New toys.

So, as I mentioned, I picked up a new rod the other day. I ordered it online from Amazon, sold by Fishwest.com. The reason for the Echo? Easy. The company has a great reputation. So when I was searching around for rods that would fit my low end budget, it was hard to pass up the Solo for 99$. Well, thats what I paid. When I ordered, I was contacted by Fishwest to say they had recently run out of stock. No biggie, I wasn`t in a hurry and I was very interested in the rod. I noticed that after my purchase, the price of the rods went up a few bucks. When it shipped  it became a debacle. No fault on the seller. USPS managed to somehow hold onto the parcel for almost 2 weeks before it even entered their system. Incredible. Even better, when it did finally arrive, one end have the tube had been completely removed. The rod ( in its protective case ) was free to slid in and out of the shipping container at will. In the end, it is a wonder that USPS an CanadaPost managed to get it here at all.

So, whats the Echo Solo like? Well, I had the same reaction to it that I did with the White River Hobbs Creek reel from Basspro. I was shocked that such a nicely made, and appointed rod could be had for so cheap. The low end entry level gear has come along way since I first started in this sport.  I have paid a lot more, for a lot less. I`ll likely do an in depth review of it some time in the future.

The second two is a Classic Accessories Roanoke Pontoon boat. This is also an entry level model from the manufacturer. I had it out for a bit this evening. Impressed with it so far, though there are a couple of minor complaints I maybe able to make. It was fairly easy to assemble. Again, a more in depth review will be forthcoming when I have used it more.

Vid Clip

I took out an Echo Solo 8wt I had recently purchased. Here's the first fish.

Well........

....................as much as I profess the whole " you don't know till you go." bit, its like this. Cold front. Fuck it. Been waiting for a positive change in the weather.

Some times you win........

..........and sometimes you lose.

Birthday Bass.

G.F.C.

I had taken the last couple of nights to clean up my shop. I'm about to start turning out lures and needed to get it into shape. Today, being my birthday, I decided to take it easy, away from workish type endeavours.

I enjoyed a perch feast for my dinner that was just amazing. The recipe we have rivals anything that Fish and Chip joints serve. Better actually. I far prefer our fare. I headed down to the lake around 7:30pm. Mom was with me, but we ended fishing different sections of the lake. She was looking for perch, and I was hitting bass. She ended up finding a school and bagged us some table fare.To my delight, the bass were happy to take topwater patterns, and I did very well on the GFC. The weren't huge bass, but decent. One was looking like he was close to deserving the title of big, but was just shy. The bass are in close. I watched one chase a rock bass around a log before given up, and saw the evidence of bass slamming minnows in the shallow. The largest fish of the night I saw smash some minnows along the shore from 50 yards ( or so ) away. I worked my way into casting position and found he was still hanging around.

You'll see in the video,  that most of the fish sucked the fly in, as opposed to smashing it. Its always a surprise as to how they hit it. Often those small sips hide the nature of the leviathans hidden just beneath the surface. You get some very pleasant surprises. 

Recent outings.

So, I have been out twice in search of trout. Once was back to the previous spot where I took my first fish. This time I managed to hook several, but land one.

I will tell you this know...............not liking the river fishing bit. Just to finicky and annoying. My back starts giving me grief quick. Pontooning is so much easier.

I have to go back to that water prepared a little better. By that, I mean be set up for nymphing. The guy we got the tip from was a 'dry fly only' sorta guy, by his own admission. Those that have been reading my tripe for long enough will be aware of my affinity for such. So thats how I went rigged. Immediately upon viewing the water I thought........classic nymph water. I should have been setup as such on my second visit.

So far up here, I have seen shit oads of caddis, and few mayflies. The fish I hooked where all on caddis.

I also went out on another day, looking for more water. I found a real nice stretch, but could not interest the fish in a dozen of so casts. You know, I am so damn spoiled I expect immediate results. I really have to get over that. I can't blame my move up here and my other fishing exploits here for that though. That comes from fishing for trout in S.O. I really need to adjust my expectations.

Fish n' Chips. Fresh fish, gluten free.

I was back on Horne tonight for the first time in  a long while. Was hunting perch meat. Caught lots of those. Also caught a good number of bass. I broke off a huge one. You know those overhand knots that appear in our leaders, often via tailing loops? Thats where it broke me off. I have on 20lb tippet material. I was rather surprised. Tells you how much a simple knot like that can affect the integrity of the line.

