Welcome to Week XXVIII 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.
Time for a little departure from past columns on fishing. It is that time when the jingle of holiday bells can be heard on the horizon, and thoughts turn to what gifts to but those we care about.
If you have a fisherman in the family then something for his tackle box, or at least associate with the sport is not a bad idea.
So here are a few gift ideas for those of you struggling with what to get the fisherman on your list.
To start with a hook sampler is rarely a bad idea. Sure you might want to avoid the no-name hooks out there, but a few Len Thompson lures (www.lenthompson.com), a Canadian Wiggler (www.canadianwiggler.com), or some Syclops lures (www.mepps.com) just never come amiss in a tackle box. You can check them out at the websites, although most will be available locally.
If you happen to have a relative, or friend, outside of Canada then Len Thompson does produce a red and white hook in a Canadian flag motif so it would make a great gift.
Speaking of hooks with a unique design Pelican Lures out of Winnipeg (ww.pelicanluretackle.com), not only offer a maple leaf flag, but also hooks with the logos of all eight Canadian Football League teams. Yes I do have a Saskatchewan Roughrider lure, and yes, it has caught fish.
Pelican Lures also have hooks with several National Hockey League logos, including for Canadian teams; Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Edmonton.
A final hook suggestion are those from Dahlberg. A few weeks ago in this space I commented on the life-like Dahlberg Clackin' Crayfish and Dahlberg Diver Frog (www.river2seausa.com). These two hooks are a bit more money than some, but any fisherman would be beaming to find one of these in a gift box. I have not seen these hooks on local shelves, but they can be accessed online.
If you want to spend a little more, well something very cool for a shore fisherman is a fish finder.
Yes, we generally think of a fish finder as something used on a boat to find holes where fish lurk, but Hummingbird (www.humminbird.com) has come up with a way for shore fishermen to use the technology.
Hummingbird has a rather ingenious system, where the actual finder module is small enough to be attached to a fishing line and cast out onto the water where it broadcasts findings back to a unit which can be attached to the rod, or another that is worn like a wrist watch.
There have been times I've been fishing and you wonder if there is anything swimming with a mile, or two, well a fish finder might help you determine that and I suspect most shore fisherman would love one (I know I would).
Of course not every good fishermen gift goes into the tackle box.
It is winter after all and it is nice to give a gift someone doesn't have to wait months to use, and yes some people do ice fish I realize.
So a good book related to angling never hurts.
If you know the fisherman on your list has an interest in fly fishing, and more specifically fly-tying, then there are numerous books to consider.
The Fly-Tying Bible by Peter Gathercole is a great example. It contains instructions, including colour pictures of the process, to tie 100 trout and salmon flies. This is a great little book for a fly tier.
You can also opt for some classic fiction related to fishing.
One of my favourites is The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton. I have had a nice slip-cased edition, copyright 1976, which I purchased new. For those keeping score that dates back to before I graduated high school.
The book is subtitled 'The Contemplative Man's Recreation: Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing for the Perusal of Anglers'.
The Compleat Angler was first published in 1653, and is still read, which is pretty clear testament that the book is a compelling one.
In a flier included in my edition Kenneth Rexroth speaks to the book's appeal.
"We do not read The Compleat Angler for the fish," as Rexroth declared in the Saturday Review, "nor for instruction in how to catch them. We read Izaak Walton for a special quality of soul for his tone, for his perfect attunement to the quiet streams and flowered meadows and bosky hills of the Thames Valley long ago. The landscape of The Compleat Angler is so clean and bright because it is bathed in a light which comes from a lucid heart."
Of course as the title belies, there is a story for fishermen here too.
"Practical fishermen, of course, are free to skip the first 230 pages and go directly to what is virtually an appendix: the treatise on trout-fishing, written for the 1676 edition (at Walton's behest) by his friend Charles Cotton. But those in quest of beguiling reading will prefer the charms of the main text," details the leaflet.
The Compleat Angler is a book every fisherman should have, so it would be a great gift for those who do not yet own a copy.
A second choice would be Trout Fishing In America by Richard Brautigan, a novella written by the author in 1961, but not published until 1967.
Trout Fishing In America is an abstract book with a series of anecdotes broken into chapters, with the same characters often reappearing from story to story.
The main settings reflect three settings from Brautigan's own life; his childhood in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S.; his day-to-day adult life in San Francisco; and a camping trip in Idaho with his wife and infant daughter during the summer of 1961. Most of the chapters were written during this trip.
Brautigan uses the theme of trout fishing as a focusing point for his often humorous critiques of mainstream American society and culture.
While most of us aren't exactly enamoured by a sweater as a gift, there are some rather cool fish-themed clothing options, none more so than those offered by Fishouflage (www.fishouflage.com).
Fishouflage has a range of clothing, t-shirts, fleeces, hats, and hoodies, as well as other items done in camouflage patterns which incorporate fish. While different species are offered, local fisherman are likely to be drawn to the walleye motif.
Another option, more for young children wanting a gift for grandpa, or an aunt who likes fishing, or as a quirky stocking stuffer is the dice game Fishfry (www.fishfrydicegame.weebly.com).
Fishfry comes in a box about the size of a thick cell phone, so the idea of taking the game anywhere certainly applies. And the box could be smaller. It contains only five specially made dice, and a small folded rule set.
The dice are nice. They are lightly engraved, so the unique sides should last.
Each dice is the same. One side had the head of a fish, one the tail. Three sides show middles with weights, with the final side a small 'panfish'.
The game is pretty straight forward, over three rolls you are trying to 'catch' the biggest fish. So you need a head, tail, and preferably three 20-pound middle sections.
Roll a panfish, and it gets set aside, and cannot be re-rolled. But, if you roll all five dice as panfish in your three rolls, everybody fries up their fish, losing whatever they had scored. The player with the five panfish rolled wins the game.
You can play it as a single round, or go tournament style, adding up your poundage over several turns, to see who has the most pounds at the end of the game.
Fishfry is a game that if you have a cabin at the lake would be ideal for a rainy afternoon, so is a great little gift idea.
While there are many other gift ideas, a folding net for shore fisherman, a good quality rain coat (most us rely on something bought at a dollar store it seems), or a subscription to a good fishing magazine, the ideas above should help start the gift search for the fisher-person in your life.
Enjoy the search and the act of giving.
