Familyfisherman

Nice fish, late season bassin is the best!

Agreed! Dress for the weather and enjoy!

So I took a fellow OFNer out Friday to catch some fall bass on Simcoe. The day started out with shovelling off the boat since I forgot to put the cover on...

Fished for about 10 minutes before we had a nice sunrise fish to start the day.

Fished a bit longer and Nick hot his first fall bass...4.1lbs

I managed our biggest of the day -- weighed 5.8lbs on the digital scale...

Nick managed another nice one as well.

Decent day -- our top five might've been just over 21lbs. No real brutes but a solid outing -- we were off the water by 10am as the bite died off and the wind picked up.

Good luck if you're out this weekend.

Hey is your neighbour Tim from Tool Time? Can't see your face in any of those pictures

Thanks for the report...was thinking of heading up next week...I'll wait another week...

Looks like a great day! Man the tribs have been awesome for you guys...

I run 10-15lb braid with flouro also, 6-8 feet of 10lb flouro.

I like braid, it's easy, sensitive, etc. I'm sure flouro works but I found the twist issue was more pronounced with flouro vs braid. I'm not a fan of mono due to stretch and insensitivity.

Braid also lasts a couple of seasons, flouro/mono don't last as well imo.

Can some one tell me what i need to use to catch some of those ? -- Skipper D

Here's a few tips for you, I'll keep it general.

As fall progresses bass begin to feed heavily -- you can see this by the swollen bodies on many fish caught, and they'll often be spitting up minnows, etc on the way in and in the livewell in tournaments.

Fish also begin to move out deeper, leaving summer structure and chasing balls of bait and crayfish.

Many things work -- dropshotting is great in early fall, along with cranks, etc, mid fall it changes to tubes, bottom dragging, and a jigging spoon bite. Late fall is almost all bottom related (tubes, etc). Personally I've found tubes in green/brown with some purple flecks effective on Simcoe, but it changes depending on the day.

Spoons can be chrome coloured or gold, heavy flutter spoons. Cast them out, let them sink, then "snap" them 2-3 feet up and let them settle again and repeat...the fish are just there when you lift up.

Hardest part is finding the fish...on weekends you can just follow the other boats, but catches will be limited. If you can spend time at it to find schools of baitfish you'll do much better...search 20-50 fow.

November is awesome, except for the weather Floater suits are a great idea imo.

I realize this is pretty general...I'd suggest going with someone who knows what they're doing the first few times...it can be frustrating if you can't locate fish.

Good luck!

I imagine there aren't many days you could be out there without gloves, but wow that fishing was amazing!

hmm. yes

Hey, I thought you quit?

OK, so my dad and I headed out for a quick morning fish on Lake Simcoe this morning -- just in the Bay.

Launched out of Tiffen...apparently we're idiots?

Had to spend some time "shovelling" the boat before we could get going...

However...5 minutes into it on my first cast, we found the reason we endured the weather

Apparently the fish were hungry for steel today!

My dad finally ditched the tube and managed one as well...

Overall we fished for nearly 2 hours -- 7:30-9:15 or so...we did go 3 fish on 3 casts, but only totalled 5 fish. Might've been around 21lbs, no giants today. Bite was early, and died completely by 8:15am...some fish on bottom today, some remain suspended.

Enjoy the great fall fishing!

Interesting hearing everyone's perspective.

In my opinion success in ice fishing is very dependant on your rod/reel...people always try to cheap out in this area -- not wise.

What do you plan to fish for? This totally dictates what you should be getting...

For example -- fishing for lake trout, you'll need a medium/heavy rod - 32 inches, 10lb braid, and a very good drag on your reel. Fishing for specs, 28 in med rod, 8lb braid. Perch, very light action rod, 2-4lb braid, etc...make sense?

If you're walking into lakes you'll need a sled for sure. Forget the hut...good ice fisherman move constantly. Turn your back to the wind and dress warm.

You'll need a fish finder for sure! Absolutely critical...you can't catch what isn't there, and you must know depths and structure. Forget the hand auger, get a gas auger -- best money you'll spend other than the fish finder. With the hand auger you sweat, then you get cold...trust me on that.

Your list should be ammended to:

warm clothing/boats/gloves

power auger

fish finder

quality rod/reel with braided line and flouro leaders

skimmer

sled

rope, picks, spud bar

As someone else said, go with a friend the first few times so you're sure you like it. Beats selling everything half off if you find out you don't.

Ice fishing is all about location and technique. Try to go with someone who knows...you'll catch fish and have fun. Just walking onto some lake with no idea is almost a guaranteed failure and no fun at all imo...

Good luck!

