jediangler

I've probably been injured more from landing small rockbass than all other species combined. When they are too small to lip those fins always seem to get me.

Were you parked by that "Wild Trout" sign on Hurontario? Seen quite a few cars there on my way home from Island lake today. Nice looking fish, looks like you hog-tied that last one. Thanks for sharing.

Drove the 85km to Orangeville to hook up with my brother and his wife (Joonmoon & Goog) for some panfish action. We have always done very well in both sizes and numbers in Island lake over the last few years. Today was going to be the toughest day yet. To start with the water level is down 2ft from usual and there is loads of algae. The lack of any breeze meant fish were tight to cover and not aggressive at all. Now I know this is starting to sound like a bunch of excuses, but I haven't had to work so hard for so little action this season. I arrived and launched the kayak by 7:30am. Joonmoon & Goog were an hour behind me and got the cooler w/seats wet at 8:30am. I managed to catch two nice perch in the first hour, but had my heart set on crappie, so I let them go. We were using small jigs with grubs in various colours. After 2 hrs in the main lake body, we decided to go north east past the islands to the deepest area of the lake. There was an old-timer anchored nearby with at least 9 good crappie and 2 pike on a stringer. Joonmoon landed 2 keeper sized crappie (9"-11") right on the bottom after Goog figured out the pattern. I was worn out from paddling the hour to get back there, and the heat was sapping my energy. I wished them luck and started the long paddle back. Picked up 4 more good perch before noon to give me six for the day. Joonmoon kept his 2 for the pan but Goog had no luck today. The highlight of the day for me was when a 5yr old boy fishing with a SpongeBob rod caught a 14" largemouth on a worm from shore. Proud Pappa held the fish for a photo with the boy and his little sister smiling from ear to ear as Mom took the pic. He put the fish right back and the kids stood there waving at the bass as he took off into the weeds.

I'm so sad but I can't wait to see Phil take a dirt nap

Double fisted Gobies...Coool!

You can catch Gobies by the hundreds from the pier. Just put a jig and grub right on the bottom.

Congrats on the PB carp. I never fished alone either, until I bought my kayak. Now I love going out by myself.

I like the fireline crystal but have only used it in the 10lb test size so I can't comment on heavier sizes.

Nice haul man. Some good eats there.

Hit the 401 at 4am with the Shipper & Impaler in tow for the 250km drive to Sturgeon lake for the musky opener. After stopping at Timmies in Port Perry we arrived at the launch and were on the water by 7am. Water temps at the launch were 63F but at our destination it was 70F. It was so still you could see bottom in 8ft of water. By 7:30am this 28" musky attacked my Mepps musky killer in a weed patch no deeper than 5ft of water. It wrapped itself in my line and came to the kayak hog-tied. The Shipper had one on a T1 spinnerbait that jumped and freed itself within seconds of being hooked. The Impaler had many follows on an assortment of different lures but could get none of them to strike. By 9am it was unbearably hot and humid so we found some shade to sit in while we ate an early lunch. I explained the details of my camera mount to the Shipper while he was parked beside me with his Sportspal. I wanted to continue fishing the same shallow area while the boys went to deeper water to try their luck. Before they got far I had another musky on the same bucktail. This one was even smaller at 25" but fought like a trooper. The Impaler has the big zoom on his digital so he took this pic from a fair distance away. We continued throwing baits until 12noon when we packed it in and called it a day. I felt I had a good opener getting two, even if they were tiny. The boys weren't as happy and proclaimed that Sturgeon lake sucks. Next time they want to go to Pigeon or Buckhorn. Missed brother Joonmoon this opener since he started a new job and had to work. Next time bro, and we'll get into some bigger ones. Hope everyone had a good opener to the musky season.

Congrats on the Yak danbo, you're going to love it.

The muskies are shakin' in their boots right now, knowing you're on the hunt. Good Luck out there.

You need to buy a kayak for musky fishing Lew. Then you only have room for half a dozen baits. Over the years I've fished with fewer baits every year. Moving more and more of them to take up permanent residence at home. This Saturday I'm taking one plano with 4 bucktails, 2 slopmasters and 2 cobra jigs with rubber on them. I have to save room in the kayak for lunch and drinks as well as my camera and tools for unhooking. Good luck to all.

Hey Squid, since you've never heard of a 30lb salmon caught on 6lb test, I thought you better see this pic. This was a 42" X 24" (30.03lbs) chinook caught off the Bronte pier on 6lb trilene xt. It took 20 minutes. I was using a 9ft ugly stik trolling rod. Anything is possible. Good luck to all on this opening weekend.

Don't forget, Friday is a full moon. I'm sharpening my hooks right now.

Way to go Joonmoon & Goog. You just had to catch a musky before I did this year didn't you. Looks like a great time had by all.

Thanks xrap, wow $1500 for a 10lb pike, not bad.

Well done ribak, if you want more consistant action at Orangeville you have to use small jigs with twister tail grubs. Of course you'll have your share of bite offs from the hammer handle pike but that comes with the territory. I'm surprised you didn't get into any big crappie with the smaller x-raps. I'm hoping to get up to Island lake myself in the next few weeks. It's going to be difficult to fish for crappie now that musky is about to open.

Did anyone enter the Belwood pike derby on the weekend? Just wondering how big the $1500 fish was.

Looks like a great weekend with some heartache (the one that got away) and some reward. That's a tight cockpit on that yak but I bet it flies on the water. The stealth factor in a kayak will usually produce more fish for you than anyone in a boat or canoe. I posted a few pics of my camera mount in the post "Kayaking for Pike" from last Saturday if you want to check it out. Hopefully I'll be posting a report with some musky pics after this coming weekend. If you want to read up on some kayak fishing check out these forums with kayak fishermen from all over the U.S. and the world. http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee/forums

Bump. Just in case anyone's looking for $1500.

Carp on a fly...that's pretty cool. How's that rod taste?

Another great report from the far north. The scenery is always breath taking. Great photos too.

I saw this in the Kitchener Record and thought some OFC'ers might be interested. Belwood Lions Club Pike Derby May 26 & 27 Live release only, Longest fish. 1st prize $1500 2nd prize fishing charter 3rd prize rod/reel and PFD 4th prize rod/reel 5th prize assorted tackle Youth category 1st prize Trophy, rod/reel, tackle box & PFD 2nd prize - 4th prize rod/reel, tackle box & assorted tackle $20 for 16yrs of age and older $5 for youth phone # (519)843-2990 fax# (519)843-5508 Additional $7.50 boat launching fee per day payable to GRCA at time of launch.

Go inland. Lakes like Chesley, Gould and Arran all have good smallmouth bass fishing. Chesley has walleye and pike as well as perch and other panfish. Arran has pike and perch as well as some good largemouth areas too.