Splake Slay part 2, In the rain again

[Drew]

Was getting a bit of cabin fever this afternoon after a day of rain. Had a feeling the splake would be on with the rain/winds and dropping pressure. Had a line in the water at 6:08pm and was off the lake by 8:20. Wow were they ON! Had my limit in no time, first half hour or so. Boated about 14 or 15, lost 6 or 7 more right by the boat, and missed as many as I caught. Probably the best splake fishing I’ve ever experienced. Again, not much for size, but they’re stocked fish, so I’m getting all the same year class about 14-15 inches.

[Drew]

Another feed of bright orange/red fillets.

I did troll around different parts of the lake to see, but had only one quick strike on the far side and that was it. Every fish I caught was within one small area maybe 50 x 50 feet they seemed to be all stacked up there. Tossing a 1/4 oz jig head with 3” Gulp minnow did all the damage.

There were times I could look down and see 2 or 3 fish swiping and smacking my jig, sometimes they would just grab it gently and start heading to deeper water just kind of carrying the bait. Lots of hooksets that just popped out, as they only had the Gulp in their mouths.
Neat to watch their behaviour in the super clear water.

[mykola]

Nice fish, I visited some friend who were crown land camping yesterday and they had yet to find any fish. They were in very tiny lakes, fishing for browns and brookies, but no luck. It was surprisingly nice yesterday despite the rain.

[xiaolu]

Some nice fish!

[Drew]

Mmmm

[Longshank]

nice catch


you are driving me nuts I'm coming up that a way in a week, can't take it anymore and time to open up the old cottage

[sparky302]

Nice catch Drew !!

[Dbfish]

Lovely!!

[Collingwood Dean]

Those fillets look awesome!

[Knuguy]

wow Quite the outing! so much for that old rhyme---When the wind is from the West........... Any idea why they would congregate in that one spot?

[Drew]

Well I have to say a hatch/feeding ? they had some small chronomid type wormy things and a couple dragon fly nymph type bugs in the stomachs. Rooting around in the mud picking up whatever moves around. This was an area that was under the ice one week prior when I was there. On my previous outing one of the fish I filleted had a salamander in its belly. I don’t think there are many minnows in this lake, as I’ve seen no evidence of them, and the splake should be bigger according to when they were stocked - I’d expect this size if they were stocked in 2022, but these guys were put in there prior to that.

I’d say the wind was pretty well straight from the east (the fish bite the least)?
All I know is they don’t bite at all when I’m on the couch. It always amazes me to have such a resource, and no one else is out, and have the entire lake to myself - I guess it’s too much work to portage and paddle instead of backing a boat in someplace and running the throttle. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[Dayfat]

WOW look at the colour of that meat! Nice work!!

[Knuguy]

I was surprised to see that big rock in the bow, presumably for ballast. Some of use either a big chunk of wood, which you prob wouldn't have, or a water container completely full of water to avoid sloshing. BTW, there is one thing that I have learned thru bitter experience---never, under any circumstances whatsoever, refer to your bow person as 'ballast'. They generally do not like that!!

[Drew]

Yeah, I usually grab a good size stone or two - more if I can’t find any large ones - I’m always using a 16’ prospector, and when alone I do sit in the bow seat, facing the stern. The boat is symmetrical, so it’s fine to paddle in either direction, just keeps my weight more central. Still, when the bow raises up out of the water at all, even slight breezes can grab hold of the canoe and whip the bow around, sort of pivoting around the weighted spot(me). Therefore, keeping maybe 100lbs right up front keeps that portion in the water and can’t be blown around so easily. Long explanation, and I’m sure you already knew all that, but maybe someone else reading learned something.

Just small things you learn over the years make life easier - like making a foam ‘donut’ siliconed to the floor of my canoe to jam a transducer in - add a splash of water first, and it sounds right through the hull, eliminating any drag/tangles and allowing super shallow water travel without messing around.

[Knuguy]

I use one of those donuts too. Not sure where I got the idea from. I use my ice ducer. The reg one tends to tip over.

I do very little solo paddling I, likewise, have had the bow swinging in the wind so much that paddling was a real PITA .

I think the main reason not to use a rock is to avoid the possibility of having the canoe sink in case it got swamped.