I do both. Ice fishing I find is a great way to get people who don't fish out. There's less to mess up They use my stuff, I show them how...then they sit there and watch me catch fish...it's great!

Of course I have noticed most people only come with me once for some reason...dah well.

Good on ya guys! Tony nice to see you letting Aaron land a few

Glad you had a good day -- i'm with you on trying to maximize your time...with 4 kids and a business it isn't always easy to get the good days between weather and family, etc.

Nice to see a plan come together!

Has anyone had a chance to see a list of the top 20 or anything like that?

To those taking part in the BPS Lake Simcoe Open on Saturday out of Orillia good luck! The prefish has been quite difficult between the wind and the rain...and in my outings the fish have not only been hard to find, but very tough to get to bite.

Hopefully with the weather break on Saturday someone can take a run at the records -- which are made to be broken.

Amazing how good these guys are -- I hope to get to the weigh in to watch the results.

It's at 3pm at the Port of Orillia for those who're interested....

Everyone with over 23 lbs line up and get to weigh in at the main stage (the rest do the walk of shame to another area)...but while they're lined up there you can likely talk with them and I'm sure learn a lot.

Good luck!

If you're launching at Barrie and staying right in the bay there's places to fish, if you're thinking you'll head out into the big lake you really shouldn't...50km winds and gusts up to 80km -- that's just dangerous in any boat. Water's getting colder...why bother?

Quite the party wagon...

You can walk to a few places on Simcoe, especially at first ice. Bear Point, out around the hump between the 6th and 7th of Oro, etc. The walk is a couple of kms. However, the fish don't stay around those places long into the season.

The fish move, so you have to as well to stay catching them consistently.

A sled or ATV are both viable options, but do require an investment on your part. That's part of it.

By far the bigger investment is in TIME -- to research, to spend time at it getting up to speed. Ice fishing has its nuances just like open water fishing. It takes a large investment on your part to changing fish on the screen to fish on the ice.

If you're serious about giving it a try, hook up with someone who has a 2up sled or ATV, an ice fish finder, a power auger, and knows what they're doing...then go quite a few times and give it a real chance.

To go out walking to a place where there isn't fish, without the proper equipment and little knowledge of what you're doing will result more often than not in a poor days fishing...you'll join the crowd and say Simcoe has no fish, and you'll think ice fishing sucks.

However, on the contrary, if you go with someone, a guide perhaps, who keeps you on fish, you'll have a blast and realize how much fun ice fishing can be.

The choice really is yours...

I would guess closed today. Not really surprised though as it's a holiday.

Yes, but if they'd been open they'd have had their busiest day ever! The Tiffen launch was absolutely nuts! Given the weather either they are out of live bait and closed to save the frustration or else they made a mistake in judgement...surely they'd have made a fortune in minnows today...

I've never seen that many boats on the Bay and I've lived here 40 years....

Very fun day -- what lake did you fish?

Some nice stuff there Steve. I have a question on late summer/fall transitions for bass on Simcoe. What is it that begins to make the fish move from 8-12 feet around weedlines out to suspend in 20-30 fow, and then to eventually sit on the bottom in 30-50 fow when it gets really cold? Are they following baitfish, or changing feeding patterns or what?

I'm beginning to learn what they do, I just don't know why they do it...glad for anyone's input.

Thanks!

Tatoo looks...ah, painful

Nice work Nick -- and on the house sale also! Congrats!

Fall bass are about to arrive...

Interesting thread guys -- I'd be glad to know if Jason Borwick will be speaking at any meetings close to Barrie -- well worth the time!

Fish of a lifetime! Wow...you might've looked a little happier in the picture, think of all the people who'll end up seeing that pic

Interesting thread -- thanks for starting it kickinfrog...

There are already some Musky on Simcoe -- each year bass anglers have them follow up to the boat, and some adult fish are caught and released annually. Not many, but it happens.

While I can't comment intelligently on Muskies Canada's plans, I certainly wouldn't discourage them. The lake clearly had an excellent population at one time. With the ever increasing water quality and protected habitat at the end of Cooks Bay for spawning, I don't see why a population might not do ok? Competing with pike isn't new...it may take time and patience but let's give them both.

Jason Borwick is the Biologist at the MNR responsible for Lake Simcoe, and I've been to his presentations on the state of the water, whitefish, and most recently naturally reproducing Lake Trout poplulations -- great information. They are totally on it when it comes to the state of the Lake Simcoe fisheries. I would expect MC has been in contact with the MNR and have Jason's and others blessing on their efforts. If it was a complete waste of time and resources, I expect the MNR would've stated as much, wouldn't they?

While more walleye would be great, MC obviously is an advocate for Musky. Impossible to please everybody...

Fish till the end of November for sure -- great fishing, just wear a floater suit if you have one...