Familyfisherman

So I went fishing with a few friends on Bronte last week. What an eye opener...

Everyone I saw was basically trying to snag the salmon in the mouth...as if this was a completely acceptable practice? Clearly it was what anyone who "caught" fish was doing, because I drifted singled eggs, yarn, Jensen eggs, etc past fish all day without even a sniff except from a small male brown late morning. I walked quite a ways and watched 3 separate people snag fish, land them, on 2 instances cut them and take the roe and then just chuck the fish...which was obviously not an isolated thing as there were dead fish with cut open bellies every 30 feet on the creek.

The place reeked.

So, my question is, how do people actually get roe?

From my brief experience you can't actually catch a fish with loose roe, as they showed absolutely no interest in anything I had with me...I'm also thinking any fish at the mouth earlier on who actually might bite wouldn't have loose roe?

I have to say that was one of the worst "fishing" experiences I've ever had...I won't be back for late season salmon. I realize they die anyway, but flossing fish trying to spawn just has no sport in it in my opinion...

Glad for some feedback.

Hey thanks Mike maybe we'll give that a try instead.

We had done some reading and decided to give Pigeon Lake a try this weekend for Carp. Looks like it is heralded to be quite good.

I was considering using dog food as a surface bait, as last year at this time we found the carp all over the surface in the mornings feeding before the wind got up.

Just wondering if anyone has had any luck with carp on Pigeon and if there's better opportunities than trying surface fishing?

We thought we'd try the north end of the lake mostly and around the big island...thanks.

Thanks for the help everyone -- looking forward to giving some of those ideas a try.

Kevin

Hey folks,

We'll be fishing Pigeon the weekend of Sept 21-22nd. We would love to catch some bass and crappies. All fish will be going back.

Just wondered if anyone had any direction for us...we've found them a bit difficult to find at this time of year in the past. In the summer fishing jigs tipped with worms worked well, but last fall we had very limited success in the same areas we had tried in summer. Glad for some help.

Thanks.

Kevin

No Mastercraft, no ... I'll just get an 18 footer similar to what I have with a 150hp motor, tower for skiing, etc.

We've been really happy with it for sure, but as the kids get bigger we need to carry more people, etc, so the extra horsepower is becoming a necessity.

A friend has a ranger walleye boat, 20 footer...if money wasn't an issue...

Thanks for the help!

I have a 17 foot Legend X Calibur with a 115HP Merc 4 stroke and 55lb Minn Kota bow mount trolling motor, 2 fish finders, etc. Great fish and family package.

Just wondering ballpark what you feel a used sale price range might be?

It does have some cosmetic damage to the sides, it blew off a dock once and got a few scrapes on it -- purely cosmetic but I know that does play into it.

Glad for some input.

It's been great for us but with 4 kids taking to wake boarding I need to up my power and get something with a tower

Thanks for your thoughts.

Kevin

Thanks folks! I had an option to buy a Mossberg combo with 3 barrels and 4 chokes in camo at $400, so I bought it.

Really looking forward to trying it out.

The advice about trying some guns is wise...I'll do that. I figure at that price I could always have the combo and use it even if I did buy another gun down the road after finding one that fits best...can't have too many guns, can you?

Appreciate the help, thank you.

I've just taken my PAL and hunting course, and I'm in the market for a new 12 gauge package. I plan to hunt deer, turkey, perhaps some waterfowl.

Just looking for opinions?

I've had a couple people get the Mossberg camo package with 3 barrels and 4 chokes, and they seemed happy with it. Another friend has an Ithaca Semi and loves it...he's telling me to spend more and get something higher quality.

Glad to hear some opinions? At this point I'm hoping to find something used, and my budget is fairly broad depending on the package...say $250-$750...

Thanks!

Kevin

Hey folks,

I have a 2003 Legend 17 Xcaliber deep V with a 115 4-stroke Merc. Boat and motor is in reasonable shape -- except it does have some cosmetic scratches on each side of the boat and one side of the motor. It is merely cosmetic, but it is certainly noticeable.

I'm wondering what a fair market value might be for this boat? I understand it's tough to be exact without seeing it, etc.

Everything works -- it has a GPS fishfinder combo, 2 electric downriggers, a bow-mounted Minn Kota, a 2 bank on board charger, 2 livewells and a baitwell, etc. I've owned it since 2006 and got a pretty good deal buying it due to the cosmetic scratches (it blew off a guy's dock into the neighbour's dock in a storm, hence the scratches).

Glad for input as to an estimated value? This year I fixed the steering cable and livewell pumps, last year I replaced the bilge pump. It's a very stable boat and rides well -- has a stainless steel prop...top end is about 41mph on the gps.

I can also provide more details, etc.

Thanks!

My kids are getting older and might want to ski/wakeboard, so I'm wondering about upgrading at some point...hence the questions.

Kevin

James the one's I got 2 years ago have worked great! Many thanks.

Merry christmas guys...skim over parts of simcoe today was Santa's gift to us all

Definitely been doing better on my freezer burned old salmon roe than fresh bow skein lately!

Heading out again later this week -- we'll try it again and see what happens Experiment #2.

So a bit of an interesting story from last week.

We fished last Friday at a local great lakes tributary...there were 4 in our group.

Now I don't have any roe, since a good friend of mine didn't invite me on their Humber river adventure in Sept to get any....but that's besides the point. So, a friend of mine has been great at providing roe when we get out, which I totally appreciate!

