JustinHoffman

Definitely more reports this coming season, Mike....that's a promise! Good Fishing, Justin

Thanks so much, Radar. Means a lot to hear that, and glad I could help you fall in love with those crappies...couple more weeks and we'll be in to them big time!!!! Cheers, Justin

Thanks for the kind comments, fellas - much appreciated. Good Fishing, Justin

Hello All, My new blog is finally completed and live. Welcome to JustinHoffmanOutdoors – a blog that is certain to entertain and educate, all while showcasing the wondrous outdoor world we have at our disposal. Although mainly a fishing page, hiking, snowshoeing, birding, and canoeing will also be featured throughout the year. Enjoy the articles, images, video tips, and weekly updates chronicaling my varied outdoor pursuits! Feel free to check it out, bookmark it, or subscribe for updates... My link Thanks for looking... Good Fishing, Justin

Thanks for the kind comments, fellas... Good Fishing, Justin

Hello All, The 2010 open water season has finally come to end for me. Headed out for the final time last Tuesday (put some largies and crappie in the boat!) and now the Springbok is fast asleep until next spring. Was another good year - not so great for truly "big" fish, but quantity was definitely there... Was a busy summer with work, assignments and being out of commission for almost a month after appendix surgery, but fishing late into the fall sure made up for all that! Here are a few of my more fond memories Had a blast fishing with friends: And of course, my Dad. Here is his PB best largie - 4.75lbs: Had a great time doing a lodge review at Springwood Cottages on Kennebec Lake - look for the article in Ontario Out of Doors magazine this coming summer: And shared in a great, three-day weekend at Elmhirst's Resort on Rice Lake for an OOD Writer's Retreat. Spent a day in the boat with Stephen Bates - had a blast: And here is the last fish of 2010 - a nice chunky crappie after last light - what a great way to end the year: Been a fun one and already looking forward to next year! For those that are on Facebook, feel free to check out my new page - "Justin Hoffman Outdoors." A place for fishing and all things outdoors, including articles, images, recipes, videos, contests, etc. Make sure to "LIKE" the page in order to ensure you get all the updates.... Been great following all of the awesome reports on here this season - keep up the great work guys and gals! Good Fishing, Justin

Not that I am a Dr., but my best friend's brother had similar symptoms a few years back - was skinny as all hell (was always losing weight), constant trips to the bathroom, etc.. Well, he was diagnosed with Celiac disease - an allergy to gluten. Once he was on a gluten-free diet, he gained weight back, the toilet issues disappeared, and he regained his health. Not saying this is your problem, but moreso, to highlight that it could be a number of things, and if left unchecked, can really do some damage. Like others have said - go see a Dr. That's your best bet. Good luck, Justin

Hello All, With the warm weather forecast for today, Andy and I decided to head up to his Quebec-cottage lake one last time before calling it quits on the season. On our first spot by 10:30am, and began working the underwater finger slowly and methodically as in past trips.. Fish were tough to come by, and we only put one fish in the boat in the first half hour. Our thoughts for a banner day quickly began to unravel. Weather was absolutely mint, and with the calm winds and high sun, fishing in comfort was a given. Water temp. was a fairly consistent 43-degrees throughout the day. With our first spot showing less than braggin' rights results, we made our way to our deep flat that is adjacent to a point. This area has been sketchy the last few outings, and it seems it can either cough up the Motherlode, or produce slim pickings. We began working the 19 to 21-foot sand/silt bottom, and Andy was first to connect with a fish.. Tossed out a marker buoy, and picked off another three quick fish from 19 feet down, all largies. Came on either a tube or plastic craw. Continued to fish the area, but the fish had quickly left. Shortly after, while taking a break to chomp on a pepperette, I had a decent smallie bite down on my craw as I dragged it along bottom.. The bait.. Picked up the odd fish here and there, but it was really slim pickings. At this point, Andy suggested we take a break and troll. Not being a big fan of this technique, I agreed, if only to allow me to eat our cache of Cherry Blasters and Potato Chips with a free hand.. Our first pass produced this.. The little smallie hammered the bait. That was to be the only one, and after a few more runs, we abandoned the cranks. Headed back to our finger, but only had one more bite, and the last smallie of the Quebec season was put in the boat. With the sun slowly dipping, we cruised back to the launch and packed up our gear. Only managed to put 11 bass in the boat today, and had very few additional bites on top of that. Tough, tough fish, but a fun one all the same. This will be the last time I'll be making it to Quebec for this year. Will try to squeeze another trip in down here, but the boat will be put to bed this week or next. Always a sad time.. Good Fishing, Justin

