Spent the last week relaxing in the sun and beauty at the rented cottage just south-west of Ottawa. The weather was fantastic the seven days we were there, with only a few showers Wednesday morning, which meant a trip into town for a Pizza Hut buffet lunch!
This lake has brought huge rewards in the past, culminating in a 6lb PB largie last fall. Being in a hot summer period, I figured getting a six might be a stretch, but a fish over five would a definite possibility. In any case, I set out that first Saturday morning with a plan in mind - to land 100 bass for the week. As you can see from the title, I accomplished it..
I usually fish this lake early in the season, or late in the fall. This would be the first time fishing it in August, so I wasn't sure what to expect.
The pattern I excel on here is deep rock, scattered weed and wood. Also, large expanses of rock slabs, quickly falling into deeper water. The largies just love these areas, and a big flipping jig and Zoom chunk seems to be the perfect technique to catch them. Although the fish were there, they weren't in the numbers I find them in the fall. (Fattening up on craws as the water cools is the reason...)
But I certainly got into a bunch..
Flipping some deep rock..
Setting the hook into a smallie..
The second day saw me off to a quick start, with a 4lb 5oz largie, caught on a deep break on a tube and Title SHot jig.
The release shot..
The topwater bite was pretty decent during the morning and evening hours, and the Spook brought in some nice fish. Another lure I had success with was a Rattle Trap. Haven't used this bait in a couple of years, but man do the largies and smallies clobber it up. This next fish came from 8-feet of water in the evening, just out from a dock.
A 3lb 5oz largie..
Spinnerbaits were also productive, especially on the windblown points (for which we experienced three days of howling wind toward the end of our stay..) White was the colour-de-jour.
Tubes accounted for a large contingent of smallies, and largies, but I couldn't find any decent size fish for the bronzebacks. I did lose one of about 4+ pounds on a flipping jig, a couple of feet from the boat.
A typical smallie..hasn't put on the feedbag quite yet.
Spent some evening under the full moon casting the shallows for smallies, with topwaters and flipping jigs bringing in the most fish.
Had a chance to put some time in with the Title SHot jigs. Very impressed with the hooking percentage, and not having to deal with line twist was a great relief!
This lake has some nice, deep-water trees and stumps. Not many, but the few it has, usually hold fish. Not so in August, as I only had one day that I caught 5 fish from 5 seperate trees and docks. Most of the other days, they were devoid of fish. Leads me to believe that the majority of big largies in this system live off-shore in deep water, a notion that I will be pursuing in future trips.
How about this for sweet bass territory?
On Thursday, with the bass count hovering in the mid-80's, I hooked into the big fish of the trip. No, not a 5lber, but a solid 4lb 8oz fish. This fish was a bit of a fluke, as I decided to target some deep water drop offs with a Texas-rigged lizard. Got a quick pound fish, and with nothing to lose, took a flip into the above tree that had produced nothing all week. THUNK! There she was..
Here's the 4lb 8oz and a high 3 fish..compliments of the tripod, as I was fishing solo that day!
The fork of the tree it came from..
And the "just before" release shot - I really love the look of this shot..
Although I ended up with 119 fish in the boat, it is surprising how many fish as anglers we lose. The count should be closer to 200, but numerous smallies shook off a Spook, came unhooked from a jig or just threw the Trap. Funny thing - fish number 100 was a chore in itself. I'm sitting at 99 Saturday, late morning. Fishing a beautiful rock shoal that is over 100 yards long by wide, and drops off to 20 feet. Fishing right on the edge with a Spook. Fish on - OFF! Fish on - OFF! Take a few casts with the flipping jig - Fish on - OFF! Finally, a pound-and-a-half smallie smacks the jig, and in the boat she goes. Goal attained! She even got a small little peck on the cheek..12:14pm was the time of number 100.
We had a friendly little visitor, residing in our patio umbrella each day. A tree frog, and boy was he cute. Here's a couple of shots..
All in all, a wonderful time once again at the cottage. I'll be booking two seperate weekends come late September, so breaking the five-pound mark, and hopefully the six, will be a definite possibility. I know exactly where they will be lurking during that period..
Here's a shot from our last night...the perfect ending to the trip..
I realized one thing this vacation - it's hard work fishing for a week! My arms are sore as hell, and my knees aren't feeling too great. As for my bass thumb - good luck getting fingerprints!
But a week of nature and fishing in my eyes - priceless.
As for the lack of Alyson shots, she was more content to read and sunbathe on this trip. She did catch 11 fish, including largies, smallies and pike. I found it funny when she mentioned she would rather wait until the fall to fish hard, as that's when she got her 5lb 10oz last year, and she'd rather not waste her time on the "small guys." Ha, ha...what a girl!
Until next time..
Good Fishing,
Justin