Anyways, unbeknownst to me while we left our vehicles Dave (the friend who gives me roe) says to the other guys "Between you and me, I gave Kev old roe I found in the back of my freezer, so he likely won't hook up too often today "

So, we get to the river, they go up river out of earshot, I start to fish. Right away I hook up with a nice 6.5lb silver hen, land it, release it (no pics, I was alone). I rebait, next drift, bang, fish on....fish off. I then see Dave coming around the bend into view.

I rebait, drift a couple times, fish on! I land another decent fish. Dave moves closer.

I rebait, next drift, FISH ON! 2 in 2 casts! As I fight, land, and release this fish Dave is now fishing my spot . No matter, I rebait, next drift, FISH ON! This happens 6 times in a row -- 6 fish on 6 successive drifts...by the end all the other guys were fishing the exact same spot -- NO FISH FOR THEM.

The fish would only hit the "old" roe.

I gave Dave a bag and he caught a fish immediately...then we were out of the old stuff...we didn't land another fish

Clearly at times vintage matters

Here's a pic...it was a fast and furious 40 minutes, so this is the only one I took...we were laughing pretty hard, obviously the joke backfired

Fantastic fish! My friend caught an 8.2lb smallie a couple weeks ago on Simcoe. The picture is on another board, but he was by himself, so it isn't very good.

Such a difference in fish once they get much over 6lbs...just huge!

We were bass fishing a couple of openers ago on a very small lake that has mostly LMB, some pike, and the very odd muskie. We were primarily using texas rigged worms in tequila sunrise, but one guy for a switch threw a bright orange x-rap. First cast he loads up on what we think is a really nice bass, till it gets near the boat and it's a 4-5 lb pike...which bites him off.

While he's retying for 5 minutes or so in the distance we spot a bald eagle...We're from Barrie so this is something to see...as it flies by we see it's got a fish in it's talons...as it gets closer we see a bright orange Xrap hanging from the fish's mouth...

I don't think the eagle is as up on the benefits of C&R in that part of the country...

I've thrown one on couch and Simcoe in the last couple of weeks...landed decent fish, no brutes. I found they hooked the fish multiple times...good news is they don't come off, bad news is they hook fish in the eyes, fins, etc...not great. I also lost one on a cast as it broke at the knot and just kept going...to the bottom in 20 fow...

I think they have a place for fish schooling on minnows for sure...but they aren't simple to store, damage fish, and are not cheap to buy and use...

For what it's worth...

For a tournament if you're sponsored you likely need to have one available, especially since they're newer and fish haven't seen them as much...they do work.

If you aren't and you're recreational...I'm mixed on it.

A couple of times I've had fish follow it to the boat, swimming right along beside it...that was interesting...seemingly no intention of hitting it...

Yes, I found the spinning reel "pendulumed" back to me, and I couldn't allow it to free spool the same as the float reel. The float reel allows me to let the line out at the exact speed of the current due to the lack of friction, and allows for longer drifts.

As my friend who's teaching me says -- "It puts you right on the hook".

So far so good...fish seemed to think the presentation was natural

Fun fighting the fish on it as well!

So we fished a great lakes trib -- this was my first attempt at using a float reel setup.

We were bottom bouncing.

Ended up with 7 fish landed, others lost...I lost 3 myself -- had trouble feeling the bites, so a few times the fish was on and I was slow to catch up to it.

Fun day and lots left to learn.

Thanks to those who provided guidance...ended up going new with a Fenwick rod and streamside reel that a couple friends had and were happy with.

Kept these for dinner, there were 3 of us.

Anyone know when the Big Boys start to bite ??

Prime time is late Oct into November imo...fish turn into complete footballs...

Enjoy!

Got out today for a few hours on Simcoe -- ended up finding some fish in 12-14 fow.

They were extremely skiddish -- had to drag back 100feet plus to get them to bite. Couldn't cast to them, they'd scatter.

Only gets better from here!

There were much bigger fish in the area...if we'd had more time we might've gotten some real bruisers!

Sounds like the catfish might be tough...but the weather might be even tougher

Appreciate the help folks!

I have found all fishing to be tough lately. The bass are fat as heck, so they are feeding at some point during the day/night. Just keep checking your usual spots and hope to be there when the bite turns on. Catfish are still in there, I see some swimming around in the spring. Live worms on the muddy bottom near a weedline is where I would target those cats.

Thanks Jimmer -- we'll give that a try.

I quite enjoy Pigeon...very nice lake to fish multispecies.

Heading to Pigeon Lake for the weekend and have a couple questions:

1. What are the bass up to currently? Smallies on the blade bite yet? Love to hear from anyone who's fished them recently (largies too).

2. Does anyone have any success with catfish on Pigeon? We'd love to catch one.

All our fish go back to swim again, just hoping for a good weekend.

Thanks for any help!

Great info folks, and much appreciated!

Thanks very much.

Kevin

Fishing as an amateur in the CSFL Canadian Open this year in a few weeks. Really excited about how much I'll learn.

I don't have a good drop shot rod, and I'd be glad for input as to what some good options are. Happy to get a good quality rod, and open to suggestions as to a good reel to match it with also.

Lastly, I've heard many using flouro on spinning reels...any opinions out there on that? I was planning to use 8-10lb braid (nanofil or 832) and a flouro leader for the combination of feel/clarity...glad to hear views on that.

Thanks. Happy opener this weekend!