Simcoe pike report

[glirw]

I'll be brief.

 

Pike opener on Simcoe with Johnny Bass, between us we must've gone around 10 for 15 , with the weather and other factors against us. What's for dinner ?

 

Got to Cook's Bay spot #1 , not a sniff , not a good sign .

 

Johnny suggests we hit up a familiar rock pile, we get there and see a zillion other boats , not 10 minutes later , WHAM , Johnny's got one , we restart the drift , WHAM , Johnny's got another !

 

By this point I'm getting antsy , with people all around us nailin fish, so Johnny offers to let me borrow his magic lure .

 

After a quick zoom over to the mouth of the Holland, and not finding a single fish there, we get back to piking, and get to our final destination which did not look promising at all . The water temps were lower , the bottom looked plain, and the fish finder wasn't marking anything .

 

I suggested we troll it to cover more water and maybe find some structure . We set up the troll , Johnny boosts up the trolling speed by a notch . 10 minutes later Jonny and I BOTH get one at the same time .

We're thinking , oh no .... got the lines tangled ! Johnny brings her in , and my line is still way under the boat , so we know we got a Double header ! I bring mine in , a respectable 30" pike which turned out to be the biggest for the day , we're both excited , unhook'em, chuck'em , and restart the drift .

 

10 minutes later , AGAIN , double header at the same time ! We're both jumping up and down , and this time again I landed the slightly bigger fish !

 

Third drift , Johnny gets one, and I get weeds .

 

Fourth drift , I get one , and Jonny doesn't . We're ecstatic and in a state of awe , is this really happening during a cold front ?

 

Fifth and sixth drift saw us each lose , and at around 7:30 we called it a day .

 

One helluva opener to the say the least .

 

 

[Victor]

haven't seen a report from you for a long time ! sounds like a good day greg!!

we gotta get together for some carp action

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Great Report Greg!lol

 

Yes we had a blast. Started out rough. We launched at about 8pm. There was a north east wind blowing so I decided we shout start North east and drift down. So we headed to roaches point.

 

Fished there for about 10 minutes and I'm already complaining.lol I didn't see any fresh weeds so I wanted to move. we checked out some points with no luck.

 

Decided to fly down to Crates. We start casting and Wham! I hit my first pike. Snot rocket but its a start. We seen many people pulling in pike but mostly snot rockets. Looks like the pike population is trying to make a come back.

 

A little while later. Wham another one. This one is a little more decent. This is the pic in Greg's report.

A little while later I nail another one and lost it. Asked Greg if he wanted my lucky lure. He declined.

 

A little while later, same thing, hit one and lost it. I got a few other bumps but dont know if it was fish or weeds.

 

We notice this huge plank in the water. We turn around and pick it out of the water so no boater nails it and ruins its bottom end. We then through it on shore.

 

I decide to head to the mouth of the holland. We did a drift that does well in the summer, with no luck. We went right to the mouth and the north wind had made it too muddy. I figure Pike are sight feeders and decline to cover water.

 

Went down the holland to try for crappie. Threw a few casts and we decided to get back to the main lake. Greg was itchin for a pike.

 

Went back to Crates. Greg asks for my lucky lure. I give it to him and he nails a pike on his 3rd cast.lol Oh well, I guess it wasn't the skill.lol Though he looses it. We parallel drift the area and get nothing.

 

I studied the waves and I decide I have one final spot to check out. There was not too much wind blowing on this spot, which meant the water was a lot clearer than the rest of the lake. The water temps were 53 degrees.

 

We started off fishing water at 53 degrees with no luck in the morning. The water temps quickly rose around 58 Degrees and that is where we had most of our success.

 

Greg didn't have any confidence in the spot but I said the water is clear and pike are site feeders. Plus the water is next to a drop off. Greg suggests we troll so I agree. We set up the troll and right away. Wham!! I got something on and so does Greg!!! I'm like dang, our lines are crossed.

 

I told him I'll help him reel it in. So I start reeling fast and I see mr. Pike come up, with a wack of weeds.

Greg is screaming I have a big one. I'm like, no you dont. It just feels big because of all the weeds on the pike. WHen I bring the pike to the boat. I see Greg's line heading under the boat. I'm like Huh??? DOuble header!!! I quickly bring up my dink and greg is fighting a decent sized pike, which ends up being the pike of the day. Greg is estastic. We set up the troll again. A few minutes later? Wham. I got one on. So does Greg!!Our second header back to back!!!!

 

Couple of hammer handles. We set up a troll again. Wham! I got another one! I'm thinking can it be 3 double headers? Greg reels in weeds!! Dang!!! I bring in a snot rocket.

 

Next pass?Greg hooks one.

 

I wanted to keep fishing but I had a date that night and had to cut it short. We left around 7:00!! We could have caught a ton more but the season has just begun!!

 

All in all we had a blast! There was also a decent rock bass caught by Greg and another hammer handle or two in there somewhere. We didn't take too many pictures. Most were small. Only 3 fish were decent sized(over 25 inches).

 

Anyways, thanks again Greg for a great day on the water!

[Rizzo]

great report guys. And a mighty rock bass to boot, sounds like a good day. I tried Holland River mouth last year at this time. We caught a 32" pike and some snotrockets, but the flotilla of boats was just ridiculous. Seeing that many people with most keeping everything they catch bothered me so I haven't gone back. I know its their right, but it still bothers me.

[ehg]

Nice read and insights.

 

ehg

[jediangler]

Great report. What about this lucky/magic lure? C'mon guys, no secrets. I promise I won't tell anybody.

[JFR]

Great report, thanks for sharing.

 

Haven't read any of your reports for a while, your school ciriculum heavy?

 

John

[ccmtcanada]

Great report guys! Lots of great info in it too. You gotta love how the bite can just turn on like that...must have been pretty exciting! Thanks for the pics too....you both took lots of time writing your reports...thanks!

[misfish]

Well that was a great report by the both of ya.JB,whats with the shirt dude LOL

 

I like that crates area as well.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[leighfns]

Great report as always

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Thanks guys. Brian, It is wayyyy too cold to take off the shirt and to the ladies I apologize.

 

Though I did get a wind burn. My forehead and nose only are burnt(due to my polarized glasses).

The forehead faded away and now I am stuck with a shiny red nose.

[glirw]

Thanks for the responses guys ! Johnny's probably the most patient fisherman I've ever met . Always confident even when the conditions aren't looking good !

 

As for the burn , well , lets just say that for the next week or so the guys at work are gonna be laughing at my expense . I got so burnt that you can see a nice outline of where my polarized glasses sat on my nose all day , with the rest of my face fully red . There is also a very well defined line where my hat usually sits , aweful , just aweful . Will never forget to put on sunscreen again lol

[lunkerbasshunter]

that was a fun read! Thanks!

 

Cheers!