Welcome to Week CXCI I of 鈥楩ishing Parkland Shorelines鈥�. Like most of us I am a novice fisherman, loving to fish, but far from an expert. In the following weeks I鈥檒l attempt to give those anglers who love to fish but just don鈥檛 have access to a boat, a look at some of the options in the Yorkton area where you can fish from shore, and hopefully catch some fish.
I am definitely a fisherman who enjoys the outdoor activity.
While avid might fit as an explanation, I am not quite a fanatic. I say that because I have a number of other interests, board gaming, sports fan, reading, and disc golf among them, the latter something I am probably more passionate about, at least at present in growing the sport.
But it does surprise me just how much fishing seeps into other aspects of my life.
I recently toured east to Manitoba to take a drive across some fields with a fellow contemplating a disc golf course. It was surprising since it is January, yet stubble and grass poked through the snow, the truck making its way around easily.
The area was close to a river and in talking to a couple of people about the trip, the discussion turned not to the possible course, (an 18 looks promising), but to the fact the river has a sucker run in spring.
Suckers are a rough fish, and thus don鈥檛 generally fall under limits, or even under license. In many cases people catch suckers in rather large numbers in spring and while too bony and often muddy tasting in summer to even consider taking home, after winter they can be prepared and canned.
The canning process softens bones, as in salmon we buy in the can, and the finished product is often compared to that same salmon. The use of various spices and lots of tomato juice leaves a very tasty product.
It is interesting that not long after moving to Yorkton I followed a family to Manitoba for a sucker catch. They literally waded out into the water and scooped the suckers back then. I actually saw a grain scoop shovel used.
But the fish were put to good use. The family was not well off and the fish were all canned, a process I also shot pictures of as my participation was part of doing a freelance article on canning the fish.
That article is long gone from my files, three moves and the upgrade from an old Underwood typewriter to a computer having transpired since, but I still recall the general experience well-enough.
I suspect fewer people can suckers today than back then. It is just the evolution of things. Fewer farmers keep a few chickens of eggs, or milk a cow. Fewer people in a city such as ours have back yard gardens. It is the reliance on the grocery store syndrome.
But it was interested to hear people talk about canning the fish still.
Speaking of fishing seeping into life, I am not a fan of puzzles. While I might have patience for fishing, most days at least, looking at a hundred irregular shaped pieces of cardboard looking for just one which will fit the spot you are working on is generally more torture than fun.
But, on occasion I have persevered and done a puzzle, or two.
So leading up to the recent holidays I happened upon a puzzle with a fish theme.
Now for some reason now lost to me I thought it would be a good thing to buy since its theme would hold my interest, and it would provide me with something to do on a few January eves.
Well it is nearly February, and the puzzle is just now spread upon a card table, the first few pieces coming together. I know just enough about putting puzzles together to look for the edge pieces first and then work your way in.
Oh, and sometimes a feature of the puzzle, an eye maybe, can be something you can build out from, especially if it is surrounded by a colour different than the rest of the picture.
I can say my frustration level climbed rather quickly, but I have a few bits and pieces cobbled together.
That all said, I鈥檇 say I have about the same chance of completing the puzzle seen in the pictures here, as I have of hooking a 15-pound pike opening day this year. But I will give it the old college 鈥� OK I never went 鈥� so the old school of hard knocks try. Wish me luck, and maybe one day I鈥檒l include a picture of the last piece going into the puzzle.
On a final note, is anything more iconic in terms of fishing than the opening scene from the Andy Griffith Show.
The show hit the airways Oct. 3, 1960, and ran until Apr. 1, 1968. It can still be found on cable often, and while it might be in part because of my age, I still find it funny in a way lost to comedies today. The show is from a simpler, kinder time, and it shows in the humour.
The series starred 鈥淎ndy Griffith, who portrays the widowed sheriff (Andy Taylor) of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina,鈥� details Wikipedia. 鈥淗is life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife (Don Knotts), a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier), and a precocious young son, Opie (Ron Howard). Local ne鈥檈r-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Regarding the time-period of the show, Griffith said in a Today Show interview: 鈥淲ell, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the 1960s, it had a feeling of the 1930s. It was, when we were doing it, of a time gone by.鈥�
鈥淭he series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best and 13th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards.鈥�
The opening has Taylor and Opie walking a dirt road rods in-hand headed to fish to the strains of the 鈥淔ishin鈥� Hole鈥�. The music was written by Earle Hagen and Herbert Spencer, and frankly I had always thought the familiar piece strictly an instrumental one.
But recently I found via YouTube that there are lyrics by Everett Sloane and it is online in a rendition by Griffith. If you loved the show as I did, check it out, and dream a bit of a day fishing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE3OBiFflHI).
