Cottage Report

[ctranter]

Finally managed some time between teachers college and city obligations to get up to the cottage and soak some lines. Arrived early Wednesday morning and everyone was still asleep, so what better way to kill some time than to catch some morning smallies.

 

But first! This is my first time seeing the new dock. To put this in perspective, the old dock was extremely old and every season it needed a solid weekend to get it back on the crib. After almost losing a finger (or worse an entire hand) to one of the biggest, least-avoidant 100 lbs snapping turtles last year while poking around the crib attempting to resecure the dock, I convinced the rest of the family to invest in a new dock. The skinny plank is about 20' long and the wide part is something like 15x15', can't describe how good that cedar smells! Here it is:

 

 

This new-found satisfaction made the outcome of fishing pretty arbritrary, but the fishing was amazing never-the-less. Here is the first smallie from the new dock!

 

 

fished the rest of the day and pulled in non-stop 6"-10"er's, unlimited sunfish and the occasional perch right from the dock.

 

On Thursday morning I mixed new fuel, installed new gas line (HUGE thanks to OFC advice re: 9.9 outboard thread about engine dying), filled a cooler full of "beverages" and was ready to go. I thought, hey why not test this new crankbait, and BAM, first decent smallie this year right from the dock.

 

 

I woke my Mom up to take the picture, she was happy to do so! Went out the rest of the day and the fishing was the best it's been all year. I didn't measure the above smallie, but I guessed about 16-17", pretty fat too. Later in the day I hooked into a beauty, at least 17-18"+ on a senko, but lost it at the boat. I probably boated 20 solid bass all day, but by then the Black Berry was dead and I left the DSLR on the kitchen table at home (D'OH!! ).

 

 

I love it when other reporters do this so Ill keep up with the trend:

 

Conditions:

-Sunny/Cloudy, air temp was 26 when I checked mid day

-Water temp was about 74 deg, which I thought was abnormally high but it is a pretty shallow lake

-Water colour is stained due to high iron content in water (high turns amber at about 4-5 feet)

 

What worked:

-6" green w/ gold flakes Senko's - Tons of huge bass sucked on these to the surface despite not being hooked. I know it's cliche to rave about Senko's with their well known popularity, but they were certainly the bait of choice for the deeper parts of the lake (anything deeper than 12 ft I consider deep in my lake )

- Anything Live Target produced fish, I need to test these more since almost anything works in this bass paradise, but need to test tougher waters. On a side note, I had some fun with the Crayfish cranks that dive to ~6', their action was great bouncing off rocks in mid-shallows. The perch models were great for trolling

- Gold spooned Mepps spinners and black furies, size 3-5 all produced.

- Pumpkin seed coloured, 1/2 ounce jig

- My favourite bait of the weekend was a chartreuse Lucky Craft floating crankbait, I was skeptical about paying 20$ for a crankbait, but the diving depth of this crank was absolutely PERFECT for my body of water, it was getting fish almost every cast. Even though the biggest catch of the trip was on this, it tended to hook tons of small bass.

 

What I want to try next time:

- Gulp Alive Craws on a heavy jig, I have noticed many larger bass spit up crayfish when caught, so maybe these will produce if jigged over rocks

- dropshot rigged senkos, worms, or minnows

 

Hope to get back up ASAP to catch more

[Musky or Specks]

Thanks for the report. Beer sunset and that dock looks like it would be a nice combo

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Excellant report!!Thanks for taking the time to type out this well written report!

 

That cottage lake and dock looks great!

[livinisfishin]

Wish I had a depth of 12' lol deepest spot in the lake that I live on is 10'. Good job on the fish!

[Grimace]

Nice report man. The dock looks great. Looks like a real nice spot.

[lunkerbasshunter]

what a great looking dock! And you can catch fish off it as well!

 

Cheers!

[Radnine]

I am heading up to that area tomorrow! Can't wait.

Thanks for the report.

Jim

[Dozer]

[cityfisher]

nice report and nice dock... was the dock recently Water sealed? looks mint

[Nipfisher]

Love the "Downtown Magnetawan" shirt! Is it considered downtown if there isn't even a traffic light? The poutine is good at the snack shack beside the lumber (hardware) place though.

[OhioFisherman]

Great pictures and report, lakes in Ontario all seem to be beautiful. LOL your reel handle is on the wrong side.

[EC1]

Ahh Ctranter, I see you've gotten that Bucoo with some fish!

How is it treating you out on the water?