fish_fishburn

Well we got back from Lake Clear yesterday at about 2:00. We got there friday about noon to be met with 25 to 35 km winds. Got the boat off and set up waited till evening for the wind to settle down but it didn't. The wind blew all night and into the next morning. We went out anyways and found some sheltered areas to fish. The fishing sucked all the bass were under 6 inches. The areas I wanted to fish were main lake shoals but big waves, and I didnt want to put her throught that. We went back to the cottage and all the other people were starting to roll in. Boats, Sea-doos, kids dogs etc. By late afternoon the wind started to die down and we headed out for a few hours. Got into some smallies but wind was still in the low 20's. Then she gotta call from one of the gals with a couple of sea-doos. Took her back so she could try it out, she's never drove one before. She had a blast. I caught up with the lads and had a few brews and talked fishing. There were four bass boats there and we took the group for boat rides and did some cliff jumping. That evening we decided to have a little tourney the next morning. 9-11:30 one fish. Took off in 15 k winds and went right to my main lake shoals. The smallies were on we were ripping spinner baits. Diane caught a nice pb 3.5 lb smallie and I just about released it and she reminded me we were in a tourney. Caught about 6 more in the 3 lb range gunning and running main lake shoals. At the weigh in we waited till the last to weigh(just wanted some suspense). Anyway she won with her pb 3.5lber and won a new St Croix hat. Took some pics and released all the fish. She was prretty stoked. Went out that evening for some eyes and I set her up with a worm harness and she caught her pb walleye and 3 others and I got skunked. We were back in by 11:00. The party was well under way with the guitars out and everyone singing around the fire and we cleaned up some eyes and joined in. The truck was fine no complaints. Had her set up with a good air mattress, mine sucked has a slow leak. Sunday we fished only 3 hrs at a time and then back to the cottage to hang with everyone. Then back out for a few hrs etc, some swimming and just touring around the lake. Was a great weekend and we had a really good time. I got enough fishing in to fix the craving and had a blast at the fire works as well. she has the pics and I will get them from her and try to load them up. Not a complaint from her about staying in the truck. It was actually better then a tent I thought. But I think I do owe her one for roughing it with me for three nights in the truck.

The black anchor thing is so lame.

Feel free to email me some tips Bushart.

Theres a really good pronounced weedline on that lake it goes from about 3 to 20 ft and I usually fish it for eyes in the early morning and evening. Have never had any luck during the day there. I am going to try ripping bucktails there for the first time and see how that works out. Any tips on this method would be appreciated. What weight of jigs to use?I have 3/8 and 1/2 oz.

Ill run that by her Stoty but cant promise anything.

I'm heading to Lake Clear for three days to do some fishing and hang out with friends. My buddy has a cottage there and always throws a party on Canada Day weekend. Most go for the party but I usually fish 12 hrs a day, break bread and have drinks with friends in the evening then up early and do it all over again. I usually crash in the back of my truck because I am up at 4:00 4:30 and dont want to bother anyone making noise. I make some coffee and toast a bagle on my campstove then I'm gone fishing. This past January I started dating a new girl and she seems to like to fish. We have been out four or five times and she doesn't start to whine and complain cause the weather gets foul or it's to hot,or wants to go home after 3 or 4 hours cause were not catching anything like my past g/f's that also liked to fish. She ties her own baits and baits her own hooks, nice. Well I asked her if she wanted to come, but for sure I thought she would say no when I told her we would be sleeping in the back of the truck (full size box with a cap). She says "awesome beats setting up and tearing down a tent any day".Im looking at her and saying to myself, I'm digging this chick. She has never fished smallies before and hopefully I can get her into some Lake Clear hawgs. We will definitely be going after some eyes as well and doing a nice shore lunch. I will take pics and if I can ever figure out how to post them I will. Anways, last night she says hopefully we catch some pickerel cause I want to try filleting one.Hmmm might have a keeper here.

Thats what the doc is gonna do. Save yourself the hassle with the wait and get er done yourself. It happened to me when I reached in the pail to grab one to clean and it kicked and got me. So yeah had a nice snack the next day.

Cedar Lake you can have cans and bottles at your camp site but you can't take any out in your boat. Pretty well every time I have been there guys would come in from fishing with a nice ticket for having cans or bottles in their boats. Must really suck to watch a warden dump your bottle of Wisers or Capt Morgans in the lake.

Same thing happened to me last year. You defenitely have a piece of the spine in your finger. Mine festered up really good after a week then I punctured a hole in it and just started to squeeze the wound till the little black piece of spine surfaced. I grabbed it with a small pair of tweezers and voila it healed up after a day or two. Hurt like heck for the week it was in there tho. No need to see a doctor, its easy enough to do yourself.

