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.