THE MATURATION OF A RESERVOIR

Over the years, Tobin Lake has come to hold a very special place in my heart. It was on its turbulent waters many years ago that I had one of my most memorable fishing experience. Back in 1979 I was working in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan as a news anchor at the local television station when an invitation came across my desk to participate in a media day to promote the Tobin Lake Pike Festival. Located an hour west of Prince Albert, I hitched a ride with the sports announcer and away we went. When I first laid eyes on Tobin lake I was more than a little intimidated by both itıs size and the floating timber. And since that fateful day over 20 years ago, I have became a full-time professional angler; have filmed four Complete Angler shows on Tobin Lake; have fished a number of walleye tournaments there, and seen the fishery rise and fall to finally rise again. In fact, they still have the Pike Festival and this year I will again be involved in the media day the first weekend in June.

TROPHY PIKE

When the reservoir was first flooded in the early 70ıs the flooded farmland supplied excellent habitat for the pike and the fishery exploded with tremendous catches of big fish, many in the plus twenty pound range.

After five or six years though, things started to slow down as large numbers of trophy pike were being taken home. While the fishing was still decent it wasnıt until five years ago with a new slot size and explosion of the Cisco population on the lake, that the pike fishery rebounded to its former glory years. In fact it might be better than ever.

You will get to see the Tobin Lake pike fishery on Episode # 1 of the all new Series XI of The Complete Angler coming this spring on Outdoor Life Network in Canada.

TROPHY WALLEYE

While the trophy walleye population is still good, it still isnıt nearly the outstanding fishery it was 15 years ago, though the walleye certainly are HUGE as the 1979 to 1982 year class of fish keeps getting bigger and bigger. (In fact the Saskatchewan record fish at over 18 pounds was caught there two years ago.)

This past fall I caught one of my biggest walleye ever, (see picture) while pre-fishing for the Vanity Cup Walleye tournament during Thanksgiving weekend. It weighed in at just over 13 pounds and put up a memorable battle. A slot size regulation on the walleye has seen things turn around in the last couple of years though, as anglers will be required this season to release all fish between 18 and 31 inches.

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