My friend Bert and I have returned from three full days of fishing the backwaters of Lake Ontario for pike. It was a great trip, one that lived up to our expectations.
The weather was the big wildcard for the weekend...one day we were in shorts, the next day we were in warm jackets and got poured on. But the fishing was steady, with many, many pike caught in the 22-26 inch range and several over 30 inches. We also ran across a few clusters of pre-spawn smallies who had no reservations about whacking our pike flies....oh, and Bert landed a four pound largemouth that hit in about 6 inches of water.
The best flies were those that combined both movement and flash; if it had one without the other, it just wouldn't get attention. Another thing worth noting is that on the first two days when the weather was fairly warm and stable, we caught more of the medium sized fish and fewer of the big girls. However, on the third day when the cold front moved in, we caught nothing but fish over 30 inches.
Here's a few pictures....
Me with one of many nice pike on one of the warm days...
Here's Bert with one of many pike as the cold front started to come through...
And finally, here's the biggest fish of the trip, caught by yours truly as the storm with the cold front finally arrived in force...
All in all, I think that I could go again.
The weather was the big wildcard for the weekend...one day we were in shorts, the next day we were in warm jackets and got poured on. But the fishing was steady, with many, many pike caught in the 22-26 inch range and several over 30 inches. We also ran across a few clusters of pre-spawn smallies who had no reservations about whacking our pike flies....oh, and Bert landed a four pound largemouth that hit in about 6 inches of water.
The best flies were those that combined both movement and flash; if it had one without the other, it just wouldn't get attention. Another thing worth noting is that on the first two days when the weather was fairly warm and stable, we caught more of the medium sized fish and fewer of the big girls. However, on the third day when the cold front moved in, we caught nothing but fish over 30 inches.
Here's a few pictures....
Me with one of many nice pike on one of the warm days...
Here's Bert with one of many pike as the cold front started to come through...
And finally, here's the biggest fish of the trip, caught by yours truly as the storm with the cold front finally arrived in force...
All in all, I think that I could go again.