shsimons
Well-known member
Tom, Scott, Denny, Dad, and I made the 20 hr trip from Indiana starting last Friday night. We got into camp in the afternoon, and all just crashed and had a few good drinks. It was cold, probably in the 40s when we got there. We rigged all of our equipment, including 25 lb fluorocarbon leaders. I was excited to get at it.
Day 1- Man, it sure was cold. I ended up catching around 6 northerns in Finlayson Creek. The best part? They all came on the Foley Spoon, they seemed to like the large white one the best. I only had a few Foleys. I believe everybody else went fishless, except for Denny catching 1. Next year I'm taking like 50 big foley spoons!
We did have a nice batch of northerns to eat for lunch, so we headed back to the cabin, ate 4 northerns, and then fell asleep for awhile. I awoke to it snowing pretty hard. I asked if anybody else would want to go out, they decided against it. So I went back by myself. I start throwing the largest white foley spoon against the point in Finlayson Creek. No bites, so I picked up anchor and started throwing by a big tree. Before I knew it, I had 6 pike from 30-34 inches. Then, the gator pike hit. I fought it for several minutes, and it was lashing all over the place. I eventually got it up to the boat. I was even getting the net ready, then I saw it clamp its massive jaws down and bite my leader off. The bite turned off, and I headed into the cabin. I felt pain in my fingers and I realized that my hands were extremely cold, I just happened to be operating on adrenaline trying to get pike in the boat all by myself.
Day 2- We woke up, and it couldn't have been more than 35 degrees out, making it to about a low of 28 during the night. We headed back to Finlayson Creek. Now, by this point, I had lost my only 2 25 leaders, and all the big foley spoons. I could not get a bite on any of the smaller spoons, so it must have matched the exact prey size or something. We had a really slow morning, only catching 2-3 fish. The post front conditions must have had the fish shut down. So we headed down to Jackfish Creek, and struck out miserably there. We all went back to the cabin kind of feeling miserable from the cold, and were disappointed Jackfish did not pan out. We still had a nice lunch of beans, potatoes, and even SOME SPAM!
In the afternoon, we headed back to Finlayson. I caught a few northern 28-30 inches, and was feeling a bit better (at this time, I hadn't realized that the 60 lb fluorocarbon leader was really turning off the pike. Then I had a nice surprise, a fat 17 inch smallmouth decided to hit a curly tail. That was a fun fight, and it was nice as most of the bass were still out in deeper water in the 45-52 degree water temps.
Day 3- It was still really cold in the morning. We started out in big trapper bay, and struck out. We threw the book at them, 3 inch curly tails, spoons, rapalas, swimbaits, sonars, mepps, you name it. Nothing. We made our way back to finlayson. I caught about 2 fish, none of them keepers, they have to be under 28 inches to keep at the lodge we go to. So, it's back to the cabin, with no fish again. I am starting to wonder what is going on. We went back to Finlayson after that. I was throwing a yellow curly tail, then I felt a subtle bite. My lind was not darting around like usual with the pike. So I had a good feeling. A minute later, a really nice, 22 inch walleye surfaces. Now, this was HUGE SURPRISE, there are no walleye in the lake. They come up Finlayson Creek to spawn from Tablerock Lake. Well, with the water so cold, they probably wouldn't be in for another 2 weeks. It made my day, as I only caught around 4 fish today. Now, I was perplexed, as my step brother and friend were now catching more fish than me. They don't fish, and I was glad the luck was turning their way. I was confused though, normally I start slow and close strong when I figure out the pattern. To be continued.............
Day 4-The next day we start in Finlayson. Scott catches 2 nice keeers and I bring in a 27 inch keeper. Sweet, we have pike again for lunch. Almost the best eating you can have, other than the walleye. We decide to head to big trapper bay. We fished it hard, and Denny pulled in a nice 32 incher on an orange syclops. We thought we were going to get them, but it did not pan out.
So we had a really great lunch, the potatoes, beans, 4 pike, it was great eating. We were pretty amped up in the afternoon. I had to make a decision, should we go back to Finlayson with my Dad, big trapper, or jackfish? I decided to try for jackfish. We made the 20 minute ride to the other end of the lake in our 18 foot lund powered by a 40 horse yamaha. Denny was throwing the orangle syclops, and Scott and I had on IDENTICAL 3 INCH CURLY TAILS that were green and white. Scott caught around 4, Denny 2, and me 0. Scott's were 30-33 inches long, and by this time, it snapped in my head. They don't like this leader. So Denny still had a 25 lb on his extra rod. I took that one, and first cast, I caught one. Then I caught about 10 in maybe 30 minutes. The pike only fed heavily around 4-5 in the afternoon when the water temps peaked. It was seriously like a fishing show for 45 minutes, we caught so many pike on 3 inch curly tails. One time, Denny hung up with me, and both our lures came a little bit out of the water. A pike came out of the water and grabbed my curly tail. 2 other fish I caught, I didn't even get to reel, they already had it.
