Ever wonder if Cormorants affect fish populations, wonder no more!!

Photos of the contents of one cormorant from Oneida Lake, WI

This is why as anglers we need to band together to save our favourite recreational sport!  Find out how you can get involved in your area.  Many States and Provinces have groups who are trying to fight this problem.

Lake Trout ice fishing close to home!

With the winter season now in full effect, ice fishermen have now invaded most lakes that have enough ice.  A problem that I see for myself this winter is the soaring cost of gas.  Most of the lakes I fish in the winter are a little ways away from home.  The fishing is great and I rarely get skunked.   Where I am not successful is keeping money in my wallet.  I have a two-stroke snowmobile, power auger and truck that I need to fuel up for each trip.  Throw in the cost of bait, food and other incidentals and the trip cost becomes very expensive.  I have decided that I am going to fish lakes close to home this winter to see if I can generate some kind of success.  The attitude towards fishing local lakes are that they are fished out.  Let's see if that is true or false this winter.  I am judging my success by the amount of money I save + the fun I am having + the amount of fish frys throughout the winter. 

The first two lakes that I decided to tackle  this past weekend were Robertson Lake and Bone Lake.  These lakes are about 10 minute truck drive from home and a 10 minute snowmobile ride down the trail.  The species in these lakes are Rainbow, Speckle and Lake Trout.  I decided to target Lake Trout on both lakes.  Each day of fishing lasted about 4-5 hours.  On Saturday I took my daughter and Father-law fishing to Robertson Lake.  It was a cold and windy day out on the lake.  Thanks to our Clam ice hut we didn't even notice the cold.  An hour into the day saw our first fish being pulled in by Tylar(my 5 year old daughter).  It topped 3.5 lbs and her excitement really made the day.  We didn't officially catch another fish that day but we did have some action and another 3 lb fish right to the hole.  The day ended with a great fish fry with my family.  The next day I decided to go into Bone Lake for some more Lake Trout.  The temperature was much cooler than the day before.  The temperature starting out was bone chilling -17 Celcius.  It didn't take long before I got my first fish.  It was too small to keep.  The day saw 8 Lake Trout caught but the biggest was only about 1.5 lbs.  Again the action was good and I left there with my limit. 

I would have to say that the weekend was a success because I saved lots of money in gas, had to great days of fun and caught enough fish for 2 fish frys.  The most successful lure of each day was the Macho Minnow(3/8 oz) perch colour by Northland Tackle, the best depth range was 20-30ft and the best time was about 12:30 pm.  I also had the opportunity to test out my new Ice Hut by the Clam corporation, it is called the Summit Thermal.  I also tested my new Ice Armor Extreme Suit, best suit I have ever owned.  Truly made with the Ice fishing Angler in mind.

Bay of Quinte Monster Walleye fishing in the Fall!

  

For years I have thought about making the trip to the Bay of Quinte for fall fishing.  Trophy Walleyes are more abundant in the fall due to the migration pattern that allows them to winter close to their spawning area.  Dave Wagler and myself decided to set out to catch the big one.  We had two days to catch big walleye and set personal bests.  Grant McAllister who owns and operates G2 angling specialists ( http://www.g2angling.com/ ) spends a lot of time chasing the big one for many clients with his Guide Service.  Grant and I fished together this past season on the Northern Ontario Walleye Trail ( http://www.nowt.ca/ ) and we share the same passion.  He invited me to come down an experience something most people never get a chance to experience, reel in Monster Walleye.  This trip was the highlight of my fishing career to date.  Using our Offshore planer boards, Reef Runners and Rapala's Trolls To 20 cranks, we managed to catch 14 walleye over two days of miserable cold weather.  The average size was about 9 lbs (28 inches).  We missed many fish too!  I ended up beating my personal best 3 times.  My personal best before this trip was 9.5 lbs.  I caught a 10.5, 10.8 and a 13.6 lb walleye.  I cannot believe how fat these fish are.  They feed on lots of Gizzard Shad and grow fast.  These fish really fight and dog all the way to the boat.  What I like about this fishery is everytime the board jumps back aggressively it could be a 15 lb + walleye on.  I am already planning my next trip.  If you are a passionate Walleye fisherman than you need to do this trip once, but I warn you it is addictive.  I invite all to join me next fall on the Bay of Quinte for Monster Walleyes and great planer board action.  Grant McAllister with G2 Angling has you covered and will put you on fish.

Fall Walleye turns into fall Pike on the St Marys River

Richard Rosset and I have been trying to plan a day fishing trip together for the past 3 weeks but weather and schedules kept getting in the way.  We decided to just book a day and go no matter what the weather was like.  Well the day we booked couldn't have been worse conditions.  The description of the weather goes like this: -4 celcius, blowing snow with some freezing rain, wind gusts from 25-35 km/h and 4-5ft rolling waves.  We really wanted to tackle Munuscong Bay for some late season Walleyes but the waves were too big and the boat trip would have been at least 1.5 hrs due to reduced speed.  Instead we thought we would check out Lake George to see what the conditions were like and go from there.  Well Lake George was way to rough as well with high winds and big waves.  The spray from the waves was coming over the boat windshield into our faces.  Determined, we decided to go back to Bell's Point to see if we could locate any fish since we were already out fishing.  The water was relatively calm and we were marking some fish but we weren't sure what we were seeing.  First we started pulling some planer boards and crankbaits for awhile.  After a good run it was clear the fish didn't want what we were providing so we changed it up.   Instead we threw down some bottom bouncers tipped with a worm and a Gulp Minnow.  On the first pass we landed a 33 inch pike that was really thick.  The chart says 10lbs but I think it was bigger.  You be the judge!  We fished a little bit longer but the weather was pretty terrible so we packed it in early.  Check back in a week to see how did on The Bay of Quinte for two days.  Home of Monster Walleye!

