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I look forward to this weekend every summer. The third weekend of summer has been one of my favourites for the past three years. There are two obstacle races back to back that are just a short drive away from the cottage in Clarington. I always take a few extra days off to 'recover' and enjoy a little extra fishing. This year I was lucky enough to have my buddy Brian (Dynamic_Bear) join me at the cottage on Saturday and compete with me in both races. As well, my fantastic girlfriend Nikki (Laughing_My_Bass_Off) was able to join me sunday and Monday. Friday night Brian and I were able to drive up to the cottage late, but with traffic and work, we weren't able to get to the lake before the sun went down. Sadly no fishing to be done on the Friday night but that was to be expected. Saturday was the day of the race. I didn't have the greatest run and I failed a few obstacles. Brian had a fantastic run and was hot on my heels. At one of the last obstacles, I had fallen off the monkey bars and was forced to do 30 burpees. When I was 10 in I saw Brian coming over. He had fallen off as well and was forced to complete a penalty as well. I've never done 20 additional burpees so fast in my life. I finished ahead of him, but just barely. Back at the cottage, we headed over to one of my more preferred spots. It was still fairly hot during the day but I had confidence the fish would bite. Brian ended up nabbing a nice smallmouth on the senko. [url=http://s151.photobucket.com/user/jerpears/media/photo%201_zpso96udkeh.jpg.html] [/url] I never get tired of catching or seeing anyone catch smallmouth bass. The small ones are such acrobats. This one put on a show with a couple of expert jumps and headshakes. The spot wasn't hitting as well as it normally does so we went out to the middle of the thick weed patches. After drifting and casting for some time we reached an open 'allyway' of weeds. Brian mentioned to me 'You know, this is typically where muskie like to hang out'. Right as he mentions this his rod bends over as something goes for a loooong run. He starts laughing like crazy. After a good fight and a bit of work we thought he had a small Muskie coming up. [url=http://s151.photobucket.com/user/jerpears/media/photo%202_zpsid0c1iyb.jpg.html] [/url] Not a muskie but still a beautiful walleye from the lake. We wern't out too long and I didn't end up getting anything but I was happy to see the fish come up. Next day we were off to the 2nd obstacle race. This 2nd event is about twice as long as the first in a total length of about 15km. Brian and I met up with a few buddies on the day of before we started out. We all finished and it was a good race. I felt much better about my time for this one then the previous as I had shaved 8 minutes off of my time of my first race. All in all we were pretty happy. Brian wasn't able to stay until monday so we bid farewell. Nikki had a wedding on the saturday so she wasn't able to be up the whole weekend but was very excited to get out on the Sunday and the Monday which we had booked off. We set out to her favourite spot for the evening bite. I have no idea why, no one else can catch fish here (This is where Brian got the one bass) but the fish practically leap in the boat for Nikki here. [url=http://s151.photobucket.com/user/jerpears/media/photo%207_zpsyoyswb7o.jpg.html] [/url] The fish were biting like crazy again. It seemed like every time Nikki was tossing her line out, she would have a bite. I don't know how she does it. She even managed to land her first Walleye. [url=http://s151.photobucket.com/user/jerpears/media/photo%203_zpsvynyfyno.jpg.html] [/url] I need to teach this girl how to hold a fish for a picture. She could have made that walleye look at least 2 pounds heavier. [url=http://s151.photobucket.com/user/jerpears/media/photo%204_zpsv5was5de.jpg.html] [/url] Look at that smile. She was so happy to add another species to her list. I was even able to land a nice smallie of my own. [url=http://s151.photobucket.com/user/jerpears/media/photo%205_zpszrvxrbd6.jpg.html] [/url] A little while later Nikki sets her hook and something starts peeling off line like crazy. She gives it a good fight and we see the tail surface, we coudn't get a good look at it but we both knew it was big. It starts swiming towards the boat and goes under. Nikki wasn't able to get her rod under the boat fast enough and the fish ended up breaking the line. Needless to say we were both pretty upset. Its strange how, out of all the fish we catch, the ones that get away will always be the ones we think about. A few more good size bass came and went and we called it a night. Over the night campfire, while cooking marshmellows Nikki asks me 'were you still thinking of waking up early in the morning to go fishing' and I say 'I have been getting up early all week, I was thinking of sleeping in...... why? Did you want to wake up early to go fishing?” she responds 'I kind of want another shot at that big fish'. So I know better then to miss out on an opportunity like this so we ended up waking up early. The morning bite wasn't as good as the evening but we were able to get a few more good sized bass. [url=http://s151.photobucket.com/user/jerpears/media/photo%206_zpshyyugpxn.jpg.html] [/url] We had planned on leaving before dinner but I could tell that the fish that had broken Nikki's line before was haunting her dreams so we stuck around for one more evening of fishing. The fishing was fast and furious again with lots of good sized bass but no monsters. Finally, Nikki gets a good tug on her line. She wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. After a good long fight of back and fourth, she finally landed this beauty. [url=http://s151.photobucket.com/user/jerpears/media/photo%208_zps90x6q1hh.jpg.html] [/url] We fished for a bit longer, landed some, lost some but Nikki felt she had redeemed herself to the fish gods by landing this one. All in all it was the perfect weekend. Good fishing, good friends and good obstacle racing. To be perfectly honest, if every weekend over the summer was this epic, I would be more then happy.