I fished a few different flies today. All were successful. The Rabbabou Clouser and an Olive Wooly Bugger produced most frequently, and it was the bugger that hooked the mega-bass.

A day or so ago............

I was out one night a couple of days ago. Was another Esten Lake standard..........from what I can recall at this point. A LOT of boats out on the water. More on that day than all other days in combination. Last long weekend of the year maybe.

I`m sure if you look back through my posts, you`ll have noticed a previous mention of weeds in 14` of water. Generally, I will only see the tops of a few of the plants. Full growth starts a couple feet below. On all the lakes I have fished up here, I have consistently found fish....good fish..........in this type of aquatic structure.

Topwater was again very productive, and a sink not so much. And yea, once again I was just flippin out the GFC.

I also went exploring for something new. Found some good water and will be back there soon I hope. It was a follow up on a tip for some dry-fly trout water on the Little White.

Also of note, when on Esten last, I noticed Hex`s on the surface for the first time. I know I have lost my box of hex`s in the move. May have to get the tying bench
and wrap up a few.

More messing in Esten

Even small guys are
hearty fighters.

Again, it was off to Esten for a few hours this evening.

Another fun night of top water bass. Pretty much the same as the last few nights. Lots of fish. a few decent ones. Lots of fun.

I stuck with top water GFC's again. I did try the full sink, but the results were less than impressive, and certainly less productive than the top water. Most of my fish came before 7pm. After that the fish were scattered and infrequent.

..........a bronze beauty. 

As I mentioned before, most often fish violently suck in the GFC, as opposed to crashing it like a popper. When they suck, the surface disruption is not great. Case in point, tonights fish of the night. A 3 1/2lb bruiser. I made my cast, and started fucking around with my smokes, and saw a little fish pluck at my fly. I put my smokes back in my pocket as it sucked at my fly again. It looked like my fly may have disappeared, so I set the hook.........and the freaking lake blew up! Love that. Certainly the biggest bass I have caught in that lake to date.

I have a buddy coming up to visit for the next while, so not sure how much fishing I will get in.

Oh, I almost forgot. May not be of import to most, but the last two outings saw me catch a couple of sunfish! Hadn't seen any till now.

More poppin' the top.

Golden on Esten.

It didn't look like I was going to get out. Forecasted thunderstorms did not show up until late afternoon. Around 6pm it cleared up, and I was on the water by 6:30.

BRONZE!

It was another great night on Esten Lake. Another night with just the fly rods. Another night of top water fun. The rain seem to have to turned the fish on. I probably caught as many fish in an hour and half of fishing as I did the previous night. Lost as many as well. One fish, I have to give credit to. He played me brilliantly. Immediately after hookset, he charged my pontoon. I could not strip in fast enough to keep tension. Then, with a good of slack line to play with, he made an incredible vertical launch that a missile would have been proud of. A 180 in the air had him diving straight back in on a trajectory an olympic diver would be envious of. Needless to say, the fish was rewarded for his effort. Hopefully, word of his victory doesn't spread to wide amongst the denizens of this lake. If every fish pulled off this maneuver with such efficiency I'd be catching a whole lot less fish.

Spent the night chucking the Green Fish Critter. Tried subsurface at a few random intervals, but not success.

New Fly.

..........nice camo pattern.

So, I was thinking last night about a new pattern. The Clouser has been serving me well, but there are times it hasn't produced. Even more annoyingly, for whatever reason, the perch haven't been hooking up as much as they should. I also was looking to impart more action to the fly. Not that Clousers don't have action, they do,  but I was looking for something more..................undulating?

What I came up with is very simple. Like all my flies. I tied them on size 8 hooks with a bead head. Tied in an underbody of green crystal flash. On top of that a 2" strip of chamois, thin and tapered front and back. An overbody of crystal flash, and yellow hackle wound behind the bead head. Crystal flash cut to match the chamois in length. F'in deadly. It was killer on perch as well as bass. I think I may have caught more perch tonight than on any other outing of my life. Nailed some real nice bass too.

.............and up we go!

I'll post pictures and better instructions for the fly at some point. I am very happy with the results. I could not have hoped for a better debut.

Video of a couple of the bass from tonight. Both bass were caught on the new pattern. Actually all fish tonight were. One fly even, and it was partially destroyed by the first half dozen fish. Now it is pretty mangled and will be retired.

More on Horne.

Well, it is interesting how things go. Last night it was the fly gears night to shine, tonight, not so much. Now, keep in mind, after last nights success, I was thinking repeat. Didn't happen. I did find the fish in pretty much the same type of water, but my bass all came on spin gear.

