AKRISONERs - Annual Report

[AKRISONER]

Hey Guys,

 

Ive been on OFC for a couple of years now, and i feel like i owe this site a lot when it comes to growing my passion for the sport. The guidance and assistance from some of our board members, right down to making new friends has really shown just how great of a place OFC really is as long as you stay out of the hockey thread when the habs are doing well and the leafs are not.

 

I figure rather than posting after every trip that I make, I would rather do an annual posting of some of the best catches my family, friends and I have made this year. So without further adieu, here is AKRISONERS (ae-kree-one-er) Year in review.

 

The year started like any good year...on the ice, with learning how to use tip ups, and lucky for me the pike were willing all winter. Here was my first decent pike on a tip up.

 

(CLICK THE PHOTOS FOR LARGER IMAGES )

 

 

where my brother who is not much of a fisherman, but engages time to time, showed me how ice fishing is really supposed to be done.

 

 

This year i spent 4 weekends of the ice season on island lake...the fish werent big, but kept us occupied through the long cold february that we had this year. With news of invasive carp being caught in island lake, we thought tip up carp would be a hilarious catch

 

 

unfortunately the carp didnt come to play, the perch nibbled the corn away but never took the hook.

 

March arrived a break from the cold was due, hop on a plane, we are off to cancun! An 8 hour guided flats trip was booked,

 

 

where i proceeded to hook into 2 tarpon, losing both...had a hit and miss with what my guide called a 25lb cuda in 2 feet of water...a bad day of fishing is still better than any day doing anything else. I ended up 1-20 on the day...such is life, i sitll caught myself a small saltwater pike so I was happy!

 

 

Back home we headed and waited for the the May opener..spent a lot of time fishing ultra lights on GB trying to find crappie and only managed some bullheads, still good days on the water.

 

Finally May arrived, with cold water and even colder fish bite. Still managed a couple of decent ones. The water was still so cold, this girl hadnt even spawned yet and was shooting roe everywhere.

 

 

As June arrived, so did some warmth, and boy oh boy did the fishing pick up. I decided to take a week off of work bass opener, and lucky for me so did my brother. I spent many hours fishing, and many hours hauling in fish, with the arrival of some warmer water, the fish went into overdrive.

 

with a view like this after leaving the dock bass opener, you just know its going to be a good day.

 

 

its always nice when your opener plan, works out perfectly, 3 casts, 3 bass

 

 

Then with the fresh smell of fish in my boat, i hear a crash...and bang, and i freeze...as i watch this big girl comes running out of the bush surely looking for a meal.

 

 

needless to say, lunch was had in the boat that day...but sometimes theres nothing better than hanging out in tinner magic eating a sandwich solo adrift.

 

 

best of all is sharing your passion with family though. My nephew with his first solo caught fish

 

 

my brothers first topwater bass

 

 

a pike caught, after the cottage owner told me to cast 1 foot to the left of his floating dock...i did as he told and came out with this girl

 

 

the evening topwater bass bite was all of the rage though

 

 

with spring storms, came stacked fish on new weed growth...during one windy late morning, we caught 25 of these guys in an hour, hence the grin on my brothers face

 

 

with news of us catching lots of fish, the old man wanted in on the action...i told him to head to canadian tire and grab some spinner baits...he came home with a bag full of #2 mepps...to his disapointment these were not the spinner baits that I was referring to. But i asured him that mepps will catch anything...and so one day dad ventures down to teh dock to try use a mepps...Your old man will always show you some tricks...and not 20 minutes later he hauls this out of the lake on a medium crucial with 8 pound fluro. The House record is now my dads...for the time being...what a way to catch your first fish ever off of the dock.

 

41" wouldnt even give err the gill grab lol!

 

 

a couple of weeks later, a trip to emsdale was in order to visit an old friend. 4 of us hitting a back lake in what we called the "wizard tinner"

 

and oh boy were the bugs something else. 4 up in the wizard

 

 

this slab sunny with a cleft palet made up for it though

 

 

A trip to Buckhorn lake was called...with the years first big heat wave, 35 degree days were long and hot. Where i spent a quarter of the time catching largie after largie...but nothing big...and then the other 16 hours of the weekend tossing blades for skis...this is all we caught though

 

 

I promised to return with a guide...but first more bass were to be caught on GB.

 

 

doing my best impersanation of a 3rd world dictator the bass hunt was heavy and so was the heat.

 

 

The largemouth bite was very tough to come by...i did manage my first 4lb largie solo...but since this is the only other bass ive caught lol

 

 

As summer ended and september came, i began to get amped up for something I had been looking forward to since June. A spot in FisherPete's boat at the end of september. Pete promised me a ski, and after spending 16 hours on buckhorn in 35 degree heat tossing 10's lets just say the fish were long overdue...

