Break the ‘ice-fishing blues’ by planning your 2010 spring fishing trip to Bracebridge and Huntsville area lakes. Search through this fish stocking list from the Ontario MNR. The list shows which lakes have been stocked by Lake Trout, Brook Trout , Brown Trout, Splake and Rainbow Trout in 2009.

Download the 2009 Fish Stocking List by clicking here. (PDF format – 2.5 mb)

Areas Included In This Fish Stocking List

What is encouraging to me is that many of the fishing haunts I have visited have been stocked within the the last 2 years. For example,

• Vernon lake was stocked with 5400 lake trout in 2008.
• Mary lake had 2200 lake trout added in 2009
• Elusive brown trout were added to the North Muskoka River (2000) and Beaver Creek (1500)  – both near Bracebridge

The MNR has asked that if you catch a “clipped” trout (lake trout and brook trout are tracked this way) that you record where you caught the marked fish and report which fin was clipped. This information can be shared with the biologists at the Bracebridge office:

Stephen Scholten
Fisheries Biologist
Bracebridge
(705) 646-5523
steve.scholten@ontario.ca

Jacob and his father scored big while ice fishing on Mary Lake this week! Both anglers were excited to pull out two of Mary Lake’s popular sport fish: A Northern Pike and Lake Trout.

I was checking around for local ice fishing updates when I heard that Jacob had hooked into these fish. They were fishing from a ’secret location’ somewhere on Mary Lake in 35 feet of water. Jigs tipped with live bait tempted the trout and pike to strike. There was 8 – 10 inches of ice.

The duo braved a blizzard to reach the sanctuary of their hut. Jacob wondered if the changing weather system was a contributing factor to making these fish (and others) hit their jigs.

Jacob Hehir holding his hard water Northern Pike

A great lake trout from Mary Lake!

I was able to get an interview with 13 year old Jacob and he patiently answered my questions about fishing with his dad. He has been fishing as long as he can remember. His mother shares that he had several visits to an ice hut as a baby. Jacob appreciates being able to spend quality time with his father. Not only is he able to learn more about fishing from his dad, but he enjoys the freedom of being able to share ‘life issues’ in the shelter of their ice hut or boat.

Jacob’s top 2 game fish to pursue are smallmouth bass and lake trout. For exciting summer  bass action, he recommends fishing during the early morning calm with top water ’spooks’. His tips for new ice anglers are simple:

1. Dress Warmly
2. Watch Your Lines

Before I finished my interview, Jacob wanted me to be sure to include a ’shout-out’ to one of his favorite fishing mentors, Louie Miceli.

Thanks for your time Jacob! I appreciate it.

*Note – If you have would like a photo of your ice fishing success stories to appear on my blog, please email them to me using the contact information below.

Friend to Muskoka Outdoors and fly fishing jedi, Gary, caught this beautiful steelhead in the Nottawasaga River close to Barrie.

The November caught trout was a great end to the season for Gary. It also marks the first time Gary has used a guide for this river and attributes the success of the day to his guide, Graham Bristow. In Gary’s words,

We caught 6 steelies in one day, missed at least 4 hook sets and 2 greater than 8 lbs which let go after jumping. Graham showed me how fish this productive river and the technique is much different than I initially read about.

If you would like an exciting day fishing on a Southern Ontario river, like the Nottawasaga, contact Graham through his website: Angler’s Pro.

Thanks for the photo Gary!

These pictures shows that at least one huge Lake Trout and Pickerel have been caught and still swim in Lake Muskoka 2009.

New friend and co-worker, Erin, shared these 2 fish photos with me. She caught this beautiful lake trout this spring in Lake Muskoka. Specifically (and it was all she would share with me), she hooked into this lake trout at “The Kettles” while using a jig head and minnow.

Before I could post the Lake Trout photo, Erin excitedly told me, at work, to look at the cell phone photo of this 14lb pickerel she caught last night. It was also netted and released in Lake Muskoka. The exact location still remains a ’secret’ to Muskoka Outdoors. The pickerel fought for over a half-hour on Erin’s old and ‘questionable’ fishing line. Erin claims it was luck – but I say it was skill. Great work Erin!

I got a kitchen pass on Sunday from 8am till noon. After all the gardening and setting the dock height,  I decide to tackle the stretch of the Little East from the Novar Motorway Bridge up into Fish Lake. This is stretch of marsh/river I had seen from the turn-off over the several years we have owned our cottage. A section I have seen numerous times, but never got round to fishing.

Float tube on my back, I found a spot on the bank where I saw clear, but tea stained, water. Setting my rod up, I noticed I had already got a fan-club of several dozen black fly and ‘mossies’.  I got out the “OFF!” and sprayed Arms/Legs/Noggin with liberal quantities of 30% deet and it seemed to do the same job as that ugly gorilla that accompanies Simon Cowell everywhere (at least on the Mossies). The Black flies like getting into the hair and they seemed tenacious – if somewhat reluctant. I hoped the deet would last but I had another spray in the tube as a back up. No breeze in the warm, overcast air made it ideal for the bugs to keep track of me – albeit from a distance of two or 3 feet downwind.

Note to self: Bring the bug jacket next time.