.......love this addition.

Not sure if I mentioned it, but I had one day were I missed a number of good fish on soft plastic worms. The hook set was something much different to what I am used to from fly fishing. Tonight I seem to to have figured it out. Still lost a number of decent fish, but I also hooked a few as well.

......note the FloatTubeFanatic mount
for the finder.

......not easy taking pics solo in a pontoon

Lots of little bass and panfish were caught. The number of large fish landed were three. 2 of the fish were the 2 - 3lb average fish. I managed to hook into another big fish that probably was slightly larger than last nights 4lb'er. It hit one of my poppers as soon as it touched the water. Since it was pretty much as long a cast as I could make, it made for one helluva fight. I have not hooked a bass up here that does not go airborne. And bass this big? Man-o-man, what a show. I actually thought I had it licked when a final aerial attempt dislodged my lure.

...........obviously I struggle trying to come up with pic ideas.

As an interesting note, I seem to lose far less fish with barbless flies, than I do with barbed trebles. Or the barbed hooks I use for plastics. I wonder if the thinner gauge of the flies gives for more penetration, and this maybe why. Meh, something to ponder while I'm fishing I suppose.

One thing I should mention. Look at a map and see where Horne Lake is located. Its right in the middle of town! Its a small lake at that, and it produces great fish. Gotta love it. :)

By the way, yes, I do realize a swivel is not the best idea on plastic rigs. What can I say? I am lazy. There were a number of lures I planned on using, and I am so damned lazy I preferred not to knot.

Great night.

Best night I have ever had for bass fishing.

I decided to head to Horne Lake with my pontoon boat after dinner. The bass haven't been as easy to pick of from the shore as I like, so I thought to do a little work. Also, I was very curious to have a look at the lakes topography with the fish finder.

Horne is very much different than the only other lake I graphed, Porridge. That had a maximum depth of 15' Parts of Horne I measured at 40'+. As opposed to Porridges slight slope, Horne goes more like 6' not far from the shore, to 10 -15' about 20 yards out, then a deep drop.

I discovered what I wanted to know. The bass, and perch, were in 9 -12' of water. Lots of them, and big ones. I haven't used a finder much. 2 outing with it I think. I was shocked as shit when I managed to turn those big blobs on the screen into big fish in my hand.

I took one fish on my handmade popper that was successful the other night. It was a decent enough fish, but nowhere near the 2 - 3 lbers I was averaging on the fly. A yellow Clouser in size 8 to be exact. I got into a good half dozen of these. It was a lot of fun. There were also smaller fish whose sole purpose it seemed was to intercept the fly before I could get it to the hawgs. The largest fish weighed in at 4lb.

Two camera related boo-boos. One, I forgot the memory card, so not a lot of photos got taken. Compounding that, the largest fish swamped my camera but good. I am hoping for a miracle 'cuz it ain't healthy.

.........my largest smallmouth to date at 4lbs.

I know some folks are going to hate this shot. For a number of reasons. Can't say I blame you. One reason........the forced perspective bullshit. It is bullshit. I wanted to get a regular shot, and a forced perspective, to show the difference side by side. Unfortunately, the camera operator is not familiar with my DSLR this was the only shot that came out. It is a kill shot. Now, I know I have stated on this blog, that having moved to a locale that can afford my harvest, harvest I will. Much different approach for me than the last 3 decades of unerring catch and release. Out of all the fish caught, only this one came home. Usually, I will avoid such photo's. Even if a fish is going to get culled, I will generally take the pic in a manner that wouldn't advertise the fact. It is what it is however. Besides...........this fish killed my camera...........so f#*k him.

If I can salvage any pics from my point and shoot, I will add them. It is currently in a bag of rice, hopefully removing the moisture.

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.

Sun is out.........

So I went out for a bit. Took a drive to a couple of lakes for some quick casts and to see if they were any active fish. I love that within 10 minutes I can get to dozens of different lakes. I'm trying to acquaint myself well with a handful this year. Not sure how much I would learn if I just hit a different lake each day.


Lots of anglers out this weekend. The local police are also out in force to equal them, for some reason. Odd the number off OPP I saw this weekend. Still, even in popular shore fishing locations finding spots were easy. And yes, this was another shore fishing excursion.


Considering the lack of surface activity, I was surprised at how well received my surface fly was. If a fish so much as moved the surface, I could talk it into sucking up a GFC. Usually on the first cast. That fly works real well when bass are taking bugs of the surface. Not that many were..........but those that did were quickly sorry.

