Ever since my last trip to Lake Diefenbaker I have been dreaming of trying to get back up there and stick a GIANT of a rainbow...something of mammoth proportions that would cause jaws to drop upon viewing the mount. Well, I finally got my shot. But, it didn't turn out like I expected...to say the least!

After 3 connections I landed in Saskatoon at 12AM. My buddy picked me up and off we drove through the night to try and find some big rainbows. Everything looks different in the dark, but we managed to locate the "spot" and started fishing. It was a VERY strange feeling to be fishing in the middle of the night in the middle of no where. Now, if only the fish would bite! We fished all night without any action and were just getting ready to try and get some sleep when I got slammed on a pearl spoon I was casting. The fish fought well on my 6 pound test setup and I was stoked to finally be on the board. I got some pics and back it went...as I fully expected several more fish to the bank over the next 3 nights.

We stayed nearby at the only hotel around with wireless. This was one of the "nicer" hotels around...which made us laugh. The bright orange, green and black trim said it all. After crashing for a few hours we headed to a local subway restaurant, excited to see something familiar. My buddy asked for provolone cheese and the girl behind the counter looked at us like we were from another planet. She asked me what kind of bread I wanted, white or brown. I told her wheat and she gave us another weird look. As she was finishing up our sandwiches I asked for some oil and vinegar and she said she had no idea what we were talking about. Welcome to the boonies of Canada, eh!!

The next night was more of the same...long hours without any action. It didn't help that a cold wind blew much of the night. The most exciting thing that happened was a local showing up at 2AM. He startled us out of a half-daze and rudely stated, "Hey,you are fishing in my spot"! We thought this was pretty hilarious as there was plenty of room around us to fish. He then said, I saw your rental car, where are you from"? Once we told him we were from the states, he stormed off angrily. He then came over 20 minutes later and asked us what we had in our cooler. We told him some water and drinks. He paused for a bit as if waiting for something and then asked, "well, are you going to share with me"?? We gave him a soda and he stormed off again. Welcome to boonies of Canada, eh!!

My buddy hooked up the next morning and yelled for help landing the fish. I ran down the bank to get there and watched him throw up his hand in disgust as the fish came off right as his feet. He thinks it was probably in the same size range as the one I got the day before. That made the tough night a little bit more bearable.

The next two nights were VERY tough. My friend did manage to get some smaller fish on some smaller lures but we only had one more good grab from another of the triploid giants...who knows how big that one was. Adam Konrad was kind enough to stop by and hang out with us for a bit to try and bring us some luck.

The "fishing geeks" have been catching fewer fish than last year, but some real giants have been landed. They have a boat now that has allowed them to cover more water and that has contributed to some of the fish that they have landed. My guess is that there are fewer fish around, but they are of a larger year class. Thus, if next year continues along this trend line, the fishing will be even tougher...but there might be some more fish in that world record range landed. If you have been thinking about heading up there...next year would be a good time to try...shoot them an email for details.

After 60 hours of the toughest fishing I have ever had, I was actually looking forward to my next leg of the trip. I said my goodbyes and headed to Calgary to meet my brother John. He had just taken a job heading up a kids camp in the area. He picked me up and we headed off to fish the world famous Bow River. I had done some research before hand and we headed off to my "secret spot". We got excited when we got to the river and saw how it set up.

I worked ACs along some rip rap and hooked a nice brown right away. That got the juices flowing and we excitedly worked our way downstream. We got some other small browns and a giant whitefish that my brother thought was a huge brown. Then John put on a spoon and immediately hooked into a good fish. Brown! He yelled when he saw color. The fish shook off but John said it was in the five pound range. We only had a few hours on the river but were very impressed by the size and numbers of browns that we saw.

The next day we hit a small lake that was out by the kid's camp. It was loaded with nice rainbows and we hammered them on stickbaits and spoons. I even got my mom and nephews into the action, which was fun.This little lake is right on the road back to town and my brother is going to hook lots of nice fish in the future...lucky dawg!

This trip had its highs and lows, but any fishing trip is a learning experience and adds to the flavor of life. I have to admit though, I was having a tough time "staying in the game" during the Diefenbaker fishing. It was hard to stay confident. I didn't get that wall hanger that I was hoping for and had a fat bill to show for my efforts. Hopefully I stick a giant on my next trip!

Laterz,

Mark K.