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!