Well, it was a hectic summer. Between my new job, new town (moved to the Temiscamingue area), new place, and an endless list of truck problems i honestly didnt get out much aside from some shorefishing (spitting distance to the ott. River) and a brookie hunt or two. Things have slowly ironed themselves out and I can usually sneak out in the bush enough to keep me content.
It's been great exploring the Ottawa river and reaping the bounty it has to offer. It is an amazingly productive stretch of river and would rarely have a problem taking home my limit within a km or so of my backdoor. September and early October were killer and i look forward to getting out at least once more to see how their patterns have changed with the biiiig drop in water temperature.
Lots of blues and saugers too...
Even a bonus whitie! I hope i can begin to pattern these fish.
But as fun as that is, it's the inkand trout that i truly love to chase. Given that i have upwards of 25 to 30 stocked trout lakes within under an hours travel from me, the fall is a pretty special time around here, although it has very much been a case of boom or bust for me. The brookies have eluded me the two times i have tried, and the splake bonanza is hopefully upcoming this weekend.
But whats really been fun and rewarding has been figuring out the local rainbow trout lakes and patterning these fish, which behave so very differently from the local char species. For anyone who has tussled with great lakes steelhead you can imagine how fun these fish are (averaging 14-17") on ultralights and trolling hardware. These fish are among the tastiest specimens out there, so the 5 fish limit is appreciated haha.
There is also a stocked, year round lake trout lake nearby that sometimes yields tasty results.
Cheers!