Kawartha pickeral opener 2008

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Finally got out to do some real fishing! I've been trying to find a new fishing partner since Mark(my old fishing partner) has become really sick and had to leave his work and is too dizzy to fish.......

 

Decided to go with my old fishing partner. The rise and shine 10 am fisherman. Never wakes up on time and only likes to target pickeral. Thats why he is my "old" fishing partner.lol

 

He asked me where is a good spot for pickeral. Knowing the new regulations? I picked a lake that I know is not really filled with size but has a lot of cigars. So I figure this is the best spot to get a fish fry.

 

He gets to my house at 6:15 which is an improvement. Only because he now has a job that he wakes up a 4:30.

 

By 6:30 were off and around 8:30 we arrive on the lake. He wants to go get live minnows, so we go look for minnows. He is in there more than a 1/2 hour! I go looking for him at the back where the minnows are, and he is hand picking his own minnows one by one. Then he didn't have a bait bucket, so we put them in a bag. I said lets go!(by the way! 4 dozen minnows over $20??? must be the great minnow shortage we are having!)

 

He then states he has to go to the bathroom. He goes in the restaurant and comes out 1/2 hour later!! Apparently he was hungry and loooking at the menu!! Asks me if I want to take sandwiches along! I said NO.

 

We launch the boat.I told him dont turn on the fish finder because the battery is probably weak from last year. So I go to start it? Nothing. What do I see?The fish finder on.... What happens next? The battery goes dead. I'm really ticked off now! Then I had to get the battery from the trolling motor and THANK GOD it started!!!!

 

We're off.Everyone is fishing infront of the marina. More than 10 boats. I want to go to my spot, but my buddy wanted to stay with the crowd. Fine.

 

First few casts on a grub? WHAM! I'm all ready thinking fish crisp! Nope. Its a 20 inch musky give or take. No picture taken. Its a start.

 

We fished the area hard, with very little to show. We seen a couple of cigars being caught and a few perch. My buddy caught a few perch on the minnows. Then he gets a hit and its a 12 inch pickeral. looking good. No picture taken.

 

I'm getting nothing but I am hangin in there. After a few hours I had, had enough. I wanted to move. Then we see Grag Klatt fishing next to us. 60% sure in a Stratos. He was probably with some clients so didn't want to bother him. Said hi and kept fishing. I figure if he is there, so are the fish. So we continued to fish in front of the marina for at least another hour with nothing to show.

 

I was watching him rip jigging for pics. I thought the water was too cold for this technique, but if Greg is doing it? It has to produce.

 

Tried it for a bit and I got something that felt like a hit but thats about it.

 

Then I get a call from Alex(Snagmasteral). He just returned from cleaning house on the whities on Simcoe. I told him that the fishing was slow and the water was cold. Never targetted pickeral this early in the season and was thinking that a jig and a grub may not produce as well.

 

Told him I would meet him at a spot he showed me. Got lost. Couldn't find it. Stopped at an Island and we decide to just wait. My buddy gets a hit. Sets the hook? Its a NICE pickeral!

 

He wanted to keep fishing the area. We tried for a little longer and then decided to go look for Alex. We finally found him and he was fishing the old spot. The weeds had not grown in and the fish weren't stacked.

 

So I told Alex I would go to another spot me and him found. Found some weeds in the 2-3 foot rang and they were green. we weren't havin any luck. My buddy wanted to back to the spot where he caught the fish but I had a feeling there were fish here because it was the healthiest weed growth we had encountered. My friend kept on telling me to switch to minnows. I said no.

 

Decided to do what Greg Klatt was doing. Dragging my jig over the thick weeds and popping it free when it got stuck. Finally got a hit. I screamed out, waited 2 seconds for the fish to inhale it and set the hook!

 

I bring in anothe NICE pickeral! My first pickeral fish fry of the year! I am really happy at this point!!!

 

We stick around my friend gets a hit and loses it!

 

We decided to go back to the spot he likes. We worked it thouroughly, with no hits. Went back to my spot.

My buddy starts hitting Jumbo perch one after another. After awhile, I decide to put on a minnow and catch some too. We caught tons. Then I said I am sick of these perch, I want a pickeral. I threw it out and on the drop? Bang! I set the hook and bring it in and its another NICE pickeral!

 

Then I switch back to the grub and am fan casting and hit something! I go its a musky or something!! Had some serious weight and then it came off. My friend says it was weeds. I reel it in and there is a fish scale on my hook. I may have snagged the fish. The scale looked like that of a pickeral.

 

Now we were discussing were we would spend the last few hours of daylight fishing. I said forget about the night bite. We will stay around the marina and leave when its dark. Start heading back and the engine dies out......Try to start it? Nothing. I'm thinking he pulled the hose out AGAN(4 times!!) Nope. Everything was intact. We were pretty far from the marina so I started to worry. We finally get the boat started again and it drives for 30 feet and dies out again. It happened like 4-5 times!! I used gas stabilizer on only one gas tank. The other gas may have gone bad. I didn't know what to do. I tried to turn the other can upsidedown and try to run off what ever we had of the good gas but that didn't get us far.

