My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
- beachburger
- Gold Participant
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- Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:48 pm
- Location: Beachburg
My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
There was no ice fishing season for me as I spent most of the winter out West trying to help my Mom win her battle with cancer. We didn't win..... I returned home in late March and decided to go ahead with my trip to Guntersville, AL to be a marshal in the B.A.S.S Elite Series event, something I had signed up for the previous October. On another board I frequent, I posted asking for where I could go in the Guntersville area to catch a spotted bass from shore. I got many suggestions and one of those suggestions was an offer to spend a day on Lay Lake outside of Birmingham, AL, a well known haven for spotted bass. I jumped at the offer and although we didn't get into a lot of them, I did get a couple of spots to the boat. Spots look much like a largemouth but they are ornery and fight more along the lines of a smallmouth.
I was an Elite Series marshal for 3 days and two of those days I spent in the boats of recent Elite Series AOYs - Brent Chapman and Skeet Reese. Brent Chapman was having a rough go of it on Guntersville but he was a great guy to hang out with and we chatted about a whole lot of stuff during the day. I spent the third day of the tournament with Skeet Reese, the 2007 AOY and 2009 Bassmaster Classic champion. The day was nothing short of epic. He brought in the biggest bag of the day and I had the best seat in the house for it. He ended up winning the tournament the next day. Skeet is a very popular personality and we were followed around by spectator boats for a good chunk of the day. I was glad I have a good bladder because I probably would have had stage fright with all the spectators hanging around. This is Skeet's biggest fish of the day, a 6.25 lb largemouth that was hanging around a fallen tree.
Since I didn't get my name drawn to be a marshal on the final day of the tournament, I rented a jonboat at Guntersville State Park and went for a fish in one of the main Guntersville "creeks". This so-called "creek" is bigger than Mississippi Lk but it was just a little creek back in the day before the Guntersville Dam was built and Lake Guntersville was created. I just threw a swimbait and a worm over the flats all day and hooked into a couple of Guntersville bass. And yes I will be towing a boat to Guntersville sooner than later.
After a very fun week at Guntersville, I hit the road and headed towards Vancouver to start taking care of Mom's estate. My first stop on the 4 day drive was in Springfield MO and visit to the first Bass Pro Shops store. This store is massive and is as much museum and aquarium as it is a place to shop. I spent several hours just wandering around looking at the the displays and aquariums and walked out only having spent about $200 on stuff.
I was in Vancouver for about a month taking care of estate stuff and when the deal to sell Mom's house closed, I was on the road again heading back home, arriving on the Monday of the May long weekend. May and June had the usual pike trips on the Ottawa and a day hosting a blind angler for the annual B.A.I.T. tournament out of Nangor Resort. There were also a couple trips down to the St Lawrence to go carpin' and after more than a few trips, I finally got to experience first hand what the hard-fighting fuss is all about with a couple of average St Larry carps.
Mid-June arrived and it was off to Zone 18 to get bass season started (memo to MNR - feel free to extend the bass season in Zone 15 too) on Big Rideau. Big Rideau is one of my favorite bodies of water and a really wish it wasn't a 2.5 hr trek to get there. June, July and Aug were a whole lot of fun. I decided to take a break from fishing tournaments and just get out to have some fun trying out new stuff and just catching fish. Instead of doing the typical tournament pre-fish stuff of moving on when I found some good fish, I stayed around to stick as many as I could. There were scads of these.....
.....more than a few of these.....
.....and the biggest largie I've ever caught on a frog (5.31 lbs).
Sept 1 arrived and not only is that the beginning of the fall fishing season, it also marked my first day of full-time retirement. Since then I've gone fishing.....a lot.....
In the fall we see.....
.....smallies getting fat.....
.....colorful largies.....
.....a bit of gold.....
and on Nov 3, my biggest bass of the year at 5.46 lbs.....
I mentioned earlier that Big Rideau is one of my favorite waters to fish. I like it even more after picking up a cool $1000 with this 4.30 smallie in RJ's Big Bass Megabucks.
That pretty much sums up my year. I caught a ton of fish this year that included three 5+ largemouth and I lost count of the number of 4+ lb smallies that came into the boat. However I'm disappointed I still didn't get my first 5 lb smallie from somewhere other than the St Lawrence River - it certainly wasn't for a lack of effort. Biggest smallie of the year came in a 4.91 lbs and that was on my last outing. I'll get one next year.....
