JustinHoffman Posted July 17, 2008 Report Posted July 17, 2008 Hello All, Headed out on the water for a few days of fishing earlier this week. Three different bodies of water over three consecutive days....this is how it turned out. Day 1 - July 13 After watching the weather (dark skies, wind, and rain) for most of the morning, Tim and I decided to roll the dice and head over to the Madawaska for an afternoon/evening fish. It was my first time on this stretch of river, and I must say, the scenery of the area was very nice. The other nice thing is that the weather lifted upon our arrival, and we were greeted by warm and sunny skies. Both of us needed to get some photo assignments finished up, so walleye was the fish to target. Worked current areas and points between 18 and 36 feet deep, tossing grubs. Picked up a mixed bag of largies, smallies, pike, a beauty catfish, and one walleye. At that point we opted to change tactics. Ran up river to an arm of the river that offered slack water in 10 to 30 foot depths. Tied on bottom bouncers and spinner rigs, and tipped them with Gulp nightcrawlers. Our luck changed quite quickly... Put six more walleye in the boat fishing this small stretch, but all of the fish remained the same "cookie-cutter" size - around 14 or 15 inches. I needed some shots of cleaning fish for a Quebec publication, so off to shore we go. Filleted, bagged, and on ice they went... Fished up until 9pm, but couldn't get much more to go than a slew of hungry rock bass. Here is a shot of Tim working a bottom bouncer just prior to us heading back to the launch. All in all a great first day! Got into some walleye, learnt the finer art of bottom bouncing, and shared the boat with a good buddy... Day 2 - July 14 Headed down to my folk's place in hopes of getting out for a fish with my Dad. Shortly after arriving at noon, the heaven's opened up and proceeded to rain on our parade. The wind also decided to blow pretty heavy. Did a few things around the house, and at 3pm, the weather lifted...revealing blue skies and sun. So, off we went to a favourite stretch of the Rideau River for a quick two hour fish before dinner. Although it was getting a bit late in the day for flipping, we headed to the calmest spot on the river and began working the shallow slop and cane beds. Fish were quite active, and by 6pm we had put 9 largies in the boat. Actually, we didn't - I did. HA HA! Yep, the old man got skunked. And as if to rub salt in his wounds, I even caught a fish on his rod on the one cast I made with it! (He had tangled up his line slightly, so asked me if I could make a long cast with his rod to get it back in order. So, out goes a cast with a flipping jig into an area of pads. Started reeling in fast to pick up all of the line when I felt some weight. Of course, the old man states it's just weeds. I got the last laugh when I swung a largie over the bow....he still claimed it was his fish later that night, as it was caught on his rod!) ha ha. Here is a quick shot of a fish from that night. 3/8oz. Booyah flipping jigs tipped with a YUM chunk...and using a Kistler LTX flipping stick. Day 3 - Lake XYZ Had extremely high hopes for this trip. I know the quality of fish this lake can cough up, and having not visited it in two years, it was hard to control my excitement. That was short-lived. Arrived on the lake at 8:30am with my bud Andy. Weather was good - warm, sunny, and light winds. My one concern was the previous nights weather - a front came through around 6pm and also overnight. My fear of this scattering the fish and shutting them down certainly weighed on my mind as we motored to our first spot. Began working rock and wood shorelines, in water between 2 and 12 feet deep. I managed to put two, 2-pounders in the boat along this stretch on flipping jigs, but then our luck ran dry. We fished for the next two hours without a bite. Although the fish normally would be in the spots we were targeting, for whatever reason, they just weren't. Or if they were, they had a severe case of lock-jaw. To change things up a bit, we headed to one of three pad areas that the lake holds. I quickly put a decent fish in the boat using a frog. We also saw one other nice fish in the area, and Andy lost two or three throwing a YUM toad. I began to really scratch my head at this point. If the fish did shut down because of the front, the last place I would expect them to be in, and in quite an active mode, would be in water a foot or less deep. I was also very curious why in mid-July there were still a tonne of sunfish and gills sitting on nests? Was the bass spawn much later, and fish hadn't returned to their normal summer haunts yet. Much like the song went, "things that make you go...hmmmmmm." Headed to some deep water off a point to try for some smallies on jigs. Nothing doing. It was now almost 2pm. I had three fish in the boat and Andy had none. This was turning out to be the toughest day on the water I had ever experienced. And I wasn't liking it. Headed to one of the last two pad bed areas. Due to the higher than normal water levels, this area looked more promising than previous years. It was also ringed by red arrow root plants, that held a bit of water and slop around them. Not a lot of water - a foot max, but enough to hold fish. Andy got the first fish from a small clump of pad. Finally, his first fish in the boat! A decent fish at that.. And the YUM Toad it fell for.. Within five minutes, I got a decent fish to go. A cast to the edge of the fire root, and without a twitch, the water erupts. This fella tied me up in the pads, but the electric motor and the net finally helped her into the boat. 3lbs 7oz... And the release.. A few more hits and one more fish in the boat for Andy, and finally, the day had come to an end. Six bass in total for 8 hours on the water - a very poor average, especially for this lake. But, a fun day none-the-less. Hopefully conditions improve and the fish get back in the mode. When they do, I'll be there waiting for them... Until next time. Good Fishing, Justin
Roy Posted July 17, 2008 Report Posted July 17, 2008 Beautiful report Justin! How did you come by the Sentier Chasse peche hat?
