Having fun and being competitive for the first fish, the most fish, and the biggest fish is always a fun time in the Fougere tent. Today was no different.
Sarah Fougere always likes to have a friendly competition and I enjoy reading her posts after a days fishing. We also encourage our boys to have fun while fishing and always cheer on the person with the first fish, the biggest fish and the most fish.
Learning how to fish and teaching others how to fish is always high on my “to do” list. Sharing my passion has become something I enjoy and look forward to every chance I get. I’ll admit, when Sarah is starting to catch more fish than me, I enjoy having her bait her own hooks, to slow her down, while I watch her technique in threading a mealworm on the hook or carefully hooking a pink corn carefully out of the jar as to not get her nails or fingers stained. Watching her with the corn made me think someone needs to design a corn dispenser for this reason. Something like a Pez dispenser came to mind. One day, I hope to watch her trying to tie her own lures on the line. That being said, I will always happily do it for her as long as she catches the fish on her own.
Watching my boys learn has been something I can only try to explain. From reeling in their first fish, to netting a fish for their brother, I am always excited to be able to share a moment with my family and soak up the energy of being involved in the process of harvesting fish for a meal. Today was another example of the experience I have come to love. I believe getting kids involved in the process of fishing can help keep them interested in a tradition that I hope they carry on long after the leave the nest. Ethan decided he was going to try a rattle jig he bought from Mark at Lone Butte Sporting Goods Ltd. If you haven’t been to Mark’s store, I highly recommend you stop in, say hello, and buy some “candy” for the kids and yourself. Ethan had been planning on using this jig for a while now. He made sure it was in the tackle box at the start of the season. I enjoyed watching the process. He decided to try the jig and caught a nice rainbow trout on it after he tied it on himself. It’s moments like these that bring a tear to my eye as I sit back and enjoy the company of the ones I love in the great outdoors.
Our day of fishing was a quick one. The decision to fish Ten Mile was based on the “ease of catching” from my trip to the lake only a few days ago. Unfortunately, the kokanee did not cooperate as easily as we hoped. Today was different than when I was out last. There were clouds in the sky this time and the water on top of the ice was more noticeable. We decided to stay closer to shore than normal to save our feet from getting wet. While we marked fish, we were marking more trout than kokanee. It took a while to catch the first fish. Sarah caught the first fish. Well, she unintentionally snagged the first fish if we are being technical, so that rainbow went back to live another day. The second fish was Sarah’s and it was a nice rainbow worth keeping for a meal as our freezer is almost void of any fish to eat. Also, I’m sure everyone on the ice heard her screaming with excitement. If you hear us our there, we apologize for the hooting and hollering while having fun and pumping up the mood to keep everyone excited. Of course, if you hear us and want to join in the fun, feel free to hoot and holler back to bring the experience to another fun level.
Shortly after arriving, we dug out the grill for the buddy heater. I was hesitant to cook our hot dogs on the grill, because I have been reading about these heaters catching fire lately. As I proceeded with caution, I turned the heater down to the low setting hoping to reduce the chance of an explosion of hot dog juice onto the heater element that happens when cooking on medium or high. Next time, I’m bringing tin foil to help with the splatter. The hot dogs took longer than expected to cook and I apologize for those around us who were hungry and had to smell them cooking on the lake. If you smell hot dogs while we’re out there, feel free to come over to see what is happening. We usually have lots of hotdogs to go around.
After lunch, Austin caught the first kokanee of the trip. His bait of choice was fresh anise krill corn. Later, he caught one on garlic corn. Sarah also caught a kokanee today. Her bait of choice was a fresh mealworm.
While fishing was slow at base camp, in the end (after our propane ran out) we decided to drill a few more holes 20ft or so away from our tent. Another member from the group was fishing close by and they were marking more kokanee than us. By the time we decided to move the 20ft further into the lake it was about 1:10pm. My hopes of hitting the afternoon bite were high. While the barometric pressure and dark clouds were not helping the fishing, I hoped the afternoon bite would turn on like a light switch. At exactly 1:30pm as predicted (and maybe with a little coincidence and luck), the kokanee arrived and started biting. Austin had his second kokanee on the ice and was ready to go.
With time winding down, I frantically tried to entice a bite. As luck would have it, I had two “nibbles,” but nothing more. The bite time was coming to an end and it was time to start packing for home. We had six fish to clean and fillet for 3 meals and that was a good note to end the day on.
Other things I noticed today were the lack of eagles and the water clarity. I’m assuming the eagles either flew south in the cold weather or were hunkered down waiting for better weather. As for the water clarity, this was only the second trip out to the lake. The water usually turns and the water clarity is murky, but I did not see this today. Did I miss the murky water or has it not happened yet?
Today was also a day of firsts for our car. My truck canopy is in need of some attention and is frozen shut, so we tried the car and it worked well. While we were packed tighter than a can of sardines, we managed to get all our gear to the lake (minus the tie down straps for the ice sled). I’m hoping to start using the car more so we can save on gas. Maybe with the cost savings, I can upgrade my kicker motor on the boat sooner than later.
To round off the day, we filleted our 3 rainbows and 3 kokanee. I forgot how slimy rainbows are. Even on my Fillet Away Fish Mats they were sliding around. Paper towel was my friend on the cutting board to help keep them still while I took out the rib bones. The kokanee on the other hand were a lot more cooperative. With the help of the back of my fillet knife, they were quickly de-scaled, then filleted and trimmed for the freezer. Can you figure out which plate is trout and which plate is kokanee? They both look delicious and I can not wait to eat them.
I enjoyed the day today. Over the years, catching a fish is only a fraction of the experience. I am always trying to learn something new each time I go out. While the fishing was slower than normal, I enjoyed watching all the people outside fishing and enjoying a great fishery we have so close to home.