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  • A little left of centre 3 1

Author Topic: A little left of centre  (Read 4313 times)

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A little left of centre
« on: October 14, 2013, 10:20:45 AM »
It is sweetwater fishing, but as the title implies a little left of centre - well actually a lot left, in fact waaaay left....in Kamloops area of Canada.

I was over there (tried to catch up with Craig in Alberta but , although close at one time did not manage to meet up ) on a 6 week trip - lots of different styles of fishing , drift boating for one, but this little narrative is about an event  near Little Fort at a  place  called  Meadow lake fishing camp, a great place if ever you are over there.  The region is renown for its feisty Kamloops trout and  about a month prior to going over a 20 lb fish- a record- had been caught in one of the more than 10 lakes on the property.

I have had limited experience trout fishing but with glory in my eye I set off on the appointed day. It involved an hours hike thru heavily forested country - deer,  squirrels and lots of bird life including bald headed eagles (not a patch in size compared to our wedge-tails, but magnificent birds) At the end of the trail  was Friendly Lake, our destination ... what a sight , not a soul and water like a mirror. That morning  I had sussed out on a map an area of deep water and in a row boat started the 1 km long row across the lake.  Over a period of about 4  hours I landed many smaller trout, about pound and a half, and was beginning to become a little dis heartened - reminded myself that patience was required so kept on. 

All morning  we could hear the haunting call of a family of Loons, duck like birds which have this eirie call - they would dive below the water in search of food and sometimes be within 15 meters of us. we were  now in water about 10 ft deep , very clear and still.  Having caught a trout I had difficulty in removing the swallowed  fly and in the process the fish was in a poor way . I tried to revive it and eventually let it go.  Within seconds I saw this flash, about a meter below the surface. -  the water was so clear that I could actually see markings, somewhat  similar to the markings on a croc.  I should say at this point that a year ago I was up in the Cape, on the kayak, when I had , what I call a bit of an experience, with a croc that was watching me -  he was between me and camp so I had to go past him so when he submerged I thought the best option was to go straight for where he went down.  The closer I got the more I thought "was that a good idea?"  Anyway, I was in my Native watercraft, a propeller driven peddle craft so the legs were a pumpin but I also had the paddle going at great speed.  Have you ever seen a Kayak aqua-plaining  ,  well that was me. 

Getting back to my story the vision of my croc encounter came back to me with much clarity even though we were hundreds of miles from crocs.  What it was, was this Loon going for the injured trout, underwater it swam very like a seal  diving  this way and that way trying to get the trout.  Extended it was at least 1.2 m long, it swims with its feet out behind it and wings tucked in -.in the instant when I first saw it with its beautiful markings on its neck and wings it looked very like a croc.  Once the initial shock had gone I felt indignant that this bird was trying  to 'steal' this trout so endeavoured to retrieve the injured fish....in hindsight I should have watched nature take the next step but I kept the fish and it was smoked for me later that day.

And now finally getting to the end of this story about an hour later , again in deep water I hooked something a fair bit bigger - very evident on its many jumps thru the air  and I can tell you how many  'heart in the mouth' moments  I had but eventually landed my biggest trout....nowhere near the 20 pounder that I was aiming for.  It was 4 ozs short of being a 'wall fish' (they record on a wall in the lodge fish over 4lbs) I was stoked and only regretted not having a couple of fairly heavy sinkers that I could have shoved down its gullet ;)



RB 











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Re: A little left of centre
« Reply #1 on: October 14, 2013, 11:20:47 AM »
Nice trout Richard.  Beautiful looking spot too. 

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Re: A little left of centre
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2013, 11:45:00 AM »
Good trip and great fish Richard, Have to get there one day.
Cheers,
John

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Re: A little left of centre
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2013, 03:55:24 PM »
I should say at this point that a year ago I was up in the Cape, on the kayak, when I had , what I call a bit of an experience, with a croc that was watching me -  he was between me and camp so I had to go past him so when he submerged I thought the best option was to go straight for where he went down.  The closer I got the more I thought "was that a good idea?"  Anyway, I was in my Native watercraft, a propeller driven peddle craft so the legs were a pumpin but I also had the paddle going at great speed.  Have you ever seen a Kayak aqua-plaining  ,  well that was me. 

Last time I was in Ayr I had the same thing. Started paddling like hell to get far away and then thought to myself, what if I am attracting him with all this noise. So then I stopped and just glided and thought to myself, I wonder if he is gaining on me...it's a loose-loose situation really don't you think? Heading back up there on Wednesday and hope not to run into any this time as they sort of cut your fishing session short! I ended up on a sand bank for a good hour until I felt safe to make it back to the car.

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Re: A little left of centre
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2013, 09:30:34 PM »
Wayne, the moral to that story is never use a kayak in croc country without a 308 on board. Better still, use a boat. I love freeboard in croc land.
JD

 

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