Thanks for reading.....
Doug
I was an Elite Series marshal for 3 days and two of those days I spent in the boats of recent Elite Series AOYs - Brent Chapman and Skeet Reese. Brent Chapman was having a rough go of it on Guntersville but he was a great guy to hang out with and we chatted about a whole lot of stuff during the day. I spent the third day of the tournament with Skeet Reese, the 2007 AOY and 2009 Bassmaster Classic champion. The day was nothing short of epic. He brought in the biggest bag of the day and I had the best seat in the house for it. He ended up winning the tournament the next day. Skeet is a very popular personality and we were followed around by spectator boats for a good chunk of the day. I was glad I have a good bladder because I probably would have had stage fright with all the spectators hanging around. This is Skeet's biggest fish of the day, a 6.25 lb largemouth that was hanging around a fallen tree.
Since I didn't get my name drawn to be a marshal on the final day of the tournament, I rented a jonboat at Guntersville State Park and went for a fish in one of the main Guntersville "creeks". This so-called "creek" is bigger than Mississippi Lk but it was just a little creek back in the day before the Guntersville Dam was built and Lake Guntersville was created. I just threw a swimbait and a worm over the flats all day and hooked into a couple of Guntersville bass. And yes I will be towing a boat to Guntersville sooner than later.
After a very fun week at Guntersville, I hit the road and headed towards Vancouver to start taking care of Mom's estate. My first stop on the 4 day drive was in Springfield MO and visit to the first Bass Pro Shops store. This store is massive and is as much museum and aquarium as it is a place to shop. I spent several hours just wandering around looking at the the displays and aquariums and walked out only having spent about $200 on stuff.
I was in Vancouver for about a month taking care of estate stuff and when the deal to sell Mom's house closed, I was on the road again heading back home, arriving on the Monday of the May long weekend. May and June had the usual pike trips on the Ottawa and a day hosting a blind angler for the annual B.A.I.T. tournament out of Nangor Resort. There were also a couple trips down to the St Lawrence to go carpin' and after more than a few trips, I finally got to experience first hand what the hard-fighting fuss is all about with a couple of average St Larry carps.
Mid-June arrived and it was off to Zone 18 to get bass season started (memo to MNR - feel free to extend the bass season in Zone 15 too) on Big Rideau. Big Rideau is one of my favorite bodies of water and a really wish it wasn't a 2.5 hr trek to get there. June, July and Aug were a whole lot of fun. I decided to take a break from fishing tournaments and just get out to have some fun trying out new stuff and just catching fish. Instead of doing the typical tournament pre-fish stuff of moving on when I found some good fish, I stayed around to stick as many as I could. There were scads of these.....
.....more than a few of these.....
.....and the biggest largie I've ever caught on a frog (5.31 lbs).
Sept 1 arrived and not only is that the beginning of the fall fishing season, it also marked my first day of full-time retirement. Since then I've gone fishing.....a lot.....
In the fall we see.....
.....smallies getting fat.....
.....colorful largies.....
.....a bit of gold.....
and on Nov 3, my biggest bass of the year at 5.46 lbs.....
I mentioned earlier that Big Rideau is one of my favorite waters to fish. I like it even more after picking up a cool $1000 with this 4.30 smallie in RJ's Big Bass Megabucks.
That pretty much sums up my year. I caught a ton of fish this year that included three 5+ largemouth and I lost count of the number of 4+ lb smallies that came into the boat. However I'm disappointed I still didn't get my first 5 lb smallie from somewhere other than the St Lawrence River - it certainly wasn't for a lack of effort. Biggest smallie of the year came in a 4.91 lbs and that was on my last outing. I'll get one next year.....
Thanks for reading.....
Doug
If you're gonna be stupid, you'd better be tough.
Re: My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
Doug .... This is one great report.
Frank Dufour
Frank Dufour
BAA - 2016 Team 18 (10 shy of 28)
Renegade Bass - 2013 Team 67 - 2014 Team 28 - 2015 Team 51
BAA (Great organization) 2011 and 2012 Team 7
Renegade Bass - 2013 Team 67 - 2014 Team 28 - 2015 Team 51
BAA (Great organization) 2011 and 2012 Team 7
- TheMaverick
- Gold Participant
- Posts: 1219
- Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 5:20 pm
Re: My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
Helluva year Doug!
