My boat's been stored for winter as I didn't manage to sell it over the past few weeks, though I might have found a buyer for next season.
Anyway, fishing has been super slow lately. Went out for a few short outings to some spots around town, nothing much doing except for some small perch...
The following recap is a summary of what this season was like for me:
Ice fishing for pike was terrible. Though I only went on a few outings, perch were the only fish I caught consistently through the ice this season. Was really looking forward to ice out by the time April came around.
On my first outing, I started off the season beating my personal best carp (and any other fish I've ever landed), with a monster 32.5 lb carp. That had me super pumped, really no better way to start off the season.
That carp turned out to be the first and last of the season for me. Though did some guided carping trips during the spring, my clients fought and landed all the fish, I merely put them onto the spots and provided the gear. Still not sure I want to attempt any more guiding next season, it really took the fun out of it for me when the bite was slow.
Moving onto pike, I had big plans after the the good 2007 and 2008 seasons I had. This season turned out to be a big let down as far as pike too. My biggest all spring was under 4.5 lbs, and I managed a 6.5 pounder up North during July. I really hope they'll be back to their old hunting grounds next season.
Walleye were abundant as in previous years, though my size average went down drastically. To be fair, I didn't really target them as often, and the smaller 14-16 inchers are better eating anyway.
Bass were the one area where the season was phenomenal for me, especially largemouth bass. I can easily say it was my best overall bass season ever. I landed close to 300 bass, the vast majority on lures, including my biggest largemouth at 5.25 lbs. I re-discovered top water fishing like never before, to the point where I'm almost sworn off anything except for the rush of a topwater hit. Though I was exposed to new killer tactics such as wacky rigged Senkos and tubes, nothing beats a good topwater bite. To me, it's fishing at it's best, combing ultimate relaxation with ultimate excitement. The season was highlighted by my yearly trip up North for the bass opener, 6 days of perfect 30 degree weather, great fishing with family and friends, who can ask for anything more?
After most of my spots got overgrown during July, I got into night fishing for channel cats, something I had been missing for most of my fishing career. Yes I caught some nice ones here and there, but I really targeted and caught them like never before. They kind of replaced the poor carping season I had, as most of the ones I caught were over 10 lbs, the biggest a 14.5 lb fatty. Still fishing at night during the summer was extremely relaxing. Sipping cold beer from a lawn chair, waiting for the baitrunner to start screaming, fighting the big ugly cats (and eels) in the current were quite a blast, hope to get back into it next season.
I started dabbling in sturgeon fishing late in the season as well. Did manage a couple in the 7 lb range, hope to put some more time into targeting sturgeons next season as well.
The kids all had great bass and panfish seasons as well, I'm sure they'll be itching to go out by the time the ice melts as well.
The tacklebox is just about empty now. All my lures are sorted and stored for next season, as are my rods and rest of my gear and terminal tackle. I was lucky enough to sell of the vast majority of my musky gear which was never really put to use, I even got back everything I spent and then some.
I'm already dreaming of next spring and we haven't even seen any snow yet! I can't really say I'm looking forward to ice fishing, but I know myself well enough. By the time first ice is safe enough, I'll have long since been suffering from cabin fever and convinced myself the "the big one" is waiting for me right under my feet... OK, maybe not. But I'll likely attempt taking the kids out for some perch and possibly some stocked brookies.
Hope you all had as great of a season as I did, good luck toughing it out for the next 6 months.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Fishing big smallmouth bass in October
Sunny skies and no wind, we decided to take advantage of one of the last few good fishing days in October, as my boat will likely be winterized in the next week or so, unless I manage to sell it before then.
As clear windless days are a rarity in October, we decided to cruise around the gin clear waters of Lake St Francis in search of trophy smallmouth bass which can hit 7 lbs this time of the year. Our plan was to fish some deeper areas or target the ones we spot visually in shallower water.
On our way out, we spotted a small carp and a very nice Esox, not sure if it was a big pike or small musky. We fished the areas adjacent to the seaway, until we drifted right over 2 monster smallies in about 3-4 feet of water. We anchored about 60 feet away, and started casting towards them. My buddy tried tubes and Senkos unsuccessfully.
I started with a CD 11 Rapala Countdown, then decided to try something "crazy". I found a rig my son had tied for catching small perch, basically a sinker with about 6 inches of line leading to a small #8 or #10 hook. I buried it into a live worm so as to keep it weedless. I bounced it along the bottom very slowly, and on my 3rd cast, I hooked into one of the monsters. On it's first jumped, it snaped the hook right off the rig, looks like my son didn't bother stress testing the knot.
The fish was a true fall monster, one of the biggest if not the biggest smallmouth bass I have ever hooked (my PB is 5.1/2 lbs). We got a very good look at it, as it jumped about 3 feet out of the water, conservative estimate of 5 lbs, very possibly over 6. Needles to say, I was mad at myself for not checking the knot / rig before putting it on. Still, It felt good hooking into a smally that big in a situation where they usually won't hit much.
The fish didn't go far, we saw it cruising around, no longer interested in our offerings. We tried to catch the other one, also a nice one easily over 4 lbs. This one wouldn't bite, we even managed to bounce our lines off it's back.
Eventually, we headed to calmer waters as the wind picked up, managed a small largemouth on a tube and a big bluegill on a worm.
As clear windless days are a rarity in October, we decided to cruise around the gin clear waters of Lake St Francis in search of trophy smallmouth bass which can hit 7 lbs this time of the year. Our plan was to fish some deeper areas or target the ones we spot visually in shallower water.
On our way out, we spotted a small carp and a very nice Esox, not sure if it was a big pike or small musky. We fished the areas adjacent to the seaway, until we drifted right over 2 monster smallies in about 3-4 feet of water. We anchored about 60 feet away, and started casting towards them. My buddy tried tubes and Senkos unsuccessfully.
I started with a CD 11 Rapala Countdown, then decided to try something "crazy". I found a rig my son had tied for catching small perch, basically a sinker with about 6 inches of line leading to a small #8 or #10 hook. I buried it into a live worm so as to keep it weedless. I bounced it along the bottom very slowly, and on my 3rd cast, I hooked into one of the monsters. On it's first jumped, it snaped the hook right off the rig, looks like my son didn't bother stress testing the knot.
The fish was a true fall monster, one of the biggest if not the biggest smallmouth bass I have ever hooked (my PB is 5.1/2 lbs). We got a very good look at it, as it jumped about 3 feet out of the water, conservative estimate of 5 lbs, very possibly over 6. Needles to say, I was mad at myself for not checking the knot / rig before putting it on. Still, It felt good hooking into a smally that big in a situation where they usually won't hit much.
The fish didn't go far, we saw it cruising around, no longer interested in our offerings. We tried to catch the other one, also a nice one easily over 4 lbs. This one wouldn't bite, we even managed to bounce our lines off it's back.
Eventually, we headed to calmer waters as the wind picked up, managed a small largemouth on a tube and a big bluegill on a worm.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Largemouth Bass fishing in the fall
With sunny skies and calm wind conditions, we headed out on the boat for some late season fall time largemouth bass fishing. Over the years, we've hit different patterns at this time of the year. Sometimes they are extremely active and will hit deep diving lures, other times they need to be finessed with rubber worms, tubes and curly tails, or fished with live bait.
