What you should know about free fishing weekend

Fishing fanatics, rejoice.

Saskatchewan’s free fishing weekend is here, and it happens to line up with Family Day long weekend.

Free fishing will last run until Monday, allowing anyone in the province to fish without buying a licence.

“It’s a great opportunity for people to learn about and enjoy the sport of ice fishing and to recognize the importance of our province’s fish,” said Murray Koob, sportfish specialist with the Ministry of Environment.

“That’s kind of the main driver behind the free fishing weekend.”

The province hosts two free fishing events each year — one in the summer and one in the winter. According to Koob, the summer event dates back to 1989, while the winter event was added in 2015.

“It was so popular that they decided to add one in the winter time too, over the Family Day weekend,” Jason Matity with GetFishing.ca told CJME’s Greg Morgan.

“Saturday, Sunday, Monday, you do not need a licence in order to fish and retain fish in Saskatchewan. However, you do need some tools — a rod, a reel, and something to cut a hole with.”

Matity said anglers should also know the rules before they go fishing.

What to know

Koob said it’s important to always put safety first when heading out on any frozen body of water.

“That’s the most key aspect to going out ice fishing,” Koob said. “Test the ice thickness before you get out and travel on the ice.”

The government recommends at least 10 centimetres of good ice in order to walk safely and at least 30 centimetres of good ice to drive over it with a light vehicle.

Be prepared for the elements as well, Koob added.

“Wear warm clothing. Check the forecast to make sure that you’re going to encounter fairly decent weather. And if you can, fish with a companion and let someone know of your plans,” he said.

Matity said the February weather can sometimes make it trickier to haul in a big catch.

“This is traditionally a more challenging time of the year to catch your traditional perch and your walleyes,” Matity said.

“The water’s going to be as cold as it’s going to be all year, because winter has been here since November. The water’s getting thicker, and fish run on metabolism. They’re cold -blooded, so when the water’s cold they don’t need to eat as much, and when the water’s warm like in the summer, they need to eat a lot more.”

Matity said that can shrink an angler’s window of opportunity.

“For walleyes it’s early and late in the day, and for perch,” Matity said.

“If you’ve got kind of noisy lures like little rattle baits and stuff, you can kind of bring them in. And you’ve got to keep jigging to bring the fish in.”

For this time of year, Matity recommended Buffalo Pound as a hot spot, though he did warn listeners that they can only keep 10 perch per day from Buffalo Pound as opposed to the 25 per day in most parts of the province.

He said that policy is a method of protecting the fishery.

While free fishing weekend applies to all provincial Crown areas, Koob noted it does not apply to national parks.