Yesterday was an adventure, learning experience and great day to meet new people.
My day was an exciting day, because I was bringing mealworms to the Wildwood Store and Husky gas station on Dog Creek road to be sold to anglers in Williams Lake. For those that have not been following our adventures, I started growing mealworms a few years ago after an overlooked mistake of leaving live mealworms in my fishing jacket pocket. Two weeks later, I woke up one morning and shot out of bed after I realized what I had done. Bringing my jacket into the bedroom and clearing the pockets over the bed was an honest mistake (not to be forgotten anytime soon). The mealworms in my pocket had chewed a hole in the plastic bag they were in. When I pulled the bag out, naturally they went everywhere on the bed while Sarah was still slowly waking up. I’m still not certain I got them all off the bed, but I do know that beetles were found in the room on the floor weeks after the incident.
Fast forward to yesterday and I am happy to be able to supply mealworms for fishing to anglers in Quesnel, Prince George (limited locations so far), and Williams Lake. My goal is to continue to expand and supply bait for anglers across the province. Mealworms have been one of my main baits these last few years to help me catch kokanee and trout while ice fishing. Yesterday was no different.
I arrived at Chimney lake in the late morning. This was my third ice fishing trip to this lake and third new location. I fished at a lake access off South Chimney Lake road. The access was plowed, but was narrow and there was not much room for parking. As I unloaded my gear, two more trucks pulled up. The local anglers were great to talk to. I always enjoy a friendly conversation with people on a local lake. Taking the time to talk to people is not only enjoyable, but knowledge can be gained that can not be found online.
While walking out to the general area of the tents on the ice, I noticed everyone was more spread out than normal compared to the main rec site. I questioned the effectiveness of the spacing to help hold kokanee in the area, so I split the difference between two tents. Time would soon tell that I should have been closer to the red Eskimo tent that Wayne was in. I enjoyed meeting you Wayne. This brought me back to when we used to have group get togethers. I would love to start scheduling group get togethers one day again. It’s always fun meeting members and learning new things.
Once I got settled in, I carefully lined up all my baits and scents for the day. Changing your bait and/or scent often can sometimes be key in triggering a bite from a wary or unwilling kokanee. When I’m fishing by myself, I simply put them on my storage bin. While this works solo, it proves to be less effective when the tent is full with my family. I hope to do a slight re-design over the years and have a small table or board that is organized for quick bait changes when the bite is on.
I started fishing at 10:19 and time would soon reveal that my choice in location was not the best. I always find it hard to move locations after setting up an ice tent either by myself or with my family. After yesterday, I see a greater need to “hole hop” when ice fishing and the fish are not cooperating. I would eventually land 2 kokanee, but the time it took was exhausting to say the least, especially when fishing alone. I also hooked and lost a few kokanee in my location, but it was not as exciting watching a blank screen and waiting for the kokanee to swim around and come back to my location.
When Wayne left, he said he got his limit. He said the fish showed up shortly after I arrived. I was only 60 feet or so away. A few questions always come to mind when this happens. What is different about the two locations? If our flasher sends sound waves in the water, could the kokanee not hear me? What holds kokanee in a certain area of the lake longer? Is there a higher concentration of plankton? Is there a way to tell from above the ice? Is there a spring nearby and do the kokanee like the oxygen rich water?
I’ll be the first to admit, after Wayne left I had to try his hole. I had to see the difference for myself. As luck would have it, my fish finder remained blank and I did not mark any fish for the 15 minutes that I stood in the cold wind blowing in from the south. I tried my best to stay put and wait for the kokanee to swim back around, but I forgot my windbreaker jacket at home and had only brought a sweater in anticipation of a warm day.
Back at base camp, I continued to fish and eat hot dogs off the buddy heater. We had eaten all the good smokies the day before on Puntchesakut, so I had to settle for plain, boring hot dogs. We were also out of buns and my lack of food planning had me eating like a bachelor.
After lunch time, boredom was starting to set in. As I stared at my Garmin hoping the screen would come alive with dancing kokanee, I could hear other people starting to pack up their tents and head home. I poked my head out the window to say goodbye to the group I met in the morning and try to gain more Intel as to where most kokanee were being found. As they walked away, I could hear their voices fade in the distance. Barking dogs and people shoveling snow off their roofs filled the air after they left the lake.
As I was waiting for the afternoon bite, I started wondering if there was one. Everyone had left and I was the last tent standing. I decided to wait until 2pm before making a hole hop to search for active fish. My plan was to search in shallower water so I could learn a little more about Chimney Lake. It took everything in me not to fish the “productive” spot of the day. I had to learn.
As I started walking closer to shore, I met another angler on his way out for the afternoon bite. He had fished the Rec site for an hour and did not mark anything. I kindly showed him the productive spot of the day and told him how deep they were. He took my advice and made his way over to Wayne’s spot.
I drilled where I thought 20ft would be and ended up in 28ft of water. After jigging for a few minutes and not marking anything I was ready to move closer to shore. I had the wind to my back, so I turned and asked the other angler if he had caught anything. He said he already had two kokanee. I couldn’t believe it. They say patience is a virtue. While I consider myself patient, not having a wind breaker prevented me from being patient today. If I had just stayed in that spot then maybe I could have had a limit already.
As I started grabbing all my gear to move closer to shore, the other angler hooked and landed a third kokanee. He had only been there 15 minutes. I decided to break down and learn next time. I asked him if he would mind me coming over and fishing beside him. Like most kokanee anglers, he welcomed the extra flasher in the water.
I ended up hooking two kokanee in the “spot” and loosing them. I managed to land one in a smaller age class as well. The kokanee caught in the afternoon bite seemed smaller than what I was hoping for in a lake stocked with triploids. While it was apparent that they was a smaller age class of kokanee, I started wondering where all the big ones were. After looking up the stocking data, I’m thinking there might be a higher percentage of smaller kokanee in the lake at this time.
One saying that will stay with me after this trip is “the last one is the always the hardest.” As I watched wave after wave of kokanee come into our flashers I found myself rooting for the older gentleman. I wanted him to catch his last kokanee before going home. The experience of fishing has changed over the years for me. While catching fish to bring home for dinner is important to me, sharing an experience with those around me at the time holds more value and memories than a single fish ever could. That being said, this last kokanee was a perfect ending to the day. As he landed his catch, the gentleman said it was his first limit of the season. He said sometimes he only catches a few, while other days he goes home empty handed. I was happy to be able to share the experience with him. As he packed up his gear, he thanked me for pointing out the spot as it made the difference in his day.
As I watched the gentleman walk off the lake, I continued to try and entice a kokanee to bite my offering. I had two more to go, but it seemed like the bite time had passed and all the kokanee had swam away. I packed up my gear and tried one last time in a hole that was productive for others, but not for me. Was it luck, timing, or the offering I was giving to the fish.
The day was coming to an end. In the distance, a group of snowmobilers fired up their sleds and packed up their tents. I watched them ride off with the sun shining on the hill behind them. While staying in one spot might have yielded the same results of moving around. I was happy to get outside of my tent, look around and enjoy being outside. Next time, I’m looking forward to hole hoping and getting outside. Maybe I’ll even bring a proper jacket so I can enjoy some fresh air and the surrounding views.