Fishing

I just got back from a delightful 2 week stay in my native Nova Scotia, and for one of those weeks, at least, I got to do a good deal of fishing! This was in and around Pictou County during the first week of my stay, with my father. During the second week, with my wife's family in the Annapolis Valley, I unfortunately did not get to do any real fishing, though I did visit a few good spots.

In the weeks leading up to my annual visit to my homeland, I'd been compiling this Google Map for Fishing in Nova Scotia, and while there I had the chance to try a number of the places. Many of the pinpoints on the map were given to me by friends who are avid fisherman, also from the area, and it was a real treat to try out some of their recommendations. Let's have a look at the ones I did get to visit, and you'll hear a bit of what I have to say about them.

Today we went fishing on the Mississippi River in Pakenham, about 30 minutes west of Ottawa. Yes, there is another river with that name. We'd heard from friends who live in the area that the fishing is good both just above, and just below the old stone bridge, so we chose this spot just below. You enter into the area via an access road that comes off Kinburn Side Rd - the road that takes you across the bridge.

I was pretty proud of him actually because he'd obviously been listening to some of my talks on fishing, when I told the boys that Bass like it in the weeds. As soon as we were ready to cast, he went directly to our right along the shore, since he'd seen all the lily pads and weeds there. I on the other hand had been casting straight out. Only a few casts later and he was fighting with a decent sized Smallmouth Bass, and managed to land it himself. It turned out to be 14 inches long, and 600g or about one and one-third pounds. There are no size limits on this stretch of river at this time of year, but even if there had been this would have been within them. So that's what we're having for supper tonight.

Here is a fun relay game that I came up with to play with the Beavers at Camp Opemikon this past weekend. In a slightly altered form it would be appropriate for just about any aged Scout. At this age it is best to do as a father-and-son relay (or "parent-and-child" if your colony has girls). For older kids you could do real races with heats down to first, second and third place. For Beavers it was not really about winning - just about having fun. The fathers did a lot of the work, but we encouraged them to try as much as possible to just help the Beaver do it himself, and then only do it after a good effort was given. And in the end we did not really keep track of who finished first - but rather, we made sure to give each boy kudos in some way or another. e.g. in each heat one boy would get "furthest distance", another would get "closest to the mark", and another might get "straightest cast".

For Beaver age kids you start out with a rod and reel for each team in the heat - we did 3 at a time. The reel is already attached to the rod, and strung with fishing line, but the line is not strung through the eyes in the rod, and there is no tackle on the end of the line. For older kids you may want to consider having them start with the reel not yet attached to the rod, and have them attach it. Or even go so far as to have them string the reel with line first, and then attach it to the rod. For Beavers it was enough to just have them string the line through the eyes in the rod. Beforehand we showed the fathers how to tie a fisherman's knot.

Tying a fisherman's knot is incredibly easy to do, as I show in this video. There is a graphic below which may help explain things better, too. You simply loop the line through the circle end of the swivel, give it a few twists, then put the end of the line through the loop of fishing line closest to the swivel, but not through the swivel hole itself. Then just pull in both directions and you are done. This is called the "cinche knot". For the "improved cinche knot" you do exactly the same thing, but after you pull the end through the loop by the swivel, you pull it back again through the loop you just created by doing this. I'll do another video soon with that addition.

Next week for our Beavers meeting, we'll be taking the boys fishing on the Ottawa River right here in the neighbourhood. The following is a slightly revised version of the email that is going out to parents about it.

We'll be going fishing at Remic Rapids, on the Ottawa River across from Tunney's Pasture. It is an NCC property directly across from Tunney's, and very easy to find. Take the Parkway west bound from Parkdale, and it is the first set of lights. On the left you'll see the exit for Tunney's, and on the right you'll see the road to Remic Rapids.

If you are a parent and think that fishing is something you'd like to do with your kids, Remic Rapids is a really good fishing spot that is close by, so you may want to pick up a rod and reel, and a bit of tackle. Both Canadian Tire and Le Baron are great places to buy fishing supplies. You can often find inexpensive kids' rod-and-reel combos in the $20 range. These work fine for the most part though can be more prone to line tangles - you'll probably end up with 1 or 2 "birds nests" on your reel per season. It is not a big deal to sort out though - definitely worth the money. That's what my boys started with. If you want something better than that for yourself, there are often sale racks at Le Baron and you can often get a really nice setup in the $50 to $60 range. Last summer I got a really nice reel on sale for about $25, and there were some nice rods on the sale rack in the same price range. Then there is also yard sales - last summer I picked up a huge bundle of rods and reels for $1 for the whole bundle, and managed to get 3 or 4 good rods and reels out of it all (these are the extras we have on hand for the kids). In fact 2 of them were so good that I retired the cheap rod/reel combo I'd bought for the boys to share, and was able to give them each their own rod and reel - in their favorite colour even!

It was a very unseasonably warm 10C today with the sun shining brightly, so with the wife at work I decided I wanted to take the boys out for something special - some late lunch at a local restaurant, and then some fishing down at the river. It almost turned into a disaster when we were out at the Bagel Shop and I had to whisk them away before ordering, because of their tomfoolery. But a 10 minute drive and a good talking-to calmed them down enough to go back for another try, and sure enough they were good as gold.