Last Cast

I’m on the count down!!! We are heading back home on Tuesday so I’m trying to make a push to get out fishing one more time. I’m really excited to get back home but it’s kind of bitter sweet. Florida is amazing and for a bass fisherman, and it’s a hard place to leave. Any given day and on any given body of water you have a shot at catching the biggest bass of your life and if you go out fishing with shiners you have a really good chance of catching a monster every time your on the water. Who wouldn’t want to live in a place like that? The lakes around here are pressured way more than they are at home so it can make things a little more challenging, but I don’t mind fishing all day for a few bites when they are big ones. Plus I think you learn more and grow more diverse as an angler from fishing pressured water. With that being said, I can’t wait to get back to Northwestern Ontario and hit up some of the best freshwater fisheries in the world. I’m talking about lakes that have the ability to make anyone look and feel like a pro. Lakes where the Dare Devil, Flying Lure, and Helicopter Lure actually catch fish (sorry if you’re a fan of these lures, but the fishing world has made a lot of progress since early 20th century). 

In the last week I have been able to get out on the water twice. Last Sunday Byron and I basically pulled a dawn to dusk shift. In that single day we fished Lake Placid, Lake June, and Lake Huntly. Fishing was decent but the weather conditions were tough on us. The wind was blowing like crazy and a bunch of thunderstorms kept passing through the area. There were more than a few times we thought about calling it a day, but luckily we were able to stay out of the range of the lightning (that’s a good thing when your out on the boat and holding a graphite lightning conductor in your hands).

Yesterday I met up with Tim and Loie (a couple of young guys I met down here) and we headed out to Istapokga for a little afternoon adventure. We got out around 4pm but fishing was really slow. I was suppose to be giving the guys a few ideas on where to fish for a tournament they were planning on doing, but fishing was really tough. I took them to almost every spot I knew but nothing was going on. We had a few missed strikes, one big boil, and landed two little bucks (“Little bucks” phrase used by some rednecks in Florida to describe little male bass). I was trying everything I could do to figure something out but it just wasn’t happening. On the ride back to the ramp I decided to give one last spot a try before ending our misery. It was a lily pad field at the mouth of a creek that had a little bit of current moving through it. It was looking like the spot was going to be a scratch but on his last cast of the day, Tim hooked into a monster. Tim was using a spinning rod with 12lb test line and that fish put his outfit to the test. His rod looked like it was bent in half and the fish must have broke the water 4-5 times. It was pretty funny because I don’t think he said a peep the whole time he was fighting the fish. After a few minutes the bass got close enough to the boat and Loie hoisted it in. We were all pretty pumped up and Tim was able to breathe again. It was a “Ike Never Give Up” moment for sure (if you don’t know what I’m talking about “youtube” can show you what your missing). The fish measured 24” long, 17.5” in girth, and weighed just over 8lbs. It was the biggest bass Tim had ever caught, a beauty by anyone’s standards, and a complete day-changer. We snapped a few pics, let her go, and headed back to the boat ramp. Tim was using a 5” or 7” Texas rigged worm when he caught it. Anyway, it was a cool trip and a lot of fun to be a part of… hope I can hit the water again before we go! 

You Can't Get Away From Gators In Florida

My time here in Florida is starting to come to a close (not a bad time to get out of FL because it is starting to get really hot here). I think I have a little under three weeks left, and I will probably only get a handful of chances to get out on the water, so I guess I’ll have to make them count. This past week, Jamie Krukoski (a buddy and fellow guide in Nestor Falls) came down to Florida and did a little fishing with Byron and myself. We spent four of his five days here on some local lakes and ponds chasing largemouth.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were slow, to say the least. Besides Jamie catching a 2’ gator on a swimbait and me hitting a 9’-10’ gator with my boat, there really wasn’t much to talk about. Little tip: if you ever bring your boat down to FL to go fishing, gators like to use the boat trails through the cattails on Lake Okeechobee… Don’t run through these areas fast if you don’t want to hit one).  