Hello All, Hit a small Quebec lake today with my friend Christine, arriving at the launch at 10am. Light to moderate winds and sunny skies greeted us as we motored to our first stop, and the water temperature was a constant 45 degrees throughout the entire day. Fish were beyond finicky. Like previous outings, the bass were barely registering a bite on our plastic offerings, and for seven hours of fishing, we only managed to put eight fish in the boat. Fish were extremely scattered today, leading us to believe that the front and high winds from the day before put the fish in a fairly neutral mood. All fish were caught on various plastic offerings (BPS craws and creatures, Berkley craws, etc.) doubled up with Fin-tech Football Jigs. One decent largie did fall for a Bagley's crank, and hit aggressively from six feet of water: All other fish came from water between 12 and 21 feet deep. Here is Christine's big smallie of the day - barely registering on the rod tip when it struck: This largie was the big fish of the day (3lb 8oz) and smoked a jig on the fall in 12 feet of water. This, other than the crankbait fish, were the only two to hit with any sort of aggression. (Coincidentally, it was blind in one eye...) Although the fish were few and far between, sharing the boat with some laughter and fun is always a sign of a good day out... Did get pulled over by the Ministry on Highway 5 for a "gun" check on the way home. Thought it was the police and a "ride" check at first, but realized quickly it wasn't. Super friendly officer - asked if we had any guns, then proceeded to talk fishing for a quick bit. Nice to see it out, and quite a few hunting rigs pulled over for inspection while we were on the shoulder... I'll be back, French Bass, at least one more time before my season comes to an end... Good Fishing, Justin

You're too much, GCD...no wonder many just shake their head at you... Not even worth my time responding to any more of your gibberish... Another hijacked thread - go figure. Good Fishing, Justin

GCD - if you're suggesting I claim to catch all of my fish in a single outing, when they are in fact multiple outings, then you're barking up the wrong tree... The reason I don't shoot images showcasing a date, is, well, it would be pretty hard to sell any of them to the magazines altered in that state, and since this is my work, that is why I choose not to...(plus, I think it ruins the images, but that's just me) Great to see your "hero" shots here....now come north of the border where the bass are real braggin' size..

Thanks, guys... GCD - just one question for you - ever fish with anything other than Sabiki rigs, not more than 10 feet from the same dam, and take anything other than the same identical self-timer shots of fish that generally average less than 12-inches?? But hey, if this is your idea of "glory" fish, I think I'll stick with my bass... Good Fishing, Justin

Hello All, With the weather looking fairly decent today (Monday), and with nothing on for the afternoon, I decided to spend the afternoon chasing bass in Quebec. Hit a small lake at 1pm and began our search. Winds were very calm, and, although the forecast only called for +4 degrees, it was quite toasty warm in the gear we were wearing. (Of course, within an hour or so, we were greeted by sporadic ice pellets, and continuous showers for the rest of our outing...) Fish were extremely finicky. This may be an understatement. Any "hits", if you could even call them that, felt like nothing more than a subtle brush of your jig along a strand of weed. Although it took us an hour or so to figure this pattern out, once we did, all of our fish came from slowly dragging our baits along bottom, in many ways, almost dead-sticking them. Any greater action, and the fish just weren't interested. For our five hours of water time, we put 32 bass in the boat. Fairly even mix of largies and smallies, but nothing overly big. All fish came on an assortment of plastic grubs, including Berkley PowerBait Mud Critters, BPS Flippin' Craws, Gambler Ugly Otters, and a few other grub baits, rigged on 3/8oz Fin-tech TitleSHot "Football" Jigs. The Kistler Magnesium "Alton Jones" Football Head Jig rod worked awesome for feeling these ultra-light hits, and gave the necessary "oomph" needed for the deep-water hooksets. Fish were keying-in on depths between 10 and 19-feet, with 15-feet holding the majority of the fish. Most came from breaks adjacent to points, and small pockets of isolated rubble were key to finding concentrations. Here are a few of the better fish: I had to hand-line this following fish into the boat, after my braid got tangled around the tip of my rod on the initial hookset - made for an interesting fight! All in all, another great afternoon chasing my favourite fish. Looking forward to another few outings before the water begins to finally firm up... Good Fishing, Justin

