Pointe Au Baril Report - A new PB Pickerel

[AKRISONER]

Recap of this weekends trip in Pointe Au Baril

I headed up from the big smoke Thursday night and woke up long before sunrise on Friday morning, Heavy frost but clear skies and calm winds, a gorgeous day to be out on the lake. pulled into the river in the tinner to find it absolutely loaded with people. Find a spot actually somewhat distant from most groups of boats so not too bad at all. Commence fishing.

We jigged for about 3 hours without a bite...we then headed up stream to the shallows near the waterfalls. Started casting spoons and plugs for pike, and still absolutely nothing. Then decided to get adventurous and headed across some rocks into a weird bay with a waterfall at the end of it. Hit the rocks nearly beached ourselves lol.

Went into the bay towards the hidden waterfall if anything the scenery was unbelievable and extra neat because it was in an area where most boats do not dare tread

Finally as we approached the waterfall, dave had a willing small pike take a stab at his wobbler, pulled drag, but then came off. Needless to say we were getting a bit rattled at this point. We continued our troll through the bay and back out. Nothing doing. We then left the river and tried another favorite spot of mine and once again the bite for pike, perch bass or anything that would take line was still off. We finally decided to head back in for some food at about 2 in the afternoon.

Bait Shop, sandwiches and a refuel later we were back in the boat at 4pm to head back into the river to jig the sunset bite. Tried a slightly different spot, got lots of bites and finally hooked into a rock bass aha! we then sat and watched as one particular boat in a hole that has produced for me many times before start producing some fish. I think they caught 5 or six in total, while the other 23 boats in the area looked on. Consensus out on the water was that we were in for a bust and that the pickerels were just not quiet ready to move in yet.

Headed back as dark fell...10 hours on the water without a single fish to show...rough day indeed, dave feeling it even more than I as he had been skunked on Stoney Lake the previous weekend.

Saturday arrived with a roar, we woke up to grey skies and moderate winds, headed towards the river this time with the old man being the chauffer in the 16 foot glasstron, a ...when a monsoon began. It reminded me of forrest gump when he described all of the different types of rain, we literally had every single type. There was a point that as we sat there and it was pouring hard...the water droplets changed to gigantic ones which made the rain even more hard. I actually had to laugh as we had now been on the water approaching 14 hours without a fish and here we were committed as ever to nab a damn fish.

That morning due to the weather the crowds were a lot less which meant we were able to get into that sweet spot where the boat had been hauling them in the night before. But just our luck absolutely nothing was happening. I got a bit bored, and decided that throwing out a minnow rap and letting it drift down river 100 meters out to the reef was a cool idea as an ultra slow retrieve placed a stationary presentation of a current enduced action. First cast, bang a willing 1 pound smallie took the bait. Although small, it felt good to set the hook into something other than sunken tree lims, weeds and rocks

The morning ended once again as every other trip but just a lot wetter. As the winds picked up during the afternoon the lake began to flood higher than i have ever seen, and our dock cribs all ended up underwater making getting back to shore after fishing interesting.

(note an acrobatic movement using the ladder was needed to get back to shore.

back to the bait shop, fuel food etc. and back on the water. We head into the river to another spot of ours, with the wind absolutely howling at 50kmh and the chop heading in getting pretty big. It took us half an hour to get anchored and hold, while watching the other 26 boats (yes i counted, ridiculous i know) struggle to stay anchored. There was some pretty good near misses with unsuspecting jiggers catching gusts and narrowly getting the engines revved to avoid. As the wind howled and the sun set, we had some bites, with dad willing to stay late with the sonar and nav lights dusk fell, when finally i felt that all familiar weight hit my line, tug...tug, i dont think ive ever set the hook so smooth and hard in my life. This one has weight...and its peeling line....as i fight i think, this isnt a pickerel this thing is pulling drag and kicking like a pike...its gotta be a decent pike...fight fight fight, the fish comes to the surface, but it isnt snake like...Dave nets it....dude that is a friggin beaut----DUDE THATS A BURBOT ahahha. Nasty bugger. Caught myself a 5lb burbot, just disgusting. The fact that we had finally caught something after approaching 20hours on the lake had the boat buzzing and our spirits and confidence had finally improved a bit. It got too dark and we headed home for dinner. My old man debated at dinner whether he could be bothered to head back out the following morning if we had been fishing for 2 full days now without a pickerel. I convinced him that this might be his last go for the year. He couldnt bail on us now.

