While visiting home in Alberta this summer, I was fortunate enough to borrow a sleek, silver BMW R1150RT.
I was staying a few weeks so didn’t want to pay for a rental, but needed a set of wheels for getting around. I put the word out and a good friend came back immediately. We loaded up the truck to go take a look.
It was being stored at his father-in-law’s small engine repair shop, past Blackfalds. It’s a huge building down a country road, full of old mowers, workbenches, and even a half-built airplane.
In the back corner was the bike, exactly where it had sat for the past four years.
We hooked it to the charger and she fired right up!
Unfortunately the battery hold a charge. We spent some time running around trying to find a new one, cleaning up the bike, and airing up the tires. But by the end of the day I rode her out of there.
The Beemer runs like a sewing machine yet has a nice snarl when you get on it. And she soaks up miles like nothing. The weather in Alberta during this time was amazing, and so naturally I was hitting the highway for an hour or two most days.
I was scrolling google maps one day, looking for a route, when I saw a marker for the “worlds largest lure”. It was just up the road in Lacombe. How had I not seen this before?
The last time I was home I had went through all of Grandpa’s old fishing rods in the garage. This time back I cleaned and tested a number of them. In the end only two worked at all (plus a third reel that I brought home). One was my first-ever, childhood fishing rod: a 1980’s Shakespeare Omni spincast combo.
I loaded it up, plus the tiny tacklebox I had put together, and headed to the pond.
The reason I had never seen the world’s largest lure before is that it hadn’t been built until 2019, which is five years after we had moved to Texas. It was created to celebrate the 90-year anniversary of the family-owned Len Thompson lure business.
Len Thompson, a World War I veteran, developed his first fishing spoon in Abernethy, Saskatchewan, in 1929. He then spent years perfecting his designs, carrying a file and ball peen hammer in his tackle box to fine tune his successful spoon.
Fast forward 90 years to 2019 and the company had manufactured nearly 55 million Len Thompson Lures from their factory in Lacombe. To mark the occasion, the company partnered with several local organizations to create the world’s largest fishing lure. The 27.5-foot spoon is 100 times the size of a standard No. 2 Len Thompson lure.
The classic “5 diamond” design in red over yellow has become the company’s best-selling pattern. Standing proud over the Len Thompson fishing pond it was worth the trip by itself.
But how was the fishing?
The pond is stocked with a variety of fish, including Tiger Trout. I brought out my childhood rod and the tiny tackle kit I had put together and went to work.
Nothing. Not even a nibble. And I was even using a tiny (No. 6) 5 Diamonds lure, which I felt was not only appropriate but would be sure to catch a fish!
The pond has tiny casting docks spaced around it on all sides, plus a beautiful big dock at the front. I fan cast around the entire perimeter until I made it back to where I started.
The only thing left to do was ride.
Back on the bike I cruised the backroads towards home.
With the setting sun to the right casting my shadow on the yellow fields it was a perfect day. Pushing the electric tilting windshield up just a bit to adjust airflow over my helmet I came to my exit and let it pass by.
Just a few more miles…
