limeyangler Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 (edited) Hi Y'all. Well i took my downriggers out of the garage and dusted them off so to speak to give them a go out on Thunder Lake on Thursday. Thunder Lake is not the best Lake Trout venue, but i've never skunked there for trout, its just they are small. The advantage is that it's access point for the public is in Aaron Provincial Park which means easy boat ramp/dock which for a novice boat trailer person(getting way better at it though) is great. My wife joined me for this trip, as did a local kid who has been through some rough times who loves to get out fishing with me when his health permits it. Anyway, the absolutely useless weathernetwork got it wrong as usual...but in our favour for a change...it was meant to be cloudy with isolated thunder storms, but after 1/2 hour in the boat the sun was out and the wind was down....maybe not perfect for fishing...but certainly the weather my wife likes when in the boat. AAAAAAH.......SOME SUN AT LAST.......PERFECT! I have used the downriggers on my boat before last year and we did good, however i always went with my buddy Matt who is very experienced using them, this was gonna be the first trip out using them "all by myself" ...lol.....with no help as my wife and young friend definitely dont know anything about them, so i was really hoping it would not be a disaster. I found the edge of a reef we fished last year and after lots of messing around and birdsnests we finally started the 3-5mph troll with 2 downriggers set up by 3pm. Well it was not a disaster and it looks like Matt did a good job of teaching me how to use the downriggers because after 5 mins just after a slow turn to go back the route we just travelled when the first rod did the tug...tug movement...pause...then bam! snapped out of the clip. I have to admit it was a real struggle for me but i let the kid grab the rod, he reeled it in with out too much of a fuss....and when it broke the surface i thought it was a pike, we were laughing ....then realised it was in fact a healthy 25" Laker!!!!! Wesley was very excited as i had taken him icefishing in april for lakers but he had to leave because he felt ill so never caught one yet, so he wanted his picture taken with it.....soooooooo....he holds it up for the shot...and....the fish does one flip and SPLASH....back in it went oh well....C&R. As we were sitting there i had forgotten to reel the cable up on the other rod, when i yanked the rod to release it from the clip, i realised there was a fish on that rod too.....not bad for the first five minutes...a double header!!! This one was a little on the small side too , so it went back as well, i was now pretty confident we would get more. I THOUGHT IT WAS A PIKE.....I WAS WRONG....LOL <embed width="448" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i263.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid263.photobucket.com/albums/ii158/vishuscirquel/MVI_1445.flv"> THIS ONE WAS PATIENTLY WAITING ON THE OTHER LINE About 5 mins after that Wesley was not feeling to well, so my wife agreed to get him back home, about a 40min round trip, so i dropped her at the dock and said i would return in 40 minutes to pick her up. I headed straight back to the reef and gave it another go, i had one really small one almost the same size as the lure and and a better 20" one. i could see my wife sitting at the dock in the distance so decided to keep the 20"for supper as i knew she would want to target some bass and pike on spinners. NOT MUCH BIGGER THAN THE LURE! <embed width="448" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i263.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid263.photobucket.com/albums/ii158/vishuscirquel/MVI_1451.flv"> A FEW MORE INCHES FOR TEAM#4 AND OUR SUPPER! PATIENTLY WAITING FOR ME TO GET OVER THERE After that i stowed the downriggers and we headed of in search of bass and pike, i actually wanted to get a walleye which are few and far between on this lake but the ones you catch are usually of epic proportions. Well after about an hour slow trolling around with worm spinners with live minnow and only getting little perch i gave up on the walleye quest and joined in with my wife who was having great fun with bass and pike...here's the pics from the rest of that aftenoon. COULD NOT GET ANY 'EYES TODAY, ONLY FEISTY LITTLE PERCH MY WIFE WAS HAVING WAY MORE SUCCESS <embed width="448" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i263.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid263.photobucket.com/albums/ii158/vishuscirquel/MVI_1471.flv"> I THOUGHT I'D JOIN IN THE ACTION.....NOT QUITE AS BIG AS THE ONES MY WIFE WAS CATCHING WE CAUGHT SOME NICE PIKE TOO <embed width="448" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i263.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid263.photobucket.com/albums/ii158/vishuscirquel/MVI_1469.flv"> I GOT A 'BIGGER BASS' IN THE END Good day, shame wesley is still suffering his ilness....hope he gets better soon. Edited July 19, 2008 by limeyangler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leecher Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 Kudos man.... you did a wonderful thing for Wesley... he caught fish and was real happy about it Hope he's feeling ok and I'm sure will be ready for the next outing Great report LA and thanks for sharing Leechman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyb Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 Limey -- you are livin' the life up there! Well done...and you now have the video clips working! I still have to figure out how to embed those. Thanks for sharing your fun afternoon with us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbog Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 Nice report and pictures/videos. I'm still looking for lake success using my portable downriggers in the canoe. Maybe not going fast enough based on your report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modny Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 nice report/ super cool of you to expose that kid to fishing like that. big ups Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jace Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 one of everything as though you were in the great rod race with matt hayes and mick brown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jace Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Nice report and pictures/videos. I'm still looking for lake success using my portable downriggers in the canoe. Maybe not going fast enough based on your report. what speed can you maintain when you're trolling? too slow and you get no lure action. You probably need choose lures that have an easy start up. I'm thinking many blade spinners will drag along motionless for a good part of the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greencoachdog Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Great report and pics!!! That's a nice healthy lookin Pike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limeyangler Posted July 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 one of everything as though you were in the great rod race with matt hayes and mick brown. Almost one of everything.....no walleye. I never trusted that matt Hayes guy.....lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Johnny Bass Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Great Report. Looks like your having a great season! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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