My Fish-A-Thon for Cancer Report

[Rich]

So, Friday night rolls around.. and in the mess of confusion Ryan is dealt with he manages to come out here, get me and my boat. My boat was being loaned to Splashhopper & Dutchie for the day. We got it loaded on the trailer, headed out to get gas then head to Ryan's house to get the final stuff ready for the event. Unfortunately a block from my house the trailer blew a tire and we had to (after stopping for wobbly pops) head back to my place and figure a different way to get the boat there.

 

By george, I did it last week, I can do it again this week! On the roof of Ryan's truck it went. In the morning, things looked a little silly.. but all in all everything got there in one piece.

 

 

Friday night after going over plans for the event and also reading over some maps and discussing ideas for fishing Ryan and I decided with our bright minds that we would hit the wobbly pops. Soon after, I was giving fishing tips I wouldn't normally give, and Ryan was putting a clinic on, skateboarding in his garage.

 

PS: This is the first time I've ever seen Ryan NOT wearing a Facts of Fishing shirt!

 

As the fun continued on Ryan realized he never had time to grab minnows for the guys that asked. In a diluted attempt, he tried to find worms as an alternative for the boys.

 

 

Ryan was probably regretting the wobbly pops around 1am when Luke decided he also wanted his bottle.

 

 

Morning hits.. I wake up at 5:10 (out the door at 5:25) and down some coffee. Load up equipment and hit the road. Some of the guys were there SUPER early! Before us, that's for sure. Sadly.. since Ryan lives right down the road.

 

We all shook hands, talked fishing for a bit, then began the tedious task of launching all the boats. Eventually everyone got launched no hassles. Very different for a 'tournament'.. there were all sorts of boats from pro deep V's to Pelican Ram-X's..

 

 

 

I suppose if there's no gas motors allowed.. it's all a level playing field. Very cool for the guys who can't afford sweet bass boats.. or have buddies that work on fishing shows

 

So finally, a little after 6am.. we're all fishing away. The fish are biting.

 

 

 

 

 

Okay.. no BIG fish are biting, but at least we're catching..

 

We head up to the back of the lake where apparently everyone else decided to go. I was very reluctant to fall back on a spinnerbait this day because I knew big fish at DC reservoir would never be fooled by a spinnerbait. I put on a big fat Berkley Sink Worm (5" pearl) tossed it to a deep stump and WHACK! I set hook, 50lb braid.. the fish runs a bit, drag catches.. and he BROKE ME OFF! Now I didn't see if it was a bass, only other alternative is that it was a hungry carp... however, it sure did hook and feel like a bass. I think this was a BEAST I had just broken off.

 

Anywho.. as we continued fishing and catching a bunch of 12 inch bass along the way my spirits began to lift again.

 

 

When we decided to jig deep and I hooked THIS, I knew we were on the right track.

 

 

And more 12 to 14 inch bass ensued.

 

 

At about 1PM we had met for lunch with some other boaters and things were getting tough. We'd thrown everything in the box at all the most likely looking bass hideouts and had nothing but dinks to show for our efforts. According to all else we talked to, they were having similar days. Ryan even tried getting us into one of the few slop beds of the reservoir, unfortunately it was a bit shallow and he got hung up and had a heck of a time trying to get us back out.

 

 

Around 3PM.. we're just about giving up and going to fish panfish. We head up to the most obvious, open laydown on the whole reservoir and for some reason I decided I NEED to toss a buzzbait at it. One of those gut feelings I knew was right. 2nd cast to the trunk and SMASH.. my one and only landed big bass comes to the boat!

 

 

Ryan and I estimated it around 4lbs and it was a hair over 18" long with a hell of a girth.

 

After this, we really got outrageous and tried jigging spoons in 40 feet of water.. to our surprise Ryan actually had a few hits out there (probably stocked rainbows) but never got a solid hookset into any of them. From there we basically played around with small baits on the weedbeds and caught small bass, bluegill and crappies.

 

 

 

At about 5:30 PM we all decided to head back to the dock and get our bellies filled at Ryan's place. Ryan's family had provided a smorgasboard for us pigs to enjoy... I couldn't be more grateful for that!

 

As it turns out, my bass was the biggest caught by far that day and I won the big fish prize. I didn't want to accept it being that I was helping organize the derby and fished on the organizer's boat, but they insisted I take a prize. I won a beautiful Shimano spinning rod and a pack of Gulp sinking minnows. Awesome!

 

 

12 hours was not enough for us diehards, so after dinner and some poop chat we all headed over to Lake Bonin to cast a line in.

 

 

lol

 

Like I said, this report was for our day of fishing - not the event. But I will say for a fundraiser whipped up like that in 3 weeks, it was very well done. The amount of money raised far surpassed any of our expectations. Ryan, his wife Ginny and his mother-in-law Suzanne REALLY, REALLY deserve a hell of a lot of credit for putting so much time and effort into an event where they profited nothing. Thank you guys, for everything. You ROCK! Ryan, I'll let you catch a big one next time we fish. You deserve it. I'll lend you a spinnerbait.

