johnnyb

WOW that is a feed of really nice perch! Well done! Did you keep the presentation vertical, or drift in and out of the school?

I would think it was the fish....just taking swipes at it....I've never had much luck with topwater early in the season....or really ever, for pike...on a consistent basis anyway. They like a nice buzzbait mind you....but the stop and go stuff just doesn't seem to get them turned on all the way. In my experience, anyway.

Definitely one of these.. Gotta have this.... This one too.... These for sure... And of course this one...okay...one's not enough! Amazing trip...you've definitely inspired a bunch of us...come the day that I get "my" boat....I'll be doing this!

Never been....but did a bit of reading at some point, as they aren't too far from my parents' place. Basically tea coloured bass lakes...smallies/largies as well as perch and rockbass. Supposedly walleye have been attempted by stocking, but have never stuck around...the theory being that it's a lot of bare bedrock or mud, and not many tributaries....so no good spawning grounds for them.

Great pics....truly priceless. Lot's of good caption-contests there

Uhhhh...WOW I don't know how I missed that report earlier....but thank you for posting....great pics and writeup.

Awesome that you got out....the best boat is one that's got fish in it

What a great looking dog....and clearly many great memories for him to live on in. Sorry for your loss

Thanks for the kind words, folks....glad you enjoyed the read. I really wanted to hit Kokoko, but my partner for the weekend was a bit green for that kind of undertaking....so I figured easier access stuff was better. As for the flatlining...I was really surprised not to see anyone doing it. Spoke to one guy who says he fishes bottom all season long with steel line. Don't know if his brother does likewise, but that guy pulled in a 16lb'er on the Saturday. Apparently not ALL the lakers move up. Instead of pepperoni --- thinly sliced (and spicy!) potato. Instead of pizza sauce...sourcream. Plus bacon, green onions and plenty of cheese. MMMMMMmmmmmmmm. There's no way I'll make that trip without grabbing one, whenever possible. Might....MIGHT even replace Chinese Food in Temagami. MIGHT. Yeah...we took a pic of it on their counter and said it was going on Facebook ....which it did

Great shots....hard to tell exactly....but I think he'd fit real nicely into a pie plate :)