I mean Skeet Reese, what more can I say!
I mean Skeet Reese, what more can I say!
If fishin ain't your mission, then you can kiss my Bass!
- SeaMonster
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- Joined: Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:55 pm
- Location: Staring wistfully out the window at my boat...
Re: My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
Sorry to hear about your mom. I went through the same thing at the same time this year.
Great year of fishing.
Congratulations on your retirement. I plan to fish fish full time in mine
Great year of fishing.
Congratulations on your retirement. I plan to fish fish full time in mine
Re: My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
You do have a fantastic memory.
I understand the heartbreak you suffered early in the year.
Your trip to G'ville has to rate as the highlight.
We've had our share of fun and games sharing a boat.
Guess I have to wait until next season (year) to get you into a BIG SMB.
That last trip was darn close to your 5.00lb SMB with frozen guides all day long.
Please remind MNR to change your BASS season a little and get in line with everyone else.
Enjoy more time on hard water this winter, and also thanks for helping out in my quest for a fall season to remember.
I understand the heartbreak you suffered early in the year.
Your trip to G'ville has to rate as the highlight.
We've had our share of fun and games sharing a boat.
Guess I have to wait until next season (year) to get you into a BIG SMB.
That last trip was darn close to your 5.00lb SMB with frozen guides all day long.
Please remind MNR to change your BASS season a little and get in line with everyone else.
Enjoy more time on hard water this winter, and also thanks for helping out in my quest for a fall season to remember.
- ShawnD
- Gold Participant
- Posts: 1446
- Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 10:05 am
- Location: Gatineau (Hull) Qc Canada
Re: My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
Nice report! was nice seeing you at the MSBassin tournament.
President of the Ottawa Valley South Bassmasters
http://www.ottawabassmasters.com/
http://www.ottawabassmasters.com/
Re: My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
Doug,
Sorry to hear about your mom .. condolences.
The experience at the elite event sounds fantastic! Overall, looks like you caught a bunch of quality fish .. and now with retirement (congrats), looks like you will have plenty of time on the water .. good luck.
Sorry to hear about your mom .. condolences.
The experience at the elite event sounds fantastic! Overall, looks like you caught a bunch of quality fish .. and now with retirement (congrats), looks like you will have plenty of time on the water .. good luck.
Re: My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
awesome year man, what an experience it must have been to be on the boat with a legend like skeet reese for the day!
- Bass Addict
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- Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2007 4:47 pm
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Re: My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
Nice read Doug.....
There will be an influx of Great Grey Owls in the winter of 2017
-
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Re: My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
Condolences with regards to your mother.
That aside, an great write-up of an interesting and busy year you had.
That aside, an great write-up of an interesting and busy year you had.
- EagleEyesFlash
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- Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 12:52 pm
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Re: My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
Thoroughly enjoyed the read.
Sorry to hear about your mum.
Wow a day with Skeet Resse , and spots to boot.
Like Skeet s pit boss a fav. creature bait of mine.
A 5 lb inland lake smallie beats a 6lb goby eating one in my books.
Have a great 2016 !
Brent
Sorry to hear about your mum.
Wow a day with Skeet Resse , and spots to boot.
Like Skeet s pit boss a fav. creature bait of mine.
A 5 lb inland lake smallie beats a 6lb goby eating one in my books.
Have a great 2016 !
Brent
Snag or Fish , Weed or Fish , Oh Fish On
Re: My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
Spending a lot more time in the Valley these days, would be nice to share the boat or shack sometime Doug! Great report and neat deal being a Marshall. Probably one of the coolest experiences a bass head could take part in. Great season for ya!
- beachburger
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- Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:48 pm
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Re: My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
Thanks to all for the comments and wishes. Since several of you mentioned my day with Skeet Reese, I created a new post (http://www.fish-hawk.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=48779) with a much more detailed description of the day. Hope you enjoy the read.....
Doug
Doug
If you're gonna be stupid, you'd better be tough.
Re: My 2015 In The Ottawa Valley
Hey Doug, glad to see you out there enjoying retirement. It's always a pleasure to run into you on the water haha! Hope we can hook up in 2016 for a day or 2