2019 Spring Fishing Adventure
Newboro Lake, Ont., CA.
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May, 2019
Well, we decided to head back to Clear Lake Cottages again this year and fish the Rideau (pronounced Reedo) canal system again, specifically Clear and Newboro Lakes. We headed up a day early for the Memorial Day weekend so we could get as much time on the water as possible. The crew once again was Jon, Myself, Jacob, and Wyatt. As you will see, Wyatt's fishing technique won the day this year.
DAY 1
We arrived in camp about 11:30..ish and after being greeted by our friendly proprietors, Chris and Wendy, we quickly stowed our gear in the cabin and launched the boat. After a quick sandwich, it was time to hit the water and see if the Pike were biting. The cool, wet spring meant the bite might be different than that of the previous year.
Geared up and on our wayThat proved to be true, but only a slight adjustment was needed for success. After trying the upper part of the main lake initially without success due mainly to the wind affecting our ability to drift, we quickly abandoned that location and found fish just adjacent to where we found them last year in slightly shallower water. I'm guessing the water temps had something to do with it.
Uncle Chuck is on the board!So, like I said, we found the fish close to but not exactly in the same spot. It wasn't long before we had our first double of the trip and the first of many for Wyatt.
The fish grabbers proved handy once again, for the most part. Uncle Chuck with another quick bite and my 3rd in a fairly brief time, I think a Mepps spinner was working for me that first day.
If I recall, we worked this area a few times, trying to get a good drift going and casting as much as possible during it. It proved to be fruitful as we added a few more and Wyatt's second may have been the best of the trip, and as far as I know, the biggest he's caught to date. Nice!
Get a haircut, will ya!The Captain is also on the board but last years champ is conspicuously missing from our early success.
After a few hours on the water and a good start, we decided to head back to camp to settle in a little and allow the captain / cook to work on the first nights feast. Jacob decided he would not be skunked on that first day and broke out the heavy tackle for some off the dock fishing in Clear Lake.
Rock Bass and Bluegill - Jacob is on the board!I couldn't resist trying my luck with the panfish and look what I caught.
That is a Splake which is a hybrid cross between a Lake Trout and a
Brookie.Supper looks just about ready, nothing like BBQ chicken on the grill and some doctored up baked beans. That chicken was exquisite, Jon is a good cook, but I think Sweet Baby Ray had something to do with it as well.
So the first day wound down after Jake put a hurtin' on the panfish population off the dock, but he gently released them all :)
It was time to do what was the real purpose of this and all of our outdoor adventures, relax! I mean we are on vacation, right?
Here's the crew chillin' in our comfy cottage on the lake. A good end to
our first day for sure.DAY 2
We woke up pretty early on day 2 so that we could take advantage of the morning bite, we also knew that there was some heavy rain and storms in the afternoon forecast. The morning sun was evident but you could tell by the clouds that something was brewing.
The ol' Grumman is willing and able, let's go fishing.We tried another spot that we visited last year, I think maybe 1 Rock Bass was all that was produced there so we eventually headed back to our favorite group of islands to drift again.
Jake landed his first pike with me for the second double of the trip.Now that I look at the background in that picture, maybe we did get a few at the aforementioned spot. There was one new bay that we drifted into that produced a couple. I believe here we decided we would keep a few for shore lunch as well.
Thanks Wyatt, that one will do just nicely, in the live well he
goes.Well, at least this one will fall in the net if he comes off, pretty cool action shot, I thought.
He's a little small but he'll do for lunch
This one is definitely going to be lunch, the trebles got the best of
him.Back at camp, we are trying out a new method for getting boneless filets from Pike, it worked pretty well for the most part, the smaller fish were a little challenging but I think we have something we can work with now. Thanks to Jacob and Jon for the assist. Hey, where's Wyatt?
So no pictures of the delicious fish fry that we all enjoyed, but believe me when I tell you they looked and tasted awesome. There were actually only a few pieces that had any bones at all, most likely one of the smaller fish which like I said were a bit challenging. If you've never had Northern Pike, they rank right up there with Walleye and Yellow Perch, in my humble opinion!
