Post Labour Day

Fall is one of the best times of the year to go bass fishing for several reasons.

Firstly, the water temps are dropping which means more oxygen and more active fish which in turn will increase the digestive system making the bass feed more frequently.

Secondly, bass more often than not, school together so if you catch one there are usually others there as well.

Finally, at this time of year, bass will strike just about anything that you throw at them although there are certain patterns that work better than others. Bass will eat natural forage in any given body of water so color patterns and size of baits should mimic the natural forage. I hit the water at 4:30 pm on Saturday afternoon and wasn't sure what to expect as all my fishing has been early in the morning over the summer. I have never been out this late once this year. I fished until around 7pm and the action wasn't furious but had fun nonetheless.

I got to my first spot and came up empty. Moved to spot number two and quickly hooked into a PB largie but beside the boat the line snapped, man was it a tank. For the most part most fish were small, 2-3 lbs.

I managed a couple of walleye on the low end of the slot, then manged a decent one drop shoting a Fat Slammer.
All fish were caught a bit deeper then normal, 11-14 FOW. Heres hoping for a productive fall fishing season.

X Factors

When you combine the hottest drop shot bait on the market with a favourable moon phase, you get great results. The two X Factors I am speaking of are the XZone Lures Slammer and a full moon. With the full moon occurring on Saturday night I thought today might present some better odds as the moon was going to be at 100% that evening. As all avid anglers know, the window surrounding the full moon can present a great time to be on the water fishing. Now add in the XZone Slammer and you have the recipe for lots of fish catching power. Saturday the weather was absolutely amazing. It was sunny, hot and humid. I hit the water at around 6 am and fished one spot for a little over 3 hours as the action was so intense. Caught close to 20 fish in one spot. Managed to bring many fish to the boat and lost a few other big ones as they spit the hook boat side.

The Slammer was once again bringing quantity and quality to the boat. The key was color though. Certain colours definitely produced better then others and I found myself switching back and forth several times. Fish were caught in less then 10 FOW. It was also critical to keep moving around. Worked the area hard with the trolling motor and the hard work payed off.

What made this weekend more rewarding was the fact a large tournament was taking place on Rice Lake and they say it is over fished and pressured. Just goes to show that a little local knowledge and patience can yield some quality fish.

Closing Time

Pike season is quickly coming to a close in Zone 20 on the 31st of March and I want to get in as much time on the

water as possible. I decided to head out today and try a different spot as my normal honey hole has not produced of late. This is probably due to the tremendous amounts of rain we have received in the last couple of weeks.

This new spot looked very promising as it has lots of rocks among some
shallow areas which look great for the upcoming spawn. There are also
some emerging weeds that are visible.

With the full moon coming up in a couple of days I thought today might
present some better odds as the moon was at 95% (Waxing Gibbous). As
all avid anglers know, the window surrounding the full moon can
present a great time to be on the water fishing.

I started throwing a Rapala HJ-12 in the Firetiger color and after
about an hour with absolutely nothing to show for, I decided to change
lures. At this point I cut my line and tied on a Suspending Rattling
Wobbler in a Yellow/Pearl Ayu color. This lure is made by Fish Master
Lures, http://www.fishmasterlures.net After tying it on and making my
very first cast, I started my retrieve using various jerks followed by
long pauses. I immediately hooked into a small pike that was brought
in rather quickly due to its small size. It was a 21" pike that
probably weighed around 2 lbs. Hard to imagine that I would hook into
a pike on my very first cast after making a lure change but it does
happen. There are a few things that I like better about the SRW over the Rapala HJ. Firstly, it has more weight to it so it

suspends deeper in the water column. Secondly, it makes more noise due to the multiple tungsten rattle weights inside the
chamber, thus attracting fish better. Finally, I just love the
Gamakatsu Blood-Red treble hooks. Overall this lure is awesome.

