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Published 2015

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Electronic book ISBN: 978-0-9939447-2-7

Table Of Contents:

Introduction

Chapter One: Good To Know

Chapter One & One Half: The Fish Nobody Knew

Interlude: How To Catch A Parrot While Fishing

Chapter Two: The Secrets Of The Big Browns

Bonus: The Chinooks

Chapter Three: The Secrets To Big Specs In Lakes (Or Streams)

Chapter Four: A Few Bear Stories

Short Story One: The Bear Hunt

Short Story Two: The Ice Hut

Short Story Three: Breaking Camp

Short Story Four: The Chase

Chapter Five: Trapped In The Washrooms

Short Story A: Big Momma Bear Ain’t Happy

Short Story B: The Moose In Rut

Chapter 6: The Raccoons And Beavers Are Bullies

Short Story: Bezhig Welcome To The Hood

Short Story Niizh: A Battle Of Wills

Tracking - Moose Tracks

- Moose or Caribou Tracks?

Acknowledgements:

Author Bio:

“And as the
mighty waves of
the ocean pound against the
white virgin pebbles of sand on the beach
…so do I.”

By: Steven R. General

*******

Introduction:

Fishing is a great past time and like many people, under the right circumstances, one can become sort of addicted to it. I have caught a lot of different species of fish through the years. I have caught other things as well when fishing, some by accident, like seagulls, ducks, turtles, crayfish, frogs, eels, pinks, Skamania, and I even caught a couple of fish that I had no idea what they were? And neither did the Ministry of Natural Resources know what species of fish they were? And like the partial quote in the Clint Eastwood movie, “Unforgiven,” I have caught pretty much anything that has walked or crawled, or swam or flew at one time or another throughout my years of fishing. And I even caught a parrot while out fishing but more on that later. Very few fisherman can boast that fact. In fact, probably no one else on the planet can claim that one.

Back to some real fishing. First, this book is not for the beginner trout fisherman so much. I expect you already fish for trout. And if you are looking for pictures go to a picture book. This book is the meat and potatoes of trout fishing with a good gravy topping. That means you will learn things you likely don’t know. And let me say there are going to be some of you that won’t believe what I say works for fishing for big trout but it does. In fact, it works so good that I have guarded many of the secrets for many, many years. I have been fishing my whole life but that alone is not what makes a good fisherman. Ever since I could hold a fishing rod I have fished for trout and Dad would take me out to the streams and lakes for trout. Later, I fished by myself and I have put thousands upon thousands of hours into becoming more successful than other fisherman on the rivers and lakes. I am a very analytical person and it was when I adapted the “Safari” approach that things began to change. This is a trial book on some of the 411 of big trout tactics and if it does well, I may release more hush-hush secrets.

I do all kinds of fishing. Fly-fishing wet and dry, nymph, spin and bait, flipping, ice-fishing, down-rigger, wire line, well, everything but my true love and specialty is trout. I have also included some wildlife and bear encounters I have had while fishing just as a dessert. But before I get to the actual secrets I want to go back to a time when I thought I was a pretty good fisherman for trout. I was good but I had much to learn “Grasshopper.”

Chapter One:

Good To Know:

