Spring 2016 by Real Fishing

Canada Post Mail Product Agreement No. 40015689

VOLUME 22 • ISSUE 2 Just $3.95

SPRING 2016

DISPLAY UNTIL JULY 15, 2016

INSIDE - BOB IZUMI’S SPRING FISHING TIPS!

Get the choice of champions behind you. The tournament-proven, direct-injected Mercury® OptiMax® Pro XS™ gets you to the fish first, lets you fish longer, and gets you to the weigh-in on time. That’s the power of the fastest engine on the water. For outstanding acceleration and top speed, nothing beats it. That’s why more pros want Mercury behind them. Including more than 80 percent of the past decade’s Bassmaster Classic champions and Anglers of the Year. Mercury behind you, the world before you. Visit your Mercury Dealer or mercurymarine.com.

©Mercury Marine

™

You’ve been there – those times when the wind gets pushy, the sky turns mean, and the water starts throwing punches. From big water to even bigger expectations, you need real muscle, responsive handling, and advanced engineering to move with total confidence. It’s why we’ve packed so many innovative features and exclusive designs into every Ranger ® FS and Angler multi-species model. Combined with the legendary quality and performance of an easy loading, Ranger Trail ® trailer, these 18, 19, 20, & 21 foot models are precision Built to be Yours ®. So, go ahead. Hit the water with the Ranger ® FS and Angler Series… From the ultra-stable platforms to the water-crushing strength and incredibly smooth, dry ride, It’s The Kind Of Confidence That Runs To A Fight ™.

For The Name Of Your Nearest Ranger ® Dealer, Call:

1-800-373-BOAT

TM/® are trademarks/registered trademarks of Ranger Boats, LLC or suppliers. © Copyright MMXVI Fishing Holdings, LLC d/b/a Ranger® Boats R-6120

(2628)

Contents Features 30 THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED There’s more to steelhead fishing than drifting floats and roe bags. When pressured fish ignore this popular tactic it might be time to take a different road to success. By Mark Forabosco

40 CREE RIVER PIKE ADVENTURE Pike fishing in the spring is some of the best of the year and there’s no better place to catch them than in northern Canada. By David A. Brown

46 A PILGRIMAGE TO THE MARGAREE Exploring the storied Atlantic salmon fishery of Nova Scotia’s fabled Margaree River. By Katrina Pyne

54 SUMMER BACK COUNTRY ANGLING FOR BEGINNERS In this follow-up to his winter back country angling article, Barry Corbett shares his approach to safe and successful summer trips to “off the radar” fishing spots. By Barry Corbett

Spring 2016 Volume 22, Issue 2 Editor Jerry Hughes Art Production Rossi Piedimonte Design Publisher Fred Delsey

Columns

National Advertising Izumi Outdoors Tel: (905) 632-8679 President Wayne Izumi

6 OPENING LINES

26 BEST FISHING TIMES

By Jerry Hughes

Doug Hannon’s moon phase calendar

Contributors David A. Brown, Barry Corbett, Patrick Daradick, Mark Forabosco, Bob Izumi, Wayne Izumi, Steve May, Katrina Pyne, Cynthia Shanley, Dave Taylor Real Fishing is published by Izumi Outdoors Inc. 940 Sheldon Court Burlington, ON L7L 5K6 Tel: (905) 632-8679 Fax: (905) 632-2833 Privacy Policy: Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies whose products and services might be of interest to our subscribers. If you prefer to have your name removed from this list and not receive these mailings, please write to us at the above address.

We welcome manuscripts, but will not be held responsible for loss of manuscripts, photos or other materials. Published four times each year: January (Winter) April (Spring) July (Summer) October (Fall) One year subscription is $9.95. For USA add $10 all others add $30. Subscriptions: Real Fishing 940 Sheldon Court, Burlington ON L7L 5K6 Subscription inquiries Please call: 1-877-474-4141 or visit www.realfishing.com Canada Post Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 40015689 Customer Account No. 2723816 GST Registration No. R102546504

10 SPORTSMEN’S ALMANAC News, trivia, event listings and more from the world of fishing

14 WHAT’S NEW

The latest in fishing tackle, gear and accessories

16 FISHING By Bob Izumi

18 FLY FISHING By Steve May

20 THE WATER’S EDGE By Dave Taylor

22 THE VINTAGE TACKLE BOX By Patrick Daradick

24 REAL FISHING FISH FACTS Steelhead/Rainbow Trout

60 TALES FROM THE ROAD The trials and tribulations of life as a professional angler By Bob Izumi

Postmaster: Please return front cover/label only of undeliverables to: Real Fishing 940 Sheldon Court, Burlington ON L7L 5K6

64 WHAT’S COOKING

66 ART OF ANGLING

On the cover: GIANT PIKE Photo by Izumi Outdoors

28 THE HOT BITE

opening lines By Jerry Hughes

Spring Fishing Success Spring signals the beginning of a new open water fishing season and it goes without saying that we’d all like those first few trips to be good ones. Early success can be a real ego booster and it can definitely put you in a positive frame of mind for the upcoming year. There are a few different approaches to ensuring you do more catching than fishing this spring. The first is what we jokingly call “lemming fishing.” If you’re not familiar with the term, just take a drive past a steelhead stream on opening day or look across a walleye or crappie lake as soon as he season starts. You’ll see the majority of anglers crammed into a few sections of the river or lake while the rest of the waterbody is relatively vacant. The technique itself is simple – just go where everybody else goes and fish the way everybody else is fishing. A search of a few internet fishing forums will give you several hotspots where you can be almost guaranteed to catch fish. You’ll know you’re at the right place when you see as many cell phones as fishing rods. The

6 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

downside is that you’ll have to put up with the crowds and you won’t be expanding your fishing knowledge or refining your skills - but you’ll almost assuredly end up with some selfie-fodder to impress your friends with. Another way to up your odds this spring is to target some of the secondary species that are often overlooked. A couple of seasons ago a friend and I were getting frustrated by the insanely busy conditions on a favourite walleye lake so we decided to run up one of the feeder rivers to see if there were any fish still up there. We didn’t find any walleyes, but we accidentally caught a couple of king-sized rock bass on our standard walleye jigs and grubs. Realizing the opportunity, we changed over to ultralight tackle and started catching fish on almost every cast. We caught literally hundreds of feisty rockies between us in a few hours of fishing and we had an absolute blast doing it. When we got back to the dock, the word was that the walleye bite was off and most folks were struggling to catch more than a fish or two. I don’t know about you, but for pure fishing fun (and isn’t that what fishing’s all about?) I’ll take a hundred chunky rock bass over one or two eater sized walleyes any day of the week. Of course the best way to get the most out of your spring fishing excursions is to head out armed with knowledge of the fish you’re planning to target and the various tactics you can use to locate, and ultimately trigger, them to bite. Be prepared to change your baits, your techniques, the locations you fish and maybe even the

species you’re pursuing, until you find what works on the day you’re out there. Most of all, don’t get stuck in a rut doing what you’ve always done, especially if it isn’t working. Be creative and don’t be afraid to think out-of-the-box if the situation demands it. After all, everything we do to approach fishing today was once a new technique until it proved itself to the angling community. Who knows, you just might hit on an approach that becomes the next big thing in fishing! ?

On June 12, 2015, Fishing Forever held their annual Fundraising Golf Tournament at Turtle Creek Golf Club in Campbellville, Ontario, in support of the Kids, Cops and Canadian Tire Fishing Days program. Over 100 sponsors, supporters, professional anglers and friends showed up under mostly cloudy and rainy skies to take part in the festivities and raise money to help underprivileged kids enjoy a day of fishing in their local communities. Although the weather was far from ideal, it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t dampen the spirits of the golfers, who helped to raise just over $26,000 for this great cause. We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to everyone who took part and helped make the day a huge success, and we hope to see everyone again next year.

8 Real Fishing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Spring 2016

THE BASS ASSASSIN Appearing silently from the morning mist, he makes a perfect cast with a flick of his wrist. The splash of the bait arises curiosity and a hapless bass responds, but immediately realizes his mistake. Luckily for him, he is released to fight another day and swims off with nothing but a story of his encounter with the Bass Assassin...

Spring 2016 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Real Fishing 9

CUDA FISHING TOOLS HONORED FOR GLOBAL INNOVATION Acme United Corporation’s Cuda® brand of fishing tools has been awarded six GOOD DESIGN® awards from the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. “We are honored to have been recognized by the GOOD DESIGN® awards for design and innovation,” said Walter C. Johnson, chairman and CEO of Acme United Corporation. “Our team works with some of the best anglers in the industry to

design innovative products that are fierce, tough and proven to work.” Cuda’s award-winning products include their 9" Titanium Bonded Flex Fillet Knife; 7.5" Mono/Braid Fishing Pliers & Wire Cutters; 8.5" Titanium Bonded Dehooker; 8" Titanium Bonded Snips; Grip & Scale Fish Scale and 8" Titanium Bonded Detachable Marine Shear. For more information about Cuda, and its award-winning line of fishing products, visit their website at www.cudabrand.com

ONTARIO MNRF SUMMER JOB OPPORTUNITIES Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is offering summer employment opportunities for young people in natural resource management to help them develop professional skills and prepare for successful careers. There are more than 2,000 opportunities – including internships and

summer jobs – available for young people in communities across Ontario. Through these opportunities, young people will gain a deeper appreciation of their role in the stewardship of Ontario's natural resources while obtaining meaningful work experience, developing practical, personal and professional skills, and enhancing their career networks by interacting with local experts and employers. Full program information is available under the “news” tab on the MNRF’s website at www.ontario.ca/ministry-natural-resources-and-forestry.

10 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

THANKS FRANK! Longtime supporter of Fishing Forever and the Kids, Cops and Canadian Tire Fishing Days programme, Frank Guida, recently visited the Real Fishing offices to announce plans for his 2016 corporate pro-am fishing tournament. For the past several years Frank has hosted a tournament to raise funds supporting fishing and conservation in Ontario. He is also a long time sponsor of the annual Fishing Forever dinners and golf tournaments, and has been a major contributor to the two programs since their inception. During his visit, Wayne Izumi commented that Frank should be honoured for his efforts and offered to share his own Rick Amsbury award trophy with Frank. After some good-natured ribbing, and a promise that he would be on the ballot for next year’s Rick Amsbury award, Frank returned the trophy saying that he really didn’t want any rewards for doing what he does to support fishing. In our books, that’s the kind of selflessness that makes Frank a true winner.

