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/

Porridge Pike.

http://elliotlakeflyfishing.com/

...........looking south at Porridge Lake

So, I was out tonight for a while on a new lake I had recently scoped out. I do a lot of looking at water. One determination I made recently was the necessity for some form of watercraft. After some internal debate, I went with my trusty old pontoon boat.

One new addition to the `toon was a fish finder. Got to tell you, I thought trying to get it attached to the tooner would be a headache. Fortunately, some research sent me the way of a website called floattubefanatics. http://www.floattubefanatics.com/

Their mounts do an incredible job. Definitely a product I am happy to have purchased. I have a Garmin Echo 150 attached to it.

I`m going to have to get used to the fish finder. First one I have ever owned. Did a great job of giving me data on depth and structure. I had figured the fish were deeper, and this was the case.

.......south shore pines.

Porridge Lake is pretty shallow. Averages about 6` in most places. The deeper sections extend to 13`. This is where I found the pike. Not a lot of fish, but 2 nice specimens did come to hand, pinned by the old streamer, the Black Ghost. I lost a few as well. So all in all, a pretty decent couple of hours you will never hear me complain about. Not even the blackflies.

I think I may have gotten Pike out of my system. Thinking a new species should get the spotlight next.

Wind

......first time I've seen whitecaps on this lake.

The wind was just brutal today. Really didn't feel like fighting it. I went to check out the levels of the rivers. Both the Boland and White have receded, but still have some ways to go.

I did cast for an hour at Horne Lake in the evening. All I could manage was an OOS. Meh. Hopefully we have some good weather tomorrow.

......because if you don't.

Between the back, and other commitments, it wasn't till this evening I could manage to get out. Not far either. Just to Horne Lake. Before heading out, I lined up a new reel. As I was doing so, I noticed my leader was showing some signs of abrasions. After inspections, I decided to remove the last 2". Thinking, the other blemishes were not significant to warrant removal. Besides, it meant I would have to replace the leader.

So, in  other words, I got lazy. And paid.

The action certainly wasn't fast, but in two hours I hooked into 2 good pike.  Both times I broke them off. Couldn't believe it. Not how I lose most of my fish. I know why of course. Don't pay attention to a basic, pay the price. As soon as I noticed the damage, I should have replaced the entire leader. At the time I first noticed it I thought to myself " you know, if I don't change it, I wouldn't be surprised if it cost me a fish. This is flyfishing 101'.". And I was right. Well, mostly. It cost me two fish, not one.

New Site.

http://elliotlakeflyfishing.com/

Heating up.

While the weather has taken a dip toward chilly, the fishing is definitely heating up. Reports of Brookies and Pike have been rolling in. The past 3 days have seen catch reports go from famine to feast.

I went looking at more water before heading to Horne for a couple of hours. Wanted perch, but ended up with the biggest pike of my career. I was ecstatic. A perch hole that had previously been productive was notably devoid of fish. I figured that predators were likely  present, and was very happy to find it was a big pike. It sucked in a size 8 White Clouser I had been fish deep and slow. I was very fortunate in the hook set. I have been fishing a level leader of 8lb Berkely Flourocarbon. I expected the nasty little teeth of the  pike to make short work of it. The hook however, was tucked nicely in the corner of its mouth. Especially handy since I had none of my handy toothy-critter-hook-removal-tools with me.

I was very satisfied with this fish for a number of reasons. I had been looking for pike. Expecting them to come into the shallow bays. One of the reasons I was out perching...........knowing the pike should be in behind them in short order. Catching a nice fish is one thing, understanding why it was caught is another. I`m always tickled pink when its my knowledge base which leads to a good fish. As well, a big assed pike was high up on my list of `to does`as far as my move to the north is concerned. I can now scratch that of the list.

I got hungry.

........and went fishing. After yesterdays Perch dinner, I was in the mood for more. My god, how could I not be? I would have gone out early to take get the dinner getting out of the way, but I was once again immobile whence the time came.

I headed out in the evening, I fished just long enough to take a few nice sized perch from the lake. The creel held enough for a decent dinner for two people before my aching back would allow no more. I was fishing #8 Rabbit Hair Streamers in Yellow or Black.



I was too late getting out. Overcast conditions had the predators coming in early. I almost had to quit for the night even earlier due to OOS hookups.

Dinner

No more excuses. Some fish had to die.

Until tonight, I had not intentionally culled or killed a fish in decades. The main reason for this was conservation. I have always said that my determination not to cull was based on view that the watersheds I fished simply would not be benefited by my removing fish. Who wants to empty the cookie jar? Now that I am in environs that can easily support my harvest, I do. It does not seem proper, or ethical, to eat the flesh of a fish or an animal, without taking part in the harvest. Too many people have become desensitized to where their food comes from. Almost as if they have stepped out of, or are 'beyond' the food chain. Sorry, but meat is murder. If you eat the flesh of a fish or an animal, someone killed it. For you. To eat. Personally, I feel that a hands on approach instills in us a greater appreciation of the process. If something needs to die so we can be sustained, I wonder if it is not our imperative to be as involved with the process as possible.