Johnny - I switch between 1/2 and 3/4oz jigs during the fall. This particular lake has some deep rock cribs and shorelines, so I want the added weight so my presentation is on or near bottom. Also, if the wind picks up, a heavier jig is recommended. All of my fish came from water less than four feet deep. When the fish are feeding, they will suck a heavy jig in before it even reaches bottom - just like this dock fish. Good Fishing, Justin

Hello All, Spent a few hours today with Dad on a favourite lake of mine. Launched the boat at 10:30am to a mix of sun and clouds and light winds. Fished my usual high percentage points. Although we didn't catch many today, those that we did were keying in on specific structure areas - namely, wood and docks. A smallie for Dad.. All fish came on 3/4oz flipping jigs (brown or black and blue). Had a good fish come unpegged at the boat that would of went close to 4 - too bad, as the net man was good and ready.. Best fish of the day was this "near nickle" that smoked a jig that was pitched to a dock. Came from four feet of water over a rock bottom. 4lb 12oz.. Scrappy girl, and once she puts a bit more girth on I won't be needing change from that nickle.. Fun day all around. Man I love fall. Good Fishing, Justin

Jaydub - fairly shallow lake, with 30 feet being about the maximum depth. Fish are up shallow and tight to structure - wood, rock, and scattered weeds. Bait fish must be in the skinny water, also - as is evident from the pronounced bellies on these girls.. Once the water cools a bit more, the bass will make the shift to somewhat deeper water - between 6 and 15 feet deep on this lake. Good Fishing, Justin

Mike - yep, fairly certain a jig and pig would also of produced, but I do think the action (especially when the crank was deflecting off of wood and rock) turned on those fish to strike. One of those things - came close to switching to a jig, but after the first half dozen fish, decided to stick with what was producing. If the fish were holding deeper (say 8 feet or more) I would of been tossing a jig hands down.. Hope your fall hunts are good ones... Good Fishing, Justin

This one will be staying up...

Have ordered from them a couple of times in the past - shipping was about $10 and I was charged the exact amount as was listed on the package. That was nice to see for a change. Reputable company and I've had no issues.. Good Fishing, Justin

Hello All, Headed out this morning to a small lake in Quebec that my buddy Andy has a cottage on. He had recently picked up a "new to him" Stratos bass boat, so we were excited to spend the day together chasing some bass. The new boat..and boy does she fly! On the water at 10am and began working our typical fall haunts - shallow to medium deep rock/weeds. First cast with a spinnerbait gets Andy a cigar walleye from about 6 feet of water - this got our hopes up for a banner day. Generally I am a "jig and pig" guy through and through - especially when fishing the fall period. Decided to switch things up this outing, and tossed a crankbait (one lure I don't use enough!) to see what would happen. It was a good decision...3lb 14oz. Picked up another the same size towards the end of the day, also. The morning period was a bit slow, and although we found some fish, they were fairly scattered. The two common denominators we tuned in to were - shallow and rock. Water temp. was a fairly constant 57 degrees throughout the day, and a few weather fronts definitely seemed to be passing through as the hours went by. Andy tossed a tube quite a bit and it paid off.. Notice the belly on this girl! Had 10 bass in the boat by 1pm, and headed in to the cottage for a BBQ and quick regroup. With the wind picking up, we decided to concentrate on a few of the rock points and shorelines that were getting some wave action. Again, all fish were in less than 6 feet of water, with many (including the smallies) in less than 3. Andy with another chunk.. Typical shoreline.. Around 3pm, we really began to light it up. Fish were more schooled up by now, and smacking baits good and hard. The crankbait I was tossing (a Bomber Balsa Model only runs a foot or so under the surface. Was definitely cool to watch your bait come in, then have a bass rise and engulf it. Fished one of our favourite points and got into a double header. Mine (the smaller fish) fell for the crank, and Andy's brute took a tube. Bit of chaos in the boat trying to get both on board, especially since we had no net. The big girl went 4lbs 4oz...(big fish of the day) Our next casts resulted in another double header - this time a largie for me. Nothing like the size of the first two, though. Shortly after that flurry, Andy put the big largie of the day in the boat. Came on a tube again and from 4 feet of water. 4lbs 3oz.. Those two big fish definitely made the day! Fun times were had again, and we finished off the outing with 29 bass (fairly even split between largies and smallies) and the four biggest going 3lb 14oz, 3lb 14oz, 4lb 3oz, and 4lb 4oz. Not bad for six hours of fishing. I am definitely sold on tossing cranks, and will be adding these to my bag of tricks for the remainder of this season. Put all of my fish (about half of the total) in the boat on that one crankbait, and for when fish are up shallow or tight to cover, these things really seemed to shine. Until the next fall adventure! Good Fishing, Justin

