Back when I last fished Saskatchewan’s Lake Besnard in the mid-nineties, the plentiful walleyes ran about 15 inches in length with a 17 inch fish being exceptional. This year our Kisch family group netted two fish over 25 inches with numerous fish running over 23 inches. How does one explain this?

Some years ago the Saskatchewan Division of Natural Resources changed the walleye possession limit on Besnard from eight fish to four. As large and sprawling as Besnard is, it has apparently received enough pressure to affect walleye numbers which I found down from the nineties. Perhaps fewer walleyes means more forage. Otherwise, I have no explanation for this growth other than numbers being down but still satisfactory.

I learned a valuable lesson about lure color. It matters. While I sat in the same boat as Gene Kisch, he pulled in one walleye after another while I caught nothing. We both used quarter-ounce jigs with plastic bodies, but his jig body was yellow while mine was chartreuse in color. In the past color didn’t seem to matter much, but this time it did.

On one of our fishing days, Nick and his sons carried their folding Porta-Bote across a short portage into another lake. I admired their daring as it reminded me of the early eighties when Gene and I carried boats and motors while leading the troops into the virgin waters of lakes Abby and Burrell. Besnard offers many portage opportunities.

Swim Baits are one of the latest lure sensations. In our boat, Gene, Dennis, and I enjoyed success with quarter-ounce jigs as well as Rapala plugs and silver hammered dare-devil spoons. However, I did most of my fishing with a Storm 360GT Searchbait. The package included 360GT jig heads and six 5-1/2 inch soft plastic bodies. This swim bait was very effective, and I’m anxious to try it on other lakes – especially for Wisconsin muskies. I kept two rods handy at all times – a spinning outfit with a jig for walleyes, and a bait-casting outfit with swim-bait for pike as well as walleyes.

While everyone helped with camp chores (I couldn’t do much other than some filleting), Chef Dennis prepared awesome meals including breakfasts of biscuits and gravy and dinners of spaghetti, Cajun fried walleye, venison, and goulash.

The Kisch family was awesome as everyone looked after my safety and helped me in and out of the boat. The lake was pristine, loon pairs flourished, and some awesome photos were taken of both bear and moose. I will be forever thankful to Gene, his son Dennis, Dennis’s sons Mike and Nick, and their sons – Caleb, Parker, Becket, and Chase - four generations. What a privilege for me.

On Tuesday afternoon, June 28th, the phone rang. It was Andy Williamson. “Did I want to go bass fishing that evening?” Though I wasn’t feeling very well, his call had an immediate healing effect. I was to meet him around six at Pumpernicks in Lake Andes, and we’d fish area lakes/ponds.

Other than being a wonderful human being, Andy is a professional bass angler who had just won his last tournament. For me, fishing alongside Andy was like climbing into boat with Ernest Hemingway or Zane Grey. I envied Andy’s focus and determination as he kept three rods in front of him and alternated casts with Jitterbugs, Buzzbaits, and pig & jigs.

The lake was dead calm. Dead is the right word as there were no signs of surface action from bass hitting insects, baitfish, or frogs. I had longed for a bass outing, but my lack of balance (peripheral neuropathy) prevents me from standing on a bank and stalking bass. I had always thought that bass fishing was one of my stronger suits, and I dearly missed it.

Though the action was slower than we anticipated, it was good enough to hold our attention. We had both started with Jitterbugs and enjoyed moderate success until a lull in the action prompted Andy to switch to a pork rind and jig. He then bagged a husky bass almost immediately. Now I was thinking change and went to a floating Rapala rather than follow Andy’s lead. I would cast it out, wait until the rings on the water subsided, then work the lure back as a crippled bait fish by twitching the rod tip. This technique worked for me, and I’m pleased to say that I stayed with Andy numbers wise. We had a fine evening, and I’m very grateful. God bless Andy Williamson.

See you next week.