Norm & I hit another lake today to see if we could tackle some more trout & salmon on the fly. We arrived at the ramp with the air temps barely 35 degrees, but the sun was out making it feel much warmer. Winds were out of the N at 10 knots and the air had a chill to it too. By the time we finally got set up and fishing, it was almost 9:30 and we were anxiously awaiting our first rip. I don’t think we had gone 15 minutes when the long line let out our favorite sound & we were locked. It felt like a good fish but just briefly as the line went limp not long after. The fly was all twisted around the shank and the tandem wire was mangled leaving us wondering how those razor sharp hooks never got penetration. The next rod to fire was the other long line and this one stayed pinned right until the net. Once in, the hooks were out and the fish was free. They really weren’t hammering the baits, just nipping at them as we were about to see. The morning bite lasted for a few hours in this area before we opted for another location in hopes of bigger fish. We went 3 for 6 here and didn’t appreciate the odds! Although the water temps were about 43 degrees and bait was everywhere, we could only manage 6 bites and that was too slow for me to stay any longer. Round two was even stranger with the absence of trout all together. Oh we had many hits and landed several fish there, but they really weren’t what we were after as we trolled through what seemed like miles of prime water. I had found water temps in the upper 40’s and marked big schools of bait in several of the areas but was hooking smallmouth bass everywhere I went. I was concentrating in 30 to 40 feet of water and the fish I was marking were suspended, causing me to think they were either trout or salmon. What a surprise to find they were bass and some of them were quite large as we hit a few that were over 4 pounds. After a few hours of covering water without any success, we decided to go back to the location where we began. Apparently, it was a good decision as the first reel screamed in less than 3 minutes and the game was once again on! We were to land the first 5 salmon that attacked our offerings and somehow lose the next 6 that fired the reels. In just a couple of hours, we had shots at 11 fish and that was great. By the end of the day, we had somehow only managed to land 8 out of a possible 17 salmon. Unfortunately, the heaviest fish that we were into didn’t make it to the net as we were barely able to move it before the hooks pulled free. The unknowing is always the worst as we were left in awe! Although we were able to go 8 for 17, the odds still were below 50% and that just sucked! Overall a great day on the water with plenty of action and nobody got hurt!!!

The weather was looking just too good today to pass up, so I gave Norm a call and as luck would have it, he was willing to hit the water again for more fly rod action. We arrived about 9:00 and with the S/W winds of 5 to 15 knots, began the troll. Water temps ranged between 42.5 all the way to 48.5 depending where we were. Sunshine and high temps of the mid 80’s were what we eventually received and it felt more like August than April. It took quite a while before we had the first hit and oh what a screamer it was. It had to peel off at least 50 feet of the backing on the light action fly reel before it stopped. I thought we had a giant as Norm battled the fish and I turned the boat around trying to get some of the line back onto the reel. As our luck would have it, the lengthy battle ended in disappointment when I saw that it was a northern of at least 7 pounds. Good fight, bad result! This was the second pike with 3 other perch that we had caught and it was about to get even worse. When the next reel fired and the line wouldn’t stop going out, we were sure of what was attached and put more pressure on the fish not too be worried. Sure enough as expected, another 5 pound northern! I figured that there were only pike in this area and started to head for deep water when another reel started screaming, but it stopped quicker than expected and showed signs of headshakes. When it took to the air and we saw silver I think we were both a little relieved. Eventually, a 17 inch salmon was soon in the net and the skunk was out of the boat. Unfortunately, this was to be the last of its kind for this area and after about another hour we relocated. I guess it was a good move because in less than 3 minutes in this area, the first reel screamed once again and another 16.5 inch salmon was leaping like a fool behind the boat. Number 2 and more to follow! When the next reel fired, simultaneously another one also started to scream and a double header was on. Too bad one of them decided to jump over and tangle another fly line and came unpinned in the process. We lost the salmon and landed the brown instead! The action continued for about 30 minutes longer with us landing a few more and missing a few others as well. The largest was a brown of almost 4 pounds and oh what a fight it was. We finally called it a day around 5:30 and headed home. A rather slower than expected day, but it finished with a bang!

