steverowbotham

Pepperoni, bacon, green pepper or my favourite... Bbq sauce, chicken, bacon, onion

Snuck out for another day of laker fishing before the wind, I dont know if I'll trust that ice for a while now. Bite was very slow, but I had about an hour that they were on fire and I went 4/8. No big ones, but got some decent quality. Fish mixed on tubes and x-zone swammers. Kept a couple for the smoker, cant wait for that candy!!! As usual, any questions, ask away... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXmHRYXY47w

8-10 inches on cooch

I've never targetted them there, but I broke off 3 this year so far (2 lbs test). Funny story, last week I lost my 2nd rod down the hole when a pike I broke off at the hole tangled in the other line. An hour later my rod started dragging by underneath me and I was lucky enough to hook my rod, fight the pike attached to that rod for 10 seconds or so before it broke the line. So I lost 2 lures in total, but I got my rod back!!

Hey everyone, it's been a while and am I ever glad that the season is back in full swing. I've been spending a fair amount of time on Lake Couchiching and even snuck out for some laker fishing before the wind and the rain. Perch fishing has been steady, and I have been eating well! I've been catching lots but I've really had to move a lot to keep on top of them. The deeper water on Cooch has not been productive for me, but staying mobile in the shallow 7-10 foot range has produced well for us. I havent touched live bait this year and the perch have come on small spoons (W-10 - W-20), Forage Minnows and Jigging Raps. The lakers were caught on a mix of spoons and X-Zone Swammers. At the bottom, I have attached my second episode of Keepin' It Reel. It is a collection of ice fishing clips from last season and early this season. Episode 3 will be all new footage. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=269PuVev9e8

Don't do much steelheading, and I dont have a weight or measurement but know for sure this one is my PB Pic does not do this fish justice, my PB smallie Bad pic but its my pb walleye PB pike PB skee I'll post some more if I can dig up the pics

I rarely use live bait as it is, but this is not good news for the live baiters.

Awesome! JEalous!

Sorry to hear, our condolences go to you and your family.

I'm not the most festive person around but Christmas isnt Christmas without watching A Christmas Story or Rudolph. I usually try and feed the DVD player a copy of Bad Santa and Trailer Park Boys Christmas for a couple laughs as well. My old man still watches a VHS copy of White Christmas, EVERY Christmas eve.

For perch I use 2lbs fireline with a 2-3lbs fluoro leader For lakers I use 6 lbs fireline with a 6-8lbs fluoro leader. I use lighter than than most, use whats best suited to you. If you're rip jigging a williams, you'll want heavier line.

Lol. I was waiting for it. I've lost 60 lbs and still have most of the same wardrobe. Thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it. LOL. Apparently there's this thing called a belt though

Awesome report, I've been enjoying this

Hey guys Here's a video with some clips from my 2011 season on Simcoe/Cooch. I wish I had more footage, and with the new camera i will have lots more this upcoming season. Thanks for watching! Cant wait for ICE!!!

Get your colours made in bulk, it's an efficient way of doing it. Bass Magnet makes a good product and I believe X-Zone may be working on one...

Lol @ anyone doubting Jon Jones now

I throw my spinnerbaits on straight fuoro and I use fluoro leaders for almost all of my soft plastic fishing. I 100% disagree with your assessment that it is the same elasticity as mono. It has a significant amount less stretch, it is not "invisible" but is certainly less visible and far more abrasion resistant. I am a firm believer on fluorocarbon, but hey, to each their own.

Personally I run 15 or 20 lbs braid with a 10 foot fluoro leader. Even on Simcoe, I run 12-17lbs fluoro. It doesnt matter how heavy it is, its fluoro.

Well another fishing season has come and gone for me. There's still a bit of time left to get out for some giant smallies and I may get out once or twice more but with a very demanding schedule coming up, my season is pretty much done. As always, I have put together a nice recap of my season. I've added a bunch of good videos we took at the bottom of the page for those interested. Thanks for reading! Ice Fishing I had another very successful ice fishing season. The ice came a little later this year so we missed some early action, but only about a week and a half of it. On Lake Simcoe, the shallower areas always freeze first and thats usually when I go for my perch fishing. Love me a good perch fry! Quality perch were much deeper this year and we found our better schools in 38-54 feet of water and even as deep as 66ft. Caught perch as deep as 101 but no quality or quantity in those depths. Fishing the deeper water we managed some bonus lake trout and whitefish on occasion. When the main lake finally freezes, my attention turns to lake trout and whitefish only... unless i need some more perch in my belly hahaha. This year we found lakers shallower in the 70-80 foot range, it had been 95-105 the previous winter. Our best baits this year were small spoons, tubes and a new swimbait called the X-Zone Swammer which was just deadly on a darter head jig. We release the majority of our fish, though I do keep on a pretty hard fish diet in the winter months. Once our ice season closes in March comes our pike and musky seasons. I dont do much musky fishing, though I like to mix in a little bit. We found our best fish this year in super shallow water from 2 to 5 feet. I think my deepest pike all season was out of 12 feet of water. Flukes and jerkbaits took the majority but got a couple on a shallow invader as well. By the end of June, bass fishing takes over. It is truly my passion and I try to get out as much as I can. I had an excellent season with the majority of my luck coming by pitching small 5/16oz jigs and dropshotting another X-Zone bait called the Slammer. For anyone interested, you can add me on facebook at www.facebook.com/steverowbo where I most more photos. Or subscribe to my youtube channel at www.youtube.com/steverowbotham Now for the videos. Big laker during a perch trip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJcXlQUOnkc Awesome day of ice fishing Another fun day out, my buddy loses a big one!! Dropshotting big smallies!! Fun day of largie fishing Great day out with clients! More good smallies!! 25lbs 1oz bag of smallies! Hope you enjoyed!!

Sweet fish man!

Haha nice.

Looks like a good time, gotta love specks!!

I would say don't cheap out on a baitcast reel. You get what you pay for, and if you dont pay, it will only leave you frustrated. I would recommend the Shimano Curado, it's about $229 but it is a great investment. It is a very reliable reel, easy to get the hang of and Shimano offers great warranty service. If that is beyond your budget, the Johnny Morris signature series reel is a great option in the 100 dollar range. It is smooth and efficient. It will not last as long as a curado, and the braking and drag systems will not be of the same quality, but I own a few and have fished them hard for 3 years with very few issues. My 2 cents

I dont have an answer to that, though i would assume its a combination of food source and ideal temperature

Okay, so its been a while since I've posted and I really dont remember where I left off. I havent fished nearly as much in the latter half of the summer months, though I have been out a bit. As I said, its been a while, and I havent taken many photos, but I'll share what I have and if you have any questions, ask away... fattest largie I've ever caught Client with a smallie that just missed the 6 lbs mark at 5-15 Clients with a funny double header Gloucester Pool 2nd place Really tough day on Simcoe, but it was tough for everyone Barrie Bassmasters Classic, 2nd place Voted to make it a winner takes-all tournament and lost it by 0.15 lbs uggghhh I've got more photos to load, but here's what I have for now... Also, finally finished by bass fishing tattoo Thanks for reading