EVENTS Calendar KIDS, COPS AND CANADIAN TIRE FISHING DAYS Year ‘round youth oriented fishing events. Various dates and locations. 905-632-8679 www.kidsandcops.ca ORILLIA PERCH FESTIVAL April 16 - May 7 Lakes Simcoe & Couchiching Orillia, ON www.orillia.com BLUEWATER ANGLERS SALMON DERBY April 29 – May 8 Lake Huron Point Edward, ON www.bluewateranglers.com TRENTON KIWANIS WALLEYE WORLD May 7 - 8 Bay of Quinte Trenton, ON www.kiwaniswalleyeworld.com/v2 SOUTHERN ALBERTA WALLEYE TRAIL May - September Various dates and locations in Alberta www.sawt.ca

ANGLER & YOUNG ANGLER TOURNAMENTS June - August Various dates and locations in Canada and the United States. http://www.angleryoungangler.com/ CSFL BASSMANIA TOURNAMENTS June - August Various locations in Ontario www.csfl.ca NATIONAL FISHING WEEK July 2 - 10 License-free fishing days across Canada www.catchfishing.com RENEGADE BASS TOUR June - August Various locations in Ontario www.renegadebass.com TOP BASS TOURNAMENTS June - August Various locations in Ontario www.top-bass.ca

SASKATCHEWAN WALLEYE TRAIL May - September Various dates and locations in Saskatchewan www.saskwalleyetrail.ca

Spring 2016 – Real Fishing 11

READER’S PHOTOS

Send us a photo of your best catch and you could see your picture in a future issue of Real Fishing Magazine! Send photos to: Real Fishing, 940 Sheldon Court, Burlington, ON L7L 5K6 Kirk Naber Overland Park, KS Pike

Ben Brunton Magnetawan, ON Largemouth Bass

Travis MacLaughlan Toronto, ON Drum

Andy Wundrock Jackson, WI Muskellunge

John Whyte Orillia, ON Lake Trout

12 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

Catch BOB on the Tube! Tune in every Saturday morning on Global, and weekly on WFN, as Bob Izumi and his guests show you where, when and how to tackle the biggest fish from the hottest Canadian and international destinations.

STATION LISTING & AIRING TIMES* MARKET

PROV./STATE

STATION

DATE & AIR TIMES

Atlantic Canada

Global (CIHF)

Saturday 8:00 am

Calgary

Global (CICT)

Saturday 10:30 am

Edmonton

Global (CITV)

Saturday 10:30 pm

Ontario

Global (CIII)

Saturday 8:30 am

Quebec

Global (CKMI)

Saturday 8:30 am

Regina

Global (CFRE)

Saturday 7:30 am

Saskatoon

Global (CFSK)

Saturday 7:30 am

Vancouver

Global (CHAN)

Saturday 10:30 am

Winnipeg

Global (CKND)

Saturday 7:30 am

Canada/USA

WFN

Check www.wfn.tv for dates and times

* Station listings, airtimes and show descriptions are subject to change. Please refer to your local television listings for the latest show schedules.

What’s

NEW

2016

REVVED UP Mercury’s new 115 Pro XS FourStroke outboard delivers higher torque, significantly better performance and greater durability than any other high-output 115hp outboard on the market today. It’s up to three-mph faster than its nearest competitor and accelerates up to one-second quicker than Mercury’s standard 115 four stroke. Full throttle rpm has been increased from 6000 to 6300, allowing propeller pitch to be reduced so your boat gets on plane quicker, and the new high idle charging system provides up to 48% more battery charging at idle speed to support the power demands of today’s sophisticated marine electronics and accessories. Best of all, the 115 Pro XS FourStroke is covered by Mercury’s industry-leading three-year warranty.

www.mercurymarine.com

IN HOT WATER Coleman’s new H2OASIS™ Hot Water On Demand™ system is ideal for showering or washing up around camp without having to heat water over an open fire. Its 19,500 BTU propane heating source provides heated water, adjustable up to 51.7°C (125°F), at the rate of 1.7 to 2.7 litres per second and the single 16.4-ounce propane cylinder is capable of heating up to 181 litres of hot water on demand. A built-in 12v rechargeable battery powers the Instastart™ matchless lighting system and three LED lights indicate battery level (low, charging or charged), water level, flow rate and whether unit is turned on or off. The H2OASIS™ comes with a multi-position handheld shower head, a sixfoot non-kink silicone hose and a five-gallon, collapsible water carrier.

www.colemancanada.ca

JUST RIP IT Imitating the erratic nature of an injured baitfish, the new Berkley Cutter Rip Bait delivers everything an angler could want in a jerkbait – action, ease-of-use, and quality. Built with a coffin-shaped bill, the Cutter provides a precise darting movement and maximum side flash with minimal rod movement. Fitted with Berkley’s Fusion19 treble hooks, the Berkley Cutter Rip Bait offers erratic, yet functional performance that is able to catch just about anything that swims. The Berkley Cutter Rip Bait is available in three sizes from 3 1/2” to 4 3/8” in length, weights from 3/8-ounce to 9/16-ounce, and comes in 12 colours.

www.berkley-fishing.com

14 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

We welcome submissions from manufacturers and distibutors for our New Products section. Products that appear in this section have not necessarily been tested or endorsed by the staff at Real Fishing. Submissions can be sent to: Editor, Real Fishing Magazine, 940 Sheldon Court, Burlington, ON L7L 5K6

BASS BEWARE Lund has just introduced the 1875 Pro-V Bass aluminum bass and muskie boat. Measuring 18-feet, 9-inches in length and rated for up to a 200-horsepower engine, this rig goes as good as it looks. Available in bench or pedestal seating configurations, the 1875 Pro-V Bass features a large back deck, 36-gallon fuel tank and a 28-gallon livewell with a pump-out. There’s a three-tier center rod locker that accommodates fishing rods up to 9-feet in length - the top tier holds 9-foot rods, the middle tier holds rods up to 8-feet, 8-inches and the lower tier stores rods up to 8-feet, 4-inches. With a 96-inch beam, dual console and two additional flip-up seats, the 1875 Pro-V Bass provides maximum safety, stability and fishability.

www.lundboats.com

SLICK STUFF Mystik’s JT-6 High Performance Marine Grease #2 is a smooth yet tacky blue grease designed to provide excellent lubrication for wetenvironment applications. This premium, high performance, extreme pressure marine grease is ideal for marine applications including trailer wheel bearings, bearing buddies, boat lifts, hydraulic jack plates, steering components, tilt and trim systems and more. With excellent wear protection and load carrying capabilities, JT-6 High Performance Marine Grease is the only grease you’ll need to keep your boat and trailer components ship-shape this season.

www.mystiklubes.com

HIGH AND DRY Hodgman’s new Aesis Sonic stocking foot waders incorporate a double sonic weld for added waterproof protection and there is no inside leg seam, eliminating potential leaks in high-wear areas. The leg and seat are constructed from durable, puncture-resistant, five-layer shell fabric while a four-layer, highly breathable construction in the upper part of the wader delivers maximum sweat vapor transfer. Aesis Sonic waders include a suspender system to convert the waders from chest to waist-high without removing the suspenders, and a top-loading external pocket with a YKK® water-resistant zipper provides a place to keep a large fly box close at hand. The waders are also available in a front-zip design with Riri® zippers for easy on and off. Aesis Sonic Stocking Foot Waders come in a solid or digi-camo versions and are available in regular, tall and king sizes.

www.hodgman.com

Spring 2016 – Real Fishing 15

fishing

Bob Izumi is the host of The Real Fishing Show.

By Bob Izumi

Easy Fishing One of the things I like about the spring is that once the ice goes out you’re going to have fairly predictable fishing. It doesn’t matter what species of fish you’re going for, things are happening fast and furious during the spring months. For example, early spring offers some of the easiest lake trout fishing of the year. One pattern I like is trolling or casting shallow waters, especially at the mouths of rivers. In a lot of cases the lake trout are feeding on bait in these areas and they can be caught on soft plastic swimbaits, grubs, tubes, crankbaits, minnowbaits, spoons, spinners – just about anything you like to throw. Whether you troll or cast, covering some of these shallow areas that are close to deep water can be dynamite at this time of year. Let’s switch gears to crappies. In the spring we’ll typically fish them around shallow cover in the back bays or canals Bob and Dave Kennedy had a blast catching lake trout on soft plastic swimbaits last spring.

16 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

where they’re spawning. We’ll fish around boat docks, reeds, newly emerging weeds, lily pads and any wood that’s in the water. The easiest way to catch these things is by using a 1/32 or 1/16-ounce jighead tipped with a Berkley Gulp! or PowerBait panfish offering, rigged about 10 to 18-inches under a small, sensitive float. One of the keys is to balance the float with the weight of the jig so that the float is half submerged when the jig settles under it. Crappies often hit from below and a lot of the time your float will just lean to the side or go horizontal, as opposed to going vertical or being pulled under. Over to walleye fishing. There are so many different places where you can catch them in the spring but one thing that’s common everywhere is that post-spawn walleyes tend to be scattered over general areas. They could be in newly emerging weeds on flats, they could be at the mouths of rivers, or they could be on shallow shoals. If it’s a late spring, they could still be in the rivers spawning. To find these scattered fish I like to use a bottom bouncer rig and a worm harness, tipped with either a live worm or a Berkley GULP! worm, and troll over likely looking areas. I move along at about 1½miles per hour, or slower, with the rig just bouncing bottom. This is a great way to load the boat with good, eating sized male walleyes. One of the keys here is that when you feel a hit - sometimes it’s more like a nibble or a light tick on the end of your line – do not set the hook right away. Drop your rod tip back, let that walleye suck the bait in and then set the hook. You’ll catch three

times more fish this way than by immediately setting when you feel a bite. I’ve fished spring pike for about 35-years and I would say that the easiest way to pattern them is to go to shallow feeder bays, creeks and rivers and fish around the mouths of them. The flats and shorelines are good areas to try, along with the primary and secondary points of those feeder creeks and bays. Basically it’s a process of elimination, Start in the shallows, then hit the mid-depths, then the deeper water. If you’re not catching fish, move on to the next bay. It’s a type of run-and-gun fishing I do until I find the size of pike I’m looking for. It’s not uncommon for me to catch a bunch of hammer-handle sized pike in the first couple of bays and then all of a sudden hit a bonanza of bigger pike in the third or fourth bay. One of my favourite ways of catching these big pike is by covering water with a big, soft plastic swimbait like a Berkley fiveinch Rib Shad or a six-inch Slim Shad. Another good lure is a suspending jerkbait. These fish are pretty tired after the spawn and the bigger fish – those 40-inch plus fish – tend to be a little bit wary after the spawn. There are times when they won’t chase down a moving bait but will strike a motionless jerkbait. There’s no question that the spring offers some of the easiest and most predictable fishing of the year and I hope these tips give you a few ideas for your early season outings. ?

fly fishing By Stephen May

Elk Hair Caddis Some flies just have a soft spot with me and the Elk Hair Caddis is one of those favourites. Every spring, dry fly action is a highlight for many fly anglers. In fact, most rivers have several species of caddis flies that hatch through the season. To take advantage of these hatches, fly anglers should always be prepared for one. No trout box is complete without a selection of caddis dry flies!

