The family packed the car and went to my in-laws cottage up by Gracefield. The cottage is on a small lake about 3/4 Km wide by about 3 -4 Km wide. I can usualy troll the entire shore line in about 30 - 45 minutes in my canoe (remember the Red Rocket) using my trolling motor.
I fished it for the first time last year. I take my son out with me (he's 8 now) and we'll get into several snot rockets. It's great bonding time for us and the action is usualy pretty good.
We went out Thursday together and did our trolling run. The action was incredibly slow. In an hour and a half we boated 2 snot rockets. Usually we would have gotten 4 or 5 each. My son being 8 got bored and went back to the cottage and I headed out again. I got into this bass and that was it for the evening.
During the late dinner my brother in law was telling me the noisy people across the lake had sold their cottage and new people were moved in. I had noticed when I trolled by their place they had a 10 or 12 foot tinny.
Next morning I was up early, made my coffee and sat on the porch. There was the new cottagers across the lake out fishing in their tinny. Oh he had a fish on, so I watched. I couldn't tell what he had but he threw it in the bottom of the boat and kept fishing. I could hear the fish flopping around the bottom of the boat. The guy was keeping everything he caught and was throwing it in the bottom of his boat.
I didn't like that at all. It's a small lake and I bet you $500 next year he'll be complaining theirs no fish in that lake anymore. Ok that's my rant.
My son and I decided it was time to head out again. I pulled away from the dock and my trolling motor just stopped working. So I paddled back to the dock and my son wanted no part of this any longer. Just as suddenly my motor stopped working it kicked in again. My son still didn't want anything to do with it so I fished alone for the morning.
I got into another nice large mouth and kept going. Agian the action was slower that what I had experienced before but heck it was a really nice day and I was fishing. At both ends of the lake are nice bays with good weed growth so I stuck to these bays the most. I was trolling by a dock and saw the anchor line so tried to say away from hooking the line ( I had before) when my rod doubled over.
Keep in mind I have light tackle. After all the lake is full of snot rockets and I want to enjoy myslef. Ok so I pull the rod out of the holder, give a slight tug and feel "Oh crap I have hooked the dock line". As I am reeling in I am being pulled towards the dock. Pretty normal stuff in a canoe.
I looked down and promptly soiled my pants. It wasn't the dock line I hooked but a monster 40 + inch pike. In the water it looked 45 + inches so I am compensating but I've gotten 40 inch pike before and this was definitly bigger. My lure was 6 inches long and he had it sideways and it was gone so it's head was at least 6 inches wide.
So here I am, in a canoe, all by msyslef, with light tackle, a very small net, and a monster pike that I would never had believed lived in this tiny lake on the end of my line. I tried to set the hook but my rod had no back bone and she eventualy just opened her mouth and let go. My god she was huge.
I was shaking so much I could barely up size my lure (Mr.J. Special Musky casting lure) and I pounded that area for 2 1/2 hours after without seeing her again.
I bet you $1000 no one in those cottages even know she's in that lake, I know for sure if you told me I wouldn't believe you. Now I am like Homer Simpson and she's my general Sherman.
I am now determined to get that fish. I want that fish more than a 50 inch musky.
Thanks for listening.
Don't forget the camera!