tbayboy

Hi everyone, convinced my wife that we need to go fishing this weekend (Monday most likely) but that means renting a boat. Anyone got any idea who's still open and renting that they'd recommend? I'll start calling a bunch but the couple I usually use aren't open so I'm looking for some recommendations. Was thinking Rice but any of the kawartha's would be great. Thanks Sean

Wouldn't have anything to do with that rip I heard on Buckhorn eh Mike? (or the Frogs left in the boat on the highway)

I'm getting old and sophistimicated - was the 12 beer (plus a couple extras I had lying around) plus 3 nice bottles of wine and a 10 year old port

Hi everyone, it seems like ages since I posted a report (I blame MikeH for selling his boat!) but I'm happy to be back and posting my first report of the season. I've been out a few time earlier in the kayak and on rice with my wife hunting walleye's (she outfished me so no report!). Oh yeah - since my last report I got married to a wonderful city girl who had no idea what she was in for - hehe So anyhow - early in the spring we were at the outdoorsman show and Julia got chatting with a camp owner from Lake Kipawa (a bit north of North Bay just over the Quebec border) and between the owner Reggie's sale job and my flat out begging we ended up signing up for a 3 day trip the previous weekend. So without further ado here's the report from 3 seasons camp on Lake Kipawa: We arrived Saturday Morning and quickly setup in Reggies nice cottage Properly stocked fridge by Sean Maurik, on Flickr Now what? by Sean Maurik, on Flickr Kipawa Lake Fishing 2011 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr We had a great trip and we owe a lot of that to Reggie who made a point of helping us out. Being up there for only 3 days he was quick to point out a couple key spots and techniques that worked well for us. For the most part we took his advice and focused on what would work and saved the exploring on our own for another trip and I'm glad we did. The couple times I did go wandering were fun but not nearly as productive - there's just so much water to cover and so little time. We spent the first night fishing a river mouth area and landed a few little guys in a bit of rain dragging jigs with leaches. Kipawa Lake Fishing 2011 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr I held a fish! by Sean Maurik, on Flickr The next morning I wandered around but didn't find too much (my wife prefers sleeping in the mornings so I had those to myself while we fished together in the afternoons and evenings). I came back and we had visitors in the camp: The Tortoise and the Hare? by Sean Maurik, on Flickr The afternooon was hot still and sunny so I thought we'd try some weed beds and other likely pike locations but couldn't raise a thing I was getting a little worried but that night we went to Smiths Bay - we weren't the only ones there by a long shot but I could see why people were hanging out. Slip floats, small jigs and leaches worked for us and we were happy to get our fish fry supplies into the boat. Monday morning I trolled Smith bay with an x-rap and found some action - that topped off our fish fry supplies. Kipawa Lake Fishing 2011 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr In the afternoon Reggie gave us some tips for lake trout and I'm glad we listened. He took the time to show me the rig he likes and had taken us out on the first day to show us the fishing grounds including a nearby laker hole so we headed out there in the still hot sun for a couple hours of mid afternoon lakers and got into quite a few. Unfortunately they weren't above the min size but they were lots of fun and I look forward to trying them again. Kipawa Lake Fishing 2011 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr After a delicious fish fry we headed back to smith bay for our last night. Kipawa Lake Fishing 2011 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr Our honey hole from the night before was dead so at 8pm we wandered over near where brother Lund and Reggie were fishing and tried a spot there but just weren't feeling it. Julia said she wanted to go back to "our" spot so we puttered back and I threw out the float again hoping to get a couple keepers for the road at least. A minute later the float goes down and I set the hook on what I'm certain is a pike. But at least it's a decent pike and Julia's never seen one so I'm happy to bring him in. He's running every time he gets near the boat and I can't get a look. Finally he waves his tail when I can see the float so I get a good sense of the size but in the dark water I still can't make out the details. After a couple more runs I finally see the fin - it's got a white tip! Holy crap, it's a walleye! Then I se the tail and dorsal fins in detail and their blue/green - how cool is that. A big blue walleye. Julia sets up the net and the big girl finally lets me direct her into it and she's in the boat. The hook couldn't have been set any better - just outside the big row of teeth so my light braid and 1/16oz jig were safe the whole fight (thank god). After a couple pictures and a measurement of 30" I happily put her back in to catch her next year. That's my personal best walleye and a great way to end my first Kipawa trip. 30" Blue Walleye by Sean Maurik, on Flickr Here's a video of the release - for some reason the HTML embed isn't working, sorry: release video Of course we weren't done though - our hole lit up after that and we drove home to Toronto with a sack of walleye fillets that I poached up on the BBQ since Toronto had no power (go figure). So big thanks to Reggie at 3 seasons camp, highly recommended. Kipawa Lake Fishing 2011 by Sean Maurik, on Flickr I've put all the pics and video of the big fishes release up on flickr if you want to see the rest: The bite is on!