 

I had a ton of fun, caught a bunch of fish and got to meet a great bunch of OFC'ers. I can't say I've had more fun than that fishing this year! Thanks to all who came out, can't wait to do it again next year.

 

And Ryan, if I'm forgetting any entertaining hijinx please add them.. I still haven't slept since yesterday, LOL

[JEREMY]

Lokksw like fun was had by all, good job boys

[evster]

Awesome! Man I wish I could have made it. Next year!

[splashhopper]

< was an early riser.... Dutchy and I were excited to be fishing in our first "tournament".

 

A BIG Thanks to Rich for lending us his tinnie and electric trolling motor

 

Although the fishing was a little slow for the bigger fish, the lake made up for it in lots of small fish..

 

 

The crew out there dedicated fundraisers and fishing nuts.

 

Dinner was great.... company was even better...

 

WTG Ryan for putting this deal together and another "atta-boy" to Rich for filling in while Ryan was on holidays.

 

I'll be back for the "2nd annual" fish for a cure tourney.

 

Splashhopper

Edited August 17, 2009 by splashhopper

[danbouck]

It was a great time! It was good to meet all the guys that I haven't met before

 

 

 

I'll post all my fishing ones later

Edited August 17, 2009 by Dan Bouck

[The Urban Fisherman]

You forgot the fact that Averie PEE'D her pants while we were dealing with the boat/trailer situation at your house...and she was running around nude from the waist down in your back yard! haha

 

Thanks for all the help dude, it was muchly appreciated. As was the case of beer you left at my house saturday night! It came in handy yesterday afternooon! haha

 

My report is coming soon. I'm just waiting for a picture from the Tillsonburg News.

 

Cheers,

Ryan

[TJQ]

Great report, glad it went off without a hitch!! My Cheques in the mail today!! no really!! it is!!

[SRT8 smoker craft]

Nice bucket you got there Rich atleast one of us got a decent fish haven't seen deercreek fish that hard in along time . It was good to meet the guys from the board which prompted me to join the board to bad I couldn't live up to the "Local favorite" Ryan so genoruoslly labeled me with on my way out in the morning I spent my day trying for the Big bite and it cost me in numbers lost 2 good fish to line failure ( my crappy knots) so I am now looking forward to next year and got to get back to deercreek to get some redemption for a pitiful display of fishing on my part .great job to everyone who came out and raised a good chunk of change for a good cause .

[JohnF]

Great report, glad it went off without a hitch!! My Cheques in the mail today!! no really!! it is!!

 

How did you get an address? I guess Ryan doesn't want my money.

 

JF

[The Urban Fisherman]

How did you get an address? I guess Ryan doesn't want my money.

 

JF

 

I was wondering where your generous donation was! lol I thought, "well that's odd, JohnF was the first one to hit me with a donation, and a big one at that" I know I pm'd you, but I most likely forgot to add my adress at the end.

 

Ryan Bonin

1262 Nofolk County Rd. 28 RR#4

Langton, ON

N0E 1G0

 

Thanks again guys!

[tinbanger]

awesome report , gald you guys had a fun day .

 

Ryan - there is a PM for you .

 

TB

[danbouck]

Nice bucket you got there Rich atleast one of us got a decent fish haven't seen deercreek fish that hard in along time . It was good to meet the guys from the board which prompted me to join the board to bad I couldn't live up to the "Local favorite" Ryan so genoruoslly labeled me with on my way out in the morning I spent my day trying for the Big bite and it cost me in numbers lost 2 good fish to line failure ( my crappy knots) so I am now looking forward to next year and got to get back to deercreek to get some redemption for a pitiful display of fishing on my part .great job to everyone who came out and raised a good chunk of change for a good cause .

 

 

Welcome to the cool board Shawn!

[JohnF]

I was wondering where your generous donation was! lol I thought, "well that's odd, JohnF was the first one to hit me with a donation, and a big one at that" I know I pm'd you, but I most likely forgot to add my adress at the end.

 

Ryan Bonin

1262 Nofolk County Rd. 28 RR#4

Langton, ON

N0E 1G0

 

Thanks again guys!

 

Sheesh! You sound like most of the girls I ever dated. They tended to leave off phone numbers and stuff. I just figgered I picked forgetful women until I figgered it out, then I married the first that gave me a phone number.

 

I'll mail the cheque in the morning. Good job on the fundraiser. We need more folks willing to make the effort. It's fun to play but someone has to take the initiative and do the organizing. I used to do that stuff, but I got old and tired. Now it's easier to write a cheque and play (when I can find the time).

 

I'm gonna hold you to that invitation to fish down there once I get this d----d move out of the way. I have some new rods, reels and lures that need a workout.

 

JF

[MCTFisher9120]

I saw the write up from Ryan also, looked like a great event. Glad to see that money was raised and everybody had a good time!

 

Thanks for sharing,

MTBF

[SRT8 smoker craft]

Welcome to the cool board Shawn!

 

 

Thanks Dan