Hello All, Had a chance to spend four days on the water over the last five - here is how it went.. Day 1 - Friday After working the overnight - and enjoying no sleep - knowing I was getting a chance to fish my favourite bass lake kept me from hitting the hay. Tim and I towed the boat down early afternoon, and were making our first cast by 3pm. This afternoon/evening would be a scouting excursion, as we were hoping to put together a pattern for a full day of fishing come Saturday. We worked our typical haunts - shallow and deep rock with a scattering of weeds and wood, docks and cribs, weed and rock humps, overhanging trees, and a couple of thick weed beds. All areas looked mint as always.. Although the weather had been stable all week, boat traffic was buzzing about at the start of the long weekend already. Can affect fishing when on a small lake. Expecting a big bite, we were able to put numbers in the boat, but couldn't coax any exceptional piggies. Here is a typical fish for this lake...caught on a flipping jig from wood: We did put a number of these guys in the boat - we also lost a few jigs to them: Here is big fish of the day - 3lb 14oz's. Fell for a flipping jig on wood/rock: Enjoyed some topwater action just before dark, with a mixture of smallies and largies thrown into the mix. Tied up the boat to a dock and both of us made tracks to my folk's place for some cold beers and some long awaited sleep. High hopes were on our minds for the next day... Total Fish - 35 Hours Fished - 5.5 hours Day 2 - Saturday On the lake by 8am...and anticipation was running high. Hit our high percentage spots once again. Although we picked up a fish here and there, the action certainly wasn't consistent. If truth be told, it was one of those "1 fish per spot" kinds of days. Fished some incredible mill foil patches without a bite - that really had us scratching our heads. Once noon hit the gong show commenced. This lake is renowned for mass numbers of pontoon boats taking leisurely drives around the lake - all within 50 feet of the shoreline. Certainly put some pressure on our fish. We did find some sweet weed/rock humps far off shore. Picked up some largies, smallies, and pike. Will be hitting those again once the fall comes around.. Although we scraped up some fish, it wasn't the day both of us were hoping for. It was tough going for certain, and a bit of a reality kick to the old fishing nuts. Off the water at 5pm and home to drown our sorrows away... Total Fish - 18 Hours Fished - 9 Day 3 - Monday Decided to stick close to home base, and hit one of my small stretches of the Rideau River solo this day. On the water at 1pm and decided to fish unexplored water. Definitely a good decision! Found a huge, weed-choked bay - covered in pads and slop: Began tossing a frog and the action began immediately. Fish were super aggressive, and were engulfing the plastic amphibians like real prey: Although this stretch of the river is famous for producing cookie-cutter fish of 2lbs - when they are hitting topwater, the size doesn't really matter.. All fish came from under dense slop mats, or any areas adjacent to them. A couple of typical "slop fish"... Best fish of the afternoon went 3lbs 2oz. Called it quits as the sun slowly set... Total Fish - 19 Hours Fished - 6.5 Day 4 - Tuesday With limited time to fish today, I opted to try something a little different on the water. Headed back to the same stretch of river and had a mini-tournament. Gave myself exactly three hours from blast-off to putting the boat on the trailer, and was curious to see if I could put a five-fish limit together. Blast-off commenced at 9:45am. I quickly gained the hole shot...lol. A quick four minute drive to my spot from yesterday and the competition began. Here is what my first spot looked like: Here is a run down of the following three hours: Fish 1 - 9:58am - 2lbs Fish 2 - 9:59am - 2lb 5oz Fish 3 - 10:24am - 2lb 2oz Fish 4 - 10:36am - 1lb Fish 5 - 10:51am - 1lb 2oz Fish 6 - 10:55am - 2lbs Fish 7 - 11:15am - 2lb 5oz Fish 8 - 12:00pm - 11oz Top Five Fish - 10lbs 12oz Here is big fish of the tournament: And the two biggest fish: All fish came on the frog, except one on the flipping jig. The first two fish were on back-to-back casts, which was kind of cool. Due to the overcast morning, most fish were caught on the flat and off from the slop. After my last fish at noon, and with 45 minutes left to fish, I made the costly error of running down river to fish some undercut cat tails - all in hopes of putting a "kicker" in the boat. Big mistake, as nothing was home. Was another fun few hours catching bass...and you've got to love that! Total Fish - 8 Hours Fished - 3 The Magnesium "Jig N Toad" rod by Kistler was awesome for tossing and hooking fish with these frogs. Super light weight, loads up well, and casts a mile...I only missed two fish in two days, and only had one come unpegged before getting her in the boat. Definitely worth a look for those with frogs on the mind... Well, that sums up my four days of fishing. Was good to get the "bass thumb" back....and looking forward to catching some real piggies this fall. Heading back to my "big fish" lake this coming Monday - really looking forward to this trip! Good Fishing, Justin

