a good-sized area here open to shore fishing, although on weekends it can get rather crowded too.
The spot has some nice amenities to it, including a cleaning hut, which is a huge plus.
There is ample parking too, and that is something some shore fishing spots lack.
Oh and up in the park area there is a picnic area and even a small golf course, options if the fish don't bite.
Now to the fishing.
This is a spot where you have a good shot at what I have come to term 'The Len Thompson Hat Trick'. In hockey a goal, an assist and a fight is a 'Gordie Howe Hat Trick' and while the LTHT does not require a fight, it does require one catch a pike, a perch and a pickerel (walleye) on the same outing.
Whitesand is usually steady for jacks (pike), biting on an array of spoons, imitation perch, five of diamonds, and red and white leading the way. The first two will entice walleye too.
Yes I know many shake their head at walleye on a spoon, but we have landed them on spoons in five different waters this year, so it happens regularly. In general terms for every 'fact' a fisherman offers up, you will learn the opposite often holds true as well.
A lot of people do jig here, using minnows for bait. That works for the pickerel and the perch, although if you want the hat trick jacks rarely go after a limp minnow hanging on a stationary hook, although again it does happen.
A little tip for the week, when you are done at the end of day, a pickerel jig can be a wild thing to store. I have tried zip-lock baggies and they are serviceable, but they come out rather twisted up on the next use. A better solution is to wind them into an empty minnow container and pop on the lid. They stay secure and don't knot up. I doubt I am the first to think of this, but I will admit I thought I was brilliant when it first dawned on me.
The fishing at Whitesand can be varied. You can limit on pike often, and on the good days the walleye. I doubt with 25 perch allowed you could ever limit even on a dusk-to-dawn excursion.
Over the years the later in the evening the better for the walleye, although not the case on the most recent visit, again the exceptions to most things fishing do apply. On the last trip the walleye were elusive all day. Two of us managed one, and that was on my wife's hook. Yep she out-fished me on wallies that day.
The fishing is usually better early season, before July, and then later in the fall. The water heats up in summer and the weeds do become annoying if casting, so the spot losses some appeal as fish seem to get lazy in the summer at Whitesand. This year, with as high a water levels as I've seen at most fishing spots it may be another exception and be steadier summer fishing as deep water will likely warm somewhat slower.
Still for convenience, amenities, flush toilets close by beat the nearest willow bush, and the likelihood of something to fillet and fry, Whitesand Park is a good one.
