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Two Days in the Kawarthas

JohnF

By JohnF
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JohnF All Knowing Angler

JohnF

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Just got back from two great days in the Kawarthas with our friend Garry2rs. In stead of boring y'all with my usual novel I'll do it in point form, more as observations.

 

The Lakes: - Kash & Chandos

 

The Target: - Smallmouth, largemouth & pike

 

The Observations: -

 

1. Bubblegum (pink) worms are best

 

2. There is no point in trying to use finesse techniques when there is a pretty young lady in an orange bikini sunning herself on a nearby raft.

 

3. Chandos has some pretty cool looking boats, especially the big honking wakeboard haulers

 

4. As much as we've panned Tracker boats here, they have a really tidy looking bassboat/jonboat hybrid that might just be a great solution for the guy on a tight budget who wants the convenience of the big platform for small lake fishing.

 

5. Black magic marker ink does a good job of covering up the high viz lines where they attach to the terminal tackle. I used it on Stren yellow braid. It works great.

 

6. Chandos has very clear water

 

7. The smallmouths have gone a little deeper on the rock walls. We had to stand farther off shore and work in the darker water. Water surface was 80 degrees.

 

8. Who knew Thursday was WGSF Day on Chandos? If we worked in anything less than 5' of water we had them swarming around. I caught a lot more of them than Garry although the total weight was probably the same. Mine were 5 inchers. His were 10 inchers and bigger. Who knew the damned things used steroids?

 

9. A cabretta leather golf glove is a very handy thing when the Rock Bass bite is on. They are such pointy squirmy little creatures the glove just makes life simpler and does nothing to interfere with casting. I forgot that I didn't have the glove on at one point and grabbed one. Nice wakeup call.

 

10. Why is it that when beer is not involved in the evening I am nowhere near as smart and entertaining, yet the next morning I'm much smarter and enthusiastic? I suppose that's a tradeoff. One just has to decide if they're a morning or evening person.

 

11. Calcutta reels aren't all that complicated to take apart and lube etc. As with most things all one needs is an experienced guide to get you through the first fumbling attempts, then it seems easy. Without some advice I'd probably have never got it back together right. There's a little trick with getting the release button in the right position for reassembly. I guess I got it right as it worked flawlessly on the water. Thanks Garry.

 

12. Dropshotting is cool. I almost get it. I was playing around in about 5' of water where I could see the working end and the fishies playing with it. I was using very shiny weights and I'm not sure if they're good or not as they seemed to get as much attention as my plastic minnows. The rockbass I was practicing on went straight for the eyes and tail of my minnows.

 

13. Some folks have special permits to be ignorant if they're property owners on the lake. We both had line out on a shoal and watched a la-di-da looking couple cruise right over our lines between us and the shore in their big seagoing Lincoln Town Car as if they had every right to be there. I looked at Garry and he was just laughing. I was all for going over to them and venting but discretion took the day.

 

14. Did I mention the futility of trying to finesse fish when there's a pretty lady sunning on a raft off to one side. The last thing on my mind for a few moments there was the sensitivity of my rod tip. And stop smirking. You know perfectly well what I meant.

 

15. The new Cumara behaved impeccably. It is hands down the nicest rod I've ever used.

 

16. The Stradic CI4 was nice too. I understand now why Shimano gets so much support on the forum.

 

17. Yellow line is nice to use. The visibility on the water is awesome and the Stren braid was very well behaved, even at only 14#. As already said I just blacked out the business end of the line with magic marker ink. I just pulled the black/grey Spiderwire braid (dunno the catchy name) off my little Quantum reel and will get the same yellow Stren on it today.

 

18. There are an awful lot of cottages on Chandos. In some places they're as jammed together as houses in our city subdivisions. Kinda defeats the purpose of a getaway cottage to me, but hey, I don't have a cottage of any kind so what do I know.

 

19. Seemed like we were the only boat fishing the lakes. I imagine it's different tomorrow and Sunday.

 

20. One can go for two long days fishing nothing but plastics and still have fun. I dropshotted lifelike minnows, wacky rigged worms on both open and weedless hooks, pulled weighted tubes over weedbeds, and fired toads way back in the weeds.

 

Conclusion: - Anyone lucky enuf to have easy access to the Kawartha region is blessed. I'm sure there are great lakes in the north but to have a gem of an area like this within 1 1/2 hours of one of the greatest cities in North America is pretty nifty.

