Stoty

Another good man bites the dust.... hahaha, just kidding! Congrats on the marriage, and fish!! (I am allowed to make the newly wed jokes, I just got married in Sept) Congrats again!

There are a few things to consider if your looking for a trophy: - weather (what season, did a cold front just move through, is it raining? sunny? windy?) - water temp - baitfish in the lake - fishing pressure - techniques/presentations That is just to name a few. Here are the basics on those: Weather Season - Summer If the weather has been steady, for a few days thats a good thing. (water temp is steady) If the weather is overcast/raining, then the fish will tend to be more aggressive and be roaming for food, as opposed to sticking to cover. This is where more aggressive techniques dominate (topwater, spinnerbaits, crakbaits, etc). If its a beautiful, hot sunny day, then the fish will be tight to cover, and you need to slow your presentation and really get in the thick of things. Flipping docks, weeds, lily pads, stumps, etc. Basically find the cover, and fish SLOWLY. Baitfish You need to "match the hatch". If the primary food for bass in that lake is perch, then you want to throw baits that look like perch. If they feed on crayfish, then you want to throw bait that look like crayfish. And so on.... If you catch a fish and it has something in its mouth, look at it. if you happen to keep a fish to fry up, when your cleaning it, cut open the stomach and see whats inside. Always try to find out what the primary forage is, and use baits that match them! Fishing pressure Generally, if the fishing pressure is heavy on the lake, you will want to downsize your baits. When fish see great big lures all the time buzzing by them, they get smart, and aviod them. You need to "finese" them with smaller sized baits that they dont see everyday. Techniques They all depend on the conditions. Sunny, hot - slow presentation - flipping around cover - jigs, tubes, worms, etc. - use natural colours Overcast, hot - fast presentation - spinnerbait, crankbait, topwater - use dark colours - black, purple, etc Cold front - SLOW SLOW SLOW presentation - jigs, worms, etc, worked VERY slowly around cover. Like I said, those are just a few of the criteria to keep in mind while looking for a trophy bass. If you stick to these, then you are off to a great start. good luck, and hope to see the report with you holding a 5+ lb bass!

trolling is a little tough from shore! but yes, always the bet bet if you have a boat. you cant go wrong with live bait for walleyes. if you are more into the challenge and just want to use artificals, then the three you mentioned (jig&grub, deep divers, worm harness) would be the way to go. at night the walleyes move up shallow trapping baitfish, so keep trying things until you find out what they are into. good luck! cant wait to see the report with a picture of your first walleye!

There are plenty of spots to camp around pretty much any lake in the Kawartha's. Have you tried Rice Lake yet? If not, thats probably a good idea. There are tons of campsites on the lake, as well as boat rental locations. If you want both in one location, check out Golden Beach Resort. Hope this helps.

hahaha i love the attitude though! topwater does rock!!!

Happy birthday! Hope you have a great day.

Ahh, yes that name rings a bell for the Marina.

No, there is one on the opposite side of the lake. If memory serves me correctly, its in the river that connects to balsam. I will double check that tonight, and let you know.

ha ha ha, yes I should be getting commission for sure!! especially when 60% of the bass I catch every year are on Chug Bugs!!! They are the first thing I throw pretty much EVERY time I go out. I cant get enough of them. I have a whole plano box FULL of them.

Thanks. I was sure happy with the outcome thats for sure. The colour I was using is a discontinued colour (has orange and yellow on the belly, with a frog pattern on the top & sides), but the current colour that most closely resembles it would be the "Hot frog" colour. Current chug bug colours

Nice report, thanks for sharing. Those are some nice bass! Good job.

ya, it does look like that, but I believe that was the dead weeds that were scattered across the surface.

I tell ya what...if I ever see anyone doing that, I am going to take their paddle, and see how they like being hit with it...... Bunch of disrespectful punks. People like that need to be taught a lesson.

90% of the fish I caught, were in 6-8 feet of water, with weeds going about half way to the surface. They seem to be sitting on whatever cover they can find right now because of the cold front. With the weather we are going to have this week, they might start to open up by the weekend though. I didnt get to hit some of the bays I wanted to hit (with lily pads), so you might want to give them a try as well. Start with a "noisy" topwater in the morning, and if you don't get action almost right away, put down the noisy and throw a weighless Senko, worm, etc. You should pick up a few fish this way. Good luck, and let me know how you make out! Cheers!

great report! awesome pictures!! I am also jealous that is your backyard!!!!!!!! Must be nice!

Ya, it was perfect weather for topwater! Very overcast, and even a sprinkle of rain for about 30 seconds. It was lovely!

Thats a nice fish, but it doesn't look like it would go 8 lbs. (The fish in my avatar is 8 lbs) But still, a big fish! Congrats. Where were you fishing?

Sounds like a good time on the water. no matter the size of a smallie, they always put up one heck of a fight!! Fishing with ultralight gear makes it that much more enjoyable! Cheers!

Nice walleye! If you would like your pictures re-sized and optimized for the web, you can email them to me and I will fix them up for you.

Hey everyone, I would like to know if there are any tournaments coming up around the kawartha region? I am DYING to do a tournament. Does anyone know of any that are happening soon? Or does anyone need a partner for one?

great report, sounds like a good day. fishing with your son, even if you dont get any fish is worth it! I love going fishing with my dad still. cant wait to have a son, to take fishing as well! There is a tourny on Sparrow? What date, who is running it? I might be interested in doing that one as well.

wow, nice fish!! bet they put up a good fight!

Right on! Those baits sure do have a unique action. I caught a nice bass on the weekend after it missed my Chug Bug, on a Senko-type bait. They are definitely going to be rigged up on a rod at all times with me, from now on!

You've got that right. Gets the heart beating, no matter what the size of the fish!

very nice!! ya, gotta love the smallies and their fight!! great report, wicked pictures!