Gone Fishing

Fishing for TIBS.

I recently observed that watching minnows at the Cooling Boulder made me want to go fishing, so today  we went.   Fishing, that is.  You can go too, it's "free fishing week" in Ontario, no license even required. 
 Taking time off from working in the garden, doing shop work, cutting grass, and trimming weeds in the summer heat is a good idea anyway.   Off we went, fishing rods and all.

  T.T.T and E.T.S. happily stayed home  because when it's over 70F, it's too hot in the van for children, pets OR  pups.



One of our favorite fishing-spots is on the Kaministiquia (Kam-in-ist-ick qwaw)   river. That's where we're headed. You can call it the Kaministiquia (Kam-in-ist-eh-kwee-ya) too, or
if you're in a real hurry to get fishing, you can just call it the "Kam" for short if you like, we do.  It spells simpler. 
Remember the Kam,  the river that runs through Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park and features the beautiful  "Niagara of the North" ?  




Up the highway,  off on a side road, and down a trail.  That's how you get to the old fishin' hole.  Fishing on the Kam River, you can see some rapids.  We're fishing a quiet area from a barren rock outcrop of  the Precambrian Shield, the most stable piece of rock on earth.  Here we are fishing on the Kam River.

Fishing the Kaministiquia River  

 

See the rapids in the distance?

Was that a bite?  Nope.

Ancient Rocks & modern bubbles

 
 .....Was that another bite?  Nope.  Nary a bite, but we keep trying.
"Patience is good" says the muse.


                                                                   

Meantime,
 --we  studied ancient rocks and modern bubbles,

Canada Geese inspecting the Rapids

-Watched a  gaggle of Canada Geese in a line, (we think they were playing follow the leader, touring the rapids )
 (*There were quite a few more geese in the line, but the photo was taken with zoom lens  across the bay! )

Amazing clouds promising rain

-Warily watched huge clouds that were promising rain,

The Moth Drying On the Rocks after a Harrowing Rescue

-Rescued a drowning moth from all the hungry fish -- using a new,  exciting and innovative " fishing rod  extend-an-arm-to- rescue-a-drowning- bug" technique,

 River Foam with Sky

--Studied artistic river foam patterns mixed with reflections of sky, 

*Solitary  fishing with the Muse

And fished endlessly while the muse chatted with the photographer and  Mother Nature.
Wait!  Was that a bite?
...er.....Nope.



Bottom line, we  did not catch anything except  50 yards of deserted  fishing line with a  still-new sharp and shiny weedless lure  attached. That ought to remind someone to attach their line to the fishing-reel before casting the lure to the deep.   I had to smile about that one. We always bring home any discarded fishing line or other plastic trash discovered because it is a hazard to wildlife.
On this wonderful fishing expedition, "Rock fish",  "Grass fish",  "Snag fish",  and "Rotten Stick fish" were biting with every cast.
Whales, sharks,  800 lb. sturgeon, old boots  and alligators were not biting.  I'm just kidding about the alligators.

No wonder the fish weren't biting; there was not a mosquito to be seen. Not a blackfly in sight either! A perfect day for fishing it was. We even saw some fish that weren't taking our bait. 

A happy couple fishing next to us  had curious luck.  Somehow, they managed to catch a few TIBS. What's that you say?   "Tossed'im backs" of course!

• a daddy Carp about 7 or 8 lbs  (Carp looks kind of  like a big sucker ) T.I.B. 
• a Smallmouth bass about 6 inches long  not much bigger than the lure. T.I.B.
• a  tiny Great Northern pike about 7 inches long, with a lot of teeth.  T.I.B.
• a minnow-lookalike about 4" long ) T.I.B.
• weeds, snags, and a lot of laughs!   (S.W.U.)  (Shared with us!) 
•  What was the muse  using for bait?  Let's see...Solitude? Fresh Air? Happiness? Laughter?  It seems so.  We tried everything.  It's all well-intentioned sportsmanship.  We want the fish  to be happy and grow bigger before we catch'em and wear'em out hauling'em out of the water merely for a TIBS photo op.   Now that's sportsmanship.

Those huge clouds soon turned to rain. Raindrops started to fall. They were so big they made bubbles the size of a silver dollar hitting mirror-smooth water,  undoubtedly scaring the rest of the biters away.
We got wet.  No matter. We're pre-shrunk.  Without a bite, we  called it a day.  Wouldn't you?

Besides, in hindsight,  I wasn't skunked,  I'm up one lure. Well, not quite, it made up for the one lost in a fight with a sunken log though.
No matter.  Who wanted fish anyway?  .....er....we did....er...that was the idea.... 
So.....we had fish for dinner.  The supermarket kind.
   The great outdoors. Fishing the Kaministiquia River. 'Ya gotta love it no matter how you say it. 
  No wonder we like camping better.  I'm headed over to JustCampingOut  to see what Jim Bessey, our professional camping guru-- has to say about it.
I wonder if he, Lin, Nick,  and Layla the camping pup had fish for dinner, --or was it bacon'n beans sizzling on the old campfire by the trusty old Shasta? Let's go find out. 


Is that incoming I hear?



*all photo credits copyright 2012  W.L. Kukkee