First time out on St-Francis

July 11th, 2011

I was back on the water today with Caro and my friend Aaron for what felt like a revenge for our awful day on the water yesterday. We had NW wind blowing at around 10kmh which picked up to about 20km/h in the afternoon.

We started fishing fairly shallow and Caro caught the first 3 fish with the biggest one around 3lbs. We looked at new and old spots but the shallow bite was not really working for us so we decided to go deep. I caught a nice 4.5lbs smallmouth in about 25ft of water on our 3rd deep water spot but we had a few good hits in the 20-30ft range. We moved quite a bit today and didn't have a huge bag at the end of the day but it was my first time out on St-Francis and it seems like the vegetation was much different from last year. I should be fishing it a few more times over the next few weeks and hopefully do better then today. Aaron caught one shallow in the afternoon on the spinnerbait and I missed 2 more on the tube. Caro caught the majority of the fish today as usual and we would've probably had a little over 16lbs which is not bad at all... but we could've done better!

Econobass on the Ottawa River

July 9th, 2011

I was fishing the Ottawa river for the 3rd time this year and I was confident we could get a similar weight then the two previous trips but I was wrong. Again, July seems to be a tough month on this river as we were only able to bring back 2 fish to the weigh-in. Conditions didn't seem to bad in the morning with a NW wind of about 5-10km/h which made for a nice boat ride to our first spot.

The first area we stopped at had a few laydowns that were holding quality largies in practice but after trying to convince them for over 30 mins we decided to move on to another area close by where they had been hitting the frog pretty good a few days before. Unfortunatly, the frog bite was completly off and seemed to attract only pike. We missed a few bites flipping isolated patches of lily pads but it was no easy task when the wind picked up. We had to move quite a bit before I finally hooked a small largemouth that ended up being the only largie of the day.

It was about noon when we decided to give the smallies a try. After only a few minutes I got bit with what seem to be a decent size smallmouth but it came off very quickly and we didn't get to see it. We fished a very shallow rock flat and a nearby drop off when Caro hooked her first smallmouth of the day but like me, it didn't stay on for very long. Caro still managed to get a tiny smallmouth for what was going to be our last fish of day. We tried maybe 3-4 more spots but couldn't get another fish in the livewell. We even tried some new areas in hope to find a place that hadn't been hit so hard by the last 3-4 tournaments over the last few weeks and eventhough we found nice stuff and saw some fish, we weren't able to convince them to bite.

The ride back to the weigh-in was simply brutal with all the pleasure craft out on the water. I wish I could practice more often on this river but it's a bit of a drive from where I live and to be honest, I can't say I love the fishing there. Regardless, I will have to go back and figure it out once and for all!

First win of the season!

July 1st, 2011

I was fishing a charity Pro/Am event from Fishin-Canada.net today with Christian Grenier. Christian had been the observer in my boat on day 1 last year at the Berkley B1 and he was happy to be able to fish and not only "observe" today.

We started fishing a few shallow areas for smallies and couldn't get a fish to bite for the first hour or so... The 2nd area was a spot closer to the main lake and had a lot of fish on it. We drifted a few times over it and both had our limit quickly. Christian had a 4lbs + smallmouth jump out the water and spit his tube back at him..... It was there that he learned to put his rod tip down when the fish is about to jump! We then proceeded to a main lake sand flat that I was checking out for the 2nd time... we had a few fish follow and bump our baits but they wouldn't take it fully. I tried throwing plastics for awhile but seeing as I didn't really know the area I decided it was time to go hunt for a largemouth kicker!

The first area we did had decent largies swimming around us but no matter what bait we threw, they didn't care one bit. We tried all kinds of baits and techniques for about 30 mins and couldn't get a fish to bite. That's when I realized I had to try Caro's favorite bait.... To my surprise, I caught a 3lbs largemouth on my first cast and a smallie on the next one. Seeing as I had already about 9 lbs in the livewell... I gave Christian a hook and the special bait for him to start catching. He started catching fish immediatly but not the size we were hoping for. We moved around a little bit and tried tossing the frog hoping to catch a big largemouth at the end of the day but couldn't really upgrade what we already had.