I remember fishing this one particular stream years ago, and coming up to a set of rapids that emptied into a slight curving embankment of rocks and roots. It was a fishing hole with great potential. At first glance it seemed that there was a natural position for a fisherman to stand and fish the pool. And I am sure that is where most fisherman stood when fishing this hole. However, I do a lot of reading and was thinking about fishing from a fish perspective. Sounds a bit weird huh? For example, I would actually lay down in a river, stream, or a lake and be underwater and look up to the shore to see what I could see. Sure you may have heard about how light bends going through the water and how a fish might be able to see you quite clearly when you could not see them from above the surface. I would also be under the water and listen to what fish might hear and to hear how sound travels in the water. Well, the sounds of walking are much more amplified with water as the sound waves travel through the water. Most of us probably know this but seldom utilize this as an advantage. I experimented with upstream, downstream, and in lakes. I do understand a fish may have lateral lines and they do hear or sense quite differently than a human would. I did all this just to see if I could gain some advantage over other competition, meaning the fisherman and the fish of course. On this particular hole, I laid down on some rocks and fished from there. It was uncomfortable but it sure paid off. I was using a worm at the time and let my bait drift downstream and yes, I used the lightest line possible and the least sinkers I could to give the worm a natural drift. I caught a very nice brown trout from that fishing hole that I am sure I would not have caught had I used the traditional method, standing on the preferred spot. I immediately gutted the fish, washed it, got some wet grass and placed the fish in my fishing creel. I examined the trout’s stomach, as I normally do to see what the fish had been eating. I also fly fish and so am interested in what their diet consists of. The trout had 18 minnows in his stomach. I had to wonder why he took my worm, not only because it wasn’t his normal diet, but the trout must have been pretty full? This was one of my earlier experiences on the importance of stealth and camouflage. And I remembered those lessons well. And I also refined them along the way.

When I was in my early twenties I took my Dad up north to fish. I wanted to go somewhere remote, or at least off the beaten path so Dad would have the best chance to catch a very big, truly wild trout. I was a good fisherman, but there was still much to learn “Grasshopper.” I contacted the Ministry of Natural Resources and asked for their trout stocking program for the last few years in the area we planned to go to. What they sent me was a very long list of lakes they had stocked in the last three years and how many trout had been released into those lakes and in what years. I shortlisted the record and counted how many districts contained how many lakes and what species of fish were in those particular lakes. Sounds like a bit of work but not really. And I was only interested in trout, big trout. I then went and looked up where those districts were and the access to those districts. Then I went and purchased topographic maps of those districts. I narrowed it down to four districts I was interested in and I wanted topographic maps that would show the lakes, terrain, elevation, and topography of the land. I did not purchase lithographic maps for this region at this time. And I am quite sure these lakes would not have these types of maps. Lithographic maps are maps of the water that show depths. That is the simple explanation. People also use fish finders to help find the fish or find the shelves or fishing areas in lakes. At the time I did not have a fish finder. And so we set out for the 10 day trip, to the back remote lakes. We actually took a back road to the region in my 4x4 Jeep Cherokee and we definitely needed a 4 wheel drive vehicle. It was early May and after three hours travelling this rough back road with snow, ice, downed trees, and forging across two streams, we came to a “T” as the road ended and now there was a gravel road. Dad and I wondered what the heck just happened? Then a car pulling a silver trailer drove by us on that road? We both were shocked and thought where were we? The map did not show this road? So we decided to follow the car. As it turns out we were in the right area and the lakes we wanted to fish were there, waiting, like diamonds in the Earth. That road the car travelled on was a new lumber truck road we did not know about. We went to the first lake that late afternoon and fished but after fishing in the canoe for 4 hours I had caught only one trout. And it wasn’t even really that big a trout. We headed to shore and set up camp before night fall. Dad and I were sitting around the campfire and I was as usual studying the topographical maps and planning for the next day. It was getting dark when a lone pick up truck drove by us, went down to the lake to check it out, and then drove back up the narrow road. The pick up truck stopped by our campsite and a guy called out from the truck to ask if we had been fishing. Dad called back and answered, “Yes, we fished the afternoon.” The guy in the truck asked if we caught anything and Dad answered, “My boy caught one trout.” They asked to see it and we said sure. Three guys got out and came to see our trout in the cooler. It was a rainbow. The guys told us they had been fishing this area for many years and said that was a very good trout for this particular lake. Then we all sat by the campfire and talked. Dad said talk to my boy about fishing because he is the fishing expert. I showed them my topographical maps and they pointed out the lakes and reaffirmed what could be caught in those particular lakes. They also told me certain lakes had very big trout in them but those giants were pretty much impossible to catch. Then they left and I was even more excited what tomorrow’s fishing might bring.