JustinHoffman Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 Hello All, Had a chance to spend four days on the water over the last five - here is how it went.. Day 1 - Friday After working the overnight - and enjoying no sleep - knowing I was getting a chance to fish my favourite bass lake kept me from hitting the hay. Tim and I towed the boat down early afternoon, and were making our first cast by 3pm. This afternoon/evening would be a scouting excursion, as we were hoping to put together a pattern for a full day of fishing come Saturday. We worked our typical haunts - shallow and deep rock with a scattering of weeds and wood, docks and cribs, weed and rock humps, overhanging trees, and a couple of thick weed beds. All areas looked mint as always.. Although the weather had been stable all week, boat traffic was buzzing about at the start of the long weekend already. Can affect fishing when on a small lake. Expecting a big bite, we were able to put numbers in the boat, but couldn't coax any exceptional piggies. Here is a typical fish for this lake...caught on a flipping jig from wood: We did put a number of these guys in the boat - we also lost a few jigs to them: Here is big fish of the day - 3lb 14oz's. Fell for a flipping jig on wood/rock: Enjoyed some topwater action just before dark, with a mixture of smallies and largies thrown into the mix. Tied up the boat to a dock and both of us made tracks to my folk's place for some cold beers and some long awaited sleep. High hopes were on our minds for the next day... Total Fish - 35 Hours Fished - 5.5 hours Day 2 - Saturday On the lake by 8am...and anticipation was running high. Hit our high percentage spots once again. Although we picked up a fish here and there, the action certainly wasn't consistent. If truth be told, it was one of those "1 fish per spot" kinds of days. Fished some incredible mill foil patches without a bite - that really had us scratching our heads. Once noon hit the gong show commenced. This lake is renowned for mass numbers of pontoon boats taking leisurely drives around the lake - all within 50 feet of the shoreline. Certainly put some pressure on our fish. We did find some sweet weed/rock humps far off shore. Picked up some largies, smallies, and pike. Will be hitting those again once the fall comes around.. Although we scraped up some fish, it wasn't the day both of us were hoping for. It was tough going for certain, and a bit of a reality kick to the old fishing nuts. Off the water at 5pm and home to drown our sorrows away... Total Fish - 18 Hours Fished - 9 Day 3 - Monday Decided to stick close to home base, and hit one of my small stretches of the Rideau River solo this day. On the water at 1pm and decided to fish unexplored water. Definitely a good decision! Found a huge, weed-choked bay - covered in pads and slop: Began tossing a frog and the action began immediately. Fish were super aggressive, and were engulfing the plastic amphibians like real prey: Although this stretch of the river is famous for producing cookie-cutter fish of 2lbs - when they are hitting topwater, the size doesn't really matter.. All fish came from under dense slop mats, or any areas adjacent to them. A couple of typical "slop fish"... Best fish of the afternoon went 3lbs 2oz. Called it quits as the sun slowly set... Total Fish - 19 Hours Fished - 6.5 Day 4 - Tuesday With limited time to fish today, I opted to try something a little different on the water. Headed back to the same stretch of river and had a mini-tournament. Gave myself exactly three hours from blast-off to putting the boat on the trailer, and was curious to see if I could put a five-fish limit together. Blast-off commenced at 9:45am. I quickly gained the hole shot...lol. A quick four minute drive to my spot from yesterday and the competition began. Here is what my first spot looked like: Here is a run down of the following three hours: Fish 1 - 9:58am - 2lbs Fish 2 - 9:59am - 2lb 5oz Fish 3 - 10:24am - 2lb 2oz Fish 4 - 10:36am - 1lb Fish 5 - 10:51am - 1lb 2oz Fish 6 - 10:55am - 2lbs Fish 7 - 11:15am - 2lb 5oz Fish 8 - 12:00pm - 11oz Top Five Fish - 10lbs 12oz Here is big fish of the tournament: And the two biggest fish: All fish came on the frog, except one on the flipping jig. The first two fish were on back-to-back casts, which was kind of cool. Due to the overcast morning, most fish were caught on the flat and off from the slop. After my last fish at noon, and with 45 minutes left to fish, I made the costly error of running down river to fish some undercut cat tails - all in hopes of putting a "kicker" in the boat. Big mistake, as nothing was home. Was another fun few hours catching bass...and you've got to love that! Total Fish - 8 Hours Fished - 3 The Magnesium "Jig N Toad" rod by Kistler was awesome for tossing and hooking fish with these frogs. Super light weight, loads up well, and casts a mile...I only missed two fish in two days, and only had one come unpegged before getting her in the boat. Definitely worth a look for those with frogs on the mind... Well, that sums up my four days of fishing. Was good to get the "bass thumb" back....and looking forward to catching some real piggies this fall. Heading back to my "big fish" lake this coming Monday - really looking forward to this trip! Good Fishing, Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusky Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 Seems you had a blast! nice fishes:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchy Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 Looks like you had a blast. I like bass, even the small ones put up a good fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCTFisher9120 Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 Great to hear from you again this year Justin! You did real well as said no giants but there's a time and place for everything. Outstanding report and info feedback, Thanks for sharing, MTBF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splashhopper Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 great report... i am wondering about that "full moon thing" myself after the amazing weekend I had as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironstone74 Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 Nice fish, great report! Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishing 24/7 Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 good work hoffman! love the way you put this one together! congrats on the nice bass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaydub Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Gotta love those topwater frogs! That's some impressive 4 days of fishing and only 2 misses on that many hits with a frog...nicely done! Great report! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 where've you been all summer Justin!! We certainly miss your reports! Good to see you back and catching some! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigugli Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Your excursions are my kind of fun. Lots of fish, even if there weren't any monsters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDunn Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Great detailed report and pictures.... Good luck at your trophy lake TDunn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyplayerz_14 Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 nice fish i like the cover you were in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glen Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Justin Congrats on your first tournament win. Thanks for the report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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