The Elk Hair is a versatile performer that travels well, fooling fish around the world. Designed by renowned guide Al Troth, a long time guide on famous Montana waters, it has a track record of fooling big, picky, wild fish. Why the Elk Hair versus the hundreds of other caddis imitators? Part of the success of this fly pattern is that it imitates both hatching and egg-laying bugs. There are enough caddis flies around most rivers that fish always snack on them. Fish commonly see these tasty little critters on the water so a pattern that imitates the two stages of the hatch certainly is an advantage. This caddis works even without hatches, as an excellent searching pattern. The fly has the right profile and its leggy hackles just plain imitate life and movement in the surface film. The hackles help the fly float and, more importantly, they dimple the water’s surface and just look like some18 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

thing that’s alive. This perceived movement shines at representing bugs that are hatching, as well as those that are returning to lay eggs. The high sitting hackles and the hollow elk hair wing provide two excellent sources of floatation. The wing also creates a very visible “lifejacket” for this fly. It can ride the rapids or glide on a smooth surface with equal effectiveness. The excess floatation allows you to “skitter” the fly to imitate a fly dancing across the surface. Caddis are clumsily fliers and flutter on the surface during hatches and egg laying flights and imitating this can bring slashing strikes. This is one dry fly that can be more effective if you twitch it occasionally or even swing it on the surface over a tail-out area. The wing and hackle, along with some fly floatant, will keep this one riding high.

The elk hair wing sits up on the surface, making this fly visible to the angler. A big part of the fun, and your success, is being able to see the fly when eaten by a fish. The Elk hair does this while still looking natural to the fish below. If the fish want a fly that floats a little lower in the water to look more vulnerable, the lower part of the hackle can easily be trimmed. Any way you fish it, this fly is proven “buggy”! The fly’s popularity is partly because of its straightforward design using easily available materials. It is found in fly shops and fly boxes around the world. This fly is equally at home chasing panfish and even smallmouth bass in smaller rivers. I have had some wonderful spring and summer days watching a huge variety of fish species take this pattern form the surface. The Elk Hair Caddis has created many memories for me and my friends on the stream over the years, and I expect it will for decades to come. ?

Dave Taylor is a well known photographer and naturalist from Mississauga, Ontario

water’s edge By Dave Taylor

Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii)

A turtle is a turtle is a turtle… or is it? Anglers likely encounter turtles when they are fishing most streams, rivers

Blanding’s turtles are the only North American turtles with a solid, bright yellow neck.

and small lakes throughout North America. They are easy to overlook but if some attention is paid to them they can prove to be rewarding moments. In Southern Ontario the majority of turtles seen will be Midland Painted turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata). The odd encounter with a snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) might also happen. But sometimes, if the angler is lucky and alert, he or she may come across a real rarity, a Blanding’s turtle. Identifying this species is fairly easy. It is the only North American turtle with a solid, bright yellow neck. Even the domed shell is flecked with yellow spots, although these will fade with age. Adult Blanding’s are larger than adult Painted turtles with a carapace (the upper part of the shell) that can be up to 28-centimeters long. A Painted turtle, in comparison, grows to a maximum length of 19.5- centimeters. On the other hand, a snapping turtle can reach almost double the size of the Blanding’s. Blanding’s turtles are found in Southern Ontario and in the Great Lakes regions of the U.S. In Ontario and New York State they are a threatened species. In much of the rest of their U.S. range they are listed as endangered. Their numbers are declining due to habitat loss.

They like shallow lakes, ponds and wetlands with clean water and mucky bottoms. They hibernate in the soft bottoms of lakes and marshes but their overwintering sites may be several kilometers from their summer feeding and nesting areas. This species makes the longest overland migration of any of our turtle species and has been known to travel several kilometers between the two locations, although the average distance is about a kilometer. Because of the requirement for two distinct habitats, the home range of this species tends to be quite large. Blanding’s turtles are a long-lived species that can live to be over 75-years of age. Females do not reach breeding age until they are 14 or 15 and they do not nest every year. In some studies they have been found to nest every two to three-years. As with many other reptiles, the sex of the young is determined by the incubation temperature of the eggs. Eggs incubated at temperatures between 22°C and 28°C will result in males, while temperatures between 30°C and 32°C produce females. Nests are excavated in a sunny area with good drainage and up to 22 eggs may be laid in late May or early June. They will hatch in the fall. Nest predation by coyotes, fox and rac-

The Blanding’s turtle, on the right in this photo, dwarfs his Painted cousins.

20 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

coons destroys many nests. Herons and large fish will also eat the hatchlings. Blanding’s turtles are omnivores. They feed on crayfish, insects, fish, frogs and a variety of plant material. They will also scavenge carrion. However, unlike most turtles, Blanding’s turtles will also feed on land where worms and berries may become part of their diet. Although habitat loss is the major threat to this species, many are also killed during their spring and fall migrations as they cross roads. Because they are one of the “prettier” turtles, they are also captured by people and kept as pets. This effectively removes them from the breeding population which is one of the reasons it is illegal to keep them as pets. Like the Painted turtle, Blanding’s turtles do not appear to age once they reach 20years or so. In fact, the females become more fertile and lay more eggs as they age. Encountering one of these reptiles on an outing is a rare experience and you are urged to report the sighting to your local Conservation Officer or the Ministry of Natural Resources. No one knows how many of these turtles remain in the wild and every bit of data helps paint a picture. The number of sightings has declined over the years and this has help lead to its classification as threatened or endangered. Once a clear picture emerges of where the turtles are being seen, steps can be taken to reverse the trend but that will require setting aside large tracks of suitable habitat. Most of the type of habitat necessary to maintain this species has already been destroyed or altered in Ontario. ?

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the vintage tackle box

Patrick Daradick has been collecting vintage fishing tackle for over 25-years and is a specialist in Ontario made tackle. He enjoys sharing his passion and knowledge and can be contacted online at www.ontariolures.com or by phone at 613-398-7245.

By Patrick Daradick

Early Western Salmon and Trout Plugs In the province of Ontario today, fishermen’s tackle boxes are much more likely to contain a West Coast style fishing lure than they would have back in the 1940s or 1950s. With Lake Ontario and other Great Lakes producing trophy salmon and trout, many present-day tackle manufactures have imitated the lure styles that originated on the West Coast. Back in the earlier days it would have been quite rare to find the unique salmon plugs made by West Coast Canadian and American manufacturers used, or even purchased, by anglers pursuing muskie or pike. Although they rivaled the size and durability of the huge muskie plugs like Giant Pikie Minnows, Heddon’s Giant Vamps etc., eastern fisherman just never fancied them or swayed away from the norm. I find very few vintage West Coast salmon plugs in tackle boxes in Ontario today. West coast plugs are basically designed like eastern plugs. They are made of wood or a composition of materials and have two treble

hooks on them. In the water, the two designs work just the same and are used for the same purpose - attracting big game fish. There is one great difference, however. West Coast plugs, made by companies like Gibbs-Martin, Game Guide or Edward Lipsett Ltd., have no steel screws to rust and there is no cocking of hooks. A bar is solidly located in the head of the plug; attached on one end is a leader, on the other is the line for the hooks. This feature of having a line for the hooks is a universal system used by many West Coast plug manufacturers. The line which holds the hooks is held between clips under the body of the plug and, when a fish strikes the plug, the line is released from the clips, allowing the front hook to slide down. This lets the angler to play the fish freely without having the plug interfere with the fight.

West Coast plugs are quite unique in style and they all have a cigar-shaped body that is cupped at the front and comes to a sharp point at the rear. I must say the colours used on these plugs are quite vivid and wild. Many of these lures also incorporated a gill stripe on the side and large eyes. Most makers of these plugs were located on the West Coast. In Canada there was Gibbs-Martin, Edward Lipsett Ltd. from Vancouver, and Game Guide Products from Kelowna, BC. Some USA makers from the West Coast were Minser Tackle, known for Lucky Louie Plugs, and Martin Fish Co. Both of these makers were based in Seattle, Washington.

Lucky Strike Bait Works made a West Coast styled salmon plug for one year, in 1954, but it was manufactured in a “body and metal lip” style that included screwed-in hooks. Heddon & Sons produced salmon plugs that used the “line & clip” system, but they included a metal diving lip. West Coast plugs are very popular to collectors. Their many sizes, brilliant colours and beauty make them very attractive to display. Some of these old salmon plugs, like the Lucky Strike one that was only manufactured in 1954, are very rare and quite valuable. If you are lucky enough to find one you’ll be happy to know that its value, in mint condition, will exceed $400 on any given day. ?

22 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

real fishing fish facts

Rainbow Trout/Steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss

In terms of appearance, size, habits and habitats, rainbow trout are one of the most varied of all fish species. Stream, river and landlocked versions are generally known as rainbow trout while anadromous versions are generally referred to as steelhead. Within these general guidelines there are several sub groups such as the Kamloops and Gerrard trout of British Columbia. All rainbows are basically trout-shaped with an elongated body that is somewhat laterally compressed. They have an adipose fin and a slightly forked to squarish shaped tail. Typical steelhead are steel-blue to bluegreen to olive or black on the back; lightly spotted on the back and upper flanks, silvery to white with a faint pink or red stripe along the lateral line and silvery to white on the belly. Stream and landlocked rainbow trout are usually darker, more vibrantly coloured and more heavily spotted than open-water steelhead. The red stripe along the flank is more prominent in stream and landlocked fish and may not be apparent on open water steelhead until the spawn. All rainbows become more intensely coloured during the spawn, and males develop a hooked lower jaw. A distinctively marked, river dwelling rainbow trout.

