Georgian Bay, Ontario

Caught this smallie on a jerk bait

Third and last day in Muskoka. Sleeping in a bit, I packed up my stuff and left the accommodation for a new spot, hoping to find a less traveled water access. No such luck as the place was under construction so back to waterfall I went. With yesterday's learnings fresh in mind, I took all of my remaining small wooly buggers and decided to throw in 3 squirmy wormies. Little did I know, this was about to unlock the easy button lol. Taking it slow, I meandered my way to the water while avoiding the slippery mud along the way. People had already fished the spot before I got there, but my approach was different than them. Instead of blindly throwing worms under bobbers, I stalked my prey. Creeping up on ledges and weed beds, I precisely casted my flies at specific fish, and pulled a number of them from spots others overlooked, including the decent one in the first photo in the area people take out their watercraft. I moved on to the cliff and sightfished from above like before, but decided to start trying the squirmy wormies. Oh wow did this start feeding frenzies. Nearly every cast netted me a rockie or better yet, smallie. I spent much time and effort trying to tie all sorts of intricate streamers, but in the end, wooly buggers and pink worms produce the most lol I moved on after a few dozen rockies and about a dozen smallies, deciding to check out the lake above the falls. Lake fishing turned out a different beast, but I did manage to catch a few decent fish, but it will be something new to figure out in the future. All in all, this Muskoka adventure was fun and productive, with a new species unlocked, new rod christened, and goal of big bass on the fly accomplished.

Woohoo! Goal accomplished and new fly rod christened in a big way! Day 2 of Muskoka trip started rocky. More time wasted at the spillway with no gains. Before the afternoon thubderstorm, I hiked back to the waterfall that partially inspired my trip, and hooo boy was it a good move. I casted my limited supply of small wooly buggers into the pools below the waterfall and netted a basket load of rock bass, and lost a 1~2lb smallie. Lesson learned, bass mouths are harder than trout! Little wimpy trout hooksets are NOT enough especially with rock-blunted hooks. Carry a hook sharpener! The rocks in Muskoka really wear them out with all the snags. I moved down the cascades to the main spill and took a cast into the flow. IMMEDIATELY something hit hard and the battle was on! Remembering to actually set the hook this time, I kept him pinned and did my best to hold on while he pulled drag. After catching my breath, I moved to the opposite bank and saw a 5lber largie cruising and watching me. The obviously wise fish had visibly been caught recently, with a healing wound on his mouth. He showed interest in a few of my fly offerings, but in a fishy world where wisdom is earned by a mouthful of hooks, this guy knew better than to taste test unknown things. The rest of the day turned into a learning experience. While the fish here were less pressured than a roadside spillway, the number of people I saw hiking and portaging in explained why the fish were still wary. A leader and fly downsize were required for the bites to happen, and even then they were light and difficult to detect. Many of the smaller fish were sight fished from above.

Nice smallie on the jerk bait

Falling while fighting a largemouth bass 😂😂

Some nice pike