Fall is back? Open water fishing trip, lots of pike and some walleyes...

What a weather we are having lately - unbelievably and unseasonably warm. I, like most of forum members, is waiting and preparing for the upcoming ice fishing season but it looks like this year it’s not happening anytime soon.

My buddy has thrown me a curveball a few days ago by suggesting we take advantage of unfrozen water and forecasted +14C this Thursday. I figured, what the heck: my boat is in my home garage and is not winterized yet so why don’t we try to hit an open water on Dec 16 and have some fun casting lures?

The wind forecast was 25-30 km winds with 50-60 km gusts but we decided to still give it a try and a hit a smaller lake with open pike and walleye season.

Arrived around 12 pm at the boat lunch we were relieved to see the open water and no ice near the launch or anywhere else. The wind was lighter than forecast at about 15 km SW.
The water temps were around 1.5C.

We went to some of our known spots and right from the get-go we caught a couple of 3 lb pikes on deeper running jerks in 10-11 FOW. Then it was slow for a couple of hours and we have been searching around, casting and changing lures, but most importantly having a good time on the water again.

And then after 3 pm the wind has started blowing harder, the skies darker and the fish became more active. 24 V 80 lb Terrova was holding us in place with no issues and we start catching more pike in 3-4 lb range here and there.

We tried many lures today, including spinners, jigs, spoons but the water became a bit stained after recent rains and melting snow (the water level was up about 2 feet), so all fish was caught on deeper diving jerks and lipless cranks (vibs) as the weeds started to lay down in places and fish was hugging bottom and required slow retrieve with long pauses, i.e. boring lure cadence.

it was a weird feeling , pulling very cold pike out of the water like they have been in a freezer when the air temp was at 13C.

Just before sunset the wind has increased to around 30-40 clicks and I caught two nice walleyes: 22” and a chunky 25“ – both on 3.5” deeper diving jerk in 9 FOW

We ended the fishing at sunset, catching 11 pikes and 2 nice walleyes.

Now bring on the ice!
But my boat still not winterized yet, just in case….

Wind picked up around sunset time...

One of the pikes...

22" walter...

Water temps
My fishfinder gave me a Low temp warning message

The 25 incher. Was quite a fight and lots of headshakes...

Lure used for walleye- zoner jerk 90 SP

The choice of a lure was not by accident but based on the following considerations:

- Diving depth - around 7-8 feet (was fishing in 8-9 FOW) so it dives as close to the bottom as possible
- Weight transfer system for long casting in very windy conditions
- Fairly loud internal rattles to attract fish from distance in very wavy and overcast conditions
size - 9 cm - just right for walleye in colder water in my opinion (for pike I would use a larger size)

It has certainly been unseasonably warm. The water must have been rough with yesterdays wind.

Not sure if you were fishing Simcoe or just posted it here, but not to many Walters in the lake.

NICE REPORT!

Man, I was fearful it was all going to just be hut reports after November... but this was a welcome surprise Great job. I absolutely loved reading it. Absolute unit of a walleye.. great job!

Fished a smaller lake in central Ontario (not Simcoe) but posted here as we don't have a separate section on the forum

Crazy, but nice outing JB!
Awesome eyes.
I had similar thoughts and was pretty sure you would go and post.
Too strong wind and too busy at work for me... next time.
Thanks a lot for the great report.

Now I am hungry. Great pictures of some fine fish there. You lucked out with the wind, where I was fishing it was wicked wind. Good job on getting the fish to take a lure, that takes patience this time of year. My approach was lazy, used big minnows yesterday again. Did your fish hit slow and then go crazy after you set the hook like my pike have been doing??? Also can't wait for spring, forget winter. HUMBUG.

Thanks.
A bit too early for ice reports yet. it's ice fishing preparation, equipment maintenance and covid discussion type of mode on the forum.
My friends are doing steelhead fishing in the creeks but it's a bit too crowded for my taste.

Thanks, RM. Yeah, the wind was strong but actually lighter than forecast so was tolerable on the water and even no whitecaps.
I also did a couple of shore fishing trips in the last couple of weeks to lake O for pike and caught a few ones including a nice 10 pounder but did not post.

Also had a surprise carp catch on a vib.

Thanks, CM.

In the area where I fished the wind was not that bad and no whitecaps on the water.

As far as pike goes everything was exactly as in your case: the lure bite was light and most of the pike was barely hooked but they put up a decent fight when hooked. i was surprised as the water was 1.5 C

I will likely be shore fishing now as they forecasting lower temps and then ice fish. We shall see how that goes.

tight lines and stay safe.

Great report & beauty fish !!
Thanks for sharing !!!!

Might be a little while before we see some HW on Simcoe so some shore fishing might be my only option for action.