Great experiences at Lake Clear - no pics
Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 10:47 pm
Okay, so this isn't just a fishing report, but a general report about staying at the Opeongo Mountain Resort (trailer park) and fishing Lake Clear (near Eganville).
I took my family on a 1 week vacation at Lake Clear, and it turns out it was the best time we have had as a family. My wife drove the tent trailer up, and I brought up the runabout.
Fishing was pretty tough in the runabout, but I quickly found out the solution to my problem... when the locals don't share their fishing spots, take their kids fishing with you. Now I don't encourage pilfering information from an unsuspecting child, but you gotta do what you gotta do!
Anyway, some of the locals were boasting of the magnificent small mouth and walleye fishing in this lake, so I had to try. I went out with the family, but no luck, only Whitefish. My daughter ends up making friends with one of the regulars kids and asks her to come fishing... to make the story short, we ask her where she likes to fish, and she points us to "donut" island. We get the kids setup on worms, and they immediately start stricking it rich in Whitefish. My wife beats me to the punch to get my trusty white Big-O, and her first cast lands her a 3 pound 6 once small mouth. Now her summer fishing has been pretty bad this year, so this really cheered her up, and I'm glad it did. My luck on the other hand was still on the outs. We returned to the same location a day later and lost the Big-O. I think I've had that trusty lure in my tackle box since my teens... a good 20 years now (unless my memory of when I obtained it is faltering). It will be sorely missed, but quickly replaced!
We brought the SM in and eneded up contributing it to a local fish fry that we attended with some of the other seasonal people. What a blast that was. My wife had her first taste of Walleye (the hosting family had cought a 26 inch walleye the previous weekend, making it the largest contribution to the feast). These people know how to host a fish fry... Onion blooms, bass, walleye, shrimp, wine, fries, salad, the list goes on. I found out that most of the walleye were being caught after dark. Damn! My transom light was on the outs! There goes night fishing...
I ended up meeting an Ottawa contractor there (at the fish fry) named John who had the good grace to take me out for the evening after the fish fry. What a great time, and I fell in love with his Lund. 1700 Fisherman with as 150 Mercury Verada on the back, with a 9.9 kicker. I couldn't believe the top end of this boat. 58 MPH!!! My pocket book is going to suffer after that experience... Anyway, this was my first time actively targetting Walleye, and my first time trolling. Success at both. Using a different Big-O (brown with an Orange belly) we trolled in 12 to 14 feet of water after the sun went down. Together we managed 8 walleye in a couple of hours, the bigest being 19 inches (no keepers, the minimum for Lake Clear is 19.7 inches). I woulnd't have kept anyway, I was packing up to return home the next day.
What a wonderful experience and a great time. I met new friends, had a blast fishing. My family in general had a great time.
I will be returning to that park/lake again next year, possibly as a seasonal camper. It was that wonderful.
I hope everyone can have as great an experience as I had!
/Brian
I took my family on a 1 week vacation at Lake Clear, and it turns out it was the best time we have had as a family. My wife drove the tent trailer up, and I brought up the runabout.
Fishing was pretty tough in the runabout, but I quickly found out the solution to my problem... when the locals don't share their fishing spots, take their kids fishing with you. Now I don't encourage pilfering information from an unsuspecting child, but you gotta do what you gotta do!
Anyway, some of the locals were boasting of the magnificent small mouth and walleye fishing in this lake, so I had to try. I went out with the family, but no luck, only Whitefish. My daughter ends up making friends with one of the regulars kids and asks her to come fishing... to make the story short, we ask her where she likes to fish, and she points us to "donut" island. We get the kids setup on worms, and they immediately start stricking it rich in Whitefish. My wife beats me to the punch to get my trusty white Big-O, and her first cast lands her a 3 pound 6 once small mouth. Now her summer fishing has been pretty bad this year, so this really cheered her up, and I'm glad it did. My luck on the other hand was still on the outs. We returned to the same location a day later and lost the Big-O. I think I've had that trusty lure in my tackle box since my teens... a good 20 years now (unless my memory of when I obtained it is faltering). It will be sorely missed, but quickly replaced!
We brought the SM in and eneded up contributing it to a local fish fry that we attended with some of the other seasonal people. What a blast that was. My wife had her first taste of Walleye (the hosting family had cought a 26 inch walleye the previous weekend, making it the largest contribution to the feast). These people know how to host a fish fry... Onion blooms, bass, walleye, shrimp, wine, fries, salad, the list goes on. I found out that most of the walleye were being caught after dark. Damn! My transom light was on the outs! There goes night fishing...
I ended up meeting an Ottawa contractor there (at the fish fry) named John who had the good grace to take me out for the evening after the fish fry. What a great time, and I fell in love with his Lund. 1700 Fisherman with as 150 Mercury Verada on the back, with a 9.9 kicker. I couldn't believe the top end of this boat. 58 MPH!!! My pocket book is going to suffer after that experience... Anyway, this was my first time actively targetting Walleye, and my first time trolling. Success at both. Using a different Big-O (brown with an Orange belly) we trolled in 12 to 14 feet of water after the sun went down. Together we managed 8 walleye in a couple of hours, the bigest being 19 inches (no keepers, the minimum for Lake Clear is 19.7 inches). I woulnd't have kept anyway, I was packing up to return home the next day.
What a wonderful experience and a great time. I met new friends, had a blast fishing. My family in general had a great time.
I will be returning to that park/lake again next year, possibly as a seasonal camper. It was that wonderful.
I hope everyone can have as great an experience as I had!
/Brian