Annual trip to Tobin Lake best in 30 years

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/10/2017 (2993 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Big fish of any species have a certain fascination to many anglers. It’s the thrill of the chase, which hopefully ends in success, at least to some degree. This past week I headed my car northwest, to make my annual trip to Tobin Lake, Sask. This lake is noted for its massive walleye and pike, fish almost every angler dreams of.

While I would be fishing for three days on this man-made reservoir, it was just as much about seeing my friends than anything else. It’s not a short drive, some seven and half hours from Winnipeg, but it is usually well worth the effort. It was also the same day as extreme winds hit the Prairies and when I arrived in Carrot River at my friend’s house, he was up on the roof replacing some shingles. Early that morning wind faster than 100 km/h hit, causing trees to fall and damage to buildings. This wind was to have a dramatic effect on the fishing for us the first day when I hit the water with friend Boyd Holmen. We wanted to fish the lake but once we got there, we could see the water was dirty with debris floating everywhere. We decided to try to move around to find some cleaner water, but the wind had done its damage and we did not catch a walleye.

Luckily for us, our other boat filled with friends had fished the other end of the reservoir, in the river section near the town of Nipawin, landing both pike and walleye, including one 11-pound trophy.

The next day, we spent time checking out a number of different areas with somewhat limited success. Puzzled, we were marking fish but they still seemed affected by the weather. Well, we had one more day left to get it together and find the fish. This is the value of spending more than a day on the water during a fishing trip, especially if you travel a fair distance.

Day 3 was overcast with a light drizzle falling. On our first drift in the river we landed 15 walleye, including one trophy and lots in the 55 to 75 centimetre protected slot size. As we boated back up stream to the start of the run, we were extremely pumped. The fish were aggressive, smashing our 3/8-ounce jigs tipped with shiner minnows. On this drift I got my biggest walleye of the year, a beautiful fish that tipped the scales at just under five kilograms. What a blast on a medium action jigging rod! Finally, around 4 p.m., as the rain intensified we left to head back to the boat launch at Nipawin Regional Park having landed about 60 walleye in seven hours of fishing, certainly one of the best days I have had on the river in the more than 30 years that I have been fishing there.

Over the years, angling pressure on Tobin Lake has increased dramatically, but Saskatchewan Conservation have management rules in place to manage the harvest. These include a protected slot, barbless hooks and reduced limits. It doesn’t hurt that they restrict outfitters on the lake and don’t allow commercial fishing. The real key, though, seems to be the massive reservoir itself. By its nature, fish always have areas to feed and get away from fishing pressure. With sunken timber everywhere and huge, expansive mud flats, fish always have cover and plenty to eat. With all these factors in play, it should remain one of the top trophy fisheries in North American for walleye and pike for a long time.

Anglers Notes: This contrasts sharply right now with the Red River and Traverse Bay fishing that many (anglers) are experiencing. I have received a number of emails from those who are heading out and getting skunked. I know that those reports discourage many anglers from making the trip out for the day to these fisheries. Scott Forbes is an ecologist at the University of Winnipeg who works on fish and wildlife. He and his students participated (pro bono) in the Eco-certification of the Waterhen Lake fishery. He was particularly interested in an article that appeared in the Free Press this week concerning the Freshwater Marketing Corporation. In that article, Bob Sopuck, a Conservative MP for Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa and a former fishery biologist, used strong language to denounce fishing that targets the most valuable individuals in a population for harvest, large female spawners. Forbes says the FFMC has been complicit in this practice. He believes as a federal crown corporation, they should be champions for the sustainable management of our renewable resources, not the getaway drivers for a heist that will leave all Manitobans worse off when Lake Winnipeg walleye populations collapse. He says while all of this has been done within the letter of the law, that doesn’t make it right.

If readers will recall, I wrote a story about the excellent fishing I had on the West Waterhen River last month. As Forbes will tell you, this is what happens when a fishery is well managed, with a harvest rate of 37 per cent because of eco-certification. Right now the harvest rate on Lake Winnipeg is 52 per cent, which means collapse is not far away.

dlamont@mymts.net