Bassing in the Kawarthas - June 27 2013

First trip out for bass on the boat.

 

Today the day started at 4am. Jacky and Kelvin met at my place to load up and set off. The destination? We didn't decide till we got onto the highway. After a nearly 2 hour ride, we arrived to our destination. But by this time, it was already past 7am, we had hoped to try for some early first light topwater but it didn't happen.

 

We used the minn kota to maneuver around and fished the reeds. Nothing was caught in the first 45 minutes. Not until I got smacked by a surprise, a small musky! Took me for a couple short runs before it had succumbed to the net.

 

We worked around a few reed islands with only a few bass to show for it. So we moved on to some docks. Once we got to the docks, Kelvin hits a 1.5 pounder. It looked promising! but still proved to be slow. Overall I had a decent day on the water, hitting a musky, a few walleyes, panfish and several of the target species, bass, including a 4lb 12oz piggy.

 

The weather was beautiful again out there. Overcast skies provided relief from the sun and a light breeze came through once in a while to cool our skins from the heat.

 

We had a small tournament going between the three of us. Three points for largest bass, 1 point for each bass over 15 inches. I came out with about 8 points, Kelvin with 2 points and Jacky with a whooping 0. LOL better luck next time.  My prize, dinner on them. Thanks for the beer and nachos boys.

 

This was the first time out for bass in almost two years(not including a cottage I went to last year for a week) since I've been so consumed with salmon trolling last year for the great Ontario salmon derby. It was fun, I'll have to get my gear ready for bass and head out again next week. For this trip I didn't have time to properly get all my gear ready. Next time I'll have better results to show ;)

 

I'll let the pictures below speak for themselves. 

 

A nice surprise catch. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some underwater shots taken with my new underwater housing on a Olympus PEN mini/ E-PM1 with a Olympus 9-18mm lens. I'll need to play around with it some more!

 

 

 

 

Hog 4Lb 12 oz largemouth 

 

 

Pitching into the reeds 

 

The secret bait...

 

 

 

A nice 3 pounder 

  



 

 

 

A nice fish pulled from some awesome looking docks near a marina

Jacky proudly showing his fish.

Double pumping the two top fish of the day - released to fight another day!

Releasing the hog back..

 

 

A decent fish from the slop.

 

 

The set ups. 

 

 

Most of the rigs used today, which all caught fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The garbage cup of used plastics from the day of fishing. 



 

 

Summary

Kawartha Lakes

Docks, shoreline, reeds

7am-7:30pm

Cloudy, overcast, light drizzle.

Water surface temps ~80 degrees

 

 

See ya till next time.

2013 3rd Annual Port Credit Pen Salmon Derby - VIDEO TO COME

Yesterday we competed in the 3rd annual Port Credit pen salmon derby. It was a tough day out! Not many boats even caught fish from what I heard back at the weigh-in.

We were weary, trying to decide if we wanted to even participate in the derby since the forecast was calling for 30-45knot winds! Boy were they ever wrong. The water was a calm as it could be.

Our day started at 4:00am at my place, to pack the boat and truck to head over to Port Credit. We arrived and launched by 6:00am. 

Shortly after launching and heading out to the pack, blast off happened immediately. We started the troll at 80FOW, saw plenty of bait, not many hooks though.

We trolled from 90-120 FOW in front of Port Credit, with lots of bait and a few hooks. Nothing produced, so we pulled lines and blasted towards the islands. 

First fish occurred at about 10am, a small chinny, just over 5lbs. Caught on a spoon 60 down, over 254ft.

We did hit a small shaker that we did a quick release on and lost one. At about 11am, it started to rain. This didn't bother us, however it was soon time to head back into port for the 12noon weight in. We pulled lines in at 11:40 and headed back, in good time because right at noon, it began to pour.
When we arrived there were only 10 or so coolers lined up to be weighed. We knew instantly that it was  a tough day. Out of 50 boats, only 14 boats weighed in! It was a fun experience, will sure like to participate in more like these.

Coolers of fish, many only 1 fish only..

The bbq lunch, thank you!

The loot bag given.

The final results of the derby, we could have made 15th spot if we weighed in our fish! I am quite happy with that result since we were possibly the greenest team and for sure the smallest boat out there.

6 rod spread, stacked riggers, a dipsey diver and a planer board with leadcore

 Having fun with the GoPro

I'll post up the video once I have some time to do some kind of editing. Stay tuned.

Date: Sat June 22 2013

Location: Lake Ontario, Port Credit

Lures used: Spoons, MC Rockets, Meat
Lures that produced: Spoons
Surface Temps: 61-65
Down Temps: 52-55 down 60-100ft
Depths Trolled: 80 FOW - 250 FOW
Results: 2-3 from 6:00am-12pm

Morning top water bass - Livetarget field mouse

It was a BEAUTIFUL morning today! With minimal time to fish in the morning, I wasn't able to go through the hassle of taking out the boat. With very little sleep and constrained time, I was picked up by my buddy, Jacky.

We started the day at 7am, lines in at 7:45, first fish at 7:47.

My first time using the Live Target field mouse

 First fish on the mouse, took less than 5 casts

The morning topwater bite was great. Went 4 for 6 in just 30 mins.

After the sun was overhead, the topwater bite completely died. I switched over to a shaky head jig. It didn't take long to produce

Shimano Saros 1000 spooled with 10lb Powerpro braided line on a Shimano Crucial 6' 8" M XF rod.

I used this rod over the winter for lake trout on the ice. I didn't bother changing the lines or using fluorocarbon leader and I still caught plenty of fish. Leaders necessary? I don't think so, but they may help. You will never know unless you turn into a fish...

I fished from 7:45am till just past 10am. Landed 8 fish with about half as many missed.

See ya on the water.