Tim River Part 3: An Unexpected Visitor

Prior to departure, I knew that there were both lake and brook trout in the Tim River area, but my research focussed mainly on the latter.  Brook trout are smaller, make for great eating, and generally swim in shallower waters, in which I am more comfortable fishing- this is particularly true when I’m in a canoe on a foreign lake without depth charts or a fish finder (which was the case on this trip).  I had read somewhere that brook trout look for water in the 49-53 degree (Fahrenheit) range and that they’re bottom feeders.  I had no idea what the temperature of the water on Long Bow Lake actually was, but the shallow water felt relatively warm to me (cold for us, warm for the fish), and so I decided to fish around our campsite, usually about 30-50 feet from the shore.



After a few casts, as the sun was slowly moving below the tree line, I felt something hit my lure.  I set the hook, and the fight was on.  My left hand on the drag, I was constantly thinking whether I should let the fish go for a run or whether I should quickly try and get it into the canoe.  I let it fight for a bit, and then tried swinging it into the net.  Bohdan was the net man, and did a great job landing the fish.  To my surprise, it was actually a small lake trout- my first ever- a beautiful specimen.  Unfortunately for the fish, we were still hungry after dinner, and so we took it back to our camp.  Not long after, we were to enjoy an awesome meal.

I usually enjoy breading and deep-frying, but this time we decided to bake the fish in tin foil to really maintain its flavour.  I filleted the fish, keeping the skin on, and we added butter, ground black pepper, a few sprigs of cilantro, some lemon juice, onions, garlic and mushrooms (next time I’ll go lighter on the lemon juice; I may also caramelize the onions before throwing them in with the trout).  This was a delicious meal worthy of a five-star restaurant, and we all enjoyed it thoroughly- even though we had to cook in the dark.   After a long, exhausting day in the sun, I finally felt as if all of our trials and tribulations had been worthwhile.  Having caught my first fish of the season, I went to sleep satisfied.



Baked trout (photo by Nicholas Kalimin: n.kalimin@gmail.com)





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