Lukefish99

Spent Saturday morning until Sunday at noon on the bank. It's been really tough the last few years to afford time to get out fishing. This was only the third time in 2024 I have been able to get out. Although the weather made it impossible to fish through the night on Saturday, both mornings were very productive. This pristine pre-spawn fish was the biggest of the session. 28.8 lbs. Fantastic battle. No baiting was necessary for these fish. Lots of fish came to a single pop up or with some pack - bait around the lead. Next adventure I hope to be able to take my kids out. 

https://www.youtube.com/@thundermistlures

Throw them in the garbage. 
I’ve seen them on worm harnesses I believe. 

Fishing Port Dal. again today , west side , no current but tried some worms with a spinner , no luck except a nice preggo perch . So I rigged up the other rod with a swim bait . Third cast got me a hit and a scrappy pike, so I thought I would revive the pike thread to start the season off . It was  4 lbs. 13 oz. with the 4" 'bass inside it's gut . Nice day but the north wind was cold near the lake .
 
 

I did my last carp run yesterday , fished deep water sitting in my van waiting for some action . The wind was cold even while sitting inside the van with the sliding door open . Then I saw the rod bounce hard & as I picked it up a cormorant surfaced 6 feet from me !  As I was getting ready to leave a lady pulled up in her Ford mini van & said she noticed my Astro van & she had 2 air filters she bought for her last Astro & asked if I would like to have them . As she passed them to me she asked for "something" to help her out so I found some toonies & loonies plus a half used Timmies card & she was a happy camper .So I didn't catch a fish & came home with 2 new air filters....you never know what story you can tell when going fishing !  

Yes, I've heard the ice jam theory as well and it does make sense.That doesn't explain how it dropped off north of Paris in Glenmorris unless they had the same winter freeze up, after all it is a very shallow river.I think it was tremendous fishing pressure as well as right about that time it exploded with guys kayak fishing those stretches..If you think C&R guarantees no fish kill, well I know I've released some bleeders..I'm sure there is fish mortality no matter what.Also my suspicion is some don't follow rules in the C&R zone...I remember almost getting fined by a CO back in the 90's for a barbed Woolly Bugger!! I haven't seen a CO in years...Also I wonder what impact all those watercraft from the Grand river rafting company have..Hundreds of people doing a float in one day..Never mind all the kayaks, rafts, those damn rubber ducky floaters would drive me crazy..I stopped fishing that circus act years ago..Its ok after labour day thou.I can find nice fish else where but its a lot more work now.. 

My old PC went down after booting up , clock went to 9999 and a window came  up that said Apple Push which shut down the internet . I shut the PC off last night and that did something to screw it up . (Windows 7 ) I'm now using a lap top which took 20 minutes to boot up after sitting unused for 4 months and it has Windows 10 . I like watching music on YTube but these little speakers are crap . I hope I can use my good plug in ones from the PC. I don't know if I can unload my camera now , I have a lot of learning to do . If I don't like this new  lap top I'll get a used PC again and donate this thing to my wife. 
And yes , we got hit with another freaking rain today ....just as I got the lawnmower out !   Arrrrgggg !   🤬 
AND ,  low and behold I now have all the emojis back which I haven't had in years !   😃😁🙃🥰  ....a whole whack of them ! 

And Port D Guy , I  was looking for you at Port today and I think I fished your walleye spot .... The water level is up and about a foot visibility and the current flow is faster than normal so I used a 3/4 oz.weight with my worm harness . The sky looked mean as the thunder rolled but I got about 30 min.of fishing in before I got soaked.
To my surprise I had a hard hit and the fish was a real strong fighter , using my 10' Okuma rod & 10 lb. mono line. I was thinking I hooked a big sheephead, or channel cat . After 10 minutes or so I finally got it to the surface after a few good runs in the fast current & to my surprise it was a PDG walleye .  I didn't weigh it & returned it to the water quickly ( too large to eat ). I 'm guessing it was about 9 lbs. and it is my PB walleye from Port D. after fishing there for nearly 70 years . 
I was also surprised that a walleye could be such a great scrapper . 
Fun day !   
 
 

This map seems to line up with what I have seen on my fish finder
 

Well done.
 

What drug problem....they legalized marijuana and out in BC there was talk about legalizing cocaine and other hard drugs. Drugs like marijuana have some medicinal uses but it is a "gateway" drug. Those with an addictive personality will use it and then continue to seek better "HIGHS".
 
