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Got back home Saturday after our annual fun filled week of fishing at Charleston lake and (this year) a day on the Saint Lawrence at Cardinal. The Cardinal trip was only made possible because of the excellent information and encouragement from fellow Fish-Hawker DropShot’r. Information both via internet and in person on the second day of our trip. I can’t thank him enough.
Got a couple hours of windy fishing in Saturday producing some small smallies. Sunday was our only chilly morning and the day we caught the most fish. I keep a log of our catch year to year. 2007 turned out to be our best year for numbers but one of our worst for size. Lots of action but mostly shorties.
We caught the majority of our fish in 15 to 25 feet of water. What produced for us was Powerbait grubs on jig heads, unweighted wacky worms on 2/0 worm hooks, and (jig head inside) tube baits. All greens and browns.
My fishing buddy Jim did manage to boat one beauty over 20 inches.
The rest of the week was slow but steady smallies and a few largies some decent but no whoppers.
I casted in-line spinners for pike that always worked in previous years until my arm almost fell off and only managed one 22 incher. Jim got a couple 30’s casting a Shad colored cedar plug.
Our last full day was spent at Cardinal fishing the suggested hot spots provided by DropShot’r. Having never caught a Walleye I was pumped. Jim and I were joined by a veteran (Gouine Resevoir) Walleye fisherman friend from back home and we tried all or most of DS’r’s techniques as well as all of our guest’s. Results: nada…. No Walleyes this year but I gave it my best shot. In fact I was the only one on the boat to catch a decent fish. 5 good size smallies all over 15 inches and each one brown as a beetle. Caught them all differently; on a dropshot night crawler. Dropshot plastic worm, jig/grub, trolled deep diving slash bait and one casting and ripping a shallow slash bait.
Here’s my biggest river smallie about 18 inches.
Only 51 weeks to wait for my next trip up but who’s counting.
I'm glad to hear you had lots of action for the week
To me, one fisherman helping another is the essence of the Fish-Hawk site. There is a huge fishing knowledge base out there and Fish-Hawkers seem to really enjoy helping each other achieve their goals, along with some good natured fun along the way.
I've been having a problem finding photo quality bass lately. Lots of little guys, but no big bass. I'm sure the smallies are all schooled up now, if you find one big bass you gonna get more. I was really hoping you guys could have caught a supper of walleye at Cardinal. Nice to see some of those river bass were giving you a good scrap, nothing like a smallie in the current. There are some big pike and musky to be had in the river too. Next year's road trip? Or............have you ever fished the Big Rideau?
Hi Wolfe,
Thanks for the nod. I enjoy your posts as well. Especially when you add those great fishing shots of your kids. Wasn't that long ago when mine were that age. Here's another picture from the trip of two friends that fished with us at least 3 different times that week at one or two of our favourite spots.
Thanks for the nod. I enjoy your posts as well. Especially when you add those great fishing shots of your kids. Wasn't that long ago when mine were that age. Here's a couple more pictures from the trip of two friends that fished with us at least 3 different times that week at one of our favourite spots.
They often came within 6 feet of our boat and the youngster made one heck of a mark on my fishfinder diving under us.
Charleston is one of my favorite places on earth. It's not just the fishing that brings me back. It's the total package, including the people we have met there.
Got back from Charleston on the 29th. Fished for a week. Was my 2nd time on the lake and was very frustrated for the first few days. Lots and I mean lots of small fish, undersized with very few decent fish to show. We fished mornings and afternoons with breaks in between. 2 guys in our group had a great first couple of days with several fish a piece on both morning and afternoon trips 3 1/2 to 4 lbs.
Around Tuesday afternoon maybe Weds morning their luck changed and ours got better, weather cooled a little and it was like someone flipped a switch. We still caught a lot of small fish but also added a bunch of decent keepers in the mix 1 1/2 - 2lb fish and an occasional fish around 3 or a little bigger.
Some of the guys in our group are into weighing all their decent fish but I generally don't take the the time. I did weigh one smallie that was 3lbs 15oz and know i had a few more that were close and a few just around 3. Did lose one i feel was pushing 5 at the boat. I was looking at some of the pictures and one of the fish i didn't weigh makes the 3 15 look small, guess in hind sight I should have weighed that one. Unfortunately I don't have pics to post at this time.
My boat had success in about 15 - 30 feet of water and was finding shoals and some of the steep banks with 80-95ft(topwater) of water best. Did Ok off some main points and islands. We did most of our damage on drop shots with 4" weenie worms, something with greens & browns with a little chartruese. Did manage a few on tubes & jerk baits. Had great topwater with poppers and some Zara spooks & chug bugs.
2nd half of the week made the trip. Thanks for input from a few of you before the trip.
