Clear Lake Ling Fishing

Catching a Ling

Muskoka is a fabled part of Canada.  Novar is just north of Huntsville.  It is the boundary between receiving a discount on your license because you live in the north and not.  It is also just south of a beautiful place called Clear Lake.  Clear Lake is spring fed hence a little cool, but clear and fresh and gorgeous.  We spent a sunny, blue sky day fishing Clear Lake.  While the kids fished, I swam off the boat.  It was an idyllic experience.

My friend Jim, with whom I am privileged to work, and his wife Elisa invited us to enjoy a day of fishing and tubing off their boat.  It is a shiny 2019 pontoon boat.  His 19-year-old son Alex is an acclaimed MMA fighter and expert fisherman, having fished over 20 lakes in Ontario with success.  He was brilliant at finding the right spot, trolling for fish, setting everyone up for catching, and helping remove the fish from the lines when the hook caught in their gills.  We caught small mouth bass and rainbow trout until my 10-year old daughter reeled in a Ling.  Rare in this lake, with only one other that Alex knew about having been caught, it was ugly but apparently makes really good eating, tasting a bit like lobster.  Part of the cod family, Ling is tall and slim with olive and brown colouring.  The white flesh is incredibly tasty.

Canadians have a short but gorgeous summer season and any sunny days spent on a boat are treasured.  We took full advantage of the opportunity, with a few of the group tubing off the back of the sea doo and all of us enjoying the snacks Elisa brought on board.  Novar and Emsdale are called the southern gateway to the beautiful Amalguin Highlands.  Novar was founded in 1910 as a logging town.  Emsdale is a bit north of Novar, and both communities highlight Brooks Falls as being worth the hike.  We spent the day on Clear Lake, which is in between the two, so did not see the falls, but will explore when we are next in the area.

Clear Lake Ling Fishing was wonderful, and the lake was the perfect place to spend a relaxing afternoon.  There was no place I would have rather been.