Drug use may be a problem but like alcohol if you think of it as an excuse for crimes against the public ... well that seems wrong. Most often addiction starts out with a conscious decision to use it in the first case. People should be responsible for their actions. Nail the pushers/providers/enablers with the most severe penalties possible.
Make it most unpleasant for them. Get them out of circulation forever. Same thing with illegal gun smugglers. The toll on society is too much.
 
Now I need to lay down

Spent opener on the canal (late post). Did alright for about 4 hours spent fishing. Got 5 pike and lost one with a couple OOS bass. All C&R.  
 

I also got out today at Jordan for some cats. I got about 8 this trip but the fishing has been more challenging than in past years.

Hovering cut bait off the bottom

I also got out today at Jordan for some cats. I got about 8 this trip but the fishing has been more challenging than in past years.

I also got out today at Jordan for some cats. I got about 8 this trip but the fishing has been more challenging than in past years.

I also got out today at Jordan for some cats. I got about 8 this trip but the fishing has been more challenging than in past years.

I also got out today at Jordan for some cats. I got about 8 this trip but the fishing has been more challenging than in past years.

So after finding out I was fishing the wrong area I drove to the north/west side of the lake. At that time the rain was coming down hard. The two launches I went to were shity and I said eff it I’m done. I’m going home. I found a river spot the night before and decided I’m going there for a nap before heading home. Shut my eyes for a min and said I didn’t come here to sleep so I got the yak back out on the water and it was no disappointment. I fished a river where it dumps into nipissing. Started fishing some fallen tree spots and was hooking up with smallies. Landed a few and lost a bunch. Stupid weed guard on the wacky hook was not letting me get a good hook set. Made it to the mouth and had a pike follow my square bill crank bait in. Cast it back out and bam a 30” pike in hales my bait and end up having to keep the fish. Gave it to a kid fishing on the dock when I went back in but before that I was trolling the same bait from the lake just into the mouth and bam another fish. 20” walleye. Had to let it go(over slot size). Went back up river and lost a bunch more bass and decided to cut the weed guard off my wacky rig and started landing fish.  Next a nice fat 32” pike on the wacky rig. A couple more bass and that was my day. 
 
so ya the tournament was a bust but ended up saving the day and landed more fish this afternoon then the last two years put together. 
next month balsam lake and I’ll give it a try again. 
Oh and got to work on skipping baits under fallen trees👍

Pretty annoyed. Found out I was fishing out of bounds after  2.5 hours and summiting two fish. Now I’m an hour away from where I can fish. 
my bad but I didn’t know there were boundaries. I didn’t see the map or read about it. I guess I should of know when I was the only one out there. Worst part it’s the north side of the lake we can fish so means I’m another hour away from home. 

A couple more goodies 

This map seems to line up with what I have seen on my fish finder
 

This map seems to line up with what I have seen on my fish finder
 

Looks like a decent weekend to get out. I wanna get my kayak out on the south shore but Everyday that goes by the winds keep changing and getting stronger for Sunday. I’ll probably go anyways and hit the grand if the lakes aren’t fishable. 

The suspending bait suggestions are good ones for sure....one of the keys this time of year is a slow presentation. ....be patient...cast out give the bait a few cranks to settle a couple feet below the surface...make a few twitches then pause...cranks, spoons, and spinners pretty much require too fast of a presentation to work properly and for this time of year....have you thought of soft plastic minnow imitations as well....there are ways you can use them like a suspending bait...there are weights you can insert into the body of the bait.....I have great luck as well over the years with big twister tails as well jigged super slowly on the bottom in cold water situations...by just letting the jig hit bottom and giving it the slightest twitch at a time....although we haven't had ice winter long and no real thaw to follow so to speak...pike will often feed on " winter kill"...like when bait that has been frozen slowly falls to the bottom during the first thaws of spring.....as already mentioned by a couple people as well...the good old simple float and minnow....keep in mind as well with the somewhat warmer winter this year the pike will be well into pre spawn mode as well...pick areas adjacent to deeper water where fish will start to gather up before making their way once the water warm a bit to shallower spawning grounds.....I often fish in 15 foot plus depths this time of year ...a slip float of slow jigging presentation comes in handy....if you happen to get out on a nice sunny day you might luck out and start to see baitfish in the adjacent shallower water which is always a good sign this time of year....and as the water starts to warm look around for any signs of a good staging area....deep water into shallow bays....creek mouths....mud flats....and mudlines ...it sounds like you have been trying your luck in some of the right bodies of water....you just have to do some looking around and try to break down a few areas for structure ect along the way...it's that old saying...90 percent of the fish are in 10 percent of the water....