Army vet reels in catch of the day on Skaha Lake

Grant Rowley had a memorable day fishing on the lake and as luck would have it, the Canadian Army veteran reeled a big one in on Remembrance Day.

The veteran of more than two decades in the service was at Skaha Lake Marina Monday, Nov. 11 when his buddy Warren Lee saw him in the parking lot.

“I had been humming and hawing with my kids about going out on the lake, but they didn’t want to get out of bed,” Rowley says.

Lee stopped to chat with him and when he found out Rowley was considering launching his own boat, invited him out.

“He was already on the water. Warren told me to park my boat and come on out with him and another buddy,” Rowley says.

“It just happened to be Remembrance Day. I knew Grant was a veteran and I just didn’t think it was right for him to go by himself. It was a good day to get out with some friends and enjoy some fishing,” Lee says.

It was only Rowley’s second time fishing on Skaha Lake, but within a half hour he had something on his line.

“At first I thought it was around two to five pounds, but it just kept running and running,” Rowley says.

It took 10 minutes to reel in the rainbow trout, which measured 28 inches long.

None of the digital scales on board had working batteries, but Rowley guesses the fish to have weighed 10 to 12 pounds.

“I didn’t want him to break the line, so I let him run. I wasn’t in a rush to get him in because I didn’t want to lose it,” Rowley says, adding the jokes and camaraderie ran high as he reeled the big fish in.

After posing for photos and measuring the fish, it was released.

Several nearby boats saw the action and crowded around to get a look at the fish. Rowley says he has always found Skaha Lake to be busy with tourists in the summer but he’s looking at it with renewed interest after Monday’s catch.

“I don’t know Skaha Lake, I usually fish Okanagan Lake, but I’m going to get to know it better. Now that fall is just about gone, I’m going to check it out,” he says.

As far as last Monday went, Rowley takes away some unique Remembrance Day memories of his own.

”It was all about the fun, and being with friends on the lake on a beautiful, calm fall day,” he says.

WARNING: Lots of fishing words

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