St Marys River Fall Steelhead

The St Marys River is known for many great fishing seasons and species.  November and December are good months for Fall Steelhead.  I managed to twist Caleb Dereski's and Ken Truman's arms to join me on a very cold November day.  We decided to launch the boat on Saturday afternoon to seek out the infamous St Marys River Steelhead due to the fact it was very cold Saturday morning(-8 Celcius).  We decided to head up the rapids as far as the boat could go without hitting rocks.  We threw everything from spawn, rapala's and spoons but never got any hits.  We didn't spot anything either.  More then likely the fish that were hanging back had already moved up and the next batch of Steelhead hadn't moved in yet.  We then drove over the American Power Dam to try a few runs.  Again we threw everything out there but never got any takers.  Time was starting to run out on the day.  The next move was to head up towards the Great Lakes Power Dam and slowly drift back.  We started to mark alot of fish sitting outside or behind current breaks.  We made a quick run down the side and end up with a solid hit but no fish.  We then motored back up to the dam to fish the same run.  This time we were rewarded with a nice 5 lb Steelhead.  The fish came on Caleb's rod so he is the one posing with the fish in the picture above.  We had time to make one more run. Again we had another solid hit but no fish.  It wasn't a productive day of fishing but we did learn more about the stuctures that were holding fish at the end of the day.  Should be a more successful day the next time out.  The Steelhead run will get heavier as we move further into the month of November.  Planning to head out on the weekend again to chase some more Steelhead.  Check back for updates.

Fall Fishing on Lake George

Fall fishing is my favourite time of year because the weather is just right for me.  Most anglers in Northern Ontario are focused on the Steelhead run which is now in full gear.  I thought I would head down to Lake George to try and pull some planer boards and crankbaits.  I loaded up the boat in Goulais River and headed towards Ben's bait and Tackle on the Garden River First Nations Reserve.  This is a decent place to launch and a much shorter boat ride to Lake George.  Once I got to my spot I threw out the boards and started fishing in about 7-10 ft of water over weed beds.  I started using X-raps with different colours.  Within 10 minutes I had my first board shaker.  It turned out to be a 5 lb pike.  This was not what I was looking for but the fight was a lot of fun.  Before I could get the line back in the water the other board started shaking.  Again it was another pike about 4 lbs.  I decided to switch up baits and go with a slower presentation and deeper water(10-12 ft) to see if I could spur the walleye on.  I went with riplin redfins of different colours but I added some weight to the line to get them down deeper.  Guess what, within minutes I had another pike on about 5 lbs.  I decided to move to another area and change up baits again.  This time I decided to try Northland Tackles jaw breaker spoons(weedless).  I ended catching a jumbo perch right away so I thought maybe things were going to be different.  Not the case, the pike started up again.  I must of have caught a dozen pike in about 3 hrs.  It was a lot of fun but nothing bigger than the fish in the picture above.  I think I am going to chase after Steelhead on the weekend!  Check back for more updates.

Fall Fishing in the Algoma Region

Fall fishing is a great time to get out and see the colours as the leaves start to change.  The weather is not too hot and can make for a nice day of fishing.  Typically most anglers do not fish walleye in the fall in Sault Ste Marie because the Coho and Steelhead season has begun.  Walleye in the St Marys system are very migratory and they move day after day.  The most frustrating part is marking the big hooks on your electronics but not being able to catch them.  Crankbaits seem to work well this time of year but bottom bouncing spinners and rip jigging can still produce great results.

Last Sunday Caleb Dereski and I went searching for walleyes but came up empty handed.  Now we ended up empty handed for Walleye but we managed to catch a lot of bass and pike.  This made for a fun day because we had lots of action.  We concentrated of efforts around the St Joseph Island bridge and Devil's gap.  We marked alot of hooks on the electronics but we were not sure what we were seeing.  Note to self in the future, need an underwater camera to identify what we are seeing.  I will say they were defined hooks which is what I am used to when I am walleye fishing.   We spent most of the time bottom bouncing with a 2 oz bottom bouncer and some speed to cover water.  We tried all baits from live to plastics.  The bass seemed to love everything and they were very aggressive.  The funniest thing of the day was Caleb catching an old anchor.  I still can't believe he was able to pull that anchor with his light line.  It was good for a few laughs.

The scenery as always was undescribable and always gives you a sense of peace.  I love fishing but I love being somewhere where you could stare for hours at all the different potential pictures for your wall at home.   I've included some pictures of the windmills in along Lake Superior in Gros Cap and a nice picture of the mountains with the incredible colours of  our leaves.  The winds were not too bad but I did expect them to pick up by the afternoon.  The weather was only good enough for a morning fish and then the winds came up and blew us off the water. 

Planning to do some more Walleye/Steelhead fishing on the weekend.  Stay tuned.