tapout

Hey everyone, Been 3 or 4 years since I've been able to post. Between a forgotten password, changing emails and issues trying to contact the admins, I was finally able to make contact and Chad fixed things up for me. Thanks Chad. Much appreciated. Well since this is my first post in however many years I'd figure I should contribute a little with a fish report. I managed to get out for the first time yesterday ( simcoe ) this ice season to try for some perch and maybe a pike. The last couple years I would keep having pike cruise up to my perch lures, scare the perch away and then just sit there eyeing it for a few seconds and then away it would go. Yesterday started off cold, -29C at the edge of the lake. Walked out, set up, put down a line for a pike, dropped my second line down for perch and started jigging away. Dinks were easy enough to bring around but the jumbos were another story. Occasionally a solitary jumbo would swim by uninterested. Much like the dinks. Curious but not interested. That was the story for the whole day in regards to perch. I did however spot 10 pike through out the day. Hooked up with 6 of them and went 0 for 6. Every hook up was on my perch line. 3 line snaps, 3 spit hooks with 2 of those at the hole. Maybe next time! Still have not figured out whitefish or lake trout. Maybe this will be the season I break the lifetime skunking I've been getting. Hope the holidays have been good to everyone and have a great New Year everyone.

Yes I agree there are still good people out there. I had someone last year pull up beside me on a sled when I was walking to shore and offered me a ride. I accepted and pity I never got his name. Pretty much as soon as I was off his sled he was gone. I chalked it up to a random act of kindness. I was quite happy with them. The biggest one takes second place on my PB list. I'll be out there again Saturday morning looking for its bigger siblings! I think there is a good chance the next Ontario record perch will come from Lake Simcoe! The perch were delicious! Surprisingly I didn't find one worm.

I'm not sure when that pic of you was taken but I remember you with that sled at a G2G off Gilford about 10 years ago. Still use it? Now that has a ring to it...The Perch Reaper! If you're ever in need of a fishing partner when on a walk out for a laker or whitefish I'd be happy to oblige. I can't catch either of those for the life of me.

Pics are added.

Hey all, Its been quite some time since I've posted a report or commented. I've been reading the forums a lot the last couple months and like many I was itching to get out to take some minnows for a swim. I was hoping Lady Simcoe would be kind and upsize the fish I was to put on my hook. Yesterday Sunday, Jan 11th saw me sleep right through my alarm I had set for 3 am. When I wake up I look at the time and realize its 4:55 am. So much for my idea the night before of getting ready to leave unhurried. Stuffing random extra items of clothing into my backpack along with a random lunch which consisted of a can Grape Crush, a small bottle of OJ a power bar and a Timmies blueberry muffin. Whatever it'll do. The drive was great and I really like that 404 extension to Woodbine Ave. The drive ended with me parking more then a kilometre from the lake. Lots made it there before me On my way out to a little "hole" I found a few years back I took my first breather - at the shore. I mumbled a few words to myself for sleeping through my alarm that can't be repeated here. The walking conditions were pretty good with enough snow that cleats weren't really necessary. Many huts, atv's, sleds and 1 guy driving his older model sport utility out there...ballsy if you ask me. The ice was a good 7 inches thick. As I neared the spot I mentioned earlier I noticed there was a guy almost exactly where my gps was taking me. Not wanting to be intrusive I started to veer away and then noticed he was packing up. I wandered over, said Hi and asked how he did. He said he did ok and there were some nice perch in this spot. I was more then welcome to fish the couple of holes he had drilled as he had a long drive ahead of him and had to leave. He said he comes up from Michigan a couple times a year to fish. This spot once again didn't disappoint me. Numbers weren't the order of the day but size was, in my case anyway. My second biggest of the day was my second fish and I almost lost it. It came unhooked at the top of the hole. Next moment I was searching for a dry glove in my backpack. This perch measured in at 13 3/8ths inches. The bite pretty much grinded to a halt at around 11 and I was packing up by noon. 1 pm I arrive at where I parked. The final tally was 14 landed and 14 keepers. Smallest 9 1/2 inches and biggest 13 7/8. I'm already looking forward to being out there again. Is it Saturday yet?

After lurking for the last six weeks or so and anticipating getting out to do some ice fishing I am going to give it a go tomorrow. I've been wondering about saving gps locations when out on the hard water with my phone. The phone I have is a Kyocera Rise if that makes any difference. Just want a simple app that works, but when doing a search on Google Playstore I'm left scratching my head with which one to get. Any suggestions?

