misfish Posted February 21, 2015 Report Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) This morning was my first ever visit up to lake Joe. All the 30 years I have been living in Barrie,I have never set foot on that lake during the hard water season, or the soft for that matter. Seen no need, as I have Simcoe at my door step. So up at 4:30 am, quick refresh,java, toast and Im on the road by 5:30:am. Drive up was slow. Fresh layer of that powder snow, and when your behind someone,it,s just a dust cloud. You dont even see tail lights. I was surprised how fast I got up there concidering the road conditions. (here,s where I should of printed off the map) It,s been sometime since I have traveled up that way. Since when did they re route the 400/69 hwy? LOL I exited at the Lake joe cut off. Make the right and follow til I find the road Im to turn off on. The name is stuck in my head and looking. 20 minutes later, Im at a T section. Don,t remember one of those on the map. So turn right and follow the road. Pass a truck rest area. then see a sign,TIMMIES. Thank goodness,cause I was in need of a pit stop. So I ask the first guy I see,do you know where this place is? Ah ya,it,s back that way . WHAT. Yup. Did you go under a train bridge? Yup. Well,you past it. OMG So a quick pit stop,grab a cup of java while Im there and back track. Get to the bridge and Im at my spot. It was so close to the exit I took. Gezzzz There,s a line of 25 cars and trucks. Oh well,Im here and Im here to fish. Get all geared up and Im on my way. Short down hill walk (down hill is always good) and Im on the lake. Look at where all are fishing and they are scattered. I see a beat down path good for walking and dragging the smitty. Well it looked good. I walk about a half mile and thats it. Lets set up camp. Step off the trail and oh my,it,s deep here with snow.LOL Shovel my spot,drill a couple of holes,check depth. 95 fow. Ok,works for me. Pop the hub,get it banked, light up the heater and Im fishing. Marked right off the bat. The fish are through out the colume. Nothing like Simcoe. Im told to use a williams spoon and minnows. Well, I have the spoons,but dont use live bait,so I have my swammer bait rigged as a dead stick. Fish come in,rise to the swammer,They come up and from what I could tell by the graph,they just look at it. Raise a few more feet, they follow and look at it. Bite damit.LOL These fish are very strange. This happen for 5 hours. Come in,follow,look and well,they didnt want to eat. I would like to say I was disappointd,but I wasnt. New waters,new fish. Need to learn. So after I had my lunch I fished for another hour with the same results. As Im packing up,Im rethinking the live bait thing. Do I? Thats for another day. So make my way back to the shore. The burger was feeling a bit heavy.LOL Get to land and theres a few fellas there gearing up to head out. We get to talking and turns out it,s their first time as well. One fella says nice smitty. Thanks, Another says,your BB,Brian. Ya thats me. Nice smitty dude. Thanks again. Ya we just read the boards and post once in awhile. I say cool. The next words I heard were GOLD. Can I give you a ride up to your truck? AMEN BROTHER. I dont remember their names,but this goes to show there are good lurkers out there. Im booked to head up there again in the AM with a member here. I was thinking of heading out on Simcoe after the beat down I took today,but I think I,ll make another trip up in the morning with him. If he has live bait,I might give it a try. MIGHT. LOL Thats my fishing report. Edited February 23, 2015 by Brian B
porkpie Posted February 21, 2015 Report Posted February 21, 2015 Throw the bait on pal! I never understand why guys hamstring themselves with a no live bait policy. There are a lot of times when it can all be done with artificials, but for the odd time bait makes the difference I make sure it's available! Good luck in the morning.
BillM Posted February 21, 2015 Report Posted February 21, 2015 Take emeralds, right off bottom, dead stick. Sit back and enjoy.
davey buoy Posted February 21, 2015 Report Posted February 21, 2015 Live bait is cheap insurance,even if only one scoop.I dry and salt my leftovers.No waste.Sounds like a good trip anyways .
ketchenany Posted February 21, 2015 Report Posted February 21, 2015 B, William's with a stinger hook with a white pearl just sayan. Next time carry extra smithies to sell to our lurker friends. Business and pleasure.
Fang Posted February 22, 2015 Report Posted February 22, 2015 Always fish 2 lines up there Brian. One constant jigging regardless of what the screen shows. I've found it's not a cat and mouse game like on simcoe. The other for me is a drop shot with 2 hooks with live minnows right on bottom. 80-100 fow for me has been a dead zone Loads in +100 but you need to sift through all the 1 lbrs. Gotta find some structure even if it's subtle. Big boys have a reputation for 40-60 flow but on obvious structure What was the snow like for walking away from the trails
Sinker Posted February 22, 2015 Report Posted February 22, 2015 Listen to Fang. Hes got it. You wont find the big ones In the deep water. If I knew where you accessed I could tell you exactly where to go. Im pretty sure I know where you were though. Also try a 5" white tube. They dont do the chase game there the same as simcoe, but I have haad it work. When I mark fish there, I jig harder...more aggressive. Text me if you want some more info. Ive fished there tons, and caught some real tanks out of there!
