You get what you get and you don’t get upset.
Sometimes, we dream about the perfect fishing experience and it turns out to be nothing like we imagined. Most of the time, when I look long and hard at what I just experienced, I find the experience was even better than expected.
Our day started earlier than normal. It took a few gentle nudges to get Austin to wake up and get ready to go fishing. While he really wanted to come fishing this morning, he was also comfortable and cozy tucked away in a warm bed. After rising and racing to beat the clock to our departure time, we discussed our packing list. We remembered most of our snacks. Unfortunately, Austin got as far as boiling his water for hot chocolate and then forgot to make his warm drink as we raced out the door to make it to the lake before sunrise.
Our walk out to Frosty was easier than expected, especially after the big snow fall we had during the week. A big thanks to Kevin for taking the time to plow a trail and area for tents to set up beside Frosty. When we arrived, we noticed Frosty had fallen over. Sadly, he succumbed to the warmer weather we have had these last few days. Will he be back?
We set up as quickly as we could when we arrived. The light was just enough that headlights were not needed. Austin was fishing first and we started marking kokanee shortly after setting up.
Now, I can honestly say that today was a proud moment as a father. Last weekend, Austin and I broke a family record of a double limit in fifteen minutes. Today, we managed to catch our limit again, but not as quickly. I love sharing my passion with my family. What I love even more is watching them enjoy fishing as much as I do. Austin displayed a genuine interest in catching fish and letting me know that I needed to step up my game and catch some fish. He was putting on a clinic and managed to catch 3 kokanee and a nice rainbow before I caught my first kokanee. He would eventually beat me to the limit and proceeded to kindly encourage me to catch some fish so we could go home.
The winning flasher today was an orange/yellow glow Deka flasher. A longer leader seemed to do the trick, so I quickly made my leader longer after watching Austin catch all the fish. An orange ice jig tipped with a mealworm was Austin’s lucky bait. While I tried to “match the hatch,” I did not have any more orange/yellow Deka flashers. I had a blue/silver Williams flasher with a longer leader (after switching from a short leader). I used a pink ice jig with a mealworm for my first kokanee, but then I couldn’t buy a bite. Since bait seems to be one of the top producers of enticing a bite, I slowly rolled through all my bait and scents I had. I tried a mealworm combined with anise corn, and then combined with garlic corn, but had no luck. Then, I tried a mealworm with shrimp scent and had no bites. Then, Kevin said he was using garlic, so I grabbed my garlic scent and applied a generous amount on the underside of my jig and a small drop on my mealworm. Almost instantly, the bite was on.
Once I found the magic bait combination, it was game on. I quickly caught up to Austin and we were tied with 4 kokanee each. In good fun, we had a race to see who could catch their limit first. I lost this time and was excited to see Austin’s smile.
After catching our limit, Austin and I spent the next hour and a half or so outside talking with everyone on the ice. It was great to talk with familiar faces and people who enjoy kokanee fishing as much as we do.
While the size of Ten Mile kokanee has gone down for some reason, it was great to see two larger fish come out of the lake. Where did all the big fish go? This question has been on a lot of angler’s minds. Are they swimming in another nutrient rich area of the lake? Is the kokanee size a correlation of stocking numbers, angler effort, or the strain of kokanee being introduced? Do we need more anglers to go fishing to help increase sizes?
Some people might think that a smaller kokanee is not worth the time to catch and keep. Personally, the smaller kokanee pack a punch and I enjoy smoking them over the larger fish any day. The pin bones in the smaller fish do not need to be removed and the smaller kokanee are a perfect portion controlled size for a family. Nothing gets wasted.
When we got home, I decided to descale, fillet and prepare this batch to be ready for the smoker on our next available day. I continue to be impressed with our Fillet Away Fish Mats which made filleting kokanee easy and safer as I was not chasing them around with a knife on a cutting board. We made a few videos to show others what I do when cleaning my fish at home. I even found some corn that a few kokanee took from some some unlucky anglers.
Today was a reminder of how “you get what you get and don’t get upset.” In this case, I got more than I could have imagined. I watched my son focus and catch a limit of kokanee all on his own. I also caught a limit of kokanee. I enjoyed the company of some great anglers and ambassadors of the fishery who have helped me enjoy learning about kokanee even more than I could have imagined. I enjoyed spending time in a community of anglers who welcome others and help others catch some great tasting fish. If you see us out there, come say hello, introduce yourself and learn with us. We would not be upset to fish with you and help you learn.