Something Big in My Backyard

There is something very big growing in my backyard and it is not a fish! Last year my neighbor decided to sell her property overlooking the Bracebridge Falls. This is what resulted. " Progress "

Oct 24 2007-Beddy-Bye to the Boat

Last day out fishing on the " Walkabout " this year! I went out with Andy this morning to try and catch a couple of late season monster Pike. Unfortunately all the fish were camera shy, and now we will have to wait for next year. A farewell shot of the " Walkabout "
And another!

Oct 10 2007-Nice Pike

For those of you who follow my Blog, you may have noticed there was no Post last week. Very simply put, we got "Skunked". Hard to beleive? Beleive it!
On to better days. Went fishing with Brad today & it was raining, windy & very chilly! I started the morning off with a 31 inch Pike. Large head & skinny body. It weighed about 5 1/2 lb. As you can see, this Pike has a couple of nasty gashes on its side & back. Can you imagine the size of the Pike it took to do this?
Heading back to the marina Brad managed to catch this somewhat smaller Pike. All in all not a bad morning for a crappy day.

Sept 25 2007-Another Big Smallie

Another day out on Lake Muskoka with Rick. The day started off wet and cool but turned quite nice as the morning wore on. Today we decided to go Pike hunting; so we changed to bigger lures and tried different locations. First fish of the morning was this 13 1/2 inch Smallmouth. It weighed 1 lb 3 oz. This fish was caught on a #4 red & white Mepps. Next fish to come along was a huge Smallie. This one was 19 1/4 inches long and weighed in at 4 lb 1 oz. This fish was caught at 9:46 am. The first fish was caught at 9:41 am. This one was also caught on the # 4 red and white Mepps. And then along came Mr. Big Pike and took my lure right in front of the boat. And I mean took my lure. He swallowed it down, sheared off my line and was gone. No more #4 red & white Mepps.
After several lure changes I was able to hook into this little fella. It was 22 1/2 inches long & weighed 2 lb 8 oz. This one was caught at 10:49 am. The lure was a #5 red with yellow dots Mepps.

At 12:05 along came this 14 inch Smallie. This one was 1 lb 8 oz.
At 12:08 ( the very next cast ) I caught this 16 1/2 inch Bass. This spunky fish put on quite a show of jumping out of the water several times before joining us on the boat for a photo session. This one weighed 2 lb 8 oz. That my friends was all she wrote & home we went!

Sept 23 2007-Finally, a Lake Trout!

The Lake Trout fishing season comes to an end in a few days & Rick and I headed out on Sunday evening for a couple hours to Lake Joe. It was a beautiful night but it got dark so soon. Luckily I was able to catch this cute 17 1/2 inch Laker before loading up & heading home. Too bad I can't seem to find any Lakers on my home ground. Maybe next year!

Sept 19 2007-Downrigging for Lakers

Rick gave me the use of one of his electric downriggers so I could go out & catch my first Lake Trout in Lake Muskoka. After 4 hours I gave up & went back to my traditional method of fishing.Within a very short time of switching over I managed to hook into this 30 1/2 inch Pike. This one weighed 7 lb 1 oz. On the way back to the Marina I came across this boat sitting on the bottom of the lake. Good thing it was not very deep. Someone has some serious bailing to do.
Once back at the dock the work begins. Time to get the trolling motor unbolted from the boat. All four bolts had to be drilled out because they were so seized.

Done! Now I can get the motor serviced and ready for next year.

Sept 11 2007-Slow day for Smallies

Another day out fishing on Lake Muskoka with Rick. We fished for 6 hours and caught this 14 inch Smallmouth Bass. This one was the only one big enough to make the photo album. We did catch 4 other very small Bass.

Sept 6 2007- Another 4 lb 1oz Smallie

Another day out on Lake Muskoka. It was sunny, very hot, & calm. A perfect day for using a surface lure. I decided to use the "Thumb Catching" lure. Yes, this is the same lure I managed to hook into my thumb last week. This is the first fish of the day. A tiny Largemouth Bass not much bigger than the lure. I also caught 3 more tiny Smallmouth Bass not much bigger than this one.
But as luck would have it I also caught this beautiful 19 1/4 inch Smallie weighing 4 lb 1 oz. The "Thumb Lure" works on more than just thumbs. The weed beds have pretty much died off & all fish were caught along the shore lines. Next week I think it's time to head for Lake Joe & hunt for some Lake Trout. September is the last month to catch these awesome fish before the season comes to an end.