 

I then turned the other gascan upside down and decided this time to go on low throttle. It took us awhile to gat back to the marina but we made it. Then we were debating if we should fish awhile and wait for the night bite.

 

We started fishing and my friend brings in a decent one pound pickeral right off the bat. No picture. We continued to fish but my buddy wanted to leave. He had lost his cigarettes overboard earlier and was dying for a cigarette!!!I didn't want to turn off the engine in case it didn't want to start again so we left. While we were leaving people were starting to catch pickeral from the shore. Oh well. It was a long day and we had had enough. With many other mishaps that I cant recall. Like both of us getting stuck on the same lure. That was actually funny.lol

 

 

Anyways it was a tough day with many ups and downs but we caught some fish, the weather was great and I had a great time!!!Hope to get out again soon!

 

Sorry about the long report!

 

Oh I forgot about pictures. Here is a few pictures we took. These are the 3 decent ones we got. With the last picture showing that one pickeral was tagged by the MNR I would imagine.

 

[mikeh]

congrats on catching a few, those fish look chunky

[Guest Johnny Bass]

congrats on catching a few, those fish look chunky

 

Thanks. I was actually surprised by the size. I expected quantity, not size. That is why we went to that lake. Because its full of pickeral below the slot limit.

 

2 of the fish were around 19 inches and one around 18 and they were healthy.

 

Near the marina all I seen caught was cigars(12-14inches). We caught a 16 incher right before leaving.

[bassfighter]

Good job, Johnny

 

Make sure to leave some for me, I am still targeting trout and carp as we speak, Walleye will have to wait. I got into Carp fishing lately and I am nailing double digit figure each time , some in the 20+ range and they fight very close to the way Salmon fight, but just a little bit one directional.

 

Tha lake you and I went last year has 6+ lb smallmouth, a fishing guide came out of it last fall and he showed us 6 bass nothing under 3 lb, two were 5 and 6+lb, his client's wanted them, so he went and caught them, he said he landed close to 25, and it was very cold miserable day for us. He said that lake was one of the best in the area.

 

Josh

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Good job, Johnny

 

Make sure to leave some for me, I am still targeting trout and carp as we speak, Walleye will have to wait. I got into Carp fishing lately and I am nailing double digit figure each time , some in the 20+ range and they fight very close to the way Salmon fight, but just a little bit one directional.

 

Tha lake you and I went last year has 6+ lb smallmouth, a fishing guide came out of it last fall and he showed us 6 bass nothing under 3 lb, two were 5 and 6+lb, his client's wanted them, so he went and caught them, he said he landed close to 25, and it was very cold miserable day for us. He said that lake was one of the best in the area.

 

Josh

 

Hey Josh. Hope all is well. I left a few for you. But I cant promise you anything for next weekend.lol Hopefully I will have my trolling motor operational and all the bugs worked out.

 

Pickeral fishing gets really good in June so you have a few weeks to play with the carp. Enjoy!

 

Oh ya. I knew there were big smallies in there but 6lbers??? Then again, I have never fished it in the fall and fish put on the feed bag in the fall. Maybe I will give it a try in the fall. Thanks for the tip.

[Golfisher]

Great report, but man, you gotta ditch that fishing buddie of yours! LOL!

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Great report, but man, you gotta ditch that fishing buddie of yours! LOL!

 

Believe me!! This guy is like a curse! Every time he comes out he loses something of MINE overboard or something breaks! This time thank goodness it was HIS cigarettes he lost overboard.lol

 

We did also lose a laminated map but it floated and we were able to retrieve it. But right off the bat? I go to open up my tackle bag and the zipper broke.

 

But he is a really good guy. Only I don't think I can see him as a permanent weekend partner and he already told me he cant go out every weekend. Plus I don't think I can afford taking this guy fishing all the time. He loses and breaks too many things.lol

Edited May 11, 2008 by Johnny Bass

[tbayboy]

Thanks for the great read Johnny - sounds like one of those days. Then again you say you were surprised by the size you got - maybe he's one of those partners that drives you nuts but has a horseshoe where the sun don't shine so you have to keep taking him out .

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Thanks for the great read Johnny - sounds like one of those days. Then again you say you were surprised by the size you got - maybe he's one of those partners that drives you nuts but has a horseshoe where the sun don't shine so you have to keep taking him out .

 

Well, I think it is possible I would have done better if he wasn't there. I wasted a lot of time on water I wouldn't necessarily fish(spots he wanted to fish) just to be a good host. And the spots we caught the big fish were the spots I had picked out. Still, he is a good friend and we had a great time.

Edited May 11, 2008 by Johnny Bass

[Golfisher]

Still, he is a good friend and we had a great time.

 

And that's what really matters.

[Guest Johnny Bass]

And that's what really matters.

 

Exactly! You can go out with a good friend and catch no fish and still manage to have a great time with a lot of laughs.

Edited May 11, 2008 by Johnny Bass