This time of year, when the winter seems to drag on, I start thinking about the fun things in the months ahead. Like many of you, I love summer. Fishing and camping are high on my list of things to do. I didn’t fish as a kid growing up on our ranch, but when I met and married my husband, I was introduced to fishing. Touchwood Lake was where I learned how to cast and catch those great big jackfish that lived there, but my favourite was trolling. The feel of a fish on my line was thrilling. The fight is so rewarding when you pull a big jackfish, pickerel or perch out of the lake that is flipping and fighting.The sound of the line peeling off speedilywas exciting; I had a fish on my line! Zzzzzzzzzzzz!
Fishing that far north usually required a couple or more days of camping. This was all new to me and it took a lot of getting used to. I wasn’t sure if I liked camping, but I did love eating fresh fish. If we weren’t on the lake fishing, I found myself getting restless before too long and so I did my fair share of walking on beautiful lake trails before I was warned about bears! Then I tended to walk closer to the campsite!
I have found the tranquil settings the perfect cure for my restlessness. The reflections of evergreen trees in the still water along the shoreline, the solitude and quietness of sitting in a boat in the middle of the lake even if you’re not catching a fish. The combinations of smells; pine, spruce, moss, lake water, smoke from a campfire lazily making its way through the tall pines. The only sound you hear are the ripples of the water lightly splashing against the boat, and the call of the loons on the lake with their unique tremolo and wail. I could listen to that all day long! It›s a small part of a big picture of tranquility.
My husband grew up fishing with his parents and siblings,so we camped and fished with them. We were a big group. They had camping trailers, and we would have our own little community at the lake. Aunties and Uncles would join us; they had been fishing for years at various lakes before us already. After fishing for the day, all the fishing boats would be lined up at the shore where we could see them from our camp. My mother and father in-law’s camp was often the gathering place for meals and all the fun at the evening campfire. There were musicians who played campfire songs until late in the night (I was one of them) and the rest sang or just enjoyed the fun. We were often joined by cousins and friends. During the day our “camp manager”, my father-in-law, played what we called “hop-sa-da” music “loudly” which were the Emeralds, or other accordion orchestras on his 8 track player! Another favourite memory, I remember an Auntie yelling out her trailer door “pie and coffee is ready”! “Really? You made pie at the lake?”, we asked. Yes, yes, she did and enough for everyone! We shouldn’t have been surprised; her holiday trailer was well equipped with a full kitchen including an oven. What an incredible family! What wonderful memories!
When we had our own family, we continued to go camping and fishing with our larger family. Our kids also have great memories of Touchwood Lake and the family gatherings there. They camped, fished, swam and played with their cousins there too. What a generational blessing it is.
Now we fish a few different lakes in Alberta and Saskatchewan. A fifth wheel trailer with all the comforts of home took the place of our previous camping units; (tents and tiny truck campers).
Generations have passed. Sometimes the fun and laughter is so loud in our camp that I secretly imagine we are joined by the echo’s of the previous generation.
Take heart, the spring solstice is only days away followed, (in a month) (or two) by fishing season. Happy camping and fishing!
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