So that night at the dinner at the lodge, great meals by the way as we were on the dinner plan, everybody was talking and they struggled all day. We just happened to hit the bite right with the right lures. We were feeling proud. I could not wait for the last day.
Day 5- We went back to Jackfish, and it was slow! Denny caught 2 20 inchers on the orange Syclops. So we picked up anchor and headed further out in the bay. I was working a chartreuse curly tail on a pink head when I had a subtle strike. A lot of the pike were biting lightly as they were still sluggish. Then it took off like a freight train. We picked up the motor, anchor, everything as we knew this one would make a hard run at the boat. After taking me way under the boat and back out the other side, only my reel was out of the water. I worked him out slowly, and Scott put the net under him, a fat, 35 3/4 inch pike. My trip I felt, was complete as far as fishing went. At this point I had a 34 1/2, 34 3/4, 35 3/4, a 17 inch smallie, and the 22 inch walleye.
We stopped at Finlayson, getting a double, a nice 29 incher for Denny, and a few more to round out the morning.
We headed back to lunch, with some more keeper pike in tow. We had some egg salad sandwiches with tartar sauce to complete the meal, that was interesting.
We were headed out that night back to the states. The wind was really whipping and the lake looked nasty. We went ahead and packed everything up. A feeling came over me, I remember how good it was in jackfish the afternoon before. I asked if anybody wanted to go, and I brought back a few pictures to make them regret it later. I made the trip out, with a small tackle box of a few curly tails and a couple other lures. I pulled into the bay, easing up with the trolling motor. I dropped the anchor quietly. I threw the chartreuse curly tail and felt a subtle thump, I set hook, and a nice pike came off. I threw in again, this time, it was a healthy 36 incher. Then it was like those tv shows you watch where they edit all the fish together. I probably caught 15 more, with another 10 lost as they were biting short, in about 45 minutes. It was about every other cast, and my curly tails were quickly ripped to shreds, otherwise I think I would have caught even more. A few other hard fighting 30 inchers made their way to the boat, and a plump 34 incher. Then I headed out in the bay, didn't even reel and had another 30 incher. Now, I didn't take many pics, trying to photograph a pike by yourself, well, let's just say it is difficult. It might have been the best fishing I have every had and I was the only boat out on the lake because the fishing was tough all day. I was in the perfect spot when the dinner bell rang was all.
I drove the boat back, feeling content, feeling like, man, I really love my life. Nothing like working hard all year teaching and then facing nature for a week in Canada. It's tradition, dad has gone since he was a boy and so have I.
Some other sights would be bald eagles, a lynx which I missed unfortunately, a black bear on the drive back out, and lots of different birds. Also, an angry beaver which was a blast to watch.
If you actually read this report, I am planning on posting plenty of pics, so check it out later as there might be more that I added.
I wish I was still there.
Day 1- Man, it sure was cold. I ended up catching around 6 northerns in Finlayson Creek. The best part? They all came on the Foley Spoon, they seemed to like the large white one the best. I only had a few Foleys. I believe everybody else went fishless, except for Denny catching 1. Next year I'm taking like 50 big foley spoons!
We did have a nice batch of northerns to eat for lunch, so we headed back to the cabin, ate 4 northerns, and then fell asleep for awhile. I awoke to it snowing pretty hard. I asked if anybody else would want to go out, they decided against it. So I went back by myself. I start throwing the largest white foley spoon against the point in Finlayson Creek. No bites, so I picked up anchor and started throwing by a big tree. Before I knew it, I had 6 pike from 30-34 inches. Then, the gator pike hit. I fought it for several minutes, and it was lashing all over the place. I eventually got it up to the boat. I was even getting the net ready, then I saw it clamp its massive jaws down and bite my leader off. The bite turned off, and I headed into the cabin. I felt pain in my fingers and I realized that my hands were extremely cold, I just happened to be operating on adrenaline trying to get pike in the boat all by myself.
Day 2- We woke up, and it couldn't have been more than 35 degrees out, making it to about a low of 28 during the night. We headed back to Finlayson Creek. Now, by this point, I had lost my only 2 25 leaders, and all the big foley spoons. I could not get a bite on any of the smaller spoons, so it must have matched the exact prey size or something. We had a really slow morning, only catching 2-3 fish. The post front conditions must have had the fish shut down. So we headed down to Jackfish Creek, and struck out miserably there. We all went back to the cabin kind of feeling miserable from the cold, and were disappointed Jackfish did not pan out. We still had a nice lunch of beans, potatoes, and even SOME SPAM!
In the afternoon, we headed back to Finlayson. I caught a few northern 28-30 inches, and was feeling a bit better (at this time, I hadn't realized that the 60 lb fluorocarbon leader was really turning off the pike. Then I had a nice surprise, a fat 17 inch smallmouth decided to hit a curly tail. That was a fun fight, and it was nice as most of the bass were still out in deeper water in the 45-52 degree water temps.
