Wildwood Today

[Beats]

Found out this morning that I wouldn't be working the first 1/2 of the day so I headed to Wildwood Conservation Area near St.Mary's. I fished a bit on the top of the dam and didn't see any fish but I was throwing x-raps and pop-r's near some bushes for pike and twice had something swing and miss at the pop-r. I went down to the lower dam where I saw hundreds of bullheads doing whatever it is that they do on the surface. They didn't seem to mind me at all as they never moved and there was even a heron down there that I can assume was picking them off as it pleased.

 

 

 

 

I ended up catching 1 oos tiny sm bass and 2 1lb pike that each took my Mepps Comet (my favourite lure) in the gills and they found their way onto the stringer. I left the lower dam and fished for a bit at the dam on the lake side. I had never caught pike up there until today. I caught 2 pike. The first was about 1.5-2 lbs and as I grabbed it at shore it spit the hook, fell at me feet, I grabbed for it, and it was gone... always happens to me 5-10 minutes later I landed the bigger pike and decided to keep it as well. I left soon after. I was there for a total of about 2 hrs.

 

 

I'm not big on keeping fish from anywhere in the Thames but 2 of them were goners. The little guys were from trout creek and I am hoping this tiny amount of fish won't kill me I normally wouldn't keep anything from down there. The lake itself was surprisingly clean looking. I could see quite far and clearly into the water and there was tonnes of algae in the water. Better looking water than most years IMO.

 

The fish really are as small as they look. Couldn't bring myself to throw back dying fish. All 3 together weighed 4 lbs.

Edited June 16, 2008 by Beats

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Nice. The picture of those catfish spawning is cool.

 

Good to hear you caught some pike. Do you always cut the heads off the pike like that? I notice fish are harder to clean without the heads! I like to hold on to the head while i fillet them.

[Beats]

Nice. The picture of those catfish spawning is cool.

 

Good to hear you caught some pike. Do you always cut the heads off the pike like that? I notice fish are harder to clean without the heads! I like to hold on to the head while i fillet them.

 

 

The heads aren't off them I put them on the stringer and "slit their throats" to bleed them out. Essentially their hearts pump the blood out of them and they are IMO dispatched more humanely than bonking them over the head on something and then watching them flap around with a concussion.. Lesser of evils if you ask me. I fish from shore and don't have a cooler or livewell at my disposal. I don't always do it but if I am putting fish on a stringer I usually do. That's why the pike's colour is drained out. No blood. It is a method mostly used by trout fishermen. Put the fish on a stringer and there is a thin piece of tissue where the two sides of gills meet at the bottom of the head which connects the gills to the fish's head. Sever it and gills just kind of pop out like pictured.

Edited June 16, 2008 by Beats

[Musky or Specks]

Yes I use tht method all the time as well. Much more humane than a priest. I kinda equate it with slitting your wrist in a tub of water.

[JohnF]

I'm not big on keeping fish from anywhere in the Thames but 2 of them were goners. The little guys were from trout creek and I am hoping this tiny amount of fish won't kill me I normally wouldn't keep anything from down there. The lake itself was surprisingly clean looking. I could see quite far and clearly into the water and there was tonnes of algae in the water. Better looking water than most years IMO.

 

I grew up playing on , and swimming in Trout Creek and it doesn't seem to have done me much harm. And that was in the pre-dam days when the water was really disgusting.

 

The fish really are as small as they look. Couldn't bring myself to throw back dying fish. All 3 together weighed 4 lbs.

 

Welcome to my world. Midget fish are the norm around here.

 

JF

[JohnF]

Yes I use tht method all the time as well. Much more humane than a priest. I kinda equate it with slitting your wrist in a tub of water.

 

My fishing buddy does it too, but he goes a step further and breaks their necks with a little back snap. At first it seemed a tad brutal but after I considered the alternatives I came around. It occurs to me though that they might not bleed out as well when dead. Should this be a concern?

 

JF

[Musky or Specks]

A pumping heart moves the blood out faster.

[Beats]

A pumping heart moves the blood out faster.

 

 

Yeah, I wasn't going to mention it but I clearly saw today that after the fish went back in the water there would be a spurt of blood shoot out when the fishes heart beat. Not the nicest thing to think about. Basically every 2 seconds another cloud would forms in the water. It works.

 

Also, putting the fish back in the water is key. If you dispatch them this way and then leave them on land it doesn't seem to work, just clots up. Enough with the details.

[Canuck2fan]

I do the same thing with every trout or salmon I am keeping I find it makes the cleaning a lot easier and the meat tastier. My one uncle who managed trout ponds always insisted leaving a trout alive ruined the meat because the trout would release toxins in the blood due to stress..... so kill it right away by bleeding it out.

 

I also started scaling and killing a smallie if I was going to eat it too right away and no more muddy bass taste either.

 

BTW I caught a number of pike there myself this year and that is the average size all right. I only got one that was over 4lbs. The funny thing this year was the bigger the minnow the smaller the pike LOL.

[JohnF]

BTW I caught a number of pike there myself this year and that is the average size all right. I only got one that was over 4lbs. The funny thing this year was the bigger the minnow the smaller the pike LOL.

 

We have over-achiever pike.

 

JF

[Beats]

Well, I'm still alive. Thames river 0, me 1. The Thames has failed again to kill me with its "unedible fish". Technically they are from a tributary, but you get the point. I froze those fish the other day as I didn't know when I'd get a chance to cook them up. We put slate tile down a few weeks ago and lost the use of our stove. We haven't gotten around to grouting yet so the stove is in the dining room still, out of commission. I thawed out the fish today and used a box of Fish Crisp - Jamaican Jerk seasoned coating on them. I defied the directions and just shook them up in a bag like I was using batter. Cooked them on the bbq on an oven tray and while there was way more coating on the fish than necessary they turned out great. Very spicy and hot. Beer was required.

 

Definitely one of the better Fish Crisp products in my opinion. Would be better and less spicy on a larger fillet with it just on the top side... used as a coating, not as a batter like I did

 

 

 

Yum, pike.

[jjcanoe]

Used to go below the dam a lot for pike but one year I saw about a million perch down there all about 4 inches long. Didn't catch any pike that day down there.

 

jjcanoe

[JohnF]

Used to go below the dam a lot for pike but one year I saw about a million perch down there all about 4 inches long. Didn't catch any pike that day down there.

 

jjcanoe

 

Any idea why those pike and perch don't make it down into St.Marys? There are pike below the St.Marys dam but I haven't seen one above the dam since I was a kid growing up there.

 

JF

[Mike the Pike]

Well, I'm still alive. Thames river 0, me 1. The Thames has failed again to kill me with its "unedible fish". Technically they are from a tributary, but you get the point. I froze those fish the other day as I didn't know when I'd get a chance to cook them up. We put slate tile down a few weeks ago and lost the use of our stove. We haven't gotten around to grouting yet so the stove is in the dining room still, out of commission. I thawed out the fish today and used a box of Fish Crisp - Jamaican Jerk seasoned coating on them. I defied the directions and just shook them up in a bag like I was using batter. Cooked them on the bbq on an oven tray and while there was way more coating on the fish than necessary they turned out great. Very spicy and hot. Beer was required.

 

Definitely one of the better Fish Crisp products in my opinion. Would be better and less spicy on a larger fillet with it just on the top side... used as a coating, not as a batter like I did

 

Yum, pike.

 

Ah drewl that looks so good .

 

Excellent report man nice to hear the fish were hungry thanks for the detailed report and I like the shots of the catfish