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Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007 - 6:52 p.m.

Terrorizing local fish since January 2004 (and counting)


I might have mentioned this before....

At least one time every month (and some months, many times) since January 2004 I have found time to go fishing and catch at least one fish.

Silly streak- I know.

But it has become a challenge for me. When you consider that 5 months of the year here are cold, with possible snow and ice, this becomes a bigger job. Add to that the fact that I don't ice fish (have many times, years ago, but don't care to fall through the ice anymore), and the winter months are not easy.

This month looked bad- way too much rain early in the month, flooding local lakes and streams. The past two weekends (really, my only logical time to go with sunset at 4 pm every day) have found me plowing snow and treating ice.

So I figured the streak was over.

Then, a typical "Alberta Clipper" winter snow changed my luck.

We were sent home at 11 yesterday to rest, even though the sun was shining. But that is common for one of these small snowstorms. They are called Alberta Clippers because they drop very quickly out of that providence of Canada, leaving a narrow band of 1" to 3" of snow in its path.

By 6 pm , we were back at work. Snow fell until around 12:30 am, causing minor buildup on the roadways. I never took a break, went through 4 loads of salt, and had to take a couple of 5 minute "power naps", lest I would end up off in a ditch (or worse) due to being up so many hours. Working 16 out of 24 hours without time to sleep really drags me down. I didn't mind it as much when I started working for the state back in 1983, but I am a lot older now. It will be several days before I feel "normal", after loosing those hours of sleep.

And yes, I did try to sleep yesterday afternoon. Might have caught a 15 minute nap, that's it. Hard to force yourself to sleep when you aren't sleepy, you know what I mean?

I had my head on my pillow by 8 am. Slept straight through until 1 pm, when nature called.

The snow was almost all melted, so I knew I wouldn't have to work again tonight. Since I was (and am still) sleep deprived, I didn't want to make the 35 minute drive to either one of the big lakes. There is a cover of ice on Lake Mohall, making fishing that sewer not possible.

One good option was left- the Big Creek that feed one part of Lake Mohall. With all of the rain we have had recently, I thought it might be flowing.

I needed to get my watch battery replaced anyway, so driving to that side of town wouldn't be a total waste if the creek was frozen up.

As you can see by the photo, it wasn't. Even though the air temperature was below freezing, the water was flowing towards the lake. This brings active fish into the current, feeding on whatever they can find moving with the water.

It took my 45 minutes (approximately, since my watch was dead) to catch enough nice bluegills for tomorrow night's supper (14 keepers, to be exact). I threw back another 40-50 smaller fish, too.

The old saying about "90 % of the fish in any given body of water are in 10% of the water" really holds true in this creek. I caught every fish in one spot, casting under the small bridge between the pillars. If the cork floated more than a few feet from the concrete, nothing bit. But if I dropped my cast softly near a post, I had a bite in seconds.

I had to knock the ice off of my rod's top guide a couple of times- that is how cold it was. And I managed to bring home some firm, sweet bluegill fillets for a meal.

Not a bad afternoon, all things considered...

Antique - Futuristic


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