Scarborough Fly & Bait Casting Association
23 Willowhurst Crescent, Scarborough  Ontario M1R 3R7
Phone & Fax - 416/755-5663
E Mail - coachman@pathcom.com
Web Site - www.pathcom.com/~coachman

 THE REEL THING                                                                             November 2004

 

Not a great deal to report this month, but there was one adventure that took place that you may not have heard about. Six of us went in to Limit Lake a couple of weeks ago in my old Jeep and Paul Kennedy’s bright new one. The air temperature when we arrived was, Brrhhh, minus 2C! After slogging through the mud holes and swamp, his is beginning to look like mine, now. Sharon McIntyre, Bob Tanaka, Paul, Ray, Sheila and I hit the lake on one of those rare days when the trout were quite receptive to our offerings.

          Paul, in his still new canoe, caught five or six (all on the Deval Crocodile) and reported that he lost just as many, while Ray fishing with him caught four or five. All their trout were splake except one beautiful big rainbow that Paul caught and luckily fastened to a stringer. He says he had another ‘bow that was just as big, but ‘released’ it. Sharon had several follow her Crocodile to the boat then change their minds. Didn’t like her perfume, I guess. She did manage to hook a couple but they, too, got away. Bob simply got in a lot of casting practice, but Sheila had her usual good luck and boated three nice trout and ‘released’ a couple, while the Old Guy almost got skunked, but was saved at the last minute with a nice sixteen-incher.

          However, while Sheila and I were on shore enjoying a brief respite from all that action, Paul reported on the walkie-talkie from their canoe that they almost had their limit, nine on the bottom of the canoe and if I wanted a picture while they still look good, that I should get of my butt and come on out. Sharon, Bob, Sheila and I were using my Instaboats. While they paddled, I fortunately had brought an electric motor which I was using as it was quite windy.

          We headed out to take pictures of their catch, but even though I had cut the motor, the wind continued to push the little Instaboat towards the back of their canoe where Paul was waiting. Unfortunately instead of warding us off with his paddle, he reached out to push us away…..oooops! He reached too far. His canoe, et al, flipped. Ray and he had a few very unpleasant moments in the frigid 43F water, but eventually regained their composure and holding on to our boat were taken in to shore then Paul and I went back, righted the canoe and retrieved whatever we could.

Once on shore we discovered that their lines had become entangled in their legs and their rods were recovered by carefully pulling the lines in until the rods and a pile of weeds appeared. However, Paul’s pack with all his equipment, tackle and our second walkie-talkie radio went to the bottom along with seven of their trout before they could be photographed.

          Obviously with a chance of hypothermia we could not fool around trying to hook his pack with jigs and our spinning rods, so we hustled to shore and between the rest of us and a change of clothes that Ray had wisely brought along they got into warm clothes and warm Jeeps then we took off for home. The next morning I was able to contact a Scarborough scuba diving club, the Super Turtles and a gentleman, Bill Crich, volunteered to go up to the lake with me to search for Paul’s pack. Bill is now our newest member.

Four days later I anchored the boat where the canoe had tipped and Bill began scouring the bottom for the pack. He worked his butt off for about an hour before the cold water got to him and he had to call it quits, but did manage to locate and retrieve seven of the trout that had gone to the bottom. The two others had been retrieved when the canoe tipped, the big ‘bow on the stringer and one caught under a seat. Bill swears that he now thinks he will be able to Get Paul’s pack for him and is already making plans to go back for another go.

          We have been getting fine turnouts in the gym so far and the casting prowess of our folks is improving by leaps and bounds. Jim Lloyd, especially is burning up the targets. There’s one more night, Thursday November 11th, to practice before our Christmas party and casting ‘do’ on Thursday December 9th. We have great prizes, including a dinner for two at the Mandarin, for that one and it is to be hoped that all our club members will be out to join in the fun.

          The shop has also been busy every Tuesday evening with fly tying, rod building, story telling and so on. Scott Owen and Paul Becker both glued up tip sections to their sticks and will now begin turning the cork handles on the butts, while Sharon is hard at work building a new tip section for her little cane trouter spinning rod. Also Bob Tanaka is patiently and carefully well into building his first cane wand, a Broadback seven-foot fly rod. Jim and Ray churned out a dozen or so practice dry flies for use in the gym by anyone wishing to use them instead of pieces of wool.

          Hans is back from a trip to Switzerland and we hope that both he and Leon Schwartz will be out now to give Jim a hand with the fly tying instruction.

         

NB: This will be the last Reel Thing bulletin sent out to any members who have not paid their dues by the end of the month!  

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