Spring 2013 Algonquin Park trip

Another year and another trip into Algonquin is in the books. Great times with some good buds and lots of good pristine nature.

The fishing was a bit tough but we did manage to get a few nice Brookies, 10 in all. The trip to our campsite included 3 paddles and portages that took about 7hrs. A bit of a workout but more than worth it.









This lake just had ice out on May 4th, and by the 15th the hatch had already happened and the fish had moved deep. It took a while to figure out what they would hit on but we did, and they bit.

We also had a mid day swim on Saturday and wow was it cold, 4 crazy guys in the middle of nowhere swimming in 40 deg water.











Great days, awesome nights and fires, good cooking and lots of laughs.

Thanks guys, next year will be even better!!

First time catches are the best!

My buds Ian and Dan and I hit a local lake for Lakers with the intent to get some fish for the smoker. Ian brought his daughter Amy, who had never caught a Laker before, mission was to have her catch her first. I met Ian at his house at 6am and then, after loading his gear, we started the trek to the launch.
Dan met us there with his 5yr old son Ryan, boy it's nice to see the youngsters interested in fishing, makes a good day even better.
The day started with jigging in 100-125' of water with Rapala ice minnows, Dan was lucky right off the bat but Ian, Amy and I were not so lucky. After a while of watching the sonar I noticed how the 50-70 foot zone was loaded with fish, a decision was made to switch over to downrigging. GOOD PLAN!!!

Amy and her first Laker, nice fish!













Ian and a beauty, weighed in at 6.6lbs.
















A little one for me.



Not bad for a mornings fish

Lakers,Lakers,Lakers

Gotta love downrigging for Lakers! They are hungry, and plentiful.

My bud Ian, joined me hoping to boat his first Laker, and they didn't disappoint.

Balls down 60ft in 150 feet of water, Mooselook spoons, and WHAMMO!!!

We passed a certain submerged rock point, and on almost every pass we had a fish!


1.4mph seemed the best speed, while going against the wind produced all the fish.

Canada day brought some fun bass action. My brother in law Erik and I did some froggin and spinnerbaits for largies and we did, OK!

We missed a couple of giants and had a break off, might have been a toothy critter.

Of the approx 6 hrs on the water over the long weekend, these were the photo worthy fish!

Freekish winds kept us away from 90% of the Lake, seems the fish had the same idea.

Good times!

Rainbows and sunshine

My bud Ian and I hit a small Rainbow lake in search of some action, we did manage to hook up but the bite was less than we had hoped for.
When they do hit it's pretty exciting and even for smaller fish they fight pretty good. Still driving into a back lake and spending a day on the ice in the sun makes for a pretty enjoyable time.







Ian was able to hook up with a nice 'bow, hopefully our next hunt will be more active.

Ice Pickeral

Evening walleye bites can be exciting, fast and furious, as we found out on a January weekend.
With my buds Jm and Bruce, we hiked out to a grassy edge and settled in for a night bite, we were not let down.

With a lead up of steady  perch action, the walleye started to bite almost on cue, almost as if someone had rung the dinnerbell.


We hooked into about a dozen or more and released about half back to swim again. Jm had an unfortunate thing happen as he left his one rod unattended and heard some commotion, only to turn and see his rod disappear down the hole, quickly.


 I would have liked to have seen that fish.

Awesome time on the ice with some friends and we even were treated to an amazing sunset.

Big Fall Fattie as the season winds down

Dec 4th and no snow on the ground, water temps are in the low 40's and muskie closer is just around the corner. I offered a seat in the boat to a new to muskie angler and he jumped at it. We started to troll a regular fall troll and as we did we made some adjustment for the conditions. It all paid off when this fattie hit a legend perch bait.

Not bad for Russells first fish!

Congrats on the piggie!