Welcome to Week L 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.
One of my 'fishing resolutions' back on Jan. 1 - by the way where has the first third of 2013 gone already - was to learn to fly fish.
That is still a work in progress as they say, although I have a rod and reel ready for a few lessons soon, but I had a chance to do something last week which has me even more eager to try fly fishing.
First I should provide a bit of background.
I originally met Patrick Thomson in Yorkton when I interviewed him a year or so ago about a youth paintball program in the city.
Somewhere in that process, or in talks later, I found out Patrick was a fly fisherman.
Fishing is a brotherhood, and once he mentioned his interest, we had a connection.
I mentioned I wanted to learn how to fly fish, and Patrick said he'd be up to giving me some tips once the snow left.
Yes, I recognize the snow is still here, even though the calendar changed over to May as you are reading this, but last week Patrick introduced me to an aspect of the sport, fly tying, and I was hooked.
Patrick met me at 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer, my favourite spot for a cup of java. He walked in with a tackle box and offered me a hearty handshake before sitting down to introduce me to the mystery of the fly.
Patrick set up an easily portable fly tying vice, and I settled into to watch him weave what I really expected to be magic of a sort.
But instead he proceeded to set up a second vice then informed me I'd be tying a fly too.
That had me smiling, in part out of excitement, and part at the joke which I expected was about to be played on Patrick. When it comes to such fine skills I do manage to glue my war-gaming miniatures together, but I have seen the art in numerous tiny flies, and I couldn't see myself accomplishing such fine work.
Before Patrick started showing me how to actually tie a fly he opened a small wooden box, the kind which might have held fine cigars, but instead was filled with rows of tiny flies.
One, the largest of the bunch, and still roughly the size of a quarter, represented a small mouse.
The rest were smaller, some very, very small. Some representing tiny grasshoppers, others little nymphs that are the primary food supply of trout when the insect hatches are on.
That, explained Patrick, was the actual key to tying flies, making sure what you create, is as close to the bug it is mimicking as possible.
It isn't just a matter of winding some thread and feathers onto a hook, it has to look real, to successfully trick a wily trout.
By this time I am shuddering inside. The flies in that wooden box were just so small.
But Patrick then pulls out some larger bare hooks. He is going to have me tie a fly for pike.
Where many fishermen might turn away from a fighting pike, I love taking the feisty fighters on a spinning rod, so why not on a fly rod?
Why not indeed, agreed Patrick. He explained he regularly fly fishes for pike locally, including Theodore Dam. So now I am truly excited, and eager to give fly tying a try.
Patrick opens up the tackle box and it is filled with brightly coloured paraphernalia; Zonker Strip, Krystal Flash, Holographic Flashabou, Superhair and Pearlescent Piping, all the components needed to create a pike fly. He asked me what colour lures I usually use for pike.
At Theodore Dam that would be a red and white spoon.
So Patrick begins pulling out material to make a red and white pike fly.
He chooses green and white for himself.
And then it's sort of a game of follow-the-leader.
Patrick applies a layer of thread to his hook. It is an effortless process. His hand a near blur as he winds, the result of some 30-years tying flies, he explains.
Once he has done something, I try to copy it. My movements are clumsy, a bit like a bear trying to tie a bow tie. Patrick smiles a lot, partly to reassure and partly out of humour, although he is too polite to admit that.
It's a casual experience really. We are together nearly two hours to each tie a single pike fly.
But a lot of it is just two fishermen talking.
Patrick explains he sees fly tying as something which can be a great social event for fishermen in winter, gathering to create flies and recount tall tales of fishing exploits.
I find out Patrick cut his fly tying teeth on salmon and trout in British Columbia. I feel envy at the thought of fighting a rugged steelhead on a regular basis.
Patrick also explained he is starting Ambition Fly Fishing, a business supplying everything a fly fisherman would want.
That was good news to hear, since the line on my fly reel is of the floating variety. I will need a sinking line to properly present a fly to a hungry pike.
So we work in tandem on our pike flies.
At the end Patrick brings out fingernail polish to mark eyes, complete with a black dot iris on the head of the flies.
While pike have a deserved reputation for, at times eating just about anything, Patrick assures the detail of an eye, with an iris, increases the likelihood of a pike striking. Who am I to argue with 30-years experience? I apply the eyes.
Now my humble pike fly is a little frayed. It lacks the attention to detail of an experienced hand. I might even admit it's a bit ratty.
But I tied it.
Clumsy fingers and thumbs I might have, but I tied a fishing fly. It is something I have wanted to do for, well probably as long as Patrick has actually been doing it.
And, I want to tie more.
I want more pike flies from my own hands. I want to tie flies for perch and head to Cutarm Creek to try out my 'Super Fairy' fly rod from The Angler's Roost.
And yes I want to eventually try tying flies for trout.
Of course that will mean needing magical materials like those in Patrick's 'Box-of-Wonder'. Fortunately, he explains that is just part of what Ambition Fly Fishing will carry. You will be able to check out what they do carry at www.ambitionflyfishing.com as soon as the site goes online, which is expected soon.
Yes folks I have already had Patrick pricing a good starter kit with vice and materials. The price won't break a bank either.
The time spent with Patrick was a complete rush, a combination of awe, exhilaration, camaraderie and fun. I look forward to learning more about tying flies with him, and to spending some time on a lakeshore, or river bank sharing our common passion of fishing.