It was such a beautiful night out there. Finished off on Depot Lake, to enjoy the sunset there. They always prove to be spectacular.

Dog walk.

Looks like we are in for a prolonged period of rain here. Sucks. I'm not overly eager to head out into inclement weather.

I did go out for 45 minutes this afternoon, to exercise the dog for the most part. However, my rods never leave the car so I decided at a few casts into Depot Lake.

The white Twitch bait has worked well for me early this season

My first stop along the path had me on a nice large. exposed part of the sheild. I threw a half dozen casts or so and caught an enthusiastic, but small, bronzeback. He wasn't much longer than the twitch bait itself. Better than nothing I thought, and sure not hard work.

this fish weighed 2lb 8oz.

A little further along and I headed over to a spot I have previously seen bass cruising. I approached the water so as to obscure my presence with a large boulder shore side. I made a short cast of maybe 20' with my twitch bait, where I knew a large tree was submerged in about 8' of water. A good bass took it on the second twitch. This guy weighed in at 2 1/2lbs, and is pretty indicative of the average smallmouth here.


Figured that was a pretty decent outing for the short time I was there, and took the doggy home.

Obviously, these were not caught on flies. Both fish fell to a twitch bait. I had mentioned I was picking up spinfishing this season. I have an internal debate whether  to post about those endeavors here. Still debating. For now, some posts on spinfishing will appear.

Bass!

When I got up this morning at 5am. it was raining and overcast. I felt like shit, so I went back to bed.

Depot Lake in Clouds.

The weather hasn't really improved, but I did manage to haul my ass out for a couple of hours. I went to Depot Lake, just south of town. Upon pulling into the parking lot I was greeted to an odd site. A dozen or so vehicles replete with boat trailers. I say odd, because usually there is no more than a car or so, and often I  am the only one there. SO, some folks obviously feel its a good lake for smallies.

I managed 4 bass in  a couple of hours. Smallest was 12". The others were notably larger. However, with no tape or camera present, there is no point at guestimation. Only one came on the fly I'm afraid to report. As previously mentioned, I am picking up spinfishing again this season. and was eager to test some of my plastics and tackle. 2 fish came on shaky head jigs, with 5" punkinseed worms, and the other came on a white twitch bait. The fly that took a fish was a yellow rabbit strip streamer, sized 8.

Almost all the action happened as soon as I arrived. I would have been much better off being out earlier, but it is what it is. I was shore fishing from one spot. So, all in all, it was as decent an outing as I could expect.

I was planning to make another go in the evening, hoping the weather might improve so I could take out the 'toon, but upon arriving home my back has started spasming to such a degree that is unlikely.

Waiting.

It`s currently raining here in Elliot Lake. Tomorrows forecast does not look much better. I`m not sure it will keep me home all day, but we will see.

Dunlop Lake sunset.

I am very eager for bass season. I have been pondering why for a while now. I haven`t bothered with trout as of yet, except to check out some rivers. Then I never made it back when the fishing should have been good. I only targeted the pike for a little bit. For some reason I am fixated on bass.

There are a few readers of this blog who will have seen my various websites over the years. The vast majority of my ramblings concerned the trout local to where I lived. So much so that some folks gained a perception that this was all I fished for. Can`t blame them for that, as I said, mostly I talked trout, and unless one was a constant reader, missing the other species would be easy.

Luna Moth

I started fishing when I was three years old, and have had the qualifier àrdent`attached to my pursuit since then. I have always loved to fish. Bass is the first fish to capture my imagination. It is the fish I would daydream about in between our trips up north. All to infrequent for an enthusiastic child I can tell you. It is the fish I would read about.  I leafed through mail order tackle catalogs until the pages fell out, like at bass tackle and lures, making sure the few pieces I would acquire would provide the magic I envisioned.  I was devouring books on bass from the adult section of our library well before I was ten.

It was in those books I was first introduced to flyfishing, for bass of course. Serendipitously ( *not a word, but should be. ), my grandfather bought me a fly rod around the same time. It was at christmas when I was 9 that I received that gift. I am sure he envisioned me pursuing trout with that wonderful little setup. I however, was adept at catching fish by this time, and had serious misgivings as to how effective a fly rod could be. I know what it said in the books, but I really like catching fish, and didn`t want to risk the chance of even missing out on a single one.