I headed to Magog only a couple of days after the trout opener with Mike, Phil & Peter today in pursuit of some salmon action. The weather was great yesterday with the air temps reaching the mid 80’s, but we weren’t going to be that lucky on this outing. Although we did manage to dodge the rain and even had some sunshine, the north winds of 10 to 20 knots made the air temps feel like 40 at best. I knew I would have to find warmer water if we were going to get into anything and left the 39.5 degree surface in pursuit of better temps. I found an area that was showing signs of 44 degrees and decided to start there hoping for some action. Once the 4 fly rods were set out we didn’t waste much time before the reel screamed and our first of many drive byes occurred. I think there were 2 or 3 of them before we managed to get one of the salmon to the net but it wasn’t looking good. I was sure it wouldn’t make the cut and didn’t even bother measuring it. At best, it might have gone 14 inches. We trolled all over this area and hooked a few more with the first one being a slight hair longer than the 15 inch limit and that was good enough for us. The next fish of 16 inches came from over 100 feet of water and just crushed the fly! The 4 or 5 hours we spent in there produced 4 fish and only 2 of them were long enough to be legal. We also had about 6 or 7 drive byes with one of them a real screamer. It must have taken out 20 or more feet of line on the initial hit and then, gone. A combination of tiny minnow baits and tandem streamers accounted for all of the action today, but not fast & furious. We did spend the last hour or so trying a couple of other spots just looking for an aggressive bite, but it wasn’t going to happen. Although we were marking enormous balls of baitfish and many hooks around them, it was difficult to trigger them into eating our offerings. We decided to call it quits around 4:30 p.m. and headed back to the ramp somewhat satisfied with the first attempt at Magog salmon. I spoke to a couple of guys back at the ramp and they hadn’t done a thing all day. Oh well, that’s fishing I guess! Although a tough day, still one with some action!

I fished once again with Norm for salmon & trout today, but had a little tougher time than the last outing with only 4 fish coming to the net. We began around 9 o’clock, but never really got a bite until about eleven after trolling over all kinds of bait and fish marks. They didn’t want to eat! The weather was beautiful with sunshine and almost no wind at all. Water temps were ranging between 40 & 43 degrees in most areas, but I found almost 46 degrees in one particular area and worked it hard only to come up with one violent drive by. It wasn’t until we ventured off shore into 30 plus feet of water that we finally had a reel go off and it was game on! The deep line was the one to go and a chunky little salmon of almost 17 inches was soon in the net. There were lacerations and scratches along the sides of this fish that showed signs of an Osprey attack too. Oh well, I guess he got lucky at least once! Not long after the first rod went off, another one fired and it was the other deep line as well. A second salmon of over 17 inches was our reward this time and after quite a while of washing lures afterwards, we decided to relocate once more. It was definitely tough fishing today as we only managed to land one more salmon and a very nice brownie of over 3 pounds with 3 or 4 other drive byes as well. Overall, a slow day, but still a great day to be on the water! Air temps managed to make it all the way up to 62 degrees today and were definitely much warmer on land too.

After the last outing, I just had to get back to the lake today with Christiane in hopes of more of this incredible action. We arrived around the usual time and went to work almost immediately setting the lines. The boat traffic was unbelievable this morning with boats everywhere! I tried to fish the usual areas but soon found it to be barren and difficult to fish effectively, so I had to leave. The only fish we saw was from another boat passing by that I had to yell at, telling him that he had a fish on. Christiane flew out of her chair when I screamed; “FISH” and I thought she was going to have a heart attack! Oh well, glad I could help out a fellow angler! The weather definitely wasn’t helping the cause today as we continued to receive winds from the N/E that made the air temps feel a whole lot colder than they really were. At 10 to 20 knots, it felt more like 30 than the 40 we were in. Thankfully, the sun was out and that made it a little more tolerable. I really don’t know how long we went before we had the first reel fire, but I do know that it was somewhere after lunch before it happened. I had managed to find water temps that were above 46 degrees and decided to troll all around the area hoping for a taker. This was the right move as Christiane battled a salmon of 16.5 inches right into the net. This was the first fish so far this season that I can honestly say was hungry as the hooks were all the way inside its mouth. After a little surgery, into the livewell she went for dinner tonight. The water was really looking good in this area and we worked it for quite a while getting two others up to 17 inches and one missed strike as well. We had managed to land only 3 salmon and were looking for our fourth to fill out the limit and had to cover plenty of water to do it too. About an hour later and almost 2 miles away we had one on that went to the air and threw the hooks. I really wasn’t being too optimistic about landing a fourth and was just about to call it quite when another reel went off and this one came to the net. I was definitely ready to call it a day now as it was 4:00 and we had decided earlier that we would end the day one way or another at four. Talk about getting in under the wire! It wasn’t what I had expected, but it was still a great day with lots of water being covered in order to find fish and stay away from the other boats at the same time too!