What does fishing mean to you?
Today was a prime example of what fishing is all about and what it means to me at the stage of my life that I am in now.
Growing up, I couldn’t get enough fishing in before it was time to go home. I was always that friend or family member that wanted to stay until dark and continued fishing rain or shine. I was the first one on the trail and in the water during summer salmon trips, fall coho and steelhead trips. Over time, I have met many great anglers on the river and at the lake.
What fishing means to me has slowly been evolving into something even better than the day before. I believe my turning point and change in direction started on the Kitimat River many, many moons ago. I met an amazing angler and engaged in some great conversation that would soon have me learning more about the area I was fishing than I could ever learn in a day on the water. I opened the “blinds” that day and let others in to my experience. Another trip, sometime later, I met another angler who introduced my to my first centerpin reel while fishing for steelhead (I still haven’t tried one yet). We talked about where we were finding the fish and why we figured they were there. If I had not stopped for a simple conversation, taking time out of my day, I might not have accelerated my learning curve as quickly and found steelhead in some of the calmest backwater that I normally would not have fished.
Over the years, I have enjoyed many conversations with others and still do. If you see me or my family and I on the water, please don’t hesitate to come on over to say hi and talk fishing. Today was another great example of great conversations with others. We planned to leave by 1500, but found ourselves in conversations with some great anglers and members of this group on the ice. Before we knew it, an hour had past and it was almost 1600. I really do enjoy taking time to talk on the ice, lake or river. To me, fishing is much more than catching a fish. Fishing is a community of people and anglers brought together by a common interest. This community is the “icing on the cake.”
Our day started off like any other family day trip. Our lunch and snacks (lots of snacks) were packed into our bin of goodness. Coffee was made and the truck was loaded up. As I was loading the truck, I couldn’t help but notice daylight pushing into the sky above. What was happening? We were leaving only slightly later than last time, but the sky was clearly changing quicker than anticipated.
As my tired mind slowly started putting the puzzle together, I realized that the days were getting longer each day. I had not accounted for the increasing daylight each day and was now panicked that we would miss the morning “bite.” Was this trip a bust before we even left the driveway?
The thought of re-directing to Ten Mile crossed my mind. This lake has been producing some nice kokanee this winter and in decent numbers. My interest in trying a new spot and each family member potentially catching 10 kokanee each outweighed the back up option. I was also curious to see if the morning bite was triggered by daylight or time of day.
When we arrived at the lake, I was not able to find out if there was a morning bite. The only other tent on the lake was on the other side of a deep, wet and slushy section of ice. I was not willing to find the answer to this question, because my family’s feet staying dry won the quick debate on what was more important. We turned around and fished the first spot I had originally planned to fish.
Amazingly, we started marking fish right away. Our Garmin fish finder was showing what we had hoped would be quick limits. Time seemed to slip away quickly as we attempted to entice a bite. Eventually, more troops showed up over the course of the morning to help us see if the kokanee were willing to bite. Only a few kokanee were biting. Something was preventing them (most of them) from being interested in biting.
The boys were great thru all the torture. I’m not sure which is worse, seeing fish on the fish finder or not. Austin ended up catching the first and biggest kokanee of the day, which I believe helped him stay in good spirits and a good mood all day. The boys ended up taking micro breaks throughout the day which helped them stay positive, focused and wanting to catch more kokanee each time they came back into the tent. Having fish marking on the finder all day helped, but the lack of commitment on the fishes part had the boys spending more time outside building a snowman, having snow ball fights and enjoying the warm weather.
I have two theories on what was happening below the ice. We caught a few course fish and part of me thinks that most of these fish were course fish. Yes, we were catching kokanee in these schools of fish. However, their behaviors were not that of the common Tyee Lake kokanee. Maybe we were witnessing kokanee competing for food with these course fish? Could this be another reason why a lot of the kokanee we caught were small? Were they schooling with the course fish and is this a regular occurrence with the younger kokanee age classes? My second theory was that the weather was putting them off the bite. We had a decent wind storm push thru in the morning and the clouds in the distance looked very dark and storm like. I questioned if this was the main reason they were not biting.
In summary, today was a relaxing day. It was another great example of how fishing can help us decompress and enjoy those around us and in our fishing community. We met some more fun anglers and engaged in conversations that heightened the experience for the day. Catching a limit of fish is always a bonus, but not what fishing has become to me. Fishing is more than staring at the end of a rod or feeling the bite of the next kokanee destined for the dinner table. To me, fishing is a time to enjoy those around you, learn a few things, have a few laughs and of course to catch a few tasty fish to take home for dinner.