My quest continues... Silent Lake Report

[007]

Hello one and all!

 

Well my quest to catch as many of Ontario's fish species this year continued at Silent Lake Provincial Park. Target species - Smallmouth Bass.

 

Friday morning, we headed out of the city and towards the Bancroft area to camp on the shores of Silent Lake. I must say its a beautiful park - beautiful forests, Canadian shield clear rocky lake and very peaceful - no motor boats and no crowds. We were camped in a walk-in site at the southern end of the park. The walk-in sites are a great way of getting away from the crowds and experiencing the great outdoors but with the added bonus of some facilities near-by.

 

 

After setting up the tent I was off to try my luck from shore. The shoreline is littered with broken rock and the odd fallen tree - so plenty of structure to fish for Smallmouth Bass. Unusually for me I decided to start off with lures rather than worms. Tried Mepps spinners and Rapala Crankbaits but no luck. I think it was just too hot for the fish to chase lures, so I turned to worms to see if there were at least some fish around. Sure enough it wasn't long before the smallmouth bass came out from the rocky shadows to devour my tasty worm offering. Some pics of that evening's fishing....

 

 

 

So, technically I had succeeded in catching my target species but this size of fish wasn't what I had come for. Next day my wife and I decided to do some exploring in a canoe. Canoeing around the lake near to shore, we found lots of likely places to fish - mainly rocks and fallen trees - but very little in the way of weeds. At one rocky spot I started casting to shore with float fished worm and had an absolute blast - catching bass after bass. Not to be out done my wife picked up a rod and had a great time catching both smallmouth and largemouth bass and even the odd sunfish for good measure. It was such good action that my wife had to learn the art of unhooking fish as I often had a fish on of my own and couldn't help her out! The problem was... they were all small fish as these pics show....

 

 

 

 

Where were the big fish?! Should I have left the shoreline and fished deeper? I did try (a little half heartedly) to fish with tubes in deeper water and even tried topwater baits in the evenings but had no luck - so decided to stick at fishing the rocky shoreline in the hope that one of the big fish would be hiding there and come out to play. At one point we did see one decent 3lb in the shallows in among the small fish, but it wouldn't take the bait.... though wouldn't you know it, it did take a dead piece of worm off the surface that I had taken off the hook and thrown into the water!!!

 

On the Saturday we also had a surprise encounter with this almost metre long creature - slithering its way towards our boat! After a few quick pics, we decided that it was a little close for comfort and as it looked like it wanted to get into the canoe with us we paddled for our lives! LOL

 

 

Anyone know what type of snake it is? I looked it up on the internet and its not definitely not a water snake. The closest looking snake I could find in Ontario is the Eastern Milk Snake - but none of the descriptions mention anything about it being a snake that likes water! Sure was a nice looking creature with its red, cream and black pattern - but would like to know for sure what it is - any help appreciated.

 

The next day, we took a canoe out again and tried some new spots but generally just enjoyed the scenery as the fishing was slower due to hot temps, glaring sun and a breeze that meant keeping the canoe in one place was pretty difficult. Here's a few scenery shots.....

 

 

 

 

Well I succeeded in catching a smallmouth bass but this 1lb fish, which turned out to be the biggest of the weekend was a little disappointing. However the experience and enjoyment of being in the outdoors more than made up for the lack of big fish.

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed the report. Hopefully I will add to my list soon - perhaps a walleye or musky (I wish) and will certainly be chasing some more smallies when I go camping again up at Fairbank P.P near Sudbury in a couple of weeks.

 

Take care everyone.

007

Edited August 2, 2007 by OO7

[jediangler]

Great report and beautiful scenery shots. Always seen the signs for Silent Lake, when I was in the area, but never had a chance to try it out. Liked the idea of it being a "no gas motors" lake. Truly lives up to it's name I imagine.

[danw]

Nice report. What a surprise you encountered a snake. Good luck withe smallies.

[fatherof3]

great report and pics. that picture of the snake is awesome

[douG]

Note the shoreline, looks untouched for the most part. That is extremely rare in that part of the province, and beautiful too.