Great report Simon. Congrats on another wonderful opener!

Nice report Clive. That dock pic really shows how low that water level is. Cool pics and hey - it might have been tough but there's pike in the reports so it's all good

Killing me. Absolutely killing me. I'll be just of east of Winnipeg next weekend but won't get a chance to hit the river and then I have to wait until August to fish NWO again. Thanks for constantly reminding me of what I left behind Simon

Yeah there was no shortage of traffice off that point but the graph was lit up quite nicely so can't blame anyone for hanging around there. And the coffee is spit on the keyboard - thanks for reminding me of that one

Hello again everyone. It's been a while since I've posted a report. Last year was crazy with lousy weather and both good and bad excuses all coming together to limit me to just a few times out but I'm hoping to make up for it this year. To that end I was lucky enough to hook up with Lexxington for a trip to Quinte for the opener last weekend. We met in Pickering at the perfect time of 3:45 and by 6:30 we were launching the boat into Hay Bay. <a href=" title="Morning on Hay bay by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4571102481_5afdd23762_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Morning on Hay bay" /></a> It wasn't too long until we had our first fish in the boat and my first soft water fish of the year <a href=" title="Pike were everyhwere by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4571101265_6b024c65fb_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Pike were everyhwere" /></a> Not exactly what we were looking for but it's a fish right? I then proceeded to land a couple more pike before I hooked into something with some weight to it that was just pulling down. Could I have the magical quinte walleye? Lex was getting a bit upset since I was already up 3 on him but he cheered up when this came to the surface <a href=" title="Baaah!! by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4571734958_ab2a79c12f_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Baaah!!" /></a> Woohoo, my first ever Sheepie!!! And a big one too boot . This got a few good chuckles from the nearby boaters (boy was the bay ever busy) Soon after Lexx got into the fish but of course he managed to get the target. Nothing big but dinner was in the livewell <a href=" title="Pauls Dinner by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3502/4571105567_b57fa9576c_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Pauls Dinner" /></a> I got a couple big ones too <a href=" title="They're big up close by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4571735120_fe0af9ffba_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="They're big up close" /></a> <a href=" title="Give him a few years by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/4571732670_c0cb47047c_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Give him a few years" /></a> And Lexx finally figured out the pike. Boy does he look happy <a href=" title="Not what we wanted by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/4571735180_7cd81ae78c_o.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Not what we wanted" /></a> Later in the afternoon (3ish) the skies got really nasty and we started talking about pulling out but went for one more drift. At this point Lexx had 3 keepers in the well and I'd managed pike, sheepshead, perch and a couple OOS largies but no walleye so was I ever happy when I got a sharp pop on the spinner on the last drift: <a href=" title="Hello dinner! by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3523/4571733644_af63a878a8_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Hello dinner!" /></a> Then skies really opened up and we pulled out. By the time we got the boat out and tied down (line up at the launch) the skies had cleared a bit but we checked the marine forecast, accuweather and weather network and they all called for thunderstorms all day Sunday. We hummed and hahhed while trying to dry off and then we did it - we wimped out and went back to TO rather than paying $$ for the hotel we'd booked and risk wasting out time. Of course Sunday turned out to be just fine - damn you mother nature but at least I meant I got to have a nice snack Saturday night. Nothing like frying up the fish you caught a few hours earlier: <a href=" title="First fresh fry of the year by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/4571101179_d6c44bbe8a_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="First fresh fry of the year" /></a> Even though we skipped a day it was still a great opener. We never went long without some action and the weather until we pulled up was perfect. All in all I'm happy to have started off the season and now I can't wait to get back out again. I've almost convinced the fiancee to give rice lake walleye a try but then she went and booked a meeting with a photographer on the weekend - she just doesn't understand Anhyhow, nice to be back all. Hopefully I'll be able to post some more soon. TbayBoy

I can't believe that's the dryden region in April! And I have to wait until August to fish it Ah well, good to see softwater reports from you again, let the jealousy begin.