As a result, the flyrod remained more of a novelty item, brought along to more play with than anything else. I had a membership at a trout club before my teens, and the flyrod and I got more familiar. As I got into my teens, I was using the fly gear more and more, until it simply edged out the other hardware altogether. It was also at the time trout were beginning to occupy the majority of my time. The trout fishing was much better in my immediate vicinity than the bass..............so easy decision. But it was bass that taught me I could as effectively target fish with a flyrod as I could with my spinning gear. They have always remained a favoured quarry. I doubt a season has passed by when I haven`t pursued them. The same cannot be said for trout.

Now, these many years later, I find myself kind of coming home in away. Over the past number of years, I was fishing bass more and more frequently, for a number of reasons. In the more recent past seasons I may have been doing more bass fishing than anything else............my back had a lot to do with that to be honest. This year, its been all I have been thinking of. During the winter, I was once again going through catalogs, albeit online ones this time, researching tackle and lures, making sure my purchases will count. I have been counting days, waiting for the 4th Saturday. I am likely looking forward to a restless night sleep. Hope you get out and have some fun tomorrow. I know I am hoping to, if this rain ever stops.

Water Watching................again.

I have been watching two bodies of water lately. Horne Lake right in town, and Dunlop Lake, which is about 20 minutes north of Elliot Lake. Horne is small and easy to get to, with ample shore fishing opportunities. In fact, it has docks for fisherman only ( no boats ). Its also very easy access. I get out there a lot. Dunlop is larger, and pretty much demands some sort of watercraft. Lately it's been the canoe, though I plan on getting my pontoon in there soon enough.

It has been interesting to see how the waters progress. Seeing changes take place in Horne, to be repeated on Dunlop three days later. Whether it be ice, the appearance of weeds, location of fish, etc. I can tell you know, that in two days, the plethora of Rock Bass in the shallows of Dunlop currently will have thinned out, as the predacious smallmouth move in.

Canoeing on Dunlop Lake.

Fishing Dunlop today was like it was on Horne the past few. Lots of Rockies, with the occassional smaller out of season bass. Incidental enough that I need not worry about pulling in my line. I had watched the Rock Bass in Horne go from almost none, to a few, to herds, along the shore. Very few Bass to speak of. Over the past week, incidental catches on Horne became progressively more frequent. Last night was the last night I will fish Horne till the opener. Couldn't catch panfish and bass were more than incidental. I can't fish under those conditions. Look at my last blog entry. Same lake, same time, two wildly different results.

Now, if my assumptions prove correct, Dunlop maybe primed and ready to go come Saturday. That's my hope at least. As mentioned before, the structure in that lake is of the stuff of which dreams are made. The potential there is amazing. One thing I did note, that was when I visited Dunlop last summer, I stayed on the north shore. The shore line saw there was not nearly as enticing as what I have found along the south west shore.

I think I am more excited about this opener than any in recent memory.

Anticipation.

So looking forward to bass season.

............boom.

I know you haven't heard much in the way of bass up here so far. Last year my outings were few and far between. My posts on this blog are always somewhat less than my outings. However, I can tell you some things without doubt.

One thing for sure is the Smallmouth up here are big. Real big. The average fish is a few pounds. You'll quickly get the idea once they are legal for picture taking. They seem to be prolific in numbers too.

Tonight was a 'bad' night for bass. In that they have once again seemed to take to the shallows for feeding ( in Horne Lake ). They had not been in there for awhile, leaving me and my panfish in peace. Tonight they were busting up fish along the shore at a steady pace. I pretty much had to cast to rising panfish. If there was no sign of panfish, it usually meant I would be able to spot a cruising smallmouth in the area. I would have to move, or wait for the panfish to start on the surface again. Mind you, its only days until the season opens and my perspective on this matter will have changed a lot.

..............the Green Fish Critter.

As I mentioned, the panfish were rising steadily from 6 - 8:30pm. Had a lot of fun picking of fish after fish. When I first got there, I started throwing a small deceiver. I was a little surprised by the lack of interest. When I finally got around to putting on a floater, it was night and day. One of those fish after fish, cast after cast deals. Made for a very enjoyable few hours. Only floater I had on hand were my Green Fish Critters, and the fish were more than happy to pounce all over it. I love surface fishing. :)

http://elliotlakeflyfishing.com/

........green fishing again.

Some footage from the other night. With trout water in the high temps, there's no reason to be putting those fish at risk, so it's sticking with the warm water species. I'm loving the 'toon. It's alot easier on my back than wading. Still on the same negligible fishery, fishing the GFC. Probably was out for an hour and a half.