Not Just Me.

Its not just me.

The bass have been less than playful as of late. The weather has been yoyo'ing up and down, and the fish have noticed.

Now, I had been second guessing myself a bit on recent outings. I was doing all the things that I thought should equate to success, but they weren't panning out. Why? Me? The fish? The weather? The planetary alignment? A butterfly flapping its wings in China???

I had to meet with my builder at the house recently. He is also a fly guy. I hate to say it, but I was a little happy when he started telling me that he was having to work for his fish lately. Hey! So, it's not me. He, like I, are both suspecting the weather. Makes the most sense.

We have had three days of high temps, with fairly stable weather, so I was hopeful for this evening. I wasn't disappointed. Things were definitely more active tonight. I hooked into a good number of bass, and some sizable ones. Had I landed them all, it would have been a stellar outing. As luck would have it, few fish actually made it to hand. Still, much better than things were.

Most of the fish were caught deep, on a muddler variant. Some fish were hooked up top, but the numbers were nowhere as good as subsurface.

MNR Zone 10 Smallmouth Bass season change.

As the title says. The season has now changed for smallmouth bass in my area. Zone 10.

It is now open  ALL YEAR. The vast majority of Zone 10 is affected, north of HWY 17, check regs for specifics. Here is a LINK. There seems to be some discrepancy between the provided map, and the wording provided under the heading "ADDITIONAL ZONE 10 FISHING OPPORTUNITIES " There it says "All waters north of Highway 17 and all waters west of where the east bank of the Serpent River crosses Highway 17. (See map)" When one references the map it shows the area to be bordered by the Sturgeon River, not the Serpent. Pretty safe to assume they meant the Sturgeon.

Not sure how I feel about this. I have been fishing under the previous restrictions as long as I can remember. Can't recall another place in Canada that has such a liberal season. I believe some places in the states may have a similarly open season, but I am very unsure of that, and can't find any quick verification.

Its no secret I am always pretty eager to get out and get my kicks with early season panfish. Hooking bass at those times is at times a pretty prevalent affair. Certainly I felt a sense of guilt when this happened, due to my previous programming under the old regs. Many, many times I have had to pack and move, or quit for the day, when OOS hook ups were too likely. Now at least I while feel a little less guilty when I do hook them while fishing pannies than I have in the past, if nothing else.

The regs up here are pretty liberal in general. Walleye are only closed for a couple of months in the spring. Brookies open Jan 1st. Close end of sept as in S.O. Pike all year. Rainbows all year.....etc. Lots of fishing opportunities in general.

I have no idea what the reasoning is behind this decision. I only learned about it when I was in the local gear shop. I would be curious to hear what prompted these changes if anyone happens to know.

Chamois Flys

I have noticed a very notable increase in traffic via searches for chamois patterns. Very cool. When I first started fishing chamois it was a difficult task to find any reference on the net. My introduction to the material came through a buddy who tied it in worm patterns. Big, dew worm like constructions tied and coloured as such. A great pattern, especially in targeting big trout in off coloured water. These days I am seeing a lot more patterns appearing on the web. Not sure how many folks are fishing them though.

Shortly after I started to tie it in minnow patterns. It really shines in this capacity. Such life like movement. I have said right from the start, the only material that is really needed in a chamois streamer is the chamois. Just tying a strip to  a hook will catch you fish. I had a reminder of this last season, and I may have remarked about it on this blog. A day where a pattern I was fishing fell apart. The only thing left on the hook was the chamois. It caught fish. Good fish.


An obvious property of Chamois is it is very water absorbent. As far as us fly fishers are concerned, this property not only helps impart a very lifelike action, it also gives it a life like feel. Fish do not seem to be in any hurry to expel the fly when they chomp down on it. Instead they tend to bite down hard. As far as the action is concerned, it is phenomenal. If a chamois streamer is held in a current, it undulates just as a minnow would. If dead drifted, it tumbles like a dead minnow. A stripping retrieve will see it swim with a dying flutter at the end of the strip. All of this makes for a great fish catching tying material.

It's not to say that chamois is new to the fly tying world. I have seen some rather old nymph patterns that incorporate it. While it is gaining in popularity, it is hardly something you'll see in most anglers fly boxes. It is something you might want to try if your looking to expand your repertoire. One thing I will caution, is if you decide to pick some up, make sure it is the real deal. The faux stuff is not a substitute. I bought a real chamois at Canadian Tire years ago I still have not gone through. Goes a long way.

Below is a video shot last season using a very simple chamois minnow pattern I had thought up the day before.

Post Season Reflection

I suppose with ice starting to form on the lakes, I can start to look back on the season it was.

I made more outings this year, than in the previous three. This is not to say that my back recovered that much. That is hardly the case. It seems to be getting worse, not better. However, the close proximity to so much water made it very easy to get out for a couple of hours in spots where there were likely going to be fish.

