Feathers, Fins, and Fillets
Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 11:39 am
First things first, THANKS BOBBER for putting in the time and effort to get fish-hawk up and running. I wouldn't be a guide today if it wasn't for the wealth of information I acquired from fish-hawk and its members. This place is a veritable fishing gold mine.
April is generally our quiet time. A time to work on the honey-do list and slowly get gear ready for our guiding season....not this year! Between shopping for our new ride, working at Pro Nature Rockland and scouting for gobblers, I'm very happy to say that I've been either hunting, fishing, or selling hunting and fishing every day since turkey opener.
FEATHERS
One field proved to be all we needed for a successful turkey season. Fish-Hawk's own Bobby got us off on the right foot with an opening morning 21.5lbs bird. His first ever gobbler! The Ram in the back is mine. The last of the logos are being put on it. I'll post pictures of the finished product, but it's quite the upgrade from the old Sonoma. Big thanks to P.MORIN AUTOMOBILES in Rockland for the sponsorship and finding me this sweet ride!
Next was a week of turkey hunting with my dad. My parents recently sold their dairy farm up north and deservedly took a bit of time to unwind. For my Mom that meant coming to Rockland to spend time with the grandkids, for my Dad that meant taking his turkey hunting exam to joining me for a few days of intense gobbler stalking! Well, Dad's first hunt lasted all of 25 mins. Parked the truck at 5am, first gobble goes off at 5:15am when I crack a branch setting up a decoy, a bit of Marco Polo with hen calls then a gobbler call and the bird is beelining for us. A red head pops up over the top of a small ridge across the creek. Dad has a tree in the way, and can't shoot. PUTT....PUTT....the tom is slowly making his way back from where he came. I shoulder old Mr. Winchester single shot and at 5:40am we have a bird down. Dad's back in bed at 7am.
The next morning we start on a different spot.. Gobble Gobble....cluck cluck....the gobbler finds a real hen and that's the last we hear of him. We head across the road, hear one gobble and then nothing. Off to the spot that was so productive the day before. We're looking to our right at the field that produced a bird the day before, I look left to see a dozen birds in a row walking down the field across the road. We park the truck and the stalk is on. Call...gobble...birds walk further away. We stalk closer. Call...gobble...birds are still walking away. We walk still closer...call...gobble...birds stop. I gobble, 3 birds gobble back, turn our way and it's game on! 15 tense minutes later 3 toms are walking in a line towards us. The first walks 10 yards away but doesn't offer a shot...the 2nd wouldn't be so lucky as a well placed shot from a single shot Baikal grounds my dad's first bird! A 19lbs tom, with a 9" beard. A beauty and one of my proudest moments as a hunter.
Another guided hunt later in the season proved to be wildly succesful although no birds were downed........... I was able to call in 5 toms for a client. A solo, then a group of 3, then another solo, but some badly timed movement to get into shooting position proved to be our demise on this day. Great excitement, and a very happy client nonetheless.
FINS
Like last year, our fishing season started with some Ottawa River crappie! The crappie fishing was good, and action was steady with bluegill, bullhead, and the odd cat or OOS largemouth mixed in with the crappie.
Maureen caught our biggest of the season at a hair short of 13" on a great afternoon. We spent a couple hours anchored in front of the same flooded tree that had enough fish to have our bobbers go under or lay down on just about every cast.
FILLETS
Friday
Next was the fish with teeth opener! Opening day is always stressful for me. Finding fish for that first trip when I have no knowledge of the where the fish are and where they are heading is challenging especially in this year's odd water conditions. The water is high and cold, and the current is nothing short of crazy fast. Last year on opening day we were getting blow-ups on every 3rd cast throwing buzzbaits in shallow weeds in 70 degree water. This year the water temp was in the 50s in the back bays and the pike were very lazy! Our AM trip served as a great scouting mission to figure out where the fish weren't. The PM trip went a little bit better as I was able to find warmer water in a bay near Wendover. We didn't get great quantities of fish but one big pike saved the day. Both of the day's groups were repeats and had enjoyed good trips with me, so no harm done. Nonetheless, I was very disappointed that I couldn't show the guys a monumental day on the river. I didn't get much sleep Friday night. I had 3 more intense days of guiding ahead....I had to get on fish.
