May 13-16, 2021

Another spring has arrived and so another spring fishing trip is in the books. We are still not welcome north of the border, so it was back to Saranac again. We decided to go a little early due to work schedules and the convenience of not needing a reservation during the Memorial Day holiday.

The weather forecast could not have been much better, it was a little cool in the evening but nothing the Mr. Buddy heater can't remedy.

DAY 1

This year we were joined by Wyatt and also a new 4 legged friend.

This is Isla, Jon's new pup and a future fishing mate of mine.


We headed up this year on a Thursday which enabled us to get our pick of campsites and the one with the brand new lean-to was available so we snagged it up. With the weather forecast looking so good, we didn't need to setup a tarp and were able to use the lean-to to keep our gear under cover just in case.

This year I purposely targeted bass initially, Roger had sent me some lures and I wanted to put them to the test. After setting up, we decided to try our luck close to camp in a bay. It wouldn't take long to prove that if they were biting, this lure would work.

I believe this was only my 5th or 6th cast of the trip, a nice healthy Bronze-back to start it off, and I got him on the Z-Man

You'll also notice another addition to the Grumman in the background, also courtesy of Roger. The trolling motor proved itself worthy for sure on this trip. We did not take out the anchor once or need to fire up the small outboard. For controlling drifts and getting into tight spots to get snagged lures, it was price-less.

Before leaving the bay, Jon managed to land his first Pike of the trip, and a nice healthy one to boot.



I recall the fishing action wasn't fast and furious even though we started off quickly. The water temps were low so I wasn't surprised that the fish weren't super active. I was hoping a couple of nice sunny days would improve things.

We tried a few more spots the first day, I managed another bass on the Z-Man and Jon landed another pike before we decided to head back and have an early supper.

 

I recall we also wanted to give the pup a a chance to stretch her legs so we took a walk to a neighboring site with a nice beach to see if she was truly going to live up to her breed.

Oh yeah, she loves the water already - short video here



Like I said, the weather was really nice, the lake was very quiet and the views were spectacular as always.

Middle Saranac Lake sunset showing off the Grumman nicely.



The first night would let us know that the heat is probably coming from now on, it is so nice to be able to keep your head outside of the sleeping bag. We also realized that night that the loons were in great supply this year and also very active, they were so loud sometimes it was uncanny.

DAY 2

 Isla looking a little chilly this morning, need to get her in the sun I think.

Woke up to a promise of another beautiful day in the north country and after some camp breakfast, I think oatmeal the first day we headed back out on the water in search of fish.

I recall we tried a spot that is un-fishable in the fall because of the weeds but is quickly becoming a favorite spring destination. We all caught Pike, but Jon had the hot hand for sure.





We drifted this location a few times that day and the fish cooperated. An old gold standard was the choice of lure on this trip, good thing we have plenty of them in our tackle boxes. Best pike lure ever! Your Grand-dad had one in his box too.

Yeah, I couldn't take it anymore and had to pick up my pike presentation.

We decided to leave a few for another day at that spot and went in for lunch. After lunch we headed back out with another layer on and the fish continued to cooperate.



This trip had a few firsts, the trolling motor was one, another very peculiar experience happened in the creek mouth that we always fish. There's a small deep hole near the end of it that we usually pull a few nice bass out of. I was fishing for bass there and saw something follow my lure and turn at the last second. It was at least 2 feet long but didn't look like a pike, it was from the family "Salmonidae" for sure, looked like a Lake Trout to me. At first I didn't believe my eyes until he almost hit my lure again and then Jon's as well, so I had verification. What's odd is there are no Lakers in Middle Saranac, it's deepest spot is only right around 20 feet. We've never seen trout in the lake. It's still a mystery, we never did catch him.

Jon did manage another nice gator from the creek though.

Time to head back for an early camp supper. Another great day on the water, right Isla?

DAY 3

It's a new day, the sun is shining, and everyone is happy, let's go fishing.



Another first was I decided to try to capture some underwater video of a Pike fight. I brought a GoPro along and attached it to the handle end of the old oar. Once I had a pike on, I asked Wyatt do the honors. Came out pretty good, I will definitely bring the GoPro back and try again in the fall.

Here he is during the fight - link

And here she is after a successful net assist from Jon



While we did do some fishing on the last full day of our trip, we also cruised the lake a little and took a stroll on the beach. The water was so high, there wasn't much beach to speak of, but it was still nice. The sun was warm even though the water was cold.

Isla doing what labs love to do.

This place even has a floating bar, how cool is that?
Isla wasn't too sure about it, but she was willing to try it out.

As the last full day was winding down, we decided to head toward camp so we could get dinner done early again. Before bringing her in for the night, we tried a few drifts again near our favorite bay. the captain was nice enough to navigate using the trolling motor while Wyatt and I tried to land another fish or two. Wyatt was throwing a Mepps I believe and landed one pretty quickly.



Just as we drifted off of a point, I managed to catch a pretty nice Smallie as well. My theory about the fishing improving with a few nice sunny days was proving to be true. I think the water temp had bumped up a few degrees and that was all it took to get them active.



We did one last drift deep in the bay (shallow water) and to my surprise, my best bass of the trip slammed my pike spoon. Shortly after that, my best pike of the trip slammed my spoon very shallow and very close to camp. A great way to end the trip for me.

I know I said I was targeting bass early on, but this fat Smallmouth hit a big pike lure.

This big gator rolled like a real alligator when she got into the net, what a chore that was.

Not the last time I'll get a pic of this I am sure!

DAY 4

See ya in the fall, God willing