The native range of the rainbow trout included the eastern Pacific Ocean and the fresh water lakes and rivers west of the Rocky Mountains, from northwestern Mexico to Alaska. It has been widely introduced into almost all suitable areas of North America as well as to New Zealand, Africa, Japan, Asia, Europe and Hawaii. They were introduced into the Great Lakes in 1895 and into Ontario sometime between 1883 and 1904. Rainbow trout are basically spring spawners although some steelhead begin entering tributaries in the fall and may spawn at any time between November and May. All rainbows prefer to spawn in riffle areas of small tributary streams, over a fine gravel bottom. Most spawning takes place in water temperatures between 50°F and 60°F. Rainbow trout are one of the top sport fish in North America. They can be caught on a number of techniques including wet or dry fly fishing, bait fishing with or without floats, by casting spoons, spinners or body baits, by trolling or even by jigging soft plastics. When hooked, rainbows often make

A bright, silver, Great Lakes steelhead.

spectacular leaps and they will fight hard until they are exhausted. As a food fish, rainbow trout rank near the top of the list. Their flesh can range from white through pink to bright red or orange - depending on their diet - and is rich and flavourful no matter how it is prepared. ?

DID YOU KNOW? A rainbow trout caught in the Bay of Quinte in 1958 was part of a group of tagged fish that had been released in Michigan some 8 months earlier? Between its release and capture the fish had traveled about 600-miles, survived the plunge over Niagara Falls or negotiated the Welland Ship Canal, and had grown 10inches in length.

FAST FACTS Colour: Steel-blue to blue-green to olive on the back, black spots on the back and sides, silvery to white with a pink to red stripe along the lateral line, silvery to white on the belly. Size: Rainbows 1 to 3-pounds on average; steelhead 5 to 8 pounds on average. Life Span: 3 to 5 years for inland rainbows; up to 8 years for steelhead. Habitat: Rainbows: streams, rivers and inland lakes. Steelhead: open water of the Pacific Ocean or Great Lakes. Spawning: Generally March to June for rainbow trout; November to April for steelhead.

RECORD The IFGA lists the current All-Tackle World Record rainbow trout at 48-pounds even. The gigantic fish was caught from Lake Diefenbaker, SK in September, 2009.

24 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

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The rustic stone bridge certainly showed its age. From the first glance it was quite evident that the slow decay of time had taken its toll. I had serious reservations if it could bear the weight of a horse and buggy, let alone my truck. A spring rain was brewing and the wind broke the calm stillness of the clear water, distorting the figures of the large trout cruising in and out from underneath the bridge and falling back into the deep holding pools.

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I had shared this stretch of water with six other committed anglers since sunrise. Our presentation was drifting and our baits were roe bags, single eggs and flies. The group’s combined tally by 3 p.m. was a single fish. I now found myself alone. The unknown fishermen who had shared this riverbank with me until a short while earlier had slowly, one at a time, grudgingly packed up and went home. I, however, decided to hold on ‘till the bitter end and took a moment to review the past number of fruitless hours. Then a light went on in my head. I exchanged my noodle rod for a sevenfoot spinning rod then reached into my vest pocket and pulled out a bright green flatfish. Three casts later the pole was nearly ripped from my hands! The trout was swimming at an incredible pace towards the bridge while I crouched down, arms extended outwards, trying to keep the line from scraping against the abutments. When I finally turned the trout back around, it made three spectacular leaps, spraying water in all directions. After a number of turmoil filled minutes I slid her 30-inch frame into the safety of my landing net. The flatfish lure had been destroyed, hit with such force that it was literally torn in half. I replaced it with another, this time in

34 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

a black and red colour scheme, and proceeded to land three more silver fish within the hour. At the time I was young and feeling fairly smug about my accomplishment. It was only years later that the lesson of that day became clear to me. Should you try to escape this crazy world for a day, and slip into a pair of waders in hopes of tangling with a savvy river steelhead, you will notice that 98% of the anglers around you will either be drifting eggs or engaging in the gentlemanly pursuit of fishing flies. Therefore, depending on whom you ask, the answer will be that the trout are either hitting on roe bags, flies or not at all. Because of this, other alternatives are not even taken into account. There was a time when I could move through the water like an otter, confident and quick, but today my steps are slower and a little less self-assured. Maybe it’s because of that, or the fact that when younger anglers get a look at my vintage Cardinal reel, scarred fishing pole and streaks of grey in my beard, they feel the need to refer to me as an “old-timer”. Begrudgingly, I must admit they’re right on some level, but with age comes wisdom and because of that I’ve learned a few secrets over the years that can bring out the worst in a trout.

The Art of Irking Last spring, as I was quietly sitting against a rotted stump while turkey hunting, I heard a noise that quickly began to grow into an intolerable buzzing. It was a dreaded deer fly and, after a few minutes of torture, I couldn’t take any more and started swinging for the fences. Yes, I eventually killed the little SOB, but not until after I hit myself twice right between the eyes trying to knock him into another stratosphere. This little aggravating creation of the almighty was able to turn a fairly reasonable fellow into a self-abusing maniac. He irked me into it! In late spring I’ve done well on trout with spinners, in the early autumn I’ve had greater success by way of the spoon. I believe these artificials succeed because both represent forage at a time when trout will still take an easy meal and spawning isn’t in full swing. On the other hand, wobbling plugs initiate a reactionary strike based on the ability to aggravate a fish or, simply put, irk them. Kind of like a kid who continues to yank on the tail of the family dog. Bowser can only take so much before someone gets nipped! Fishing with wobbling plugs has always had a strong foothold in those fabled steelhead rivers out west and, on a smaller scale,

24-million had been sold. Quite possibly more river rainbow trout have fallen victim to this artificial than to any other lure. At one time this most exceptional lure was produced in Windsor, Ontario. They are now manufactured by the Yakima Bait Company and come in over 50 colour combinations. The Heddon Tadpolly was introduced in 1952 and was originally intended for largemouth bass. The lure gained newfound life in the early 1980s when it was discovered that this quirky bait worked wonders on Great Lakes salmon and trout. Sadly, after selling more than 10-million units, Heddon no longer manufactures these lures, although they can be purchased on eBay.

with Great Lakes fisherman. In the last number of years, however, I’ve noticed that it seems to be fading in popularity. That’s unfortunate because, when used properly, these artificals are deadly, regardless of the season. Wobbling plugs can initiate a strike when cast across slow moving pools and drifts. As long as the water is at least two-feet deep they can be fished effectively. Try casting past fish-holding structure such as overhanging trees or boulders, keeping the lure as tight to these locations as possible on the retrieve. The first, and most important, rule is to fish these lures in a slow, seductive manner with a nice, lazy, enticing side to side wobble. If your retrieve is too fast the lure will either roll or rise to the surface. Secondly, try stay six to 12-inches off the bottom; generally adding one or two split shot will do the trick. If you take the time to watch trout in rivers or streams you’ll notice that is where they tend to sit the majority of the time. It’s very important to get that artificial within their strike zone, even more so when fishing stained conditions or late in the season when water temperatures cool and the fish aren’t as inclined to chase a bait down. As elegant and esteemed as the trout is, it can still be very territorial and will take a dim view of interlopers. I’ve watched as they’ve chased egg-stealing fish from off of their beds and as they have attempted to outmuscle each other while competing for a 36 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

hen’s attention. It is for these reasons that temperamental trout can very often be irked into furiously striking a wobbling lure.

The Fab Four There are a greater number of lures available to anglers now than any time in history and many of them have what it takes to antagonize a trout into striking. I don’t have

It was on the Ganaraska River almost 30years ago, with anglers stacked together like cordwood and hardly a fish being caught, when my friend John walked over with this banana shaped lure and said, “I think I’ll try a Beno.” With a perplexed look I replied, “What’s a Beno?” Within 90-minutes he had landed five trout up to eight-pounds on that plug! Manufactured in the 1960s by the Mill Run Tackle Co. of Ohio, this funky lure

room here to discuss them all, therefore I’ve decided to stick with four tried and true ones and share their history to help steer you down the right road. Charles Helin patented the first Flatfish lure in 1936 and, by the end of WW2, over

was notorious for fooling wary walleye. The company was eventually bought out by the Luhr Jensen Company who recently discontinued the Beno, but the lure can still be purchased on eBay and other fishing sites. This is an underutilized but excellent artificial for trout.

The Storm Hot ‘N Tot, like the Beno, first gained popularity as a first class walleye lure. This artificial is a true trout killer with its erratic side to side action. With a built in metal lip, they dive deeper than the aforementioned lures, and come in over 15colour combinations. Certain models also have built in rattles. I specifically choose these four lures because of their storied histories and proven track records over the course of time. But they are certainly not the only options available. In fact, in discussing this article with Real Fishing Editor Jerry Hughes, he told me that he started fishing Hot Shot and Canadian Wiggler lures for trout in a number of southern Ontario streams with great success back in the 80’s – and he still carries a few wobbling plugs in his vest today. This only goes to prove two things: one, that I’m not selling you a snake oil remedy and two, that I’m not the only old-timer throwing hardware for river rainbows! There are a great many similar artificials on the market today that can fool a cagey trout. Don’t be afraid to experiment with various lures, you might be pleasantly surprised with the end results. As far as lure colour goes, trout can be a little odd at times. I’ve had days where

they’ll hit nothing but a skunk pattern and then the next day, under similar conditions, they crave a frog pattern. A good rule of thumb is, if the water is moderately to crystal-clear, the skunk is always a winner. If you’re wetting a line in stained water, bright orange, red or chartreuse with red are good producers. Black with red spots and silver are a couple of other reliable colours.

