My friend Andrew who is a Agr-specialist and lives down the street from me in Beamsville, hadn't been out fishing much in recent years. But whenever he has the chance- he is eager to get out on the Lake. He was familiar with the water and was an operator on a ferry boat down on the St Lawrence River in eastern Ontario. He was even thinking about buying a boat and might even dock it on Lake Ontario so he can "escape out on the lake" after a day of work.
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| From Photo_Gallery11 |
The weather looked right and the boat was waiting at the dock so it was an easy decision to run down to the boat, turn the key and set off for a short evening fish. My son Aidan joined us for the trip as well. He is getting so big for a 7 year old, knowing his way around the boat, tie us off at the dock and handle a fishing rod.
As an Agri-specialist Andrew's work is not to farm, but to consult with farmers on crop selection, fertilizers, and other crop management needs. Although I grew up spending most of my summers at my grand parents farm, I was only briefly exposed to the on goings behind the business of farming. Haying, bringing the cattle to barn and mucking the cow stalls and shoveling the gutters was only scratching the surface. I remember those that came to visit my grandfather on what seed to purchase and what yeilds would be best in which fields. I'm sure most years the consulting from people like Andrew were my grandfather's asset.
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| From Photo_Gallery11 |
We managed 8 fish to the boat and lost a few others. Andrew pulled in his biggest fish ever a nice 19 ½ lbs Chinook Salmon. Him and Aidan shared reeling in 4 other chinook salmon that were 2 and 3 year olds (6 - 15 lbs), and we managed one rainbow trout and one lake trout.
Best lure for us was a Blue Dolphin Magnum Warrior spoon I just bought at Grimsby Tackle that evening before going out.
The schools of alewife as the main forage for the salmon was shown in large schools on the SONAR screen, every few minutes in the 120-130 feet of water depth range. But the bait moved in from 120 to 90 feet of water as dusk approached. My first pass in the 130-120 feet of water was bait rich and we caught fish in that stretch, but on the second pass back through the same water, the bait was a lot less plentiful, so I turned inside and sure enough it filled the screen for nearly 5 minutes straight.
Grimsby- Beamsville waters hasn't looked as good as it does now, since the first week of July. There are lots of fish around, maybe less big kings as early July, but still good numbers. Usually we are poking out to look to the offshore waters called the "Blue Zone" by now, but to our delight the fish are still inside!
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| From Photo_Gallery11 |
The trip reminded me of my grandfather whom loved to fish when ever he could. Farming life wasn't with much time to fish. He left the house to go to the barn before the sun rises, be back for breakfast, then back to the barn to clean the milkers, back to the house for Lunch at noon, and then out in the fields or fixing fences for the afternoon, be back for dinner at 5:00pm. There were no cell phones to tell you to be back - my grandmother had the have the meals ready on time. My grandfather and uncles had to be back on time or it was cold or eaten by those who were on time.
CHCH News would be on during dinner to see the weather. He ate real fast, told everyone to shut-up so he can hear the TV and hurried me, my cousins and my uncles to finish up as well so we can get to barn for the evening milking the cows. Once done at around 7:00 pm it was time to rest for the evening, joking around, watch the Blue Jays during the summer or his favourite "Hockey Night in Canada". I was a Boston Bruins fan for a while, but my grandpa asked me why- they are an American Team. I switched my favourite team to the Toronto Maple Leafs from that point on - even though they are not the best team in the NHL. He would watch those games closely- moved in the seat at every pass and shot- like he was there on the ice with the players. But after a long day farming, it was hard for him to stay awake during the second intermission and most of the time he fell asleep before the game ended. That was the day in the life of my grandfather on the farm. He passed away from a heart attack in the barn one afternoon when I was a young teenager, the farm was later sold and my uncles turned to other careers knowing that farming is a tough go, but friends like Andrew are very important to the future of farming in Ontario
Shane Thombs
www.FINtasticSportfishing.com
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