Welcome to Week XXVI 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.
Don't you just look out the window and shudder at the snow and cold, and wish you had had time for just one more fishing trip?
As much fishing as I have managed to cram into 2012, I know I was hoping for one more day.
The reason I wanted one more trip was because I wanted a few walleye.
Yes I caught a lot of 'wallies' this year, but I never bothered to keep their heads.
Then on a recent web search I came across fish head soup recipes, and was intrigued.
We have a bad habit in general terms of being pretty fussy when it comes to the fish we eat.
I saw that repeatedly this summer.
Many fishermen tossed pike back, proclaiming them too slimy to clean, or too boney to eat.
Well to those fishermen I really suggest they try smoking some pike, or pickling it, as different ways to enjoy it.
I also saw many fishermen turn away from bullhead catfish, some going so far as to leave them on the shore for the vermin.
Yet fried up I know they are tasty.
So I am sure many of you will wrinkle your noses in disgust at the thought of using a fish head in a soup.
Yet, if you do a bit of web searching you will find many cultures make soups and stews out of fish heads, and often the bones are boiled to make the stock too.
It is not as easy to find a recipe specific to walleye heads, but it's worth a bit of experimenting, since I can't see a good reason their heads won't work.
So thanks to www.farmersweekly.co.za I plan on making 'fish head soup with fennel' with the first walleye of 2013, since the weather kept me from pulling in a few late season fish this fall.
I do have to pass on some information regarding the fishing season to come in 2013.
To start with I received a list of the likely lakes to be stocked next spring through the provincial fish culture station at Qu'Appelle. While the list may change by spring, it is interesting to note some of the local lakes on the list.
Brook trout fingerlings are planned to be stocked into Lady Lake, one place that sadly has limited shore fishing access, but I would dearly love to spend some boat time on in 2013. Rainbow and tiger trout are also planned for the lake.
Brookies are also slated for Scissors Creek, seven kilometres south of Tantallon. I have this marked as must investigate next spring.
The Wynyard Reservoir at the Wynyard Regional Park is also scheduled for rainbow.
Walleye fingerlings are planned for stocking into the Moosomin Reservoir, eight kilometres southwest of Moosomin, with walleye fry slated for the Cutarm Reservoir, 14 kilometres northeast of Esterhazy, Echo Lake near For Qu'Appelle, Mission Lake, beside Lebrett, the Kamsack Town Reservoir, just half a kilometre northwest of the community, and McBride Lake, 60 kilometres south of Hudson Bay.
Anglers should also be aware Saskatchewan is automating its fishing, hunting and trapping license system.
"Our province has some of the best fishing and hunting opportunities in the world and automating the license issuance system will help to make the experience even better," said Environment Minister Ken Cheveldayoff in a release detailing the changes. "Each year hunters and anglers contribute about $40 million to our economy and create more than 2,500 direct jobs. These outdoors enthusiasts help maintain a strong workforce and support the economy in rural areas of the province."
Annually, more than 170,000 hunting and 185,000 angling licenses are issued for a total revenue of $12 million. The current system is paper-based. Automated hunting, trapping and angling licensing will make it much easier and more efficient for people to get a licence.
"Our government has heard from many individuals that we need to update our licensing process," said Cheveldayoff in the release. "With this new service, individuals will be able to obtain a licence at home on their personal computer at any time, through a license issuer or by telephone. The automated system will also be much more convenient for out-of-province hunters and anglers."
Hunters and anglers will still be able to purchase their licenses from local licence issuers if they wish.
The automated service is designed to improve revenue collection and financial management, game harvest and program reporting, data management and support for the license issuers. With the implementation of this system, license fees will not be increased and the allocation of 30 per cent of license revenue directed to the Fish and Wildlife Development Fund will be maintained, detailed the provincial government release.
The Active Network, Ltd., a private sector technology company specializing in hunting and angling license sales in North America, has been contracted to deliver this service for the province.
The ministry expects to have licences available through the automated process ready for the 2013 angling and hunting seasons.
