Going for 20lbs!

Sept 12, 2009

I was fishing St-Francis again with Caro and Marc-André and we were out to get the big ones today! We almost had no wind but whatever wind we had was from the NE so we still had a bit of a chop on the water. Water temps were still in the high 60's in most areas we fished. We started off on a shallow rocky shoal where I had caught decent fish in the past but no one was home so we quickly opted for another area. I didn't take long before I hooked a decent 4lbs smallmouth but this spot was only a one fish spot. We were to leave for deeper water tube dragging and drop shot fishing when I decided to try the same pattern in different areas and it was the right decision. Shortly after my 4lbs, Caro hooked a 4.5lbs smallie in less then 3 ft of water in the same conditions as the first one. I made sure to mark that spot on my GPS since those spots are hard to find and whenever you do find them, you usually end up spooking the fish.

We looked for similiar areas and managed to hook another 3lbs smallmouth but the hook ups were hard to come by so we decided to try an another area nearby. We drifted a bit and caught some 2.5lbs+ smallies in 10-30ft of water but we wanted more big fish to go with our 2 nice smallies! We really wanted to break the 20lbs mark and we knew the day was perfect for it to happen.

While drifting Caro noticed a nice lilypad patch and she wanted to try it so I handed her my frog rod and she started firing! It didn't take 2 seconds before she had a nice largemouth attack the frog. Needless to say we all got our flipping rods and frog rods out and tried going for largemouth for a few hours. At one point I noticed a big wave behind my frog and I knew something big was following it... BAM! A 5lbs largemouth just came out and annihilated the frog!! Thank god for this new stiff rod and 50lbs braided line because this fish could've easily gotten away. We fished for largemouth a little more and missed a few on the frog but we decided to relocate in order to find some deep water smallies. With another fish in the 4lbs range we would've probably been able to break the 20lbs barrier! When we got to the spot, we started catching 2-2.5lbs smallies and although they were a lot of fun to catch they weren't the size we were hoping for... With SO MANY wasps in this area it was getting simply ridiculous and we decided to call it a day. We took pictures and weighed all our fish for a total of 18.5lbs. Not a bad day at all afterall!

Sharing spots!

Sept 7th, 2009

Caro and I were fishing Lake St-Louis today. Marc-André and his girlfriend were going to fish with us but on his boat. I had a few smallmouth spots I wanted to show him and he had a few largemouth spots of his own that we wanted to check out in the afternoon. Weather was nice and we had almost no wind.

We caught a few small fish around 2lbs on my first spot on tubes, spidergrubs and gobies and Marc-André missed a 3lbs. We tried another of my spot where I had caught a few nice largemouths in the past and Marc-André missed 2 nice fish flipping a worm and I spooked a largemouth that looked decent.

We left for his spots in the beginning of the afternoon and Caro missed a nice fish on the frog and so did I. We tried following up with the worm but couldn't get her to bite. Before going home I decided one of my spots and caught a good 4lbs largemouth flipping a worm in the pads...

We decided to try to catch a walleye for dinner but after 40 mins and no fish we decided to head home and have some nice t-bones on the bbq instead!

The study on Francis continues...

Sept 6th, 2009

I was fishing with my brother and Caro today on Lake St-Francis exploring the same area i've been fishing recently but trying new spots. Drop shot, tubes and gobies were on the menu for the smallies today and the plan was to fish from 20 to 45ft for most of the day. We had a light NE wind that slowed down our drifts just a bit too much but I made a few ajustements and we started catching them.

We must of caught around 35 smallies today. We were catching a lot of fish but we couldn't get anything over 3lbs really... We tried shallower water but the sun was intense and although we could see a lot of nice fish on the sand it seemed like they had already seen us and wanted nothing to do with our lures.

We had an "ok" day today and would've probably had around 15lbs which is not nearly enough for this lake! If I continu to fish this lake this often I can't imagine the amount of spots i'll have in 5 years!

A nice little tournament on the Ottawa

Sept 5th, 2009

I was fishing a 2 fish tournament from http://www.fishin-canada.net/ today with Caro on the Ottawa river. I am really not a big fan of this place and I don't fish it nearly enough... We caught our biggest bass of the year (5.11lbs) on the Ottawa but I find it's a hard place to fish. I always struggle to make a limit but I'm usually able to find at least one big fish.