The wind ripped all night and finally blew itself out a bit by morning. The gusts were strong but not the hurricane we had experienced the previous evening. The temperatures were also a lot colder and cloudy, a lot like a true november day. I said to myself, maybe that storm will change these darn fishes minds.

Back to the river we went a little later as I think that storm put us into a deep slumber. But hence we went and dropped lines... This morning started off different right off of the bat. First of all i thought about what Bill told me "Dark lures dark water" that water was ink black, so with the black jig i went. We were getting taps here and there and fish seemed to be cleaning bait off of our lines and would make the rounds around the boat harrassing us, the action was keeping us entertained when i finally felt something actually take the hook, set...and would you believe it, after 20+ hours i caught a perfect eater.

A few boats noticed and began to creep on us attempting to get a piece of the action, when as i look back at my dad, i notice that his rod is bent right over and he seems to be struggling, I pass it off as a snag, "snag"...wait what the heck dad! Dave get the net hes got a fish! and what a fish! 22 inches

The boat rejoices, the fishing gods have finally paid dividends!...the moral is high when as i am sitting looking at dave, my line patiently sitting with tension on the bottom, with the boat still drifting all over the place on the anchor due to the gusty winds, i notice that my rod all of a sudden feels like theres a 8lb weight hanging on it...lift rod, holy crap thats a bloody fish. And this time its not burbotish lol.

reel reel reel fight fight....there it is...that golden siloute...the beatiful shape and colour of the biggest pickerel I have ever caught in my life. Netted and lift it up to a course of "HOLY SHI---" from the boat next to us.

24 inches and fat as all hell

A quick smile to our neighboring encroaching boat and a "back to spawn boys!" fish back in the lake and a congrats from the boat...perseverance finally paid off I am still buzzing while at my desk today!

Edited October 27, 2014 by AKRISONER

[BillM]

Right on man, glad all that work paid off!

[Beavertail]

Nice report and congrats on the new PB pickerel...it's nice when things pay off after sticking it out like that. I always wanted to try Point Au Baril in the fall, I didn't realize it got so busy. Used to spend some time up at Sturgeon Bay, always had a good time up there.

[mike rousseau]

Nice catch..

 

Chunky one

[solopaddler]

Well done, nice fish!

[AKRISONER]

Nice report and congrats on the new PB pickerel...it's nice when things pay off after sticking it out like that. I always wanted to try Point Au Baril in the fall, I didn't realize it got so busy. Used to spend some time up at Sturgeon Bay, always had a good time up there.

 

This time of year is a zoo, in a couple weeks it will quiet right down as most of the islanders close up for good. Being a winterized main lander means that I can be out on the water till the ice arrives, and of course the closer the ice gets, the hungrier the fish get.

 

I would say that in three weeks time we will really be hitting prime time. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

[Joeytier]

Your determination finally payed. Just a tip, you won't find burbot so 'disgusting' after you keep one for the table!

[fishindevil]

Nice report & pics !!!! Glad to see your determination was worth it !!!! Like the saying goes right "never give up" and a new PB at that too !!!! Awesome Fish-on

[spincast]

congrats on the PB - nice report. A great feeling when you beat a slow weekend with a PB.

[AKRISONER]

Your determination finally payed. Just a tip, you won't find burbot so 'disgusting' after you keep one for the table!

 

Being from Flin Flon Manitoba and knowing of the epic April Burbot Derby and fish fry I know all about their table worthyness. Personally I am not a huge fish eater, I will eat a bit of pickerel here and there, but other white fish I am not so big on. Dave was a bit upset I put it back in hindsight, but lets just say, since it was the first burbot I ever caught in GB it got lucky.