Manitoba is leader in angling education

Important to allow young people opportunity to give fishing a try

Sat Jun 14 2003
C. Winnipeg Free Press, June 14, 2003. Reprinted with permission.

THE COMPLETE ANGLER/DON LAMONT

IT was another gorgeous June day in southern Manitoba and anglers were everywhere on Lake Minnewasta near Morden, enjoying the free family fishing weekend the province hosts each year.

Off the starboard of our boat, a family of four was enjoying the opportunity, trolling along happily, all the young members onboard holding on to their fishing poles with a broad smile on their faces.

Dad was in the back manning the motor without a fishing rod, making sure that these young anglers were having a memorable day.

This was just one image from a remarkable day that reminded me of just what a great recreational pursuit angling is and the joy that it can provide to both young and old.

Man-made reservoir

All around this man-made reservoir, anglers were fishing from shore with various degrees of success. When we had pulled up earlier in the morning to launch the boat, one shore angler was just landing a fish from the public dock on the lake. It was such a reassurance to see that angling is alive and well in Manitoba, bringing in millions of dollars to the provincial economy and supplying a tremendous outdoor experience to hundreds of thousands of people each year.

That is why it is so important to allow young people the opportunity to give fishing a try. Here in Manitoba the groups involved with fishing understand that need and have spent countless volunteer hours, raised millions of dollars of funding and implemented an incredible variety of programs to make sure this message continues to get out there

They, along with Manitoba Conservation Fisheries branch deserve a huge pat on the back as these initiatives continue to make this province the leader in Canada, if not in North America, in angling education.

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As spring turns into summer and the waters warm in our lakes, rivers and reservoirs, aquatic insects make up a large part of the diet of various fish species.

Many anglers miss this part of the equation, especially when it comes to targeting a depth at which the fish are feeding. A perfect case in point this past week: We could see fish bulging on the surface along the edge of the drop off, in some cases over relatively deep water, so we decided to troll with lures that covered a variety of depths.

I had put on a blue Rapala FD5, a lure originally designed in 1936 by Laurie Rapala. This original floater has not lost any of its fish catching ability and to this day remains the lure manufacturers' number one seller.

The integrity of design makes it extremely versatile. You can use it as a twitch bait, weight with a split-shot to get down deeper or run it off a bottom bouncer for even deeper control. It is important though, to tie either a loop knot or use a small cross lock snap to allow this lure the wounded minnow action that makes it so effective.

It was this action that made the first fish of the day smack the lure so hard it nearly ripped the rod from my hand.

My fishing partner had swung the boat over six metres of water when the fish hit. We weren't sure of the species, but it had a fair bend in my seven foot Series One baitcast rod and was taking some of the Fireline off the spool of my new Eon Pro baitcast rod.

Sure enough, after a short but vigorous battle, a beautiful golden green walleye came to the boat, the Rapala dangling out the corner of the mouth.

This pattern of catching suspended fish in the top one third of the water column continued all day long and we had a great day fishing.

Other anglers this day were struggling as they continued the tradition method of either anchoring or trolling with lures on or near the bottom. As an angler it does pay to be observant and here was just another case in point. Food shelf

We found the concentration of fish along a shoreline point that had some new weed growth, a mudline from runoff and a small food shelf that extended out into deep water. Once we had located the major concentration of fish, we pinpointed our presentation by dropping the front troll motor and casting to these fish.

We immediately caught a couple walleye by retrieving a Berkley white two-inch Power Grub well off the bottom.

I mentioned to my partner that this might be the time to get out our fly rods since the fish were feeding just below the surface. Grabbing my seven-weight Fenwick, I made a couple long casts with a small streamer fly, with one fish hooked and lost. After 15 minutes though, we were unable to bring a fish to the boat so we went back to the more traditional ways of catching walleye.

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Anglers Notes: Fishing remains excellent all over the province and many of the fish are still in shallow water despite warm surface water temperatures. Look shallow first then head deeper.

dlamont@mts.net
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