Leeches are for fishing not for bloodletting!!!

We had to feed seven – count ‘em – seven ravenous fish eaters yesterday. It was the first rainfree day in a string of about 5 warmish days with scattered drizzle to heavy downpours so we aimed to “make hay while the sun shined”.  The plan was to send out the infamous Japanese long liners! The long liners consist of me, the evil Janeeto (Yes, of the planet Janetron), Baxter and Bart. We take our tiny ultralight fishing poles and park on “the Shoal” in the Piscarious with about 10 beverages and about 3 dozen leeches and fill up a stringer with eating sized bass (say 12 to 15 inchers). We also enjoy a beautiful day on the water. This time we needed about 10 fish to feed this crowd of gourmands! It took us about an hour and a half to complete our task. The cool thing is that several “whompers” were caught and released on the way, Janet caught a 19″, 18.5″ and a 17″ on the way and I (not to be out done) caught a 19.5 incher. Oh, that precious half inch! On initial measurement I only got the fish at about 18 inches – but it was curled and flopping so I remeasured it and it came in at 19.5! The Evil One may leave a comment disparaging my measuring technique but I can assure you all that it was on the up and up! What a beautiful day on the water – northwesterly breezes with a strong westerly component puffy cumulus clouds and warm sun. The bass tasted fantastic for supper too. We wrapped up the expedition a little early and journeyed back for bean bags and keeping a squirrel treed and fun on the beach. What a great day!

It is warmer and sunnier today but still with the comforting northwesterly breeze and I am slated to put a new roof on cabin number 9 – so I may have to get a little long-winded on this blog to delay the inevitable. The lake temperature is in the high 70’s F. The water level on this lake is about normal for late summer. The fish are biting and the insects are fast approaching their low point for the seasons activities. The Humming birds have hatched and fledged and I have to refill the feeders almost daily as the little winged piggies drink and fight with each other all day. Well lunch  and a roof beckons so I must bid you all adieu.

Goddamn Fantastic!

The fishing and weather have been wonderful. The lake temperature is in the upper 70’s F near 80 and the bulk of the mayflies (Janet suggests that they be called “July flies”) have hatched and the fish are nailing leeches and minnows. They are also responding very well to hardware and jitterbugs. Last night me, Janet and the boys spent about 2 hours on the lake at dusk. I caught about a dozen bass on my mepps none smaller than 12 inches and a good one at 17 1/2 inches. I also caught a very well built 30″ pike. Janet nailed a few bass on her jitterbug as well as a small pike. We didn’t do any fishing over deeper shoals, we were fishing the deeper weed beds where the minnows are schooling. Carol Fuller also got a nice perch north of elephant rock – we could hear her squealing in delight from about a quarter mile!

It won’t be all that long until the summer holidays of Vodka on the beach day, Mojito monday, Beer contest on the beach day, All Hail Caesar day, Polish dinner and cocktails, sailing in blustery or calm conditions (depending on the age of the crew – except for “I’m up for any conditions” – Bob Poczik) and the daily bean bag competition as well as all night darts. The Evil Janeeto (from the planet Janetron) has been doing a great job of turf management for beer croquet as well as cross country bocce too! We never run out of beach and lake driven activities and we sometime enjoy a cold drink during the fun!

It rained pretty good today and has cooled to about 75 F so its a very comfortable day. Firth lake levels are not all that different from dryer years. We seem to be getting enough rain to keep up with the demands of the growing season but levels are dropping steadily on the Wapus/Montreal river system and the Grassy is going to record lows this summer. I expect that it will end up about 6.5 to 7 feet below the norm. Sinclair is about 5.5 – 6 feet down now – you can actually walk around the lake now and vast amounts of shoreline rocks and hundreds of feet of gorgeous beach are exposed that haven’t been seen before in this lifetime. The fishing is still very good though and the landing is still in good shape. I actually think that its easier to put a boat in and out this year. I am thinking about a trek to Kapiskong to see the conditions there. It would also be a great year to take another group into Sinclair for beach combing, picnicking, shore lunching and swimming as the die-hards beat the water.  So its all good. Is this heaven? No, its the boreal forest of northern Canada – Sportsmen’s Camp to be specific.