Lake Ontario

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Big Lake (O) Bachelor Party

Bachelor Parties.  A time in a persons life where they celebrate the single lifestyle one last time before they take the plunge into marriage.  For many this means bars, strip clubs, drinking, maybe even gambling.  However recennt trends seem to be leaning towards trips that are somewhat more memorable.  Canoe trips into the wild, summiting a mountain, renting heavy equipment and going to town in a field for a weekend.  It seems sharing a mutually enjoyable and memorable experience is the new thing.

I recently found myself taking part in the planning of a bachelor party for a good friend, and felt the need to come up with an experience that was memorable, surprising and exciting all rolled into one.  The groom (Jamie) had recently discovered his love for fishing which naturally led me towards the idea of a fishing charter.  With the salmon and trout season still in full swing on Lake O, my choice was almost predetermined.  After convincing the other BP attendees that getting up at 3:00 am was a good idea, we booked the charter with Joe from Salmon Tracker Charters and set about thinking of a way to get the groom to the boat.

The day of party arrived, and the goom and I made our way towards Ajax under some pretty solid false pretenses and directed him towards Frenchman Bay Marina where he conveniently bumped into his father, brother, and two close friends.  All waiting in the parking lot with a tied look in their eyes and a cooler full of snacks.

We met on C Dock and boarded a beautiful boat that comfortably seated six plus the captain.  Joe as courteous and knowledgeable and quickly familiarized us with the boat and the days itinerary.  Joe came highly recommended by my Uncle, who guided on Lake O for salmon and trout for many years.  In my opinion, if my uncle recommends you, that means you have some serious street cred in the fishing community.

Joe’s boat was perfect for 6 blokes looking to score some big fish, and Joes prowess as a captain would live up to the luxury of his boat. Joe had two games plans, stick close for staging king salmon, or go deep for cohos and Rainbows.  After consulting with some other captains and learning that fishing was lean near shore, Joe chose option B and took us several kms out into the blue waters of Lake Ontario.

The first fish hit quick and was ceremoniously reeled in by the groom.  Not a big fish, but the little shaker made up for it by its sheer presence and determination on the line. Catching anything right off the bat, no matter the size will put a smile on your face.

We decided to take turns and chose a batting ordered that favoured those who had not fished in several years.  That said, Jamie’s Dad, Dennis, was next up to bat,  and what a swing he took!  The battle was on and it became clear early on that what ever was on the other end of Dennis’s line wasn’t tiny.  In fact, it ended up being a beautiful 18lb rainbow trout.  Quite the trophy for someone who hadn’t fished in over 10 years.

Next up was Jamie’s brother Mike who landed another respectable rainbow which led to another happy fisherman.

As much as we were bucking the normal customs of typical Bachelor Parties, we felt obligated to include a few traditions, such as the customary Cuban Cigar

The battle continued and action remained steady.  Time for old Davey T to step up and take a turn.

Next up was Justin.  At first, the fish didn’t want to play ball for Justin as several were lost at or close to the boat.  Finally however, a small King decided to commit and made Justin’s Day.  Unfortunately the little guy took some battle damage which made him a prime candidate for the cooler.  Perfect size for a meal.

The author even got to take a turn.  After loosing what we think was a monster to a broken line (no seriously, I promise it was huge!!!), I managed to boat a respectable rainbow trout.  Surprisingly enough, this guy was my biggest rainbow so far. Actually come to think of it, it was my only wild rainbow I have ever caught!

Overall we boated about 7 fish and lost another 10 or so.  Enough to keep us busy and quite the days work for a group of gents who got up at 3:30 to drive from Kingston.  The experience was memorable for everyone, Most of all for the groom.  He obviously had no idea what was in store for him which made the day that much more memorable.

The bachelor party continued with food and drink in downtown Toronto where great times were had by all.

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage Jamie.  All the best to you and your bride for the future.

Cheers from the boat,

Albert

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Accessible Bathymetry for Ontario Lakes

I am a firm believer in knowing as much about a lake as possible before heading out on the water. In my experience, doing my homework has changed the out come of many a days fishing; turning it from a likely bad or mediocre day to a raging success. Although it takes work to understand the waters you are fishing, the benefits are enormous. Correction, it used to take a lot of work… Now thanks to Navionics and National Prostaff, the hard part is done for you.

Historically, access to lake info would only come from experience, paper maps, or expensive GPS units with map chips. Then came the navionics app for mobile devices. As awesome as the mobile app was, it cost a bit of $ to own. Now Navionics and National Prostaff haved moved this data to a free online data delivery system. Although not so portable, the website can expedite the research process for finding new water or even help to enhance your understanding of your favourite “go to” lake. Although it doesn’t contain all the data the chip has, it covers most medium to large sized lakes with sufficient precision to make a big difference in the way you approach a lake.

So give it a gander and see if you learn a thing or two about the lakes you love.

Cheers from the Wild
Albert

http://nationalprostaff.com/navionics.php

Here is a screen shot from the website:
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One Year in the Wild…

WordPress sent me an alert today; Apparently it has been one years since my inaugural post on this blog. Time certainly does fly when your having fun, or in my case, when your catching fish.
Thanks to all my readers and followers for your patronage and bearing with me on the learning curve to a successful outdoor blog!
Cheers from the Wild
Albert

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Bay of Quinte Gold – January 18, 2014

The Bay of Quinte is a Mecca for Walleye fisherman.   Blessed with proximity to Lake Ontario, fairly eutrophic conditions, and several rivers feeding into it, you couldn’t ask for better fish habitat.  Its for these reasons why fisherman flock to the Bay during the winter months to take advantage of the spectacular runs of giant Lake Ontario walleye which are cuing up for early spring spawning.

And so, armed with this information, and an insatiable desire for big walleyes,  I joined the ranks of eager fisherman who have tackled the hard water on the BoQ.

The day started with an early 4:15 am drive to Belleville, with an initial stop at the bait shop (Pro Tackle).  After a quick chat with the knowledgeable owners, I was making my way down Sydney Street to a point along Dundas Street where I would be meeting two of my uncles and three good buddies as well as several members of the Ontario Out of Doors, online fishing forum (here comes the shameless plug! – http://www.oodmag.com/community/).  Several of the members of this forum had arranged for a meet and greet that day at a spot near Potters Creek in Belleville.  I have got to say, fishing enthusiasts are some of the nicest folks out there and a couple of these guys really put a lot of effort into coordinating the event and making the rounds on the ice to introduce themselves and take pictures.  Heck there were even prizes to be won and a big fish contest!  A chance to win swag and fish all day?  Who doesn’t love that.

Being the first of our group to arrive at the meeting point, I spent a bit of time chatting with some of the early risers until finally, the anticipation of some big Bay of Quinte Gold got the better of me and I headed out.

I was set up around 5:45 and fishing hard in 15 FOW.  There was 12″ or more of ice in every hole I drilled which made me thankful for my awesome Finbore auger.  My approach included jigging a shad rap and a set line tipped with a minnow several feet away.  Within in minutes of start up I had a fish take hold of my line and make a run for the bottom.  After a valiant effort fighting the fish to the hole, he finalized realized that something was up and decided to let go of the bait.  More fish activity came and went on the finder however nothing was iced.  That is until the rest of my group arrived……

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The first fish came on my friend Dave’s line.  It was a healthy fish with some pretty good girth and length.  Not to mention this was Dave’s personal best!

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The second fish was caught by my uncle, and it tipped the scales at around 8lbs.  What a tank!

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Some times the Bay of Quinte can be tough and can send you home scratching your head with not even a hint of fish.  Other times, she is generous and gives up some of her golden treasure from the depths.  Some times, if your lucky, she’ll even allow you the chance to see some of the giants that lurk below.   Then there are times like last weekend were you not only catch big walleye but your given a shot at something special.  Now catching a gar pike is a pretty rare experience, but as far as I know, catching one through the ice is almost un heard of.

And so it was my other uncle hooked this massive 43″ beast and wrestled it through the hole.

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I am pretty sure this fish made his day if not week!

The fish was promptly released to be caught another day.

Although the Bay of Quinte can be tough for catching numbers, its pretty hard to beat the size of fish it produces each year.  So if your looking for a trophy walleye, or if your an avid Gar pike fisherman, pack your gear and  hit up the Bay this winter.

Cheers from the Wild

Albert

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An Ontario Special – Four Species day

Southern Ontario is blessed with an abundance of great, albeit often overlooked, fishing opportunities. I know I am starting to sound like a broken record on this issue but hear me out.

The misconception is that you need to travel a great distance to get to good fishing opportunities but in my experience this is not so. While there is great fishing in the states and Northern Ontario, Southern Ontario has many vibrant watersheds that are not only conveniently located near major centres but afford the angler a chance at quantity and quality of fish.

Case in point, my report below:

I packed a light bag and hopped in the car at 8:30 pm Thursday evening headed for Bethany to meet up with my uncle.  After a few hours of sleep we awoke at 4:30 am and were on our way to Port Darlington.  We launched the boat and sailed out of port into 80 FOW.

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We dropped the down riggers and dipsy divers and instantly had a hit but couldn’t capitalize.  We trolled for another hour out to 117 FOW with no hits and no sign of bait balls.  Things were looking grim with no fish in the boat so we decided to head back to the scene of the crime where we had the first hit.

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Sure enough we had two quick bites and boated two rainbow trout: one was 6lbs the other was 9lbs.  Both were healthy fish and provided a strong fight.

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An hour later and a after  couple more near misses we received a strong hit on the down rigger.  I set the hook and proceeded to reel in the fish thinking we hooked another decent rainbow.  You could imagine my surprise when the fish kept up its impressive run for what seemed like forever.  Fifteen minutes and a couple blisters later we boated a beautiful 18lb Chinook salmon. This was a truly magnificent beast, built for speed and strength.  The truly impressive thing about these fish is that they will fight to their very last ounce of strength making it essential for proper equipment and proper release techniques.

One more impressive thing, they are located just minutes from the 401 along almost the whole stretch of southern Ontario.

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With our Big lake appetite sated we pulled the boat and took a few hours break giving me just enough time to make a quick stop at SAIL and have a quick nap.

In the afternoon we towed the boat to Sturgeon lake, located near Lindsay Ontario to take a crack at the resident walleye population.

The walleye cooperated and we boated multiple 40cm fish which put them convienently in the 35-50 cm slot in force on the lake.  All within a couple hours.

Since I can’t resist the taste of fresh walleye we kept two nice eating sized fish for the table and released the rest.

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(my new abu Garcia verdict and cardinal in action)

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All in all an impressive day on the water with a total of four species caught ( included a jumbo perch caught while trolling) and all within less than an hour’s drive.

Once again, I recommend trying the fishing opportunities in Sothern Ontario.  Not only is the fishing great but you will save on gas too!

Cheers from the Wild

Al

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Summer Salmon – A Lake Ontario Specialty

Summer brings many things to Southern Ontario. Soccer teams flock to the fields to test their mettle against one anotehr, bikers are out in droves pushing their machines to the limits on our endless Ontario highways, yard sale/antique season is in full swing.  Great hobbies to be had in a great place. but perhaps my favourite thing to do in the summer, besides sipping an ice cold Ice cap from Tim Hortons, is to head out on the big lake to enjoy pitting my wits against the steely Rainbow trout or a Majestic Salmon.  Thanks to stocking efforts from the MNR and agencies in New York, Salmon fishing in lake Ontario is some of the best in the country.  Sadly, few people realize the resource we have so close to home.

I was definitely one of those few people until my uncle (watch out here, comes the shameless plug!), who runs RP Salmon Guide Charters, asked me and a friend to join him one warm June day in 2011.  A tad early for the bulk of salmon fishing but a beauty of a day no less.

We left port at about 6 am from Newcastle, On, a popular launch site for many salmon charters and headed out to 60 feet of water (FOW).

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Once we got there we rigged up the rods with an assortment of giant spoons, flies and cut bait rigged up to down riggers and dipsy divers. I’ll spare you the explanation of these amazing contraptions.

This was quite the set up as most of my fishing is fairly minimalistic when it comes to hardware.  However, I trusted my uncles experience and knew he wouldn’t steer me wrong.

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First fish of the day went to my buddy who had never really caught anything bigger than a small bass in his life.

Im not sure what was running through his mind when he set the hook this giant Rainbow Trout, but when he couldn’t gain any headway, I’m sure holy sh*t was among his thoughts!

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What a beautiful 13 lb 8oz fish! After some quick photos of a beautiful fish and a proud/excited fisherman, the trout went back into the lake.

My friend still bugs me ever summer about when we can do the trip again!

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Now that the appetizer was out of the way it was my turn for the main course.  bout 30 minutes later we trolled through a large school of bait and just after got a hit on one of the flies.  This was a big fish and consequently, my first crack at a Lake Ontario Salmon.

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It was probably at this point where I realized that 1) this was probably the biggest fish I had ever hooked into and 2) this wasn’t just some big empty mass of blue we were trolling on.  This was a healthy fishery with some world class trophies swimming about it.

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Following a decent 15 – 30 minute fight I managed to wrangle this 22 lb salmon into the boat.  I was absolutely stunned, excited and ecstatic all at the same time.

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A few minutes after dealing with the big beast, it was my uncles turn.  He boated this decent little 8lb 9oz rainbow.  A respectable fish by an account!

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Followed again by several small salmon (shakers as the guides call them because they are not strong enough to pull the lines from the down rigger balls).

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Unfortunately they did not make it back to the lake, but take it from me they make quite the feast compared to store bought/ farm raised fish.

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So next time your cruising along the shores of Lake Ontario, remember, there is more than meets the eye out there and I am not talking about transformers!  Maybe, if your brave enough, you will decide to attempt to catch one of these majestic beasts.  Trust me, if you pull the trigger on a trip out to Lake O, and hire a guide worth his salt, you will not be disappointed!  You may even walk away with a feast fit for a king.

Cheers from the wild,

Albert P

RP Salmon Guide Charters – https://www.facebook.com/pages/RP-Salmon-Guide-Charters/128039840606982