Way north bass guy

I threw the kid off on a shoal in the middle of Georgian Bay today so he could swim. Then I proceeded to drop shot up about 20 bass all around him while he swam and snorkelled for a while. He even got to watch a few hit my bait and watch other bass chase them around while I fought them. Dad was happy, kid was happy.

Got my first “shipwreck bass” today. Took the kid out on Georgian Bay for a few hours this morning. We caught a bunch off shoals and points, but the best fish of the day came off an old steam ship that’s been down there for over 100 years. In the gin clear water you could easily make out the hull, it’s over 100’ long too. Surprisingly we didn’t get many off of it, but the kid thought it was pretty special to fish around a wreck.

Could try this maybe ?‍♂️

Yeah, I turned it on for the last few minutes and after about 30 seconds had enough of that nonsense. Hope they get that fixed for the future.

No big deal, just six 1/4” holes through the anti-cavitation plate. You’re nowhere near any internal gears etc of the motor, can’t hurt anything in the motor drilling through just that section of aluminum.

Bingo, this is the exact answer. Not that I’m ever trying to hit anything, and I’ve been fairly successful so far, with the exception of a few “connections” with bottom, but if you’ve ever fished the 30 Thousand Islands region of Georgian Bay, you’d understand exactly what I’m talking about.

Yes, but they also are a heck of a lot cheaper to replace when your in a place where almost all the bottom is granite, and there’s literally thousands of shoals everywhere ( Georgian Bay).

I don’t fish them in real thick weeds, but I’ve had great success with owner ballhead jigs in 1/4 and 3/8 oz with a 3.8 or 4.3 size Berkley Power Swimmer. So far this year I’ve caught a ton of nice smallmouth and big pike on them, and hookup % has been fantastic.

Haha, good eye. I took this pic while I was part way through the install, everything’s all tightened up and been that way for a couple years now with no issues.

Looks like she’s in pretty nice shape, love those colours too.

Last night we had the sun and moon at exact same heights on either side of us, was a pleasant evening on the lake for sure.

I have one made by a fellow in Louisiana. Look up Chris Bailey foils online, he custom makes them to fit any motor, you can get them in aluminum or stainless steel, painted or unpainted, and matching logos that say whatever you want in the sides. They don’t look as ugly as the big “whale tails” of the past either. He ships them right to you ( I’m in Canada and it only took a week or so to get), and it definitely helped my boat. I’m kind of maxed out in pitch for my prop to get the correct rpms at wot, and the only time I needed a bit of help getting on plane was if I had more than 3 people in the boat ( not often but enough that it was a pain when I did have that many). With the foil, I can pop right out of the water, stay on plane at a much lower speed, and it didn’t mess with my top end speed at all ( it’s out of the water when running full speed/trim).

With our bass season finally open, I can now add to this thread. Took the kid out last night for a few hours before dark. Caught one largemouth up shallow on a frog, I threw in to a tree four times and he blew up immediately every time before I finally hooked him ( really thought I’d get more but I guess they had other plans), then we headed out to the main lake and caught some smallmouths on a popper and a drop shot.

I’m afraid all of us northern guys up here will gladly tell you that “that”, is not near the coldest place on earth ?. Here’s a typical day fishing with my son for nearly half the year.

The top ones are what I use. A two pack for that price is pretty darn good, and I use them for fishing and work. Even for a guy that’s lifting rock all day and working with cement, they hold up excellently.

Is that your pedestal seat post your using for the jack ratchet lever? #Macgyver

I’ve also been way more careful with the sun, especially since I had a kid and now he’s out with me all the time. We’re always in full gear, long sleeve uv shirts, long, light pants, big sun hats ( love my Tilley), and good sunscreen on the small exposed parts. I also work outside year round, so I’ve been wearing my uv shirts all the time to work now as well. I’ve been using the Hanes uv shirts, can get a two pack on amazon for $22 CAD. Also a fan of the Columbia sun pants. In the hottest part of the day, even while at work ( and I’m a stonemason so it’s not like I’m sitting at an office chair or in the shade all day), I’m quite comfortable dressed this way.

Congratulations! My wife and I are only working on year number 15 this fall, hope to get as far as you eventually.

After a long wait, we finally got our season going here. My son and I went to a lake close to home that’s known for numbers, not big one’s, but that’s alright. Figured it’d be a good way to get the “rust” off our bass gear. Hit the water first thing, and stayed for about three hours until it started to get hot out, and we managed around 30 bass. Most were only a pound or so, but we did find a few up to almost 3lbs. Almost all came on a smaller Live Target frog in shallow pads and eelgrass, and they were absolutely choking it! I was pleased to see I hadn’t lost the touch over the long winter/spring, as my hookup % was pretty high, only lost about two or three strikes. We also managed to get a few on a Berkley Maxscent Creature Hawg on a Tokyo rig. First time I’ve used the Tokyo rig, and I was impressed. I had two 1/8oz tungsten bullet weights back to back, and I was in some fairly heavy weedgrowth, as well as some decent sized laydowns and never once got snagged up. I also could feel the bites quite well on them, and hooked any bite I had quite well. No monsters today, but it was still a good start, got a good case of bass thumb and the kid got a good swim in before we left so all is well.

A white spinnerbait with double white willow blades has been killer for big smallies for years, especially on dark, cloudy days or if the water is a bit silted up.

Caught several pike over 40” on 6lb line before. Not a big deal if your in fairly open water and you don’t try to rush them in. My wife caught this 40lb lake trout on 10lb years ago. I had to hold it for the pic cause it was too big for her to hold onto without fear of dropping it.

Yup, definitely not a good bait to catch a ton of good sized smallmouth.

I’ve never been a huge red wine drinker, but lately I’ve been enjoying some Apothic Red out of California. Goes well with just about anything, even on its own. Beer wise my favourite is a local brewery, Muskoka Craft Lager. It’s about the only beer I drink anymore, except for a few different reds.

I caught a 3lb smallmouth on a spinnerbait a few years ago that had a full sized squirrel halfway out of its throat. It had caught the squirrel a while before, as the fur had pretty much all fallen off, but you could easily tell what it was. I’ve also seen a squirrel get eaten by a largemouth while it was swimming across a pad filled bay. The bass hit it two times and let go before it finally got him enough to take him down completely. Maybe I should be throwing brown/orange coloured frogs?.

Man that’s the truth. It hardly ever gets that hot here during the day in the summer. Not sure if my northern blood could handle heat like that.