Cookslav Posted July 22, 2007 Report Share Posted July 22, 2007 Well this report is a little over due… Just been busy and haven’t had the time to put it together. Started my Vacation on the Canada Day Weekend ….started off abit odd? My wife come into the room and says “Check out the size of this bird on the neighbours roof” So I meander on over to see a Heron on my neighbours roof??? Very odd considering I live in the city NO WERE near any water, creeks, ponds etc… I think he was eyeing up the neighbours pool Anyway, Off to Sauble beach we went! With fair but cool weather on the weekend I figured we would see increased fishing pressure being it was not suitable for swimming, and beach related fun, Plus It also happend to be “Family fishing week“ (no licences required) So most usual fishing spots would be well pressured… We decided to hold off until later in the week to do our fishing and hopefully allow the fish some time to relax, while enjoying some beer, and tossing horseshoes. Sauble beach is a beautiful area on the worst of days, but this year we had another added natural attraction…there was an endangered Species discovered nesting in the dunes!!! They are called the Piping Plovers. There are approximately 2000 in the world left today, and the pair in Sauble Beach are the only nesting pair in Canada, and furthermore the only pair seen in 40 years. The MNR was present closing off sections of beach, and monitoring the Birds….they had to trap 4 local foxes I was told. Appearently they were seen trying to eat these little delicacies They had a great beach front head office set up on wheels Truth be told I was super impressed at the measures taken to track these animals...24 hour Surveillance! They could tell you were the birds were at any given time with out the aid of tracking bands....they simply had someone watching the Birds(2 adults and 4 babies) all the time. They were very informed, and freindly. They were more then willing to stop and talk about what was going on and inform me of anything I wanted to know. The issue is Habitat loss… As Beach front dunes become Beach front homes & Property with people moving in….these birds move out, as they are “Supposedly” Very shy…. I guess I’m just approachable Cause As I was sunning myself on the beach when a bird ran by only 6 feet away that caught my eye…and wouldn’t you know it was Mr. Plover. Sadly before we left we were told 1 of the chicks did not make it it to maturity(natural causes we're told)…. Here’s hoping we see the rest of them all back again next year. Very cool birds...They run like the wind The chicks litteraly looked like cotton balls with legs Allow me to segway from endangered birds to classic cars here. I saw this beauty parked at a local restaurant we decided to stop in at… This restoration was Awesome!!! Everything was intact and restored to its original splendor..including a hand crank siren! This guy had old Batons, cuffs, uniform jackets and holsters in the back seat as well…I was very impressed at his attention to detail when it came to this restoration. Ok….now to a little Fishing Weather was cool, and windy making it tough to control the drift but we managed. We were WAY off the beaten trail here, as we knew coming off a long weekend fish would be spooked in the usual more accessible jaunts. We worked a very narrow section of river, that proved to be challenging but fun! This stretch of river goes from being 1’ deep and rocky to 15’ and fertile bottom in a heartbeat. And for the most part was completely chocked with weeds....but that was our Angle. There is little to no cover in this stretch other then weeds so we knew were to find the Fish on this sunny day. The year before we worked this stretch and ran into some difficulties… Bass were holding in the weeds and the only way to get at ‘em was plastics rigged weedless….the issue was Big Pike who were ALSO holding in the slop, and were cutting our lines every so often. So we tried Leaders but the action was impaired, and the clasps became weed magnets. This year we got smart and bought some 80lb flouro, and tied our own leaders directly to the hook, with bullet weights in place and power pro as our main line….worked like a charm! The action was great, and visibility of the leaders was next to Nil (I am very impressed with the Seagar flouro...very impressed) So, we worked the slop, popped holes, and dragged plastics all afternoon. Berkley power Craw in black & Chartreuse, Yum Craw bugs in rust, and pumpkin seed Tubes Were the baits of choice. (Texas rigged with bullet weights) To be honest…fishing was a bit slower then we would have liked but it was pretty exciting! We could see fish everywhere!, and had so many follows it was ridiculous. But getting them to hit was a little more difficult…the bite was light to say the least. I managed to boat 2 decent fish, wile My Partner and I added another 2 littlen’s under the 16” Mark The first fish was a healthy 20”, she came out of some heavy deep weed in about 10’ of water . Very light bite, but a LOT of fun trying to horse out of the heavy weed. She was apparently popular because I counted 5 more decent sized Bass following her to the boat. One of which was notably larger… And for the record...yes I'm wairing shorts! After seeing the picture I realized ho funny it looked And a second 17” who gave a nice Arial show, and a notably good tug. He took it as we came into a clear rocky/gravely pocket…the cool part was seeing him and his half dozen buddies all lounging in the Sun as we drifted by unnoticed. One funny twist was the fact that we didn’t get to tangle with any Pike this year…figures I hope to get back out again in a few weeks to revisit this spot among others, but with the full intention of targeting the toothy critters. Team 8 needs some of them Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishergirl72 Posted July 22, 2007 Report Share Posted July 22, 2007 Wow, that was a great and intresting report! talk about having a intresting holiday! Those birds are so neat to look at, and I was shocked to see a Heron on your neighbour's roof when you live in the city. You also caught some really nice fish, all of that made for a great holiday for you and your family! Thanks for the great report! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattitude Posted July 22, 2007 Report Share Posted July 22, 2007 Nice to see the MNR going to those lengths to protect an endangered species. Great report! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moosebunk Posted July 22, 2007 Report Share Posted July 22, 2007 Good stuff man. Thanks for the report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Posted July 22, 2007 Report Share Posted July 22, 2007 Great report. I didn't even know what a plover was until now. Thanks. Joey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorhead Posted July 23, 2007 Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 Nice report... thanks for sharing..... Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greencoachdog Posted July 23, 2007 Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 Great report and pics!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustink Posted July 23, 2007 Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 Looks like a great vacation....a little bit of everything. Thanks for sharing! dk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tacklebuster Posted July 23, 2007 Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 Great report, thanks for the plover picks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccmtcanada Posted July 23, 2007 Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 Wow...great report...sure was an interesting vacation thats for sure! Great job by the MNR on the endangered species...nice cars and fish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookslav Posted July 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 Thanks guys, Another interseting point I forgot to mention about the Plovers was how they were discovered... An 8 year old bird enthusiast!!! He was watching killdeer's, and some swallows observing their nests when He noticed a small nest different from the rest. He took the initiative to look up the eggs on line, and showed his Dad, and they called the ministry. Thanks to the efforts of an 8 year old boy these birds got the protection they needed for second chance in Canada. I'd sure be proud if that was my boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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