I was out on Conestoga Lake a few nights ago, for a couple hours of fishing. We were focussing on a specific bay, and working a shore line that was ranging for 10-20 feet. The fish were holding in the 10-12 foot range so we were working that depth. I tried using crawler harnesses, but was not having any luck, so I switched to using a Rapala Scatter Rap in the minnow profile, orange in colour. I’ve had a lot of luck with the Scatter Rap this season, though I have been disappointed in their overall durability, having blown the lips on two of them earlier this season.
The durability was again in question as the back end pulled free on this lure. I was able to land the fish, but the lure will have to be returned. The highlight for this night was a nice 34 inch Northern Pike. I’ve caught bigger fish, but for this particular lake, it would be one of the bigger fish available, so I was really pleased. It gave me a good fight (right in front of another boat 🙂 ), putting my Fenwick HMX and Shimano Sahara reel to the test. But, a successful landing, hook removal, picture, and revival ensures that I get a lasting memory, and that fish will be available in the future. Hope you enjoy this quick video.
When I first acquired my boat a couple years ago, I knew there were several leaks in it, and began researching the best / easiest / most cost effective ways to repair them. I made the choice to use JB Weld to do the job, and I’ve been very impressed ever since. At the start of this season I did some new repairs to get it ready for the 2013 season with the same great results. Recently I had to do some emergency repairs while away on a trip, and then investigate the damage. My boat is almost 30 years old, and after three decades of use, coming in and out of the water, being trailered to and from, the back section of the hull is pretty badly dented, and thus the areas around the rivets are under a lot of stress.
When I did the water test a few weeks ago I found about 6 rivets that were problematic, and decided to get those fixed now, rather then wait until 2014. The video below shows how I applied the JB Weld to the affected areas. I had the boat out since the repairs, but it was pouring rain so very difficult for me to know if the patches held, but I’m confident!
It’s been a couple weeks since I got back from my fly in trip to McLeister Lake, and high time for me to give the report. This was our second time flying with Hearst Air, last year to Hilmer Lake. We were well prepared this time around for how this outfitter works, what the lodge would be like, and what the cabin / equipment boats would be like. So while we didn’t have the same “first time” feeling, we were still really looking forward to the trip.
We arrived at the air base on time, and the crew was ready for us. After settling up our account, placing an ice order and getting our emergency phone, they began loading the Turbo Otter filled with our gear, and us of course. The flight in was about 30 minutes and provided some great views, and helped create that separation from the rest of the world that you are looking for on a fly in. We touched down and began bringing our gear up to cabin. As returnees, we needed less of an orientation, and began unloading, prepping the boats, hauling water etc. In no time the plane was off, and we were in our boats ready for fishing. There was no group at the cabin when we arrived, so that helped speed things along.
We had talked to the pilot, some other guests at the plane base, heck even the motel owner, looking to find some hot spots. The usual answers ensued, fish the weed beds, wind blown shore lines, and the river. We’ll that pretty much covered the whole lake, so off we went.
I could go on about the trip, but I’ll shorten it up. First off, the cabin and equipment were great, no complaints. The fridge / stove / camp lights all worked. The outhouse was as expected. Two minor issue we encountered were really nasty mosquitos in the evening and in the morning, but during the day we were fine, and a standard mosquito coil burning in the cabin solved the insect issue for us. The second is we had one motor on the boat which was a bit fussy. During out camp check we pointed it out and the swapped it out on the spot. There was a spare on site the whole time as well.
On the wildlife, we saw bear, moose, beaver, eagles, and hawks. We shot a cool video of a bear, standing on a beaver lodge, eating berries. For any of you who go to this lake and head down the river, you’ll have more beavers than you can count welcoming you. The weather was stable, we had mostly sun, a bit of rain, some rainbows and one evening of spectacular northern lights. Now, onto the fishing.
We had no trouble catching fish, we estimate that we caught, as a group of six, about 600 plus fish for the week. That includes all sizes and species. The largest walleyes caught were a couple 25 in and one 25.5 inch. Our pike were smaller on average than we hoped, but we still caught about 10 fish over 30inches. We use 30 inches as a benchmark for a nice pike. I caught a 30, a 31 and a 31.5, but the monster pike I know that are in this lake evaded me. The fishing was more challenging than I expected. I say that because if you read the logs and talk to other anglers, the place to be is in the weeds, and I’ve typically been more of a deep / rocky / shoal type angler. We spent a lot of time trolling and jigging in the river and had some very productive outings. I say at least 60% of our total fishing time was spent in the river, which you can drive down for miles. You’ll see from the slide show below, we had no lack of great fishing, and I would recommend this lake as a great option for people. There were two main basins to the lake, a narrow section to join them, distinct weed areas and some rock Islands to work on, so really there was something for everyone. The water as fairly shallow, so make sure you take gear that won’t go too deep and you’ll be fine. The most productive tackle for the week was size 50 and 60 Williams Wablers, the 5 of diamond were the best. I had much luck with Rapala Tail Dancers in the Hot Chub color, as well as the Rapala Scatter Rap in minnow and Shad Rap bodies. The jig heads and bodies were varied, and we mostly tipped with worms, but I used artificial minnows were good results as well. All in all we had a great week away, and I hope the photos do the justice!
There is something special for me about having a shore lunch. It could be the art of starting a fire on a random piece of bedrock, using brush, tinder and dead fall, ignited by flint and steel. Perhaps it’s the great company, or perhaps the usual pitures
que setting. Maybe it’s the taste of freshly caught fish, cooked over the fire in cast iron pans, and served on a camp plate, mixed with potatoes and beans. More likely is that it is all of those things rolled up into one. I love to prepare shore lunch as much as I love eating shore lunch, and for those of you who know what I mean, you are already thinking of your last one, and your next. If you’ve never had one, have a watch of this video, and make plans to have a shore lunch as soon as you can, you won’t regret it.