These were right on bottom and much too large to be a herring. My biggest perch was 12 inches and I saw it on the bottom as it took my minnow and these fish must've been something like 24 - 30 inches long or more.

I've never caught a whitie before but it crossed my mind at the time that maybe they were, just from the shear size of them. Aren't whities more in the deeper water? I was only in about 12 fow. They came around when I was using my small williams half and half to try and produce some flash to attract some perch. I had a Russian hook tipped with a minnow right near bottom at the same time but nada.

@Chris...I didn't know either. I've caught black crappie before and this one definitely wasn't that. I had to look it up before I posted to make sure and it definitely looks like the pic I looked at. @ pidge.... I found them in about 12 - 13 fow. The closer I moved towards the huts the smaller they got. It was frustrating looking down the hole and seeing some bruiser perch eyeing my bait but wouldn't take and would slowly swim away

Headed out to Virginia Beach to try for some perch. Well I can say I found lots Jumbos, but catching lots, well thats another story. I moved around quite a bit till I found them. I did my usual belly to the ice looking down the hole thing. I dropped down my favorite tried and tested lure and jigged and jigged and jigged some more before they moved in, accompanied by some small minnow sized perch. Very few would take anything I threw at them. I caught half a dozen from 10 - 12 inches, along with a few surprise catches as well. I caught 2 large mouth bass which went right back in. I'm not a bass fisherman and have never caught them before. That was my 1st and 2nd of those. They were small. About 12 inches. Also unexpected was a channel cat about 13 or 14 inches. First one of those for me. Back down it went. I wasn't done yet with the multiple species as I had also iced a white crappie. Again that too was on the smaller end of the scale. Only about 8 or 9 inches. It was also sent back down the hole. First one of those as well. I also saw cruise by my hole some of the biggest suckers I've ever seen. I'm guessing they were at least 2 - 2 and half times larger then the biggest perch I caught which was 12inches. They showed no interest in my lure and minnow at all. Just cruised right on by. All in all it was a good day to be out. Cheers, Tony

Was a great day indeed Brian. Was great to see you again and was great to finally meet Terry even though he almost drove over my ice fishing gear with the sled as you guys were on the way out Was great to see Joey and Paul again, bigchev, Kelvin - Great job with the bbq , and the other ofner's I talked to but can't remember their names at the moment, but most of all it was great to finally meet Tyler's Mom, Tyler's sister, and Tyler himself. Was a great day and look forward to next year for sure. My nephew had a great time and is looking forward to going out with me again. We spotted ourselves in the group pic and not surprisingly I'm by the bbq ordering a couple burgers when you snapped this pic. As for our luck we managed 2 perch with mine being about 4 - 5 inches and my nephews perch coming in at 9 inches. We basically took a few minnows for a swim. . I still have a ton, pretty much all my minnows left and Virginia Beach beckons for tomorrow's am. Tony.

I'll be there with my 10 year old nephew. We're coming from Brampton.

I tried off Big Bear Point today without any luck. Not so much as a sniff. I pretty much brought my minnows for a swim it seems. Now I have a bunch of minnows still so am going to try my luck at Virginia Beach tomorrow for some perch. Hopefully a pike comes by for a visit as well. Anyone else going to be there?

Just wondering if anyone is heading out tomorrow. Its a toss up between trying for a laker or going for perch. I've never caught a laker or whitefish ever so I'm itching to catch my first of either. On the other hand I'm more certain then not I can find the jumbo perch in my favorite perch spot. I have to walk out and don't mind a bit of a hike. It takes about a steady 35 - 40 minutes to walk to my perch spot. What are you guys ( whoever is going to be out there ) going to be trying for? I'm thinking my best bet for lakers is maybe BBP? I've fished there before but not for a couple years. Cheers, Tony

If ya guys are walking out mind another? Never caught a laker and been a few years since I tried.

I see lots of crazy driving and one of my biggest annoyances on the road is this: http://www.baddriving.ca/videos/2013/01/04/traffic-cutters/

Whats interesting is the police officers who are members of this board are staying mum on the subject!