Thats awesome, well done. You definitely did your homework. What did you do with all the fish? Or is it live release.

Fishing the slop with a 5 inch flippin tube and a 5/0 EWG,50lb braid and a heavy action 7ft rod. I watch the line if I see any movement in the line its 2 or 3 cranks to tighten the line then BAM set the hook straight up with a factor of 10. Get the fish on top and its all over in seconds. When vertical jigging, feel the tap or some weight reel down and its just a quick snap of the wrist. factor of 4 Cranks its just a simple sweep set. factor of 5

I use the plastic bags from do-it-youself wine kits. The plastic is very thick with a good snap on cap. Have been using the same bags for over two seasons now. They hold well over a gallon of water. I use them in my cooler and livewells.

Not sure about bananas but when the skeeters get bad I fire up a cigar. They dont like the smoke.

Thanks again guys for the great tips. I checked a few shops out today and grabbed some slow death hooks. They only had size 1 and 2 hooks. They seem a bit light to me was hoping for some X2 at least for incidental Northerns. The 1 and 2 size are very thin wire. Took a walk through Crappy in Pembroke man there prices suck. 4.99 for a bottom bouncer. At that price you would think they would be quality but there the cheapest ones available.. A pack of 3 Lindy rigs were 13 bucks. Stopped at my local bass shop and bb's 2.00 each and spinners 2.50 each and an awesome selection. sorry for the rant but that store is really pissing me off.

I checked out the slow death hooks today on you tube. Will be buying some today, thanks for all the tips guys. What size would you use for eyes? Or do they only come in one size.

I have to agree with Lunker, buyers are liars, that phrase was one of the first things I was told when I got into my line of work. Look at it this way Pete, time to go shopping, guess that one wasn't meant to be. You will probably find a better deal. Funny how things workout sometimes.

Thanks for the tips lads I will give em a try next time out. Went out last night anad we jigged up 9 while drifting with a 1/4 oz erie jig with a 3 in white Mister Twister tipped with a piece of worm. Had to release 2 because they were over our 40cm slot size. Cant wait till june 15 when the slot size is gone.

Most of my fishing consists of river fishing. When trolling for eyes I usually use cranks with good success. This year I want to expand my trolling and try worm harness's and bottom bouncers. I have never used bb's but bought a couple last week. They are 2 1/2 oz. What I need to know is, How do you rig these and what do you use for bait. what speed do you troll. Also bought some assorted worm harness in different colours with different types of blades and numbers of hooks. How do you rig these? Do you use a snap swivel, Do you use a sliding weight How do you hook your worm on Do you use artificial worms, ie Gulp etc. Sorry for all the questions but trolling is not my forte as I am mostly a bass guy but my g/f always wants to troll instead of jigging so I thought if were gonna troll I should expand my knowledge on the topic.Thanks Mike

Nice boat Stoty. The 929 is one of the nicest layouts out there. I have fished many tournies in a 929. Two of my buddies have them. The 225 EFI is a bit faster then the Opti. Enjoy.

I spent the last winter trying to find a new 3 ton floor jack for my personnal use. I checked every big box store and all the auto parts stores and no luck. One guy at Napa told me the ones they sell were made in the U.S.A. and were on sale for 190 bucks. I went to pick it up and no such luck it was made in China. I'm just so tired of buying crap at full prices and throwing it away in a couple of years because it no longer works. Plus for personal reasons I would rather not support the Chinese economy.

Prolly be Northerns for the fish fry, fine by me.

I know its pretty pathetic, was talking to some lads who went out this am and they got their limits and said all the males were milked out already. That changes the locations I waas going to go too.

Finally, after reading all your opening day adventures its my turn tomorrow. Seems like the last two weeks have taken forever. The plan is to go out for some eyes at 5 am. Have friends coming to town for the long weekend and they want to do a fish fry on sunday. The boat has been ready for a good month now, I will be taking the g/f with me. The other two lads will be fishing out of there tinny. One doesn't know how to fish and the other has spent the last 25 yrs fishing Salmon on the salt chuck out west. Should be interesting to see how they fair out. The river is at late july levels right now, so I'm hoping that makes things easier. Way less water usually makes it easier to locate fish but you never know being its the first day out. We will be jigging with worms and plastic grubs, as well as trolling some cranks. Minnows here are 5 bucks a doz which seems insane to me. No scoops here you get 12 for 5 bucks. Be safe out there everyone, the weather for the weekend couldn't be better.

I prefer 7 to 8 ft med rods with moderate action. I use these on Quinte and they work great even for Walleye over 10 lbs.

Billy might be able to help you out?