Tricks and Tackle Here’s a unique but rarely used ploy that one can incorporate when fishing these wobbling plugs, especially in a section of water where the fish stack up, be it a deep hole or a sharp bend with a moderate to average current. Put on a sliding sinker with enough weight so that it will remain stationary once it is cast, then add a split

Spring 2016 – Real Fishing 37

shot or bobber stopper. Tie a Flatfish or similar plug about 12 to 16-inches from the stopper then cast just past the head of the drift, tighten up your line, and wait. You can even put your rod in a rod holder and pour yourself a coffee knowing that the lure wobbling side to side can often irk trout into striking. Many American anglers fish Lake Erie tributaries this way, but from anchored boats. The principle is the same. Just remember, this technique is best employed when you have a section of water to yourself. Be courteous about trying this if a number of your brethren are trying to drift the same run or your creativity might not be appreciated! I am of the mindset if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. This explains why I still use a 35-year old Cardinal 4 spinning reel. But I am open to new ideas and, after reading 38 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

some literature on the benefits of using bait casting reels to cast lures for steelhead, which is commonplace on the West Coast, I decided to give it a try. The results were eye opening. My first time out with this tackle I landed two very large, fresh run rainbows each over nine-pounds. The biggest distinction that I noticed between spinning and baitcasting gear was how much easier it is to control fish on the baitcasting setup. More than once over the years, even with the use of quality spinning tackle, I’ve been forced to weave my way down river, hoping to catch up to some hyperactive trout. In this case my rod was an 8-foot sixinch, medium-heavy action model rated for a ½ to a 1 ½-ounce lure, and my mid-sized baitcasting reel was spooled with 10pound test line. With both fish I was able

to prevent them from tearing downstream with minimal effort. Needless to say I felt like a wallflower at a beauty pageant being the only fellow out there using this type of tackle and I did garner some stares. But I must concede, those West Coast anglers know what they are doing! Sad to say but maybe it’s time I consider retiring that old Cardinal reel. As trout anglers, the great majority of us will follow the same path, implementing the same techniques as we pursue this iridescent sport fish. But should you desire trying something a little different, try taking the road less travelled. Get out to your favourite river, snap on a wobbling plug and try irking a trout. Just remember to hold on tight! ?

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40 Real Fishing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Spring 2016

Cree River Pike

ADVENTURE By David A. Brown

Maybe it was my first taste of authentic bannock; perhaps it was the exuberance of the First Nations families crowding the commuter flight from Saskatoon to Fond du Lac, or that geographically sobering sign, “North of 59”, posted at my Stony Rapids destination. Collectively, these appetizers bespoke an existential feast of angling adventure awaiting in Northern Saskatchewan’s Cree River.

Spring 2016 – Real Fishing 41

My destination was Cree River Lodge on Wapata Lake, located about 50-miles south of the Northwest Territories boundary. Accommodations were comfortably authentic, as owner Pat Babcock keeps it real with a fishing-first focus that’s light on the pretty stuff and heavy on the very thing that brings folks to this rugged fly-in/boatin wilderness facility – northern pike. Big northern pike.

Seasoned pike hunters note 40-plus inches as the trophy mark. Well, my group of three anglers fished for four-days and saw at least 15 touch that mark. Fate favored me with a pair of trophies - a 40 and a 46 - along with nearly two dozen more in the 24 to 37-inch range. My trip mates, InFisherman Editor Steve Quinn and Chuck Smock from Cabela’s, got at least that many also. In this and all of Saskatchewan’s other amazing trophy factories, the raging beast that dwells within that deceptively soft body inspires awe in the hearts of anglers begrudging the day’s conclusion. The cool part about this type of fishing is its diversity. You’ll find these fish amenable to a broad array of offerings in a variety of habitats, so grab your favorites and expect fireworks.

FEED ‘EM RIGHT There’s no doubt that natural baits are an easy sell and, considering the three times I witnessed hefty pike trailing and then t-boning hooked walleye in clear eyesight of the boat, these fish definitely like the livelies. However, there’s a certain joy and a resounding delight in catching pike on artificials. Maybe it’s the thrill of the chase, or that sense of accomplishment when you fool a crafty predator with your ruse of plastic and metal. Some fish are easier than others, but undeniable is the truth that artificials enable you to cover water and find those active areas quickly and efficiently. On the 42 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

Here are a couple of other key scenarios we encountered that day:

Padded Room Lily pad fields that looked a lot like the stuff that I’d flip or frog in Southern U.S. waters for largemouth bass. Nevertheless, three of my presentations with a ¾-ounce spinnerbait drew ferocious strikes from pike of 24, 30 and 37-inches. The second one tracked my bait through the pad stems before exploding out from a point just when it appeared the faux meal would escape into deeper water. Quinn battled an estimated 40inch fish before losing it to the heavy cover. He’d eventually “settle” for a fat 35-incher. Cree River system we nabbed our pike with an impressively diverse array of lures. Here’s a brief recap. We spread our focus throughout the trip, but on our “big pike” day, we ran up the Pipestone River, which splits from the Cree, and started the show in a small bay with a shallow flat adjacent to a deeper bowl sprinkled with patches of water cabbage. A

Bay Blast

rocky bar on the upstream edge created an eddy that washed the area with a stimulating flow. My initial plan was to play devoted journalist and simply observe and photograph the day’s events but, after Quinn bested a 35, a 41 and a 43-incher on a seven-inch minnow swimbait in a 15-minute window, my inner sportsman took the helm and it was game-on. Three casts with a Len Thompson spoon in the Five of Diamonds pattern delivered a 33-inch pike. Not bad for this Floridian’s first pike trip; but that debut memory quickly faded 10-minutes later when that same spoon tempted my first 40-inch trophy.

After lunching on a quiet shoreline, we spent the remainder of the day in a broad, round bay lined with pencil reeds and pads. The inner areas, comprised of a smattering of troughs and flats, sprouted with the water cabbage that Babcock said was the essential element of big pike habitat. “That cabbage holds a lot of the food that these big pike eat,” he said. “They’ll lay in that cabbage and wait for something to swim by. You want to stay alert every time you pass some of that cabbage.” Ten minutes into our criss-crossing search, the bay had given up only a handful of small to midsize pike. I asked Babcock if I should switch back to a spoon, but he instilled a patient confidence with his convincing reply. “I think you’ll be pleased with that spinnerbait once we get a little further in here,” he grinned. Fifteen minutes later it was me with the beaming grin when a 46-inch beast — the biggest of our trip — lunged from his cabbage patch hidey hole and inhaled my spin-

nerbait maybe a dozen feet from the boat. Later in the trip I’d see big pike get caught on smaller plastic body swimbaits, shallow diving crankbaits and big topwater plugs. Other boats reported catching big pike on topwater frogs walked through shallow reeds. Looking for the holes and gaps where pike like to lay is the key here.

UNLIKELY SPOT Without question, the most significant and enlightening spot we visited on that special day was “Gas Can Creek.” You won’t find it on a chart, because we named it on the afternoon of my first day on the Cree. A modest, unassuming and seemingly inconsequential little shoot off the main river doglegged to our right as Babcock dropped off plane to add some gas from his backup tank. This pause gave us time to scope out the entrance as we drifted with the current. The creek bent sharply inward, with the usual rocky edges and a sizable stand of pads sprouting from a shallow flat on the opening’s outside edge.

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RECYCLING GIANTS Daily shore lunches with the Cree River Lodge crew featured fresh pike filets fried in lard over a wood fire. Nothing wrong with keeping a few of the small ones, but releasing the big fish is smart

“I think we should check this for ‘gatekeepers’” I grinned, in recollection of Babcock’s earlier explanation of large, dominant pike that often patrol the openings of creeks like this one. Consummate opportunists, these big fish are usually quick to pounce on any prey that wanders into their realm of terror. Once we reached casting range, Quinn flung a weedless spoon with a grub tail trailer while I stuck with my spinnerbait. Quinn found a taker, but lost the fish in the weeds. We made a few follow-up shots, but Babcock said that sticking the gatekeeper usually spooks him for longer than you want to wait. Pushing into the creek, Quinn and I each boated a small pike on opposite sides. Then, on just another nothing-special cast, the water literally boiled as Quinn’s spoon passed the far edge of a lily pad stand and a 45-incher made no effort to hide its extreme displeasure with the situation. Pike, especially the big ones, will always give you a memorable fight but this beast did its best to uproot every pad as it thrashed and rolled and darted to and fro. 44 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

Finally, the pike ran out of gas and Quinn led the day’s second-largest fish into Babcocks’s net. Now, here’s where it gets crazy. After photographing Quinn’s biggest catch I stood on the bow, arms folded, my rod tip sloped toward the water, as we relived the moment and chatted about the surprising opportunities in the meager little creek. Feeling a slight tug, I assumed I had lightly snagged some surface vegetation but, looking downward, I caught one of those eyerubbing visions that drape your face with the, did-I-just-see-that? expression. A pike - a big one - had grabbed my spinnerbait as it dangled at the surface. My sudden shifting caused the fish to temporarily abort the mission, but when I fed back three-feet of line and twitched my spinnerbait, like you would a jerkbait, a brown blaze burst forth to blast my bait and I notched what was surely the easiest 35-inch pike catch anyone has ever made. Yes, the pike in Saskatchewan’s Cree River are that aggressive. ?

conservation. To facilitate the process, lodges accessing trophy fisheries like those of Northern Saskatchewan’s Cree River system often implement a barbless hook rule. You may lose a fish now and then, but the benefit of working with barbless hooks is undeniable. Neeedle nose pliers usually suffice, but if the fish is hooked in the back of the mouth, use the safe and fish-friendly jaw spreaders to hold open that toothy mouth. This allows you to reach into the pike’s mouth with a long neck hook plucker, which further protects your hands by keeping them out of the danger zone. For convenience and efficiency, Cree River

Lodge guide Wade Babcock tethers his jaw spreader to the hook plucker. When you’re wresting with a feisty fish, the last thing you need is a dropped or misplaced tool. And it’s not just about angler safety and comfort. Finger protection definitely matters, but giant pike are magnificent fish and those fortunate enough to meet one face to toothy face owe it their best effort to execute a timely and safe release. Send them back in good condition and you might meet a larger version of that fish next year!

65 OTHER

MODELS IN STORE

BELOEIL - BROSSARD - BURLINGTON - CAMBRIDGE - ETOBICOKE - LAVAL - OSHAWA OTTAWA - QUEBEC - VAUGHAN

A PILGRIMAGE TO By Katrina Pyne

One hundred years of progress in high tech rods and reels havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t muffled the quiet whip of the Cosseboom fly as it sails past us before floating to touchdown on the Margaree River in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. In these historic waters, tradition flows in with the tide twice a day.

