May 5, 2019

Today was a “back to the basics” kind of day with a slight twist.

This weekend was a perfect relaxing weekend with the family. We had to be in Prince George on Saturday for un-related personal business and so I saw an opportunity to bring the boat and try our luck at a local lake. I had my sights dialed in on Purden lake, but after unsuccessful attempts to confirm boat launch availability we decided to try our luck at Ness Lake.

Today was our first day on open water for the 2019 season. Like every first trip of the year we forgot something. We forgot our freshly made kokanee corn at home in the fridge. Luckily, TJ was able to save the day and brought us some anise kokanee corn that triggered three hits while out on Ness lake.

Our day started in typical Fougere fashion. We slept in, woke up and had coffee and breakfast. The boys watched some TV and then we took our time leaving for the lake from our friends house. When fishing with a family in early season, I have concluded that fishing mid-day usually produces the best results for everyone. As much as I want to get out there early in the morning, my time on the water is increased (slightly) when fishing mid-day under the sun which was almost non-existent today.

We packed our snacks and lunch. We made sure our water bottles were full and we also took a detour over to Tim’s to pick up a tea and coffee for the drive out to the lake.

We knew today had it’s challenges. We had checked the weather network prior to leaving and the day was not looking too promising. There were 11km/hr winds in the forecast at noon with gusts of up to 17km/hr. The possibility of rain was also in the forecast and with 5-10 degree temperatures we wouldn’t be staying long if the rain came.

When we arrived at the lake, the day was looking up. The birds were singing and another fisherman was launching his boat in calm water. We took our time getting the boat ready. There was no rush, because usually the first trip of the year becomes an “oh no, I forgot…….”

The gentleman who launched his boat in front of us was an avid fisherman himself. As he was waking over to his boat, he stopped to say hello and talk a little about fishing. Like always, we got into a great discussion about kokanee fishing and what we do. He had not done a lot of kokanee fishing so I gave him a couple kokanee lures and wished him luck on the lake. Hopefully he catches some more kokanee and passes on the bug to someone else. 😁

One thing has started to happen over the years that I’ve never experienced until I started fishing with my family. This one thing has helped me enjoy my fishing experiences even more. Let me explain. When I used to be single, I would always focus on getting in as much time on the water as I could. I would get off work and race to the lake or river. Sometimes, I would go hours without eating or drinking. I had to catch as many fish as I could before I went home. Of course, I only kept a few fish a year and released the rest. When we started fishing as a family I found the transition difficult. I wanted to be fishing 12 hours a day rain or shine. This is simply not possible with kids and a wife (unless you have a covered boat with a buddy heater 🤔). The transition into fishing with a family took me a while to get used to and to this day can sometimes still be difficult when the fish are biting. However, I have come to appreciate fishing with my family because the slower pace allows me to enjoy watching them learn about what I have come to love. Although our trips are sometimes short and not as fruitful as we hope, there is always something to take away from the trip and build on our experiences for the next trip. When we accomplish something new and recognize what is was, we use this experience to make our next outing even better. When fishing with a family, one can ironically sum it up and recommend others take “baby steps” to increase the experience. Small doses for kids is the best way to keep them interested.

The time had come to launch our boat. Everyone had their warm clothes on and extra clothes were packed in our dry bag. As luck would have it, the wind picked up as we started backing up the boat down the launch. Would today be a bust? We had not even started our boat motor. Would the motor start? Would our electric motor work?

Thankfully, the launch at Ness lake was partially blocking the wind so launching was not an issue. We got the boat in the water and pushed off into the lake effortlessly. Now, will the motor start? Amazingly, the motor started on the second pull. This day was officially a win!

I have been wanting to go “back to the basics” this spring. When I started kokanee fishing, I was introduced to it by using a simple pink spin-n-glow and Luhr Jensen dodger with no bait. We started with two rods rigged with spin-n-glows and two rods rigged with hoochies. The winning lures ended up being the spin-n-glows, but we tipped them with TJ’s anise corn. We landed one kokanee on the pink one and lost one. The red spin-n-glow also had a hit. It is amazing how simple this set up is. Now, the twist was, I tried the double inline dodger idea from Sam Baird and I liked it at slower speeds. We were able to fish this way until our electric motor died (time to get a new battery this year). Without our electric motor working, we couldn’t keep our boat speed down at the magic 1.0-1.4 mph that we prefer in the spring. All our hits were on the double dodger setups. I’m sold!

On a side note, today was the first time I’ve never worn my waders while fishing in the spring. My Muck boots worked really well until the end of the day. After today, I’m seriously considering my own TV show similar to Bill Dance Outdoors. It’s amazing how sometimes things don’t always go as planned. I’ve maneuvered my boat back onto my trailer many times and have never had an issue until today (normally the issues arise when launching and forgetting to hook the boat launch rope to the boat 🤣). Today, I hooked up the launch rope to my boat and lined it up to push out into the lake to pull back onto the trailer. The hook with spring latch had somehow come off of my boat and my boat started floating into the lake without it’s leash. I amazed myself with quick reflexes and a pounding heart as I ran forward into the lake to grab my boat. My boots did their job until they were fully immersed under the water. The back of my jeans were soaked and I later noticed I was wet and starting to chafe underneath as I walked around securing my boat down extra tight to the trailer as if it had done something wrong and I was trying to keep it from moving. Thankfully, I had brought a change of clothes because we stayed at our friends house. Normally, I wouldn’t have had a spare change of clothes while fishing. Today, a valuable lesson was learned. I will be bringing a spare change of clothes when travelling away from home, even on day trips. I will also be changing the way I tie my launch rope to my boat. After all, I can buy the best launch rope on the market and it will not do its job if not securely attached to the boat.