My 3 fish weighed-in at 9.85lbs good for 1st place on the pro side and Christian's fish got him 4th place I think. All in all we had a very fun day on the water. I always have a blast fishing with new people and I hope they have this event again next year.

Lefaivre Lions 2011

June 25th, 2011

Ben Woo and I left friday night for a motel in Plantagenet for the Lions tourney. We did not practice at all for this event but with the high water levels, we were confident to find the fish quickly compare to last years conditions.

We had a strong East wind in the morning but it died down a lot in the first hour of fishing. We started fishing for smallies and managed to put 2 fish in the box quickly and missed maybe 2 more. They were taking the bait very lightly and it was hard to get a good hookset on them. After about 45 mins we decided it was time to go look for largies. We had to move fast and figure out a pattern quickly... with no practice we had to try a few different patterns in order to see what the fish were doing. We spent about 15 mins on an main river outside weedline but the water was so high and dirty that we didn't think the fish were there yet. The next move was to go deep into a bay and see if we got more action there. I was tossing the frog as far as I could and Ben was flipping different type of covers until I got the first fish on the frog. This fish wasn't holding tight to any cover and was kind of just roaming so I decided to continue casting the frog around and started getting more and more bites. It wasn't long before Ben decided to do the same and we were able to put a decent limit together very quickly. We probably had around 13lbs with a few hours left to fish when we decided to go back to the smallies hoping to cull 1 or 2 smaller largies that we had.

It was a bad choice since we weren't able to find even one smallie... We then headed back into another bay close by to find a kicker fish but it was too late... Too late too even get back at the launch in time for weigh-in apparently! We didn't calculate the run back properly and got back 8 mins late good for a DQ....

Our final weight would've put us in 25th place with 13.25lbs which is a considerable improvement over last year (without the DQ obviously).

Lesson learned I guess.... Now we know exactly how long that run takes! Overall we had a very fun day though and caught a lot more fish then we usually catch on the Ottawa River... All we needed was last year's 5lbs + kicker to have a shot at a top 10.

Online store for bass fishing in Canada! Finally!

June 22nd, 2011

Tired of paying for crazy brokerage fees to UPS, Fedex, Purolator, etc... The bassnerdz fishing team decided it was time to launch the first (that I know of) online bass fishing store in Canada. These guys are die hard bass fishing freaks who know their baits. They are up to date with the latest trends in bass fishing and they make sure to carry all the hottest baits out there. They also carry the dumz sticks that I have been using lately for most of my fish in a variety of crazy colors. Go check 'em out at www.bassnerdz.com!

Froggin for largies

June 21st, 2011

I was back on the water today with Caro and my dad for what was suppose to be a practice for The Lions of Lefaivre tournament next weekend but bass is not open in zone 10 until Thursday so we decided to hit Lake 2 Mountains instead. We had a light 10+km/h NW wind with air temps in the 20's.

We started by fishing a small river in the morning so I can get a feel of what the fish are currently doing... The mouth of the river was interesting and I wish we had spend more time there but we went in immediatly. Only to find incredibly dirty water less then 6 inches visibility ... We spent about 30 mins and were just about to leave when Caro hooked into something that bent her flipping stick in half. A 10lbs + blue catfish hammered her swimbait and gave her a fight that she will not forget. I've never been a fan of catfish or carp fishing but this catfish had me casted a few times to see if I couldn't get one of my own. Caro obviously didn't mind taking a picture of this ugly beast to say the least.

