Roger Buys A Cottage

By Iain Loveman

It seems that I may be spending a lot of time fishing Lake Dalyrmple this year. My fishing buddy Roger and family have decided to invest in a home away from home, a cottage.

Bonus! The crew was thinking about cruising back up to Lac Aux Foins but after last years disaster due to weather, some of us decided somewhere closer would be better.

It really didn't take much to convince me to spend some time fishing the lake. It's only just over an hours drive away, there are an abundance of pike, pickerel, bass, perch and sunfish and all the comforts of home. Well, three out of four ain't bad.

Ok, so the long weekend approaches, my body starts to ache (yeah, I'm a built in weather barometer). I tell him I would love to go and will meet him up there Friday morning.

Sure enough the skies open and the phrase, "raining cats and dogs", doesn't even come close. Now, Roger and Betty and Simon (Roger's brother) are already up there, so I give them a call on the cellphone. The conversation runs thru the hellos and how is the fishing. They tell me they have already caught two pickerel and when am I coming up.

Now, I've fished with these guys and know it's just a line (excuse the pun). They break down and tell me they are playing cards watching the bobbers dip and then its a race outside. I think they were just feeding their worms to the sunfish. I eventually agree to come up Saturday.

Saturday is a much nicer day and when I arrive I find them already fishing, so I spend the time casting off the dock till they return. I forgot to mention that I picked up some lures a couple of days before and told Roger to use them and that I had the lure that was going to catch fish.

He scooped it when I wasn't looking. Anyway, I find out my lure has already hooked into four pike and Simon's into several bass (catch and release, out of season). I spent the rest of day trolling back and forth, trying different lures but nothing was hitting them. Roger, on the other hand had success in bringing in another few pike.

The mystery lure is a spinner about a #3 Mepps but is solid yellow with one black eye painted on. It has a single treble wound on to wire with yellow and black beads. I have a fella in the area make them up for me. Let me know if your interested and I'll figure out costs and shipping.

We kept the pike for a couple of reasons, for a fish fry and to help clear out the lake. It has become apparent that catches of pickerel have become sparse even with the ministry formerly stocking the lake.

Since, the long weekend I have been up a couple of times with Roger and friends. I got my own special lure and have had fantastic results. We even managed a double header on pike but that's another story.

Iain S Loveman