Musky or Specks Posted February 22, 2015 Report Posted February 22, 2015 (edited) Take emeralds, right off bottom, dead stick. Sit back and enjoy. Yup I catch way more fish on Joe wth my mooching reel dead stick set up than on lures. I jig just to keep busy and to rest from all the walking either through powder or slush. We go in at the CNIB and it a bit of a haul. Parry Sound is more like Simcoe. Edited February 22, 2015 by Musky or Specks
misfish Posted February 22, 2015 Author Report Posted February 22, 2015 Im up and ready to head up again. Wonder if the bait store will be open. Paul, when I walk off any of the path,I was stomping through a foot of snow and tripping over harden slush. Lets see if my guide today, can get me a fish or two.
Dan668 Posted February 22, 2015 Report Posted February 22, 2015 (edited) Im off to simcoe instead i think .Woke up an hour late, have a feeling parking will be horrendous at joe. Good luck! Edited February 22, 2015 by dan668
Joey Posted February 22, 2015 Report Posted February 22, 2015 Good luck B, hope you make out good today. Let us know if shiners worked
Musky or Specks Posted February 22, 2015 Report Posted February 22, 2015 Im up and ready to head up again. Wonder if the bait store will be open. Paul, when I walk off any of the path,I was stomping through a foot of snow and tripping over harden slush. Lets see if my guide today, can get me a fish or two. Huronia Bait and Tackle in Fesserton right off the 400 is always open they will open up for you if they are not. Thats where we get bait on the way up
misfish Posted February 22, 2015 Author Report Posted February 22, 2015 Huronia Bait and Tackle in Fesserton right off the 400 is always open they will open up for you if they are not. Thats where we get bait on the way up Now you tell me. LOL I got up there just after my guide did. I didnt get lost this time.They were all set up. I didnt want to crowd, so set up just a bit from them. They were all dead sticking and I was being my hard head self, and stuck with spoons and a white tube. Marked fish right away again and it was the same thing, look and no bite. As Rons standing there talking with me,I say look, see,they are there. Then it happen,got a hit on the spoon. Bring it to the hole and WTH, it,s a herring. I say thats whats been suspending. I didnt know there were herring in the lake. DOH. So the spoon caught, so I kept jigging it. After some good marks and no hits, I was rethinking the bait thing. Rethinking, as Ron and his buds had fish on the ice . So stroll over well no ones looking,scoop one out of the pail. Rush back to get it on a jig. Drop and what would you know,they wouldnt hit that fresh lively minna. As Im jigging the spoon,the dead stick jumps. I thought maybe I hit it with my foot. Look at it and it bends down . Oh here we go. Grab the rod,set the hook and the fight was on. Well,it wasnt much of a fight, BUT, it was a trout. LOL A quick selfie before back down the hole it went.. Ron with a nice pair . I would like to thank Ron for allowing me to hook up with him and his friends this morning. This is a class fella and one heck of an angler. Ok ,so I will use live bait from now on. I hate when yer all right.LOL I will be giving Joe another go soon. Nice lake and the sounds of the ravens is so cool.
Musky or Specks Posted February 22, 2015 Report Posted February 22, 2015 Joe is a great lake for scenery. Only place I've ever seen wolves in person as I watched them chase a deer right by me.
BowSlayer101 Posted February 22, 2015 Report Posted February 22, 2015 Glad you had fun Brian, we'll have get out together sometime soon again!
SirCranksalot Posted February 22, 2015 Report Posted February 22, 2015 My buddy Allan and I did fairly well on Joe last year----6-8 each on 2 separate occasions---but just 2 last week. I have caught some on Williams and Allan tried worms last year as well as Gulp minnows. Both worked. Last Tue the slush was awful. Just the tracks were frozen, the rest was water. Is it still water or has it frozen into ice by now?.
spincast Posted February 22, 2015 Report Posted February 22, 2015 cool report BB. New lake new friends
BillM Posted February 23, 2015 Report Posted February 23, 2015 Did I miss the post with all the Lake Joe 'monsters'? Glad you boys iced some fish!
misfish Posted February 23, 2015 Author Report Posted February 23, 2015 Hey Bill, I had some real good marks out there. I even had a school of herring go through that had some huge marks moving in it. It sure is a different lake, that's for sure.
BillM Posted February 23, 2015 Report Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) Yeah, it's a fun lake for sure. Nice change of pace compared to Simcoe. Oldman and I have a riot out there. How much snow was out there? Edited February 23, 2015 by BillM
misfish Posted February 23, 2015 Author Report Posted February 23, 2015 Yeah, it's a fun lake for sure. Nice change of pace compared to Simcoe. Oldman and I have a riot out there. How much snow was out there? Walking out on the beat down path was good like I said,but when you stepped off,you were in a foot of snow. I didnt find any slush. It seemed to be harden up. Areas that were slushed before and were traveled through then covered with snow could be ankle/ knee busters. It was like being drunk walking through it.LOL
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