Bass Party in the Mississippi....

This past Monday with beautiful sunshine and only 2 more ME days left till the kidlets were done school I really really wanted to FISH (the forecast for the next 2 days was....well it just plain sucked.... rain forecasted both days)! With the postal strike being over I really needed to get back into WORK MODE...but being the master planner and prioritizer I am....I figured I could do groceries in the morning (as the fridge was empty) fish the afternoon and work after the kiddies were in bed :) I of course didn't anticipate the stupid computer virus that was going to take over my laptop and take up 2 hours of my time. When the groceries were done and I had handled the computer issue I only had 2 hours before kid pick up to get some fishing in....which totally eliminated most of the ptions I had in mind so I had to think fast and figure something out.

I decided to to venture somewhere close to home...a nice little jetti out into the Mississippi River around the corner from my house. I hadn't used this location yet this year due to the fact it has rained so much it was nearly impossible to get there as it was a bit flooded...but most of the bog had cleared up by now so I had hope I could get to the spot I wanted. It was still mucky...I ended up with mud all down my back from it flinging off my flip flops..but I made it into the end of the point alive. I made my way into the river (up to my thighs) where one off shoot of the Mississippi meets up with the main river again...perfect resting place for some bass :) It only took the first cast for a nice little small mouth to jump on my line... just using worm and hook this day...actually I had a ziplock bag of worms in my pocket (odd..and a first I must say) so i didn't have to keep going back to shore every 2 minutes.. That's sort of how it went for the next 75 minutes.... 23 small mouth (and a few whitefish) made my day. A lot of the small mouth were smaller 10" or so..but there were a couple that were 13-15". Haven't caught my 18" small mouth for OFHA awards yet..but I still have a whole summer to work on that :) Fantastic day....can't wait to go back....so close to home makes a perfect spot for an hour here or there of fishing fun!

One lure...two fish

I've been pampered up to this point! I've lucked out and had at least a couple decent sized fish on almost every outing, so when I went fishing this week a couple times (only for an hour or two shore fishing at a few new locations) and didn't have a plethora of fish jumping on my line I was disappointed. Now I can't complain...on Sunday June 12th we travelled to the Merrickville locks and although I didn't catch a lot of fish I caught some smaller stuff and a pretty decent pike which made my day ....and I've been trying to focus more on QUALITY then QUANTITY (at least that what I've been telling myself and the kids :)

I haven't posted much this week mostly due to the fact it's almost time for school to be out and a lot of my time has been eaten up with School trips and other year end commitments (as well as our yearly street sale that happened this past week-end..which was awesome as my hubby purchased 2 fantastic books we'd been looking for from they guy down the street who always has a gazillion fishing lures for sale each year and is obviously a serious fisherman - The Complete Guide to Freshwater Fishing & The Complete Fisherman...amazing additions to any collection!). Funny how I've gone from reading Woman's World weekly magazine in the bath to distress ...too reading Ontario Out of Doors Magazine and Complete Fisherman Books....oh how times have change my friends :)

This past Saturday after an early morning and some serious work at the Street Sale....our AMAZING neighbours offered us a trip out on their boat to let the boys have some fun in the water and let me fish (at some of those spots I can't reach from the shore but can see out on the Mississippi River and Mississippi Lake when I'm puttering on the shore). What a FREAK'n Fabulous time...ALMOST convinced me to break and give into my husbands endless requests (like daily) for a BOAT! We headed out around 1:30pm from the Carleton Place boat launch and down the River into the Lake. We stopped at a nice little bay a couple km out and out came my rod! I've only ever had one other experience fishing on a boat (remember now..I only started fishing last year..and I have a SERIOUS fear of BOATS...particularly fast ones) so I was actually feeling excited to pull out some lures that I have in my box, but don't get much use from the shore. Started with my Weedless Spinner bait and pretty quickly caught a very decent size perch (bigger then any I'd caught before..and big enough to qualify for a OFHA certificate). It was a gorgeous sunny day....which just always makes the experience so much fun for me...I love NOTHING more then watching the fish in the clear water following my lure...even if they don't bite..I get excited knowing they're in there!

