The outdoors, including fishing, has always been one of my favourite things to do. I remember being a kid and my dad taking me out to the local ponds around our house and catching small fish. I remember my grandpa taking me to a local lake near his house and him catching a 55 lbs flat head catfish. In fact, he had to wrestle the thing to get into the boat. It is definitely something I will never forget.



However, one of the biggest and best times I have ever had fishing would have to be while up north in Alaska. They call it the 'salmon run' when the salmon are pushing up the rivers and streams getting ready to lay eggs. It was the year 1998 in the first week of August that we were up there in Ketchikan walking up and down the rivers. You did not have to go far though, in fact, the salmon were so thick that you could cast a large lure and pull it through the water fairly quickly and accidentally snag them.

You have never fought a fish until you have snagged a big salmon. We ended up throwing most of them back but until a few years ago I had not really developed a taste for salmon. Now, I love it. I am intending to go back in a year or two to do some more fishing and hopefully will bring some back with me next time.

Another great time of the year for fishing would have to be in the early spring. It is about this time of the year (April) when the Largemouth Bass begin spawning. This means they are up close to the banks and around brush in the water. In a well stocked pond you can easily catch several in a couple of hours.

Bass are without a doubt one of the most fun fishes to catch. Pound for pound, they are probably one of the harder fighting fishes. They seem down right angry when you have them hooked. Most have probably seen pictures if they have never caught one. They are very popular to fish for and they often leap out of the water in an effort to get away. They are a lot of fun to catch. Most people just release them back into the water but I have heard that they are good eating.

Trout are also great to catch. This is a more northern fish that typically lives in colder water. Unfortunately in my neck of the woods we only have a few rivers that have them each year. However, Colorado, a neighbouring state is a great place to go trout fishing. This is typically done all throughout the summer as the snow is melting off the mountain tops and streams are full of water. I went up to Colorado one year after a mild winter where not much snow was melting and had a blast as it was easy to walk through the streams.

Overall, any time during the summer you can find great fish to catch.