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2008 Fishing Reports
The following fishing reports have been compiled from most of my outings, I hope to add many more this year. Scroll down the page to view all reports.March 18th 2008
This winter seems like it will go on for ever with all the snow and cold March we are having. A nice sunny day, one of the last chances to ice fish for big Northerns, I headed out for a day with some friends, we "set up shop" near Beauharnois. This had to be the one of the worst outing I've seen to date, we had 1 bite on a frozen mackerel, they rest of the day was totally dead, despite fishing live minnows, worms, dead bait and lures on a variety of about 20 tip ups, brimbales and ice jigging rods. The bright side of the day was a visit from world famous musky guide Mike Lazarus. It's the first time I met him, although I've heard and read about him before. He is a down to earth, nice guy, we chatted for about an hour or so, he's got to be one of the most die hard fishermen I've ever met. Despite the fact that he specializes in guiding anglers for big muskies for a living, he still takes the time to fish a few times a week during the winter. He also did tip me off on an auger that Canadian Tire is selling at half price, I'm thinking of picking one up for next season, to get more freedom and access to fish anywhere / anytime. Equipped with a 9 inch blade, it should do the trick for the big pikes that I'm targeting, provided they co-operate.
March 12th 2008
In my quest for big winter pike, I headed out to Lac St Louis near Kahnawake with a couple friends. The weather was overcast with light snow, about or just about freezing. I set up a variety of bait dead bait including minnows, smelt, sardines and small mackerel, on my pike lines, a double worm rig on my jigging rod. The fishing was extremely slow, we move to 3 separate spots over about 1 mile in search of the pike, all we caught were some small perch jigging live minnows and worms. We unfortunately we only able to fish until 3:00 PM. As I'm pulling up my lines, the one with a 7- 8 inch mackerel had a decent sized pike on it. Again, I lost it when trying to bring it through the 8 inch hole. A frustrating loss, my consolation is that the rig worked for a second time. Check out my big pike setup and rig on Youtube, I would love your input. Click:
March 4th 2008
My office PC needed some repairs for a day, I naturally decide to make the best of what's left of the ice fishing season. With the temperature just above freezing, I headed out to Lake Champlain for the day with my 5 year old son Levi. I intended to fish for pike, but also rented some "brimbale" tip ups, and picked up some minnows and worms when I got there. The lake was solid ice, covered in about 2 inches of water, the waterproof boots and "stabilicer" cleats came in very handy. I set up 5 pike rigs with frozen smelt, sardines and mackerel, as well as some tips ups with live minnows and worms. Unfortunately, the pike weren't interested in what I had to offer, the perch were hitting throughout the day. The big surprise came when I pulled out a fat bullhead on my ice fishing rod, surprised me when I say it, I thought it was a "jumbo" perch or walleye. All I caught on film was the release, you can check it on Youtube by clicking: http://www.youtube.com/v/2j5Hy2WdHw4
February 24 - 25th 2008
As I've enjoyed some great fishing on Giles Lake over the past few summers, I finally decided to try ice fishing for Northern Pike there. I arrived early Sunday morning, my oldest son Ari and I were out on the ice and set up about 9:00 AM. I fished with frozen smelt, sardines and small mackerels, rigged on a mix or double hooks and quick strike rigs. For two days we enjoyed perfect weather, but not one fish! I had one small strike, the first morning, but that was it. I fished drop offs, shallow bays, deep point and area that contained nice weeds during the summer, and rock piles, so I basically covered all types of structure in that lake. On the second day, I was out with the owner of the outfitter as he didn't have any other customers, he decided to jig for perch using a Rapala ice minnow. His sonar marked schools of fish suspended in about 30-40 feet of water, with a healthy amount of "big ones". He didn't hook any all morning, but later that afternoon he managed 2 largemouth bass in the 1.5 - 2 lb range. I normally catch about 100-150 bass to 1 pike in that lake during the summer, I figured winter would be the perfect opportunity to even out the ratio, but I was proven wrong. I did get my first experience with a snowmobile which I used to haul us and all my gear around the lake, although I couldn't figured out how to get the machine to turn properly on the ice paths on the shore, and ended up stuck in a couple snow banks, but I did manage to move around properly on the lake. I was planning this trip since last year, finally found the perfect weather and time to go, unfortunately the pike had other ideas.