46 Real Fishing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Spring 2016

THE MARGAREE Spring 2016 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Real Fishing 47

I came here with my partner, who is what some might call a romantic when it comes to fishing. For him, the Margaree embodies a place of shared experience throughout history – a place where stories, a place where fishing legacies, haunt every bend of the classic river. Since he took up fly-fishing four years ago my partner, an engineer from Marysville, New Brunswick, spends his summer weekends scouting pools and his winter evenings tying flies. When he talks about playing a salmon he makes it sound like more of a dance than a sporting feat. Admittedly, I’ve been harder to convince. Our second time fishing together resulted in a fly embedded in my hair and I’ve never favoured the sport since. But as we drive away from Halifax and cross the Cape Breton causeway into the highlands, the romance of the place overwhelms. From the passenger seat I listen as he regales me with river stories of his most formidable silverbacked opponents. I begin to wonder if I’ve been missing something all along. In order to get in the spirit of the trip we take the more scenic coastal route around the island and breathe in some of the Celtic air. In recent years it seems even the whales are less elusive than the salmon so we peer at the horizon looking for those as well.

At Margaree Forks the northeast branch, stemming from the Cape Breton Highlands, meets the Southwest Margaree, which flows northeast from Lake Ainslie. For more than a century all 75-miles of river have been known for its trout and Atlantic salmon sport fishing. The river is easily accessible to the public and affordable. It’s also heavily regulated. Anglers are required to use only barbless hooks in the main stem. 48 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

Come fall the bed and breakfasts teem with anglers and the local eatery, the Dancing Goat, is overrun with muddy travellers like us, seeking something that doesn’t come in a can. For some, the Margaree is a river worthy of pilgrimage, and for others their yearly migratory devotion can be marked with the same calendar precision as the cormorants, passed on generation to generation. What isn’t passed on is the ultimate trade secret. If a pool is showing action, that secret is like a coveted family recipe, kept close at hand and whispered in low tones to only those deserving. When out-of towners like us ask where a certain fish was hooked to get a piece of the action for ourselves, we can only expect to get the full run around – but that’s just part of the teasing good fun that you run into in such a place. We set up camp near a pool in a field of lupins determined to see the first salmon roll at dawn. In the dark misty morning fog with a heavy layer of dampness still over our tent we scramble into our waders, tread lightly into the silent water and peer into the fog for signs of life. We get a few promising rolls exposing a dark silver back but can’t hook onto the creature. It moves around the pool flaunting its prowess, but doesn’t show any interest in our specially selected fly. It isn’t long before we hear the swish of another set of waders behind us and receive a silent nod of approval for our early start. My partner casts and casts again, stepping left each time. The only sound other than the click of my camera’s shutter is the whip of his fly as it sails past us and plops on the water.

A Hart for Margaree After a few hours of going pool to pool, with no fish to show for it, we decide we’re in need of some inspiration. Of course no trip to this neck of the woods would be complete without a stop at the Margaree Salmon Museum. There the curator of more than 40-years, Frances Hart, walks us

Photos courtesy of novascotia.ca/archives

through the innumerable flies and black and white photos. She boasts that in the museum they carry more than 80 rods, the oldest from 1865 and the longest at 18-feet. If we were in need of inspiration, we would find it here. While she grew up in Margaree fishing trout with her sister, Hart, now 86, she says

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she’s never fished salmon a day in her life. At first glance, it would appear that she has dedicated her life to the collection of flies, rods and reels, but what she’s really collecting are stories of a lifestyle that is almost lost in our age of smartphones and satellites. Since the museum opened 50-years ago it has become renowned for its thorough narration of life in Margaree over the last century. Innumerable hand-scribbled notes with dates and names and notes are scattered through the fly boxes and photos. At a place like this, locals come nearly as often as the tourists, encouraging their children to find their family tree amongst the miscellany.

A Legacy of Anglers “The last couple of years the fish are not as plentiful but fishermen still have the love for it here,” says Hart. “They’re still coming.” As with other fishing towns it is the stories that take place on the river that hold up best. A Margaree bedtime classic is a story of two brothers who, in 1927, borrowed their father’s rod and played a 52 ½-pound salmon for five-hours before landing it. How many times, I wondered, did sleepy Author Katrina Pyne works a pool on the Margaree River.

50 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

children rest their eyes while hearing of the powerful fish finally succumbing to the brothers? In a time where dams threaten wild rivers and salmon counts dwindle, Hart’s museum, which preserves and protects history and tradition, has perhaps never been more relevant. Margaree, after all, is the place where Renaissance man and conservationist Lee Wulff caught his first Atlantic salmon on a fly in 1933 and before him legendary Rhode Island angler John Cosseboom tied the first version of his namesake fly back in 1922. He was one of many men and women enchanted by the intrinsic beauty of the Cape Breton Highlands, and was known to come back regularly. While we walk through the museum we stop in front of a glass case bearing Cosseboom’s hat, donated to the museum and still bearing his original collection of tried and true lucky flies tacked to the top. Following Cosseboom’s tracks were enough doctors it seems to staff a hospital – Dr. James Grey, who wrote the handbook on guiding in Margaree; Dr. George Whipple, the Nobel Prize winner from New

Hampshire, known for his discoveries in cases of anemia; and Dr. Edwards Park, whose cabin, Red Wing, still sits on the Margaree for generations after him to enjoy. Together Whipple and Park have clothed a mannequin in the museum with antique waders and a fishing hat and jacket.

The Elusive Salmon After a few days on the river going from pool to pool we still hadn’t reeled anything in. I thought this must be a great fail and I asked my partner if he was disappointed. A local who had been taking turns casting with us, and who now lay basking in the sun on a nearby log, nodded our way. “They don’t call it fly “catching” for a reason,” he said with a wink. And I finally understood. In a place of this grandeur, where salmon jump and roll, but don’t always bite, and locals tease you for just a moment before passing you their rod, there’s no need for a grip and grin photo. My partner, who’d barely put down his fly rod all week, took a turn on the log and before long had succumbed to a peaceful nap.

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Our neighbour-in-waders explained to me that if you wanted to catch a fish every time you’d toss your line in a hatchery, if you wanted to fish, you came to Margaree. At the salmon fishing museum, Hart told us the same thing. People don’t come to the Margaree to hook a salmon, they come to fish for them.

That struggle and submission to the ways of the river, “It’s like renewal for them,” she said.

52 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

As our second day dawned we set off for a more remote pool just as a few wisps of cloud settled into the valley floor. The day before I was growing restless to catch a fish, but I now felt a great sense of peace. Today we wouldn’t overthink it. We’d satisfy ourselves with a few rare glimpses of a creature that was made to be admired. After all, as the great Lee Wulff once pondered, “Why does a salmon rise? Why

does a small boy cross the street just to kick a tin can?” We come for the experience, for the tradition, and to preserve the greatest mystery of all, how the Atlantic salmon, despite a hundred years of progress in high tech rods and reels, has remained as mysterious and elusive as ever. ?

Summer Back Country

ANGLING FOR

BEGINNERS By Barry Corbett

There was a definite tug on my line and, as I set the hook, I called out to my partner at the bow, “I’ve got dinner, get the landing net ready”. After an uncomfortable silence he replied, “I don’t have the net, I thought you brought it”. No other phrase will cause such utter chaos when you are struggling to land a fish in a canoe, particularly if you have a couple of dogs with you as companions and are fully loaded with camping gear! Looking for a different fishing experience this summer? Have you considered puddle jumping? This is what I call fishing the countless small lakes we have in Canada. My wife and I have been puddle jumping for years and the best way to access these lakes is with a canoe or kayak. Because they are small and usually well protected from winds, big waves are seldom a problem, making them perfect for the novice canoeist or kayaker. String a few of these lakes together on a trip and even the most experienced paddler will have an exciting wilderness adventure! If you like the idea of having a lake all to yourself, and you enjoy fantastic fishing and scenery, then put puddle jumping on this summer’s list of must-do activities. Don’t be fooled by their small size and easy access; many of these lakes have great fishing for a variety of species such as walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass and lake trout. The further you travel off the beaten track, the better the fishing. When adjacent to roads or trails, these lakes are ideal for a few hours of leisurely angling. By simply flipping your canoe

54 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

from atop your vehicle into the water you will almost always have the lake to yourself. If you have the time, try paddling or portaging into the next lake where the only sound you will hear is the splash of your paddle or the call of a loon. For the more adventurous, a multi-day trip is as easy as tracing a line on a map. So where to start? Grab a road map or a topographic map of your area, or visit Google Earth, and prepare to be overwhelmed by the number of lakes we have. No matter where we have lived or travelled in Canada, finding a lake to launch our canoe has never been a problem. The hardest part is deciding which lake to choose! We’re fortunate; we live in a small city in Northwest Ontario (Kenora) which is literally surrounded by lakes. Over the years we have wandered down numerous back roads, exploring and stockpiling a list of favorites to fish. You don’t have to bushwhack to find a gem; we have discovered many lakes just minutes from the Trans-Canada Highway. Hey, even if you have to drive an hour or two to find your own “puddle”, the experience is worth it.

Spring 2016 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Real Fishing 55

If you are wondering what species of fish are in your destination lake, contact your local Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) office, they may be able to help. In Ontario, the MNR has a website called Fish ON-Line that provides information on what species are present, the physical characteristics of the lake such as size, average depth, maximum depth etc. and, if available, fish monitoring information. If you can’t find your lake on the site, give your local Conservation Officer or Biologist a call and they may have personal knowledge of the lake. Exploring beyond the road-accessible lakes takes a bit more planning, but that’s half the fun. Some MNR District offices may have information on old canoe routes. Another option is to find out where official snowmobile trails are located. These trails often link a series of lakes together and are well maintained. These “unofficial” corridors between lakes are easy to find and follow. Each year we pick out a new lake and do some pre-scouting to find old portages. We always bring along an axe or saw to clear any new brush or deadfalls. To get started, here are some suggestions for gear and safety equipment. Carry a map of the lake and surrounding area in a clear, waterproof map holder. If you’re planning to visit a few lakes or if portaging is required, a GPS or compass is helpful. Before setting out on a day’s adventure or overnight trip make sure someone knows where you are going and when you plan to be back. No matter the length of the trip - whether it’s a few hours or a few days - bring along a first aid and survival kit stockpiled with 56 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

matches in a waterproof container, a Bic lighter (as a backup), candles or fire starter cubes, emergency blankets, a couple of energy bars, snare wire, and of course, duct tape, the “miracle material”. If you are not sure whether the water in your lake is drinkable, carry enough for the day or use a portable water filtration system. We also pack in a kit (available at most outdoor stores) with pencil flares and bear bangers. Where we live, once you are beyond the road accessible lakes, you are in a wilderness situation and on your own. Although we’ve never had to use either, it’s reassuring to know we could scare off a nosy bear or signal a float plane if we got into trouble. Over the years, our dogs have been our

most reliable “early warning system”, although we have had more than one false alarm when a squirrel or chipmunk has tried to approach our shore lunch or tent! If you’re planning a shore lunch, bring along a small grill, a frying pan and a small pot for tea. For overnight trips, or if an open fire ban is in effect, pack in a portable propane or white gas stove. Sandals or water shoes are worthwhile if you are planning on holding or pulling your canoe through water. Wear quick drying clothes; they are warmer and a lot more comfortable than cotton if they become wet. Besides a filleting knife, we carry a multi-tool to pull hooks out of fish’s mouths - and the occasional shirt or finger. To round things off, bring along a hat, sunglasses, sunblock, and bug repellent. Pack everything, including spare clothes, in a waterproof bag. Leave a little air in the bag and it will float if it accidently gets dropped overboard. Strap a spare paddle and standard boating safety kit (which doubles up as your bailer) to the canoe. In addition to the standard gear in the kit (waterproof flashlight, floating rope, whistle), we squirrel away more waterproof matches. Everyone must also have a life jacket and we’ve found paddling to be more comfortable with the selfinflating models. Speaking of comfort, place a sleeping mat on the bottom of the canoe if you bring along a four legged companion.