Perch are one of my favourite fish for consumption. They are delectable. I have been looking forward to a meal of fried perch for a while. After some days of tracking them down, ascertaining their behaviours, figuring out where to find ones that were finished the spawn, I figured to have a good shot at some decent eaters. I had planned on being out in the morning, but I literally couldn't get out of bed due to back spasms.



So, it was down to the lake the evening, this time equipped with some #8 weighted streamers. The night before I was getting some better perch on a Yellow Bunny that was a little to big and was resulting in a lot of tail grabs. The smaller version proved just the ticket. Numerous decent perch ended up in the creel thanks to that fly, and Mickey Finns in the same size.

The evening action was solid. If it dropped off, it usually meant a larger predator had come in. This was ascertained on a couple of occasions through hookups.

After a couple of hours, I had enough for dinner and called it a night. Such a delicious meal was made from the catch.

.........as you can see, I was being literal about the creel.

Perch.............

a new Elliot Lake resident.

So, I managed to drag my sorry ass down to Horne Lake this evening. With great difficulty. I was so beat up from the morning, I tried an afternoon rest, only to wake in far worse shape...............sigh. Horne Lake is pretty much downtown Elliot Lake. It is home to Pike, Smallmouth, Rainbow, Perch, Sunfish, Rock Bass. The only denizen I have yet to meet is Mr. Pike. I like Horne Lake, not so much for its fishing, but more so for it`s paved footpaths. Far easier to hobble down those than navigate boulder strewn shorelines.

Some of the Perch are finished their spawning. I located a bunch of larger perch that were `tapped out`. I managed to find more excuse not to harvest them. Unlike the fish in mating mode, who will ignore all flies, these Perch are acting like the Panfish we know and love. Attacking flies with reckless abandon, providing fish after fish action.
It`s a crap shoot if I will be out tomorrow. I am aching all over. It gets rather frustrating that such simple activity is so aggravating.

.........small jig flies like the one in this perch`s mouth have been deadly.

Perch Hunting.

Well, the perch have one thing on the mind, and it isn`t food. The fish are in full spawning mode. Not to say that there wasn`t a few fish in the mood for food, there were. Most however were more content with their mating ritual. Due to this, more than a few fish were spared the pot. Just doesn`t seem right to harvest  spawning fish. Whatever.



Besides the perch hunt, I managed too hook into a beast of a bow. It went for a run taking most of my line with it in a matter seconds, as I frantically tried to get my drag set. Hook came out without much ado.

4 hours later, and I can`t believe how much pain I`m in. This is sadistic. Whatever time I put in tryin to fish, it seems I pay for it in pain.

Work.

So, I spent the last three days prior to today in a classroom. First time in decades I have seen the inside of one. It ruined my back. Simply can`t sit for prolonged periods like that. Nixed fishing for that time as well. Wasn`t until today I could get to work.

I do put in the work. I spend alot of time looking at water, driving from place to place, talking to other anglers, etc. I`ve certainly put in a lot of recon this spring since the melt. Today, I had a look at our property on Dunlop Lake. Only the tiniest remnant of the icey white stuff remains.

Later into the day I ventured back toward the Boland and White to check their status. Both still flowing very high and clear. The Little White however has receded to the point that I expect it to be fishable in short order. On the way back into town, I stopped at Gander Laker, to see if any Splake were hanging close to shore. There were not.

In the last hour of light I headed down to Horne Lake in the center of town. I wandered around the shore making occasional casts. On one of those attempts, I had a follow. OMG! So there are fish in this area!
I was growing concerned.

Shortly after I hooked into a couple of decent little perch. Can`t tell you how nice it was to finally hook into something. I will be heading back in the morning when I will have a little more time to concentrate on the task at hand. Anyone want to bet on what tomorrow nights dinner is.....................

to continue the theme.

......can you see the 'cliff face' @ Dunlop Lake

I was out exploring my new environs yesterday. This time was to determine access to the Boland, and more or the White. Again, it was determined that access to the white is ridiculously easy. The Boland not so much. I'm thinking the extra 10 minute drive to the White is worth it.


I went to look at a bridge access north of were I searched yesterday.  Found another beauty stretch, with lots of parking, and the obligatory camp sites. These sites dot the rivers. Another 5 minutes up the road found access to another River, name I'll have to look up. It feeds into the White Shortly before the bridge. Its smaller than the other two rivers, and more 'wild' looking............if that is even applicable up here.

Pretty much determined, that given a week, I'll return to the White and should expect the levels to be fishable. Thats not the case for the moment.

The Boland River.

In the evening, I went over to see what was happening on a lake that had been ice free longest, Depot. I stood on an outcropping of the shield by the shore, and peered into the dissipating light. Could it be? Was I seeing what I thought I was? There's another. A moment later, another.

....rise ring.

....its only a 1000 yards. I can make it.

As I watched I continued to see fish surface feed. Given that there are Rainbows in the lake, and these were substantial looking rings, well, my mind started doing the math and I hope I came up with the right answer. Too bad further investigation is curtailed until after this weekends Firearm Safety course. FML.

.......Golden Sunset on Depot Lake