February 18th 2008
On a last minute / spur of the moment whim, a couple friends and I decided to do some ice fishing off Ile Perrot near Montreal for half a day, despite the brutal 60 KM + winds. It was the end of a warm front, the ice was covered in about 12 inches of heavy, wet slush. Not the best conditions, but when you're properly equipped with a good pair of waterproof boots and snow pants, you can still have a good time. Additionally, we found a bunch of holes that were drilled the previous day, so we avoided lots of work and time wasted drilling new holes. My buddy set up 10 tip ups with 2 minnows, I set up only 2 lines and my new home made "pike machines", tipped with quick strikes rigs and frozen 6 inch sardines I picked up at the grocery store. Within half an hour I had a pike nibbling. I set the hook, brought him up to the hole and he came off just as I tried to get him through. It wasn't a monster pike, maybe 4-5 lbs. About 20 minutes later, my friend's tip up next to mine goes off, he hooks into the same pike, brings it up to the surface, just as he's about to bring it through the hole, it cuts his 35 LB fluorocarbon leader and swims off with the hook in his mouth/throat. Needless to say, that was the last we saw of that pike.
The rest of the day was extremely slow, we did manage a small walleye and a couple perch, I posted the walleye footage to Youtube, the high winds don't help the audio too much. To view the clip, click: http://www.youtube.com/v/ZEmfWr19nOE
February 6th 2008
I was planning a trip to the Bay of Quinte for big walleyes, unfortunately it was cancelled by the hut operator as the weather got too warm and he had to pull his huts off the ice in order to avoid losing them. I opted to try a spot near off the South West side of Ile Perrot with a couple of friends. One of them has the full ice fishing gear from auger and spatula, to flag/ spring mounted tip ups rigged with double snells to fish a couple minnows at a time. We got out on the River about 11:00 AM upon which he immediately got to work drilling his holes and setting up his tip ups. I didn't bother at first, I tried using ice fishing rods and a couple makeshift tip ups I currently have in "beta testing" for big pike. His mechanisms proved to be all that worked though, he ended up catching about 7-8 perch, a couple small walleyes and a Northern pike. Although I can say that I have never seen a system as effective as his, I'm not sure I have the patience to bother with all the work involved each time I head out. I prefer to enjoy fishing with as little work as possible, in contrast to about 1 hour to setup 10 rigs and another ½ hour to take them apart. All in all, it was a great ice fishing lesson for me, as I'm it's not a sport that I've put much time or effort into in the past. To view the new Youtube footage of that trip, click:
Northern Pike http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pid_Lh322W8
Yellow Perch http://youtube.com/watch?v=wvNtWQVVd2M
January 31st 2008
I finally made it out for an afternoon of ice fishing on the Outaouais River near Pointe des Cascades. Not my ideal place to go, but with only an afternoon off, I figured it was better to stay local. As I don't have an auger, and prefer to be sure that I'm on safe ice with other cars and cabins on the surface, it seemed like the logical choice. The ice was thick enough, and getting harder as the temperature dropped and high winds blew away / froze the wet conditions from the previous day. I originally tried the spot in 2007, didn't get any bites then. I went out over deeper water this time, but I got skunked again, not even one bite! We fished ice rods, tip ups and some new home made contraptions I plan to use for big pike in the ice, using live and dead minnows, worms, and even some large, frozen sardines I picked up in the grocery store before going out. Needless to say, I won't be going back to that spot until the ice melts as not a bite on 2 separate outings over 10 hours of fishing is not quite worth it. Again, the only up side was that we had no trouble keeping the beers cold…
January 1st 2008:
No fishing yet, it's only new years day, typically the day I renew my Ontario fishing license. I logged in to the Ontario MNR (Ministry of Natural Resources) online store this morning, I got a couple surprises:
- The fees doubled for non Ontario Canadians.
- The zones and rules have changed for the areas I fish, as well as many other areas.
1) The Ontario Ministry of natural resources has doubled their fishing license fees for 2008. After paying $13.62 last year as a Canadian / non Ontario resident, they are now asking for $26.38 for a conservation license or $$43.64 for a sport fishing license. Looks like someone had to pay for all those O.F.A.H. Ontario Angler Award certificates and decals they send to participants at no charge. I guess are tax dollars are at work as usual... Their actual justification for the price is mentioned in their F.A.Q, they want to be "fair" to Ontarians by charging us more.
To view their latest fees, click: http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/fishing/ocopt.html
2) Looks like the MNR has changed the zoning for the New fishing rules / regulations. Lake St Francis has been put assigned zone 20, while the Raisin River is in Zone 18. With my boat in Lancaster, I'm right in between 2 zones that have new rules. The new rules reduce possession limits, stricter size slots, and reduced both winter and spring fishing seasons in some areas. I will also have to walk about 100 feet away from the water to empty my minnow bucket at the end of the day. "Knowing is half the battle".
