ccmtcanada

Well, my 5 year old has been begging us to take her fishing, but we had to wait until some of the smaller zone 6 lakes opened up. So...finally....today we headed up to do a little fishing! She was so excited that while bly and I were getting things ready, she had to play with the worms on the front porch.... My daughter informed me on the way up that we were going to have a fish catching contest...so I said "You're on!!!". She was off to a fast start....reeling in her first fish about 2 minutes after her line was in the water. Here's her first of 2007...a respectable rock bass! She then proceeded to catch a few small perch. She was up 3 to 0 and the day wasn't even a half hour old yet! Here she is releasing one of her perch.... I finally got on the board with this huge monster!!! I could sense a comeback.... A little while later, I put my rod down and she proceeded to walk over to it and say, "here daddy, I'll show you how to catch big ones". It was very cute...then suddenly, my float goes down and she pulled this in on my rod. My little girl then caught the biggest fish of the day...this nice bluegill. So by the end of a few hours, we packed it in....with her beating me 7 fish to my 4....AND she caught the biggest fish too. I cant beat the women in my family...whether it's bly or my daughters. Oh well....I gotta get used to that. She ended up catching 2 rock bass, 4 perch, 1 bluegill and 1 chubb. I had 1 rock bass and 3 perch. She still didn't want to go home, so we took a detour and fed some animals and went on a little nature walk.. The Trilliums were in bloom all over the area, and I spotted a few red ones...I had to take a pic. I've seen the white ones everywhere, but couldn't ever remember these ones... One last pic...me and my little one fishing at the docks....

I know the family...in fact, I believe that I worked with one of the Groch's wife...she used to be at home office before moving out there...her name is Daria....small world!

Hmmm...a few stores in the Calgary area?? Wouldn't be the Dand family would it?

Wayne...thanks for the plug for Canadian Tire....LOL. I work at corp head office....we can use the sales.....

Hey Brian Mine isn't from the beer store....I got it from the local tackle shop. Mine uses those watch battery lithium ones....so that they stay charged even in really cold weather. The lights are LED too....so it's not a harsh light. I love mine....it's great for retying line...light's up your line and terminal tackle perfectly and of course the light itself is hands free. Also does a good job in lighting a path while walking along too. Anyhow...whenever we night fish, it's a must that I take it along with me.....I think it was 15 bucks...it uses two of those batteries....and it came with 4....so spare set is taken care of. Cliff

Good advice Wayne....we'll be doing that for sure! She also bought a strap for it and it's now affixed to her vest so even if it falls, she'll notice it dangling from her.

Back on Monday night, CANADIAN COPPER, bly and I headed to an east end trib for some night fishing. Somewhere along the way, bly lost her fly box. She has been stocking up on flies and jigs over the past months based on word of mouth, stuff she's read, and gut instinct. There was a lot of work in that box....and she was pretty upset at herself for losing it....not because of the money...but because of the effort she put into her collection. We didn't realize it was gone until Tuesday afternoon. We hightailed it back to the creek while there was still some light and saw only one person there. We kept looking at the ground trying to spot it when I approached this gentleman who was fishing there. I told him our predicament and he paused....and said "Well you know...I did find one earlier this morning and I took it to all the others who were fishing and asked if this belonged to anyone...one younger man claimed it". He told us to give him our phone number and if he was able to get it back, he'd call us. We figured it was lost forever. Well...this afternoon, we get a phone call. It was the older gentleman we saw...he said that he had it!!!! We couldn't believe it. Well, bly went back there and got her fly box back. The younger guy was there too. He explained that the box is identical to his...and when he returned home that day, he looked inside and realized it wasn't his...and he planned all the long to bring it back to the creek. He took his fly box out and it was indeed identical! Bly had two Tim Horton's gift certificates to give to them, but he refused to take it. Anyhow...I know it's a long story, but it's one worth telling. There are some great and honest people in the angling community.... So, if either of those gentlemen read this board....THANK YOU!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone! We had a blast out there that's fur sure. Alex....yes we do catch small fish....we just dont post them....LOL Beans....thanks for all the tips! Roy....no need for changes to the regs....we release them all..... GCD...It has still been getting down to 4C at night.....brrrrrrrr.....

You dont want lessons from us...LOL. I'm pretty sure that: 1) We stumbled on a little piece of carp heaven 2) Beginners luck 3) The numbers we are catching will likely drop...and we'll be back to our normal skunk, skunk, skunk, fish routine...LOL Carping can be addicting that's for sure...they are a fun fish to fight! Thanks for the kind words.

Nice job Scott!! Bly and I will probably leave the carp alone for a little and try some night time steelies this weekend. Did you get my PM?

