Six Mile Lake Camping Trip 08/24-08/27

[Tacklebuster]

Friday, day 1: We arrived at camp site, the other campers were still breaking down their camp so we just threw the football around, and walked around until they were done. My younger son couldn't stand waiting to go fishing, he kept forgetting that we had to set up camp, Tarp City.

As we are setting up, we realized all the things we forgot: 1 Sleeping bag, 1 camp chair, BBQ, coffee, tea, hatchets. I guess we figured that after all the fishing, hunting, camping trips we have done, that we could just wing it.........not, lesson learned. By the time we had everything set up, we decided to have dinner. Puckhead, prepared a great feast of fried/BBQ'd chicken legs (without the BBQ) and corn on the cob.

Although a light drizzle started, my younger one couldn't stand waiting any longer, so I took him to fish from the docks. We only fished for about 25 minutes as the rain got heavier, I was happy that his urge to fish was temporarily satisfied. By the time we got back to our camp site the rain got heavier, and and within an hour, we got the beginning of the the 30mm of rain that had been forecast. My younger son now also realized the importance of having taken the time to set up our camp, and he also felt sorry for the campers who arrived later and had to set up camp in the downpour.

I guess with all the fresh air, by 10pm the two boys were exhausted and decided to hit the sack. For the rest of the evening we sat under our tarps, playing cards, enjoying a few pops, and deciding who's turn it was to venture out into to rain and put wood on the fire. We were amazed how well the fire burned with all the rain, we thought there was no possible way the fire would keep burning.

 

Saturday: We woke up to more rain, it hadn't stopped all night. It was forecast that it would start to clear in the afternoon. Puckhead whipped up an awesome breakfast of bacon and eggs. Looking at the sky, there was no reason to believe the rain would let up any time soon, so we decided rather than sit around, to go an fish under the overpasses. I haven't done this since I was practically a kid, so for me it was somewhat nostalgic. By the time we arrived at the spots we wanted to fish and and tried to figure out how to get access (since you can't park on the shoulder of the highway anymore), the rain had subsided and it looked like it was going to clear up. So we scrapped that plan, and decided to go back, load up the boat and hit the lake. As we headed back, I couldn't help but wonder if the Bush's still operated their marina. So much has changed, gates in front of the parking areas by the lock, billboards advertising condo's. Signs of change, and "progress", seemed to put a bit of a damper (for me) on the nostalgic feelings that I wanted to share with the kids. So heading back to the boat was perfect. All was going well, we had the boat all loaded up with our gear and stuff, wouldn't you know it, it started to pour again. It didn't look like it was worth trying to wait out, so back to the nearest overpass we went. We probably fished for about an hour or so without a nibble, and finally the rain had stopped, so eagerly back to the boat we went. Finally, we're heading out. I haven't been out since the bass opener, so it definitely was a feeling of relief, and you could tell the kids felt the same. We decided to hit one section of the lake that we became familiar with last year, figuring that as we make our way back in the evening we would also hit some of the other spots that also worked well for us. Everyone puts on their goto lures. I tie on mine, but this time its one that I made myself several days before, out of coat hanger wire, lol. Several casts in, a decent pike hits it, (what a thrill when you catch something on one of your homemade lures), once it gets into the net, it decides to go crazy, twisting and turning, and ends up busting my homemade lure as it got caught up in the mesh. Oh well, I have a few more coat hangers at home, lol. The most exciting hit came when a nice sized pike comes out of nowhere and hits Puckhead's topwater bait no more than 2 ft. from the boat. Unfortunately, it got away lure and all. After a couple of hours, the next weather front hit us and it started to rain again, and the wind started to picked up considerably as well. On with the rain gear, and we started to troll heading to an area where we new we could get into some bass. We only did that for a little while, with the wind and the rain, we decided to pull up our lines to see if we could get into a more sheltered bay. That was one very wet drive, the rain jacket alone didn't help one bit. I was drenched from the spray, and had one thing in mind, to get out of the wind. We finally get to a somewhat sheltered bay, and start marking fish right on the bottom

between 25' and right down to 50'. I suggested my younger son tie on a jig tipped with a worm which he did on his own for the very first time, and set up a dropshot rig for myself, also for the very first time.