Thursday… Despite being humbled for three days straight Jamie and I took a crack at Lake Huntly. I’ve tried to fish this lake before and I got lost trying to find the boat ramp, but we were able to find it this time. Huntly is a clear lake with a max depth around 15’ and has a pile of hydrilla that grows all over the lake. We started the day by fishing the shallow weeds and docks but didn’t have a whole lot of success, so we backed out to about 10’. The hydrilla was still really thick in the deeper water, but it only grew up 6’ off the bottom. A lot of the time when you find areas like this bass will position themselves in underwater pockets near the tops of the weeds and watch for prey to go by above them. Actually, I’ve found that bass do this a lot in Minnesota and Wisconsin in lakes that have a lot of milfoil. We did really well throwing crankbaits, jerkbaits, swimbaits, and wacky worms over top of the weeds (also, topwater lures are a great thing to throw in these situations, but we didn’t throw any because it was a little windy). This is a good way to trigger bites without having to break out the heavy line and get right down in the nasty stuff. Another reason why I like fishing this way, is that it allows you to fish a little faster and cover more water while still fishing effectively. We were fishing with a lot of exposed hooks so we would try to run our baits as close to the weed tops as possible without getting caught up in them. We did pretty decent on numbers and the quality of fish we caught were a lot better then the previous days.

After a few hours we loaded up the boat and headed over to Lake June to close out the day. Jamie ended up whacking a 4lber under a dock on a senko the first 30min we were there. It was pretty cool because we could actually see the bass sitting under a dock. Jamie made a great skip-cast under the dock and the fish nailed it. A little while later I caught a 7.6lber on a swimbait in the kissimmee grass. Lake June is Awesome! I’m pretty sure most of my time left here in FL will be spent on June. It’s kind of silly to think about going somewhere else when (in one month) I’ve caught the two biggest fish of my life on that lake.

Go Gaels!

We are back from Las Vegas! We had a blast there hanging out with my family and watching the Division I NCAA Men’s West Coast Conference Tournament! My brother Cody described that city perfectly when he said “Vegas can grab you by the ankles, flip you upside down, shake all of your money out of your pockets, and send you home with a smile.” I want to send out a huge congrats to my Uncle Randy and the St. Mary’s Men’s Basketball team for that thrilling win over Gonzaga to win the WCC Tournament! It was by far the most exciting/nerve-racking basketball game I have ever been to.

Since we got back from Las Vegas I haven’t been able to get out on the water much. In fact, yesterday afternoon was my first time out since we headed out to Sin City… Talk about depressing (sorry for all you northerners listening to my complaints while you deal with the hard water and snow). Yesterday afternoon Byron and I were able to get out on Istapokga for a few hours. Yesterday morning was beautiful! The sky was slightly overcast, winds were light, and temperatures were around 75 degrees F. We launched the boat at 4:30pm and by 4:40pm we were swamped by a massive storm system (wish we would have went out in the morning). I’m talking about heavy rain, hard winds, thunder, and lightning! Of course neither of us brought our rain gear so we spent the first 25 minutes trying to out run the storm system. Despite being hopeful, we lost the race with the rain (we made a complete lap around the lake and so did the storm). After burning half a tank of gas and delaying the inevitable, we found a spot out of the wind and started fishing.

We started along a long reed edge but it wasn’t happening. After that we moved up to the lily pads, on the outer edge of spawning area. With in the first 10 minutes I got my first bite… Unfortunately it was a northern! (Yep! A Snake, Snot-rockets, Slubey, Nortron, Hammer Handle, Gator, Toothy Critter, ect…. Whatever you want to call them they have those pesky things down here too. They call them Chain Pickerel here). As northern do, it cut my line and I was out a swimbait. A few minutes later Byron caught a 2lber on a Texas rigged craw. Twenty minuets later we worked into another set of pads and I got another good strike but when I set the hook all I came back with was a tail-less swimbait. Five minuets later I got another good strike, set the hook and had the fish on for a few seconds but I couldn’t keep it stuck. Like I’ve said before, I hate losing fish and this one felt like a good one; but it’s hard to say if it’s a good one or not when you never get a look at it. Two casts later I had a boil on my swimbait but the fish missed it clean. I threw back into the same spot and the fish smashed my lure. I cranked down and let it rip but that’s all that I could do. She owned me from that point on… I think I gained 6ft on her then she busted out of that water and spit the hook right back at me. Did I say that I hate losing fish?… Did I say that I hate losing big fish?… It’s a tough pill to swallow when the memory replays in my mind for 24hrs… I figure it was around a 7-8lbr. Easily the second biggest fish I have ever had on.