Water conditions were bad as usual... very murky on the river with some clear water in protected bays. I started immediatly where we caught our huge largemouth earlier this summer but couldn't even get a bite... I was flipping a jig and throwing a frog and Caro was throwing a worm and her favorite yamamoto bait. We eventually found a nice place where there was a little more current caused by the light wind and Caro started catching smallies. She caught 3 in about 10 mins but they were all just over 2lbs.

We decided to try a completely new area in a very shallow bay. It looked like a frog fishing paradise. I finally hooked a decent fish over 2.5lbs on a frog and Caro managed to catch a largemouth just a bit bigger then her smallmouth so we had to switch them. About 45 mins before the end of the tournament, I missed a 4lbs largemouth TWICE! She was in stick weeds in less then 2ft of water and attacked my frog on 2 consecutive casts. I followed back with the worm but could never conviced her into biting again... We continued fishing the bay for the rest of the tournament and Caro managed 2 other fish over 2lbs that didn't helped our cause..

We ended up with a mediocre 5lbs bag but still had a blast and I was glad to have a few new waypoints on my GPS.

Deep water St-Francis Smallies - Part 2

August 30th, 2009

I was out on Francis again today with Caro and Marc-André to look for more deep water smallies. The winds were strong again but they were from W and SW and what a different it makes!! The ride there was very smooth compared to yesterday and even if I forgot my rain suit I didn't have to get wet. We went to the exact same deep water spot we tried yesterday to see if the opposite wind would have positive or negative effect on the fish. The result were quite the same... a lot of fish in the 2.5lbs range with a few near 3lbs. On our first spot, Caro got stung by a wasp on the neck... Those wasp have been all over the place recently and I hate them!! Caro continued fishing like a champ and even had the lunker smallmouth for most of day.

We relocated a few times and everytime the fish were getting bigger. Water temperature is around 71 in most areas we fished. The last area we fished was not as deep (20-35ft) and this time, the tube outfished the drop shot. I don't know if they were on crayfish but they were definitely looking down and not up! Marc-André shorten his leader a few times but the tubes were still catching more fish. We tried the drift sock to slow down our drift but the trolling motor ended up being the only way to slow us down enough. I wanted to try a few cast in shallower water close to a point that had been bugging me on every drift and I caught a big walleye on the tube!! We didn't weight it but it was over 6lbs for sure. For a minute I thought I had a huge smallmouth... For a walleye it gave me good fight. Before we left I caught a nice 4lbs+ smallie on the tube and on a new color... It's nice to be able to find new spots, new fishing technique, new baits and new colors all in the same weekend!

Overall, i'm really happy with what we learned this weeekend. We didn't catch any giants but I think were on the good track.

HELL on Francis!!

August 29th, 2009

They were announcing 25+ km/h East winds with gusts over 40... AND 15mm of rain but it was not enough to spot Marc-André and I from going on Francis for a Deep Fishing smallmouth study! We were obviously not going to fish the main lake with those conditions but we figured it wasn't going to be so bad around the islands. We were launching from a protected bay and it didn't look so bad so we decided to go see a bit further. I can honestly say I witnessed my biggest waves today.... Some of them had to be over 6ft.... The mustang suit was in order and I was really happy I had it on!! It's probably my best purchase over the last few years. It wasn't so much of the 25+ that was the problem but it was the fact that it was coming from the East.... Those E and NE winds are devastating on Francis.. We speared a few waves that got us soaked in less then a second but the ride wasn't so bad afterall. Thank god for all those FLW events on Lake Erie I was able to see on WFN I had a little idea on how to take those waves.

We finally got to an area where we were protected from the big winds and started looking for some nice rock piles. It took a while but we started catching a lot of fish in 15-30 ft of water on tubes and drop shots. When the wind settled down a little we decided to try another new area we had marked in 35+ ft of water. To my surprise ( I never catch fish in more then 25ft) we came across a good school a smallmouth. Most of them were a little over 2.5lbs but a lot of them couldn't resist our drop shots. The bite was so good we got to try all kind of baits and see which one worked better. One thing for sure the drop shot bite was better then the tube bite and a longer leader was in order. The drift speed was also perfect since the wind was pushing us against the current. The biggest fish was around 18inch and was a blast to fight!! We fished as deep as 47ft and still caught some decent fish.. It's a relief for me because i've been trying to find those deep smallies for quite some time now and I think I can only go from there and make it even better.