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Over the years we have minimized our fishing gear. Initially we packed in the standard six-foot, one-piece fishing rods, which work great but are a bit awkward for portaging. We tried two-piece rods and even telescopic ones, but now we’ve opted for our ice fishing rods, called brush n’ rods. They have medium actions and are slightly longer (about three-feet) than a typical ice rod. About the only down side is that they are not terrific for casting but, to be honest, casting in a canoe can be a bit challenging and potentially dangerous, particularly if you have kids fishing. If you do decide to cast, it’s worth pinching the barbs off your hooks, which makes them a lot easier and less painful to remove in case of a miscast! On back country fishing trips, long ice fishing rods are a good alternative to full-sized models.

Our tackle box is small and sparsely populated, but we carry the essentials for walleye, pike, bass or lake trout - a few jigs, a couple of spoons, some tube jigs and some crankbaits. On short day trips, I might remember to bring live bait, but we usually just pack in artificials. They are much easier to carry and they are quite effective. Be careful, some varieties are stored in fish attractants and you definitely don’t want to spill this on your clothing in bear country! Initially, fishing from a canoe can seem awkward. They are not as stable as a boat but, once you get the hang of it, it’s easy. There is nothing more exciting or challenging than trying to land a lake trout or northern pike from a canoe or kayak. A landing net is a definite must as it’s almost impossible for the bow person to turn around to lend you a hand, and lunging for a fish in a canoe could prove disastrous. On our first back country trip we failed to bring a net and lost more than one potential dinner. Lesson learned! Targeting fishing spots is no different than when fishing from a large boat, except that you have the advantage of accessing shallower waters. For walleye, we fish off 58 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

points, islands, or reefs, while for pike we leisurely paddle along the edge of a weedbed or shoreline. But I have to admit, my favorite is fishing for lake trout. When I first told friends we were planning on fishing lake trout from a canoe, they thought we were crazy. They were adamant, the best way to angle for lake trout in the summer was trolling with steel line and heavy weights and this wouldn’t be practical from a canoe. Their advice was based on the fact that lake trout are cold water fish and during the summer are usually found in the deepest part of the lake, where the water temperature is a constant 4°C. There’s no doubt that in large, deep trout lakes you may need steel line or weights to place your bait into the cold water strike zone. But most of the small lakes we target have fishable areas in 60 to 90-foot depths, well within the range of standard fishing gear.

Our trout strategy is simple - we paddle to an open bay, drop our bait to the bottom, reel up a couple of times and let the wind do the rest. We may not literally put up our feet, but basically we relax and allow the wind to push our canoe along and present the bait in a very natural manner. If there’s no wind, then one of us will occasionally paddle and move the canoe slowly with the bait gently bouncing along. There may be more effective fishing methods, but our lazy trolling usually secures shore lunch! When we decide to move, we keep our lines in the water and slowly paddle to the next location. This causes the bait to rise into the warm surface water, an area lake trout normally avoid. However, when they gaze up from the bottom and see prey swimming tantalizingly along, they often overcome their temperature aversion and burst through the warm water to aggressively strike. If the trout are not tempted while you’re fishing the surface water, you

may encounter other species like pike or bass. We’re opportunistic anglers! If you’re like us, you might have a hard time leaving the dog at home. Believe it or not, dogs and canoe fishing are compatible; it just takes a little training and patience. Once they’ve become accustomed to canoeing, most dogs enjoy the relaxed pace and will settle down on the bottom of the canoe. Although it’s easiest to start the dog out early in life with canoeing and fishing, even an old dog can be taught new tricks. The most critical time for an inexperienced dog occurs when you approach shore, particularly if a red squirrel decides to announce its presence. You may experience what we call a “premature exit” and your loyal companion will leap from the canoe, making things a bit unstable and often resulting in the dog taking an embarrassing header into the water. Of course you may also witness “premature launching”. This is when an experienced dog, who knows the routine, will leap into the canoe and cause it to launch away from shore without you. Fortunately, when this happened to us we were in shallow enough water to wade after the canoe and retrieve our rather perplexed looking dog!

Besides a relaxing fishing experience, puddle jumping is a great opportunity to view and appreciate the wilderness. Many small lakes in our area have spectacular rock formations and we always marvel at the tenacity of trees, ferns and other plants clinging to sheer cliffs. You can paddle

through marshes and watch herons hunt the shallows, or drift down crystal clear rivers and see fish darting in front of your bow. We have been extremely fortunate to have watched osprey and eagles soar above us or snatch fish off the surface of the water, and to have seen a moose swim within a stone’s throw of our bow.

When you tire of fishing, pull up on shore, stretch out and relax on an isolated beach or sun-baked bedrock. It’s as good as or better than a therapeutic hot rock massage. Or, try lying in a pool below some rapids and experience a natural Jacuzzi.

Once rejuvenated, get ready for the best part of the day, shore lunch! There’s always the classic deep frying in a cast iron pan, but why not give the following technique a try. It’s a traditional way to cook fatty fish like lake trout or whitefish and it doesn’t require a frying pan or grill. Taka a willow or alder branch about the thickness of a broom stick and cut it to about five or six-feet long. Split one end open for about 20-inches. Then cut and peel two more sticks, each about two-feet long. Take your lake trout (or any other specie) and instead of cutting along the abdomen, make your cut through the back and split the fish open, butterfly style, with the abdominal skin left intact. Clean out the innards and push the two sticks through the flesh in a diagonal manner. Place the splayed trout into the slot on the big willow branch, secure the end with wire and position it above the fire. Cook the fish, flesh side down, for a few minutes over a low, hot fire and then flip it

over and cook, skin side down, until it’s done. Once cooked, pull the trout from the pole and remove the sticks. Add salt, pepper and a bit of lemon and get ready for an absolute flavour sensation - fresh fish with a subtle, smoky flavour! If you like the idea of spending a leisurely day of fishing while drifting past spectacular scenery and watching wildlife in a natural setting, why not dust off the old canoe or kayak and give puddle jumping a try. You just might discover a new favourite pastime. ?

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Spring 2016 – Real Fishing 59

Tales from the Road By Bob Izumi

I can’t believe how being on the water makes me feel like I’m in a different world, far away from some of the crazy things that are going on these days. But I was snapped back to reality last November when our daughter, Kristin, took a trip to Paris for a conference with a girlfriend of hers and ended up getting caught in the terrorist attacks that happened there. I was at home when I heard about the attacks and I immediately turned on the TV to see what was going on. It was one of those things where you remember every minute detail of what’s going on around you – where you are and what’s happening. When my wife Sandy and I started watching the coverage, the first thing that came to mind was that our daughter was in Paris and the place they were staying at was right by the concert stadium where some of the terrorism acts happened. When we finally reached her through a text, we found out they were safe, locked down in a restaurant until three or four in the morning. Once the management decided it was safe enough to start letting people back out onto the street, Kristen and her friend got a taxi ride back to the apartment that they were renting. She told us there were police cars and ambulances everywhere throughout the area they were in. Despite what was going on, the next day they were able to make their scheduled flight out of Paris and on to Lisbon for the second portion of their trip. All I can say is thank goodness they got out of it unscathed. Later in November I was invited to attend the Big Rock/KTL distributor’s show on behalf of Berkley, Costa and Cuda. This show is put on for the fishing retail dealers from across the country. I had the opportunity to get up on the CSFL’s seminar fish tank and show the new Berkley hard baits to the dealers before spending some time with my friends at Costa sunglasses and Cuda brand fishing tools. Overall it was a great show. I got to meet quite a few dealers that I had never met before as well as a 60 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

lot of old friends who have been in the business a long time. After the show there were lots of last minute tips to shoot for the new TV series. Then I attended some interesting parties, including a friend’s 50th birthday party and an ugly Christmas sweater party. My sweater featured a squirrel running around some Christmas lights but it obviously wasn’t ugly enough as I didn’t win the prize. We had such a mild December that we were able to get in some smallmouth and walleye fishing on the New York side of Lake Erie for a number of days. The main baits that we used were Berkley Havoc Beat Shads or Ripple Shads rigged on a 3/8ounce jighead that we fished in two ways. One was to cast these swimbaits out and slowly reel them in, bouncing them on bottom. The other was to make a long cast and then use the electric motor to move around at one to 1.8-miles an hour with the baits slowly bouncing on bottom. We covered the water going up and down the contour lines until we caught some fish. Then we’d double back and pepper the area catching fish. I had heard that Orleans Boat World in the Ottawa area had a new Ranger Z522D, along with dozens upon dozens of other boats, on display in an old Target store in