Saturday
A Wendover scouting mission proved where the fish weren't again. Back in Rockland, I had reported to some buddies about the tough bite Friday and had asked them to check some spots for me. Well I zigged when I should have zagged because they nailed them! Team ORGF was onto the fish and the afternoon's clients were in for a treat! These guys fish the Ottawa quite a bit and every walleye they catch is a victory, well they went home with 15 victories and a bonus pike caught out of 25 fow.
A walleye and sauger were both legal by a hair. Those big (by Ottawa R. standards) sauger are cool looking fish.
Sunday
2 walleye and 30 minutes into the trip a trolling motor malfunction meant that walleye fishing the way I'd like too would be a bust. Into some back bays for pike we go! A slow crankbait presentation was the ticket and we quickly nailed a handful of pike and a bonus walleye of a windblown shoreline. Action was steady for the day with a few nice pike a couple OOS largies and an OOS muskie coming out as well as some nice bluegill.
This spoon caught our biggest pike on the 1st cast. Super realistic! Made by Etic lures and as far as I know only available locally at Pro Nature in Rockland.
Monday
We rocked them on Monday. 10 walleye were in the well for shore lunch within 90 minutes. We spent the next 2.5 hours culling before enjoying a greasy shore lunch at the launch in Rockland. Birthday Boy Pat enjoyed his best ever day of fishing and had the hot hand bringing in fish on the slow death one after the other. Post shore lunch we opted to troll shallow to get some big fish and break my reputation as purely a numbers guide. Well we didn't get anything real big but in less than 2 hours we got some nice eyes that were just under the 40cm mark, some very nice slabs, a couple jumbos and a pike and sheephead. All on the same 100 yard stretch of shoreline in 4' of water.
With the conditions we're getting we might enjoy the shallow water pattern well into July and the deep eaters are co-operating too. These may be tough conditions, but there's always hungry fish somewhere! June 9th and 30th are my only weekend days available until July and I'm always looking for people interested in sharing a trip and its cost with others. We're available 7 days a week and this year, we're working hard on spending more time targetting big fish!
Tight lines to all!
April is generally our quiet time. A time to work on the honey-do list and slowly get gear ready for our guiding season....not this year! Between shopping for our new ride, working at Pro Nature Rockland and scouting for gobblers, I'm very happy to say that I've been either hunting, fishing, or selling hunting and fishing every day since turkey opener.
FEATHERS
One field proved to be all we needed for a successful turkey season. Fish-Hawk's own Bobby got us off on the right foot with an opening morning 21.5lbs bird. His first ever gobbler! The Ram in the back is mine. The last of the logos are being put on it. I'll post pictures of the finished product, but it's quite the upgrade from the old Sonoma. Big thanks to P.MORIN AUTOMOBILES in Rockland for the sponsorship and finding me this sweet ride!
Next was a week of turkey hunting with my dad. My parents recently sold their dairy farm up north and deservedly took a bit of time to unwind. For my Mom that meant coming to Rockland to spend time with the grandkids, for my Dad that meant taking his turkey hunting exam to joining me for a few days of intense gobbler stalking! Well, Dad's first hunt lasted all of 25 mins. Parked the truck at 5am, first gobble goes off at 5:15am when I crack a branch setting up a decoy, a bit of Marco Polo with hen calls then a gobbler call and the bird is beelining for us. A red head pops up over the top of a small ridge across the creek. Dad has a tree in the way, and can't shoot. PUTT....PUTT....the tom is slowly making his way back from where he came. I shoulder old Mr. Winchester single shot and at 5:40am we have a bird down. Dad's back in bed at 7am.