[007]

You're right Doug. Apart from a largeish day-use beach at the top end of the lake and the canoe rental dock the lake is pretty untouched. The whole lake is in the provincial park, there are no cottages, not even campsites on the lake and no motor boats. Sure was a silent lake - well except for the loons calling at night and the creatures running through our camp site at night that gave us a fright - racoons or skunks I think.

 

007

[Sinker]

Nice report......I've only ever fished Silent Lake thru the ice.....winter camping.

 

Your right on the snake.....its a milk for sure. All snakes can swim, and will hit the water if they are frightened.....milk snakes aren't as common as they used to be, so count yourself as being pretty lucky to run into one on the water like that! Very cool stuff!

 

Sinker

[motv8tr]

Great report and amazing photo's! As far as the snake goes, looks like my friends King snakes, but I think a lot of snakes look alike

 

Good luck this weekend...

 

Maureen

[ccmtcanada]

Smallmouth Bass....CHECK! Great report 007. Your reports are always a good read...very descriptive and captures your mood and thoughts perfectly. The pics are a great touch too...a nice balance between scenery and fish.

 

I know I'll be reading about your first Walleye soon, once you start to target them.

 

Looking forward to your next report!

[redfin]

Very nice pix, thanks for sharing. Yeah, that looks like a Eastern Milk, I have seen one one Six Mile Lake. Wonder why they named this constrictor the "milk" sneak tho?

[dustink]

Great report and congrats on checking another fish off the list....looks like a great park!

 

dk

[tbayboy]

Great report and some wonderful pics, I've never been up there but it sure sounds like a great park especially with those walk in spots. Can't offer much advise on the bigger smallies but at least they're checked off the list . I guess if you had a finder you might have been able to find some rocky humps under water but other than that its rocky shorelines in the wind and points jutting out into the lake (at least thats all I was ever told). Oh and don't forget the usually foolproof method - ask the locals (park attendants/other campers) where they are .

[MJL]

Great report 007!

 

Those scenic shots are very nice. Even though the fish were small, I'm sure the smallies gave you quite a tussle...Fun fish they are.

[007]

Thanks for the comments guys.

 

Thanks for the tips TBayBoy, I'll try those out soon.

 

Cliff - can't wait to tackle my first walleye - hopefully i'll target them soon!

[Joey]

That was a great report. I love the part where the bass eats the piece of the worm you discarded, figures eh.

 

I love snakes and that is an awesome shot.

 

 

Joey

[Tinman]

that would have been the end of the trip for me! I hate snakes!!

 

Great report!

[OhioFisherman]

Great pictures! pretty looking place. Nice snake!

[mcallister.grant]

Great report amd even better pics. When I am in a desolate part of the province like you were it ALMOST doesn't matter if there are any fish caught. The scenery alone is fulfilling enough. Congrats on the SM!!!

[Mike the Pike]

Great report 007.I always enjoy the talent you have with the camera.MTP

[007]

Thanks for the nice comments about the camera work. I am a keen photographer and when the fish aren't biting I really enjoy taking scenery shots.

 

I guess the good thing is I rarely get skunked and I will always come home from a trip with good memories and lots of pictures to remember the trip by for when I'm old and grey and can't rememembr what I had for breakfast that day! .

 

Have a great day - weekend is almost here... and its a long one!

 

007

[fishindevil]

Very n ice report & great fish & scenery pics.. .it looks like a great place to fish...man i cant believe i have driven by that park about 100 times and i have never fished it...prob because i have always had a boat on my trailer hitch that has a motor on it...lol..lol now i know what it looks like i might just hit er up next summer on the way by....thanks for sharing cheers

[Rich Clemens]

Great report and pics 007. The snake .... I can certainly do without.

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Looks like the fishing was fast and furious. Congrats!

[ysrho]

hi, just wanted to say nice report.

I was there about a week ago too.

[wleishman]

Nice report.

 

My buddy and I are heading to Silent Lake in mid-September to do some fishing. We have been there a few times before but each time it was in the Spring when trout fishing was good.

Does anyone know how the fishing is in mid-September? Will the trout be hard to catch? I know they go deep in the summer but I hope they start to come up when we are there.

Bass fishing is fun but you can't beat pan fried trout