Welcome to Week XXII of 'Fishing Parkland Shorelines'. Like most of us I am a novice fisherman, loving to fish, but far from an expert. In the following weeks I'll attempt to give those anglers who love to fish but just don't have access a boat a look at some of the options in the Yorkton area where you can fish from shore, and hopefully catch some fish for a good summer fry.''
So last week you will recall we had headed to Duck Mountain Provincial Park, stopping at Jackfish and Batka Lakes and having limited success at either.
But it is a beautiful fall day with above normal temperatures and Madge Lake, the main water in the Park still awaits some exploring.
We stop at Duck Mountain Lodge, which is a nice amenity with restaurant, hotels, cabins and convenience store still open in late September, which is likely more to serve hunters, but it works for late-season fishermen too. I ask about a good spot to shore fish and the attendant gets a somewhat perplexed look, one that suggested shore fishing is not a real popular undertaking at Madge Lake. He thinks a moment and suggests Pickerel Point.
Pickerel Point is easy enough to find, with signage right off the main highway.
But it's not exactly shore fishing friendly. The signage at the boat launch area says no fishing off the dock, or in the immediate area. There isn't shoreline that isn't an immediate area to the dock.
I opt to throw out a few casts since it is past park season, but the sign did not suggest it was allowable out-of-park season, so I was leery.
So I climb back in the car and go exploring. On the east side of the lake we head past a bible camp and church, and then a cabin subdivision. At the end of the road there is a crude road down to the lake and I walk to the water.
There is a narrow beach about a city block long which would have been ideal shore fishing, except all along the beach the skeletons of dead trees rise eerily from the water. It's impossible to throw a hook through the trees.
Here is a spot park authorities could create a nice shore fishing area dredging out a few long dead trees. It is far enough off the beaten path of the regular lake subdivisions to be ideal for shore fishermen, and pulling out the trees would leave some holes that would likely attract fish.
Sadly though provincial parks, at least Good Spirit, discussed in this series earlier this year, and now Duck Mountain, seem to have little interest in shore fishing. It cannot be that difficult to set out a few fishing docks where fishermen can cast a few hooks. If they are unsure what such structures look like I might suggest they visit the Melville Reservoir for a look.
But the area with the dead trees is out. I know that for a fact as I tried to cast through what I thought was an opening only to lose the lure to a snag on the first cast.
So we head back to the main resort area. There is one little cut path down to the water and I settle into fish. It is big enough for exactly one fisherman, and tree overhang still limits the angles I can get a hook into the water. I jig some. I throw a few spoons. I try some new hooks from PK Lures.
PK Lures offer some interesting choices. The Flutter Fish has a design which gives the lure a ton of action in the water. If you need movement to get fish on the hunt the Flutter Fish is a good choice. A copper finish Flutter Fish is great when there's light to catch, and the Firetiger has the popular perch-look combined with the big movement.
PK spoons have a hammered finish and treble hooks front and back, which enhance catch capabilities from various attack angles from predatory fish. The spoon shape is more of Gourami (tank fish) shape, and I appreciate spoons that are different from the standard.
Finally I cast a few PK Panic lures. PK Panic has two blades at the mid-joint of a very heavy lure which is designed first and foremost for vertical jigging. The blades provide noise which is essentially a wake-up call for fish. The blades also mimic a swimming motion at the top and bottom of the jigging range.
As interesting as the PK Lure offerings were, at Madge Lake they came up empty.
That is not really an issue of the hooks though, but more the lakes lack of shore fishing options, something it would be nice to see park authorities do something to address in the future.