The next morning we start on a different spot.. Gobble Gobble....cluck cluck....the gobbler finds a real hen and that's the last we hear of him. We head across the road, hear one gobble and then nothing. Off to the spot that was so productive the day before. We're looking to our right at the field that produced a bird the day before, I look left to see a dozen birds in a row walking down the field across the road. We park the truck and the stalk is on. Call...gobble...birds walk further away. We stalk closer. Call...gobble...birds are still walking away. We walk still closer...call...gobble...birds stop. I gobble, 3 birds gobble back, turn our way and it's game on! 15 tense minutes later 3 toms are walking in a line towards us. The first walks 10 yards away but doesn't offer a shot...the 2nd wouldn't be so lucky as a well placed shot from a single shot Baikal grounds my dad's first bird! A 19lbs tom, with a 9" beard. A beauty and one of my proudest moments as a hunter.
Another guided hunt later in the season proved to be wildly succesful although no birds were downed........... I was able to call in 5 toms for a client. A solo, then a group of 3, then another solo, but some badly timed movement to get into shooting position proved to be our demise on this day. Great excitement, and a very happy client nonetheless.
FINS
Like last year, our fishing season started with some Ottawa River crappie! The crappie fishing was good, and action was steady with bluegill, bullhead, and the odd cat or OOS largemouth mixed in with the crappie.
Maureen caught our biggest of the season at a hair short of 13" on a great afternoon. We spent a couple hours anchored in front of the same flooded tree that had enough fish to have our bobbers go under or lay down on just about every cast.
FILLETS
Friday
Next was the fish with teeth opener! Opening day is always stressful for me. Finding fish for that first trip when I have no knowledge of the where the fish are and where they are heading is challenging especially in this year's odd water conditions. The water is high and cold, and the current is nothing short of crazy fast. Last year on opening day we were getting blow-ups on every 3rd cast throwing buzzbaits in shallow weeds in 70 degree water. This year the water temp was in the 50s in the back bays and the pike were very lazy! Our AM trip served as a great scouting mission to figure out where the fish weren't. The PM trip went a little bit better as I was able to find warmer water in a bay near Wendover. We didn't get great quantities of fish but one big pike saved the day. Both of the day's groups were repeats and had enjoyed good trips with me, so no harm done. Nonetheless, I was very disappointed that I couldn't show the guys a monumental day on the river. I didn't get much sleep Friday night. I had 3 more intense days of guiding ahead....I had to get on fish.
Saturday
A Wendover scouting mission proved where the fish weren't again. Back in Rockland, I had reported to some buddies about the tough bite Friday and had asked them to check some spots for me. Well I zigged when I should have zagged because they nailed them! Team ORGF was onto the fish and the afternoon's clients were in for a treat! These guys fish the Ottawa quite a bit and every walleye they catch is a victory, well they went home with 15 victories and a bonus pike caught out of 25 fow.
A walleye and sauger were both legal by a hair. Those big (by Ottawa R. standards) sauger are cool looking fish.
Sunday
2 walleye and 30 minutes into the trip a trolling motor malfunction meant that walleye fishing the way I'd like too would be a bust. Into some back bays for pike we go! A slow crankbait presentation was the ticket and we quickly nailed a handful of pike and a bonus walleye of a windblown shoreline. Action was steady for the day with a few nice pike a couple OOS largies and an OOS muskie coming out as well as some nice bluegill.
This spoon caught our biggest pike on the 1st cast. Super realistic! Made by Etic lures and as far as I know only available locally at Pro Nature in Rockland.
Monday
We rocked them on Monday. 10 walleye were in the well for shore lunch within 90 minutes. We spent the next 2.5 hours culling before enjoying a greasy shore lunch at the launch in Rockland. Birthday Boy Pat enjoyed his best ever day of fishing and had the hot hand bringing in fish on the slow death one after the other. Post shore lunch we opted to troll shallow to get some big fish and break my reputation as purely a numbers guide. Well we didn't get anything real big but in less than 2 hours we got some nice eyes that were just under the 40cm mark, some very nice slabs, a couple jumbos and a pike and sheephead. All on the same 100 yard stretch of shoreline in 4' of water.
With the conditions we're getting we might enjoy the shallow water pattern well into July and the deep eaters are co-operating too. These may be tough conditions, but there's always hungry fish somewhere! June 9th and 30th are my only weekend days available until July and I'm always looking for people interested in sharing a trip and its cost with others. We're available 7 days a week and this year, we're working hard on spending more time targetting big fish!
Tight lines to all!