Welcome to Week LXXVII 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 a cool late October Saturday, although in fairness every day late in October is cool, if not darned right cold.
Still the forecast was for generally sunny, the wind modest, the temperature as good as could be expected. It was the sort of day ideal for one more fishing trip.
But where to go?
Usual places such as the Canora Dam and Shellmouth Spillway are usually out because of low water, and while Togo Bridge is always there, we felt like someplace different.
Echo Lake, the locale of my biggest pike last year had somehow eluded us dipping a hook in its waters this summer. There is always room just below the fish culture station, and memories of outstanding burgers at Country Squire Inn in Fort Qu'Appelle made it our choice of the day. We had it figured we'd like a couple of fish with a single hook so to speak, getting in some late season casts and then munch down on a burger that last year had earned its way into a short list of the best burgers ever.
When we arrive we see immediately we are not the only ones hoping for a few late season fish, which we take as a good sign.
When we ask how it's been going, the report of only one small pike, dampened our hopes somewhat, but we fisherman are usually an overly optimistic bunch, so we hit the shore with enthusiasm.
The wind was brisk enough to make us glad we had layered up, and we went about fishing hard in relative comfort.
For more than two hours I threw hooks.
In that time I was reminded of an old adage of fishing, check your gear before every outing.
I was throwing a Len Thompson Fire Tiger and it dragged in a few weeds. Rather than get my fingers wet pulling it off the treble hook, I shook the rod tip, which really is not a good idea since it puts unnecessary stress on the tip, but I do prefer warm hands. Suddenly the lure splashes into the water. The leader had pulled apart just below the swivel which ties to the line.
Had I given the leader a close look and a few hard tugs like I should have I would likely have noticed the weakened spot.
As it was I got lucky. I could reach the lure easily enough with the rod tip, so a quick replacement and I was back at it. But it could have let go had a 20-pounder happened a long. I know better, and know I am fortunate for the incident as it just reinforced that you need to prepare to fish.
As for fishing, well after out fishing me our last time out, the better half pulled a zero.
That was the good news.
The bad news was that I managed to do no better.
Getting skunked my last two trips of the year is going to rub pretty hard on my fishing nerve over the winter, leaving me real antsy for open water in the spring.
So it was time to save the day with a burger.
The sign on the place noted breakfast and sushi, which was a bad omen for a pair of hamburger seekers.
The restaurant had changed its focus to sushi. As a fisherman you might expect sushi would be on my 'best-loved foods' list, but it's not. I'm not averse to eating raw fish, but it's sort of like pizza, I can eat it, but I'd rarely stop just for it.
So the good burgers were gone from the menu.
The sad day of fishing had quickly gotten sadder.
The irony is that a sign inside the restaurant said they were not serving sushi until further notice.
So we had a coffee to fight off the shoreline chill, and climbed back in the car.
We drove around Fort Qu'Appelle, found what looked like a nice quaint looking cafe called Off Broadway Bistro, and then saw the sign that said closed for the season.
We headed north on Highway #10, figuring our best bet was back to Yorkton. But in Balcarres we were getting hungry, and took a quick left to see what we might find.
There was the Balcarres Family Restaurant, offering Chinese and Canadian food. It didn't look like much on the outside, but a lot of small town restaurants offer great eating experience beyond what you get with chains.
The inside ambiance was as 'rustic' as the outside. The floor in the mens bathroom actually sloped.
But the place was busy, and that is always a good sign.
We order three dishes, black bean and garlic chicken, sweet and sour spareribs and the deluxe chowmein.
The first dish to the table would have fed us, well close anyway, since we were pretty hungry by early afternoon.
The ambiance might have been small town, old building, chic, but the food was excellent. The ribs were as good a sweet 'n sour ribs as I've had in ages.
We left full, and with enough food in the take-home bag to fed us for supper too.
It was most certainly a case of not judging restaurant food by the building's exterior. The meal saved our last day of fishing.
Switching gears a bit, the other day we were at Value Village in the city. I like popping in there regularly as I often find board games at a great price.