Bly and I decided to hit our spot for some more carp on Friday night. This time we had time to prepare and we went out and bought some basic carp equipment. So, off to the local tackle shop to buy some good quality hair rigs, bollies and some berkley power baits. We used a slip sinker setup. We couldn't figure out how to put the bollies on the hooks so we improvised...our local tackle shop didn't have the needles in stock. So out came my cordless drill....and I put small holes in all the bollies. Bly then tied some fishing line to a small sewing needle to help us thread the bait to the rig. We kept them on the line by tying a small elastic band to the end of the hair rig. Since we dont have rod holders, we had to hold on to them. Anyways, we headed out just as the sun went down. It was a perfect night to be out on the water...water smooth as glass....and amazing moon out reflecting in the water. Bly Fishing in the Moonlight I put my first cast out there and began the waiting game. Not 2 minutes later, one must have inhaled the bait, because as I reached down to get my coffee, the rod almost went flying out of my hands...LOL. It's kind of nice when you dont have to set the hook...it did it itself! After a nice 10 minute fight, he was landed. My first of the night measured in at 32.5 inches. The action was pretty good tonight. Soon after, bly landed this nice 34.5" one... Next it was my turn, this one measured 32" and weighed 20 pounds....my heaviest fish yet...at least until later on.... Bly got the next one 34 inches....another 25 pounder for her Finally, I finished off the night...my new personal best came in at 34.5" and 21lbs 2 oz. All in all we had a blast out there...our drags got quite the workout and we got lots of practise thumbing our spools when they were taking our line towards debris in the water. We did lose a few along the way as well....but that's to be expected! It's funny though...we alternated catching fish all night....reminded me of our walleye adventures of last fall...

Cant wait! Bly and I have our campsite booked. We'll be there Friday afternoon and leaving Sunday afternoon. Really looking foward to meeting fellow OFNers and having a great time. Babysitting is all worked out....now if we could only convince them to hold on to them for a few more days....LOL

I've only recently targetted carp. They are a thrill to land once you hook them...especially if they are over 20 pounds! The few I've had on the hook have taken about 15 minutes to land...they are pretty powerful fish. I have no intention of eating them....but you can. You mentioned that you dont know anyone who goes after them....another thing I like about them...you find your spot and it's a nice relaxing time fishing....rather than fighting the crowds of the tribs hunting for steelies. The tribs are like that for me cause I can only fish on weekends...when everyone else is....LOL. If you are a shore fisherman (like me...cant afford a boat), then I'd say give it a try...it's pretty cool.

Nice looking fish! I have to say, you take some awesome pictures of your fish. Since I mostly fish at night, I dont get the opportunity to get cool shots like you! Heading out tonite to try for more Carp...hope they are still hungry!!!

Wow....great job and awesome looking fish! Must have been lots of fun pulling that guy. Your smile says it all. Keep up the great work and dont worry about the OFC sign...you'll catch a bigger one anyways!!

Absolutely amazing! I wish the water near me looked like that...haha. The local tribs to me are very shallow and crystal clear...the fish can see you before you see them....LOL.

P A I N F U L L Y S L O W

Welcome to the board Rob! If you've been reading it for the past week, then you know the quality of members that also live here. Great intro...and I hope to see some reports from you in the future.....oh yeah...you probably also know we like pictures....

Here's the link...looks pretty cool.... http://www.anchorbuddy.com/

Wow....I've been following each of your posts for quite a while now. At first I thought "he's just advertising his store" on here. But the more I read, the more I realized that you are truly a class act. I've seen everything from safety/ice condition reports, excellent customer service, holding back minnows for OFNer's for ice fishing when "get togethers on Quinte" are planned, pleas for assistance for others in need, advice for targeting the coveted walleye...and the list goes on. If you were local to me, I'd be in your store every other day. You are a great member of this board...a true leader in your business. Next time I'm your way, I'm going to stop by for sure and spend some of my money in your store! Oh yeah...and have cup of that coffee you mentioned....LOL

LOL...ok...that was too funny....still laughing here.....

Wow...what a great report...the colours on those fish were great! Nice sized pike there!! Great job out there!

LOL...thanks Golfisher. I have to tell you though...with the Walleye and Steelheading, we were skunked MOST times we went out. There were days and days of experimenting, reading TONS of articles on them, being mentored by guys like CANADIAN COPPER, and basically being stubborn and not letting them beat us....haha. There also is a bit of luck involved too. My goal for 2007 is to achieve the "Avid Angler" status from the OFAH. So far I have 3 species out of the way...Pike, Trout and Carp. I'm hoping we have the same success for Walleye once the season opens again...that leaves one more species...hmm....maybe hook into a qualifying panfish while taking my kids out.

Great report pikeie! Looks like you guys had a great time out there...the smiles in the pics says it all. Some great looking perch there!

Hey everyone! Good on you to get out to a swill. They are a lot of fun. Not the easiest thing to organize, but the pics and report looks like it was all worth while. Great job everyone!