Off of the Lake.

.....my mother hiking the bush.

I should know better by now. Do not rely on the local weather reports. They are a crap shoot. Today was much better, due to being less wetter, than had been forecast. Had I known what the weather was going to be, my plans would have been much different.

Small bass. No longer elusive.

I ended up heading out to Dunlop Lake for a bit of a paddle. Apparently, the opening of Bass season is also the impetus for vacationers to head up this way. They are certainly here in noticeable numbers. Especially on Dunlop. The road traffic was much heavier..........meaning we passed 10 cars in a 20 minute drive, instead of 2. We have yet to have our land cleared, which is being worked on, but we do have our canoe on it. Requires a bit of a hike though.


Apparently there are small bass here. I just hadn't been catching them. That ended today. Saw very little of the rock bass that had been so prevalent the last time out on this lake. Instead, there were multitudes of 8 - 10" bass. Largest of the afternoon was 12". A lot of fish caught on a size 4 Deceiver, and one caught on a plastic twitch bait.

.........this is this first lure I ever turned!

The outing was cut short however. The OPP were cruising the water, checking out boaters. Seeing as it never occurred to me that a canoe needs anymore safety equipment than a life jacket, we can safely assume that we failed the inspection miserably. Thankfully, the kind officers were happy to send our sorry asses to the shore without levying heavy fines. I like those guys.

In the evening it was back to Depot for the last bit of light. Given the sunsets there, it is a very easy choice for some evening casting. Once again, the flyrod produced well for me. More fish up to 12". Nothing great, but it was better than sitting at home. The highlight of the night was the one fish caught on spinning gear. Not due to size, it was not big, but  because I caught it first cast with the first lure I have ever made. That gave me a huge smile. The flyrod was the much better performer for me today. Deceivers in the afternoon, and GFC's in the evening. I quite enjoy having both methods of angling at my disposal on my outings.