I guess since last post, I have made a half dozen or so forays out onto Dunlop Lake for a look see. Mostly what I have seen is.................nothing. I have stared far to long at depth finders devoid of almost everything. I have covered a lot of water in the process. Even so, I have only been over a small portion of the lake. It is big. Bigger than any waters I have spent much time fishing. The one thing that became very apparent early was.........................I need a bigger boat. This is not the best venue for my pontoon boat.

As I searched for fish, I had decided that I would have most luck initially hunting out bass. So, I checked out the spots which I felt for certain should be holding fish. They weren't. I was more than a little put off. I put in a lot of hours trying to figure out where they were. Thing was, I was fishing in a situation previously unknown to me.

I knew something was up. Those very fishy spots that should hold good fish? Well, all they were offering up were small fish. To immature to spawn. And that was my issue. The bass hadn't started the spawn yet. Having never fished for bass pre-spawn, I had no clue where to look for them. Spawn, post spawn, high summer. etc..................no problem. To be honest, even if I did have a game plan for pre-spawn, I am not sure I would have known that was where they were at. Literally, 20 minutes down the road, in  a smaller lake, the bass were done with this a couple of weeks ago.

Another fish falls to the GFC.

My diligence did eventually pay off however. Fish are starting to do what I expect of them. I finally managed to get my first 'good' fish out of Dunlop. Like the trout from last post, it was a very welcome relief. That I took it topwater on a GFC was just the icing.

Long time, no post.

Long time, no post.

I currently have no access to the net. Or TV, telephones, etc. So, updates will be sporadic. This one was written 2 weeks ago, only posting now.

I've spent the last month watching a lake thaw. It has been a slow, painful affair. For the past week however, it has been clear. I have taken a few paddles around to see whats up, even cast a few spoons. So far, the only life I have seen in the lake have been a few bugs hatching off the surface, and some  plant life starting to emerge. Still going to be a bit before I start to fish it seriously it seems. More telling on that front, more than my eager amaturish observation is that so far I haven't seen anyone else out there yet. They're on other lakes not to far south, so I should see some activity here soon.

Top flies of 2014 ( Bass )

I recently cataloged footage shot last year, and noted what flies were doing what for me. Here is my selection of top bass getters from last year, though it would probably have been the same previously.

#1 Clouser Minnow.  This fly has caught me many, many, big bass. The base pattern for this fly is very durable, but can be tarted up to the tyers content. My versions are tied sparse, generally yellow and red ( throat ), and on the smaller side....sizes 6 -8.

#2 Green Fish Critter. This is a pattern I whipped up for bass in southern ontario. I have supreme confidence that if a bass will hit a top water bait, than it will hit this. I have always found it more likely to produce than any other top water pattern I own. I also use it on full sinking lines to good effect.

#3 Muddler Variants. Think Marabou Muddlers (or often I use rabbit strips) Chamois Muddlers, etc. These also account for a lot of fish. I say variants simply because thats what I tie. I'm sure the original pattern would also produce.

Honourable Mention................the Wooly Bugger. In Black or Olive.


First Fish of 2015.

This fish made me happy for a number of reasons.
I was desperate to go fishing. Not chuck at some water in hopes that some fish might have come in, but to use my head to figure out what my best chance for a fish would be. So I chose a river ( been open longer than the lakes ), and for my quarry, trout. Specifically, brookies. If you have followed my blog, this may seem like an odd choice. My only trouting up here so far has consisted of a couple of 'look and see's' expedition resulting in not much to speak of. I was bouyed however by the knowledge of some water I had spied and deemed as fishy, did indeed hold fish and was worth more than a 5 minute fly-by. This confidence was inspired by a lengthy conversation with a fellow fly angler.That was all the confidence I needed, and I was more than glad to dust off one of my 3wts that had been neglected the past few seasons.
I had to go north for 40 minutes or so to hit my destination. Pretty much the same time it took me to get from Georgetown to the Hwy 24 stretch of the Upper Credit. When I got there I was delighted to find some insects coming off. Some big mays I wan't familiar with from my Southern Ontario days, and some caddis. No fish rising though. That would have been grand. Just watching those bugs however, made my heart happy. That is one thing I have sorely missed since moving. The hatches.