But looking through the few games they have does not take long. Not near as long as it takes the 'better half' to look through whatever it is a woman looks through.
I mean I get spending an hour looking at fish hooks, but really how can you spend that long looking at jeans?
It has to be something to do with that Mars and Venus thing, and I'm afraid no amount of rumination will help us men understand the inner workings of the feminine mind.
In this case there was a silver lining to things. As she did her thing, I headed to the book rack.
I was once an avid reader, and would have been a regular persurer of the book racks, but time these days amid fishing, gaming, disc golf, TV and even work, has pushed reading down my list so that I rarely ferret out books since I won't have the time to read them anyway.
But on this day I had time.
On my first look through the racks I found 'Fishing In the West: A Guide to Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba by David Carpenter.
The book is copyright 1984, but since it is a guide to lakes and river it remains pertinent. Water does not disappear over a few years.
For the Hundreds of thousands of anglers who regularly fish the rivers and lakes of western Canada, the waters of the region represented a veritable paradise - home to an astonishing variety of species, full of fight and flavour. Here is a guide to this fish-filled region for anglers of every level of skill. In addition to a wealth of fishing tips and techniques, keyed to each species, Fishing in the West tells you how to prepare and cook your catch (including some tried and true methods of freezing, smoking and canning), offers a list of accommodation and maps for every region, and even includes an amusing selection of folklore which reveals the humorous side of a sport renowned for its exaggeration.
More than one hundred lakes and rivers in each province are listed, from the teeming waters where northern pike feed voraciously, to the mile-high lakes which are home to the tenacious cut throat trout, to the deep pre-Cambrian lakes inhabited by the prized lake trout and walleye.
Whether you are a master angler with a string of trophies or a weekend beginner with your first rod and reel, Fishing in the West will add to your enjoyment of this exciting and challenging sport.
Not a book I need to read cover-to-cover, it includes a look at native species, then lists lakes and rivers across the Prairies, with brief descriptions only a paragraph, or three long. It will be a handy guide anytime I head to new water.
She was still not ready after my first find, so I headed back for another look.
This time I noticed a hardcover offering, The Pleasure of His Company: The fishing diaries of Jack Shaw.
I gave the back of the book jacket "In his lifetime, internationally-known fly fisherman Jack Shaw changed the face of fly fishing in British Columbia. The author of two best selling books on fly fishing - Fly Fish the Trout Lakes (1976) and Tying Flies for Trophy Trout (1990), both of which are still in print today - Jack was an inspiration for fly fisherman around the world. In Pleasure of his Company, readers will learn intimate details about Jacks experiences fly fishing through his personal diaries, which spans 19 years. In addition, readers will find out how Jack discovered the secrets of making the imitator fly fishing patterns he is famous for. With fly tying patterns, fishing secrets, tips and personal observations, Jack's diaries are an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the sport of fly fishing", and bought the book.
Admittedly I had no idea who Shaw was, but any angler capable of writing books probably has some secrets to bestow, as the Epilogue suggested "Few people ever get the chance to effect the habits of their fellow man. Jack Shaw not only changed the habits of legions of freshwater fly fishers, he did so primarily as the result of his quiet, truly unique genius. His inventive fly patterns and the skilled use of wet-line fly fishing techniques that he developed, contributed much to the evolution from attractor patterns to realistic, lifelike patterns. Not only around his home waters of the British Columbia Interior, but far beyond. His constant thirst for knowledge included a lifelong interest in the entire world of nature, and his cognizance and understanding of lake ecosystems was based on source material that he accumulated through ongoing field observations and studies. His home aquariums gave him insights into aquatic insects and their ecological systems that only a few people acquire after long years of study, usually at institutions of higher learning or special centres of science.
The book is essentially a fly fishing diary, little notes about days on the water and at the fly tying vice. It makes for a bit of a harder read, but as I make my slow journey into fly fishing there are likely a dozen gems of knowledge to be gleaned here, so I look at it as a worthwhile investment in the craft.
So while I still have no added insight into the shopping mindset of the fairer sex, as long as I get a fishing book or two out of the process she can shop as much as she wants.
