That time of year again!!!

It's that time of year again...the time I'm the happiest...FISHING TIME!  It's been a LONG winter of dreaming about pulling out my rod and getting to the shore.  Was lax on the blogging due to time constraints at the end of the season and the lack of exciting things to share...but now I'm rejuvenated by the warm weather and early catches of the season, I'm ready to start back in.

As is my goal every year on the May 24 long week-end (mostly because it's my birthday on the 18th and I consider it a gift to myself) I headed out this past week-end in hopes of landing a Pike.  Large pike would have been nice..but hey...I'm a pretty reasonable girl and I'll take whatever decides to take my line and be happy with it.

Headed out to Burrits Rapids (lock 17) on the Rideau in the early evening to try and get my gift.  Didn't take long to get one hooked and have the first pike of the year on my line without much of a fight.  Moved on to some of the other locks along the river, but not much luck besides my first catch. 

Next morning went out in search of some walleye as the season just opened here in Ontario and was hoping to finally catch one of my own (hubby has caught a few with me around and I've pulled them in and dehooked, but can never seem to get them on my own line).  Hubby was the lucky one again..I had a few bites but couldn't land them this day...I was all good with it as we did find the Honey Hole for Walleye...and will be making a trip back in the very near future.

Can't believe it's just the end of May and still have so much fishing left.  Weather has been amazing..so I'm super excited.  VERY  much looking forward to a cottage rental / over night stay in Pickerel Bay with a boat for the day June 2nd /3rd...and then a week long stay on White Lake at the end of July to mix it up a bit...but of course nothing gives me as much anticipation as heading up to Crotch Lake with the boys for hours of gorgeous scenery and awesome fishing:)

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!

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!