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Every year around this time, I enjoy recapping my season. The boat is put away and I may still get out a few times with buddies, but for all intents and purposes, my season has come to an end. Looking back, I had a very memorable season, and with a wife and young son at home, I was certainly lucky to get out as often as I did. Let’s start off from the beginning. January First ice is always something I look forward to. I don’t enjoy ice fishing as much as I enjoy fishing from a boat, but until our climate changes drastically, that’s my only option. First ice came in decent time this year and I believe that January 11th was my first day out. I planned a vacation from work for the 3rd week of January, so it came at the right time. I was out for first ice on the Sunday that my vacation started. The bite was solid for the first couple weeks, as it often is. We fished deep water chasing Simcoe lakers. There wasn’t an awful lot of bait around in the areas we were fishing, but the fish were very willing to commit to moving baits. The good bite continued into February. This was my first laker of the season, not a bad way to start it off. This fish came on the first drop on my second trip out nice, long fish I only keep fish once or twice a season, these ones made it to the smoker and we enjoyed them as a snack back out on the ice. My biggest of the season in the 18 pound range. February February started off slow. I think I had 2 skunks and took a couple weeks off. We started running and gunning for whities and bumped into some nice lakers along the way. The fish were a lot tighter to bottom and needed more enticing, as the often do during the February blues. nice shallow laker hit a bunch of good whities on this day, they would move through in schools and every school had 1 or 2 that would commit. This was my first spreader fish in years. Decided to try it out and it was a good time handlining them in. March Last ice is always my favourite time. The fish just seem to get hungry. The days are longer, the sun shines more and the comfort level is more enjoyable. I mix it up between lakers and perch for the last bit of the season. The lakers get to swim home, the perch feed me for a while. April I literally didn’t fish in April. Brutal. May I missed steelhead opener, so I got out one time on May 1st and went 3 for 5 or something. Nothing crazy, but always a good time. Perch fishing took up the next couple weeks until lakers and pike opened up. May is always a favourite for me. So much variety, that I rarely experience once bass season opens up. We got some big fish throughout the month. some slob perch more giant Simcoe perch nice laker to start off the rigging season My biggest pike of the year came on opening day, just passing the 46 inch mark Another solid pike Good solid fish from a solo trip June Bass season opens this month, which I always look forward to, but there lots of time before then. Some more rigging and pike fishing, then when the last Saturday of June comes around, it seems not much else matters. My last targeted pike of the season my biggest laker of the rigging season first smallie of the year was a good one Successful day One of the darkest smallies I’ve ever caught July/August I’ll group these months together since it is just one big blur of bass fishing. I do a lot more largemouth fishing once the water warms, but still target transitioning smallies for the first little while. won my first clubbie of the year on Simcoe fun day largie fishing Cal thought he had a giant smallie Biggest largie of the season, well over 6 lbs nice set fun day flipping Fall It may seem I’m getting lazy with my typing now, kinda. Fall is one big season that I always look forward to. I love fall fishing. The fish become predictable and they eat. Enjoy some photos from the fall season, and thanks for reading. first day really whacking them in early fall Jon and I won the Imperium Baits fall brawl with around 25lbs Cal met me on shore so he could come slay them when the bite was on. Greg and I won the Barrie Bassmasters Open with 29.95 lbs… so close to 30! This fish is my new PB. I don’t have a weight, but I believe she is over 7.5, closer to 8lbs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqn7otDFfcc Check out this quick video from my pike season.

