July 30, 2023 Reel down, Fish on

The morning heat warmed the valley. Okanagan Lake had a slight chop and the breeze kept the temperatures from being unbearable. There couldn’t be a better way to spend the day than trolling the deep waters between Peachland and Rattlesnake Island.

My guests arrived for their fishing tour a few minutes late. They were full of energy and excited to be on the water. Smiles all around we set out from the dock in front of the Blind Angler Restaurant. The cool air of the lake washed over us and we set out in search of a lake lunker.

I set the first line and we began to troll across the water. The guests were originally from Taiwan and living in Vancouver, they were excited to experience a fishing adventure on Okanagan Lake. One of the guests, a young lady of maybe twenty, asked if she could hold the fishing rod and let out the line. I loosened the screw that held the reel tight and showed her how to let out the line. As she was letting line out I set up the down-rigger to send the line into the depths. She smiled and handed the rod to her father who was going to pass it to me.

“Splash!”

I heard the sound and my stomach sank. We never want to hear anything splash into the water. It’s never good. Sure enough, this wasn’t either. The screw holding the reel on the rod was loosened too much and the reel fell into the lake. I watched in dismay as it spun out of reach. For a brief moment, I thought about diving in and trying to catch it. But it was gone.

The sinking feeling in my guts matched the sinking of the reel.

But there was hope to retrieve it. I still held the line and the hook. I began to pull. Slowly and methodically I pulled up the line. And it kept sinking. Everyone watched as I kept hauling on the line, hoping that it would make it back to the top. After about five minutes and well over three hundred feet of line, the reel surfaced, tied to the last bit of line.

Now I had a huge rat’s nest of fishing line and a reel that was useless. 

I stood and stared at the reel, shrugged, and got to work. It was time to get more lines in the water. Just as I tried to put a hook in the water the first line started to dance.

Fish on!

The father of the group reached over and grabbed the rod. Then he pulled on the rod, hard, pulling the hook right out of the fish’s mouth. I grinned at raised my hands. “Don’t jerk the line, Kokanee have soft mouths and you’ll pull the hook out of its mouth.”

The man smiled and nodded at me. and we let out the line again. 

The water calmed and the people sat back to enjoy the ride. The twenty-year-old girl and her mother decided they would save all the loose fishing line and put it back on the reel that I rescued from the lake. I told them it was fine, I’d buy a new line. But they were determined. Besides it gave them something to do.

We sat back and watched the lines. More fish bit the kokanee lures and the gentleman managed to get one to the boat. It was too small to keep, even for a kokanee.

Time wore on and I decided to change the hook on the downrigger. I asked the group what hook they liked and one of them handed me a large green coloured Apex lure. A lure I’d hardly used before. I thought why not try it? And set the line back up on the downrigger, extra careful of the screw and the reel.

We sat back and waited.

Fish on!

The line on the downrigger began to dance. I pulled it out of the holder and handed it off to the intrepid fisherman who’d picked the lure. He began to reel it in. I showed him how to play the fish and before long I netted the prize. A two-pound rainbow trout danced and splashed the boat. 

We cruised back across the lake in the morning heat. The ladies glowed with pride as they handed me the reel with all the line back on. I was very impressed they managed to untangle the hundreds of feet of fishing and put it back on the spool. We all chuckled at their success.

Our trip was coming to an end. The people smiled and said goodbye. Another fishing adventure over. They had their dinner in their cooler and they were smiling as they walked out of the marina and headed home.

A successful fishing trip, despite the fact I had a screw loose.