A great family weekend - lots of pic's

[SlowPoke]

We don't get a chance to get away as a family but when we do, we try to make the most of it! With the weather being so unpredictable we were hoping for at least one nice day to get to Canada's Wonderland. As it turned out, we had three nice days!

 

We left London mid-morning and encountered some rain heading east. As we got north of Toronto, things were looking better but could turn at any moment. Rather than getting dumped on at Wonderland we decided to stop into Bass Pro to see if the storm was going to pass the area or hit us head-on. After a little shopping, it was conference time with the kids. I suggested that we could do Wonderland today and probably get 4-5 hours rain free or perhaps go Saturday or Sunday provided the weather is good. The girls decided on the 'sure-thing'.

 

We weren't in the park long when my youngest daughter, Sarah, wanted to go on the first roller coaster we came to. My oldest daughter, Hannah, isn't quite so daring and I wasn't feeling great. Sarah couldn't ride by herself and we weren't falling for my wife's "I'm too short for this ride" trick...

 

 

So off they went...

 

 

Sarah loved it! My wife, not so much!

 

Next up was something a little slower for Hannah. A Merry-Go-Round. Hannah then worked up enough courage to go on the Clockwerks ride with Sarah...

 

 

We promised Hannah the "Wild Beast", an old school wood coaster, would be a good starter coaster for her...

 

 

Boy, were we wrong! This was a thrasher! Fast and jarring to say the least but we survived. We decided to treat the girls to my wife's favourite, Funnel Cake...

 

 

And then we were off to Hanna Barbera Land for some more slower-paced rides... except of course for the "Ghoster Coaster"! That's a wild ride for the kid zone.

 

We made our back to the parking lot for a little rest and snacks and watched a massive storm to our south. It looked like the downpour was going to miss us but the wind really picked up and the temperature dropped. By this time it was about 6:30PM and we let the girls decide if we were going back into the park. We wanted to go to the water park but they were pretty exhausted and declined. I was glad they were as tired as I was but I didn't want to cut their day short.

 

So, off to the cottage we went. The cottage belongs to my wife's Aunt and Uncle - Frances and Claude. It's better described as a beautiful century-old home on the west shore of Lake Simcoe and one of my favourite places to be. We don't get there often but it's always the highlight of our summer. We stayed up fairly late chatting and Claude and I put a plan of action together for fishing in the morning. All the forecasts were favourable, 2-3 knot winds and warm. This looked like the perfect opportunity to take a 15 mile trip across the lake to Thorah Island.

 

We got up around 6:30AM and it was rather chilly. The cottage is somewhat shelted in a bay protected from north/west winds but it looked calm enough for a long run. Wow, were we wrong. Once we were a few miles out, we were treated to 3-4 rollers and white caps. We decided to press on.

 

With some solid advice from another OFNer and a few adjustments given the weather conditions, we got on our spot. A solid west wind had us on a pretty good drift... more of a troll perhaps!

 

We weren't there long before Claude landed his PB smallie...

 

 

It was a nice fight with a few solid runs and I don't think Claude was prepared for this quality fish on his light tackle. I'm guessing it was 4-4.5 lbs.

 

There's nothing better than watching someone get their personal best and I was with him last September on Lake O for his PB salmon and biggest fish ever.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r307/Sl...le/DSC01217.jpg

I plan to get him out for muskie this year!

 

We didn't land another fish after that nice bass but had a couple interested candidates with commitment issues. With the wind really picking up we decided to head towards the cottage. We did the Fox shoal for a couple quick drifts. I don't know if it was to fish or an excuse to relax after 10+ miles of punding waves! I had a nice solid rip coming off the shoal but it was gone as quick as it hit.

 

While Claude and I were fishing, the girls were enjoying the calm water in the sheltered bay...

 

 

After a late lunch we decided to take advantage of the wind and go sailing. It was a perfect day to get the girls out. Enough wind to be fun but not enough to worry the girls...

 

 

Packing it in...

 

We enjoyed some dinner and the girls enjoyed the water some more. We took them tubing! What a blast watching them! A couple of drinks and good conversation into the evening and Claude and I decided to get a later start and fish a little closer to the cottage the next morning.

 

A 7AM wake up call, a cup of tea and we were off to Snake Island. I think everyone had the same thing in mind because there was just a single boat when we arrived and within 5 minutes we had about 6 or 7 near us.

 

Fishing was tough. The wind was up again but not as bad as Saturday. The drift was more like a troll but we watned to concentrate on key areas so we anchored. I threw tubes, jigs/gulp, spinnerbaits and nothing but a light hit on the black spinnerbait. I decided to try a crankbait and selected the Hammerhead Blue/Silver shallow running shad. I tossed it over a definable weed bed about 60' away and retrieved slowly across the weeds hoping for hit when it met the transition to sand and rock. Bang! A very solid hit and run but I was disappointed to see just a 2lb smallie on the end of my line. Well, at least I wasn't skunked!

 

Frances was preparing brunch so we knew we had a limited amount of time on the water so we packed it in after the one smallie.

 

Back at the cottage after brunch the weather was perfect. Sarah gave the new spinning rod a try from the dock. We decided it was time for her to throw the spinning rig and retire the Barbie spin caster...

 

 

I lost another fish off the dock. It felt nice but not huge. The dock has produced a 5lber last year and another biggun this year with commitment issues. Claude has seen some brutes in the weedbed just out of casting range from the dock and I suspect they can be had when they come shallow for grazing on the crayfish.

 

It was getting on in the afternoon and we decided to go out tubing again. Might as well use that gas before it goes bad! Again, it was a blast. Even my wife and then Claude got into the action!

 

A little more back at the cottage. The kids improvised a 'slip-n-slide' from a floating pad. They had a lot of fun running and sliding into the lake from the dock and the breakwall...

 

 

 

Sadly, it was time to pack up after dinner. It's always a memorable get together but this weekend was the best yet. I'm already looking forward to next year!

 

-Brian

[Greencoachdog]

Looks like a great weekend getaway with lots of quality family time!!!

[limeyangler]

wow....your girls are brave....my wife had to practically drag me onto that old school wooden rollercoaster....lol....scraed the B'Jesus out of me. Looks as though the fishing was tough, but great family time for sure...good to see the Barbie got retired! great pics and post...TY for sharing.

[Joey]

What a wonderful report. I love rollercoasters

 

That's a beautiful smallie

 

Thanks for sharing your weekend.

 

Joey

[PERCHER]

Looks like you guys had an fantastic holiday.It looks like the kids had a blast.

Thanks for the report and the pic,s.

Dan

[Leecher]

You guys sure had a wonderfull time together.... plus got to do a little fishing

 

Real nice smallie

 

Thanks for sharing

Leechman

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Excellent report! Sounds like the entire family had a blast. Simcoe is an unpredictable lake and those waves can get nasty, but at least it didn't rain! Glad to hear you broke the skunk and your fishing partner got his PB. Thanks for sharing.

[jjcanoe]

Good job Brian, sounds like you guys had a great time.

 

jjcanoe