Good morning everybody. Well it's just about December 1st and I have packed it all in for the 2014 season. This year was a blast. I got out for trout in the spring, some walleye fishing after that with my good buddy Glen. Then we got to take a nice 2 week camping trip this summer in August. The bass were around and we had a blast. After our camping trip I returned for a night and a day in September for some more bass fishing with another friend of mine, Wayne. Truly got to fish with good friends this summer. Last year I did much better with the Largemouth fishing in terms of size vs numbers. This summer I still found good fish but wanted to learn smallmouth bass. With the confidence I gained in August I brought out the jerk baits and finesse gear in search of some smallmouth bass with my good pal Matt. We got out to a lake about a hour south of Bancroft 3 or 4 times. We chased smallies every trip and got onto a decent routine. With no fish finder or bow-mount trolling motor we had a big boat and hoped for low wind so we could drift around and over spots. These challenges just make you spoiled when the proper boat and electronics all merry together in the future trips. I love challenges. Here we go, it was April or May can't remember now but Trout just opened up. I wan't going to fish the bottom end of Oshawa creek with the crowds, I am fortunate enough to have a park close to the house. I went down with a 6'6 Light action spinning rod, 1000 sized spinning reel and straight 6lb line/4lb fluoro leader. I normally avoid the creek but I couldn't resist. Using reaction baits like 1/16oz/1/8oz spinners, size 0 and 1 Quik-Fish crank baits worked well. I got 2 or 3 nice fish this spring on my little 1-2hr walks around the creek. Good practice for the real fish later in the spring/summer First of the spring, smashed the bait downstream lot's of head shakes awesome fight! Few days later, higher water and a smaller but nicer looking trout! Beauty in the sun, all I was missing was a brown or brook trout now. A little champion from the creek, hope to find a bigger one next spring. Took the spinner in a spot I couldn't even stand up in cause of the tree cover. Spring Walleye was next. I went out with a friend from the shop. We were out on a flat morning fish were active boated a few in the slot and a couple of overs as well. I was staying away from the traditional buck-tail or ripping a small swimbait, went for the Black Blue Flake 3.5" TexasRig-Jig. Big 5/0 hook and started ripping it through the deeper weed(8-10ft). As soon as I hopped the craw I felt the thud, up comes a walleye! Big rod big line, fish didn't stand a chance Got him to change to the craw also. I looked beside the boat as he was about to lift the TRJ out of the water, the claws flapped and this huge head came up out of the weed...."Look, look!!!" Wham, this fish engulfed it! Was stoked for him, laughing at the same time with the new found craw pattern. Did I mention I found a dirty Musky this summer...was burning the craw in after a long cast to get out a tangle....the rod stopped, this fish had to of been swimming 10MPH i was reeling fast to get my line in. Fun little fight. Next trip was bass fishing time. The Kawarthawa's are loaded with bass as we all know. It's nice to slowly start fishing them more and more. Here was my best for the day, not a 4 but a good bass. Was fun swimbait bite slow rolling it watching the "v's" come towards your bait. Heart stopping just about! Next trip out was the start of August. I worked my tail off most of July getting ready for camping. Dad, my uncle little brother and I all went. Here are some pictures seen in a big report done back in August. 1st morning, 1st solid largemouth. Next day a near nickel smashed the craw, pitching cover in a good area. Next day's big largemouth, big bass of the trip I believe. We were 2 or 3 days in and I had so many scenarios going through my head on where to start looking for smallies. Got 2 of nice size the first evening. Lead to lot's of success finding spots and general areas...timing was so key. Jerk bait fish, straight 10lb fluoro and the 110+1 Another nice keeper After a good nite by the camp fire I came up with another game plan. Next day I was taking my uncle out for some fun. I got my aerated cooler and got it in the 14'. Changed water out every 20-30minutes and we caught 6 that morning keeping our biggest 4 in the well. Great shot, can't wait to get a photo like this with my dad next summer! Big Smallie time! This was the first "big" smallmouth out here in a long time. Was nice to see, no bars on it's side or markings...just a old looking healthy fish. Hope to find a 5+ next summer this one was just under. Dad with his first on the frog that trip. I love chasing the fish through the slop, I get on that trolling motor as soon as he hooked up! Light flipping with the TRJ. Nice bass to follow dad's My uncle with a good frog largemouth. Early morning Pop-X fun. Got to be patient, it's a slow way to cover water but those huge casts and slow working of the bait works. I never miss a 5am start, the fishing is just to good. Time for a quick breakfast now that the sun is up, then back on the water until late afternoon A nice quality largemouth on the frog! Another bass, evening this time I remember. Short and chubby, great fish. Smallmouth time once again I wish I could put the frog down, great colours on this fish. I won't forget the end to that amazing weather. Next day was the big cold front and rain, we ended the last 2 days of the trip with bad conditions but we got the last evening to be a dry one. Caught more nice bass just had to slow down some. Sticking it out, few small bass and too many of these guys. Pike time, just not my cup of tea. Redemption came down the stretch a little more with this nice smallmouth. Loved the FoodChain tube. One more of Dad, he got the good largemouth of the afternoon. Beat me up a little Finally the