I was happy about that, because my fingers were numb. It didn't take long and he had a nice rock bass on, so he was very happy. After a short while I had one on my rig too, but I must admit I didn't feel it until I started to reel up my line and then felt the weight. It was still about 5' below the surface, and all I saw was a yellow flash and off it was. I am not even sure it was actually hooked or if it just didn't want to let go of the bait. I assume it may have been a walleye. By that time I was chilled to the bone and was having a really hard time warming up so I didn't fish much after that point, and basically just drove the boat trying to keep us on top of some fish, and helped the kids out with their lures and such. Shortly afterwards, we had to head back, we just couldn't keep out of the wind, I was freezing, and it was time to get dinner and warm up. We get back to camp, only to find that the wind had dismantled tarp city, and blew the fly right off our tent. When we set up camp we had a hard time getting the pegs into the ground because of the granite just inches below surface. It didn't really bother me, I was just happy to be out of the wind, and I warmed up quite quickly as I worked on reassembling the tarps with my brother in-law, and the smell of dinner that Puckhead was cooking up sure helped too. After the camp was all set up, I had to change into some dry clothes, and had the next surprise. Our tent only has a mosquito mesh on the top, so without the fly, the rain got in. For some reason and thank goodness, only my side of the tent got wet and not the kids and not the sleeping bags. Except for one pair of pants and socks, my clothes were all wet where the water had pooled up, and which protected the kids sleeping bags from the water. I don't think sausages and beer ever tasted so good. At least the weather started to clear up, and the wind died down to the point where it became comfortable again. By the time we finished dinner, the boys were so exhausted, no surprise, they just wanted to go to sleep, the younger of the two asked me to carry him because he was too tired. My brother in-law also hit the sack early, but the evening turned out to be really nice, so Puckhead and I stayed up relaxing with a few pops and feeding the campfire.

 

Sunday: The morning started with Puckhead once again cooking up a storm, this time it was french toast and bacon. I can't remember the last time I didn't have to cook anything for two days in a row, oh ya, it was when I lived at home and mom did all the cooking. I must admit I felt a bit guilty, but I couldn't help myself and just enjoy it. Thanks Puckhead. The weather was beautiful, and we had high expectations that the fishing was going to be filled with action. We decided to hit a different section of the lake that we had not explored yet. This part of the lake was quite different, it had great bottom structure in terms of transition, great bays, deep healthy weeds, shallow bays, whatever you wanted. It felt like we should be hitting them left right and centre. It was not meant to be. No matter how good it looked, and what we tried we just couldn't light it up like we expected. It was just the odd fish here and there, and all pike, no bass. The weather warmed up quite a bit too, it must have been at least 29. I can only assume that the weather must have been a factor. The most excitement came when my younger son had a fish on. "Whoa!, Whoa!, Whoa!, Whoa!, Whoa!, I got a fish!, its huge!, I need some help!"

I think its time to upgrade his rod and real. We fished all over the place, and by 3pm we had to head back because Puckhead had to make his way back home, and unfortunately couldn't stay with us until Monday. After we said our goodbye's, we headed back out, and fished the area we were familiar with for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. The fish finally started to turn on around 5pm, nothing great but enough to keep the kids from getting bored, which was great. We noticed that in the morning and during the day black colours caught the majority, and evenings white combinations seemed to be the colour of choice. The evening was so beautiful, we didn't get back to camp until 930pm, had dinner, my turn to cook this time, spaghetti that I pre-made. The kids were completely exhausted again, and pretty much hit the sack right after dinner. Afterwards, my brother in-law and I sat by the camp fire, contemplated our trip, and burned off the rest of the firewood. It was really nice to see the kids changing lures/bait on their own, asking how to use them, and of course catching.

For the past couple of years my older son who is turning 12, seemed to lose interest in fishing so I didn't push it on him. Considering the conditions we had, it felt especially nice to see his interest and enthusiasm rekindled.

 

Monday: The weather was again beautiful and perfect for breaking camp, so we took our time and enjoyed as much of the time we had left before having to head back home.

Edited August 31, 2007 by Tackle Buster

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Excellant report. I was also there Saturday and the bite was tough!!

[Tacklebuster]

I saw your report too Johhny, it seemed you had pretty much the same results. Its not an easy lake to fish, they don't seem to be in what looks like a prime or obvious spot.

[Puckhead]

Nice report bro! That sums that trip - tough fishing but a great time! Already looking forward to next year...

[sunfishangler]

i was up there during the first 2 weeks of august, lots of sunfish there thats one thing for sure, if your looking for bass you could always try the dock in the evening