I did intially try some dries.........trying to entice a surface strike, but it was for naught. I wasn't seeing any signs of fish taking nymphs. So, I decided on banging the bottom as being my most likely chance hook up with a fish. For this purpose I chose a Clouser. It wasn't many casts before it produced. For my first brookie of not just this year, but since I moved up here, it was extremely satisfying. Not huge, but at 14" it was no dink either. This was my first fish dinner of the year, and also marks the first trout I have eaten in over 3 decades..................at least that I have caught.

Springs approach.

It's looking like spring may make it up to these parts far sooner than the past two. Things are melting, and the long term forecast has no decided turns for the worse. At the moment. We will see if that holds.

It should be an exciting year. My house is done. I've moved in a lot of my stuff over the winter months. The deck, the final bit of construction, was finished a week ago. Mind you, I have a ton of work planned for around the property, but the house proper is done.

As far as fishing goes...........it's going to be interesting. The main species to be found in Dunlop are, Lake Trout, Pickerel, Whitefish, and Smallmouth Bass. 3 of the 4 I have never fished for. I know ( in theory ) how to get at them............but will see if that translates into practice. Regardless......I am very eager to try. There is still lots of ice to melt. Three feet as of last weekend on Dunlop. However, the huts are starting to come off............which is a good sign.

If what I have been told is correct, I maybe able to simply wade out from more shoreline to hit some fish. We are in a shallow bay. The entrance to which has a nice drop off. It is very easy to wade out to the drop off. Certainly with the scant effort I have put in on the lake so far, I have pulled out bass from the bay in the early season. As for the other species, we will see. I can't see why the early spring shouldn't be productive from there, but I have a number of optional plans standing by.

Later this summer...........that will be the test I would think. Given the size of the lake, and the habits of the fish, I'm going to need something a little more suitable than my pontoon. Of course, if something pops up and I can't afford a boat this year, I have a couple of other local troutish lakes to toon.

I finally figured out my health issues. The back and the other shit I whine about that has left me debilitated?  Lyme disease. Which is a good news, really fucking bad news scenario, Good news....well, since I now know what the problem is, I can try to treat it. One of the reasons all attempts to rehab my back through physio and such failed, was because we weren't treating the right problem. The pain was caused by chronic inflammation and no amount of rehab was going to rectify that. Bad news? Lyme is a nightmare of a disease, and pretty much impossible to get rid of once it has established itself. There is no cure once that has happened. Mainstream medicine is at odds with the science surrounding Lyme, which is tragic, but hardly uncommon. For instance, often you'll hear about ticks transmitting Lyme. They do. They are actually an extremely effective way for the Lyme causing spirochetes to bypass our bodies natural defenses. However, the account for a relatively small proportion of infections. What you don't hear, is that live spirochetes can be found in urine, tears, semen, transmitted by mosquitoes. Can be transmitted from mother to unborn child, through breast milk.......etc. This is true not just for humans, but also the animals they infect.

Lyme is a complete bitch. It completely fucks up your life, in oh so many ways. The symptom list for it is pages long, and has an absolutely bizarre range. For myself, just a couple of notable constants ( besides the back agony ) are: absolutely insane arthritic pain in my hips, common nausea, a digestive tract that can't handle most foods, blistering migraines, one skin rash I have had for a decade, another known as 'blistering lesions' which comes and goes, light sensitivity ( no television EVER ), hyperacusis.....so no music. EVER.

Back to the good news part though. At least there are some treatment options. Anyone going the allopathic route will find the only option is anti-biotics. In Canada, the length one can be prescribed those is most often insufficient to do the jobs. Lyme sufferers in other countries may end up taking them for YEARS. This is notably hard on our bodies. There are also natural medicines which a ( scientifically ) proven effective against spirochetes. That is the method open to me. So far in the month that I have implemented a ( Stephen Buhner ) protocol I have seen some very promising results. This should translate to less time feeling like a bag of crap, and more time on the water.

Bohemian Waxwing.