Lake Joe report

[sleepjigging]

Waking up on Friday morning by the alarm, and seeing the sun already up gave me a "panic attack." Damn! The phone was on airplane mode. I slept too late and woke late. We should be on the lake already if it is daylight. Why did I forget to set the alarm correctly?! Chris probably tried to call to get me to wake up, but the phone was not going to ring. He might have been waiting for me for a couple of hours already. Then I woke up a little more.

 

crap, it's only Friday. I still have to go to work. I could feel a cold coming. Sinus was starting to congest. Head was building pressure. But Saturday trip to Lake Joe was going to make it all better. -8C going up to 0C. It was going to be beautiful.

 

Meeting up at 5am on a Saturday morning is tough. Woke up at 3am and forced myself back to bed.

 

2 hours on the road stopping briefly for Tim's. We walked in at the rest stop, and it was deserted. I ordered a coffee and all of a sudden the line up at Tim's is 10 guys deep. I turn around and counted in jest "Lake Simcoe", "Lake Simcoe", "Lake Simcoe", "Lake Simcoe"... A couple of the guys smiled and nodded their heads.

 

We walked out at Lake Joe and was greeted by a hazy sun. This is the primary reason I go fishing. Being there: PRICELESS.

 

Chris told me to listen: the birds were chirping. A woodpecker was knocking for bugs. Peace and tranquility awaited.

 

We went to a spot that I thought would produce. I had poured through many forum postings, and studied the depth charts, and discussed the spot with knowledgeable people. On the way there, the navionics went on the fritz. We were kinda there but not exactly on the spot. Close enough.

 

It was a good spot. Later in the day, a large group of people came and fished the area. They had been coming to the lake for 10 years. It was hilarious watching them. One guy with the red hat hooks into 3 fish and loses them ALL. The last one was pulled out of the hole by someone sacrificing his arm into the 2 foot hole. Nice size. Probably 20-25". There were a dozen guys, and only 1 guy at one hole catches fish.

 

I caught 5 and Chris, 20 feet from me could not buy a bite. He did help me pull up one of them when I was busy unhooking one. We were both using minnows. We were at 87' to 92FOW. When the bite turned off, we moved. Then I pulled up one more, and Chris lost 3. Nothing big, but it was a great day out.

six inch hole.

Antifreeze:

Today, my older son and I fried up the 2 keepers with bread crumbs and butter for lunch. Nice recipe Chris! It was another fine moment: teaching my son how to fillet and de-bone the fish.

 

The temperatures this week will be all above freezing. Looks like the season is coming to an end. I am happy that I have gotten 10 lakers this year, my first year targeting them.

 

Bain

[chris.brock]

Nice write up Bain, sounds like a fun day. Yeah, the season is winding down but there's still some warm, sunny days left to enjoy out on the ice.

 

Oh, a new brand of antifreeze!

[ckewley]

Ya man I couldn't buy a bite & everything seemed to go wrong, peeled 100ft of line to help avoid twisted line....nope still messed up (last seasons line), Use another rod set the hook & start reeling darn handle became loose...lost. Damn rubber hooks but a fantastic day none the less. That new antifreeze was brought back from India for me, it is quite a nice Rum, apparently it is illegal for me to have as I'm not in the Indian military came packaged in a T-shirt bag.....?

Edited March 8, 2015 by ckewley