FisherJuli

It seems like forever (especially since Frank has been fishing from a boat already this year), but for me, this was my first adventure on the (soft) water in 2012! Only because Frank's awesome, and he gave me two seats on a U & Me fishing charter for my birthday (YEAH- thank you, Frank!!), and my favorite guide Lloyd kindly donated the day to the Fishing for Tyler event that I was lucky enough for my first trip to be this one (THANK YOU, LLOYD!)! Picton is such a cute little town, and it's always a treat for me to enjoy this view of the harbour, complete with Lloyd's bat-light from further up the channel! And while I loathe anything earlier than 6:30, I can always make exception for outings like this- there is a certain magic at a very early hour... Needless to say, I was pumped to get out 1) with Frankie on a boat to fish, 2) to get out with Lloyd to fish, and 3) to get out with buds Dan & Vince to fish! But down to the meat of things... the hurry up and wait moment we all live to experience. It was a beautiful morning, but certainly not ideal for our target species of walleye- sunny, clear, calm and warm. Being the birthday girl and all (29 every year is such a blast!!), I was fortunate to go first. For those of you who have fished with me (c'mon, Rick & G, I know it's on your mind!), you may be familiar with my LONG, drawn out time required to catch just the right fish. Yesterday was no exception (sorry, guys!)!! 2 hours and 35 minutes later, the fish gods rewarded me with this bruiser for my patience (gee, thanks!!). NO, guys- it wasn't the enormous one I promised that I would hunt and catch... and Mother N herself played a sick joke when I felt such pressure to outperform my better half. ARGH! Here's my little beast who decided to hit on the troll, and who likely didn't get the memo that something larger was destined to strike! (Dave Mercer has a part at the beginning of Facts of Fishing with the bird's nest that perfectly describes my reaction to the little perchie!) Nevertheless, everyone was relieved that Curse Of The Long Wait Of Juli had expired... or had it?!! Not long after, Dan was rewarded with a hammer on the line as he reeled in this bruiser! He was beaten and worn, and deseved another day in Quinte, so back he went- all 8.5 lbs of him!! (what's your trick, Dan?! Was it that lucky rub on the line?!) Hehehehe.. now, the guys have confidence (or did they?!)- Juli's cursed wait is over (or was it?!), Dan's 35 minute wait had expired- the ball was rolling now! Yeah, rolling, all right.... as we practised that art of patience FOR ANOTHER 2 HOURS AND 45 minutes (sure, blame it on our paring, and thus he inherited my LONG waits times!!)- at which point, Frank was rewarded with a surprise! This beautiful little brown trout gave a nice tug on the retrieve, and a few splashes to get all of us excited! (beat on chest, grunt, run in circles... !) We had left the dock at 5:30 am promptly... we were now nearing lunch hour and while it was slow, our enthusiasm had us still coarsing with excitement. So, we hurried up and waited some more (scroll through the next few pics as we waited, patiently!). As always, we were rewarded with Ginsu-Lloyd taking care of tonight's much anticipated meal. I know that while this is a treat for me to know that we have a delicious meal ahead, but it's an even bigger one for Frank, since it's the only time he doesn't have to filet a fish! Did you keep count, and notice that only THREE of us caught fish so far?! Yes, well, apparently it WASN'T me who was the only challenged to catch a fish in notable time- Me (2:30 hr), Dan (:30 minutes), Frankie (2:45 hr), and my poor friend Vince.. well, he had a hot date with Pepe. Le Peu. We simply ran out of time, as did the other 4 charter boats in the vicinity. It was a VERY tough day of fishing, wiith every trick in the book being pulled. Vince wasn't meant to catch a fish this time, but he kept smiling and only swore a wee bit to the givers-of-fish-in-our-bellies. And while Frank earned the Largest Fish of Our Twosome award this trip (yep, he did!!)... I do hope to get some fighters this year! I was happy to have the opportunity to get out with Frank, the boys, Lloyd, and U & Me charters, and enjoy the spectacular day of fishing, fish-tv, some verbal tourettes (we are all purged of any tendencies now, I can guarantee!) and just a great day to hang on the water!! It was a great day.. and I wouldn't trade it for a different one (thanks for the adventure to my one and only Frankie, and boys!).

Cool pic, neat fish!!

Awesome shots... As kids,we used to visit the dump while camping at Algonquin, and they came pretty close to our vehicle. Now, I'm not as excited as an adult to have any close encounters and will leave that to you guys!!

That is a beautiful bear, and those are fantastic shots... But wow, that looks waaay too close for comfort for me!

Great work, G!!! You should be proud of that lunker!! Great to hear you're staying on top of them now-- you guys deserved it after all of that hard work. Keep it up!!