sky's cleared and I got out for another fix of pitching the plastics. Went to a spot with current expecting rain might of brought food down the creek. Got a smallie in 3 or 4FOW, fast current pitched out and my line was moving...fast! Green Pumpkin/Purple Flake TRJ Drove to another spot got a largie to bite. This trip was over the following morning. We packed it all in and had a blast. Next summer's "August" report will be a 3 week report...stay tuned I'm excited as hell! September was next. My other buddy from the shop I brought down for a day of cold front bass fishing, before these 2 days it was hot and after we left it warmed up. I wish we got onto numbers but got a few nice fish through the hours we were out. Here was a smallmouth for me right off the hop! Closed the day with a big largemouth on the Swinging Hammer. Great fish and my last "big one" for the lake for 2014...well be back next summer. And my buddy with a quality bass the next morning, got our fix and a break from the city. Next came October. My friend Matt invited me out a few weeks in a row there for some day trips chasing smallies. We did ok with numbers but not size the first few trips out. Here is myself with my first 2 on a new lake. Matt with his 2 nicer one's for the day. He got a nice one on the deep crank bait 2nd trip out. I caught them all day but all small bass. Was a good day again! No boats to share the lake with either. Next trip it was cooler out. We got out on the lake for 10 or 11 in the morning. Had some waves but decent weather. I was working the jerk bait slow and saw this big smallmouth behind it. Have the 110+1 a good dart, then let it hang...fish grabbed it and the fight was on. Weighed in at just under 5 1/2lbs. My new PB smallmouth, going to break it next summer that is my goal and mission. My 2 for the day, made the 2 1/2 look very small...but that's ok. Felt great capping off a long season with a big smallmouth. Last trip was 2 weeks ago I believe. We got out for 4 or 5 hours of more jerk bait fishing. The big fish didn't come out to play. With no electronics it didn't feel right to give the deep water a go. With no structure or confidence we covered water again. I got the 2 nice fish for a photo at the end of the day. Can't wait to travel East and again going North to fish these lakes also. Well that was my year. I got to fish lot's this season and couldn't be happier. Got smallmouth confidence to guide me into next season but I'm still not satisfied with those buckets. We need to see a 7lb largemouth in 2015 to break my PB from 2009. Each season add a technique to your arsenal. It might be a extra rod/reel or more tackle but the success in knowing more tactics is huge. The jerk bait was new to me this year and I worked it lots. The swimbait I spend more time with as well. Next year I'm going to fish swim jigs and the drop shot some to add these techniques to my bass world. Thanks for looking/reading everybody. It's always great to reflect and look back on a season. Ice fishing is next. Tightens everybody MTBF

Well folks, it’s that time of the year again. The boat is going away and I’ll be taking a month or so off from fishing to catch up on some family time and put in some extra hours at work, the joys of retail management at Christmas. This year was one of the best in recent memory, with lots of highlights I can’t wait to share. I haven’t been posting much as of late, but with the newest addition to our family, I haven’t had as much time to do so. I always enjoy recapping my season as it allows me to share information and knowledge, but also look back and relive the moments for myself. In any sport, studying and practice is what makes you better. I truly believe that in fishing, there is no substitute for time on the water. You can read as much as you want, but the more time you put in, the more you will learn. The subtleties that come with fishing are things that you can’t read about, you need to learn them and experience them to understand. Every fish caught is a piece of data, and by recapping a season or even a daily trip, you can pick up on those small things that may get overlooked. So let’s get started. January 2014 This was the first year since I’ve been ice fishing seriously, that we had ice on the lake trout grounds of Simcoe on opening day. I missed the new year’s celebration, as I was already in bed dreaming of big greasers. It was a chilly morning and we had already walked and spudded 3km by the time the sun came up. It was still pretty dark when the propane was rocking and the vexilars were flashing. I was expecting the bite to be on fire, but its not always what you expect. We landed a decent number of fish, but nothing crazy, and certainly nothing of any size. Still great to be out nonetheless. Over the rest of the month, we dialed into some really good fish and really put a clinic on them for a while. Our best day, despite frigid -30 temps and howling winds, saw us put 3 fish in the 15+ pound range on the ice, including one giant over 20. The schools that we were on in January were mainly suspended fish and we were really targeting the 40-50 foot depth range, though often over 80-110 feet of water. Some days, the fish were very aggressive and eating lipless crankbaits. Most days, we were a bit more finesse, targeting them with Imperium ice tubes and aces (soft jerkbait). I almost always rig my plastic on 3/8oz heads. If the current is strong, I will go to 1/2oz. February 2014 I always seem to struggle in February. I am a walker, and it hurts me sometimes. Not that I can’t get to where I want to, as I often can. Though often on cold, windy days when the hike through snow gets difficult, I don’t move often enough. Lake trout roam the lake and follow bait. Moving can be the single best decision an angler can make. 50 feet can make a difference in your success, but I am not a fan of the cold. I still had some decent days through February, but not the