crappieperchhunter

When I saw how warm it was Saturday I told Debbe they would have high mortality again. Then I went fishing and saw the floaters. For the fishery it seems like the right thing to do is close it down. But it really is to bad because it has been a well run tourney from the standpoint of how they have made such a great effort at the Beach Park Boat Launch. Our cottage is within walking distance of the launch and we have to drive by it if we are going into town for anything. They had one guy constantly guiding traffic on the road when the boats where coming out of the water Saturday...a far cry from some of the tournament traffic gong shows I have seen in our years there at the cottage.

Well lets kick a dead horse again here. This tournament was in Bobcaygeon again this weekend. Saturday at 6PM I wandered down to a place I shore fish for Bluegills near the Hiway#24 Bridge just before Caygeon. I fish this place all the time from May until October and have never seen a floater walleye. Saturday I walk down and find 3 as soon as I get to my fishing spot and see several white bellies out on the water but can't confirm what species they where but I'm betting walleye. Brutally hot Saturday. I'm betting the tournament had an unforgivably high walleye mortality rate again Anybody heard anything?

Excellent report. Thx for sharing. It brought back great memories of getting my daughter out to fish. Something she really enjoyed until she got older and discovered "boys" Really liked the photo and story behind the eggs on the ladder too. Looks like you had an awesome couple of weekends.

I feel your frustration Dara. Got a 8inch manual ice auger there once. Drilled 3 holes with it and didn't like it. I had lost the receipt but I still had the box it came in with all the packaging and there store address on a label right on the box. Drove an hour to get to the store. Told them my story and showed them the packaging and everything. "Sorry sir no receipt" was all they would do for me. Sold the auger on here for $50...it was an $100 plus strikemaster laser auger....and was done with it and them. Haven't been in the store since. Found my receipt months latter. It had fallen behind my bedroom dresser Just reread my response and I realized I made a mistake. The incident I described happened at BPS in Vaughn not at any Cabelas. My apologies for the error. I had not finished my morning coffee yet and my brain wasn't firing on all cylinders

Water is crystal clear there. If it was 30 feet down you could still see it no problem.

So you know the area too Wayne. I still just can't see how anyone could do it. I have had more then a few dinners at the Crows Nest and have never been messed up enough to do that. I mean its a small area. If you are unfamiliar you drive slow and keep an eye out. If you know the area you just know. Can't get my head around the stupidity.

I spent 30 years on the Bruce and in the "TUB". I know exactly where that launch is and I can't begin to understand how this could ever happen. I pray this woman never gets pregnant and tries to raise children. Edit to add....I always thought the harbour was considered Georgian Bay and not Lake Huron. The write up says Lake Huron.

Some good eats there. Enjoy the fish fry

TSC in Bowmanville is an absolute joke. I couldn't tell you the number of times I have went in there for a good deal I have seen in there flyer and they don't have it. I have never been in another TSC to compare it to....but guessing by the responses in this thread....they all must be better then this store. Other issues as well. I pretty much leave every time saying I'm never coming back Go in maybe once a year for something now and am still usually disappointed.

My folks had a cottage on a small lake on the Upper Bruce near Tobermory. It even had a creek suckers ran up in the spring from Lake Huron..so fish had access from the Big Lake. The lake had some type of minnows that got to about 4 inches in length and a healthy perch population although I never seen one over 7 inches. For gamefish it had smallies the biggest I ever caught maybe 4LBS and pike. In 30 years I never caught or saw anything but these species.

Excellent report. Really enjoyed that.

Got a bunch yesterday from one of my shore spots on Sturgeon...there was nothing there last weekend though. It should be prime when we are up from May 13-23 for a weeks holidays. The spot Beansie and I got them last Tuesday is always an early spot. Lotsa spring/early summer locations should be starting up anytime now.

