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My son got down for a visit and naturally we had to hit Simco for some perch. I started off with my Simco bugs, (thanks to CPH) and it didn't disappoint. My son started off with a traditional drop shot rig and minnows. He set up a second rod with a Swedish pimple but he tipped it with a small piece of sponge and shad scent (ya I know a little different but it worked) Well, the artificial baits out fished the minnows by a huge margin. We only kept 20 perch, one herring, and two smelt but we caught a heck of a lot more perch. The artificial caught 90% of the fish caught today, with the Simco bug clearly the winner. Another amazing day on the ice! Besides any day fishing with my son is a fantastic day🙂

Had an unexpected opportunity to hit Simco yesterday, turned out CPH was planning on getting out for the day and we were able to hook up. What a great day, we did really well, no idea how many fish we caught but it was plenty. I only kept 10 nice sized perch and 2 herring. I'm not sure how many Steve took home but his pail was a lot heavier than mine. I started off with some of my favorite go to presentations while Steve used some of his own creations, both were catching fish but I can tell you that artificial out caught live bait. So now I plan on spending today making some more grubs for future trips. it's always so satisfying when you catch fish on the artificial baits. We talked to other fishermen in the area, and from all accounts, we did significantly better than most that relied mostly on minnows! So in summary: a great day fishing with great company, some new lessons learned and a nice feed of fish, how can you ask for better than that😊

😆 Yesterday was my first outing on the ice here . Lots of bait, no whities . Was getting lots of tag hits on my larger blood worm for whities, so this morning, I tied up some smaller ones for the high hook . They worked great. Just enough bait to chow down on for a lunch snack. So so scrumptious 😋 20250125_082331.mp4

Where on Simcoe did you go, Cliff? A commercial hut operator? It has been many moons since I fished Simcoe, but Crow-Man and I might make a pilgrimage this winter. Doug

I'm a bit new to this forum. Was curious if anyone else has plans for a trip up north this summer? If so where and when are you going. Were my friend and I are going to Beteau a section of the Attawapiskat Rive quite a ways north of Nakina the 3rd week in June. A rather remote river known for pike and walleye. Should be quite an adventure it's145 air miles in. So what's your plan(s)

Glad you had another good day Cliff. Tim Hales really does have a great set up. Such a nice way to spend the day. For anyone trying to copy my version of the Simcoe Bug. I use an egg sinker. If the hole is to small to fit over the eye of your hook just drill the hole a little bigger. Slip the sinker onto the shank of the hook and squeeze , I just used a pair of pliers , into the shape above in Cliffs picture. Then I used spools of thread we had with our sewing machine and wrapped the lead to cover. Over the years yellow background with red at each end ,like Cliffs picture ,or black at each end seem to my most productive colour patterns. Then I just coat with Debbe's clear nail polish. I made all my bugs at least 30 years ago. About every 5 years I give them a new coat of nail polish. Not because they are starting to fall apart, just to make them shiny again. I can't remember what size the hooks I used are or the weight of the egg sinker but go as heavy as you can with the sinker. It is much nicer to fish with because you can really feel when the fish hit and the extra weight gets it down to the bottom fast. One last tip. These bugs although heavy are not very big so I recommend you always have a pair of hemostats or pliers for hook removal. They can be a PITA to get back out of the fishes mouth if they have inhaled it.

I only ever go out with Tim Hales, nice clean huts, great people, good safe parking. And yup those same ones shown above and a CPH creation which I have been struggling to copy as well. Picture below trust me it's a lot harder than it looks lol. The big advantage of the artificial baits is that if you get a hit and miss it you don't have to pull up your line to see if you still have bait.

I think they look like these ones from misfish:

"I'm a firm believer in winter tires" I'm a firm believer that it's your decision and just because it's your decision doesn't mean it's a decision that everyone makes. I also think the government is involved in too much of our life. They can't even manage themselves.

When I was a young teen, this floored me .......