 

Thanks for putting me up and schooling me, Garry. Ya done good as usual. :clapping:

 

For a relative newby like me being out on the boat with Garry is like having an automated fishing instruction tape that automatically skips to the exact chapter that deals with the current conditions. I'm sure there are others here with knowledge to share so for those who have a lot to learn (like me) take these guys up on offers to join them in their own fishing backyards. It's not just entertaining, it's really informative. I've learned much about gear, techniques and reading the fishing terrain but there's still a long way to go.

 

JF

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JohnF All Knowing Angler

JohnF

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Nice report John.

Here are some pictures...

100_0210.jpg

 

100_0212.jpg

 

100_0213.jpg

Let's do it again, when it cools off a bit!!

Garry

 

You hogged all the big fish for yerself and left the babies for me. Mebbe it was the orange bikini that threw off my concentration. I could also blame the fact that I was fishing barbless both days. I sometimes forgot when the fishies were at boatside and let them off the hook, so to speak.

 

There were lots of fish. Smallmouths and largemouths. The second day was all about WGSF though. The thing was some of those that Garry caught were freakin' trophy rock bass. Dunno why we didn't get pics of them. Must have been the old rock bass stigma.

 

JF

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JohnF All Knowing Angler

JohnF

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Was hoping to see a picture of point number two!!!!!

 

Great report guys!

 

I tried but Garry said I was embarrassing him. I think that was about the time she decided to stick her butt up in the air and I dropped my rod in the water, or mebbe it was the camera. I'm not sure.

 

JF

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JohnF All Knowing Angler

JohnF

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Training tip for young single guys:

Girls soon get bored at the cottage during the week.

They spend they time sunning on decks or rafts.

Clean shirts and a shave might be in order...

 

So yer saying I shoulda been wearing a teeshirt with a few less fish marks on it????? I don't think it would have been quite enuf frankly. Perhaps if I coulda instantly shed about 40 pounds, grown some hair and not been with another old fart ...... :clapping:

 

JF

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Garry2Rs Fishing Icon

Garry2Rs

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So yer saying I shoulda been wearing a teeshirt with a few less fish marks on it????? I don't think it would have been quite enuf frankly. Perhaps if I coulda instantly shed about 40 pounds, grown some hair and not been with another old fart ...... :clapping:

 

JF

 

John;

I'm trolling for mid-week clients...SHHHHH

HAHAHA

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Billy Bob Fishing God

Billy Bob

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That's me in about 40 years. I'm still thinking young.

 

JF

 

GOOD for you John....here's a question for you and everyone else.....how old would you be if you didn't know how old you were ?

 

I really don't know what I want to be when I grow up.... :thumbsup_anim:

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JohnF All Knowing Angler

JohnF

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GOOD for you John....here's a question for you and everyone else.....how old would you be if you didn't know how old you were ?

 

Would there be any mirrors in this imaginary world?

 

And is alcohol involved?

 

JF

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JohnF All Knowing Angler

JohnF

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You look more like a golf pro then a realstate agent. :P

 

Many real estate salespeople are excellent golfers. I'm a notable exception. Our son got all the golf talent in the family.

 

JF

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JohnF All Knowing Angler

JohnF

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lol you guys are killin me with this thread! Hope you enjoyed the kawarthas John!!! Lake Erie in my 15 foot duck boat is just a tad more bumpy! Great report guys!

 

It's always good in the Kawarthas. Haven't caught a musky yet but that day will come.

 

At the risk of inviting a first ever case of mal de mer I'm pretty comfortable in small boats and rough water. I grew up playing with boats and then had a lot of years of sailing and diving the Great Lakes so I had pretty good training. Besides, what's the worst thing can happen? You yak over the side. I've been on dive boats where half the divers were chumming all around me. We made the best of it and watched the water to see what the chum attracted. We had a diver on a six pak in the Caribbean who was blowing chunks with gusto and all the time laffing & pointing to the turtle that was gobbling up the new fare. I learned that as long as I can see the horizon I'm good.

 

Really looking forward to meeting you & seeing what your playground has to offer, Ryan. See you Sunday.

 

Hopefully there'll be no half nekkid babes to distract me from the work at hand.

 

JF

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