HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1975-09-11, Page 17ti
The W.
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liy Bitrr ',Wenger
To an Easterner's eyes every
thing In Saskatchewan 'Is tog
very big. The sky seelna
stretch out endlessly; road signs
t it you the.next town is 61) or 10
Miles away. The lakes in the
north country are huge al* sq
are the fish that lurk in thane
dark waters.
For years I had dreamed''. ,of
fishing those lakes, Lac La fpgL.
and the countless others whieh lie
well north ,of the prairie eountrz
Perhaps my ambition liad been
sparked by news pictures Of John,
Diefenbaker boating some If his
big ones. In any case, that drealll
became reality a few weeks ages.
With • a group of newspaper
people we were bussed from
Saskatoon for seven bumpy hours
and 330 miles north and east to
:Jan Lake which lies close to the
Manitoba border and several
miles north of the famed Mining
town of F'lin Flon. I was pair -off
with Al Teather of JordallitIne,
and our first shock came when
the large lake in front of ..ons
cabin,shining softly in the even'-.
ing light, proved to be only a bay
— the real Iake lay beyond and •
out of sight:
FISH DONrT LOOK SO BIG when they are hung up on shore. You can't really believe the
big ones nearly pulled you out of the' boat. fishermen Barry Wenger, Al Teather, Bill
Smiley.
Time to Rewind
Our "outfitter host, Lou
Pierce, confirthed a rumor '4'p
had overheard in Saskatoon. tiuf'
eight -pound fishing lines . might
be adequate for most Ontario-
fishing spots, but they would be
•
useless in Jan Lake. .Off cane the
wispy i nonofila ent to be re-
placed by stoutp� Mines', 13'
nine the next nto ag we were
learning that Lou knew what ;he
was taking about.
Bill Smiley of "Sugar and
Spice" joined me to roan .one of
the big aluminum boats foliowi0g
in the wake of another occupied
by friend 41 and Nick Dietz of
Tisdale, Sask,, who came along to
show us the ropes. Our guide for
the day was Ovide "Ballantyne, a
young Cree Indian who wasn't
giv'n to a great de'ail of conversa-
tion but seemed , to be able to
smell fish while they were still
swim►hing.
Sitting in the middle of our boat
was a big box containing two
skillets, a bottle of cooking oil,
potatoes ready for the pan,
bread. butter and canned fruit.
There wasn't a smitch of any-
thing edible to put into the second
frying pan. It was a foregone con-
clusion that we would have plenty
of fish long before lunch time.
Great Northern Pike
Ovide — the silent one — led us
out a few miles to a string of
islands and we started to troll for
pike. In a matter of minutes the
action started. My reel began to
screech and the rod tiancing
in mid-air, told me it wasn't a log
I had snagged. The fight was on.
When old Smiley at last slipped
the landing net under my catch
and heaved him aboard we
N
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Wingham
Advance -Times
1
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•
1$
grinned wait! satiafaet + n at, the
sight of aaim)), t+!X pann4p!,1te,
nage Start for the day.
Meantime the crew of the
second boat had been how 'too,
Nick Dietz soon landed a good
match for mine. A bit sh.orte.r and
Somewhat thicker. Al Teather
boated another whopper and soon
we were tying into pike after
angry pike; During the remain-
der of than nriorning we were
throwing back fish .far bigger
than the ones we have brought
home with giowipg pride from
Ontario lakes. Two of these 15 -
to 20 inch minnows we did keep —
to eat for lunch.
And what a lunch! You haven't
asted fish until you have eaten it
fresh -caught and deep fried right
on the rocks a few yards from
where it came out of the water.
Slap a chunk of, that golden good-
ness onto a slice of bread and
butter and the fist bite tells you
that life is beautiful.
The afternoon was devoted to
pursuit of pickerel at several
places. The final spot for the day
was in a narrows at the west side
of the lake where Al caught his
limit of two and three pounders in
20 minutes.
• Long Way Back
I mentioned that the lake was a
big one. Although we had fished
only the south end of that water-
way we were about 22 miles from
home base — a full two hours' run
with the outboards wide open.
Although the day seemed warm
while we were quietly fishing., the
cold northern air had us shiver-
ing as we ran for home. You need
a warm jacket for such an outing.
Our second, day on the lake was
not quite as' productive as the
first. The weather became over-
cast and the pike and pickerel
were not quite as eager for the
lure. However, Bill Smiley, who
had been a bit downcast over a
smaller catch on Monday got
himself 'back into good spirits
when he, too, landed one of these
giant pike —a good Tech for the
ones the rest of us had taken.
Our guide on Tuesday was Ber-
nard Martin, son of the genial
hosts at Martin's Lodge, where
)Smiley was ensconsed in, a huge
three-bedroom bungalow and
was being spoon-fed by Mrs.
Martin like a long -lost son.
Tremendous People
I haven't yet decided whether f
was, more entranced by the fish
or the people we met. Al and I
were dismayed when we arrived
at Jan Lake Sunday evening to
learn that meals were not served
at. Lou Pierce's establishment
and that the one and 'only hostel'
was closed. Mrs. Tony Klein and
her husband and family came to
the rescue and we had a most
delicious meal with them at their
trailer site nearby. Just to meet
such free and easy folk is a treat.
Nick Dietz, our fishing com-
panion of Monady, proved to be a
most interesting person, with a
lifetime of farming, hunting, fish-
ing and trapping behind him and
still spry at 72. Mrs. John Mit-
chell, who provided our meals
and shore lunches Monday and
Tuesday was another gem. In
fact she had us round up all the
nearby members of our bus
group for a party at their Great
North Lodge on Monday evening
for hospitality at its finest.
Our Indian guides, too, became
good friends. Ovide and his pat
iii Custer, decided to call on
atonea . .
me .a � and brought with
MOM a small ease of beer. As
they settled in for an .afl-night
pow wow f began to imagine,what
shape I would be in for, ham
pike the next morning. when
broad hurts and repeated yawns
failed, f feigned the onset of a
heart attack and they ffinally left
for their tent in the woods.
Holiday Spot
Lou Pierce, who extended us
many kindnesses aotrnecessarily
called for, drove us around the
settlement of Jan Lake to show
off the beautiful tourist park and
camp ground which has been
established by Saskatchewan's
Dept. of Tourism and. Renewable
*warms. Tha is a+ o ode
F
tion for doze of ears', .and
ailees - and of 4:o e,
esternfo
lk ' undaunted by
ante, come in goodly b+ 's to
boy heir northland,
Even folks from Qntario
are WHOto travel fates eld for
goodtisang, a ►veto ono their
way to Jan for the °kiting of a life
time. In fact we met one intra
Sherman :aidthV WAY from
Texas.
Asecoad bus load sof newspaper
people left Saskatoon with as but
continued north to as age, from
where a few were -taken, to
even •more remote lakes by boat,
and plane. but.a vera. few ' ,
ported tremendous skiing, r. u,.
It's a great country We live. ^in!
FISH. AT ITS BEST—That tooli in the pan was swimrr in9
only a few minutes ago. And is it delicious, fried over a
campfire ashore!
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GUIDE BERNARD MARTIN prepares to feed four hungry
fishermen. In Jan Lake the jackfish (pike) come up to 20
pounds or more. Best for eating, however, are the three or
four -pounders.
7
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FISHING TAKES HELP—Northern Saskatchewan'
without a guide. That's him, second from left. Ovide
& Spice" Smiley. The other two are Al Teather and
lakes are big. You don't go out
Ilantyne. At far left is Bill "Sugar
Nick Dietz.