Write Angler - Rick Hordin Copywriting Fishing Lake Ontario with an Old Friend

The calm North wind of yesterday had switched over to a fairly stiff Western chop by the time I awoke at 6am. This pattern typically increases to 3 foot rollers quite rapidly so I was anxious to get on the water before that happened. Dad decided to join me and I was glad since he doesn't get out there very much. I was also glad that my old 6hp Evinrude fired to life on the 3^rd pull. The water is well below its usual level (at least 18") so we had to walk the boat out quite a ways before getting in.We used to be able to motor right thru here!

Fishing the favourite haunts proved mostly unproductive except for some small largemouth and 2 nice smallies we picked up on the shoal near the cottage. Dad was noticeably pleased with the bass' performance, and indicated that he was ready to head in.

Since these fish were in pretty close, I waded out with the 8wt and some poppers but only succeeded in catching rock bass. Some pods of carp were moving in the shallows and I decided to take a shot at them. Luckily there was one nymph in my streamer box. The clear water made these fish very spooky and I was heading in when I noticed a large sheephead cruising by. I placed the nymph well ahead of it but it swam right by indifferently. Suddenly from nowhere, two carp zoomed in and I saw the mouth of one flare over it. I lifted and the drag started singing. It took about 10 minutes to land the 15 pounder and pull out the nymph stuck in its upper lip.

My old fishing buddy Jim Hubbard had called me on my cell while I was out in the waders - something that never could have happened when we were kids - and said he'd be by in half an hour to pick me up. We had been talking about going fishing again for at least 20 years and today was the day. I packed a day bag and a cooler by the time Jim arrived to load my gear in his well-used rig. It was already noon.

The water in the main Lake was pleasantly calm and we confidently planed out to a spot Jim knew.The spot was now shallow and inhabited mostly by large pods of carp. So we headed out toward the main Lake again where I started to see fish in the deep clear water - a lot of them. 'What kind of fish do you think they are?' I asked. Jim's first cast answered that question with a smallmouth well into the 4lb class. We anchored and continued to hook bass after bass on small jigs - most between 18 and 22" - all in the 4 to 5lb range. These fish were very well fed as evidenced by the minnows they coughed up. I set up the 8wt with a sink tip and hooked a fish nearly every cast on a black bunny. I coached Jim on how to work the fly and he landed one on his first cast. Our final tally was way over 50 fish for the few hours we were parked on this honey hole. The best one I landed went 5lbs 12oz. And Jimmy now wants a fly rod.

Since the bass (and our arms) needed a rest, we switched tactics to planer boards for walleye. I had never done this before and found this to be an interesting technique. We set out 4 deep running minnow plugs and sat back with the radio and a beer while trolling over fish that were suspended 15 - 20 feet over 50. It's easy to see why people enjoy this style of fishing. It wasn't long before I saw one of the boards start to swing in toward the middle. Fish on. Reeling in 300 feet of line may not seem like much, but when it's got a planer board and a large walleye behind a moving boat pulling on it, it does take a bit of effort. The plug popped out of the 7lb walleye's mouth as soon as it landed in the net. Jim told me to grab the other rod because a fish had hit that one too. Fast and furious. This fish turned out to be about 5lbs and the plug also popped right out after netting. A steady reel is key to keeping them on the line. Jim said these were average size and they went into the livewell. Another pass produced a small 4 pounder. I'd never seen walleye this big before but Jim assured me they get a lot bigger .

The sun was putting on a lovely grand finale, and our smiles shone right back. We were kids again. We had waited a long time to do this and both knew this was one of those rare days that needed to be fully appreciated. It had already been a top drawer day on the water, but it wasn't over yet. As the lines were about to be pulled, another fish hit and promptly jumped clear of the water. Jim said, 'It's a trout!' Carefully, the silvery lake brown was landed for a few quick pictures, and then released to the last rays of the sun. An absolutely perfect end to a great day.