Haliburton Variety Pack, Bonus 4-legged fish

Some photos from a trip up to Haliburton to meet Nick (Mykola) along with a few friends and my cousin and uncle.

Surprise mudpuppy I caught on a glow buckshot while trying for walleye around 6:30am:




The forecast was calling for light snow on and off throughout the day (1-3cm) but it ended up coming down fairly consistently. It was mild out with increasingly wet snow and by the end of the day, everything was completely soaked through. Thankfully, other than a few centimetres of snow collecting on the lake, we avoided any significant slush. We had planned to stick around until dusk for burbot but a flash blizzard ended things abruptly.

Nick chasing some active marks in deeper water, photo gives a good sense of the conditions:



Whitefish caught by my friend Mike (wootang89) on a Simcoe bug:



I landed a very dark coloured lake trout with vibrant orange fins, unfortunately the photo I took didn't turn out well (it was a constant struggle to keep my camera lens dry) but managed to get a decent shot of the anal fin:



Largest lake trout of the day, just over 26":



Overall a fun day despite feeling cold and wet for most of it. Landing a few fish, along with a hot bowl of venison chili at lunch made it all worthwhile. Now to dry off all my gear...

Great outing Mike.
Nice to see your crew got some fish.
How do you work a Simcoe bug for whitefish?

Usually a very slow raise or gentle lifts. With the Simcoe bug being so light I avoid snap jigging so you can detect light bites. I don't typically use it any deeper than 50', takes too long to get down and can be harder to feel hits. Has to be tied direct, no snaps.

Nick is the master of the bug for whitefish though, he can probably provide a better explanation on the technique.

Usually a very slow raise or gentle lifts. With the Simcoe bug being so light I generally avoid snap jigging so you can detect light bites. I don't typically use it any deeper than 50', takes too long to get down and can be harder to feel hits. Has to be tied direct, no snaps.

Nick is the master of the bug for whitefish though, he can probably provide a better explanation on the technique.

Thanks Mike
When they are not picking up spreaders it may give me another option. Often they get attracted in and you can see them on the fishfinder but they wont bite.
Thanks for the info.

Great catch Mike enjoy

Usually a very slow raise or gentle lifts. With the Simcoe bug being so light I generally avoid snap jigging so you can detect light bites. I don't typically use it any deeper than 50', takes too long to get down and can be harder to feel hits. Has to be tied direct, no snaps.

Nick is the master of the bug for whitefish though, he can probably provide a better explanation on the technique.

Thanks Mike
When they are not picking up spreaders it may give me another option. Often they get attracted in and you can see them on the fishfinder but they wont bite.
Thanks for the info.

No problem, it's the most finesse presentation for when the whitefish are being non-committal. Works for lake trout too!

Thanks Frank! See you on the ice at some point.

Very interesting report and useful info, thanks a lot!

I was sick and just happy I could make it out for a couple hours. My technique certainly didn’t pay off this time haha. It’s just a tap on the bottom then dead slow lift, needs a light tip rod so you can see the “up bite” or slack bite. Sometimes micro vibrations as you lift dead slow. Lift em up off bottom 5-7ft, they lose interest, then back to bottom and repeat and slightly tweak you presentation; speed, cadence, vibration. I like a pin head shiner head on the bug. there were lots of fish moving through but not biting. I suspect Whitefish. I actually did have half dozen very light ticks, sizeable marks, but I was too slow…. Blame the sickness. Haha.

Usually a very slow raise or gentle lifts. With the Simcoe bug being so light I generally avoid snap jigging so you can detect light bites. I don't typically use it any deeper than 50', takes too long to get down and can be harder to feel hits. Has to be tied direct, no snaps.

Nick is the master of the bug for whitefish though, he can probably provide a better explanation on the technique.

Thanks Mike
When they are not picking up spreaders it may give me another option. Often they get attracted in and you can see them on the fishfinder but they wont bite.
Thanks for the info.

No problem, it's the most finesse presentation for when the whitefish are being non-committal. Works for lake trout too!

Hey! Looks like my bug!
Typical snout hookset with the bug.

Great photos and outing!

Well done guys!

Cool colour on that fish. Did you teach the mud dog any tricks?

I waited to see if it would crawl back over to the hole on its own but ended up picking it up by the tail and dropping it down head first. What a bizarre creature.

Very cool critter. Not sure I want to hook something like that if I have any control over the matter. And some very nice fish too.