This past weekend we awoke in the north to something we haven’t seen on a Saturday in a long time… Sunshine and weather that was warmer than -15*C. This could only mean one thing… FISHING! And seeing as I had received some amazing new tackle to try this weekend, I was all in!
This weekend I was using a few of the new items I received from Gremlins Custom Baits (courtesy of Canadian Fishing Network and a contest), and some Big Sky Flies and Jigs that I purchased last week after doing a post to see which Canadian Tackle makers our followers preferred on the blog. The video’s from the unboxing can be seen here:
Big Sky Flies & Jigs Unboxing Video
Gremlin’s Custom Baits Unboxing Video
We got out to our lake, which is located on HWY 655 North of Timmins, Ontario and is hardly fished even though a skidoo trail passes within 100 m of the lake itself. It is home to a healthy population of Pike and Perch from what we’ve seen, and are unsure if any other species are present. Paul, Darla and Andon took to a ski around the lake, while I chose to find a bay and try out some of my awesome new jigs & bucktails. and of course, as promised… a hot dog. I drilled in my first hole, which was about 6″ of white ice, followed by a void of about 3″, and then an additional 15″ of white ice, for around 24″ of solid ice on the lake in my area. I set up my first rod with drop shot consisting of the Brown and green tungsten feather bucktail I received from Gremlin’s Custom Baits on the bottom, and a Here Fishy Fishy from Big Sky Flies & Jigs about 8-10″ up with a prepacked minnow from Albert’s Sports & Work Wear. I had just set my first line in the water, getting ready to drill my secondary hole, when there was a direct hit. I attempted to set the hook, and failed, whatever on the end stealing the minnow. I quickly brought up both baits, and set on a new minnow. Dropping down I proceeded to jig the line a couple times, in which I noticed that the jig and bucktail were quite smooth and didn’t cause a secondary pull when they reached the end of the line, and it was fish on with a classic Northern Pike! She took the line for a good run before I had a solid set on her, and was able to bring her back. For a brief moment I was regretting the 6″ auger hole I had manually set, and was wishing I’d thought to bring the 8″. Her head and sides filled the hole as she came up, at this point with both baits, and I was able to land her on the ice with a quick woohoo! At this point she snapped the line and I wasn’t quick enough to notice, and my Gremlin hit the ground and slid right back into the hole…… my heart sinking right along with it…. But I was quick to switch back into mode and took a couple quick pictures with the Here Fishy Fishy still visible and get that pretty girl back into the water. She was approx. 3-4lbs and an absolute beauty in her colours.
I took a few moments to do another quick excited video of all that transpired, and set to drilling my second hole. In that one I set a Pink Flash Big Sky Jig and a piece of hot dog. Unfortunately the experiment did not succeed, as I was only graced with the one fish for the day. The rest of the afternoon was spent with Paul, Darla and Andon returning from their skiing trip with Mia (aka Bush Dawg), and the noise level increased, I didn’t get any additional bites. That’s ok! You see, our fishing crew also currently has a little side contest going, inspired by true Canadian Fishing Network Fashion, the contest is most species caught from Feb. 1st – Dec 31st, and I am now on the board with a Northern Pike!
I cannot wait to try out more lures that I have coming in the mail, and getting more videos and photo’s out for you guys as well as some more reviews on some great Canadian products! Tight lines all and have a great up and coming Family Day Weekend. Remember this weekend in Canada, from February 17-19th (12:01am Saturday to 11:59pm Monday) residents in the ages of 18-64 years of age may fish for free without a license!!! They fish under the Conservation fishing license limits which can be found online for your Recreational Fishing Regulations Summary. The next Family Fishing Event will be held on June 30th-July 8th and is a full week! Get out and take a friend fishing that hasn’t been, let them try out some of your best tackle and gear.
