singingdog

I'm looking for shops, preferably Eastern GTA/Oakville area, that carry the Spro Little John crankbaits. If anybody has a lead, I would appreciate it. No, BassPro doesn't have them (unless the person I talked to on the phone was wrong). Thanks all!!

Rainbows in lakes. I can catch them just fine in current, but not in still-water. Anytime I target them I feel like I'm just rinsing lures.

I tried them last year in the fall, thinking they would be a good way to go after deeper bass. It made sense to me that you could cover a lot of water and target bass towards the bottom. I just didn't have much luck and found that a lipless crank or a tailspin ripped off the bottom was far more productive. I was probably doing it wrong.

Yep. OOS is OOS.... and out-of-slot is out-of-slot; your intent and/or the health of the fish has nothing to do with it.

I got out on a small, but deep lake on Sunday. The warmest surface water I measured was 65 F and it looked like the lake was starting to turn. It's going to be an early fall on the water.

Oates,

Pay close attention to water temps...the bass will react to that, not to the date. Don't give up on them, they are still there, but will get more selective as to when and where they get active.

I find that once the water starts to cool, the fish will school-up more and become more nomadic. If you can find a group, you may get 2-3 good fish out of it before they move on. Looking for spots with slightly warmer water (southern exposures, rocks, darker structure) pays off as the water gets colder.

You could be right on that estimate. Unless we get some hot, sunny days, I am thinking that the river action will slow down early this year. Once it gets slow, it can get good for the big ones. I find they will get much more predictable once the water temps fall below 60 F.

Ah yes, the infamous "died behind an elephant" urban myth. That happens (according to the internet) at least once every 2 years

Well, there you go. I have only fished those lakes once with very little luck. Congrats.

I know folks have been finding smallies deep (30') with heavy tube jigs on Canning and Kashagawigamog.

Beauty fish!! Are they all that light in colour?

I have been on them, but haven't fished them really hard. That chain of lakes has never impressed me. Much better fishing on the other side of the road on Big East and it's satellites.

What are they fishing for? The Bassmania classic was just up there last weekend, so the bass got hit pretty hard. It's a so-so walleye lake, and slow for musky.

Someone could have hooked that musky while bass fishing (it happens to me several times/month). If they didn't come prepared to handle/release musky they may not have had any idea what to do, or why a big, nasty fish needs to be treated so carefully. This weekend, on my favorite smallie lake, that exact scenario unfolded. I hear a big commotion from this couple that are fishing out of a pedal boat: typical minnows below bobbers in 3' of water. He's got a 25" musky on and had no idea they were even in the lake. That fish probably would have been dead if I hadn't paddled over with some pliers and helped release it. Not really that guys fault....he just rented a cottage and wanted to do a little bass fishing.

Hopefully, if you got an understanding CO, they wouldn't bust you for having the fish to try and revive it. Technically, yes, they could have busted you for it. I'm sure every CO has heard the "we just had it in the livewell until we could release it" story a few times.

That's a DFO responsibility. They usually take aquatic habitat destruction very seriously. I would go to their website and fire off an email - cc'd to a variety of management types - and let them know that you are not getting satisfactory results.

You can fish 60' of water with way less weight than 1oz/10'. We have been having success on several lakes here in Haliburton jigging for lakers in 50-60' of water: tube jigs with a 3/4 oz head. Braid really helps feel the bite with that amount of line out. You would be amazed at the size of tube they will hit.

If you have sonar, use it. They may be way shallower than you think, possibly right below the thermocline.

Does anyone know of anyplace this side of the border to get Keitech products?

IMHO, technique specific rods are a marketing tool. A good M power, well balanced 6-7' spinning rod will fish all weightless platics and light jigs very well......if the angler has the skills. In fact, I believe that many anglers miss more than a few finesse bites because they switch rods too often and don't develop the "feel" for one rod/line set-up.

I'm at a cottage just outside St Jovite. I am having a tough time finding info on accessible fishing lakes (fishing from a kayak). Does anybody have any good beta? Smallies would be my preference, but fish would be my second preference

You have to be creative and not get locked into a pattern because the fish aren't. On my favorite smallie lake, in the past 3 weeks, I have had big ones from 3' right down to 20'.

I think the thing that keep lots of folks from fishing deeper is lack of a good "search" method for deep water. It's easy to cover lots of water that is 10' or less with cranks or spinnerbaits. Lots of folks I see, when they go below 12-15' start fishing more vertically and slowly, which is less confidence-inspiring for most anglers. Try a heavier tube jig, loooong casts and a fairly aggressive "hopping" retrieve to cover lots of deeper water. Heavier lipless cranks, blade baits, and spoons are good for covering deeper water efficiently as well.

I hear ya..mine is also between hali and bancroft, tons of lakes and hardly any people, and fish like this.

That is a beautiful fish.

Yes, the lake you are going to is the small one midway between Gooderham and Kinmount. It's not a private lake by any stretch of the imagination. The centre that Izumi is affiliated with owns about 200 acres around the lake, less than half the shoreline. Everything else is crown land and easily accessible by boat or portage.

when it comes to trolling for fish the motor is a must, get'er done!

I suppose....if you have T-Rex arms

Ellis,

Welcome to the world of yak fishing. You may want to check out Yakfisher.net: lots of Ontario/Quebeck yakfishers over there that have lots of experience with transport and storage. I own 5 yaks and store them on the ground, under the snow every winter. BTW, if you put a trolling motor on it, it's not a yak anymore