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It is Saint Patrick's Day, and we are supposed to think green.
Green is an easy color to think about, especially as we are only
a couple days away from the official start of spring. All the snow
of the past week has settled rapidly, courtesy of the Pineapple
Express Chinook we have been experiencing. Snowpacks are generally
below normal, and hopefully we won't have the high and prolonged
water levels of the past season. So, in the usual air of optimism
all outdoor lovers seem to posses, we look forward to the green
of spring. My buddies and I will hoist a green beer to celebrate.
Planning
Spring is the season of planning. Planning to fish, hike, bike,
walk, and canoe new places and to revisit old haunts. Sometimes
the planning is much more successful than the trip and often takes
more time.
A few years ago we planned a fly-in trip to a lake in the Coastal
Mountains rumored to contain rainbows of huge size. Food lists and
menu requests were compiled; beverage favorites bought, flies tied,
film and cameras itemized, clothing requirements checked and double
checked. Every possible wrinkle was planned for and no contingency
was overlooked.
Arrival
We arrived at the coastal flying service with great anticipation.
The trip in was beautiful and soon the lake lay jewel-like below
as we banked in to the mountain valley. We unloaded the gear quickly,
and as the floatplane departed, the lake again mirrored the picturesque
valley.
Camp could wait as we had some serious business to take care of.
The four of us set out in the two boats to explore the shoreline.
At the end of the day we compared notes. Both parties had equal
success. Nothing.
That night as inch thick steaks were sizzling on the barbecue,
I opened the camp logbook. The air service had stressed that they
wanted anglers to practice catch and release, and that was fine
with us as it is the only way you can guarantee future fishing.
The log showed anglers with similar versions of our story until
one entry stated if you really want to hook the big fish you have
to use a small trout for bait. Every entry after that told of a
few catches of some truly large trout. Not acceptable for us. We
caught a few fish on the flies, watched goats and black bear every
day and spotted a wolf on an exploratory hike down a creek.
(All previous issues are stored in the ARCHIVE
for your convenience)
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Great
meals, great companions, superb weather the trip was still a success.
We planned to go fishing and after all we were fishing, right.
Lake-you-must-not-mention
We try each year to plan a trip to Lake-you-must-not-mention. Lake-you-must-not-mention
is one of our favorites, as you will seldom see another angler.
That is why we like the lake. Fish rolling are often mistaken for
beaver, as they are way too big to be fish. The last trip was at
ice-out. Three short blizzards that day obscured the shoreline.
Unexpectedly a car rolled up to the end of the lake and six people
tumbled out.
Boom box
Uh-oh somebody had mentioned the lake. A fire was quickly built
using every log in the primitive campsite and soon the fire reached
forest service call out size. The new campers were searching for
20-foot wiener sticks to get close enough to the fire. Now the boom
box was cranked so loud that every grating note of the unintelligible
song echoed off the surrounding hills, and we were a 1/2-mile away.
Sound carries extremely well above water, and just when my buddy
and I were about to go postal or just quit, a voice floated across
the water and said, "If we turned down the music we wouldn't
have to yell at each other." They soon departed, as it was
too cold for a good party.
The lake and hills sighed in relief and the grouse commenced their
spring drum song. The chironomids popped to the surface and a few
8-12 pound rainbows strained the fly rods. This spring we plan once
again a trip to Lake-you-must-not-mention and hope nobody has mentioned
this lake to anybody.
Problems
A few readers have experienced trouble navigating the province's
web site regarding regulations and licence fees for this season.
That is not unusual, most of the government sites are hardly intuitive.
When you click on http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca
you will find Popular Topics. Click Regulations Synopsis, that will
show last years regulation cover, click on the cover and go down
to Region 6 Updates. New licence fees can be found at above linked
site, click Popular Topics, click Licences and Fees then find red
linked New Licences and Fees for a complete listing.
I believe
In these wacky world days of unrest, insecurity, uncertainty, downsizing,
downloading and what ever else comes down the pipe a man has to
believe in something. I believe I will call some friends and plan
a fishing trip.
(We changed to a new publish day - Monday of each
week)
Check for new photos on the Photo
page
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