I kicked off my first week of holidays in more than a year and a half by getting up at 5:30 on a Monday morning to go fishing with my Father and a lifelong fishing pal at Southampton, on Lake Huron. It is a scenic 2.5 hour drive from St. Marys, and after 40 minutes or so driving west, you turn north and follow the great lake the rest of the way. We were on the Saugeen River by 10:30 or 11, and two of us cast spoons and minnowbaits from the boat while Dad tinkered with the motor of the 14 foot runabout. We were drifting slowly out towards the lake and were just about to go under the Highway 21 bridge when Dad got the motor going, and so we trolled under the bridge in the same direction.
This year I could tell that my summer might be very busy, and I knew that the Saugeen River has been stocked heavily with rainbow trout, plus provide chances at big browns and salmon, so I proposed the idea of a day trip up there to my father, who is always happy to drive a boat, any boat. We left St. Marys by 7:15, getting onto the water by about 10:30. We saw only one boat the entire day, and that was late in the afternoon. The weather was cold and rainy until thick peasoup fog rolled in around mid-afternoon, and as soon as we called it a day, it became a beautiful sunny evening. Typical fishing weather!
I had a little two inch red, yellow and silver spoon on, and all of a sudden I had a nice fish on, too! The other fellow started bringing his line in. And then the fish showed itself-by launching out of the water and landing 5 feet away. I was fighting the biggest rainbow trout of my life, by a country mile, and one of the four biggest fish I've ever played. I could clearly see the black spots against the silver flank, with a red streak running down the sides. Our pal started reeling in his lure to man the big net-I brought a huge net almost for a lark-didn't think I would need it!-The rainbow jumped again, and everything was going well. It was well hooked, my Palomar fishing knot was holding, and my gear, a nine foot Ugly Stik with a Berkley spinning reel, were more than holding their own.
(The Palomar knot almost always holds; this is how you tie it: http://www.animatedknots.com/palomar/index.php?Categ=fishing&LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com)
Another giant leap, only 25 feet away-the fish was as long as my arm! The other fishing line was not quite in yet, and the boat had turned towards the fish. I didn't keep my line clear of the other line. One more giant leap from this great silver streak far beyond any other rainbow I've ever played, thirty feet away, and then, my line went slack. This beautiful fish had thrown the hook and beat me at my own game, and lived to swim another day.
In retrospect, this isn't a bad thing. A fish that big has several pounds of meat on it, and fish always tastes best fresh, so there is no way that I could have eaten it all or even given it away in the span of a few days. Beyond that, the fish lives to spawn again, playing a large part in the ecosystem.
(The Palomar knot almost always holds; this is how you tie it: http://www.animatedknots.com/palomar/index.php?Categ=fishing&LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com)
Another giant leap, only 25 feet away-the fish was as long as my arm! The other fishing line was not quite in yet, and the boat had turned towards the fish. I didn't keep my line clear of the other line. One more giant leap from this great silver streak far beyond any other rainbow I've ever played, thirty feet away, and then, my line went slack. This beautiful fish had thrown the hook and beat me at my own game, and lived to swim another day.
In retrospect, this isn't a bad thing. A fish that big has several pounds of meat on it, and fish always tastes best fresh, so there is no way that I could have eaten it all or even given it away in the span of a few days. Beyond that, the fish lives to spawn again, playing a large part in the ecosystem.
Fishing is a funny sport. Years ago when my pals and I started daytripping up to Owen Sound from Guelph to go after rainbow trout and brown trout in the Sydenham River and the inner bay of Owen Sound itself, we would usually catch at least one nice trout every trip. The last couple of years, however, in 2013 and 2014, it just seemed like no matter what we did we would come back every time empty-handed. Last summer in particular. We did about half a dozen trips, and we would try everything we could think of, to no avail. So for me it actually was becoming very frustrating. Although we always had fun, and a Dairy Queen stop for a blizzard is mandatory on these daytrips, the lack of success was wearing on me.
After lunch our buddy hooked into a nice little three pounder, and this time we were well prepared to land the fish! After a minute or two I netted it, and we were glad not to go home empty-handed. Later on, I saw a nice fish breach the water like a porpoise -just the back came out of the water- only a few feet away from me. That was pretty cool.