My nod goes to a flipping jig and plastic trailer (3/8 or 1/2 oz. Booyah Jig and YUM Chunk trailer.) I toss this bait 75% of the time each season....best bass, and BIG bass producer bar none. Good Fishing, Justin

Thanks again, guys and gals...truly means a lot. (guess I still have a few weeks to hopefully earn that beer, huh Spiel??) Good Fishing, Justin

Hello All, Had the honour, and definite pleasure, to spend today fishing the St. Lawrence with Marc Thorpe. Left Marc's place by 5:30am, as we all know the "early fish catches the worm." Began on a mud/sand bottom, in approx. 23 feet of water, and set up for jigging some sauger. Heavy jig heads, plastic ribbon tails, stinger hooks, and half a nightcrawler were the bait of choice. Fish were definitely finicky during the early hours, with hits being very subtle, and the trailers accounting for all of the fish brought to the net. Here is a typical fish: Marc was taking part in a sauger tagging study, to determine size, numbers, and other pertinent data. Extremely fascinating stuff, and information that is crucial in order for this species to continue to flourish. Tagging a fish: The tag number corresponds to length, date, and area data: An egg-laden female: Similar to "no two snowflakes are the same," the colourations on these saugers are both unique and very interesting: Spent a portion of the afternoon short-lining for walleye. Still shaking my head at how little line we set out when working Rebel cranks! The ongoing fronts, and the still cold water and little weed growth seemed to of affected the fish this day. No walleye to report, but the change of pace and lively conversation made up for it. With the sun out in full swing, we headed back to our first stop to pick at a few more sauger, and end the day off. Fish were hitting much more aggressively at this later time, and the main hook was getting the brunt of the attention. Here is the big fish of the day - 48 cm's: Love this next sequence....the release shot: And swimming to the depths with it's new badge of honour: All together, we put 21 sauger in the boat - missed and lost quite a few in addition to those, though. Awesome spending the day with you, Marc. Top-class company, first-rate knowledge, and an overall nice guy. Thanks! Good Fishing, Justin

Thanks, guys...much appreciated. Good one, Roy - sadly, if it comes with French instructions, I'll be a bit lost... Good Fishing, Justin