Just returned home from my annual retreat to a rented cottage on Bass Lake, just south of Smith's Falls here in Ottawa. Alyson was with me for the full week, and my folks and a few friends also dropped by.
Let's just say that the weather was extremely hot, so I didn't do a ton of fishing during the midday period. (We opted to soak in the lake, as well as consume various cold beverages, while the sun was at it's peak! lol) The fishing was so-so this year, with a few decent largies making it to the boat, as well as large numbers of smallmouth.
My lucky rock/wood shoreline produced again, this time rewarding me with a 4.5lb. largie (Alyson can be seen holding it in one of the pics). I also lost two big fish from under the same dead tree on consecutive days, both taking a flipping jig and then proceeding to jump and spit the hook after a short tussle. I have a feeling they were the same fish, as they both were pushing five pounds or greater.
The topwater bite was slow this year, allowing us to only get into a handful of fish each morning or night. I did stumble upon a great off-shore hump, out about 200 yards from a rocky point which produced smallmouth after smallmouth, all on tubes or Senkos. Most fell within the 1 to 2lb. range, although we did manage to get a few in the 3lb + range. These fish were all sitting in water between 12 and 18 feet deep.
Took my mom and dad out for a couple of hours, and we managed to get get quite a few decent largemouth. It was my mom's first time out "really" fishing, and she got the biggest of the bunch. (see pic!) Kept three for the BBQ for a nice midday lunch...
All in all a great time. Got to try out my new Pentax *istDS digital SLR camera, and I think it will really be helping out in the article and image submissions to magazines. Bit of a learing curve, but so far nothing but praise...
Enjoy the pics and good fishing,
Justin