My buddy started of with tubes, my son with curly tails, I went with lures. They both managed 4 largemouth bass each, up to 3 lbs or so, as well as a big crappie. As I hate using rubbers, I eventually switched to a red and white spoon hoping for some pike. I got a nice hit on my second cast, just adjacent to some weeds in bigger waters. The fish stayed down during the fight, I was sure it was a decent pike until I brought it up. It was a nice 3 lb+ largemouth bass, not too long but very thick.
Hope to head back for another outing before the end of the season, will probably go with live bait.
My buddy started of with tubes, my son with curly tails, I went with lures. They both managed 4 largemouth bass each, up to 3 lbs or so, as well as a big crappie. As I hate using rubbers, I eventually switched to a red and white spoon hoping for some pike. I got a nice hit on my second cast, just adjacent to some weeds in bigger waters. The fish stayed down during the fight, I was sure it was a decent pike until I brought it up. It was a nice 3 lb+ largemouth bass, not too long but very thick.
Hope to head back for another outing before the end of the season, will probably go with live bait.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Fallfish in St Lawrence River near Montreal
Went out with my older son for a quick 3 hour afternoon fishing session, as I had a few hours to spare an he was still off from school.
After last week's success with the sturgeon, we decided to attempt it again, we set up our lines with worm balls on sliding sinkers.
First fish hit within 1/2 hour, my son took the rod and landed the first fallfish I've ever seen coming out of the St Lawrence River. I know that some of the waters connecting to the river from the Laurentians have them, I was very surprised at the catch. The fish measured 16 inches, might have weighed close to 2 lbs, far bigger than the average sized ones we've caught up North.
That was it for the bite, except for or worms getting eaten off every now and then.
After last week's success with the sturgeon, we decided to attempt it again, we set up our lines with worm balls on sliding sinkers.
First fish hit within 1/2 hour, my son took the rod and landed the first fallfish I've ever seen coming out of the St Lawrence River. I know that some of the waters connecting to the river from the Laurentians have them, I was very surprised at the catch. The fish measured 16 inches, might have weighed close to 2 lbs, far bigger than the average sized ones we've caught up North.
That was it for the bite, except for or worms getting eaten off every now and then.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Berkley Fireline for sale
2 x 300 yds of 30 lbs test / 12 lb diameter in black smoke color, selling for $25 each.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Fishing sturgeons at parc Cite du Havre
With the kids off school, I decided to take them out for some local shore fishing. I've seen people fishing Parc Cite du Havre for sturgeon in the past, so after doing a bit of research, I decided to give it a try.
In addition to my standard carping / catfishing rod which is a 6.5 foot medium action, fitted with a 40 series baitrunner reel spooled with 50 lb Power Pro, I took along a stiff / heavy action 7 foot catfish rod, fitted with a 50 series reel spooled with 65 lb Power Pro. I also picked up some 6 ounce puck sinkers which I used to rig wormballs on a 3/0 wide gap hook sliding sinker setup.
Got to my spot at about 10:00 AM, joined a bunch of locals for some elbow to elbow fishing, definitely not my favorite type of fishing conditions. Within 30 minutes, I had my first hit. I set the hook and thought it was a big clump of weeds until I reeled in a 3 lb redhorse sucker. As these waters contain the rare copper redhorse, all suckers in the area must be released, so I revived and released it after snapping a shot of it.
About 45 minutes later, my older son's baitrunner goes off, he hooks and lands a 1 lb smallmouth bass.
My 2 younger ones weren't enjoying the outing much, as they kept getting stuck in the rocks due to the fast current. By noon, they both had enough, so I was forced to leave early to take them home.
Not wanting to waste the rest of the day, I headed right back out to another spot with my older son, figured we would attempt another try at catching either sturgeon or channel cats. We setup the heavier rod with a wormball, and the Rhino with a dead minnow. Sure enough, after about 1 hour, the heavier rods starts bouncing lightly, I figured it was probably a small panfish going after the worm. I set the hook just to be sure. I thought I hooked the bottom, until it started moving...Fish on!
This fish had my broomstick like catfish rod bent over almost to the halfway point, I figured it must be a sturgeon or really big channel catfish. Turn out to be a 32 inch / 7 lb sturgeon, really a lot smaller than I thought. I guess these fish a extremely powerful, especially in fast current. I've hooked fish double that size in the same place, they didn't put up half the fight this one did. We snapped some pics and released it in good health.
We now set up the other rod with a worm ball as well. Sure enough, after about another hour, the rod starts twitching, and my son calls out that it's "his fish". OK, I pass him the rod, he sets, stats reeling and tells me there's nothing on, until he realizes he's got a lethargic rock bass that swallowed his setup.
We set up again, but the strong winds blowing cold air off the river right at us force us to leave by 4:00 PM with no more bites.
Anyway, this sturgeon fishing has me pumped up now, as I can only imagine what it would be like to hook into a mid size or big one as opposed to the "baby" I caught.
In addition to my standard carping / catfishing rod which is a 6.5 foot medium action, fitted with a 40 series baitrunner reel spooled with 50 lb Power Pro, I took along a stiff / heavy action 7 foot catfish rod, fitted with a 50 series reel spooled with 65 lb Power Pro. I also picked up some 6 ounce puck sinkers which I used to rig wormballs on a 3/0 wide gap hook sliding sinker setup.
Got to my spot at about 10:00 AM, joined a bunch of locals for some elbow to elbow fishing, definitely not my favorite type of fishing conditions. Within 30 minutes, I had my first hit. I set the hook and thought it was a big clump of weeds until I reeled in a 3 lb redhorse sucker. As these waters contain the rare copper redhorse, all suckers in the area must be released, so I revived and released it after snapping a shot of it.
About 45 minutes later, my older son's baitrunner goes off, he hooks and lands a 1 lb smallmouth bass.
My 2 younger ones weren't enjoying the outing much, as they kept getting stuck in the rocks due to the fast current. By noon, they both had enough, so I was forced to leave early to take them home.
Not wanting to waste the rest of the day, I headed right back out to another spot with my older son, figured we would attempt another try at catching either sturgeon or channel cats. We setup the heavier rod with a wormball, and the Rhino with a dead minnow. Sure enough, after about 1 hour, the heavier rods starts bouncing lightly, I figured it was probably a small panfish going after the worm. I set the hook just to be sure. I thought I hooked the bottom, until it started moving...Fish on!
This fish had my broomstick like catfish rod bent over almost to the halfway point, I figured it must be a sturgeon or really big channel catfish. Turn out to be a 32 inch / 7 lb sturgeon, really a lot smaller than I thought. I guess these fish a extremely powerful, especially in fast current. I've hooked fish double that size in the same place, they didn't put up half the fight this one did. We snapped some pics and released it in good health.
We now set up the other rod with a worm ball as well. Sure enough, after about another hour, the rod starts twitching, and my son calls out that it's "his fish". OK, I pass him the rod, he sets, stats reeling and tells me there's nothing on, until he realizes he's got a lethargic rock bass that swallowed his setup.