In preparation for my recent trip with Hearst Air to McLeister Lake, my brother and I decided to order some professional fishing jerseys from a company called Rayjus. I can tell you all about it, but I suggest you just watch the video and enjoy!
I love catching Walleye, and I’ve had my best success catching them by using vertical jigging, but there are some other jigging techniques I’d like to learn to use as well. A couple I’m hoping to use on the upcoming trip, are bouncing jigs down drop offs and shelves,as well has pop or rip jigging through the weeds. In order to do that, I needed to expand my selection of equipment. The shape of the jig head, the position of the hook, the type of dressing for the jig and any additional bait you may use as an attractant will all have an impact. In this video I talk about my new VMC Hot Skirts and Moon Eye Jigs, my new Revolution Spinner Rigs, my Trigger X Paddle Tail Minnow, and more!
I had a request for which is my preferred fishing line for my rods. I’ve used lots of line over the years, from traditional mono, to fluorocarbon, and then into the super lines. I now use Suffix 832 on all my reels. Now, I know that braid is not the perfect choice in all cases, but I don’t have the time or the inclination to switch out my lines all summer, nor do I have extra rod and reel combos that I can have spooled with application specific line. The suffix 832 has been a great all purpose line for me. I use 30lb on my bait caster when I go looking for the big fish, I use 20lb when I’m on my trolling rod, and I use 10lb on my jigging stick. In most cases I use a 2 foot lead line of fluorocarbon, or I tie on a leader. It maintains great condition, holds shape, sinks well, and I’ve never had it break off on me. It is a bit more expensive, but since I get such long life out of it, my total investment in line is equal to purchasing lesser products (in my opinion). I only started paying attention to line the last few years, and shudder to think how my fishing could have been better over the years if I’d only looked into it soon. So if you are looking for a new line, check it out, and what the video below.
I love to fish, but to be honest, I also love being out in the boat, enjoying the water, nice weather, and some quality time with family and friends. My last couple trips to our local lakes (Belwood and Conestoga) have produced more misses than fish landed, but I’ve still really valued my time out. Just a few days ago I was out for about 3.5 hours with a buddy, and 5 minutes in we had a nice sized Northern Pike at the boat, and we both thought “game on”.
About an hour later, with no fish, we were a bit discouraged, but as the weather cooled, and the water calmed, and the sun went down, we were in for a nice treat. There is something about a quiet lake, at dusk with calm waters that also calms the soul. I hope you can tell by these two pictures that we had a nice night. So the next time you are out fishing, and the bite is off, remember the other parts of fishing that make it so enjoyable.
As I get ready to head on my Fly In Fishing Trip with Hearst Air, I’ve been getting my equipment ready. One of the things I have to do is get a lot of tackle and gear to fit in a small space, as their are both weight and size restriction for the float plane. One of the things I do is try to condense my tackle into as few trays as possible. Watch the video below and see how I use a basic rubber band to allow me to store multiple crank baits and jerk baits together, without tangles!
It’s been a while since I posted, because it’s been a while since I fished, but today I remedied that. I headed to Cameron Lake in the Kawartha Lake area with my buddy Scott. He was up on this lake last weekend and did really well on the Walleye front, so we decided to give it a half days attention. We were on the lake at 8:00am and it was already humid and we knew it was going to be a hot one. The previous weekend the fishing was best during the overcast period, which we would not be having today. I’ll give you the quick summary, and then you can watch the video below. I caught a few perch and a bass, and Scott got a couple bass, a 15inch Walleye, and a HUGE 28inch Walleye (shown). This is by far the biggest Walleye I’ve been a party to landing, and it was a real treat. Congratulations to Scott on his new personal best for Walleye.
While we didn’t get the numbers we were hoping for, we still had a great time on the water, and it’s hard to complain after landing a huge fish. We’ll probably take another shot at that lake in a couple weeks, so see if we can do a bit better.
I was out on Conestoga Lake a few nights ago, for a couple hours of fishing. We were focussing on a specific bay, and working a shore line that was ranging for 10-20 feet. The fish were holding in the 10-12 foot range so we were working that depth. I tried using crawler harnesses, but was not having any luck, so I switched to using a Rapala Scatter Rap in the minnow profile, orange in colour. I’ve had a lot of luck with the Scatter Rap this season, though I have been disappointed in their overall durability, having blown the lips on two of them earlier this season.
The durability was again in question as the back end pulled free on this lure. I was able to land the fish, but the lure will have to be returned. The highlight for this night was a nice 34 inch Northern Pike. I’ve caught bigger fish, but for this particular lake, it would be one of the bigger fish available, so I was really pleased. It gave me a good fight (right in front of another boat 🙂 ), putting my Fenwick HMX and Shimano Sahara reel to the test. But, a successful landing, hook removal, picture, and revival ensures that I get a lasting memory, and that fish will be available in the future. Hope you enjoy this quick video.
I love catching Walleye, and I’ve had my best success catching them by using vertical jigging, but there are some other jigging techniques I’d like to learn to use as well. A couple I’m hoping to use on the upcoming trip, are bouncing jigs down drop offs and shelves,as well has pop or rip jigging through the weeds. In order to do that, I needed to expand my selection of equipment. The shape of the jig head, the position of the hook, the type of dressing for the jig and any additional bait you may use as an attractant will all have an impact. In this video I talk about my new VMC Hot Skirts and Moon Eye Jigs, my new Revolution Spinner Rigs, my Trigger X Paddle Tail Minnow, and more!
The Amateur Angler 