Orleans so on a whim I decided to drive up there to see the Z522D. We’re talking about a 22-foot long boat that is designed for big water bass fishing. It’s got two gigantic decks (it’s like an aircraft carrier!) yet it’s got a hull like a Ranger multi-species boat. This thing is rated for a 300-horsepower motor and there’s no doubt it’s going to make fishing on the big water a lot safer and a lot more efficient. Needless to say, I can’t wait to get mine - which hopefully will be here by the time you’re reading this. The next day I popped into the Sail head office in Laval, Quebec, to say hi to all of my friends there and wish them a Merry Christmas before heading back home. On December 20, I got out on Lake Ontario with John Whyte, who has a number of fishing websites including the Lake Simcoe Message Board, for a couple of hours fun fishing on the Niagara bar. Before the wind came up we caught about eight or 10 lakers, John lost a couple of big brown trout and I nailed two walleyes including one around 10-pounds. All were taken on swimbaits. It was so good that a couple of days later, on December 23rd, we went out to tape a lake trout show. In the first hour I got all the fish I needed for the show but I stayed for another half an hour catching some more, just for fun. One of the lakers I got was well over 20-pounds. All the fish were taken by dragging four-inch Berkley Ripple Shads rigged on ½-ounce jigheads, from deep water up onto the bar. There are so many fish out there it’s amazing. It has

probably has the most fish per acre on the Great Lakes at that time of year including smallmouth, walleye, brown trout, lakers, steelhead and the occasional salmon. After a nice Christmas with family and friends, it was time to pack the truck and boat and head to Florida’s Lake Okeechobee for the first Costa/FLW Series tournament of the year. Practice went fairly well. It had been an extremely cold winter down in Florida and the fish were in a bit of a funk but I found some decent fish out on a flat that hit a vibrating jig. I got some fish on swimbaits in the shallower spawning areas even though they weren’t on beds – and I got a few more by flipping, but not as many as I’d like. On day one I started out on the flats for the first two to three hours in the morning and got one 13-inch fish. I scrambled around and ended up with a meagre limit of just over 7 ½-pounds. As it turned out, I was fishing less than a half-mile from where the eventual winner of the tournament fished. He fished the same flats as I did but he caught fish and I didn’t. That’s just the way fishing goes. Day two brought 30-mile per hour plus winds and incredible amounts of rain. I ended up only catching three fish for just over seven-pounds and finished the tournament about five-pounds out of the money. I believe I’ve cashed cheques in three out of

the seven tournaments I’ve fished on Okeechobee over the years so my average is going down. I can’t wait to fish another tournament on Okeechobee and get my average back up. Hopefully I’ll be able to do that next winter. On a positive note, young Cole Bailey from London, Ontario, made the top-10 cut with an amazing, tournament best, 21pound bag of bass on day two and moved on to fish on day three. He ended up in 10th place overall. It’s always great to see these young guns coming into tournaments and showing us old dogs how to do it. After the tournament, my wife Sandy and I fun-fished for a number of days. What can I say, I needed redemption, I wanted to catch fish, I needed a fix. During our few days of fishing we hooked up with fellow Canadian Dave Johnson for a couple of outings. I’ve known Dave for well over 20-years through tournament fishing. He’s got a place down in Florida and it was a lot of fun getting

together to fish and reminisce with him. Then it was time to head back north. Mike Davis, who was my day-one coangler in the FLW/Costa tournament, graciously offered me a spot to leave my boat at his place so we dropped the Ranger and headed north. Things were going good. We were making good time until we got into the State of Kentucky and I75 came to a dead stop during a snowstorm. Believe it or not, we got stopped at exactly the same cut-off where my transmission went out on my truck last year. We were sitting about 300-yards from the exit for about 2 ½-hours when a guy came up and knocked on our window. It seemed his wife was in the hospital at the

next cut-off having their first baby and he was trying to get everybody to move over so he could get off the highway. Every time he’d get people to move, others would move over from the left lane and it would fill in again. After 1 ½-hours of him negotiating, he finally made a path with his small car and got off at the exit. We decided, what the heck, we might as well get off too. We followed him off the highway but all of the hotels in the area were booked, so we decided to keep heading north on the country roads that ran parallel to I75.

For over two-hours we zig-zagged over and under I75, heading north on roads where you couldn’t see the lines because so much snow was dropping. Of course being Canadians, and having 4-wheel drive, it wasn’t really anything out of the ordinary for us. We finally found an exit a few hours north of where we were stranded, got up on the overpass, looked at the highway and now it was gridlocked going southbound. There were some cars that had their lights off, some had their lights on, some were running, some weren’t and some were abandoned. But, it was clear going northbound. Nobody was on the road and there were no State Troopers keeping us off, so we decided we’d get on the ramp and start heading north on I75. As we were crawling down the ramp, here come a couple of Humvees and another large Army truck, heading southbound in the northbound lanes, going to rescue people. After they passed we looked around and there was nobody else coming so we decided we might as well get on I75 and start going. For about the next three-hours we saw maybe five or six cars heading northbound. We finally made it into northern Kentucky, just south of Cincinnati, and got Spring 2016 – Real Fishing 61

a hotel room. The irony is, in the last four or five miles before we got our hotel room, everything cleared up. It was like somebody drew a line in the sand where the snow stopped. We felt like we dodged a bullet. We almost felt guilty, and for sure we felt sorry, for the thousands of people who were stranded on the highway that night. After getting home I had some sponsor meetings and then my brother Wayne and I were invited by John Ward, from the Cuda brand, to hunt with one of his customers at the Goodwood Club. The Goodwood Club has been around for a long time and they offer some excellent hunting as well as fishing in the many ponds they have. Ron Barnes has donated a hunting trip to our Fishing Forever golf tournament for a few years now and he joined us for some pheasant and chukar hunting. It was a lot of fun out there walking the fields and getting some good Canadian fresh air. There’s always a lot of production work to do editing the last of the TV series. After our hunting trip I ended up spending a fair

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amount of time in the edit suite putting the final touches on the new shows before they get sent out to the network. Then I spent an evening at Mariko’s Fly Fishing Film Tour that was held on the Thursday night at Spring Fishing and Boat Show. Mariko and her partner, Kevin Estrada, have a collection of films from all over the world that feature some incredible fishing and stunning locations. The next morning I attended the industry breakfast that Vita and Andy

Pallotta do at the Spring Fishing and Boat Show and the following day I did a seminar at the show. There was a packed house and it showed me that the fishing industry is alive and well. Then a big group of us went to Between the Lines winery for some wine tasting and a wonderful dinner right in the facility. Brothers Greg and Yannick Wertsch do a wonderful job making some superb Canadian wines. Needless to say our group

had a lot of fun tasting five different white wines and eventually picking the one that would become the new vintage of our limited run Izumi wine. Then it was time for another road trip back to Florida, where we picked up the boat at Mike Davis’s place and then headed over to Streamsong Resort. Streamsong Resort is on the Mosaic property which encompasses 16,000-acres. The resort has a 215-room hotel and several fine dining restaurants. There are two top-ranked, 18hole golf courses on the property as well as 40-plus lakes with some of the best bass fishing in the world. There are so many big fish in these lakes it is mind blowing. Even though we hit high winds, rain and a cold front on our first day, the fish still bit. We fished for a couple of hours and caught numerous bass up to seven-pounds. On a few more outings to some different lakes over the next few days we caught so many fish from four to six-

pounds it was unbelievable. I’m talking about dozens and dozens of big fish – and this was during a cold front. Florida bass are the most fickle largemouth you’ll ever find anywhere and they are very susceptible to cold fronts. They get lockjaw very quickly and are much harder to catch during cold fronts, so it tells you the quality of fishing at Streamsong. Unfortunately the golf courses were booked up and we couldn’t get a tee time but hopefully I’ll get to golf there sometime down the road. I left the truck and boat down in Florida and flew back home to speak on behalf of Columbia Sportswear at a Toronto manager’s meeting for FGL Sports. FGL Sports have a number of sporting goods stores across Canada and 400 managers were in attendance. I was honoured to be part of Columbia’s presentation and it was fun to be part of that convention. As long as I’ve been in the business, I never get tired of some of the corporate functions I’m lucky

enough to get invited to. As I wrap this column up, I’ve just flown back from the Mid-Canada Boat Show in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It’s been over 20-years since the last time I visited this show and it was great to see so many old friends out there. They had over 250 boats on display in the newly renovated convention centre. I did seminars with Alex Keszler, Ted Takasaki and Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson at the show and I also had a chance to visit with my radio co-host, Gord Pyzer. I spent some time with the folks from SnoBear, Mercury, Lund, Ranger and a number of other folks that were at this show. As I sign off, I have a flight to catch back to Florida in about four-hours. I’ll be there for six straight days of fishing before I drive the boat and truck back to Ontario for the Toronto Sportsmen’s Show. What can I say, life is tough. ?

Spring 2016 – Real Fishing 63

What’s COOKING

HOT & SOUR WALLEYE There’s no denying the appeal of freshly caught and deep fried walleye fillets, but even the best of things need livening up once in a while. Here’s a spicy twist on the shore lunch favourite that’s sure to have your guests asking for seconds.

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

2 pounds

fresh walleye fillets

1 cup

roasted pepper marinade

Marinate fish in roasted pepper marinade for 2-hours. Remove and cut into bite-sized pieces.

1 cup

bread crumbs

1 teaspoon

all-purpose seasoning

vegetable oil

(for frying)

Hot & Sour Sauce 1 cup 1 cup 1/2 cup 1/2 cup 1 teaspoon 1 cup

hot sauce ketchup vinegar soy sauce chopped garlic maraschino cherry juice

64 Real Fishing – Spring 2016

Mix bread crumbs and all-purpose seasoning in a medium bowl and dredge fish until coated. Fry walleye in hot oil until cooked, about 5-minutes. While fish is frying, combine all ingredients for the hot and sour sauce in a large bowl. When fish is cooked, toss in the sauce and serve.

There are better ways to say ‘Thanks’. COME AND GET IT. Our wines are only available direct — either in person or by delivery from our vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. It’s taken 14 years to get it right, to perfect the craft of making wine that is drinkable, accessible, and affordable. It all happens here in our Big Red Barn. Our modern-rustic space houses our cellar and is part tasting room, part clubhouse. There’s no pretension or mystery here. All that we know, we’re ready to share with you, to delight the novice wine lover and the veteran oenophile alike. Visit us or order ahead for your next big trip and for each purchase of an Izumi wine, Between the Lines will donate $1 to the Fishing Forever Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to the preservation of Canada’s fishing resources.

C Contact ontact us tto o book y your our winery ttour. our. Mention this ad free and rreceive eceive a fr ee tasting of our Izumi wines:

Betw BetweenTheLinesWinery.com eenTheLinesWinery.com

SAW-TOOTHED BASS?

Artist: Cynthia Shanley

Art is where you find it and sometimes all it takes is a little imagination to turn the mundane into the memorable. This old

Medium: Acrylic on metal

saw fit the former category until Peterborough’s Cynthia Shanley saw its potential and set to work on it. The result is this wonderfully whimsical piece that would be perfectly at home hanging in any angler’s den, office or cottage.

66 Real Fishing – Spring 2016