Did they break it down at all Chris? I can't see how that would be possible by 18 to be average. I could see it if you add a few years and include 3-5 years of them off to University. However I have Uber rich relatives that are paying $25,000-$50,000 a year for each of there kids to go to a private school instead of a local high school. And once they got a full license they both got brand new vehicles as well. And I could go on and on. A few from that snack bracket can really skew a survey especially if it is a small group. Anyway if that's average I'm happy to say raising our 2.... Debbe and I came in WAY UNDER budget

Nice haul Mike. Beans and I made it out yesterday for a few hours and got some crappie but none the size of your beauties. But we caught lotsa huge Gills. Just a catch and release day so I hope there still there for next time. Personally I think they taste nothing like perch and there flesh is not near as firm....it's almost mushy went deep fried...I prefer them baked.

I know the Oshawa market very well and that's the market I was commenting on if you reread my post. We have helped both our kids get houses in the last five years and my son is currently fixing up a condo to flip. He bought it in 2012 I believe for around 140K. He plans to list before the end of May for 240K.....still way under 400K. Plenty of fully detached nice homes in Oshawa for well under 400K.

If I'm fishing an area with crappies and gills I always start with plastic. I let the fish dictate how my day will turn out. If I start getting bigger gills the plastic comes off the jighead and a chunk of worm goes on. In all the years I have fished this way I have caught maybe 3 crappie once the plastic comes off and none of these 3 incidentals where big enough to keep. My experience has always been they have no interest in worms at all. Perhaps my worm offerings are to small for them to be interested in.

What I do in my tinnie when I'm solo so I can get up on plane easier. On good days that same bucket has a feed of fish in it when I return home...so it gets double duty.

I believe Toronto is that expensive...though I have not looked. However here in Oshawa....well within the 100 KM radius you mentioned.... you can get a nice home....especially if you are handy....for much less then $400K. Don't blame the "market" on being a forever renter. There are many creative ways to be a home owner. You just have to decide what sacrifices you are willing to make to get there if you don't have a ton of income. Sorry Cliff for taking this 360 degrees off course of your original post. But I just can't keep quiet when I hear "young people" throwing up the white flag when it comes to home ownership.

That's generally Labour Day weekend up there isn't it

Depends on water depth. I fish both species the same depth wise....usually about half the water depth. 3 FOW I fish 18 inches under the float...5 FOW I fish 30 inches under the float etc etc.However if I'm specifically targeting gills I don't use plastics I just put about a 1/4-1/2 inch chunk of worm on a bare 1/32 OZ jighead. I mostly use unpainted jigheads only because that's what I have. Gills don't seem to care about jighead color. I use worms for 2 reasons. One... gills definitely go after worms more...they seem to like having meat. If you are using plastics the gills will hit them for awhile and then stop if you don't move. They seem to get used to the plastic and stop hitting it. They will not stop if you are using worms. Reason #2.... gills tend to tear plastics up. You will go through way more plastics fishing gills then crappie. I just find it very annoying having a gill pull the tail off a new plastic body on the FIRST CAST. Happens all the time. My routine for gills is I take 3 whole dew worms when I go out for them. I never need more. Even if you are getting bit every cast 3 worms will last 2-3 hours. A dozen worms in the fridge last me 4 weekends at the cottage.

Never get tired of reports with the little ones in it. Thx for sharing.

For me it was a size thing. Who wants to keep something that small? But once I learned a few spots where you can consistantly get larger ones 7.5 inches and up and actually ate a few I realized I liked them much better then crappie and really it only takes a couple more fish to make a good feed.

Hard work and dedication ALWAYS pays off. Congrats Mike.

Why don't you stick with the bluegills? I like catching crappie...don't get me wrong....but for a feed of fish I will take gills every time over crappie. If I am catching both....like in an area I fish on Little Bald....I just let all the crappie go and keep gills for a fish fry. If you haven't gave them an honest try your missing out IMHO. And they are easier to find and catch ALL summer long.

Trust me we get lots of temps who don't give a darn about what they do when they come in the door. I'm not talking about them. I'm referring to the odd few who really have something to offer and really wanna full time job. Sad to see how the system uses these individuals.