10-01-2007, 02:58 PM
After weekends of weddings, wedding preparations, and home maintenance, the wife and I finally got a weekend to get out and catch some scaly friends.
We headed to one of our favourite spots - Lucky Puddle.
Air temp: 65
Water temp: 60
Water clarity: 4ft
Barometer: 30.6
Winds: switching between NE and SE at 10mph gusting to 15mph.
Sky: Clear with scattered clouds.
The night before I had decided i would carry my pontoon in to the lake instead of my usual Fat Cat tube. I wanted to see how it would handle with my flippers and against winds.
We had also decided to take in the minimum of gear - top water and spinnerbaits only and no fish finder.
We hit the water at 07h30 and decided to target the deeper edges off structure.
We threw top waters for about one hour taking a few hits from some dinks and nothing more.
Just before 09h00 the wife hooked into a 2lber which gave a decent fight with about three nice surface breaks.
Twenty minutes later she hooked into a 1lber. From there on out she hammered hoards of perch and two pickerel and a bunch of dinks schooling off a lay-down.
I was beginning to stare a skunk in the rear when i hooked into a dink on a yozuri SS Minnow.
Ten minutes later a second dink came to play. I figured that was going to be my lot for the day.
But at 12h30 after a pastrami on rye, I decided to change tactics and use a spinnerbait to target small channels amongst the fading lily pads. Soon I was fish on with a 3lber.
Shortly afterwards I reeled in an 18" pickerel.
That was it for the rest of the day, besides some pretty perch. As we were headed towards our take out point, we noticed bait fish skittering and jumping all over the surface out in the deep water, right where I had suspected the bucket mouth royals were going to be when i saw the weather forecast and barometer reading.
Also the edges were crowded with pan fish, making it very unlikely that many bait fish would be around where we were throwing our lines.
But since I had not headed out with getting a bag limit but rather a test for my pontoon in a new situation, I was pleased at the outcome.
My wife and i took one last look at this beautiful lake with her turning trees, said goodbye to her 'til next year and headed for home.
For the rest of the year it's flies and rivers.
![[Image: my_pontoon.jpg]](http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/threedeejesus/my_pontoon.jpg)
![[Image: nicoles_2_pounder.jpg]](http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/threedeejesus/nicoles_2_pounder.jpg)
![[Image: my_3_pounder.jpg]](http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/threedeejesus/my_3_pounder.jpg)
![[Image: skinny_pickerel.jpg]](http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/threedeejesus/skinny_pickerel.jpg)
![[Image: pretty_perch.jpg]](http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/threedeejesus/pretty_perch.jpg)
-ABT
[signature]
We headed to one of our favourite spots - Lucky Puddle.
Air temp: 65
Water temp: 60
Water clarity: 4ft
Barometer: 30.6
Winds: switching between NE and SE at 10mph gusting to 15mph.
Sky: Clear with scattered clouds.
The night before I had decided i would carry my pontoon in to the lake instead of my usual Fat Cat tube. I wanted to see how it would handle with my flippers and against winds.
We had also decided to take in the minimum of gear - top water and spinnerbaits only and no fish finder.
We hit the water at 07h30 and decided to target the deeper edges off structure.
We threw top waters for about one hour taking a few hits from some dinks and nothing more.
Just before 09h00 the wife hooked into a 2lber which gave a decent fight with about three nice surface breaks.
Twenty minutes later she hooked into a 1lber. From there on out she hammered hoards of perch and two pickerel and a bunch of dinks schooling off a lay-down.
I was beginning to stare a skunk in the rear when i hooked into a dink on a yozuri SS Minnow.
Ten minutes later a second dink came to play. I figured that was going to be my lot for the day.
But at 12h30 after a pastrami on rye, I decided to change tactics and use a spinnerbait to target small channels amongst the fading lily pads. Soon I was fish on with a 3lber.
Shortly afterwards I reeled in an 18" pickerel.
That was it for the rest of the day, besides some pretty perch. As we were headed towards our take out point, we noticed bait fish skittering and jumping all over the surface out in the deep water, right where I had suspected the bucket mouth royals were going to be when i saw the weather forecast and barometer reading.
Also the edges were crowded with pan fish, making it very unlikely that many bait fish would be around where we were throwing our lines.
But since I had not headed out with getting a bag limit but rather a test for my pontoon in a new situation, I was pleased at the outcome.
My wife and i took one last look at this beautiful lake with her turning trees, said goodbye to her 'til next year and headed for home.
For the rest of the year it's flies and rivers.
-ABT
[signature]