Welcome to Week LIV of 'Fishing Parkland Shorelines'. Like most of us I am a novice fisherman, loving to fish, but far from an expert. In the following weeks I'll attempt to give those anglers who love to fish but just don't have access to a boat, a look at some of the options in the Yorkton area where you can fish from shore, and hopefully catch some fish.
When you are hoping to develop a new skill it is a good idea to read up on the subject, even if most men, myself usually included look at most instructions as a path of last resort.
At least in terms of fly fishing I am smart enough to know I know butkis about it.
So when I saw the book Water Marks by Jim McLennan I was immediately excited, after all the sub-title to the book is "Thirty Years of Fly-Fishing Insight'.
Having come to my first foray into fly fishing when I have already passed the 50-year mark, I won't necessarily hold out the hope I get to 30-years of insight.
But I figured I could fast track my education at least a bit by gleaning some insights from McLennan.
"Dimpled throughout this collection are the reasons why Jim McLennan became a prominent voice for a fly-angling generation: his deep understanding of key issues, unsurpassed knowledge of fishing techniques, humble realization of an angler's limitations, and passion for his pastime. He takes interested fly fisherman along with him as he chases answers to fly-fishing questions. He doesn't always find what he's looking for, but he always finds something. In his approach to fly fishing, McLennan is scientific, yet he maintains the mystical and poetic nature that is so often associated with casting a fly to a rising trout," details the book jacket.
It's bang on.
McLennan obviously knows fly-fishing, something which could be passed on with a 'how-to' manual that would read like a high school shop manual. It would be dry, and truthfully most novices would shelve the book pretty quickly.
In this case though, McLennan is a fine writer, painting backgrounds into the book which raise it to simply put, a fine read.
"His writing voice is fluid, transparent, confident, intelligent, and humble. And to know him on the page is to experience a day with him on the water. Take the time to read through McLennan's best articles from the past thirty years and drift the Bow with him as he casts Blue-winged Olives and Pale Morning Duns to oversized rainbows. Walk the banks with him as he shares his surprising thoughts on catch-and-release and the importance of an angling off-season. And live a fly-fishing dream with him as he goes sight fishing for massive browns in New Zealand with a guide who has forsaken all to pursue a less complicated life," continued the book jacket.
Of course I would expect nothing else from McLennan once I saw his pedigree.
"A long-time fly fisher and outdoor writer, Jim McLennan is a past recipient of the Andy Russell Nature Writing Award, Trout Unlimited Canada's Bob Paget Memorial Conservation Award, and the Outdoor Writers of Canada's Book of the Year Award. His writing and photography appear regularly in major outdoor magazines, including Fly Fisherman, Fly Fusion, The Canadian Fly Fisher, and Outdoor Canada, and he is a frequent speaker at events sponsored by fly-fishing clubs and conservation organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada," again from the book leaf.
In email correspondence with the author, he said the book really came about as way to draw his best into one tome.
"I knew I had been writing about fly fishing for 30-years or so and thought it might be a good idea to gather the best pieces, re-work them if necessary and put them together in a book," he said.
It's also a way to pass on some knowledge, admits McLennan. He added he is pleased with "the fact that it functions as a gathering place for some of the work I've done, and marking my progress as a writer."
"A little information, a little enlightenment, and a little entertainment, he cited as what he hopes readers glean from Water Marks." The chapters are organized into 'how-to,' 'places,' 'interesting fly-fishing people,' and 'fly-fishing philosophy,' so there should be something there for most readers."
As something of a compilation work, McLennan said he looks at Water Marks differently than earlier works.
"Because it contains mostly previously published work, I view it differently than the other books, each of which was conceived and created as an entirely new idea," he said. "From the readers' perspective, some people may like Water Marks best, because of the diversity of topics within it."
I was interested by McLennan's response to what his favourite fishing hole was.
"Having a favourite lake or stream is like saying you have a favourite child," he said.
"However, in my family of favourites are the Bow and Crowsnest Rivers in Alberta, and the Missouri River in Montana.
"I'm not too much of a lake fisherman, but my favourite at the moment is Fortress Lake in B.C."
And among his many fishing experiences over three-and-a-half decades, a particular fish no longer stands out.
But his beginning does.
"Nothing stands out in particular, except for the fact that I started fishing with my father and some
of his friends in the lakes of Jasper National Park," he said. "I have a number of fond memories of this period, which included the occasion when I got my drivers' license, which allowed me to fish on my own. I used to love fishing Beaver, Marjorie, Mona and Dorothy lakes especially."
And reading Water Marks will help fly fisherman get a little closer to their own lasting memories. It's a book from a Canadian writer well worth picking up.
So let's head to the kitchen.
I recently attended a horse seeding demonstration in Rama, and when you're in Rama and you are a fisherman you can hear the Stoney and Pelican Lakes south of Margo calling to you.
So after a couple of hundred pictures of working horses and four interviews with teamsters, I headed to the lakes.
Stoney was slow, although a couple of 22-inch walleye on a Len Thompson Fire Tiger.
I left Stoney with the idea of just checking water levels at Pelican, but my favourite spot was unoccupied so of course I had to toss a few hooks.
The Len Thompson hammered perch ended up in a tree as a stiff wind bowed my line into its branches.
I went to a standard red and white, adjusted my cast a bit and as is the norm in the spot the pike started to hit just as far out as I can cast. That means a lot of swim room for a fight.
The plan for the day had me headed to High Impact Wrestling in Melville for an evening show, so I planned to catch and release.
Then a 26-inch pike basically inhaled the lure. So it was a keeper.
A twin would repeat the swallowing of the lure later, so among a dozen fighting pike, I brought two 26-inchers home.
And those fish are on the menu as Greek-style pike, at least my take on Greek.
For this one I will bake the fish in a tinfoil wrap.
I prepared the fillets simple enough with a rub down of Greek Caesar dressing, and some added minced garlic.
The fillets were then placed on tinfoil and covered with a mixture of chopped red tomatoes, diced white onion, diced green peppers, chopped black olives and lots of crumbled feta cheese.
Once the mixture was on the pike, I wrapped the tinfoil snugly, made a couple of small steam holes, laid them on a cookie sheet in case of leakage, and popped in the oven at 350.
This dish is easy. The fish comes out moist, and the feta, olives and onions and pepper provide a ton of flavour. This is one I am quite proud of. Try it folks.
