Welcome to Week CLVIII of ‘Fishing Parkland Shorelines’. Like most of us I am a novice fisherman, loving to fish, but far from an expert. In the following weeks I’ll attempt to give those anglers who love to fish but just don’t have access to a boat, a look at some of the options in the Yorkton area where you can fish from shore, and hopefully catch some fish.
Over the time of doing this weekly column I have written about days fishing without catching, too often come to think of it, but this might be the first time I write about going to a fishing spot and not even throwing a cast.
This week is less about my fishing experience and is instead about a still largely unknown fishing opportunity right in our collective backyard.
I have written before about the trout pond developed by the City of Yorkton with cooperation from the Yorkton branch of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, the Assiniboine Watershed Authority and the province. It was last spring they stocked a few hundred tiny trout into a pond which is part of the system for water flushed from the new Water Treatment Plant located on Queen Street.
While biologists have studied the pond and expected the trout would do well, it was still a bout of a ‘cross your fingers’ moment when the trout hit the pond and swam away.
Over the weeks last summer the rainbow trout grew. There was plenty of food, bugs and minnows, and for a time food supplied to get the fish growing.
By fall they were big enough to take a trout fly. I know because based on a tackle box full of dumb luck, and some good vibes from fly fishing guru Patrick Thomson, I caught one on a fly using a fly rod. I released the trout as it is a strictly catch and release pond, but reports suggested the fish later succumbed to embarrassment having been caught by such a woeful fly fisherman.
Then came winter, and I suspect anyone who knew of the pond and saw its potential as a recreational asset in the city, held our breaths.
Again it was believed the trout would survive, but no was 100 per cent sure.
The good news, they made it through the winter just fine, and according to Patrick hungry. He was out early after the ice left, and caught several on flies on a few occasions. That is great news.
So last week Roy Lanaway , Communications Manager with the City organized a little media event Wednesday morning at the pond.
As it turns out Mayor Bob Maloney throws a fair fly, so the idea was to get him out at the pond so the media could capture his prowess, and report on the pond so the community learns more about it.
There was some suggestion I might want to fish too.
While I took my rod, I had ascertained the situation a bit, and decided to invite an expert along too. I was simply a matter of safety. As a newspaper journalist I might be in competition with my radio and TV counterparts, but I still didn’t want to be responsible for piercing their lips with a bad backswing of a fly rod.
Enter Mr. Thomson, stage right.
Now Patrick would blush with modesty and deny his expertise, but it was he who dug into his fly case, found a leech pattern, handed it to the Mayor, who would soon report a bite. The rainbow would give us a show as it jumped once, where I swear it paused in mid-air long enough to wink at Mayor Bob before spitting the hook and swimming away.
So the event Wednesday morning didn’t provide trout for a close up.
To be fair Aron Hershmiller from the Watershed Authority did bring a fish out of the pond for pictures. Using a spin cast outfit, which was good to see as some may think it is a flyfishing pond only but that is not the case, he actually caught a minnow. We are currently awaiting word if it was worthy of a Master Angler Award, but it did have photographer Peter Baran powering off a pile of pictures. I think I heard Aron request one to blow up to hang over his desk, but I may have misheard that.
As you might notice it was a rather laid back affair with more kibitzing than fishing.
But among the good-natured banter some great things came to light regarding the pond.
The first thing is the plan by the Yorkton SWF to install two docks at the pond, one on the north side, the other on the south. The docks will be wheelchair accessible, and will give fisherman deeper access into the pond to fish. It is great to see the SWF taking the step to enhance the pond.
Next, Aron mentioned the SWF is looking into a contest which would revolve around pictures of fish caught at the pond. With the world seemingly addicted to the cellphone ‘selfie’ it’s a great idea for a catch and release water.
And buddy Patrick was hinting he might offer up some hand-tied flies as a prize, flies which he promised would be effective patterns for local waters.
It was great to see one idea being supported and built on as we all discussed making the pond a popular recreational resource.
A Facebook page was also talked about as a way to share pictures of caught fish, discuss what flies are working, and just simply share the love of fishing. We were all looking at Roy when talking about such a page.
I floated the idea, well I think I was the first to mention it, how someone, the City, or SWF, should hold some basic fly fishing lessons.
While the pond is not fly rod exclusive, flies are likely the best way to go, and yes Patrick I can hear you whispering the only way to go.
Regardless of the best option, since fly fishing is not the first skill of most local fisherfolk some instruction is a good idea, and it was soon talked about how the first ‘lessons’ might dovetail nicely with an evening being planned to ‘officially’ open the pond.
A bit of daydreaming on my part, but such an event could evolve into a fly fishing club (a chapter of Trout Unlimited perhaps), which could grow interest beyond the City’s humble pond.
So I didn’t throw a cast Wednesday, but it was still a great day of fishing, as it felt as though the future of the pond, and what it can be to our city is set on a great path so far.