This day started much cooler, but with a bit of wind and cold weather, I thought our chances were good. Pete proceeded to take me to honey hole after honey hole, every spot looked dynamite, but the bloody ski's just werent coming out to play..i began to wonder if they even existed...until noon where i finally spotted my first girl take a swipe at my bait and miss...and not 5 minutes later pete had a big girl on but lost it just before the boat....at least something was happening! With news that fishing was slow with the annual muskis canada kawartha gathering, my hopes were getting shaky...if the pros werent hooking in...i might be in trouble. We worked pigeon bottom to top...and as the sun was coming down we began working top to bottom...5pm arrived...and my arms were hurting and so was my confidence, but i continued to plug away tossing the 10 and retrieving hard, when i felt what i thought was yet another massive clump of weeds, but this one began to pull drag!...

 

My first ski! 38.5

 

 

With a new found energy and adrenaline...the rest of the day was a blur...and so 8pm arrived and our trip winded down with the boat launch in site, Pete decided to cast one final spot that we had hit on our way out in the morning. We cast the spot to no avail...when pete indicated that we were calling it a day. I decided to throw one last cast while he packed a couple of things up...when i got a massive hit, and this time she kicked...I knew i had a fish...but it didnt feel as big as the first...that was until she saw the boat...and i realized...wow this is a whole different class of fish....an epic battle ensued...and the old girl was tired...Pete being the true pro that he was, performed an epic surgery to remove a deeply burried hook...cutting each hook out individually, reviving and continuing to perform surgery...i dont htink a drop of blood was lost...the old girl came back to life much to my relief...not bad for my second musky of my life.

 

46.75

 

I still cant thank pete enough

 

 

And so the fall came and the pickerel run hopefully began...we ventured out this past weekend in the new heavy frost and snow...and it turned out the eyes were around for our fun!

 

 

Including off my dock at 2 in the afternoon!

 

 

and another night biter...24! not too shabby at all

 

 

for some afternoon fun we headed to one of my favourite spots for some casting...the weeds were still deep and alive, i knew a good pike would be in them...sure enough as a squall blew in hard and nearly whited us out...dave hit this big girl on the swammer

 

 

the next day we decided fall piggy smalls was on order...the fishing was tough, windy, cold, and slow...not easy at all finding GB bass in open water...but our perserverance paid off like it seems to have all year long...when the fishing is bad, fish longer...the investment seems to always pay off

 

 

and so my year of fishing is summarized...with a huge shout out to Pete for putting me on the fish of a life time...my families record is securely back in my hands, and shall remain that way for what i hope to be a long time

 

Im not done fishing yet...but these things take a long time to make!

 

Thanks for reading!

Edited October 19, 2015 by AKRISONER

[chris.brock]

 

Wow, you had a great year (it's not even over yet).

 

Best report I've seen in a while, nice ski with Pete and nice stache in another pic.

[manitoubass2]

Great report!!!!

 

Awesome year man!!!

 

End it on a good note!

[BillM]

Right on man!!! Keep at it, you'll learn all the little tips and tricks that really make a difference!

[spincast]

Nice going - some very nice fish in there. Everything likes a Mepp's ( Aglia's especially )- that is one sweet gator dad got there.

[davey buoy]

Nicely done,congrats,great report!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rod Caster]

You really got on a good streak later in the season.

 

Great report

[DaveRoach]

Great report. awesome year.. Thanks for the read.

[AKRISONER]

thanks for the comments guys!

 

Chris...that stache isnt even that real...thats what made the photo extra hilarious is that it looked way more intense than it actually was lol.

 

Bill, we are still trying to solve the puzzle...we seem to never get skunked anymore, just working on getting our numbers up!

 

Drop shotting has been on of the best things that I have learned in the last year.

Edited October 20, 2015 by AKRISONER

[fishindevil]

a very good year !!! some real nice fish for sure.....keep it up and you will just get even better...cheers

[Brettiop]

Well done man!

 

Looks like its been a good one!

[LeXXington]

Nice

[lew]

Thanks for putting all that together, it made for a fun read.

[ehg]

Great report! Like the Kawartha stuff at end.

[AKRISONER]

Great report! Like the Kawartha stuff at end.

 

 

I love fishing the kawarthas, its a huge change from fishing Georgian Bay...i can honestly say that the time ive spent on them has made me a better fisherman.

[leaf4]

Nice report thanks for putting it together!

[Freshtrax]

Nice going this year. I haven't fished bass much the last two years. Your post has inspired me to haul the boat down to longpoint for opener next year.

[AKRISONER]

Nice going this year. I haven't fished bass much the last two years. Your post has inspired me to haul the boat down to longpoint for opener next year.

 

The smallie opener is by far the best opener of them all...the action is absolutely insane, and the fish absolutely hammer top waters early and late. You cant go wrong.

[Fisherpete]

Great season Scott! Some very nice bass and walleye there, and that pike of your dad's is a beauty.

 

The day we fished muskies together was a blast - glad you got a couple in the boat and a really nice one to boot! Unhooking your big girl was certainly a process, those hooks were buried in her throat as badly as any I have seen. I really think letting her revive for as long as I did after each cut hook was the key to her swimming away... I'm glad you got to see firsthand just why the proper release tools (long pliers, spreaders, Knipex and big net) are so critical for safe muskie fishing. Keep doing up on Gbay what you did on our outing and you will get rewarded with a true giant sooner or later!

 

Cheers

Pete

Edited October 24, 2015 by Fisherpete

[Gnote]

Thats a great season in the bag! Good job man!