Spirits high, I set off up-stream planning to fish the lake first, and let the fish in the river settle. I would fish the river while drifting back down later. Not seeing any rises at all, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to slowly troll a small lure as I paddled up the river. Not 50 metres later, the first hit on the line was an 8″ baby large mouth bass that took my gold-bead fritz lure (white body, green marabou tail). It was to be one of a dozen LMB (up to 15″) and some decent yellow-fin perch that I would catch before I made it to the mouth of the river.

Then, I drifted into a deserted and calm Fish lake. A few red-winged Blackbirds swooped around and the chorus of Bull frogs heralded the morning as I sat back and admired the scenery. Although I was fishing for the Speckled Trout, I had a feeling that the number of LMB in the river did not bode well for them.

The river was deeper, slower and wider at this point – though only 2-3 miles downstream of my usual spot. Already, I could see the river changing as it meandered down through Arrowhead provincial park until joining the Big East river (a few miles down). It seemed the bass were looking for the river as a feeding and mating spot, and the trout had decided to head upstream further only to be blocked by the old beaver dam. This dam created a good flow rate, riffles and white water.

Looking over to the far side of the lake I saw a huge Rock Face climbing several hundred feet into the pine forest above. Some large birds of prey were circling in the up-current on the edge of the cliff face. Knowing that the lake bed and the shore line always bear a close resemblance I knew very deep water lay at the base of the cliff – my thighs and calf muscles almost on fire as I went “ramming speed” over to that side. I had 3 more hours before curfew and had to make it count.

It was a dark, deep and rocky place so I put on a metal cone-head lure and went in search of some lake trout in the depths. It may seem odd, but at this point, I was dreading the Bass that continually kept smashing into my lure with gusto! I was unhooking a fish every few minutes it was hardly sporting.

I came to the conclusion that I should either come back when the ice is on the lake and go drill a hole (when the bass lie dormant) or at least come a bit earlier before the water warms up. Never the less, I hi-tailed it back down the river, re-applied the deet and hooked into many more SMB and LMB on the way back down. It was a productive day with a total in the 30’s, not bad for 3 hours fishing!

Without a float tube or Canoe, it would not be possible to fish the marsh-rivers up here, wading is too difficult and the water too deep in places. As there is no “bank” it puts off the average Joe-Fisherman and means the places are never fished.

What a shame.. and it’s all FREE!!

*Note – All bass caught were released as it is not yet bass season. The author was in pursuit of trout.

So, there I was, loading my all my fishing gear into our aluminum boat, when grandpa walked onto the dock with a slight glimmer in his eye. He asked if he could go with me this time. Without hesitation, I said sure. He smiled as he said, “Let me get my gear.”

I was looking forward to using some of my new ‘birthday money funded’ tackle.

When he returned, I noticed he only carried an old, lime green fiberglass fishing rod and a small, green, metal tackle box. When he stepped into the boat, he placed his antique gear (at least it was to me) beside my huge 6 tiered tackle box. He whispered some kind of ’smart’ comment about my gear under his breath and proceeded to laugh about it.

I didn’t bother to ask him what he said. It was nice to have him along.

After we pulled away from the dock I asked him where he wanted to go. As if anticipating my question he suggested we look for a shoal that he had not fished over for many years. He pointed to general direction on the lake and cranked the the throttle on my 15 HP Evinrude.

“I don’t recall exactly where it is but I will tell you when to stop.” he said.

I remember thinking that this could get very interesting…

Sure enough, after a few minutes, he told me to slow down. His eyes were double checking some points on the the shore and correlating them with some points from an old memory.

The fact that we were in middle of lake did not seem to worry him.

“Let’s troll here.” he said as he reached for his tackle box. When the lid flipped over in his box. I laughed inside. All he had was a rusty Williams Wobbler that would would run shallow in the depths I thought we were in. He snapped it onto his leader and casted behind the boat to start his troll.

I reciprocated his tackle selection by opening up my tackle box and picking out a large-lipped, Sinking, chartreuse Rapala and casted behind the boat. I left the shallow running spoon section closed in my box. This lure was going to go deep because I ‘knew’ there was not going to be a shoal out here.

That’s when the lesson began.

Grandpa started moving his fishing rod back and forth at random intervals.

“The fish will strike the lure when my rod is moving toward the back of the boat”, he said.

Intrigued, I started doing the same thing.

Suddenly, it hit hard and fast. That old shoal grabbed a hold of my lure and did not let go, Within seconds my line snapped. An expensive birthday lure lost. Grandpa started laughing and started to bring in his line.

“I should check it for weeds”, he said

His spoon only had a small weed fragment on it. Like it had just grazed the tops of the weeds on his shoal. He looked at little disappointed.

“It seems to be shallower than I remember”, he exclaimed.

I swear he was trying to rub it in.

After he had casted his line out again, I opened my tackle box and meekly put on a Williams Wobbler. Grandpa continued to show me some trolling techniques over his shoal. We did not catch any fish but it was time well spent.

Several years later I returned to the general area with a fish finder.

I have yet to find Grandpa’s shoal.

*If you have read this before that’s because I have been occasionally reposting some of my favorite posts from when my blog was just starting out. This way, some of my, ‘buried’, posts may get read by my newer visitors.