Canoes, Paddles, Sunshine & Brook Trout

Spring sprung early this year, winter was almost non-existent; I only got out a few times to try calling in a mountain lion. Without fresh snow to find fresh tracks it feels like searching for a needle in a haystack, pointless. What I did do was spend a bit more time strolling around with a single shot .410 that was gifted to me, hoping for a snowshoe hare and scouting the local blacktail deer. The wife and I manage to get out a couple times ice fishing, both of which were cut short due to wet feet. The ice came and went twice this winter, was safe once in the valley and always seemed to be wearing a six inch deep coat of slush on the mountain lake we visited.

First trout of the year on spinning gear no less.

The warm weather hit early, grass sprouting, buds popping and the forest service roads dry and dusty. While it does not bode well for our glaciers, or our summer water supply it was a little refreshing to be launching the canoe in early April for a sunny afternoon paddle. The strain on the shoulders of a paddle dipped deep, a thousand reflections sparkling on each line of chop and a lake to ourselves was a nice reward to surviving another winter, even if it was an easy one.

Usually my first angling of the year is with a fly rod, hell most of my fishing in British Columbia for close to a decade has been done with fly gear. Fishing with spinning tackle goes back to my angling roots, it’s what I cut my teeth on, and it works. With a fear of becoming a pretentious prick or a stuck up snob, I pulled out the spinning rod that was gathering dust in the garage off the rack. Taking a break from paddling I strung up a bobber with a piece of cooked shrimp underneath and managed to bring home one tasty brook trout. With that the fishing and canoeing season were off to a successful start.

See you on the water or the mountains.

-Matthew Mallory