That's wonderful news Mike, welcome back!

Sorry to hear that Mike. Never fun to have family in the hospital and being the holiday sure doesn't help Keep up a good attitude though and you'll be out on the water soon and this will just be a bad memory.

Congrats guys, good to see fish in that boat Bitsmith - was beginning to wonder

Hey Mike. I used an AquaPac (Company Site) for a while with a Canon S3 and it works with some caveats: pros: never leaked Easy to hang around your neck Took nice pics under water easy to use - can take the camera out easily enough if you want to cons: Dirty water (grand river for example) would require cleaning the outside of the bag (the 'lens') often had to remember to remove water droplets from the front to avoid crazy pictures Hard to use the camera controls through the bag When my lens extends on start up you had to make sure the camera was lined up right or it wouldn't have enough room to extend You can see the problems if you don't wipe it clean after soaking it: But if you made sure the camera lens was against the bag 'lens' and wiped off the water you get fine pics: And underwater it's fine: Overall, it worked but I had to get it off ebay and get it shipped here so it was probably not worth it for the money (was probably $80 all in). For not much more I picked up a waterproof/shockproof point and shoot now that I have a kayak as it's much more convenient (though it doesn't have nearly the picture quality of my bigger camera). If you have any questions just let me know. Fire me a PM and you can borrow mine if you want, it's not being used currently so give it a shot. Sean

What a great way to start a Friday morning. Thanks Drew, look forward to many new water reports in the future!

Saw this on WFN and had to see if it was on YouTube: If my girlfriend sees this I'll never get her fishing again!

Glad to here you got it figured out Paul, was worried you'd go back to that old putt putt motor of yours

I was just at the Cabelas site and they have the prodigy on for $59 ($90 US to your door). It's the one I learned on and is my favourite reel: Cabelas Prodigy

Can't speak to the Abu Garcia but Cabelas has the prodigy on for $59, $90 all in to your door and it's a great reel - I love mine and am trying to talk myself out of getting another as a back up Cabelas Prodigy

Now that was a nice way to spend a lousy sunday afternoon - reading a great report. Sounds like a great time guys and thanks for the awesome writeup and pics.

Nice fish Jedi - that must have been a load of fun.

Hey everyone. What a crazy fishing season eh? Seems like we're still waiting for summer to start yet here we are in August. Anyhow, in addition to the lousy weather I've had some crazy issues to deal with that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy but gladly they all resolved themselves with a great outcome so now I'm back in business. And since this was the last time my new yak saw the outside: I figured it was time to get the thing off the wall. After locking everything down I drove up to scugog and set off to test out the new boat. The little guy handles really well and was a pleasure to fish out of. 6 hours of fishing and no sore back to speak of though my arms are bit numb today (not to speak of the first sunburn of the weekend - oops!). Fishing was almost secondary but I managed to land 6 little largies mostly on a spinner bait outide of grass lines and frogs in the pads. I gotta say it sure is nice being able to slide WAY back into the slop and find pads that no one else has fished. Had lots of nice blow ups but being the first day out I was way out of practice on being patient with the hook sets - good things for glasses as those frogs sure can fly back fast . Had one big guy on a red slopmaster but she did an impressive tail dance a few feet from the boat and threw the hook - was so pissed that I tossed it right back as hard as I could and of course - TWAK - SPLOOSH: backlash plus snapped line = Sean shopping for a new slopmaster (I'm sure Bitmaster2k is laughing now - don't worry I'll get another!) Anyhow, was nice to get out, hopefully the weather lets me get out a few more times. Between the yak and the Thunder Bay annual trip in a couple weeks I'm optimistic about August and September. Being lazy and sore this morning here's a slide show rather than a bunch of individual pictures . Oh the 1.3k was the drift speed in the wind - wish I'd brought some walleye spinners was a perfect little walleye chop and drift.

Awesome bass. That's a great way to spend a few days in the summer. Thanks for the great report.

Give yelp a try - here's a starting point for the area: Yelp Sushi Toronto

Party pooper Lexx. Glad I got out before that spike