So it was raining off and on while we were hanging out at camp after lunch, and then it looked like it was going to clear up so after looking at the weather radar, we figured we had a window of an hour or two maybe to see if we could get in some more fishing. We decided to try a bay right on Clear Lake so we wouldn't' be too far from camp if we had to make a quick retreat, which we did.
Wyatt continued his success and added two more pike as the rain began to fall. I think we have a new spot to add to the list.
Our quick trip was cut short by the thunderstorms even sooner than we expected, but not before Jon and I got on the board for the 3rd double of the trip.
So you know, Jon's fish did not sustain that injury during landing, he
showed up with it and seemed none the worse for wear.Shortly after this, the thunder rumbled and the sky started to open up so we raced back to camp, but we managed to land 4 fish in probably less than an hour, and that's not too bad.
The remainder of the evening was spent listening to the heavy rain fall while also listening to some great classic rock, we enjoyed another great camp meal, I believe it was NY Strip Steak, cooked to camp perfection! thanks Cap'.
DAY 3
Sunday dawned with beautiful sunshine and the promise of a bluebird day on the water.
On Newboro Lake in the morning, this photo almost won the choice for the
banner.The crew always looks so chipper at the start of a new day, especially when mister sun has graced us with his presence.
The fishing was a little slower on Sunday, post storm/front etc.. and so on. We also tried a few new locations. We did manage to get a few pike and Wyatt seemed to still have the hot hand. When asked about his presentation and technique, after just showing us the only lure and pole he used, he said, you just have to retrieve a little, then scratch your neck or swat at a bug, and retrieve some more. I'm not even kidding. Translation: A red/white medium Red Eye Wiggler retrieved just slowly enough to get the most snags as well as the most fish on this trip was the ticket.
Even this nice largemouth bass found the red/white spoon appetizing.
No doubt Sunday was enjoyable, especially weather wise. We spent plenty of time on the water and we all got a little but sunburned. Like I said the fishing was comparatively slow, but a bad fishing day on the water is better than most days.
As you can see, Jon added a few more pike to his tally, thank goodness!
He gets a little cranky :)
This is how you make them look big for the camera.Eventually we would head back to camp near the middle of the day to take a lunch break and also prepare the most important side dish on the planet for two of our next few meals.
Bacon! .. yes, on the grill and also on the griddle. Don't judge.Jacob took the opportunity to hone his pan-fishing skills, which are pretty much perfected at this point.
Wyatt took the opportunity (on a dare from Uncle Chuck), to cool off in
the lake.Here's a short video of the action, keep in mind while it was a nice day, probably in the low 70's, the water was about 61-62 degrees.
As tempting as it looked, I settled for a cold drink and a chair while Wyatt warmed himself under a towel on the boat.
After a nice relaxing afternoon at camp, as the sun began to settle, we felt the urge to venture out onto the lake for the early evening bite. We hit our favorite island cluster and worked our drift again, but the action was slow. I do recall getting one or two that didn't make the photo reel. I wasn't too surprised, after all, we did land at least 15 or more pike from this location and a few of them were never returned. We tried another location which was a very small bay and Jon landed probably the only pike in the area as the sun began to dim.
The last evening in camp was very relaxing as well, we enjoyed some bacon cheeseburgers, classic rock, and as we drifted off, the sound of loons on the lake.
Day 4
Again we woke up early, and knowing we weren't in any real rush to get on the road, we decided to do a little pre-packing and then head out onto the water one more time. Our favorite spot had shut down, I recall I had one pike on but he came off rather quickly and other than that, we were skunked. We decided to try a newly found open water hump that looked promising, but yielded no results. If we come back I am sure we will drift it again. Lastly, we hit the very small bay that produced a pike for Jon the evening before. As any good guide should do, he drifted us in nicely and made the call, "shoot now, you've got one chance".
Jake answered the call, and got a nice pike as the reward, maybe the
same one Jon caught, but no matter.In conclusion, I think we all really enjoyed this trip. The fishing action was as good or even a little better than last year. I think we learned a fair amount about the water as well. Of course you never know what life will bring so next year is still an unknown. Jake will have finished his second year of college and Wyatt will be completing his senior year in high school. Unbelievable! God willing, I am sure Jon and I will do a spring trip, and hopefully the boys will be with us. There's a very good chance that we will be back at Clear Lake Cottages again.
Until then