Sept 4 2007-3 Pike & 6 Bass

We almost had a double header. Rick caught this 25 inch Pike. We weighed it ( 3 lb 10 oz ) & released it. The very next cast I caught this cute Smallmouth Bass. It was 13 inches long & weighed 1 lb 5 oz. Notice the little shack in the background.
Fish # 3 was a 23 inch Pike weighing in at 2 lb 8 oz.

A couple of minutes later I landed this 25 inch Pike. This gator weighed 3 lb 10 oz.
And then along came this fella to add a little more excitement to our day. this Smallie was 16 inches long and weighed 2 lb 4 oz. We also caught a couple of baby sized Bass to round off our day.

Aug 29 2007-Secret Lake-47 Bass

Just for a change of scenery, Bart took me into his secret lake for some hot Largemouth Bass fishing. He certainly knew what he was talking about when he said you could catch one on nearly every cast. This one is 1 of 16 that I caught between 7:30 am & 8:45 am. Here is Bart with 1 of his 10 caught in the same period of time. And then ------
----- I proved that the lure catches the fisherman. Well I managed to sink the hook into my thumb deep enough that we couldn't get it out on our own. So a trip into the Hospital in Bracebridge to get it out. After a tetanus shot in the arm (not pleasant) and several shots into the thumb to freeze it ( also not very pleasant ) the hook was out!

Back to the Secret Lake at 12:00 noon until 1:30 pm where Bart caught another 13 Bass.
I was able to catch another 8 Largemouth Bass before the freezing started to come out of my thumb. So we packed it up & went home. I managed to catch 24 Bass & Bart was able to catch 23 Bass. That was a total of 47 Largemouth Bass & 1 Thumb. What a day that was.

Aug 28 2007-Nice Pike

Another day out on beautiful Lake Musoka. And a beautiful day it was. First fish to the boat was this cute little Smallie. A big 13 1/2 inches tipping the scales at 1 lb 4 oz. Look at the colours on that one Henry! Second fish to come along was this slightly over sized Pike. Total length on this puppy was 34 inches. The weight was 8 lb 5 oz. Long and skinny and one heck of a good fight. Rick handled the netting.
Also had our first visitor of the season. Very friendly & no problems.

Aug 26 2007-The One & Only

Another Sunday night out fishing. I wouldn't have normally gone out by myself but the flowers needed to be watered & Maggie wanted to go for a boat ride! This was the one & only fish I caught. This Smallmouth Bass was 13 inches long & only weighed around 1 lb. However, I did get some great pictures of the moon rising while the sun was setting!

Aug 22 2007-3 Small Smallies

It was a damp, overcast, & a cool morning. First fish of the day was this cute little Smallie. Second one of the morning was 15 inches long & was 1 lb 10 oz.
The third bass was just a little smaller. This one was 14 1/2 inches long and weighed 1 lb 5 oz. I also caught another very small one & another little Largmouth Bass.
The weed beds are slowly starting to die off & as they do the bait fish leave taking the larger fish with them. I only have a couple of weeks left before I got to find a new "Hot Spot "

Aug 21 2007-Gary & Cole

Today I took Gary & his son Cole out for some fishing action! Cole caught the first fish of the day. This was his first of three Perch. As you can see he was using a #3 Mepps. ( black with red dots ) It seems even Gary was excited enough to get into the picture.
First Smallmouth Bass of the morning was a team effort. Cole reeled in this 14 inch, 1 lb 5 oz Bass & I did the netting job. Once again Gary was anxious to jump into the picture.

The second Smallie of the morning was another team effort! This time I reeled in the fish & Cole did the netting job. This fish was 17 1/2 inches long & weighed 3 lb 0 oz. How does Gary do it? He managed to sneak into another picture. Considering the fact he was unable to catch any fish he sure got his picture taken a lot!
What's this? Where is Gary? He must be taking the picture.