setomonkey

Fantastic news, congratulations! Beer & wings huh, your new son is going to fit right in with OFC... Mike

That's a good fishing story! Mike

Impressive stuff, Wayne, hope that motor serves you well on Nipissing. Mike

Snag, here's a link to the report... Susquehanna report I'm really looking forward to the bass opener here in Ontario too! Mike

Darsky, I actually like these shots better, I've gots lots of closeups of me holding a bass, but the scenery in the background reminds me that it was a new place for me. Mike

I posted about my smallmouth bass trip on the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago. The guide sent me a few pics that he took with his camera (much better than my digital). Here's a repeat of the first fish of the morning, as you can see his camera does a much better job... guide's camera my camera Here's a couple more of the many bass I caught that day... no idea why I'm grimacing, I was having fun! Hot lure of the day was a white spinnerbait. Mike

I am particularly enjoying the fact that we're getting "live" reports, the only thing better would be a live feed from the boat as you're landing the fish, uploaded to satellite and then broadcast wide over OFC... Mike

Beauty pike, guys! Mike

Looks like a good dinner, Roy! I'm not sure if I've ever caught a sauger, how do you tell the difference? I looked it up online and the only reliable sign I could see was that sauger don't have the white spot on the tail like walleye do, otherwise they can be quite similar in colour etc. Mike

Congrats on the PB, very nice 'eye! Mike

Sounds like a fun way to fish, I've never been in a kayak. Mike

I'm so sorry to hear about this news, Lew, and to know that you and your family have had so much to deal with in the past few years. Thank you for a wonderful tribute to your brother through your words and your photographs and memories. Mike

Mmmm, smoked trout is a beautiful thing... Mike

What a great look at our collective past, thanks for posting the URL... Mike

Sounds like a great guys weekend to me, with fishing as a bonus. Mike

Thanks guys! Rich: you're right, I was probably about two hours away (meeting was in Harrisburg). Brian/misfish, it was a 17' or 18' Triton, flat-bottomed, the guide told me it drew only a couple of inches (necessary given the shallow rocks in the river). Art & Joe: I might take you up on it, I'm supposed to have a meeting in Washington DC sometime this year but they keep rescheduling. If it works out, I'll definitely get in touch b/c I would love to fish the Potomac with you. Mike

Bass Lake is a nice little lake on Hwy 12. There's a public access road on the north side where you could launch a small boat, and there's probably a launch at the provincial park that's on the southeast end. We launched a canoe from the beach on the east side of the lake. Mix of smallies and largemouth, and lots of decent-sized panfish (crappie, perch, pumpkinseeds). Though it's a small lake, there can be a lot of jetski and boat traffic on it (there are cottages all around) on weekends. Mike

Well said, GCD, to me the reports are the core of OFC. It's fun to read about other topics like boat questions etc. but at the end of it my favourite part of this board is reading others' reports, seeing pics, and sharing tips. Mike

Too bad about the skunking but you've got some great scenery pics from a beautiful part of our province... Mike

Wow, great Lake O report, awesome pics... Mike

I was in Pennsylvania last week for a meeting, and booked my flight so that I had part of a day where I could hire a guide to take me smallmouth bass fishing on the Susquehanna River. I was pretty excited to be able to fish for bass in mid-May, about six weeks before the opener in most of Ontario. Met the guide at 6:30 am and we were on the water by 7 a.m. Had never been to this part of the world before, you can see from the backgrounds in the pics that it's quite pretty on the river. The river was amazingly shallow, only a few feet deep in most places, with the deepest holes only being 6 to 7 feet. The Triton boat we fished from had a jet outboard, which I'd never seen before. We were often fishing over ledges that were only about a foot deep, looking for current seams, holes, and "drop offs" to slightly deeper water as we drifted with the current. Fished mostly with a spinnerbait, though the guide also had me throwing a shallow crayfish-patterned crankbait and different coloured Senkos as well. I had a great time, caught lots of bass, no biggies, but most were between 1 and 2 lbs, and really strong. I couldn't believe the fight they were giving me on medium spinning gear (never fished river-run smallies before). The bigger bass hit like a ton of bricks. The guide told me stories of big bass hitting so hard that they would rip the hooks right out of their mouths, even without any hookset. I'm still waiting for some pics from the guide but I thought I'd share these with you now. Scenery shot, lots of small islands and ledges on this big river. I think it starts in upstate New York and then winds its way to eventually empty into Chesapeake Bay. my first bass of the day, in the morning sun. Typical smallie for the day. One of the smaller bass. Hope you enjoyed this stateside report. Please note I'm proudly wearing my OFC hat. Mike

Great read, you have a really nice-looking place, glad you had such great openers... Mike

I've always kept my fluoro leaders lighter than my main line, on the assumption that I want to break off only the leader if I get snagged and can't work it out. I agree with the others about the 30lb fluoro not being enough for pike, I use lighter fluoro for my spinning reels but those are used for fishing walleye & bass, not Esox. Mike

Depends on the application. 4-6 lb mono on my ultra-light, 6 lb with lighter fluoro leader for my steelhead rod (which I haven't used at all this year!) 30 lb braided with fluoro leaders for my medium spinning outfits. Heavier braided on my two baitcasters. Mike

Too bad about the slow opener this year, but what a great read and what a beautiful part of our country you have up there. Mike