It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing of one of the Hooked team of writers. Joel Wiebe penned many stories over the years for us. All had to do with his love for fly fishing. None embodies his passion better than the one he wrote for the 2021 fall Issue of Hooked. As you will read below Joel felt a special relation with this part of the world. Joel’s funeral will be held Thursday September 15th. You can read more about Joel and his life here.
DREAMING OF THE DUCKS – BY JOEL WIEBE
THE ROAD GOES ON
My journey with the Duck Mountains starts a decade before ever stepping foot on its shorelines. As a young teen I spent more time reading fishing articles than I spent on the water. One story told by angler Dean Bodnar in a local magazine highlighted the amazing potential of East Blue Lake. He accomplished the improbable, catching two rainbow trout over the 31 inch mark within a week. To this day I can vividly recall the photos of those deep bellies hanging over his fingers.
A LASTING IMPRESSION
These fish slowly made their imprints in my dreams. One day I will fish the Ducks. High school and a university degree later, and I still had not taken the first steps towards that goal. With a diploma in hand and engineering formula sheets stowed messily away in a cardboard box, I realized my fall would look a lot different. I reached for my phone and started scheming to make up lost time. I sent Chris Stock a message. “The Ducks, rendezvous this fall!”
THIS PLACE WILL GROW ON YOU!
Driving North from Roblin, I pass the renowned Twin Lakes and travel a narrow road that lazily winds through the floor of the Shell River valley. It is a charming section of land and a welcome sight after driving hours along the uneventful prairies’ pavement. And as the road climbs upwards the pavement ends, the trees tighten onto the shoulders and the gravel roads begin, branching out into every corner of the Duck Mountains.
LONG OVERDUE
A short ride onwards I arrive at Laurie Lake. I pull into an empty parking lot and am surprised by the clear teal waters. Chris shows up minutes later with a boat and motor as promised. No time wasted; I start heaving my gear into the boat as Chris tries to launch on the half-frozen ramp. He charts a course to a lake trout and splake spawning area.
“The winds and bitter cold seem to have scattered the concentrations of fish off the reefs,” Chris explained. “There is another spot I know.” As we approach the spot Chris teases me into believing that we have a chance to sight fish for cruising splake and brown trout! As I stand up on the deck, I see it. Shallow marl flats and rocky shorelines – this seemed so exotic and foreign to the Manitoba waters I grew up on. I could fish here all day, hold that thought. The wind grew, pushing in waves a little too heavy to make out any movement under the surface.
KEEP CASTING
We start casting out blindly from the boat. Shortly after Chris chirps up, “I just had a brown chase!” And like the guide he is, he let me look at the end of his line. A yellow barred and white bellied zonker, with stick-on eyes. I scrounge up a conehead zonker with silver mylar flanks from my box. Casting flies into the wind and not so much as a hit I started to doubt Chris’ claims.
HOLD OR FOLD?
I peeped out “Should we move spots?” Chris chimed in, “Not yet, let’s wait this wind out a bit. If you keep your eyes trained on the shore you might see something.” A couple dark shadows slithered up through windswept rocks. I tried to intercept the fishes’ path, but the fly line kept crashing down on top of their heads. Sending them darting out of the shallows. A little frustrated with the sight fishing game I sent out a few casts off the back of the boat into the depths. I let my intermediate fly line sink 15 seconds before twitching back my fly.
FISH ON
Mid-retrieve my line tightens up and I am finally hooked up with my first Ducks trout. What will it be? It peeled side to side. A dark black back and an orange undercarriage. Undoubtedly a splake!
Through the teal lens I could see every move and headshake from the fish, only adding to the thrill of fight. Chris netted the splake and I admired the fish in my numb hands. As I let it go, Chris had made a cast and was rewarded with a beautiful charged up fall splake. I think he called it a “Halloween Fish” which was fitting giving their colour and we a couple days removed from the date. And like that our action was over.
THE PUZZLE THAT IS LAURIE LAKE
This same story has been replayed countless times after on Laurie, on other boats and with other anglers.
Many times we have been left scratching our heads after an ole fashioning skunking or wondering, “Why do we catch all our fish in short windows? But that is Laurie, get used to it!”
BROOK TROUT ON THE AGENDA
With one splake down, I had my eyes set on chasing down some brook trout on this trip also. I had done my research and there were about a handful of lakes with brook trout in them. Chris agreed to meet me at West Blue Lake and show me around. I arrived at the lake and waited for a bit. Half an hour passed and still no sign or message. Thankfully I had packed a backup watercraft, an inflatable float tube. I decided to go on without him.
Directionless, I floated around the lake and threw casts along all the flooded timber, but nothing came darting out. Hours of casting and kicking around I managed to evade a couple of the now well-known hot spots. It took a couple more trips back to West Blue to finally find them. And it wasn’t hard.
You oughta look out for the 5 boats lined up, gunnel to gunnel, fighting over casting real estate. That is where the brookies are.
Jokes aside, I called the day short, as the wind had decided to pick up in true Manitoba fashion.
THE PERILS OF TRAVELLING THE DUCKS
Relieved to be out of the freezing water I found a note pasted to my windshield. It read “Sorry, blew two tires on the road, headed to Dauphin.” And like that my local experience base was tied up dealing with vehicle problems. I don’t know what it is about the Ducks, the main roads are maintained okay, but they have a way of causing all sorts of headaches, especially the ones off the main route. A short list of casualties include exploded batteries, dead fuel pumps, and chewed up tires.
ON MY OWN
Plans were derailed for the weekend, and it was on me to continue exploring by myself. Which is nothing but bliss when surrounded by forest and so many possibilities. I did end up finding some brook trout shore fishing a couple unlikely lakes.
The vehicle headaches seem to disappear after catching a few fish and as time passes, they add to my favourite memories from the Ducks. And that will always be the draw to the Ducks, making new memories, reliving the old, and a chance at catching that next provincial record trout.
CHECK OUT THE SVSFE WEBSITE FOR INFO ON THE DUCKS
A little shout out to Swan Valley Sportfishing, they have one of the best online resources for fisheries enhancement on that side of the province. Maps, stocking records and field surveys are a snapshot of the information they make available. Many stocked trout lakes go through their up and down years due to stocking consistency or hard winters. The hot lakes may change about every 5 years, while a select few are consistent producers. Rainbow and brown trout can be found throughout many pothole lakes in the prairies. The draw, at least for me, are the hybrid tigers, splake and brook trout. And hopefully in a few years Arctic Char will be added back to this list.