
A keeper: The Old Guy and his âbow

Chunky trout: One of my hauls
When the president and the vice-president request your presence, you comply. So it was yesterday that I had no choice but to go fishing with Gord Deval and Jim Lloyd, president and vice-president respectively of the Scarborough Fly and Bait Casting Association. Gord and Jim, along with fellow club member Ray Cockburn, met me at 5:15 a.m. at Highway 404 and Aurora Road north of Toronto and we were on our way. Our water of choice? Iâve been sworn to secrecy, and must hereby only refer to our destination as Limit Lake (one small hint: itâs just south of Algonquin Park).
We hit the water around 9 a.m. (Gord is a self-proclaimed âold guy,â almost 80, and he needs to stop often for âbreaksâ and food), and after assembling the two Insta-Boats, we were soon afloat and casting into the thick morning mist. I shared a boat with Gord, and within minutes Jim and Lloyd were lost in the haze; we didnât meet up again until lunchtime.
For the most part, we tossed tin, although I did a few roll casts with flies from shore during lunch, hoping to at least produce a splake (the lake is stocked). But it was the hardware, in particular one of the new Rapala Flat Raps, that produced the most. Indeed, I had the hot rod, pulling in five sweet rainbows with the Rap and losing two (four of my fish were over 20 inches, with the biggest about 26 inches). Jim, Lloyd and Gord (on a fly) each got on the board with one before we called it quits at 3 p.m. in order to make it back up the 4Ã-4 track before night set in. Plus, by then the rain had begun in earnest.
All in all, it was a great day on the water with some great fishing buddies. And tonight Iâm having fresh trout for supper. Now thatâs what I call valuable field research.
One of the many issues of concern for the fishing and hunting community is recruitment, or, more specifically, the greying of our ranks. In short, we are continually striving to bring new anglers and hunters, particularly youth, into the fold. And more and more, the outdoors community has also been targeting woman as potential new outdoorsfolk of tomorrow. And that’s a good thing. In
Have you made plans for National Fishing Week yet? It’s coming up fast, kicking off this Saturday, July 2, and running through to Sunday, July 10. Even if you don’t participate in an official event, it’s a great time to take a kid fishing or introduce someone new to the sport. That is, after all, the main point of National Fishing Week: to get more Canadians outdoors and
Awesome. Sweet. Dude. Those are the three new words my Dad says he learned during our four days of fishing at northern Saskatchewan’s Milton Lake Lodge (we got back to Ontario on Tuesday). That’s hardly surprising, given we were hanging with Nick Pujic, the hip young principal of Fly Max Films and Fly Nation TV (think surfer culture meets fly fishing), and our guide Naoto Aoki.
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///// FOLLOW ON TWITTER: @OutdoorWalsh ///// Outdoor Canada Editor Patrick Walsh grew up fishing and hunting in Bracebridge, Ontario, where he began his magazine career in 1983 as assistant editor of Muskoka Life. Since then, he has worked for a variety of media, both in Canada and abroad, earning numerous writing and editing awards. In both 2011 and 2005, the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors named him Editor of the Year, while Outdoor Canada was honoured as Magazine of the Year. Learn more: www.outdoorcanada.ca.