Although it was a pretty cold day on the water I still managed to
catch one pike in a little over an hour, and while 21" may be
considered small for a pike, I thought I would put it into perspective
for myself. This is the same size as the smallmouth bass I caught this
summer on Rice Lake. If these two fish were next to one another, they
would have had the identical length and one would have dwarfed the
other. It was now that I realized just how big that smallie was
because I had something I could actually compare it to.

Afternoon On Ice

A few weeks back I had the pleasure of going ice fishing with a buddy of mine who many people say, should have his own show on television. Why you ask? Well the following post will once again prove that my friend, lets call him "G" for the purpose of this story, is a fishing god and can in some magical fashion coax these underwater creatures to the end of your line, which in this case proved to be mine.

The reason I was so excited about fishing this time, was the fact that it had been 20 years since I last went ice fishing and I can still remember being out on Lake Simcoe with my brother having a blast as we hunted out favorite prey. Back then, I remember being in University, drinking beer and putting less emphasis towards the fishing. I remember getting sick and being cold. Well a lot has changed in that time. "G" was confident leading up to our outing and said that we would be hooking into some Slabs for sure but to be patient and to tell the wife, not to wait up.

Fast forward to an unseasonably warm January afternoon on Lake Scugog, which happened to be a day after a full moon? It seems every time I have gone fishing of late it coincides with either a new or full moon. That alone should bring you success on the water or in this case the ice but as we all know when it comes to fishing, you have great days on the water but there is also the odd time that you get skunked.

We arrived in the early afternoon and upon proceeding on the ice with "G's" truck, he mentioned that I should roll the window down. It didn't dawn on me until about a split second later that there was always a chance of going through the ice. I now knew what it was like to be an Ice Road Trucker. After speeding to our spot, the anticipation grew as I knew that "G" managed a limit the previous 2 days out on the ice. Today we were after the mighty Black Crappie.

After drilling a few holes, we were quickly set up, and our lines were in the water in no time at all. I remember a tournament angler saying to me once that the best tip he could give when it came to catching fish was to keep your line in the water. I was expecting to hold them and jig them up and down like the guys out on the ice were doing but he rigged them from the ceiling of the hut so we didn’t even have to hold them. That way when the Crappie started to hit, you would see the line get pulled sideways.

Next on the agenda was starting up the propane heater. A lot of things have changed in 20 years but I don't remember there being heat back then. This was ice fishing in style.

The action started out slow but less than a minute into our adventure we all ready had some small perch on the end of our lines. This went on for some time but most of the perch proved to be small on this day. So patiently we fought of the perch and tried to save our minnows. We were setup over some nice weeds that showed all the tell tale signs of being alive. The water depth was around the 8 foot mark and our choice of gear was ultra light rods with "fly type" ice rigs mounted on them, jig heads and live minnows that were suspended a few feet below the ice. The perch action continued for another hour or so and I was beginning to wonder if we would see any signs of our target fish. "G" assured me that it was still to early for them but they would come out of the depths sooner rather than later. Then, finally just like my fish god had predicted, we managed our first Crappie of the night.

Having only been on the hard water once or twice before I was amazed at how sensitive the bite was. You had to keep a keen eye on the rod tip and the line as the most subtle bite would move the rod and line ever so slightly. Not sure if "G" is a fish god or just has more luck. He was landing way more fish then me, he was able to see the subtle movement in the line. It seemed that "G" was manning all the lines as I was to slow with my observations. I really needed to visually see the line move a lot to catch them but he seemed to detect even the subtle movements. Half the time I wasn't paying attention and he would say fish on. By the end of the night, I was much better at it and it felt good to land a couple of big ones. The action was quite fast and furious for a few hours but just as quickly as it picked up, it seemed to disappear almost instantaneously a few hours later.

I went home with a total of 16 Crappie and one Jumbo Perch and "G" ended up with a limit. I also beat my personal best which now stands at 14”, 1 lb 12 oz. I also remember it being like this whenever we get out on the soft water together. “G” just seems to outfish everyone on any given day. When I got home I got them all cleaned up and had an incredibly tasting fish fry the next day.

