Mourning The Loss of a Dream Pike Fishing Spot

For months, I had been waiting anxiously for winter to end but my longing for spring had very little to do with the weather. From what I saw on the news this winter, I think we got off easy here in Southern Alberta. Even though we got an early May snowstorm, a long wait for warm temperatures and sunshine is just part of life here. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if we got another big snow in June.

The real reason I was looking forward to spring was Northern Pike. Specifically hauling the long toothy fish out of our secret pike fishing spot.

Our spot was a once-in-a-lifetime gem. It was one of those places that you sometimes hear about and wish whoever was bragging about it would somehow offer to take you there even though you know you can't simply ask them to. Less than a square kilometre in area, we could easily fish every inch of the shoreline in a couple of hours. Twenty-plus fish mornings and double or triple headers were not only possible but common.

A standard "Pike Pond" pike

Another healthy pike from "Pike Pond"

The fish weren't just plentiful. Many of them were also big. My personal best at "Pike Pond" was a 12 pound pike I caught casting spoons from shore on a sunny late-spring afternoon. My friend Chris managed to pull a 15 pound gator out of the pond early last fall and I have seen much bigger fish chase smaller fish as we fought them to shore. All fishermen are liars, but I swear some of the bigger fish I saw gliding out of the depths had to be over twenty pounds.

A 12 pound pike. Bigger ones lurked in the depths.

This is the type of spot that fishes well so consistently that it's easy to take for granted. I'm really glad I never let that happen.

Two weeks ago I got word that ice was finally off the pond.  The evening before our first spring pike trip of the season I took the time to make sure all my rods, jerk baits, swim baits, spoons, crank baits, leaders, spreaders, pliers and everything else I would need were carefully accounted for and packed up for the morning. It's funny how it's so hard to fall asleep the night before a long-anticipated fishing trip yet it's so easy to get out of bed the morning of.

When we drove up to the spot we noticed that the planned subdivision development had begun as there was a team of yellow excavators parked in a freshly graded field beside the reservoir. There was also a new culvert spilling water into the southeast corner of the pond.

We didn't think much of the development. We knew this day was coming. We felt lucky to be able to fish the pond for one more season before the construction began on the new "lakefront community" that was being built. I did find it a little strange to see a few dead perch washed up on shore but we paid no mind to it, tied on some spoons, and started casting.

Right away, I found it weird that we weren't getting strikes or seeing followers. Further testament to how awesome this spot was.

We continued fishing unsuccessfully around the pond and we kept seeing dead fish here and there on the shore. It was impossible not to think that something was wrong.

As we approached the far side of the pond we saw what we had been beginning to dread. In a corner of the reservoir were hundreds of dead pike and perch. Along the entire side of the pond the water was littered with fish carcasses big and small. We kept casting but it was clear that a mass die-off had occurred and the spot was pretty much done. With the new subdivision being built, it probably wouldn't be coming back either. Every angler knows what it's like to lose that one monster fish. I now know what it's like to lose literally all of them.

When we realized things were really not good

Had we caught these fish before?

So what happened? I have heard of winterkill on several small trout lakes around Alberta. But like I mentioned above, the winter wasn't abnormally bad here and pike and perch are pretty hardy. A friend of mine who works in the water treatment industry suspects something more sinister. He hypothesized that the land developer may have used chlorinated water to sanitize the water line connections for the new community and may have dumped the spent water directly into the pond, thus "sanitizing" our pike spot. I'm not really in any position go much past speculation but that would be pretty unfortunate if true.

I've been hurting to go fishing lately. Pike Pond was supposed to be my big fix this spring before summer bass fishing in Ontario. Maybe this is a sign for me to put down my lead-chucker for a while to focus on tightening my loops in the Bow River until runoff arrives.

Fishing is Priceless...Well, Not Quite

The last time I wrote anything for this blog it was February. It is now May. It's not that I haven't wanted to write anything and it's absolutely not because I haven't been thinking about fishing. Between work, closed lakes and streams and crappy weather, I just haven't been able to get out much.

Generally, when I'm not fishing I'm out spending money on stuff related to fishing. Judging by my last Visa statement, I haven't been fishing enough lately.

In February I finally went out and committed to my first fly rod. I bought a Temple Fork Outfitters 5 weight to go along with the waders, wading boots, vest, fly box, forceps, wooden landing net, strike indicators and zingers I had already purchased. A couple of weeks ago the ice shelfs had shrunk enough for me to take my new rod to the Bow River and whadya know, it works! According to a few anglers I've spoken to, the Bow has been slow this spring but I managed to pull an 18 inch Rocky Mountain Whitefish out of a very popular run in Southeast Calgary. Not bad considering all the times I've been skunked on the Bow River.

First fish on my new 5 wt

A week ago I also went out and bought my first baitcasting outfit completely on a whim. The sales guy at the Fishin' Hole, my favourite local tackle shop, saw me checking out the rods and must've instinctively detected my weakness for sales "suggestions". Next thing I knew I was walking out the door with a brand new Fenwick Nighthawk rod with a Pflueger Supreme reel. I plan to try my new setup out this weekend at our favourite secret spring pike spot.

Part of the reason I never have new clothes

I'm convinced that fishing equipment manufacturers design their gear to catch the eye of the fisherman as much as that of the fish...either that or there's some sort of magic that makes money fly out of my pocket as soon as I cross the threshold of any tackle shop. Regardless, I can think of way worse things to spend money on and if you ask me while I'm on the water, I would tell you fishing is worth every cent.