Keith Mitchell, from the "Island", was part of the excursion to tackle the
lake trout before the season closed on October 1st. As we navigated the creek to the trout lake we were surprised to see the work the beavers had done on their dam. Keith stunned us that day by announcing "
I have heard that the young beavers taste the best!" Was this a dark side of Keith that had not been revealed to us before? A connoisseur of beaver? We laughed the rest of the way up the creek!
Keith was very excited to catch a fish (and change the subject)! No Keith, that's not a trout.
We struggled at first trying to target a deep water bite. We could mark fish on the locator, but getting them to bite was a problem. As the water temps were still fairly warm I was not confident that the trout were going to be shallow, but when all else fails you have nothing to lose by changing tactics. We moved down the way and started casting the wind and wave swept shorelines.
Ron (Jo-anne's hubby) connects with a lake trout in the shallows using a Little Cleo spoon! This method ultimately works better for Ron, since the $5 reel he has been bragging about has only 30 feet of line on it! Regardless, I think we are on to something! Using this technique we caught many trout in the 3 to 6 foot depth range....basically right up on shore. So much for my water temperature theory. I do think the wave action was triggering these fish........
The boys after a hard day on the lake. Some good eaters to enjoy till the trout season re-opens on January 1st. By the way, Keith was right........the small (young) ones do taste better!
Keith Mitchell, from the "Island", was part of the excursion to tackle the lake trout before the season closed on October 1st. As we navigated the creek to the trout lake we were surprised to see the work the beavers had done on their dam. Keith stunned us that day by announcing "I have heard that the young beavers taste the best!" Was this a dark side of Keith that had not been revealed to us before? A connoisseur of beaver? We laughed the rest of the way up the creek! 
Keith was very excited to catch a fish (and change the subject)! No Keith, that's not a trout.
We struggled at first trying to target a deep water bite. We could mark fish on the locator, but getting them to bite was a problem. As the water temps were still fairly warm I was not confident that the trout were going to be shallow, but when all else fails you have nothing to lose by changing tactics. We moved down the way and started casting the wind and wave swept shorelines.
Ron (Jo-anne's hubby) connects with a lake trout in the shallows using a Little Cleo spoon! This method ultimately works better for Ron, since the $5 reel he has been bragging about has only 30 feet of line on it! Regardless, I think we are on to something! Using this technique we caught many trout in the 3 to 6 foot depth range....basically right up on shore. So much for my water temperature theory. I do think the wave action was triggering these fish........
The boys after a hard day on the lake. Some good eaters to enjoy till the trout season re-opens on January 1st. By the way, Keith was right........the small (young) ones do taste better!
Nice!!!! Bet Keith deep fry's those beavers...
ReplyDeleteHi Gord/Keith...That nice bunch of trout materialized because you tried something unusual and outside the boundary of where the fish "should be". Congratulations for being willing to think differently. This is a good reminder for all of us.
ReplyDeleteWith respect to the issue of young beavers tasting the best...I think this is a matter of personal preference acquired through meaningful sampling. I have found that the age of the beaver is far less important than how the beaver is prepared and how hungry I am.
Perhaps Keith will chime in as to how he came up with "his theory"!!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, when cleaning these fish half were males and half were just spawned out females......so no mystery what they were up to.
Really nice post! Gord, I have a question. If the females were spawned out, shouldn't the season close before the spawn rather than after? Was this year really that unusual? Here in Wisconsin we are experiencing below zero temperatures and I can only imagine what you are getting at VBL.
ReplyDeleteKeith and Lovita are fixtures at VBL and its great to see Keith's smiling face on the blog. I will stay away from the beaver discussion only because I have never been that particular.
Andy
Andy, I believe the fish were actively spawning when we caught them...the females had a handful of eggs left. On different years the timing could be days later or earlier, but in general most of the spawn occurs after the closing date. I know that a lot of the spawning activity usually occurs at night in the shallows (reefs, shorelines).
ReplyDeleteI will stay away from your comment to stay away from the beaver discussion!
Gord,
ReplyDeleteI agree....leave it to Beaver.
Andy
I think we should all start calling Keith the "Beave"!
ReplyDeleteWally
Hi Gord...I understand that there are two varieties of beaver in NW Ontario, the common fur-bearing and the rare hairless or so-called "Brazilian" beaver. Do you know if the Brazilian migrates south for the winter?
ReplyDeleteYou are correct professor. The fur-bearing beaver "Castor Hispida" spends it's winters here in NW Ontario. The hairless "Glaber Castor", also referred to as the "Brazilian" migrates to sunny beach areas in the winter. Perhaps you have spotted them on their migrations?
ReplyDeleteHi Gord...I've lived in beautiful Edgerton, WI for over twenty years now. Unfortunately, I never have I spotted a Brazilian here. However, I spoke to an Edgerton old-timer who claimed to have seen several, years back. But then he admitted that these may have been from photos in a nature magazine.
ReplyDeleteProfessor, at the Blue Lantern Hunt Camp there is an extensive collection of those vintage nature magazines. I must say that in all my research into those archives, the "Glabor Castor" variety was not observed. Perhaps it was colder back in "the day"?
ReplyDelete