JustinHoffman Posted July 17, 2008 Author Report Posted July 17, 2008 (edited) Thanks, Roy... As for the Sentier hat - I work for them. Well, I do freelance articles and supply stock images for the magazine. As I alluded to, the photo shoot I was taking photos for was actually for Sentier. I have an article coming out in August or September on "Eating Your Catch - From Landing Net to Table." Sadly, I can't read a lick of it when they publish my stuff, as my reading of the French language is non-existent.... Good Fishing, Justin Edited July 17, 2008 by JustinHoffman
Reef Runner Posted July 17, 2008 Report Posted July 17, 2008 Great report! Luv the Madawaska, my ol' training grounds from when I was a wee minnow. Great water, scenery and opportunities for a mixed bag. Thanks for sharing!
Roy Posted July 17, 2008 Report Posted July 17, 2008 Thanks, Roy... Sadly, I can't read a lick of it when they publish my stuff, as my reading of the French language is non-existent.... Good Fishing, Justin Congrats on the association with them then. Don't worry about not reading "a lick", I subscribe so when I receive it I'll proof-read it and tell you what YOU wrote! Thanks again for posting that.
Leecher Posted July 17, 2008 Report Posted July 17, 2008 Well done Justin.... even thought the biting was tuff you still manage to bring in some fish. Thanks for the report. Great pics btw Leetchman
misfish Posted July 17, 2008 Report Posted July 17, 2008 Superb report. Great read. Thanks again Justin for taking the time.
lunkerbasshunter Posted July 17, 2008 Report Posted July 17, 2008 great read and another great report! cheers!
Smokey Posted July 17, 2008 Report Posted July 17, 2008 Great report and pics Justin. Thanks and keep them coming. Mike
johnnyb Posted July 17, 2008 Report Posted July 17, 2008 nicely done with those bass at the end....from your description it sounded like a backlake, but from the amount of boathouses in the background, it looks like you did pretty well to turn a tough day around and pull some lunkers like that out of a busy lake. Thanks for sharing
solopaddler Posted July 17, 2008 Report Posted July 17, 2008 Excellent report Justin and your photographs are stellar as usual!
tbayboy Posted July 18, 2008 Report Posted July 18, 2008 Nice report and great photos as always Justin, thanks for the update.
ehg Posted July 18, 2008 Report Posted July 18, 2008 Nice job on the report. I like the honest approach letting us know that even seasoned fishermen can have tough days. Thanks for sharing, ehg
Angler16 Posted July 18, 2008 Report Posted July 18, 2008 Wow some great lookin fish there! Great job -Little Angler
Victor Posted July 18, 2008 Report Posted July 18, 2008 A great read for the morning! Thanks for the amazing report Justin! ps... looks like you got new reels? haha
limeyangler Posted July 18, 2008 Report Posted July 18, 2008 Thanks for the great read, thats a nice bass you hooked into.
JustinHoffman Posted July 18, 2008 Author Report Posted July 18, 2008 Thanks for the comments, guys... Another report to follow soon... Good fishing to all. Justin
TJQ Posted July 18, 2008 Report Posted July 18, 2008 Awesome report!! I havent seen that many pickerel in a while!!
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