Was out on Simcoe yesterday at Virgina Beach and had a great day. No wind and temps were comfortable. I did not use a hut. Cars, trucks, minivans, snowmobiles, ATV's and even a cesna that flew really low over the Hut-Town ( HT ) at maybe 150 - 200 feet up, it was all there. What are the minimum altitude limits for aircraft anyhow? I usually avoid the hustle and bustle of hut-town and yesterday was no different. On the way out I talked to a few people who were already set up and were catching nothing note worthy. I took this info and headed away from HT and drilled a pair of holes. Got a hit within 30 seconds. Up comes..a 4 incher. Back down the hole it goes. After an hour and about 6 perch later with two 9 inch keepers I moved a couple hundred feet and again drilled another pair of holes. More of the same. I have now 5 perch at about 9 - 10 inches. Not looking too good. I pack up once again and this time I head on a long relocation walk and set up on a new spot. Bingo! There they were. I got 13 keepers within the first half hour with all over 10 inches and 8 at 11 + inches. It petered down for the next 15 - 20 minutes so I drilled another set of holes about 30 feet away and there they were again. Once those holes slowed I drilled another 2 holes but apart so my fishing area would look diamond shaped from above. Then my arms were tired from drilling the 11+ inches of ice I just decided to cycle though those 6 holes and thats all she wrote. Kept getting consistent action the rest of the day by doing that with about 90 perch and 1 herring which was probably about 1 1/2 - 2 lbs. That was my first ever herring so I guess thats a PB there too. lol. Back into the drink it went. I caught my personal PB perch as well. She was 14 1/2 inches long with a 11 1/8th girth. Big swollen belly likely full of roe. Anyone wanna guess to a possible weight? As much as I wanted to keep her to show everyone and with my camera batteries dead, I decided to let her pass on her genetics and back down she went. I already had enough others. Came home with 39 in total. Spent many hours today filleting them and cooking a bunch with at least 2 more meals put in the freezer. Was all the effort, lost sleep and money spent worth those meals of fish? ABSOLUETLY! Cheers everyone. Tony.

I was out at Virginia Beach today. Really thinking about heading there again tomorrow. I found the jumbos. I had consistent action all day and landed about 90 perch and at least 1/2 of them were jumbos. Maybe 10 - 15 of the total were under 8 inches. Also 1 herring about 2 lb. Everyone else I talked to said they were getting mostly dinks. Anyone else heading there tomorrow!

Hey all, Was thinking of hitting Virginia Beach tomorrow. Anyone else going to be there?

I was there yesterday (Saturday) and parked from 7am to about 5 pm and no ticket. Maybe its a weekday thing? No signs posted anywhere that I could see.

Well I got out to finally scratch an itch I've had for a long time now. All I can say is wow. The perch were so hard to find it reminded me of how hard it is to find a rest stop on the highway when you need to go to the bathroom. Glad the ice wasn't thicker then it was because of all the holes I had to manually drill. Ice was about 5 - 6 inches where ever I drilled. My first 4 hours and about 15+ holes later netted me 5 throw backs all in the 3 - 6 inch range. Oh BTW bring cleats if you go. Ice is smooth and very uneven from the launch to just out pass were the hut village was today. It evened out alot better after that. There were some sections of ice that were so clear that if you let your eyes focus you could see through it and see the bottom. I found a spot with about 10 - 12 fow and pretty much stayed in that general area for the final 3 hours I was fishing. This is where I caught about 2/3rd of my catch. I had to aggressively jig in the beginning to try and attract them in and when some finally did they were dinkish. I am a site fisherman meaning I like to see my lure / bait if I can. I don't have a hut so i will lay down with my face over the hole to see whats going on. Yes that was me today if anyone saw a guy face down on the ice. Its what I do! The ones that were kept were all in the 9 - 10 inch range. A few jumbos came around but weren't interested. Had one or two make half-hearted attempts to snap at the bait but almost always a little dink comes torpedoing in and snatches the bait stripping the hook. Now add all these little frustrations add up and are the perfect ingredients for some colourful language. All in all it was great to be out even if this was my second worst day ever at Virginia Beach. At least there was minimal wind and it wasn't that cold. Good luck and good fishing to anyone else that heads out. Oh BTW the title of this thread is my catch totals for today if you haven't figured it out. Take care everyone and be safe! Tony.

Is the parking lot next to the restaurant still open to the public? I've parked there before. It was paid parking and about 10 dollars but that was a few years ago.

Was this on Hadden Rd? That's where I usually park.

Looks like alot of us OFNers are gonna be there tomorrow. Good luck and be safe!