We then went for some more familiar areas to see what was going on this year with the high water. It only took about 5 mins for Caro to start putting on a froggin clinic (yes, again Caro outfishes everyone in the boat). She caught 3 decent largies in less then 20 cast before my dad and I decided it was time to do the same. We must of caught another 7 or 8 largies moving around on the trolling motor in the same area when I suddently got a brutal headache that had me put the rod down a few times.... It's a good thing I didn't stop because a big largemouth missed my frog only a few feet away from the boat.... I might of missed my frog, but I knew it was going to hit my jig. One flip and the fight was on! We took a picture and didn't think to weigh her but she looked like a solid 4lbs+. We fished an hour more and caught 1 or 2 fish but I couldn't take it anymore... 2 days of fishing with almost no sleep got the best of me.

Overall we had a nice day and I got to see the lake a bit. In my opinion some fish are still close to beds and slowly entering post-spawn patterns. Next stop is Lions of Lefaivre tourney next weekend. I will be fishing it with Ben Woo and since bass season is not open yet we are literally going to have no practice for it! We placed in 53rd out of 116 last year with a 5lbs largie caught by Ben less then a hour before weigh-in. Even without any practice I'm confident we can do better this year.

1 down - 3 to go!

June 18th, 2011

I was fishing with Caro today for our first Econobass tournament of the season. With the water being much higher then last year, I decided to take a gamble and make a bit of a run in the morning to an area where I was very confident we could get at least 3 good fish. Caro was quick to put a limit in the boat but it was a very small one with 5 fish in the 1-2lbs range. We were getting short bites and the water was so stained that we couldn't be sure they were bass and had planned to spend 2 hours max. I missed what looked like a heavy 3lbs smallmouth before we left for some more popular areas of the lake.... Something I should've done from the start, like I had originally planned. Tournament fishing is all about making decisions and that was a bad one..... Live and learn!

We still managed to cull many times with smallies and largies in the afternoon but we had to change one more fish to be have a chance at a top 10. We finished in 20th place out of 54 teams with a total weight of 13.35lbs... only 3lbs away from a top 5. Caro caught all her fish on her usual yamamoto secret weapon and mine came off a jig and a pig and a wacky rigged dumz sticks. I had the opportunity to test my new Demone batteries today with the strong wind and I have to say I am very impressed. I have not been fishing any big current but I have yet to see a diminution of power in a full day of fishing with them so far.

Bass season is finally here!

June 17th, 2011

It feels good to finally be back on the water hunting for some big bass!! Although the fishing season started over a month ago... The REAL season only started today!. My dad had to cancel Econobass this year due to health issues. It's nothing serious and we'll be fishing plenty of times together this season but tournament fishing can be extreme at times. I will be fishing Econobass with Caro, the Lions the Lefaivre with Ben Woo and the Berkley B1 with Marc-André Barretti along with a few Fishin-Canada.net ripples mixed in.

Unfortunately, I don't have any reports from my earlier trips to Lake Champlain but I was there twice in the spring and fishing was very interesting with the ridiculously high water. We fished the north side and didn't really hooked any big fish but it's always fun to fish this lake. It's unfortunate that the conditions were that bad... I would've loved to go a few more times.

I was also out for a few pike and walleye trips and we caught some nice ones! I caught my biggest pike on a small lake up north and Caro caught an 7lbs walleye on Lac St-Louis.

Here are a few spring fishing pics :

Take a bite of DUMZ lures!!

April 3rd, 2011

Another sponsorship agreement for 2011 with Dumz lures! I have been using Dumz lures for a few years now and I must say that they are some high quality baits. His tubes and sticks are second to none.... I won the Econobass St-Francis tournament using a 4" Dumz tube in Brown gold flakes and they caught most of my fish at the Berkley B1 2010. He has a new drop shot bait called the X-Tail Shad that I can't wait to try this season!

Go check him out at : http://www.dumzlures.com/

or on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=255204261750&ref=ts

Demone Batteries

March 24th, 2011

I am very happy to say I have a new sponsor this year with Demone Batteries. I have been hearing great things about them from guys who are currently using them and I am looking forward to try them next season! You can find them at any SAIL/Baron and perhaps your local marina. They have a model for all your needs, go check 'em out!