4x4bassin

My condolences to family and friends

Here are a couple updates for everyone as of April 1st Algonquin Park North 27" - 30 " Algonquin Park South 25" - 27" Burks Falls Area 25" - 28" Parry Sound (inland) 20" - 24" This info. is from various sources of mine and not first hand accounts . Still lots of winter left in the north !

I can remember in my younger , wilder days when I first started working I would just fill out the top of the forum with my personal information , sign it and put it into the mail with my T4 slip . Then a couple weeks later I would either get a cheque or a statement of owing $$$ . Only did that a couple times but they did it for me . Ahhhh the good ole days Wouldn't want to try that now !

For those that are interested and are planning a spring trip into the park for some trout fishing be advised that there will be no backcountry permits issued until May 8th due to ice and snow conditions in the park . There is 27" of ice on the south arm of Opeongo as of a couple days ago and that is thicker then it was last year at this time . I actually called up there to confirm and yes the news came down this morning ! Things could change but it doesn't look good for an early May trip into Algonquin . Plan accordingly everyone .

Very nice Bunk

I have been passing it going to work at YYZ for the last couple days and I can tell you it's a packed house for sure . Looks like a complete gong show for parking , get there early !

Both those slides look like a great time . Good job Wayne , you made a couple kids really happy with that

Nice Joey , should of thrown a lick of paint on that boat and she would be good as new !

Have a cottage on Bluewater Beach Wayne , right at the end of the 5th conn. Tiny , beachside ! If your in the area a quick picture would be fantastic .

Thanks for the updates Irish , look forward to these pics. every spring ! Bit of $$$ sitting there in that dock , someone will be looking for it .

That is a 1 oz darter head with a 5.75" fin-s minnow in that first pic. I paint up my own darters at home . I have used flukes , gulp minnows you name it and find the fin-s fish the best . I use a smaller minnow in the spring (4 inches) and work up to a bigger one come Aug/Sept (5-7 inches) Match the local prey size ! It might sound a little over the top for lake trout but it works for me .

Here ya go , couple of my favorite jigs for lake trout . All are 3/4 - 1 oz with the top picture being the best jig for me last year . Maybe its the homemade paint job on the jig head . Bottom jig in last picture is beaten up pretty good from that trip . Can't really offer any advice for that area your fishing , I generally hit the Parry Sound area and Algonquin but I'm sure there all pretty well the same .

Jig for them ccmt . As long as you have a good finder and some calm weather that's the way to go for sure . I'm out at least once a week in the summer jigging for lakers and they are actually quite easy to find believe it or not . Lake trout prefer water temps in the 50-55 degree range so find the deepest part of the lake and move out from there finding some drop-offs or feeding shelves in that area of the lake . Where I fish the lake trout are not that deep (30-60 ft) and I have actually caught lakers in 15ft of water in the heat of the summer so don't think they are always in the depths , they will always follow the food no matter the water temp. The lake trout you see on your finder in the deepest part of the lake are generally in a negative mood so I personally don't even bother with them and move to those drop offs or shelves in 30 - 60 ft of water and fish those guys . Those lakers are in a some what positive feeding mood. I have several fishing reports on this forum from my laker jigging adventures so check them out . I will try to find some pics. of my favorite go to jigs/setups and post them on here for you . I could talk for ever about jigging lake trout , it's quite the rush and I absolutely love it . Nothing beats a 15lb lake trout racing up off the bottom and smashing your jig and seeing it all unfold on you finder screen .

There ya go

As well as the north part of the lake getting the most sun it is mostly sheltered from cold prevailing NW winds . Also lake trout will eat anything so in the spring just after ice out they will be cruising around these warm bays picking off everything from sunfish to leaches . They have a big appetite in the spring .

Ya , I would say a vole to Lew . Those little buggers hit my lawn every winter and cause some major damage !

Congrats Chris and family

I spend a lot of time on the water from May till October chasing lake trout and I can tell you from experience that this early in the season there is no need for a lead core setup . The magic water temperature for lake trout is around 50 - 55 degrees so find that and you will have all the lakers you need . Where you are going I would imagine the surface water temp. wouldn't be much more then the preferred water temp. for the lake trout , putting them in the top 20 feet of water . Like Bill said , if you can you should be going out from the boat at this time of year with planner boards instead of deep or a long line . If you want to go deep there are some better options for this time of year and that being a 1 oz inline weight ( will get a spoon to 30-40ft on a troll ) or something like a deep taildancer from rapala (20-25ft) That is plenty deep enough when the surface temp. is in the 55-58 degree range. Another thing to remember is lake trout are not the smartest fish to swim but have great eyesight and feed up so they will chase your lure from 30 feet down no problem when aggressive and water clarity is good . One of my favorite patterns for early in the year is to head to the northern part of the lake and fish the bays and sheltered areas first . Reason for this is that this area warms up first and brings life to that part of the lake starting the cycle and of course the lake trout are on the top of this cycle feeding on all this new life . If you hit it right this pattern can produce big time . We actually stumbled on this situation by accident on a lake we fish and it produces year in and year out . Good luck , looks like its going to be a great time

If you can do it , go with a 12' aluminum and a 6 - 9.9 hp .From my experience those small jon boats are very unstable . I actually had a friend of mine fall out of one while he was driving it , funny afterwards but could of been tragic .

Exactly what Musky or Specks said ! First week of June is the worst time for biting bugs in the backcountry from my experience . If they are going to enjoy the camping/sights and portaging experience of Algonquin I would be going another time , if there fishing for brook trout that is the best time but you will get killed by the bugs and if its lakers you are after then the first two weeks of May are prime . Thermacells , 100% Deet and Permethrin are in my arsenal for all spring trips into the backcountry .

Just checked it out , pretty good light show Thanks for the heads up !

I have a cottage on the south shore of Georgian Bay and every winter I look out across the bay wondering what it would be like to walk across or even venture out there a few miles over the pack ice , knowing it would be suicidal on my part . Well there you have it , great story and accomplishment for sure . Very cool

You need to find some " selective herbicide " This stuff just kills the weeds and not your grass and it is banned in Ontario there for making it difficult to obtain but not impossible . Or you can go the "non selective herbicide" route with a product like round up that is still available at your local Canadian Tire (bought some last fall) but this stuff will kill anything in its path so be very careful with this stuff and never spray when its windy for obvious reasons . Once the weed is dead make sure you put a spot of soil down with some seed . Good luck , thistle can be a real PIA to get rid of !

Nice Simon , looks like a beauty day ! You measuring any of these walleyes for our tourney ?

Like it , can't wait to see this project advance over the next 6 months . I can see the picture now Dave , you sitting on your deck with a cold beverage in hand looking over the lake at sunset and saying "cheers everyone , I did it"