After fishing a while we toured the lake for a bit and then glided back into the river portion of the Mississippi and parked across from the boat launch in a spot I can see from various places when I'm shore fishing, but could never reach. It was almost 5pm (what I consider my lucky fishing hour) and so I pulled out my favorite crank bait lure (which to this point I've only caught pike with this year) and started casting and It didn't take long before i had a nice size smallmouth on the line. The small mouth and large mouth were abundant in the next 30 minutes and I pulled in a nice number of them (and learned A LOT about boat fishing....the fact the fish want to pull under the boat isn't my favorite part and wrapping themselves around the anchor rope isn't cool either..lol). The best part of the whole trip though was when I had something strong on the line and it took awhile to land....when we got it in the net...I had caught 2 fish on one lure...looked like a perch caught the middle body trihook first and a wonderful sized largemouth tried to get him and got the tailend trihook...to say dehooking this situation was a bitch is an understatement...but we got it done...and I got the largemouth off and measured and I was excited that he was big enough to qualify for one of my OFHA awards...so I was one very happy girl! One happy exhausted girl that is....loved the boat...not sure I want one for myself...but absolutely see the benefits! We're off in the banana boat tomorrow to hit some spots on the Mississippi hubby has scouted fingers crossed for nice weather and fun times!

Finally a video - and the Banana boat in use!

It's been a SLOW week in my fishing world. Hey, can't have every week like the past 2 where I'm out almost daily catching like crazy. I've reopened my ebay store Delicious Steals so I've had actual work to do and we have our annual street sale coming up next week-end and I've had a lot of organizing to do for that as well....so fishing this week was cut down.

On Wednesday (when It was a whooping 41 out with humidity) I decided to trip out to my favorite lock in Jasper (it's starting to get REALLY weedy in the inlet and think my days are limited at this spot so I was taking in one of my final days using it for awhile). The fish weren't really biting....all except what I suspect was a nice size pike that kept trying to get my bobber....I switched over to a weedless lure to try and entice him...but to no avail (I didn't like the weedless lure I was using.....my awesome weedless frog lure met with a tragic end in the weeds - even thought it was WEEDLESS - when my hubby was using it last week-end.....finally got out and replaced it yesterday). Decided to leave and go on a bit of an adventure checking out spots we'd passed in previous weeks and see if there were any that were viable (great thing about mid day - mid week fishing is that there is RARELY another soul out using these spots unlike on the week-ends).

After looking at about 5 spots...all beautiful..but some just not great for shore fishing....I finally stopped at Rosie's Bridge in Jasper (just a small little bridge on the Rideau Canal). Saw lots of panfish....it gets pretty deep on the one side so held out hope that there were some bigger fish in there. Cast and reeled for about 20 minutes (using my Rapala Shad Rap) with not so much as a bite...so I was shocked when on one of my last cast before I had to leave to pick up the kids from school to have a sharp tug. Whatever was on my line was putting up quite the fight..so I released the tension and let it wear itself out. After about 5 minutes I finally got it close and to the surface to see what I had and low and behold it was a nice size PIKE. Now being ME...I pulled out the camera and put it on VIDEO mode cause I knew once I got this sucker on shore and dehooked there was no way I was going to be able to hold him and take a picture...so I thought a video shot of him coming in would be better. Unfortunately....I started with the video and as I got him close...flip and off the line he went...(video is above....short and sweet).

On a side note....hubby finally managed to get out Banana Boat out! It wouldn't fit properly on the top of the new van..so we hadn't used it, but after measuring....it actually fit in the BACK of the van. Hubby and the kids took it out on the Mississippi River here in CP (and in Almonte) and hubby and the kids were able to scope out some AWESOME spots with tons of fish that I can't wait to try during the summer!

What is with MEN thinking Woman can't fish????

Ok...I have something to get off my chest! What is with men and their issues with women fishing?? I'm so SICK and TIRED of people (OK mostly OLDER MEN) making comments about me and fishing. It started with my daily purchase of worms at the local gas station last week.....2 of the older male clerks asked "where my husband was"...and "do you want us to cut up the worms for you...we know girls don't like to rip them apart" on multiple occasions....(to the point I was angered and finally snapped back...I'm the FISHER PERSON in my family..I don't need anyone's help). That isn't nearly as bad as the comments under the breath of men fishing near me on the banks about what I'm doing there...(but I generally get the last laugh as I catch more and bigger fish then they do...it kills me with laugher inside...ok not very buddha like..but hey...no ones perfect). That all being said...fishing can also make you strike up some great conversations with total strangers (who are willing to offer you their lunch .lol)