days I had hoped for. I was able to entice a lot of fish in the lower 10 feet of the water column through February, on a mix of tubes, aces and jigging raps. March 2014 Last ice is my favourite time of the year to target lake trout. As it gets warmer, the days get longer and the fish start to feed. I often begin targeting the upper half of the water column at this time of year, especially on sunny days. The trout chase down schools of smelts and herring and will often rise 80 feet off bottom to investigate a bait. I was only able to get out a couple times during march, as I started a new position at work and picked up a new truck in the process. When I did get out, we got into some good fish, but a lot of smaller sized fish. These fish were taken mostly on swimbaits and crankbaits. April 2014 Not too much to write about in here. I got out once for trout and headed East. It was the Monday after opening weekend, so I wasn’t expecting much. Fishing was decent, but not amazing. Hit fish on a mix of beads, roe and micro tubes. I think I landed 7 or 8 over the course of the day. May 2014 I started the month off doing some steelheading. I stayed local, fishing Georgian Bay. Water cleared pretty good, but really light line helped pick up a bunch more fish. Broke off a bit too frequently, though. Once the steelhead slowed, we spent some fun nights with friends fishing off the piers on Lake Simcoe catching feeds of jumbo perch. Had some good meals and made some good memories. I take fishing pretty seriously; I’ve always been very passionate about it. But some of my favourite trips are shore fishing with groups of friends. Pike opener is mid-May, and I look forward to it all year. I usually book some vacation and head north, targeting big pike. The pike were a little behind this year so the first week or so, we were fishing slowly over some deeper water and were able to put some good fish in the boat. As the days passed, some fish moved shallower and we were able to sight fish them throwing plastics. June 2014 Pike fishing was still in full swing to start off the month of June and we fished them hard until Fathers Day. By the time June rolled around, the fish had vacated the shallows and were found over deeper water. Shoals and emergent weed growth were hot targets throwing swimbaits, invaders and slow rolling grubs on slower days. I landed my personal best 47.5 incher on an Imperium Ace in early June. The fish followed an invader but wouldn’t commit. We ran back later and got her to eat the ace on the same waypoint. Definitely my highlight of the month. Took a couple weeks off then got out for a few hours on Kawartha bass opener. Hit a couple lakes and put some fish in the boat, but nothing crazy, mostly throwing Minotauro Craws and Impact Sticks. Simcoe opener was tougher than expected, but we still landed some good fish and targeted a mix of smallies and largies. My wife, even at 8 months pregnant, still put some good fish in the boat. July 2014 Started off the month fishing the Imperium Baits Pro Staff tournament on Simcoe/Cooch. It was a really windy day, and I really didn’t want to run far, so we stuck around fairly close to the ramp. After 4 hours and only small fish to show for our efforts, we decided to make a run. We only had an hour and a half to fish and got good bites. We needed one more good one, but still managed a 20+ lbs stringer good enough for 3rd, less than a pound back of leaders. After this tourney, I spent a bit of time fishing north and sticking around on Simcoe as well. Got into some good bites and then on July 25, our son, Henry was born. We spent the first week in hospital with him, but he came home with us and is doing great. I thought my season would be pretty shortened, but I was still able to get out a whole bunch. August 2014 My first trip of August, and first since Henry was born, I headed to my favourite largemouth lake with a long-time friend who I haven’t spent enough fishing time with as of late. We absolutely blasted the largies throwing a mix of Minotauro Craws and Impact Sticks. Had some fish over 5lbs and enough 3 pounders to last the rest of the season. We did some more trips up north fishing smallies including a day of filming on a small Muskoka lake, crushing smallies on soft jerkbaits. Threw in one more largie day on my way home from that trip, and that was the end of my largemouth season. September 2014 This is usually one of my favourite months of the year. The smallies start staging and schooling up towards their fall haunts. The boat traffic dwindles. The blistering heat gives way to jeans and hoody season. This year, I wasn’t able to get out near as much as I would like. I got out for some late season rigging with good friend and Lake O guide, Greg Amiel. We hammered on some rainbows and had one good bonus salmon to go with it. Aside from that, I had one day out on Simcoe to practice for the Imperium Baits open tournament and the tournament itself. The tournament was a fun one. Callum and I ended up placing 2nd with 25.45lbs of smallies. The day was a grind, but we made good decisions and put good fish in the boat. We caught fish as deep as 45 and as shallow as 6. We certainly weren’t locked onto any specific pattern. Our big fish at 6.20lbs came on a stick in 6 feet of water. October 2014 I had a much busier month than I did the previous. We started with our annual fall musky hunt. We camped for 3 nights in cold, miserable weather and had a slow trip. We managed to boat a few nice fish and each break our PB’s. I don’t musky fish much, but I plan on doing more and visiting lakes known for bigger fish. After this trip, I spent the rest of my time fishing Simcoe smallies and had a blast. November 2014 I got out just once on Remembrance Day and boated some good fish. It turned out to be my last day of the season. I was hoping for more, but mother nature had other plans. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed.