Canada!

Just got back from a week long trip to Canada.  This was a first Canadian trip for John, Tim, and me...and the first in a long time for Dad.  We stayed at Andy Myer's Lodge on Eagle Lake in Northwest Ontario.  I will review that later.  We caught enough nice fish that I finally learned how to use a little HTML and embed a Google Presentation of pictures rather than simply pasting photos all over this blog.

First of all...John and I finally caught MUSKYS...BIG ONES.  Mine was a 48.5" male which was quickly followed by a 52" female that John caught.  We were guided to these fish by Steve (Herbie) Herbeck.  Both fish were caught on the same custom painted bucktail.  These are the sort of fish that people go to Eagle Lake to catch.

We spent much of out time fishing walleyes.  With a guide, Dad and I caught about 50 walleyes each in just about 6 hours of fishing, along with 15 or so jumbo perch.  This was without question the most fish I have ever caught in a short period of time.  It is not a stretch to say it is what people think of when they think of Canada.  On our own, we did not have as much success, but we still often caught 20+ walleyes per person per day, which is nothing to sneeze at.

We also caught some bass and pike, but we were not very good at catching these.  Well, small pike were everywhere, but big ones were difficult to get to.

Usually, bass are something we turn to catching when we can't catch walleyes.  We struggled with the bass.  John and I did end up finding one bay where I caught six smallies in my first ten castes and at one point eight other bass followed the one I was catching to the boat.  We were in crystal clear water surrounded by cliffs and trees and it was like a dream come true.  Unfortunately, two days later when we returned to this spot they were gone.

Overall, I loved Canada.  There was not a pleasure boater to be found, you could go hours without seeing another fisherman, and all the shorelines were filled with nature, not homes and boat lifts.  That said, it took substantial help to catch fish and it was not as easy as I envisioned it would be...mostly due to the vast 60,000+ acre size of Eagle Lake.

If you were thinking about a trip to Canada, I would absolutely recommend staying at Andy Myer's Lodge.  Below is what I loved, what I liked, and what could have been better.

WHAT I LOVED:

1. The lodge had doc hands that met you at the pier each time, cleaned your fish, and gassed your boat.  All we did was fish.  No work at all.  
2. The American Plan food was good and super convenient.  Shore lunches were amazing.  On days you didn't want a shore lunch, a cooler met you in your boat with very good boxed lunches.  Breakfast and dinner was so hearty we didn't even need to snack.
3. If you wanted to eat your catch when you got back, someone would clean it, fry it, and deliver it to your cabin.  Pretty amazing.
4. The guides were all SUPER nice.  I got to know about 6 of them and they were helpful and fun.  I am pretty sure that all of us would like to hang out with Gordy again in the future.
5. We got to know many people at the camp who were there at the same time as us, it was great to get to know them and hear their fishing stories.
6. I was able to find 20"+ walleyes by trolling right in front of the camp.  It was a great way to end each evening.  
7. The landscape was beautiful. 
8. The rental boats were big, stable, fast, and had a reliable 4 stroke engine.  

WHAT I LIKED:

1. The fishing was good but not as easy without a guide as I hoped.
2. The beds were quite comfortable and the cabin was clean.
3. Bait was available right at camp so we never had to leave.
4. Myers bay is situated fairly centrally, so you could fish both "wings" of the lake.
5. The main lodge has WIFI so you are not cut off from home. 

WHAT I DIDN'T LOVE:

1. On a lake as big as Eagle, you find yourself taking very long boat rides to fishing spots.
2. You really do need guides to truly experience what the lake has to offer.
3. I know many people who go to Canada don't want a TV in their cabin.  I am not one of those people.  
4. I am pretty sure it rains every day in Ontario.  
5. Tim caught the biggest walleye, bass, and pike of the trip.  Not me. 
6. We forgot to have some take a stinking group picture of us again.
7. A trip with the accommodations we selected is expensive.  It is not something this fisherman will be able to do on a yearly basis.  

Carter's First Fish, Opening Day, and My New Boat

 During the first days of the fishing season, I was able to take Norah and Carter out for some bass, trout, and bluegills.  Carter LOVES fishing, while Norah mostly likes playing with the worms, minnows, and leeches.

I also was able to take Carly out for some walleyes and whitebass on the Wolf River.

My first boat!

1 year old fishing

In an attempt to teach (indoctrinate) the kids, we have begun playing a fishing game at home where we tie a toy to the line and drop it over the edge of the balcony while others, acting as fish swim below waiting to bite.  The game has become a hit in a few short days.

Also, Tim let me take Landon to the trout pond at the sports show.  He was a bit too little to actually hook a fish on his own, but he liked watching them swim and touching this one that we caught.  I consider it Landon's first fish :)

February and March Trout

Sadly, this is the largest fish to be brought up
while I was along ice fishing this winter. 

 Alright...It is March!  This was without question the slowest and shortest ice fishing season of all time.  I only got out on the ice a total of four times and I did not catch anything worth while.

There was one specific day that Norah woke up and asked to go ice fishing.  We went and met up with our friends Travis and Ceci.  Didn't catch any, but it was fun for the 45 minutes that the girls lasted on the ice.