On Monday I was VERY EXCITED to FINALLY get out and take a trip to ALMONTE and fish the bottom of the hydro dam (which is labeled a fishing sanctuary till the first Monday in June...which was this Monday). The bay and rushing water makes an amazing spot for fishing...and not PANFISH..(love them...but I'm sick of them now...after 248 fish so far and 96% being panfish I'm ready for the BIG BOYS - see the "fish caught" count on the sidebar). From the second I got there I could see fish everywhere...(trout, bass, perch, crappie). Started out with worm and bobber (always like to test the waters to see where bites of any kind are coming from) ..caught some perch...but decided it was time for some lures (finally it was time). Took out my older jointed baby pike lure and caught some smaller rockbass and smaller smallmouth. Decide to switch up to a popper (something I've only started using this year as I wasn't comfortable with the reeling style before) and BOOM...the small and largemouth were on my line like crazy.

I was quite upset ....i finally caught a guy who could be a largemouth entry for my OAA and when I got him in the net and took a look...the poor bugger was missing his TAIL...(had obviously been ripped off by something bigger)...so this guy was 15" without his tail...but what can you do..figure he's worse off them I am being a fish with no tail (it trumps my entry by far) and will continue my search for those OAA entries :)

Must say that sitting there fishing in the bright sun around lunch time with tons of people visiting the park above was LOVELY! So many people came to sit by me just to watch me fish and chat (one guy offered me his fries)...all very pleasent and interested that I as a GIRL with a ROD by herself fishing. I'll be back again VERY SOON!

Everyone in the family wanted to go fishing after dinner the same day....(think the little man was so excited from all his catches the evening before that he wanted to do it again). Out we all went to the bridge on Hwy 7 in CP..and it was super fun! The kids were both catching up a storm (worming, catching and de-hooking themselves)...I sort of watched by the sidelines till they got tired of fishing and decided to play survivor man (trying to make a fire out of rubbing sticks together). Put on my new Rapal Crankin Rap lure...and it took about 5 minutes til I got a great largemouth on the line...only issue was (as I find it always is with 2 tri hook lures) is this poor guy was hooked good in everyplace, but I took my time and was patient and saved the dude (hubby was ready for me to cut the hooks and replace...but I said to just wait a minute or two and see what i could do :). Of course...as it usually is on family outings with 2 small boys....there were TONS of distractions...including "MOM" being said every couple seconds that I turned around and my worst fear happened....I miss cast and hooked my Crankin Rap into a high tree . I was surprisingly calm and hubby tied it off to a tree till I go next time with boots and hopefully can recover it (but being as awesome as it is..i may just by another one :) Monday was Fantastic! I'm working Tuesday this week...but hoping to take advantage of a VERY VERY hot Wednesday and those bass coming up to the warmer water!

Fishing with my little man and enjoying the fish filling in

We decided to go on an adventure on Sunday afternoon and find public access to one of the lakes nearby....after some research we decided JOES LAKE in Lanark Highlands would be a good choice. We drove for quite a bit and finally found the spot we'd stop at and decided to try it out! We spent about 2 hours there and the boys were very excited (FINALLY) to catch some fish. It was catch after catch of Panfish...but AWESOME size. It was nice to have the boys excited about fishing again. The older guy was enthralled reading my new Ontario Fresh Water Fishes ROM Guide and figure out what we were catching.



After dinner the younger lad wanted a break from his brother and asked if we could just go out fishing the 2 of us. I was DELIGHTED and said sure...as he's not usually so into fishing. We decided on a spot I've tried a couple times this year without much luck...(couple of panfish ...but even those were hard to catch) but it's one of my favorites from last year as it's a nice location and fun. We headed out to under the bridge on Hwy 7 in Carleton Place (the one side is still flooded and you can't move freely between the 2 sides...but the side closest to Mississippi Rd has a nice path underneath giving great clearance to both sides of the bridge). It was an AMAZING 90 minutes of seeing my little guy happy as can be cause he literally caught a fish every 2 minutes (and that was with some small talk, reworming and dehooking). He caught 17 fish while we were there...(all panfish and good size Rock bass..except for the very very small Largemouth)....I did 27 including some nice 15" smallmouth....44 fish in 90 minutes is nothing to frown about....but beyond all the catching the time with my littleman was FUN and refreshing! Was glad to see the fish had finally filled in the last 2 weeks...I'll be using this spot often as it's close for an hour or 2 here and there when i want a break! (calling all friends...anyone wants to catch something..let me know:)

Date day with Hubby Fishing ....