We set up again, but the strong winds blowing cold air off the river right at us force us to leave by 4:00 PM with no more bites.
Anyway, this sturgeon fishing has me pumped up now, as I can only imagine what it would be like to hook into a mid size or big one as opposed to the "baby" I caught.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Canada boaters card / license exam
The deadline for all Canadian boaters that operate any type of motorized boats is finally here. Before September 15 2009, many fishermen and anglers were still covered by the exemption for personal watercrafts / boats over 4 meters in length.
Now, even boaters using an electric trolling motor must have a valid boaters card, otherwise known as the Pleasure Craft Operators Card (P.C.O.C). Boaters caught without it will face a stiff fine of $250 plus surcharges, which can amount to a total of $325 depending on the province.
I took my test online at http://www.boaterexam.com/?id=1259 , they offer the free study guide, and free re-tries for those that don't pass the exam the first time around. The site is endorsed by Bob Izumi, and if you click through to sign up for the test from my blog or web site, I'll actually earn a few bucks too.
Now, even boaters using an electric trolling motor must have a valid boaters card, otherwise known as the Pleasure Craft Operators Card (P.C.O.C). Boaters caught without it will face a stiff fine of $250 plus surcharges, which can amount to a total of $325 depending on the province.
I took my test online at http://www.boaterexam.com/?id=1259 , they offer the free study guide, and free re-tries for those that don't pass the exam the first time around. The site is endorsed by Bob Izumi, and if you click through to sign up for the test from my blog or web site, I'll actually earn a few bucks too.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Catching bass on rubber worms, senkos and curly tails
Fall is back again, the cooling water temps have the largemouth bass holding close to bottom. Although fishing rubber worms such as wacky rigged senkos, or tubes and curly tails on jigs are extremely efficient (especially this time of the year), it is one of my least favored methods, still can't explain exactly why.
Maybe it's the monotiny of just casting to spots and waiting for a hit over an over again, maybe it's the snags, or possibly the panfish giving "false" hits. Weirdest thing is that I really like still fishing with live bait, which I find extremely relaxing.
Back to the outing, my buddy was fishing Senkos for a good part of the 1/2 day outing, while I switched between a variety of lures that run at different depths. As the weeds are dying off, I was able to avoid cacthing grass even when using 3-4 foot divers in a few of my spots. As all I got in a couple hours was 1 hit on a POP-R, while my buddy was hooking into fish on his wacky rigged Senko, I switched to a curly tail on a jig for a couple minutes, just to avoided getting skunked. Sure enough, I landed a 2 pounder on my first cast.
With about 1 hour left to the outing, we both decided to fish the dying "slop" using Spro frogs. We got about 10 hits, no hookups, although we did come very close. One bass actually took in my frog and spit it out immidiately right on the edge of a weedbed. Still, the explosions of those big largies coming through the weeds are anough to give you a nice thrill, even though they often miss by a foot or so.
With about 1 month left to my boating season, I'm hoping to get a couple more bass outings before it ends.
Maybe it's the monotiny of just casting to spots and waiting for a hit over an over again, maybe it's the snags, or possibly the panfish giving "false" hits. Weirdest thing is that I really like still fishing with live bait, which I find extremely relaxing.
Back to the outing, my buddy was fishing Senkos for a good part of the 1/2 day outing, while I switched between a variety of lures that run at different depths. As the weeds are dying off, I was able to avoid cacthing grass even when using 3-4 foot divers in a few of my spots. As all I got in a couple hours was 1 hit on a POP-R, while my buddy was hooking into fish on his wacky rigged Senko, I switched to a curly tail on a jig for a couple minutes, just to avoided getting skunked. Sure enough, I landed a 2 pounder on my first cast.
With about 1 hour left to the outing, we both decided to fish the dying "slop" using Spro frogs. We got about 10 hits, no hookups, although we did come very close. One bass actually took in my frog and spit it out immidiately right on the edge of a weedbed. Still, the explosions of those big largies coming through the weeds are anough to give you a nice thrill, even though they often miss by a foot or so.
With about 1 month left to my boating season, I'm hoping to get a couple more bass outings before it ends.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Another eel fishing at night
This night fishing thing is turning out to be interesting. I've caught more channel catfish and eels in the past month, than in the rest of my fishing "career" combined.
Last night, I took my older 14 and 7 year old boys for a few hours of night fishing. Got there too late to pick up live minnows, so I brought along some dead ones I had frozen after the last outing.
Fishing was quite slow. We got set up around 7:45, got our first hookup an hour later. From the way it pulled, I was sure it was a medium sized channel cat. I let my younger son Levi fight it, turned out to be another eel. Measured over 3.5 feet, was quite thick, must have weighed about 6 or 7 lbs.
Unfortunately, it swallowed the minnow head first, and I was using a smaller #2 baitholder hook instead of the usual 3/0 wide gap, so the hook went too far down it's throat for me to even see it.
I cut the line to let it loose, and though it swam off without a problem, I'm gueessing it won't survive long as it's going to have lot's of trouble feeding.
About an hour later, my older sons Ari got a nice run, but yanked the hook out of the fish's mouth when he tried to set.
That was it for the night, as my younger son had fallen asleep and had to be in school this morning.
Last night, I took my older 14 and 7 year old boys for a few hours of night fishing. Got there too late to pick up live minnows, so I brought along some dead ones I had frozen after the last outing.
Fishing was quite slow. We got set up around 7:45, got our first hookup an hour later. From the way it pulled, I was sure it was a medium sized channel cat. I let my younger son Levi fight it, turned out to be another eel. Measured over 3.5 feet, was quite thick, must have weighed about 6 or 7 lbs.
Unfortunately, it swallowed the minnow head first, and I was using a smaller #2 baitholder hook instead of the usual 3/0 wide gap, so the hook went too far down it's throat for me to even see it.
I cut the line to let it loose, and though it swam off without a problem, I'm gueessing it won't survive long as it's going to have lot's of trouble feeding.
About an hour later, my older sons Ari got a nice run, but yanked the hook out of the fish's mouth when he tried to set.
That was it for the night, as my younger son had fallen asleep and had to be in school this morning.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Shore fishing outings
Ever since my trip up North in mid July, I've pretty much stuck with shore fishing, something which I don't do as often as I used to ever since I got a boat. As the boat is docked in an area that is extremely choked with weeds in the summer, fishing there this time of the year is often less than thrilling. Shore fishing is extremely relaxing for me, as I'm usually still fishing, and I can spend time attending to my kids needs a lot more, thereby allowing me to take them on family outings.
With camp over and school only starting next week, I took my 3 younger sons out for a day of mixed species shore fishing along with my dad. Weather hit close to 40 Celcius with the humidex, luckily we we in the shade most of the time. We still fished for carp and pike unsuccessfully, but managed tons of gobies along with a perch and small largemouth bass using live worms.
I also managed to get spot checked by the MNR conservation officer again, it's the 3rd time at that spot in 12 months, was the same guy as last year. Seems like 2 guys are running the same area in South Eastern Ontario. Glad to see my license fees are actually going somewhere.
Headed out the following evening for some more night time shore fishing for channel catfish, took my 8 year old son Avi for his first attempt at fighting fish that size. After picking up some live minnows, we set up at about 7:00 PM, managed 1 rock bass until dark.