The ride back was not nearly as bad.. in fact I was able to gun it most of the way. More St-Francis tomorrow!!

Bite it already!!!

August 23rd, 2009

I was on Francis today with Caro and Dave trying some new spots in an area I had never been before.... After all the crazy bags i've been seeing this year I figured I would try a completely new area of the lake. We had very little wind so it was awsome to see the fish but we simply coudn't get them to bite.. We caught a few decent smallmouths drifting along a channel edge and in 15+ ft of water. While looking for some rock piles we noticed a nice patch of lilipads that we couldn't resist. It didn't take long before a small largemouth hit my frog... We spent about 45 mins trying for largemouth and missed a BIG one.. Those damn frogs!!

The search for new smallmouth spots was not working so well, so we decided to go back to some known good spots closer to the launch and I saw something I had never seen... I mean we always see fish in this area... but this time was just nuts! We came across a school of at least 30 smallmouths on a sand flat it was unbeliable. The smallest one must of been over 3lbs and there were several over 4lbs. They had obviously saw us so we decided to drift down for awhile to come back later with a better approach. We caught a few average sized ones on the drift but no big ones.. Just before leaving I wanted to try the smallest and most natural looking lures I had... We tried leeches, 3 and 4 inch worms, 3" gulp alive minnows, gulp alive crawfish.. All on superlight line and tiny hooks... The best we got was a follow but none of them would actually commit!! We tried for over 30 mins with everything we had but no takers.... Considering the location and the amount of fishermen in the area i'm assuming they have seen their share of lures.

I might have a tourney next weekend but if I can I am definitely going back on Francis to find those huge brown ones everyone are talking about!!

Disapointing tournament...

August 22nd, 2009

We started out the day pretty well fishing for smallies off a shallow shoal.. In fact, we had 5 smallies in the livewell by 9:30 and had the rest of the day to switch them for bigger ones and maybe a few largemouths. I missed 2 smallies over 3lbs that got my really upset... and then our spot got crowed pretty quickly (the bass boat attracts all kinds of fishermen apparently) and we couldn't even fish it in the end... We even had a guy from our trail fishing 10 feet away from us!! I thought that was a bit disrespectul but it was bound to happen eventually.. They even caught a decent fish right infront of us!! At around 10:30 we decided to go see if the largies would co-operate but all my good spots were empty... Did I get there too early? Too late? Since we couldn't catch a largemouth we decided to go back to smallmouths and we managed to change a few fish but only to gain a few ounces..

At the end of the day, we get to the weight in to find out we had been DISQUALIFED because we were caught idling without our life vests.... I'm actually still a bit shocked!! Someone took a picture of us in the tournament to prove we didn't have 'em on. I found out who it was and frankly i'm not even surprised... It's amazing what some people would do to gain a spot on the final ranking of Team of the year standings. I saw people going full speed without their life vest today and others were fishing 10 feet away from me and I didn't complain to anyone... I thought this trail was mainly for fun and I had no idea some people took it this seriously. What can I say.. We did brake a rule and I respect the decision that was taken.

St-Zotique Channel Tournament

August 15th, 2009

I was fishing a fun tournament today with Caro, Marc-André and the other Caro. It was a one bass per person tournament and only largemouths were aloud. We were also limited to fish the channel on St-Francis. We did the tournament last year and had fun so we decided to bring the girls along this year. It was a VERY hot day to be on the water with no wind and the good fish were hard to find in those channels.. especially with all the warm temperature we've been having... I'm pretty sure big ones are all gone. We caught a few a fish but they were tiny and we decided to put them back in the water only to find out they had "surprise" prizes for random weights... I will managed to win a nice Husquavarna weed wacker!!

All in all it was a fun day on the water but it's hard to stay in the channels when you know there are monster smallmouth nearby...

Practicing on St-Louis for Econobass

August 14th, 2009

I was practicing with my friend Dave today for our next tournament. We will be fishing against each other come tournament day but we decided to try some new spots that way we could keep our spots... On our first spot I caught a nice 4lbs+ largemouth on a slug and that was the only one we caught... We only had a few hours of fishing and I wanted to try a few smallmouth spots that had been good in the past... We caught a few small ones and I missed a 4lbs+ that went airborn twice before spitting my tube. The sun goes down pretty quickly now so we had to call it a day. I have a picture of the largemouth but the camera died this weekend and i'm not sure I will be able to save it... Oh well!