Thanks minnowreaper, pike are indeed fun to catch.
I hope to try the other Esox species some day, like musky and pickerel.
Hi all,
My latest fishing adventure took me, and my fishing partners, on a day and a half trip to the far South East corner of Sask. and Boundary Reservoir, the only place in Sask. where you can angle for largemouth bass.
I have been meaning to angle for largemouth bass for a long time, so I was eagerly anticipating the trip.
Our first stop was at Rafferty Reservoir.
It was really windy and there were white caps.
The most prominent landmark out there is the coal burning thermal power station, just South of the city of Estevan.
It supplies power to 70% of Sask. and parts of the USA.
Coal is used to power the station and can be found in 4 open pit mines around the area.
They use the dragline method to obtain it.
The cranes they are using in that area look like a small house and rise a very long way into the air.
They are so tall that they have lights on them as a precaution for planes flying over.
The wildlife abounds in this area of Sask. with gophers being the most common. Here are a few others I was able to snap a shot of.
Morning doves.
Eastern Kingbirds.
Bobolinks.
Deer, both whitetale and mule.
This one had a fawn with her, but, it hid in the grass.
Ringneck pheasants.
We also came across this big houseboat.
The lake itself has neat geological features.
As you travel by boat you can clearly see the coal veins in the steep banks.
While checking out these coal veins I found small shells and prints of shells in the shale layers at the base of the coal, a link to it's prehistoric past.
I was told that this is the hot water outlet.
The power plant takes in lake water and expells the hot water back into the lake.
This warm water is the only reason largemouth bass can survive there.
The reservoir was definitely not a quite place on this trip.
There was a bass tournament going on the day we fished from the boat, so, there was lots of activity.
There were tournament anglers, regular anglers and pleasure boaters all mixed together and going every which way.
Were any of you in this bass tournament?
What was the heaviest combined weight, and the biggest bass?
The fishing was not bad.
We fished both from shore and from the boat.
Shore fishing was a bit tough due to the very thick weed mattes that extended a good way out from shore.
During my time fishing I found walleye, this one the biggest at 2.2 lbs.
Pike, this one the biggest at 3 lbs.
and finally...
largemouth bass.
This was the only largemouth bass I landed during this trip, but it was a nice one.
It's weight was 4.6lbs and his length was 19 + inches. I think it qualifies as a Sask. Master Angler largemouth bass.
It was close to the provincial record of 24 inches, but, no cigar.
One final photo before release.
All the fish were released during this trip.
It was definitely a fun and exciting sightseeing / fishing adventure for me and my fishing buddies.
WW