I love fishing ALONE! There is something about the quiet (except for the busy chatter of nature around you), peace and ability to have complete focus (there is rarely a missed cast, caught lure or other unfortunate event when you don't have be mommy and fisher woman at the same time). Yet, sometimes the company of with someone who enjoys the activity as much as you do is a welcome change. Hubby decide to take Friday off to come venture with me to my Honey Hole...just the 2 of us (you could almost call it a DATE..as the time we get to spend together without children is RARE). I was excited to have someone to chat with and take decent pictures..lol!

It was far cooler then forcasted and the wind was way beyond the 9km/h they touted on the radio....but we were there to make the day of it :) We snuck down the path I use to my special place on the inlet and prayed for some bites! It was a slow start (the wind made casting harder and think it made my fishy friends move closer to the mouth of the inlet that we couldn't reach). Around lunch the sun made an appearance and the wind died down and things picked up...a steady bounty of Sunfish...and really nice Largemouth (for something considered hard to catch this time of year..I've been almost creepily been blessed...every outing lately it's been at least one if not a couple...far more then smallmouth). Felt kinda bad cause I was catching all the fish and hubby wasn't getting the same results (he started joking he was becoming my Fishing Bitch...honestly..he saves me in so many sticky spots....it's like a team sport...with me catching the fish and him doing EVERYTHING else sometimes.....I say this with him knowing full well he's the one who taught me to fish and feed this ADDICTION....and that he is selfless in that he knows the utter joy I get in fishing and will let me shine without question ...what more can you ask for?

Finished up and headed home to get the boys from school with time to spare. Decided to try out the boat launch here in town after supper (they finally put the docks on and makes it a bit more roomy). We were pleasantly surprised at the clarity of the water and the number of fish we could see (lots of panfish and perch easily visable). The boat launch in Carleton Place gets very weedy as the summer goes on...so we were taking full advantage of the lack of vegetation currently there. Caught some very decent ROCK BASS that were very close to qualifying for my Ontario Angler Awards...but just short.

Not a bad Friday in the least....cause a TON of fish and had an awesome date day with hubby!

First fishing Injury and my first SUCKER fish...

Yesterday I made the choice to go back yet once again to the Lock in Jasper (funny I'd hadn't fished the Rideau River once last year and it's become a favorite already this year...this is a great link to Fishing on the Rideau River). Spent the whole day catching panfish (23) and almost every time I'd reel one in I'd see this large bass fallow right behind them looking for an easy meal. After 3 hours of watching this large fish come into shore and then zip back out, before I could get the panfish off my line and tempt him with some yummy worm, I got a bit frustrated (yes..even talking to myself and mumbling under my breath at the thing..I must of looked like a nut). Yet at the end of the day I prevailed..and on my LAST cast this 15" largemouth bass could no longer resist the temptation (I had 2 worms on there..must of looked VERY tasty for him)...and he was MINE!

As I was leaving the lock (Crossing over the lock bridge with all the turn wheels)...a fish jumped and I was startled (along with the handle not being in the same location as the the rest) and WHAM went my thigh ...ok not a REAL fishing injury..but as close as I hope to come...ugh! Unsightly bruise and pain has ensued.

Today I was delighted to visit a friends property just outside of Perth (gorgeous 100 acre farm) that had an off shoot of the Tay Glen river running though it. Spent a bit of time fishing the flow that goes through their property and caught a few different kind of fresh water Ontario minnows (including a weedshiner & bluntnose)...but was happy to have finally have caught my first SUCKER FISH ...a lovely 6" White sucker (relative to the carp).

I'm so EXCITED for tomorrow! Hubby has taking the day off work (the kids are in school) and were taking our boat (the yellow banana boat). We're going to head out to Lock 24 in Jasper...but get to the mouth of my favorite inlet where I saw 4 foot fish jumping the other day! The weather looks perfect...should be amazing :)

Fantastic Book...The Rom Field Guide To Freshwater Fishes Of Ontario

Got a lovely gift in the mail today (thanks Dad). Opened up my Chapters package to find the The Rom Field Guide To Freshwater Fishes Of Ontario . This is by far one of the most comprehensive ontario fish guides i've come across...the whole family has been deep into checking out the details of all our regular catches tonight. This will be my GO TO guide now! FINALLY figured out after 3 years what the fish my son caught was by chance in the Mississippi River her in Ontario...we thought it was a Common Carp..but ends up it was a Big Mouth Buffalo.