Finally have some time to myself on the computer....time to put together the Long Weekend report. Doing my best to keep this brief and let the pictures do the talking...but I make no promises In a nutshell....I have been going CRAZY thinking about the May long weekend/walleye-pike opener. It had been a long winter and spring, and no matter what stood in my way, I was going! Even up until the last minute, I never really had a solid plan in place, other than I was headed up to the Temagami area, and was going to hit a few lakes I knew I could access easily, as there was a good chance I was going solo. My usual partner in crime, Bicephalic, was fairly certain that he'd be able to accompany me....and with just 2 days to go....we got the crushing news that he couldn't make it due to a ridiculous snag at work. My other long time fishing buddy, who seems to fish less and less now that he's moved a bit further from me, said that Temagami was just too far for him, and he didn't want to "burn the candle at both ends". Normally I'd compromise....but not this year. It was Temagami or bust. Luckily....I have another cousin...Bicephalic's younger brother...who jumped on my invitation without even knowing where we were going....just that it was fishing J Gotta love his enthusiasm. Bicephalic loaded him up with a bit of gear, and I picked him up from work on Friday, and we were off! Ok....see...I've already rambled enough....gonna try and let the pics do the work.... Left Mississauga around 4:45pm on Friday afternoon...and traffic was really not as bad as I thought. Made it to the first stop....bait! Worms were already packed in the cooler....but I grabbed some of these from the bait shop with the most generous $5 scoops ever: Next we had to detour into Muskoka to grab the boat. Allllmost forgot the oars, but thank goodness my dad reminded us before we pulled out Back on #11 and we still had plenty of daylight....awesome! In fact...we were making such good time that we figured we could hit Callander by 10pm....which is when Lu Lu's closes. Lu Lu's, for the uninformed, makes what is unequivocally the world's best pierogie pizza. Called ahead from South River, and snuck in to pick it up just before closing time. YYYYEESSSS!!!!! Topped up the tank...plus the tanks for the tinner, and back onto #11...sensing Temagami's pull grow stronger and stronger. I was torn between Net Lake - a popular walleye lake just north of town – and Temagami itself for the first day. I knew I could acess Net off of a couple different roads, which would likely lend themselves to car-camping a little easier than the Temagami Access road. So, with 10 minutes to go until opener, we settled beside a creek flowing into Net Lake. It was a crappy night's sleep crammed in the back of the Jeep....but better than setting the tent up in the dark. At 5:30 am, the moon was still shining in a clear sky, and we were ready to get crackin! Rods were rigged....a couple cereal bars were scarfed down, and the boat was launched. Started by trolling minnow baits....and about 5 minutes in....Brian was trying to figure out if his flimsy Rhino spincast setup was dragging weeds or a fish. Turned out to be a half-decent pike Not quite thick enough to be worth cleaning...so back he went. Unfortunately....it was a lonnnng while before we saw any more action. Saw fish surfacing in the shallows....possibly still spawning? Marked fish on the screen....but just had zero takers on worm harnesses...jig and minnows....crankbaits. We worked into the afternoon, under a ridiculously hot sun, getting nothing. We would work for eyes until we came upon pikey looking water...then switch to casting. In one particular cove, I said "this looks like good pike territory"...to which Brian said "you keep saying that...." LOL . I resisted the urge to smack him, and puttered into the cove. We work our way half way to the back, and I'm starting to lose faith. As I deliberated pulling the plug on this quiet little bay in exchange for some lunch back at camp....I caught sight of a low 30" range pike on bottom. Then it caught sight of me and disappeared in a cloud of silt. "Brian! We found'em!!!" Now we start casting in earnest....me with a big spinnerbait that is getting a couple follows, and Brian with a Boogie bait that he's hopping along bottom. Bicephalic's last words to me were "if you do anything....get my brother a 10lb pike". Well you know what happened next...FISH ON!!! I wish I had video footage....'cause I could sell it to Zebco for the Rhino rod ads. I thought for sure the rod was gonna bust as I kept telling Brian to calm down and let the fish run...while he furiously cranked the rod into a tight "c" while the big pike tried to take up residence under the boat. The rod held....the net came out, and we had 36 inches of thick, scarred up pike in the boat. Brian had the shakes....he couldn't take his eyes off the fish...it was awesome! He was a bit too shaky in fact, to hold on to the big girl for the release, so I made sure she swam away strong. Ok. Big fish in the boat. CHECK! We settled down, worked the rest of the cove, but only had a few follows while the heat continued to punish us. Back we went to camp...had a bit of lunch and beverages....then rigged up the trolling rods to try for some of the trout I'd been marking. All I ended up with was scenery photos and a nice tan. Sigh. Oh yeah....I caught a couple OOS smallies....this one had about 6 friends come out to chase him as I reeled in and quickly released. Brian was quick with the camera, so it was all good. View from our camp And the temperature...brutal! Ended the day with some exploring further down Red Squirrel road....man oh man is this ever a great road! Packed with lakes and all kinds of room to pull up and camp. Many spots had camper trailers backed in....I couldn't believe it! Note to self: Find out if they plow this thing in the winter....cause icefishing opportunities could be fantastic. We broke out the glo-bobbers and did a bit of night fishing...again...to no avail. Any fisherfolk we talked to had been striking out on 'eyes all day as well....so we weren't alone. I should mention that the surface temp started at 59F, and rose to a whopping 68F through the day. And that was sitting over 100FOW!!! The next day we headed down to the big lake...Temagami. The weather was still calm, although mercifully it was cloudy, so we headed for the hub with the trolling gear ready. Water temps in Temagami were a frosty 56F, which had me feeling a lot better about our chances. Got out past Ket-chun-eny and saw a few boats trolling. Everybody using downriggers....interesting. I would've thought flatlining would be the ticket. Brian started at 20 feet with just a few colours of leadcore out and I set the cannonball at 35 feet. Made a few passes....didn't mark much...didn't see the boats around us reeling much in besides one small shaker. We moved started island hopping and found a nice dropoff....and I got my first fish using a cheater on the downrigger! I was running a spoon, with a silver/black minnow bait as my cheater. The little guy just devoured it, and was bleeding bad...so we devoured him I really wanted to get Brian his first laker, and was sure that we would when I lost another one near the surface....but the action seemed to stay quiet, and we started getting rained on pretty good. The Jeep was already packed up....and there was a chance that Bicephalic was going to start heading North....so we shortened his drive and met him in Trout Creek. Set up camp on yet another back road between a couple lakes. I usually turn my nose up at car-camping, as I prefer to paddle or boat into more remote areas....but I really couldn't complain about the spots we were getting. Bicephalic made great time on the drive up, and showed up just after dark.... arriving at precisely the same time as a nice little thunderstorm. It didn't last long....and after a few beers and a fire...neither did we. The morning consisted of fishing the two lakes surrounding us....which were supposed to hold splake...and possibly speckles...and even the odd laker....but all we found were bass. Aggressive, hungry, out of season bass! So no more pics....but lots of good times and that wonderful feeling of relief that I FINALLY got up north. Ahhhhh. Hmm. Now that I think about it...the rods and backpack are still in the Jeep.....better leave'em in there just in case

My first thought, based on the eyes, was StrikePro. Perhaps that is what the SP stands for?

MAAAANNNNNN I love your reports! I want. To fish. THAT LAKE!!!!!!

Well bringing in 10 a day (per angler) is a problem....that's blatantly breaking the law.

As aggressive as pike are, they do get finicky about moving up for a bait....seems that they'll slash at all kinds of things, so long as you get them to the right depth. Early in the season, anyway. Risky business, waving that stick in front of Buck....hope you didn't have to do another detangling job

Yet ANOTHER reason to move to NWO.....genuinely nice and honest people

That's a big fish...way to go

Great report....I love the little Smokercraft we share at the in-law's cottage...very cool to see where it was born

Not too shabby....nice detailed report. Lookin' forward to part deux!

Impossible not to smile while reading that report.....great job getting the kids out and thanks for sharing

Awesome stuff, as usual! Too bad the fishcat trips came up empty.....some nice looking real estate back there. What were you guys using to catch the gars? I've seen people swap hooks out for rope, so as to entangle the rows of razors. Those gar are huge by the way....amazing!!!

Great markings and colour on that fish....what a beauty!! I'm still lookin' for a pike in the 40's.....

Have a good one, Lloyd!

A great tribute to your dad....my condolences to you and your family.

More weight....like a solid 2 ounces in front of a swivel....or a diving device, such as a Dipsy Diver, Pink Lady or Torpedo. Beyond that, you could look at leadcore line or downriggers....if you feel like going on a real shopping spree Of course....there are a few lures on the market that will hit 30ft with lots of line out....Reefrunners and Deep Taildancers are 2 that come to mind right away