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My Niece and I had a wonderful day on Canal Lake. She had never caught a fish before so the pressure was on for me to deliver a special day. The plan was to go to MarDon Resort and get a recommendation from them. It was there that we were directed to the Seep Lakes for trout. Seemed like a simple plan so off we went.

For those of you not familiar with the Seep lakes there are about 60 of them out there. The fish bite in some of them, but not all. Canal lake is one where they do. Now finding Canal Lake is no small task. Let me just say it is 20 minutes on a crummy dirt road past the Middle of Nowhere. Luckily for me a fellow fisherman was kind enough to let us follow him to a lake where “she can have a 20 fish day”. The man was good to his word. Her number for the day was 14, and could have easily been 20 if 10 of those 14 had not swallowed the hook. So with limits in the cooler we headed for home.

My FB (Fishing Buddy) made a couple of observations that I found enlightened for having only spent one day on the water.

The first one is “I can’t believe how nice everyone is to each other”. She said this after noticing how respectful people were of each other’s fishing spot and having 2 people offer to share their bait with us. The world always needs respectful people that are willing to look out for each other. I am glad to see that fishermen are leading the march.

The second one is “I think it is funny have everyone thinks they are using the best bait”. We were told to use a Woolly Bugger by one fisherman, worms by another and shrimp by a third. In the end pink Power Bait with a Krill sent worked for us. Being free to believe in and choose our own bait! Gets to the heart of what it means to be an American. Should I ever decide to enter politics that will defiantly be a plank in my platform.

Bottom line is my niece/FB has a memory that will last her a lifetime and I discovered a great place to fish. We both want to say THANK YOU to the helpful lady at MarDon Resort, the kind fisherman who led the way to Canal Lake but mostly to the Man Upstairs for this wonderful world and the incredible weather. Can you believe this is February?

fishaholictaz

3/2/2010 6:25:00 AM

be careful any fish caught with bait released or kept counts toward your limit.

JAT

3/2/2010 2:33:00 PM

I have heard this before "fish caught with bait released or kept counts toward your limit." Can you tell us where in the rule book this is mentioned. I have not read this. Not a real problem for me. I generally use barb-less hooks on my flies and catch and release most everything if ethical to do so. It is wonderful to see fishermen take young people fishing. Thank the Man.

Jake Dogfish

3/2/2010 4:57:00 PM

JAT, Page 31:
"In rivers, streams, and beaver ponds: Min. size 8". Daily limit 2. When fishing with bait, all TROUT
(except STEELHEAD) equal to or greater than the minimum size are counted as part of the daily limit
whether kept or released.
In lakes, ponds, and reservoirs: No min. size. Daily limit 5. When fishing with bait, all TROUT
(except STEELHEAD) equal to or greater than the minimum size are counted as part of the daily limit
whether kept or released."
Thanks for the report

PikeDreamer

3/2/2010 5:45:00 PM

Thanks for the information. When fishing with bait I generally use a circle hook and then pinch the barb. That is/was my main reason for using Power Bait. It will stay on without a barb. Anyway I guess I will have to start counting the ones I release also.

eightballsaul

3/3/2010 8:05:00 PM

How about this. Why not let the guy enjoy his day with his niece and stop quoting rules and regs. That is exactly what is wrong with this country right now. Everyone wants to tell us how and where and when we can do things. Lets just go fishin.

JAT

3/3/2010 9:49:00 PM

Eaghtballsaul, I don't think any of us were attempting to take anything away from PikeDreamer and his niece. But I think it would have seriously put a damper on the day if a game warden had issued a ticket. I have read that rule on page 31. However I didn't relate to it because I fly fish with unscented unflavored flies. I hope my thinking is right. I have used power bait in the past and keep some around for the young people I fish with. For me I don't like it because the fish usually swallow the hook so deep the hook can't be removed with out killing the fish. By the way Jake Dogfish, thanks for the info.

AaronE

3/6/2010 4:36:00 AM

I hear in communist Russia they don't tell you how many fish you can keep. Granted, the bass have 4 eyes and legs from that little accident in Chernobyl, but hey, they value your freedom evidently much more over there ;)

JAT

3/6/2010 3:44:00 PM

Try fishing in most of Europe. England in particular. Most places in England you can't fish with out a warden that is an employee of the land owner. The warden manages the fishery and other game. You have to pay in the neighborhood of 2 to 4 hundred dollars to fish for one day. As I understand it, it is all catch and keep. In American we have to many people sport fishing not to regulate it in some way. The regulations do sometimes appear to be to complicated. In Russia they have other ways of controlling you. I understand hooks are rationed and you can't get fishing line at all.

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