The benefit of having 60-70 degree weather in February is that there was only ONE month this winter I was not in the boat (January).

The brown trout fishing has not really heated up for me yet, but we have caught some excellent 11 plus pound fish.  The best day I had was when Carly was able to escape to fish with me and she was able to catch the two large trout pictured above.  The top one I hooked and she reeled in, but the one below it, she did everything herself.

I have had quite a few people lately asking me how we catch the browns and rainbows...Trout are not particularly smart, you just have to keep at it until you get lucky...but here are some basics to get you going.


1) I launch my boat either at McKinley Marina or the river launch at the end of National Ave on Bruce St.  The water discharge at Jones Island is the worst kept secret in America...Just motor down to where you are just south of where the river comes in, look for the discolored spot on the wall, and fish there.  Fish are usually by the discharge from late November through the end of March.  If the discharge is not pumping water, there will be nothing drawing fish in, and you can fish anywhere down the wall and the mouth of the river.  The depth here is around 30 feet.

2) My favorite place to fish is actually in the Summerfest lagoon.  This is not a secret either, on any given day there are about 30+ fishermen fishing the shorelines, but boats don't usually spend much time in there.  You can catch fish from the boat or the shore.  The depth here is about 8-16 feet.

3) I have caught numerous nice fish in McKinley Marina itself.  This is a popular ice fishing spot, but I prefer going out there before and after the ice.  They actually unlock the gates in November to allow fishermen out there. The depth here is about 12 feet.

4) A lot of guys fish the main "gap".  This is the opening in the break wall by the large white building.  I am not actually sure what that building is, but it is there.  Guys catch big browns and lake trout here.  The depth is about 39 feet.

5) For bait, I use one of four things: spawn sacs, jigs and Gulp! or some other plastic, minnows, or Kastmasters.  If you go to Dick Smith's tackle shop and tell them you want to fish Milwaukee Harbor, they will set you up.  That said, I don't buy bait shop spawn...you will need to find your own hookup for that.  Trout are pretty picky about the size of hooks you use.  I usually use #6 Gamagatzu Octopus hooks for minnows and spawn.

6) Play with your depth.  The fish are almost never "just" on the bottom.  Earlier this year I was catching them 4' down in 30' of water.

7) For tackle, I use 6.5' to 7' medium action spinning rods with 10 lb Berkley Nanofil line leading down to a 8-14 lb florocarbon leader.

8) Guys understand that "urban" fishing is different than most fishing.  I talk to guys in other boats all the time and never get mad if someone fishes close to me.  I have even had people in a different boat teach me how the fish wanted to bait presented on that day when we weren't catching anything.

This should be enough to get you started.

December Trout

 It was a strange fall fishing season this year.  It went from too warm to catch trout in the numbers I would like, to WAAAYYYY too cold.  I did make it out two Saturdays in a row though and had a great time.

I started suspending spawn sacs 6ft down in 30 ft of water, and this was a killer for the rainbows.

The jigs and gulp continued to produce nice browns and the steelhead pictured below (my personal best to date).

Pictured with me is my friend Bob (top right) and his son Hunter (left) with their personal best brown trout.

I am hoping to make it out for another trip on xmas eve or on the 23rd...not sure what the ice situation is like in Milwaukee though, so I might have to head down to Oak Creek.

This fish hit really close to the boat on a jig and white gulp.  It went airborne more times than any fish I have ever caught.  It was an exciting fight and a great looking fish.

I don't usually keep any fish from the harbor...but Bob wanted to try grilling a couple.  He was very happy with the taste and texture of this small brown.  

Perch Fun!

Carly and I had a great time battling the wind and the waves to catch some true jumbo perch.  A bunch of them we caught were over 12"...It has been decades since I have seen average sized perch this large...and I have never caught them in Wisconsin before.  

PERCH!

To start, it has NOT been a good year for perch fishing.  That said, dad and his good friend Jerry hammered the perch out on Beaver Dam Lake yesterday.  These were some of the biggest perch I have seen caught in Wisconsin in a LONG time...measuring up to 12.5".  I would love to say that these were caught completely due to their fishing skill, but any fish we have ever caught from Beaver Dam Lake are credited to a pretty random encounter....

Last year, I was fishing out on Beaver Dam Lake with dad and not catching anything.  We had fished for about 4 hours and caught only a tiny crappie.  I began having stomach issues and needed to find a bathroom in the worst way.  I ended up at a porta-john located at one of the boat launches.  As I was leaving, and feeling very relieved, I ran into an older guy who was just launching his boat.  He asked if I was catching anything and when I said no, he said "That is ridiculous, we have been catching limits of perch.  Follow me an anchor close."  We followed him and watched him put on a perch catching clinic.  He even gave me his phone number and told me to call him to find out where the fish were biting.

Fast forward to a year later (yesterday) and dad called him up to see about buying some bait that he raises at his home.  He said they weren't biting on his bugs, but that dad should get small minnows and dead stick them 2" off of the bottom.  He even told him exactly where to fish.  I have never met anyone who gave out fishing info so freely...but I am very thankful he did.