Day 3- It was still really cold in the morning. We started out in big trapper bay, and struck out. We threw the book at them, 3 inch curly tails, spoons, rapalas, swimbaits, sonars, mepps, you name it. Nothing. We made our way back to finlayson. I caught about 2 fish, none of them keepers, they have to be under 28 inches to keep at the lodge we go to. So, it's back to the cabin, with no fish again. I am starting to wonder what is going on. We went back to Finlayson after that. I was throwing a yellow curly tail, then I felt a subtle bite. My lind was not darting around like usual with the pike. So I had a good feeling. A minute later, a really nice, 22 inch walleye surfaces. Now, this was HUGE SURPRISE, there are no walleye in the lake. They come up Finlayson Creek to spawn from Tablerock Lake. Well, with the water so cold, they probably wouldn't be in for another 2 weeks. It made my day, as I only caught around 4 fish today. Now, I was perplexed, as my step brother and friend were now catching more fish than me. They don't fish, and I was glad the luck was turning their way. I was confused though, normally I start slow and close strong when I figure out the pattern. To be continued.............
Day 4-The next day we start in Finlayson. Scott catches 2 nice keeers and I bring in a 27 inch keeper. Sweet, we have pike again for lunch. Almost the best eating you can have, other than the walleye. We decide to head to big trapper bay. We fished it hard, and Denny pulled in a nice 32 incher on an orange syclops. We thought we were going to get them, but it did not pan out.
So we had a really great lunch, the potatoes, beans, 4 pike, it was great eating. We were pretty amped up in the afternoon. I had to make a decision, should we go back to Finlayson with my Dad, big trapper, or jackfish? I decided to try for jackfish. We made the 20 minute ride to the other end of the lake in our 18 foot lund powered by a 40 horse yamaha. Denny was throwing the orangle syclops, and Scott and I had on IDENTICAL 3 INCH CURLY TAILS that were green and white. Scott caught around 4, Denny 2, and me 0. Scott's were 30-33 inches long, and by this time, it snapped in my head. They don't like this leader. So Denny still had a 25 lb on his extra rod. I took that one, and first cast, I caught one. Then I caught about 10 in maybe 30 minutes. The pike only fed heavily around 4-5 in the afternoon when the water temps peaked. It was seriously like a fishing show for 45 minutes, we caught so many pike on 3 inch curly tails. One time, Denny hung up with me, and both our lures came a little bit out of the water. A pike came out of the water and grabbed my curly tail. 2 other fish I caught, I didn't even get to reel, they already had it.
So that night at the dinner at the lodge, great meals by the way as we were on the dinner plan, everybody was talking and they struggled all day. We just happened to hit the bite right with the right lures. We were feeling proud. I could not wait for the last day.
Day 5- We went back to Jackfish, and it was slow! Denny caught 2 20 inchers on the orange Syclops. So we picked up anchor and headed further out in the bay. I was working a chartreuse curly tail on a pink head when I had a subtle strike. A lot of the pike were biting lightly as they were still sluggish. Then it took off like a freight train. We picked up the motor, anchor, everything as we knew this one would make a hard run at the boat. After taking me way under the boat and back out the other side, only my reel was out of the water. I worked him out slowly, and Scott put the net under him, a fat, 35 3/4 inch pike. My trip I felt, was complete as far as fishing went. At this point I had a 34 1/2, 34 3/4, 35 3/4, a 17 inch smallie, and the 22 inch walleye.
We stopped at Finlayson, getting a double, a nice 29 incher for Denny, and a few more to round out the morning.
We headed back to lunch, with some more keeper pike in tow. We had some egg salad sandwiches with tartar sauce to complete the meal, that was interesting.
We were headed out that night back to the states. The wind was really whipping and the lake looked nasty. We went ahead and packed everything up. A feeling came over me, I remember how good it was in jackfish the afternoon before. I asked if anybody wanted to go, and I brought back a few pictures to make them regret it later. I made the trip out, with a small tackle box of a few curly tails and a couple other lures. I pulled into the bay, easing up with the trolling motor. I dropped the anchor quietly. I threw the chartreuse curly tail and felt a subtle thump, I set hook, and a nice pike came off. I threw in again, this time, it was a healthy 36 incher. Then it was like those tv shows you watch where they edit all the fish together. I probably caught 15 more, with another 10 lost as they were biting short, in about 45 minutes. It was about every other cast, and my curly tails were quickly ripped to shreds, otherwise I think I would have caught even more. A few other hard fighting 30 inchers made their way to the boat, and a plump 34 incher. Then I headed out in the bay, didn't even reel and had another 30 incher. Now, I didn't take many pics, trying to photograph a pike by yourself, well, let's just say it is difficult. It might have been the best fishing I have every had and I was the only boat out on the lake because the fishing was tough all day. I was in the perfect spot when the dinner bell rang was all.
I drove the boat back, feeling content, feeling like, man, I really love my life. Nothing like working hard all year teaching and then facing nature for a week in Canada. It's tradition, dad has gone since he was a boy and so have I.
Some other sights would be bald eagles, a lynx which I missed unfortunately, a black bear on the drive back out, and lots of different birds. Also, an angry beaver which was a blast to watch.
If you actually read this report, I am planning on posting plenty of pics, so check it out later as there might be more that I added.
I wish I was still there.
