MJL Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 After coming back from a fun road trip for carp last week, I needed a break…And when I say break, it really means fishing some of my home waters…And when I say “home waters”, that pretty much entails a 1hr travel radius (by car, TTC, ferry, foot, rickshaw, golf cart, etc) from my front door/garage. Monday Aug 20 Having a whack-load of maize left over from my trip last week, I decided to hit the Islands with DSN. The weather was not the most comfortable to be fishing in. There was the 20km east wind and the on/off rain. It felt bone-chilling at times. We met at the Ferry dock at 8am and left the mainland wondering what the fishing would be like with the cold front upon us. Upon landing we scouted the various canals and bays for the carp. I almost forgot how heavy a bunch of carp leads weigh when strapped to my back – DSN being the ultra minimalist obviously doesn’t have that problem. Lazy b@$tard I say! He’s not the one carrying all the bait! We unloaded some of the canned corn, maize, groundbait mix and boillies into a few places that looked promising. We would return later in the day if the action sucked elsewhere. We stopped at one swim where DSN and I have had success in the past. Both of us set-up our rods, banksticks, alarms, swingers and net and tossed in our hook baits. It was about 10:30 when our first run came. Unfortunately it managed to break my 50lb PowerPro mainline and I lost everything…I should’ve checked the line for frays. After that, I was getting runs fast and furious. We took refuge underneath a tree from the rain and it was a 30 foot dash to our rods when they went off…Mad fun it was! One around 17lbs DSN and I were fishing the same pile of groundbait for most of the day. I managed to go 6/8 while he went 1/1…Unknown to DSN, I plumbed around the bottom with a lead sinker before casting in to determine where the clear spots were to present my bait in the best possible place. I also used a piece of rubber corn which added buoyancy to my bait, making it easier for the fish to suck in. It just goes to show that the carp at the Islands can be very selective and paying attention to even the smallest of details can pay dividends. Wednesday Aug 22 Having a stellar day on Monday, I decided to go back to the islands to fish a couple places we didn’t try the previous trip. I left the house at 5:30am, walked 10min to the bus stop, I took the bus to the subway station. Took the subway down to Union Station, hopped on a street car for a block and met up with DSN at 6:47 for the 7am ferry. Tired as ever having slept 4hrs during the night, it was another 25min walk to the swim…Again I had 2 buckets of maize and a bunch of lead sinkers. Who knew lead could be so heavy? We baited up as usual and waited for about an hour and a half before DSN got a tiddler around 7-8lbs to hit. We quickly released it without taking a pic. Then a whole lot of nothing happened and we decided to switch spots. At about 11:15, I managed to catch this one – It hit just as we were packing up to leave for another spot. She weighed in at 25lbs 1oz on the scale and put up one hell of a tussle. Glad I had 50lb PowerPro on, I had to winch her out of very thick weeds – She just wouldn’t quit. My dad showed up with his rod around lunch time but as luck would have it, he forgot his reel at home. I still let him land one of my fish though…Being the nice son that I am DSN not to be out-fished again pulled a nice fish out around 23lbs It was a 2 man job to lift it on shore 2 good fishing buddies We managed to go 3/3 each. While the action was slow much of the day, at least we found a nice shady spot without any goose droppings to step on. It was quite a relaxing day to be out and about. Overall I had fun fishing the Islands and I’m sure DSN also did too. Off to Algonquin park on Friday…The carp will just have to wait a little before I get back to catching them again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Nice!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeymikey Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 As usual... great report to read. One question... those two fish from the 2nd day... that spot... back when i was there long time ago... i've seen a lot of carp just soaking in sun near top of water... can you catch those ? Maybe take a dry bread to have it float? and hope carp will suck it in ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbayboy Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Nice job guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redx Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Nice carping! I should visit the island before fall. Have fun at Algonquin park on Friday, how long you going for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccmtcanada Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Great report again! Glad to see you still catching fish...and BIG ones too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfville Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Good read as usual. I have found that carp action has picked up now the heat of the summer is behind. I have next week off and hope to hook up again for some fishing before the end of season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greencoachdog Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Great report and pics!!! Those look like some very fat and strong fish! btw... just a little helpful hint, take a pic of your first fish of the day no matter how big or small it is... the fishin' gods will be pleased and will smile upon you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatherof3 Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 great report and nice size fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
007 Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Nice one MJL. Great report, big fish, good pics and you out fished the carp addict too! Also now I know where to cast my bait this weekend to benefit from some free groundbait from you guys, unless those greedy carp have sucked it all in by then!!! Good luck in Algonquin - what you gonna be fishing for? Brookies, Smallies or Lakers? Eagerly awaiting a report already! 007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJL Posted August 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 As usual... great report to read. One question... those two fish from the 2nd day... that spot... back when i was there long time ago... i've seen a lot of carp just soaking in sun near top of water... can you catch those ? Maybe take a dry bread to have it float? and hope carp will suck it in ? When they're hovering around on the surface not doing anything early in the season, they generally don't feed till they've soaked up enough heat from the sun to become active...That's just in my experience though. My experience on surface fishing is limited. I've only caught 2 off the top and both times the kids next to me were feeding the ducks. The carp were also feeding on the free handouts. You'll find that seagulls and ducks love to mess around with your surface baits. I will be in Algonquin park from Friday to Sunday. I'll be camping with some of my high school friends - We've gone up almost every year since we graduated...They don't fish though. I usually fish for the smallies there...It's the only time of the year I actually fish for bass. I wouldn't mind getting a laker on the line but I have very limited experience fishing for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyb Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Good job, gotta love being able to go catch 20+ lb fish just minutes from the big city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pasquale Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 WOW! Another great report. Keep on Carping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcallister.grant Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Awesome report! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadian_copper Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 BEAUTY CARPS BRO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsn Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Also now I know where to cast my bait this weekend to benefit from some free groundbait from you guys, unless those greedy carp have sucked it all in by then!!! 007 I was the one who brought the groundbait. MJL didn't have any. He only brought the maize. And it was unscented also. The last time I fished with him I bummed some unscented maize off him and took it home and scented. Cause I have no access to maize let alone a car. Even then it was the regular can of corn that started the water from bubbling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 i have to get out and catch a fish i have to get out and catch a fish i have to get out and catch a fish lol. that's some nice fish during the cold front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazybum Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 My contribution was to make sure these guys were fed and ready to lift those heavy carp out of the water. I switched to taking lighter equipment at the last moment and then totally forgot my reel at home in my rush to get over to the Islands. Pizza was $3.99 for a small slice over at the Islands. I guess I didn't have to buy but our guys needed the energy for the fight and as you saw in one of the pics with the two of them landing one of those monsters. Nevertheless, it was still a nice outing yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyk Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 some nice pigs you got there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhook Posted August 24, 2007 Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 you guys rock, awesome report! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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