First channel catfish hit at about 9:00 PM, Avi was thrilled to fight it, wasn't too big though, about 5 lbs or so. About 1/2 hour later, my buddy hooked into an 3 foot eel. Man are those things slimy, I was peeling slime like Elmer's glue of my had for the rest of the night after handling it.
Got the second cat on a bit after 10:00 PM, this one about 7 lbs, again Avi brought it in but was afraid to land it, as he's got some kind of fear of their whiskers. A couple minutes later, my buddy and I hook unto a double header, we land 2 cats in the 10 lb range, one long and thind, the other short and fat, Avi was too tired to fight it so I did the honors.
By this time Avi's whining that he's tired, as it's nearly 11:00 PM and way past his bed time. Pity, the fishing was just heatin up, but I headed home to get him to bed.
With camp over and school only starting next week, I took my 3 younger sons out for a day of mixed species shore fishing along with my dad. Weather hit close to 40 Celcius with the humidex, luckily we we in the shade most of the time. We still fished for carp and pike unsuccessfully, but managed tons of gobies along with a perch and small largemouth bass using live worms.
I also managed to get spot checked by the MNR conservation officer again, it's the 3rd time at that spot in 12 months, was the same guy as last year. Seems like 2 guys are running the same area in South Eastern Ontario. Glad to see my license fees are actually going somewhere.
Headed out the following evening for some more night time shore fishing for channel catfish, took my 8 year old son Avi for his first attempt at fighting fish that size. After picking up some live minnows, we set up at about 7:00 PM, managed 1 rock bass until dark.
First channel catfish hit at about 9:00 PM, Avi was thrilled to fight it, wasn't too big though, about 5 lbs or so. About 1/2 hour later, my buddy hooked into an 3 foot eel. Man are those things slimy, I was peeling slime like Elmer's glue of my had for the rest of the night after handling it.
Got the second cat on a bit after 10:00 PM, this one about 7 lbs, again Avi brought it in but was afraid to land it, as he's got some kind of fear of their whiskers. A couple minutes later, my buddy and I hook unto a double header, we land 2 cats in the 10 lb range, one long and thind, the other short and fat, Avi was too tired to fight it so I did the honors.By this time Avi's whining that he's tired, as it's nearly 11:00 PM and way past his bed time. Pity, the fishing was just heatin up, but I headed home to get him to bed.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Chilhood fishing spot revisited.
Went up to visit my eldest son Ari on Sunday. He's in an overnight camp in the La Minerve section of the Laurentians. As a kid, I went to the same camp, learned much of what I know about fishing on the local lake, Lac Desert.
Though the camp is on the lakefront, access to the lake was very restricted by the lifeguards for fear of drownings. The boating activities were run by counsellors, none of which were into fishing. I had to fish in hiding for a few summers, eventually, I became a staff member and was given more freedom.
I spent 3 summers between the agees of 14-16 exploring the are around the lake, most of which was un-inhabited. I caught my first big bass there, as well as tons of smaller ones, rock bass, sunfish, perch, bullheads, some wild brook trout and even a small laker.
I returned a few times in my early twenties, rented a boat from one of the locals I knew, had some real good trips up there. As I brought up a portable sonar, I was able to finally check out some of what I had previously been fishing in "blindly".
While visiting last Sunday, I returned to some of my favorite shore fishing spots outside the camp with my 4 sons to show them where I fished as a kid. I was saddened to see that the miles of once beautiful shorelines, have been replaced by cabins and high powered water skiing boats buzzing all over the lake.
To add insult to injury, once free boat launch was now become privatized by the lake association a.k.a. lake mafia. The lauch itself used to be a real hotspot, with 2 long wooden docks that jutted out right into some prime bass fishing spots near sunken trees. The docks have been removed, the area is now covered with thicks weeds.
I did manage to access some of the spots that used to be teeming with all sorts of fish. Based on the few bass and panfish we caught in about 45 minutes worth of fishing, the numbers and sizes seem to have diminished drastically.
Luckily for my son, he has access to a camp boat a few times a week. I sent him up with a couple rods, he got the lakefront manager hooked on fishing to the point where the guy had the camp order a 100 lb thrust trolling motor to help them fish. I also mapped out some hot spots near his camp grounds that are only accessible by boat, so he knew exactly where to go once he was on the water.
After a couple days at camp, my son called for more worms, hooks and sinkers. I obliged, and brought him about 100 of each, as well as some bass lures. He's already caught about 50 smallies, the largest up to 3 lbs. No too shabby for a 13 year old, I only dreamed of having that sort of success at that age. He's also the most popular kid in his group, when it comes to boating, everyone wants to be on his boat.
Going back to childhood fishing grounds with my kids is always a great experience. It brings back memories of what I must have felt and looked like as a kid. Though they're lucky enough to have someone to put them on the hotspots, I had the thrills of seeking them out and finding them on my own.
Though the camp is on the lakefront, access to the lake was very restricted by the lifeguards for fear of drownings. The boating activities were run by counsellors, none of which were into fishing. I had to fish in hiding for a few summers, eventually, I became a staff member and was given more freedom.
I spent 3 summers between the agees of 14-16 exploring the are around the lake, most of which was un-inhabited. I caught my first big bass there, as well as tons of smaller ones, rock bass, sunfish, perch, bullheads, some wild brook trout and even a small laker.
I returned a few times in my early twenties, rented a boat from one of the locals I knew, had some real good trips up there. As I brought up a portable sonar, I was able to finally check out some of what I had previously been fishing in "blindly".
While visiting last Sunday, I returned to some of my favorite shore fishing spots outside the camp with my 4 sons to show them where I fished as a kid. I was saddened to see that the miles of once beautiful shorelines, have been replaced by cabins and high powered water skiing boats buzzing all over the lake.
To add insult to injury, once free boat launch was now become privatized by the lake association a.k.a. lake mafia. The lauch itself used to be a real hotspot, with 2 long wooden docks that jutted out right into some prime bass fishing spots near sunken trees. The docks have been removed, the area is now covered with thicks weeds.
I did manage to access some of the spots that used to be teeming with all sorts of fish. Based on the few bass and panfish we caught in about 45 minutes worth of fishing, the numbers and sizes seem to have diminished drastically.
Luckily for my son, he has access to a camp boat a few times a week. I sent him up with a couple rods, he got the lakefront manager hooked on fishing to the point where the guy had the camp order a 100 lb thrust trolling motor to help them fish. I also mapped out some hot spots near his camp grounds that are only accessible by boat, so he knew exactly where to go once he was on the water.
After a couple days at camp, my son called for more worms, hooks and sinkers. I obliged, and brought him about 100 of each, as well as some bass lures. He's already caught about 50 smallies, the largest up to 3 lbs. No too shabby for a 13 year old, I only dreamed of having that sort of success at that age. He's also the most popular kid in his group, when it comes to boating, everyone wants to be on his boat.
Going back to childhood fishing grounds with my kids is always a great experience. It brings back memories of what I must have felt and looked like as a kid. Though they're lucky enough to have someone to put them on the hotspots, I had the thrills of seeking them out and finding them on my own.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
My biggest channel catfish
I'm really getting into catfishing lately, as you may have noticed from recent posts.
It's something that I haven't done too much in the past, and as catfish grow bigger an pull harder than many other species of game fish, it's not hard to get addicted. Add in the extra benefits such as my spot being less than a 15 minute drive from my home in Montreal, free parking, small crowds with the convenient bite in the cooler evenings when things are quiet and work is done. Talk about a winning recipy for some good fishing.
I headed out to my spot alone, got set up and started fishing around 8:00 PM. I didn't bother with live minnows, as I kept and froze the leftover ones I had from last week's failed outing. I got my first hit at around 8:30, fish took off with the bait and set my baitrunner screaming, kind of the way a carp would. I engaged the reel, hooked and landed my first fish of the evening within a couple minutes, 26 inches / 10 lbs. As my buddies weren't showing until later, I had some other people fishing the are snap some shots, and released the big cat.
1/2 hour later, I got my second hit. Same story, reel starts screaming again. It seems that big catfish have an easier time picking up dead minnows than live ones. Anyway, I hooked into it, landed it after a few minutes. This one measured on 28 inches, but was extremely fat, weighed in at 14.5 lbs. Went back to the same guys, they took some pics and I offered them the fish. One of them gladly accepted, he said they were excellent eating.
It's something that I haven't done too much in the past, and as catfish grow bigger an pull harder than many other species of game fish, it's not hard to get addicted. Add in the extra benefits such as my spot being less than a 15 minute drive from my home in Montreal, free parking, small crowds with the convenient bite in the cooler evenings when things are quiet and work is done. Talk about a winning recipy for some good fishing.
I headed out to my spot alone, got set up and started fishing around 8:00 PM. I didn't bother with live minnows, as I kept and froze the leftover ones I had from last week's failed outing. I got my first hit at around 8:30, fish took off with the bait and set my baitrunner screaming, kind of the way a carp would. I engaged the reel, hooked and landed my first fish of the evening within a couple minutes, 26 inches / 10 lbs. As my buddies weren't showing until later, I had some other people fishing the are snap some shots, and released the big cat.
1/2 hour later, I got my second hit. Same story, reel starts screaming again. It seems that big catfish have an easier time picking up dead minnows than live ones. Anyway, I hooked into it, landed it after a few minutes. This one measured on 28 inches, but was extremely fat, weighed in at 14.5 lbs. Went back to the same guys, they took some pics and I offered them the fish. One of them gladly accepted, he said they were excellent eating.
My buddies showed up at about 9:30, by which time I had a couple biteoffs, probably smaller ones playing with my dead bait.
I hooked into my next one around 10:30. Once landed I realized it was quite long, measured in at 30 inches but weighed only 14 lbs, as it was thinner than the other one.
Just as I released it, my buddy hooked an eel, probably measured 30+ inches or so, must have weighed a few pounds. Another quick release, the moon hid behind the clouds and the bite died down completely. We left around 11:30 PM.
So it turns out that I beat my personal best for channel cats twice last night, once in weight (fat hawg) and once in length (lean and mean).
I'll post the pics once they are developped.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
More night time catfishing
Headed back for some more night fishing chasing channel cats last in the St Lawrence River (Lac St Louis) in Montreal week. First night, I took my 13 year old son Ari along, picked up some live minnows an set up shop a couple hours before dark.
Nothing much doing until 8:30 PM, when the fishing suddenly turned on. We started getting nibbles, then bite offs. My son hooked his first channel catfish a bit before 9:00 PM, ended up being a small 2.5 lbs.
Nothing much doing until 8:30 PM, when the fishing suddenly turned on. We started getting nibbles, then bite offs. My son hooked his first channel catfish a bit before 9:00 PM, ended up being a small 2.5 lbs.
About 1/2 hour later, he hooked a nice one, fought it all the way to shore, but it somehow spit the hook just as he was trying to get it up on the beach. Nice beast, was definitely a 10 lb + fish, too bad we couldn't get a picture. I got some bite offs, then the fishing died down at 10:00 PM. No bites until 11:00 PM, we headed home.
Returned the next evening with my son and a friend. Started at about 6:30. My buddy caught a nice 4 lb smallmouth bass that swallowed his minnow after about 1 hour of fishing. We waited for the catfish bite to turn on at dark, but it never did. We fished until 10:00 PM with maybe 1 nibble between 3 rods, so we called it a night and left early.
I think I'm going to wait until we have more of a moon beforetrying again, as the moon was non existent on both outings.
Returned the next evening with my son and a friend. Started at about 6:30. My buddy caught a nice 4 lb smallmouth bass that swallowed his minnow after about 1 hour of fishing. We waited for the catfish bite to turn on at dark, but it never did. We fished until 10:00 PM with maybe 1 nibble between 3 rods, so we called it a night and left early.
I think I'm going to wait until we have more of a moon beforetrying again, as the moon was non existent on both outings.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Slow fishing in the Gatineau valley
Just got back from another 5 day trip to the upper Gatineau region of Quebec. My buddy and I went up to try to target some Northern pike, ended up doing OK, but not nearly as well as I'd hoped for. Weather wasn't too good either.
Here is a brief day by day rundown of the trip:
Day 1 (Sunday):
After leaving town later than expected due to the rental company not having the SUV I reserved on time, I arrived at about 12:30 PM. Took out a motor boat on Giles lake for some bass fishing, as my buddy wasn't due until evening. Caught about a dozen small bass all under 2 lbs using live worms on bobber rigs, some were caught trolling a Rapala CD-5. Hit some rain and wind that brought in a major cold front. My buddy arrived around 8:00 PM with a nasty cold. We went out for an hour, not much hitting.
That night, the temp went down to about 5 degrees celcius, a little colder and it would have snowed. You wouldn't believe we were in mid July! Had to heat the cabin using the fireplace.
Day 2:
We trekk up to Lac Croche bright and early. The lake is up a terrible road, which is why I rented the SUV. Last 300 meters or so are only accessible by foot. Only 2 boats on the lake, no oars or motors, so we had to haul the electric motor and batteries through the bush along with our rods, tackle, sonar, food, drink, etc. One boat has a leak, the other was missing the boat plug. We take the leaking boat, good thing I brought along a bilge pump and fully charged battery pack.
We hit the water at about 8:00 AM, plan is to troll endlessly as the lake doesn't have much of a fishing pattern. Casting is ineffective on that lake, so as much as trolling bores me, what choice was I left with?
We hit the first pike a bit after 9:00 AM, decent 4.5 lb that jumped 4 or 5 times, as if he were a musky. We keep trolling lures that troll down to 10-12 gfeet until about 12:30 with no more hits.
I suggest switching to deeper divers, my buddy gets an instant hit trolling down in the 20 foot range, another decent 5 lbs fish. Next pass, he hooks another, that tangles in my line. As we boat it and start handlining my line, we realize we actually hit a double header and mine is still on. We handline the nice 6.5 lb fish into the boat and now were in heaven thinking we have it made.
We couldn't have been more wrong. We trolled for the next 7 hours, not one hit. We hit a major thunderstorm, and had to hide out in the woods as the lake has no shelters. We had our rainsuits and 4 layers under them, was still pretty cold. We call it a day at about 7:30 PM, I head back, clean the fish and freeze the fillets.
Day 3:
We get out on Lac Croche again, troll uselessly for another 4 hours. Then we switch to casting. I hook into a fish after about an hour, but it goes straight into the sunken tree I was fishing near, end up losing it. We troll and cast for the rest of the day, no more hits. My frustration with the lake and trolling in general has hit it's peak. 12 hours of trolling and no fish is not what I had in mind. The cold weather didn't help either. 4 layers of clothing plus a rainsuit to stay warm. We head back early.
The guy that runs the place suggests another lake that I never tried before. To get there, we cross Giles lake by boat and land it near a small river that connects to 2 smaller lakes, both containing pike and largemouth bass. After trekking through the woods for about 7 minutes, we get to the small row boats and paddle down the stream to hit tiny Lac Chat. Lake probably measures 300 meters in diameter and is round. Half the lake has shoreline structure, other half is kind of shallow shoals with the middle going down to 45 feet.
It's about 8:00 PM, I manage 3 largemouth bass on a few casts, all about 2 lbs. Time to row back, I decide to return to Lac Chat instead of Lac Croche the following day.
Day 4:
We hit Lac Chat in the morning. My buddy hooks up some small largemouth bass on Senkos, I catch a small 3 lb pike on a red and white spoon. Fishing completely shuts down around 11:00 AM, we head back thorugh the woods and cross Giles to our cabins for some time off at 2:00 PM , as the sun is shining bright and warm, I take advantage to have lunch and go for a swim. First time I'm in shorts and t shirt all trip.
We head back out around 5 PM, not much going on until around 7:00 PM, when I catch my first bass on a Senko. Biggest bass of the trip, it weighs in just over 2.5 lbs. Although Senkos are an amazing bait for bass, I hate using them, still not quite sure why. I saw this fish following my lure without hitting, so I switched to the Senko and got an immediate hit.
Anyway, as topwaters are the most exciting bait for me, I switch to the good old Pop R again after that bass. I catch 3 more bass and a small pike on the Pop R that evening, but my buddy had enough of Lac Chat that is more like a small paddleboat pond you see in a parc than a fishing lake.
We get back that evening and the debate between hitting Giles of another lake that's full of small pike starts. I would have prefered to check it out for a day, just to see If I should bother returning next year with the kids, as I'm told that we should be able to get 25-30 pike per person even in the worst conditions. Not that I'm thrilled with "hammer handle" pike, but my kids will be when I take them there.
Anyway, my buddy is dead set against it, so we decide to hit Giles for bass the next day.
Day 5:
After getting up late and hung over, we hit the water late at about 11:00 AM. Great weather, dismal fishing. We hit less than a dozen bass between both of us, none over 1.5 lbs. Pity the propane fride was too cold, my worms froze solid. That's that for the trip, I pack up and head out the next morning.
Overall, the time away was good, the beer stayed cold, but the fishing was slow and my buddy had a cold through the whole week. Anyway, I'll be taking a short break from fishing as I have some work to catch up on, possibly head out for soem few hours of night fishing for channel cats agains over the next couple weeks.
Here is a brief day by day rundown of the trip:
Day 1 (Sunday):
After leaving town later than expected due to the rental company not having the SUV I reserved on time, I arrived at about 12:30 PM. Took out a motor boat on Giles lake for some bass fishing, as my buddy wasn't due until evening. Caught about a dozen small bass all under 2 lbs using live worms on bobber rigs, some were caught trolling a Rapala CD-5. Hit some rain and wind that brought in a major cold front. My buddy arrived around 8:00 PM with a nasty cold. We went out for an hour, not much hitting.
That night, the temp went down to about 5 degrees celcius, a little colder and it would have snowed. You wouldn't believe we were in mid July! Had to heat the cabin using the fireplace.
Day 2:
We trekk up to Lac Croche bright and early. The lake is up a terrible road, which is why I rented the SUV. Last 300 meters or so are only accessible by foot. Only 2 boats on the lake, no oars or motors, so we had to haul the electric motor and batteries through the bush along with our rods, tackle, sonar, food, drink, etc. One boat has a leak, the other was missing the boat plug. We take the leaking boat, good thing I brought along a bilge pump and fully charged battery pack.
We hit the water at about 8:00 AM, plan is to troll endlessly as the lake doesn't have much of a fishing pattern. Casting is ineffective on that lake, so as much as trolling bores me, what choice was I left with?
We hit the first pike a bit after 9:00 AM, decent 4.5 lb that jumped 4 or 5 times, as if he were a musky. We keep trolling lures that troll down to 10-12 gfeet until about 12:30 with no more hits.
I suggest switching to deeper divers, my buddy gets an instant hit trolling down in the 20 foot range, another decent 5 lbs fish. Next pass, he hooks another, that tangles in my line. As we boat it and start handlining my line, we realize we actually hit a double header and mine is still on. We handline the nice 6.5 lb fish into the boat and now were in heaven thinking we have it made.
We couldn't have been more wrong. We trolled for the next 7 hours, not one hit. We hit a major thunderstorm, and had to hide out in the woods as the lake has no shelters. We had our rainsuits and 4 layers under them, was still pretty cold. We call it a day at about 7:30 PM, I head back, clean the fish and freeze the fillets.
Day 3:
We get out on Lac Croche again, troll uselessly for another 4 hours. Then we switch to casting. I hook into a fish after about an hour, but it goes straight into the sunken tree I was fishing near, end up losing it. We troll and cast for the rest of the day, no more hits. My frustration with the lake and trolling in general has hit it's peak. 12 hours of trolling and no fish is not what I had in mind. The cold weather didn't help either. 4 layers of clothing plus a rainsuit to stay warm. We head back early.
The guy that runs the place suggests another lake that I never tried before. To get there, we cross Giles lake by boat and land it near a small river that connects to 2 smaller lakes, both containing pike and largemouth bass. After trekking through the woods for about 7 minutes, we get to the small row boats and paddle down the stream to hit tiny Lac Chat. Lake probably measures 300 meters in diameter and is round. Half the lake has shoreline structure, other half is kind of shallow shoals with the middle going down to 45 feet.
It's about 8:00 PM, I manage 3 largemouth bass on a few casts, all about 2 lbs. Time to row back, I decide to return to Lac Chat instead of Lac Croche the following day.
Day 4:
We hit Lac Chat in the morning. My buddy hooks up some small largemouth bass on Senkos, I catch a small 3 lb pike on a red and white spoon. Fishing completely shuts down around 11:00 AM, we head back thorugh the woods and cross Giles to our cabins for some time off at 2:00 PM , as the sun is shining bright and warm, I take advantage to have lunch and go for a swim. First time I'm in shorts and t shirt all trip.
We head back out around 5 PM, not much going on until around 7:00 PM, when I catch my first bass on a Senko. Biggest bass of the trip, it weighs in just over 2.5 lbs. Although Senkos are an amazing bait for bass, I hate using them, still not quite sure why. I saw this fish following my lure without hitting, so I switched to the Senko and got an immediate hit.
Anyway, as topwaters are the most exciting bait for me, I switch to the good old Pop R again after that bass. I catch 3 more bass and a small pike on the Pop R that evening, but my buddy had enough of Lac Chat that is more like a small paddleboat pond you see in a parc than a fishing lake.
We get back that evening and the debate between hitting Giles of another lake that's full of small pike starts. I would have prefered to check it out for a day, just to see If I should bother returning next year with the kids, as I'm told that we should be able to get 25-30 pike per person even in the worst conditions. Not that I'm thrilled with "hammer handle" pike, but my kids will be when I take them there.
Anyway, my buddy is dead set against it, so we decide to hit Giles for bass the next day.
Day 5:
After getting up late and hung over, we hit the water late at about 11:00 AM. Great weather, dismal fishing. We hit less than a dozen bass between both of us, none over 1.5 lbs. Pity the propane fride was too cold, my worms froze solid. That's that for the trip, I pack up and head out the next morning.
Overall, the time away was good, the beer stayed cold, but the fishing was slow and my buddy had a cold through the whole week. Anyway, I'll be taking a short break from fishing as I have some work to catch up on, possibly head out for soem few hours of night fishing for channel cats agains over the next couple weeks.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Channel catfish night fishing
Headed out to a new spot in Montreal for some evening / night fishing for big channel cats. It's not something I get to do often, but as I was busy all day and the family is away visiting the in laws, I decided to give it a shot.
We picked up some big 7 inch minnows and headed out to our spot on the shores of the Lac St Louis portion of the St Lawrence River. I set up a sliding bottom rig with a 1 OZ egg sinker and 3/0 wide gap hook, my buddy setup up a 2 OZ bell sinker under a store bough striper rig which was basically 2 big hooks tied with fluorocarbon line.
Nothing much until 9:00 when the fishing suddenly turned on. I assumed that the big cats would have no problem taking down the big shiners, but was surprised that they were more interested at nipping pieces off little by little. I hooked my first one at about 9:15, landed it within a couple minutes, weighed about 8 or 9 lbs.
Over the next hour or so, my buddy lost about 6 whole minnows, I had one that had it's rear portion bitten off, then another that lost a chunk of it's backbone. I ended up catching my second one on a dead minnow around 10:30 PM, measured 28 inches, probably weighed close to 12 lbs, definitely my personal best to date.
The baitfeeder reel really helped, I avoided getting my bait stolen or having to keep fiddling with the drag system. Coupled with my 6.5 foot Rhino rod, I'm using the same outfit that I do for big carp, and handled the big catfish with ease.
I realized that we would have been better off with 4-5 inch minnows, probably would have caught a lot more fish. Regardless, it's a relatively new species that I have't targeted much in the past, as well as a new spot, so I'm glad with the results of the outing.
I returned the following night to try again using some store bought Atlantic smelt as cutbait. In 1.5 hours, not even one bite. So much for that plan, it's back to live minnows, looks like I'l have to get there early enough so the bait shop is still open.
I'm off to another week of fishing up North, I hope to target pike most of the week on a remote lake I tried last year. Will post results and hopefully some nice pics/videos when I return.
We picked up some big 7 inch minnows and headed out to our spot on the shores of the Lac St Louis portion of the St Lawrence River. I set up a sliding bottom rig with a 1 OZ egg sinker and 3/0 wide gap hook, my buddy setup up a 2 OZ bell sinker under a store bough striper rig which was basically 2 big hooks tied with fluorocarbon line.
Nothing much until 9:00 when the fishing suddenly turned on. I assumed that the big cats would have no problem taking down the big shiners, but was surprised that they were more interested at nipping pieces off little by little. I hooked my first one at about 9:15, landed it within a couple minutes, weighed about 8 or 9 lbs.
Over the next hour or so, my buddy lost about 6 whole minnows, I had one that had it's rear portion bitten off, then another that lost a chunk of it's backbone. I ended up catching my second one on a dead minnow around 10:30 PM, measured 28 inches, probably weighed close to 12 lbs, definitely my personal best to date.
The baitfeeder reel really helped, I avoided getting my bait stolen or having to keep fiddling with the drag system. Coupled with my 6.5 foot Rhino rod, I'm using the same outfit that I do for big carp, and handled the big catfish with ease.
I realized that we would have been better off with 4-5 inch minnows, probably would have caught a lot more fish. Regardless, it's a relatively new species that I have't targeted much in the past, as well as a new spot, so I'm glad with the results of the outing.
I returned the following night to try again using some store bought Atlantic smelt as cutbait. In 1.5 hours, not even one bite. So much for that plan, it's back to live minnows, looks like I'l have to get there early enough so the bait shop is still open.
I'm off to another week of fishing up North, I hope to target pike most of the week on a remote lake I tried last year. Will post results and hopefully some nice pics/videos when I return.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike and Walleye on Rapala CD-5
Headed back to my boat for some bass fishing now that the season is officially opened in Ontario. Many of the spots where they were hitting in the a few weeks ago are overgrown, so we switched tactics for the most part. My buddy alternated between topwaters and Senkos, while my son stuck with Topwaters. They combined for about 20 bass, all under 2 lbs.
I did a bit of topwater fishing, but stuck with a mini Rapala CD-5 coundown. Lure proved great in the clearer parst of the river, I managed 4 largemout bass as well as a 14 inch walleye and 3 lb pike and big bluegill on it in about 5 hours of fishing. I find find that it really matched the color and size of the shiners you see jumping on the surface when being chased.
The slop isn't thick enough to force us into using weedless Spro frogs yet, but I have a feeling that it will be withing the next 2 weeks. Also plan to hit the big smallies on calmer days on St Francis, possibly attempt some sight fishing using Senkos around the islands.
I did a bit of topwater fishing, but stuck with a mini Rapala CD-5 coundown. Lure proved great in the clearer parst of the river, I managed 4 largemout bass as well as a 14 inch walleye and 3 lb pike and big bluegill on it in about 5 hours of fishing. I find find that it really matched the color and size of the shiners you see jumping on the surface when being chased.
The slop isn't thick enough to force us into using weedless Spro frogs yet, but I have a feeling that it will be withing the next 2 weeks. Also plan to hit the big smallies on calmer days on St Francis, possibly attempt some sight fishing using Senkos around the islands.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Bass opener family trip
Just got back from our yearly family for the bass opener on Giles lake in Zone 10. We ended up gong with 7 adults, 2 teens and 6 children, rented 3 separate cabins for the week of June 21st to 26th.
We arrived at about 1:00 PM on Sunday, I immediately proceeded to mount the 2 motors and sonar a brought up on a couple row boats. Mine is a 25 year old 7.5 HP Mercury I recently bought and had fixed, the other is a 40 year old Johnson / Evinrude hybrid that my brother has been using for years.
Started off cathcing a nice 3 lbs bass on my first cast, things couldn't be better. After about 1 hour, my motor goes on me, so that put a serious damper on my day, considering that it's the first time I used it since buying it and spending just as much to change the prop and water pump. The outfitter has motors for rent, I got a brand new 5 HP Mercury for $25 / day, so it wasn't the end of the world, but I was still quite frustrated at the situation.
Headed out for another outing after unloading our gear and clothing into the cabing, caught another decent 2 lb + bass.
Over the next 4 days, we ended up catching about 75 Largemouth bass, most over 2 lbs with about a dozen over 3 lbs and 3 over 4 lbs. In addition, the kids caught hundreds of sunfish as usual.
My teeneage son was guiding the boat with my dad and his friend, I took the boat with my younger two sons who's main pastime is fighting each other. I started off trying to have the cast and fish with worms on bobbers and sinker lines, but the tangles and subsequent fights were just to much. Fishing is supposed to be fun and relaxing, not stressfull.
At that point in the trip, I completely switched tactics. I started casting a Pop-R and let the kids take turns fighting the fish. It was relaxng for me, and kept them on edge with each cast waiting for those thrilling top water hits. Over the next couple days, I ended up catching about 25 or 30 bass on the Pop-R, biggest was a 3 lbs beauty that took the lures all the way down it's hatch.
The lake has a small, dwindling, pike population, some of them up to 20 lbs. We tried chasing the pike using different tactics, all we managed were some small ones under 2 lbs trolling rogues.
We couldn't have asked for better weather, sunny skies all week, the temperature stayed at about 30 but felt more like 40 with the humidity. We fished mornings and evenings, spent the rest of the days swimming, snorkeling, making BBQ's and sipping cold beer. Night were for stronger alcohol and bonfires, as well as the yearly fireworks for La fete Nationale.
Hope to head back to the region for some pike fishing in a couple weeks.
We arrived at about 1:00 PM on Sunday, I immediately proceeded to mount the 2 motors and sonar a brought up on a couple row boats. Mine is a 25 year old 7.5 HP Mercury I recently bought and had fixed, the other is a 40 year old Johnson / Evinrude hybrid that my brother has been using for years.
Started off cathcing a nice 3 lbs bass on my first cast, things couldn't be better. After about 1 hour, my motor goes on me, so that put a serious damper on my day, considering that it's the first time I used it since buying it and spending just as much to change the prop and water pump. The outfitter has motors for rent, I got a brand new 5 HP Mercury for $25 / day, so it wasn't the end of the world, but I was still quite frustrated at the situation.
Headed out for another outing after unloading our gear and clothing into the cabing, caught another decent 2 lb + bass.
Over the next 4 days, we ended up catching about 75 Largemouth bass, most over 2 lbs with about a dozen over 3 lbs and 3 over 4 lbs. In addition, the kids caught hundreds of sunfish as usual.
My teeneage son was guiding the boat with my dad and his friend, I took the boat with my younger two sons who's main pastime is fighting each other. I started off trying to have the cast and fish with worms on bobbers and sinker lines, but the tangles and subsequent fights were just to much. Fishing is supposed to be fun and relaxing, not stressfull.
At that point in the trip, I completely switched tactics. I started casting a Pop-R and let the kids take turns fighting the fish. It was relaxng for me, and kept them on edge with each cast waiting for those thrilling top water hits. Over the next couple days, I ended up catching about 25 or 30 bass on the Pop-R, biggest was a 3 lbs beauty that took the lures all the way down it's hatch.
The lake has a small, dwindling, pike population, some of them up to 20 lbs. We tried chasing the pike using different tactics, all we managed were some small ones under 2 lbs trolling rogues.
We couldn't have asked for better weather, sunny skies all week, the temperature stayed at about 30 but felt more like 40 with the humidity. We fished mornings and evenings, spent the rest of the days swimming, snorkeling, making BBQ's and sipping cold beer. Night were for stronger alcohol and bonfires, as well as the yearly fireworks for La fete Nationale.
Hope to head back to the region for some pike fishing in a couple weeks.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Fishing spawning carp
Took out David and Mike Evnas for a guided carping trip. When we got to our spot, spawning carp swirling all around the surface, must have seen a couple hundred over the first few hours.
Though the weather and water conditions were perfect for carp fishing (light rain, stained, warming water), the bite was non existant as long as they we're swirling around the surface.
As the day moved on, the swirls died down and the fishing picked up. We managed 3 carp between 8-16 lbs, all came on boilies set up on hair rigs. Though we chummed a lot of soaked corn, the hook baited corn lines remained untouched, another vary rare occurence.
View some footage from the outing by clicking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnXsCXiyUhg
Though the weather and water conditions were perfect for carp fishing (light rain, stained, warming water), the bite was non existant as long as they we're swirling around the surface.
As the day moved on, the swirls died down and the fishing picked up. We managed 3 carp between 8-16 lbs, all came on boilies set up on hair rigs. Though we chummed a lot of soaked corn, the hook baited corn lines remained untouched, another vary rare occurence.
View some footage from the outing by clicking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnXsCXiyUhg
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Fishing shorelines
Went out for a few hours on Wednesday. Trolling was extremely slow, so we decided to hit the shorlines with a variety of lures. Best producers for the day were the Rapala J-11 and Zara spook. All we caught were largemouth bass up to 2.5 lbs.
After a while I decided to trekk out to a distant spot on St Francis where we had success with big pike last year at this time. Still not one in sight once we got there, spent time trolling and casting a variety of lures uselessly.
After a while I decided to trekk out to a distant spot on St Francis where we had success with big pike last year at this time. Still not one in sight once we got there, spent time trolling and casting a variety of lures uselessly.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Slow day northern pike fishing
Headed out with my dad and 6 year old Levi for an afternoon of pike / panfish. I after hooking up some bass on the troll, I headed to my usual hot spots which are starting to get overgrown with weeds. Did manage a small pike, and Levi caught his first crappie, a nice 10 incher. The Largemouth bass really slowed down since last week, so did the Jumbo Bluegills.
Later that afternoon, I hit some of my mid summer hot spots as the lilies are now big enough to provide cover. Started off throwing a Spro frog. As I noticed follows 3 times in a row through the lilies, I followed up with a new CD-5 Rapala Countdown. As I cast it to the outer edge of the pads, I got an instant hit. The pike took off in a fury with the lure in it's throat. It somewhow didn't managed to cut my line, even though I hade no leader. I needed jaw spreaders to retrieve my lure, by which time the pike was bleeding out all over the boat from it's gills. Another one for the livewell, weighed in at 4.5 lbs, perfect eating size.
Managed a few more bass on topwater lures, uncluding the Spro Frog, Weedless Jitterbug, Zara Spook and Heddon Baby Torpedo.
Hope to attempt some bigger pike over the next 2 weeks.
Later that afternoon, I hit some of my mid summer hot spots as the lilies are now big enough to provide cover. Started off throwing a Spro frog. As I noticed follows 3 times in a row through the lilies, I followed up with a new CD-5 Rapala Countdown. As I cast it to the outer edge of the pads, I got an instant hit. The pike took off in a fury with the lure in it's throat. It somewhow didn't managed to cut my line, even though I hade no leader. I needed jaw spreaders to retrieve my lure, by which time the pike was bleeding out all over the boat from it's gills. Another one for the livewell, weighed in at 4.5 lbs, perfect eating size.
Managed a few more bass on topwater lures, uncluding the Spro Frog, Weedless Jitterbug, Zara Spook and Heddon Baby Torpedo.
Hope to attempt some bigger pike over the next 2 weeks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
