As you read today’s column, friends and I will be fishing in northern Saskatchewan’s Wollaston Lake. I’ve never fished Wollaston in the past as the lodges were too pricey for me. I don’t need massages, gourmet meals, or a fancy bar. Today Wilderness Family Outfitters rents cabins and boats at Wollaston for an affordable price, and I believe that Wollaston offers the best “drive to” access fishing in the world. I’m excited, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.

I’ve become increasingly aware of the fact that life is a series of adjustments. We typically counter the aging process with eye glasses, hearing aids, canes and other adjustments. As an avid hunter/fisherman, I’d like to talk about it today, and perhaps encourage those who have put their guns and tackle away to rethink some decisions that may be a wee bit premature.

With regard to my shotgun, there was a time when I could flat out shoot. I recall going to a shooting clays course with friends a few years ago and asking the proprietor about the difficulty of the course. He told me if I hadn’t shot the course before, I wouldn’t break forty clays. I broke forty-three.

The way I shoot today could bring tears to my eyes. Because of peripheral neuropathy related balance problems, standing, let alone walking through heavy cover, is exceedingly difficult. I have resigned myself to a blocking position, and adjusting my feet, arms, and shoulders to varying pheasant flight paths is no easy task. My partners are very understanding, and it beats the heck out of quitting.

For too long a time, my foolish pride prevented my accepting help. Today I welcome assistance, and accepting help is paramount with deer hunting. I bagged two deer last fall. In both instances, my host ranchers offered assistance with loading. I wouldn’t have made it without them.

I bought my current boat in 1997 when I was 55 years old. I figured I could launch and load the boat by myself up until the time I was around 70 years of age. Well, that 70th birthday came along too quickly, and today it’s a struggle when I’m by myself. Sadly, this is another problem as too many of my fishing buddies are gone.

Well, I’ve had to make adjustments. To begin, I wear old shoes (no socks) along with light nylon slacks or shorts as I will get wet. I back the boat trailer in until the boat floats, wade out to the boat, unhook it from the winch, and push it off of the trailer while hanging onto a rope attached to the boat. I then tie the boat to the dock before I drive my truck and trailer back to the parking area. All this is quite easy. No struggles, no balancing acts.

Loading the boat is just as easy. I back the trailer into the water, and then drive the boat onto the trailer. I climb out of the boat by very carefully stepping onto a fender. Now I get into the water once again and hook the boat to the winch and tighten it up. Then it’s back into the pickup and pulling the trailer onto level ground. So I don’t have to climb into the boat again, I’ve already put the fish into a pail so I don’t have to mess with the live well. Then it’s a matter of tie-downs and putting gear away.

Perhaps this column is a waste of time for most readers, but we are an aging population, and I’m a member. I know this isn’t Japan, but in Japan more adult diapers are sold than baby diapers. As I said, adjustments are made.

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On Monday morning, June 17th, I received a call from a concerned sportsman who asked me if I might know why the Svatos Bay area of Lake Francis Case was inundated with dead carp. As I had no reason to doubt my source, I immediately contacted SD Game, Fish, & Parks. I received a timely response from Chris Longhenry of SDGF&P who said he would look into the problem. Longhenry suspects that with the high water in Lake Andes, the Andes carp may have washed downstream into the north end of Svatos Bay and died as they were carried downstream because of the heat in shallow water. I will get back to Longhenry and do all I can to keep you up to date.

See you next week.