Things that I learned: get a hut, gas auger and propane heater if you are going to be serious about it, other then that it was pretty simple. Dress warm as the winds can pick up at any instance. However if I was doing it by myself I probably would have had the hut in a completely wrong section of the lake where there were no Crappie.

Night Time Fun

One thing I really enjoyed a lot as a young kid was night fishing for bass off of a dock. As I was growing, I guess it was more important to get some shut eye instead of fishing. Now that I am taking up fishing in much more serious manner, it has once again, become one of my favorite things to do. The reason I enjoy night fishing so much is because it always turns out to be very exciting and productive. That was especially true this past summer.

When you fish during the day, bass can see all your moves and as a fisherman you need to be as natural as possible and be quiet and stealthy. This means we need to be invisible by using a trolling motor or an anchor instead of stirring up the water. Bass can see the action of your lures and the colours that you have chosen.

At night bass feel secure under the cover of darkness. Night fishing hides our mistakes and makes it easier to trick them with our devious ways. At night they don’t see but they are willing to accept baits even if they don’t look or feel natural. Their color vision goes down at night and you need to make the strongest presentation to them. The best color at night is black because it’s presents the darkest, most contrasting effect, and a silhouette so to speak. Another factor to watch out for at night is the current moon phase.

Even when the stars and moon are out there is still enough light to see what you are doing. After you have done it long enough, you will realize that when you reel your lure in and you raise your rod tip up and hold it up to the sky, you can see how far your bait is hanging off the end of your rod, and whether or not you are all tangled up. Believe me that has happened many times.

This past summer all the above factors worked out quite nicely for me on Rice Lake. The first case was at the beginning of August of 2009, less than 2 days after the full moon (96% Waning Gibbous).

The second case was in early October of 2009, less than 2 days before the full moon (97% Waxing Gibbous). Both of these smallmouth bass were caught using a Jitterbug surface lure. There is something about fishing in the dead calm of night and listening to the distinctive gurgling sounds the Jitterbug makes as it paddles across the surface, just waiting for a splash and explosion from an unsuspecting fish. My best luck has been around midnight at this time of year. By that time of night the water has settled down and is completely calm and the fish have started to feed. On both occasions I remember feeling a thump and you felt weight on the end of the line and you crank back and set the hook and enjoy the fight and memory of a lifetime.

Night fishing for bass will be something I continue to do for many years to come.

March 2010 Moon Phases

INTERESTING FACTS

The moon rises and sets at specific times, according to what phase it is in.

The new moon rises and sets at approximately the same time as the sun.

The first quarter moon rises at mid-morning and sets at midnight. So it's at its height around dusk, not in the middle of the night.

The full moon rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. The full moon is the only moon that will be overhead in the middle of the night.

The last quarter moon rises around midnight and sets around mid-morning. So unless you're a late-owl, you've probably never even seen this moon.


With the end of February fast approaching, I have posted the New and Full moon phases for all you avid anglers so you can plan any outings you may have in store for your favourite body of water.

February 2010 Full Moon Phase

Full Moon in February falls on the 28th.

For those fishermen and hunters who enjoy fishing and hunting at sunrise and sunset here are the absolute best dates to be on the water at your favorite spot.

These are the Major or Minor Solunar Periods that fall near the times of Sunrise or Sunset during a Full or New Moon.

It has been documented that when this condition exists fish will bite on anything they see or smell. Limits are almost guaranteed provided there are fish in the vicinity.

It’s no secret that fish and game tend to feed during dawn and dusk (sunrise and sunset). What amplifies the activity is the effect of a moonrise or moonset plus the specific monthly periods of New (dark) and Full (light) Moons.

When the times coincide with a moon-rise or a moon-set the action can be spectacular. Finally, a change in the local weather coinciding with the periods will further enhance the activity.