I had my routine temper tantrum (this usually takes place when I lose any bass over 3lbs), composed myself, and kept on keeping on. I can’t really explain why I was losing/missing such a high percentage of fish. I think it was just one of those days when all the bounces go the other way (its frustrating but it happens). The rest of the night we caught a few more bass around 1-2 pounds. It was kind of depressing losing a big one but one thing that was promising is that the bass seem to be moving towards the pads and I love fishing the pads. Among other reasons, lilies provide bass with shade and great ambush spots. When they move to these areas it can lead to some explosive/exciting fishing. Byron caught a couple in the pads on a top water weed-less frog, one of my favorite lures to throw and probably one of the best ways to catch these fish.

Starting tomorrow I will be hitting the water pretty hard and I’ll be sure to keep you all updated. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep them buttoned up and minimize my tantrums. Anyway, go pick your bracket! March Madness Baby (I really dislike Dick Vitale)! Oh, and just a little side note to Purdue, the city Lafayette, Indiana, and all other Boilermaker fans… Hide your wife, hide your husband, hide your kids, the St. Mary’s Gaels are coming for you. 

On the Breaks

The update from Florida… After 4 months of staying in Florida I’m still creeped out by a lot of little things down here. Once again, I have a nest of bull ants in my boat but this time they are living in my livewell and a tree frog is living underneath my console. Today a big black snake was just behind my boat on the ground (I swear Discovery Channel could film a whole show about the circle of life in Florida and never leave my boat).  A little side note, if you see a black snake in Florida and you are afraid of snakes, don’t touch it with a stick because black snakes down here can move faster than you can run (it’s impressive and terrifying, all at the same time).

This last week, I’ve spent most of my time out on Lake June and Lake Jackson, and over the past few months these lakes have grown on me (the 12lber might have a little to do with that). These lakes are amazing for night fishing but they also hold great fishing during the day. With that being said, both June and Jackson can be a little tricky to fish.

Both have deeper basins and clearer water than most of the lakes in Florida. Because of the depth and clarity of the water, the temperatures are generally lower. Above all, the biggest difference in June and Jackson is structure. Most lakes down here are filled with all sorts of hydrilla, peppergrass (for you northerners this is what all the strange talking southerners call green cabbage), cattails, reeds, and Kissimmee grass but June and Jackson have a lot less vegetation. In fact, if you looked at Lake Jackson with an underwater camera it would look a lot like an underwater desert (I know this is a oxymoron but just go with it). As a result of the lack of weeds and hiding places, I believe the crawfish population in these lakes is relatively low, so the bass mostly depend on shiners and other bait fish.

What these lakes do have is a lot of is boat docks, brush piles, and sand flats/shell beds. The boat docks can be a good pattern to hit up during high light hours on sunny days (almost every day in Florida). Like any other lake full of docks, I usually have the best luck skipping flipping jigs, senkos, and swimbaits underneath. The Brush piles in June and Jackson are hard to find, but if you do find them, they can be a gold mine for bass. Usually a flipping jig or Texas rigged plastics work the best.

Lately, both the docks and brush piles have been a little sub-par, but we have been lighting them up on the sandbars and shell beds. It’s a little strange because I’m used to fishing largemouth around structure like weeds, docks, brush piles, and other hazards but these fish are acting more like smallies. They have been hanging on sharp break lines in the contours where the depth drops from 7-8’ to 12-14’. These sharp drops provide the bass with great ambush points, especially when they are feeding on bait fish.

In the past few days Byron and I have done the best on swimbaits (both weighted and weightless), hard (suspending) jerk baits, and deep diving crank baits. Another thing that has helped our success is boat positioning. We reversed our casting angle, setting up in 5-6ft, casting out past or parallel to the break lines and working the lures in. I like to do this because I think in a lot of cases (ex: lakes that have a lot of pressure) fish get use to seeing baits being worked away from structure and providing them with a different look helps trigger strikes. Also, wind current changes the way the bait fish come across structure. Plus when you’re throwing a crank bait you want to make contact with the bottom. Reversing the angle of your cast (working your lure form deep to shallow water) allows you to make more contact and work the bait more effectively.

Anyway, I have to run and pack for Vegas! Kari and I are going there for the NCAA West Coast Conference basketball tournament. Go St. Marry Gaels! I’ll catch up with yall guys next week (after I have struck it rich on the penny slots!).