I sure hope to give our team some inches, Spiel!!! As for the rest of you fellow optimists, I'd love to come back showing off my Quinte 'bling' but of course I can only bring back what Mother Nature decides to let me have!!! Stay tuned, and thanks a bunch again!!

Hush, Frankie... There's only one person that can top that on Saturday-moi (kidding)! Nice work, Vince!

Happy birthday, to a fellow Taurusette!! Hope you had great day!!!

Aw, shucks-- thanks guys and gals!!! Walleye gold sounds just great by me- I don't need any other but a great day on the water with my fishing awesomeness of Frankie65, super charter captain Lloyd, and buds Vince and Dan... OK, well, maybe the biggest fish!!! I do appreciate it-- and promise a full report on the flipside of it next weekend!!

Great work to both of you on your pair of pb twins- at least your entries match!! For G-Man, that was certainly a handful!!! I can't wait to get out on the water soon and get some fish and some cool shots!!!

Very sad to hear. The Beasties were a staple of my youth... And tonight we played a bunch in honour of the musical talent and bright light lost.

Great pics, Dan... But we can put that warm up to the test with the boys in a week and a half. I must say that your son looks pleased in the mountains with his dad-- we sure have gotta learn that shortcut!! Nice adventures so far this spring, Dan!

Great icy pics, and of course the fish are beautiful!! But nothing beats Avery passing on her knowledge to her little sister. Very nice donation, Ryan... It can be very rewarding to fish with a 'master' of the area, and you proved it!! I fished it the afternoon before you, and only managed some blue gills!!

That is a cute puppy indeed! Frank showed me the pics already, but I had to jump on myself to say awwwwww!!

Wow- great pics of the adventure (you certainly have a knack for super shots), and while I just ate, my stomach is growling for walleye!! Frankie65, let's put it on our ever-growing bucket list!!

Fantastic work, Mike and the Mrs.- you guys put a great effort in to this, and it paid off!!! Wow, $3000 is nothing to shake a stick at! Great job.

Not fun stuff at all- they suspect that I tore my knee cartilage (after 7 months of home basement demo and rebuild, including foundation, then ironically it was new year's event when we decided to take a break from it all and play Xbox Kinect in the near-finished basement that I messed it up!!!) so I completely know how you feel. For the record, I still got out ice fishing at least 6 times this winter- so long as we had a sled to pull me there, I was good to fish! (may as well fish while in pain, right?!!)-- but I have some serious reservation about trying to climb in a boat and balance myself... I still think it's gonna get tricky... we'll soon see. I suspect that frankie65 has my first boat attempt lined up. I can't walk obscure banks or rustic fishing holes- they'll have to wait! I'm on day 92 of this... I hope they get you through quicker than me (just had my MRI today after already waiting 2.5 months). Good luck!

Welcome!

What a great way to start the year, G! Very nice work... And the only fish of the day- sweet!

Too cute, Ryan- nice to see Averie still styling those fish pics like a little pro! And little brother is enjoying himself- adorable!! Those will be some favorite memories when they older, I'm sure!!

Hee hee hee- I won't leave home without a big assortment of lures for those slow times when nothing else works (it kills time playing around if the action is slow, you know?!)... I always have my variety of pretty colours on my standard lures - and if all else fails, throw some pretty Yum on the end just for fun!

Ahahah- the pretty is pretty much anything that Frankie USED to say "are you actually going to use that?!" In this case, he led me to use this lure, and mine happened to be pretty colors of silver, purple and chartreuse... Frank was using the same lure, only silver and blue. 1 out of 1 Pikes like the pretty! Thank you... But for the record, I believe there was one year Frank got them all, and I couldn't buy a bite!!

Well, you all know that Sunday was a great day to be out, and my Frankie65 didn't pass up a chance to get us out for our first freshwater fishing day of the year! While it was breezy, it felt great to sit out in the sun- and to catch fish! Let me set this up a bit: there were other fisherfolk in this Lake O marina, and nothing was biting. Nothing, except a pike, on my pretty!! She was 7.2 lbs, and a blast to watch her hit just as I was reeling my line in! She hit like a torpedo... and that was FUN! We fished the afternoon, and while I missed something significantly larger than this pike, it wasn't meant to be. NOONE caught another fish that day. I had some friendly gents tell me what I should try to use next time.. but of course, that didn't work for them, either. Unfortunately, we had to keep her... she swallowed my whole lure, and that was that (she was delicious!!). Spincast- we've just warmed things up for you.. now, it's almost time to get cracking!

Thanks, G!!! Now, we'll have some neat fishing trips with all of us each on separate teams, huh?!! Should be a blast!!!