The season was a slow start. We had snow on the ground, and ice on the water till towards May. It took me sometime to shake of my hibernation mode too. When eventually things started to line up, I was able to enjoy some of the best fishing of my life, if not the best.

When I look back at posts prior to the season starting, I see things I wanted to do, but never got around too. Like hunting Lake Trout and Walleye. Other species I found I just didn`t want to make the effort for, like Trout. I found it hard to drive 40 mins to fish when I could be on the water in 10 minutes. Consequently, other species saw much more of my time. I did catch some trout. Not many, not too big. But trout they were.

The smallmouth fishing in this area is phenomenal. It succeeded my expectations immensely. The average fish does seem to be in the 2 -3lb range. Over 4lb`s are rarer, but happen often enough that they don`t seem to
be ever out of reach. I was rather pleased with how quickly I figured out were to find them in the various lakes I fished. I thought there would be more of a learning curve there. Thank goodness for fishfinders!

I also fished with spinning gear for the first time in decades. I picked up the routine again quickly, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Towards the end of the season I was fly fishing more than gearing it, but that had to do with old habits than anything else. I am comfortable taking either method out on the water solo, though I do prefer both at my disposal. Catching fish on my own lures was no less satisfying for me than any flyfishing accomplishments. And those lures caught me some great fish. Plastics have come a very long way since I last fished them. Was happy with how consistently productive they are.

Pike I wish I had chased a bit more. Most of my success on that front  was with spinning rigs. I have a couple of good lakes earmarked for next year. Even if I did not get out for them as much as I should have, I did scout and secure some great water for next season. Plan on getting them early season on the fly.

Then there was the Perch. I tangled with them a lot this year. So many of them were eaten. It was a staple in my diet all summer long. I was not a happy camper if I caught bass all day, and no perch. A man needs to eat!

Bird. Bird is the word.

So what now?

Unlikely I will be ice fishing this year. I am not Jesus Christ, I do not walk on water. Even the frozen kind. I suspect I will spend my time hunting this winter. Something I only started this fall, but absolutely love. I regret not having started this in my youth. So far, I`ve only been after grouse. I would like to find some rabbit once that ends. Thing is, you will never see me hiking. The idea of walking from point a, back to point a, just does not make sense to me. Yes, nature is beautiful, but I can observe that from one spot. The walking part of the hike just seems to interfere with the enjoyment from my perspective. However, doing it with a rifle and playing natures equivalent of `Where`s Waldo`is a much different story.

Topwater Smallies.

Do these glasses make
my ash look big?

A nice change of pace tonight. For the first time in a long while I decided to check the surface with a fly. Proved to be a wise decision. Lots of fish, large and small.

When I first got there, a boat of four were pulling out of the water. They related a mediocre day. A couple of decent bass and a bunch of small ones. Pretty much the story of my last few outings on Esten.

Not sure why, but I decided to try topwater with a GFC. Again, I had two fly rods for the outing. A floater and a full sink. At first it was all little fish. But as the sun dipped in the sky, the fish started getting bigger. By the time the night ended, I had landed a respectable number of fish, with enough decent sized ones that I went home a satisfied angler. Also worth noting, I missed a good number of decent fish. Just not paying enough attention.

GFC.

Due to the design of the fly, rarely do the bass smash the fly as they would a popper. The normal take is more of a violent suck. Envision the surface disruption caused by a large brown sucking duns. Then amplify it by 10. At least. I tried the full sink in some likely spots, but it was no where near as productive as the GFC up top.

More Bass tooning.

.....video still of a good bass.

So, I headed out to Horne again. Was hoping for some perch for a fry and to play with whatever else came along. It was rather windy today, and I wasn't really relishing kicking the 'toon around in it. I'm glad I did.

Things started of quick. After several minutes, as I was heading to my favoured hunting ground and trolling a Clouser Minnow, I hooked into a very decent smallie of 3lbs. I was a little surprised. So far this year I hadn't caught any bass doing the shore trolling thing. And especially not in the area where I was. It turned out to be a good sign.

......another Luna Moth.

I was out for about 4 hours. The where was a lull of maybe half an hour where I couldn't find fish, but other than that, things were pretty steady. I got a good number of fish. Biggest was three pounds and a good number of 2 - 2 1/2lber's. A fair number of good size perch too. So, tomorrow those perch will fry.

The biggest bass was taken on a yellow and red Clouser Minnow. The fish were split between the Clouser, and the good old soft plastic worms. Very enjoyable night on the water.

Yeah , yeah.............video angle sucks, my tune sucks, etc, etc. First video since moving, so whatever. The fish make it worth it IMO. Due to the amateurish nature of the vid, watch the top right corner for jumping fish.

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.

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.