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Alabama Rig – First Casts
I love buying new lures, just thinking of going to my local fishing store gets me all excited since it usually means I get to drop a hundred bucks and get to go and try out the new gear. Like a lot of us I have been waiting to buy the Alabama Rig during the winter and give it a try even though I still think it is like fishing with multiple rods. I went and bought one that is legal in the province of Ontario (max of 4 hooks) and outfitted it with 4 white hollow belly swim baits (based on Bob Izumi saying they are the best bait ever). It is a bit of an investment this rig, rig $15, swim baits $4, hooks $3. All together I can buy a nice musky bait with that kind of money so this thing better have fish jumping in the boat.
My first thoughts on the rig before trying in a few weeks back is that it must be quite difficult to real in since it has a substantial weight and when all fanned out it has a wide profile. I was quite off on this. It was easy to real in, even on medium action rod, it gave very little resistance and it casted quite well too. The action in the water was quite brilliant to be honest, the swim baits moved beautifully through the water and it glided through moderate cover. All in all, it was a pleasant surprise to cast and use even if I didn’t catch anything with it (was fishing for pike). My next attempt comes monday at the gloucester pool and we’ll see if we can get 4 mepps spinners on this bad boy.
Now that feels completely illegal 
Bogie
Lake Mitchell – May 6, 2012
Another stunning day of fishing in the kawarthas. Got out with a long lost friend Mitch who I met at a cottage 3+ years ago. I really wanted to show Mitch the lake Mitchell since he lives nearby and has never fished it. I have a perfect record catching fish on the lake and the record still stands even though it was in jeopardy for a good part of the day. Here is a link to the map of the lake and my spots.
We got on the water about 7am which is a tad late for my liking, but I’ll take it considering it was only 4 degrees celcius. After the launch we started fishing the canal between Mitchell and Canal lake. That canal always produces for me but not this time. We spent an hour throwing some mepps spinners and stick baits. After giving up on it we proceeded to fish the north side of the lake, looking for growing green weeds and shortly after we saw some fish. Mitch who has never caught a pike had 2 quick followers and managed to pull the hook out of the pike’s mouth (You will get one next time for sure). In the same area we spotted the first of the 4 sizeable musky, she was just sitting quietly in the weeds, totally not interested anything we ran by her. We were not fishing for her, but she for sure saw our lures.
I caught a nice size pike (see pic), nothing big, but it hit the mepps syclops hard after missing it twice on the way in. We continued fishing till lunchtime, we saw more musky sitting in the weeds, some turtles sitting on the log and beast bass doing the spawning dance. Overall a great day on the water and as usual lake Mitchell doesn’t dissapoint. The perfect record remains intact.
Spring Pike
Bogie
Goto Lure – the Zara Spook
I do know that top-water fishing isn’t the most effective method and that it only works in some pretty specific circumstances. But seriously is there anything better than an angry musky, pike or bass slamming your bait or missing it and coming back for it again and again. My top water lure of choice is the zara spook and more specifically the super spook. It belongs to a category of top water baits that can be described as “walking the dog”. With each rod jerk, the lure swings side to side as you walk it towards you.
My way of fishing it is to cast it towards stumps, rock drop offs and do three quick moves right after the lure hits the water and then wait…. It is usually after this pause, on the next set of jerks that most strikes occur. I don’t consider this a species specific bait even though I think it is mostly sold for bass fishing. Over the 20 years of using it I have caught plenty of 5lb bass (large and small), pike that go nuts for it early in the season as well as some small musky.
Super Spook
It is simply an incredible lure. It casts a mile, meaning that you can fish far from the boat without disturbing your target. It has 3 nice trembles that help hook the often near hits. It is a lure I come back to many times a day and generally I keep it ready on one of my rods. To use it effectively I think you should use a bait caster, braid line (24lb test) and a 7 foot plus med to heavy action rod and a leader if fishing for the toothy musky or pike.
So if you are ever out there not sure what to take out of your tackle box to trigger a strike from an angry fish give the spook a go. It won’t dissapoint.
Trout opener April 2012 @ Ganaraska River
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Every year for the last 15+ years, on the 4th Saturday in April, my fishing buddies and I get together for our annual trip to the Ganaraska River. The Ganaraska is a fairly large river that feeds into Lake Ontario, and the trout run up the river to spawn in the spring. This year was different than any other year; due to the unusually warm February weather, the trout run was early so we were catching the tail end. I’ll be honest with you, trout fishing has never really been my thing. I prefer fishing for bass and pike. Big lures, big hooks, big hits. Playing around with 6lb test and wee little roe is a different dimension of fishing completely. But I’ll tell you, when you have a trout on they are monsters! Your drag will sing and the headshakes are second to none. Luckily, we have a great track record. I guess that’s what keeps us going back every year. It’s an obsession.
Goto lure – the Suick
To be honest I would have never predicted that the Suick would become one of my go to lures. Just look at it, it is a straight piece of wood with hooks, it doesn’t have a unique action, it doesn’t really look like a fish especially the half white, half red one that I have been using for almost a decade. My favorite is the 7″ variety, mostly because the action on it seems to be better and more consistent than the 10″ versions.
Suick Thriller
I use this lure almost every time I am fishing and it is independent of the species I am targeting. I have had great luck using it for pike and musky (what it is meant for), but it also shines as a big-bass bait (smallmouth especially). Whe using the Suick, don’t baby it, retrieve it briskly with big jerks to move it through the water and rip through the weeds. If you fish it slowly without the distinct jerk action, the lure seems to glide through the water without any action or side-to-side movement. I like to think of it as a lure that gets almost all the action from the person fishing it.
Good luck
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