Dad's little 12' boat handled the three of us very well, and we had a good time motoring up and down the lower Saugeen River, from the boat launch out to the edge of the harbour, and upstream past the launch, a long pier running parallel to the river with excellent permanent washroom facilities and a fish-cleaning station, to within sight of Denny's Dam, and downstream again. This stretch of the river is pretty nice, and I expected to see several boats doing the same thing as us, so I was happy to have the river all to ourselves for most of the day. At the mouth of the river we could see the lighthouse on Chantry Island, until, that is, the fog obscured everything beyond a few metres. Since it was early in the season (May 4th) we noticed that there was a serious chill in the air as we headed towards Lake Huron, but as soon as we came about, even at the very mouth of the harbour, the air instantly became warmer as we went upstream. The other cool thing was bobbing like a cork in the thick fog on the gentle but long rolling waves of the harbour, which creates a very unique atmosphere anytime of the year when on the water.
Finally we called it a day at about 6:20 in the evening. Sure enough, soon as we came off the water, the sun finally burned through the fog and the temperature jumped several degrees and it became a beautiful evening for a drive south along the coast of Lake Huron to Goderich, stopping for terrific milkshakes at the local downtown icecream shop, Cravings (https://www.facebook.com/cravingsgoderich.) Remember that I mentioned we go to Dairy Queen at the end of the day in Owen Sound to either (hopefully) celebrate our success or (usually) drown our sorrows in a Blizzard? Doesn't have to be DQ!
Dad's little 12' boat handled the three of us very well, and we had a good time motoring up and down the lower Saugeen River, from the boat launch out to the edge of the harbour, and upstream past the launch, a long pier running parallel to the river with excellent permanent washroom facilities and a fish-cleaning station, to within sight of Denny's Dam, and downstream again. This stretch of the river is pretty nice, and I expected to see several boats doing the same thing as us, so I was happy to have the river all to ourselves for most of the day. At the mouth of the river we could see the lighthouse on Chantry Island, until, that is, the fog obscured everything beyond a few metres. Since it was early in the season (May 4th) we noticed that there was a serious chill in the air as we headed towards Lake Huron, but as soon as we came about, even at the very mouth of the harbour, the air instantly became warmer as we went upstream. The other cool thing was bobbing like a cork in the thick fog on the gentle but long rolling waves of the harbour, which creates a very unique atmosphere anytime of the year when on the water.
Finally we called it a day at about 6:20 in the evening. Sure enough, soon as we came off the water, the sun finally burned through the fog and the temperature jumped several degrees and it became a beautiful evening for a drive south along the coast of Lake Huron to Goderich, stopping for terrific milkshakes at the local downtown icecream shop, Cravings (https://www.facebook.com/cravingsgoderich.) Remember that I mentioned we go to Dairy Queen at the end of the day in Owen Sound to either (hopefully) celebrate our success or (usually) drown our sorrows in a Blizzard? Doesn't have to be DQ!
Despite the numerous cold rain showers throughout the morning and early afternoon, we had a great day and some success. Losing that giant rainbow was pretty disappointing, but I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to test my wits against that fish, and now that I think about it I'm kind of glad that he threw my lure because I'm not sure that I would have released him. An 8lb fish has a lot of meat, and most trout and salmon have a strong flavour, so I would have been scrambling to eat the whole fish, and might have wasted a good deal of it. Besides, even though the Saugeen is a put and take trout fishery, by living to swim another day that fish will pass on it's healthy genes, providing fishing opportunities in the future.
I am looking forward to another fishing adventure on the Saugeen this fall, with the same characters and wonderful scenery. And that giant rainbow will be even bigger, having feasted all summer out in the lake on smelt and other baitfish.
Get outside, take your camera, and drink lots of water, eh!
I am looking forward to another fishing adventure on the Saugeen this fall, with the same characters and wonderful scenery. And that giant rainbow will be even bigger, having feasted all summer out in the lake on smelt and other baitfish.
Get outside, take your camera, and drink lots of water, eh!
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