In June 2003, Derek, Teresa, and Luke participated in a Learn to Fish program put on through the Leisure Services department of the city of Winnipeg. We all learned something, particularly about fishing in the Red River. The course was offered in a number of sessions and consisted of two evenings with instruction and a bit of fishing. Each evening Teresa caught a fish. Below is a photo of her with the pike she caught the second week. Joseph may participate next spring.
While on vacation in July 2003, Derek and Suzanne's brothers-in-law were able to spend a day at Lac la Nonne northwest of Edmonton. They rented two boats and spent the day on the water. It was a good day with well over a hundred fish (walleye with a few pike thrown in) caught and released. Here are a few photos from that trip.
Fletch hauling in yet another.
Not bad for a collapsed walleye fishery. We caught walleye from under a foot to at least 23 inches long that day.
This pelican landed maybe 20 yards from our boat. We saw a bit of wildlife that day including herons, pelicans, and many smaller birds.
This is the first pike Shane has ever managed to handle. There were a couple hooked earlier, but headshakes and poor netting allowed them to get off before they were in the boat.
If you are interested, we rented our boats from Killdeer Beach Resort. Rates were reasonable and Ray was very helpful in discussing the fishery and locations to try. Also, they do have a store there with bait for sale.
We joined the Fort Whyte Centre here in Winnipeg. They have stocked ponds. Derek wrote the test for fishing regulations there and now has his fishing card. Now all they have to do is pack up and get out there sometime.
Derek's mission right now is to get Luke a fish. He is getting frustrated (his sister has caught a couple, but he hasn't). It is a matter of patience and timing to get out on the right day. Stay tuned for a picture of Luke with his fish.... We were out on the Assiniboine by the Legislature Building in late August and he hooked one, but it jumped and spit out the hook. Sigh. At least he was excited about it for a couple of days.
Labour Day Weekend 2003 - We spent the weekend camping at Moose Lake. We rented a boat from Silver Birch Resort. The fishing wasn't great, but it averaged out to about one fish an hour for the family. Teresa caught a decent pike (probably around 30 inches), but I did a poor job netting and he got away. Suzanne caught her first fish, a northern pike, and then proceeded to outfish me for the weekend. She caught a couple of perch as well and a 21 inch walleye on Sunday. Here are some of the photos:
Teresa with her first perch.
Suzanne and Teresa with the day's catch (Suzanne caught the pike and one of the perch, Teresa the other perch).
Suzanne with her walleye.
Ice Fishing
Late 2003 saw the purchase of equipment and Derek and the kids embarking on their first foray on the ice. In late November, they went with friend Rob to St. Malo. There was no success fishing, but the kids really enjoyed themselves. The next trip (after the purchase of a used auger) out was to St. Laurent (Twin Beaches) on Lake Manitoba December 21. The weather was nice, with a bit of a wind to cool things off. Temperatures did get above freezing though. Luke had a couple of bites, but wasn't able to set the hook. The next action appeared at a tip-up, which saw a nice perch measuring at about 10.5 inches. After resetting the tip-up, the kids got more into the playing than the fishing. They built a corral around the perch out of chunks of snow. Derek had a couple of bites, but didn't manage to set the hook. Eventually, the timing was right and Derek hooked another perch, a bit smaller than the first. There were a couple of nibbles after that, but nothing got pulled in. This day, there would be more free meals for the perch than perch meals for the Thille household. Oh well, the kids decided they didn't want to eat fish that they had seen alive, so it doesn't matter that there wasn't enough for the whole family to eat. Here's a photo of the two perch on the ice.
Lake Manitoba perch
Email us at: derek.thille@ieee.nospam.org and remove .nospam