Georgian Bay

Broken PB pike?! Nope, 0.5lb smaller. Despite being my favourite lake and knowing generally where fish are, it can still humble me as I found out today. I somehow ended up at the lake by 6am today, compensated with lack of sleep, and didn't catch anything of note for approx 6 hours. All the bass and pike where I'd expect them were not there, or were not interested in eating. There was a noticeable decrease in bait balls, and many returns on screen I believe were actually a healthy population of cat fish... Confirmed with a couple of reluctant bites Moving to a bank I've never visited, I potted my first ever structure holding a ball of crappie. It looked like a tree sticking out of the silt, with foliage of fish! I picked off a few before both they and I moved on. Nearly giving up the day's pike mission as a failure, I grudgingly pushed myself to go a bit further, into a bay past the narrows. As soon as I rounded the corner, the biggest bait ball I've ever seen on this lake appeared on screen. It was a surreal sight, as images of giant schools of fish in the oceans flashed through my mind. Where the food gathered, predators followed suit. Everywhere I scanned, pike lurked in a dead zone below the school. Around 8 hours in to the day, I finally found the fish I'd been looking for. Aside from a couple of marauding bass popping in once, the rest of the predators were all decent pike. Quickly, I picked up a couple on conventional lures, then a few more on the fly. One simple decision in a fishing day can really change the entire outcome. Had I simply left without forging on past the narrows, my quest for pike would have been a failure.

Yak group outing! Took the gang to my favourite lake. Not the easiest place to fish but lots of quality fish around if you can trick them. Beika's 10lb channel cat was quite a crazy score. Seeing it on screen chasing a spoon like a bass or pike was sick! Photo is a near black smallie a smidge over 4lb. Came in a 3-pack but I lmissed the other 2. Also can't believe we got 2 walleye. They were supposed to be very rare here

Danny took us to one of his favorite spots. We are having a fun day! Enjoy the full video!

Just a small guy🤘

Graphic photos at the end Main event for the day! After spending a long time searching for bass with only a little bit of success, I decided to turn around and hit my favourite spot on my way back The same spot where I caught the 14.5lber pike last year. Before I got there though, I saw a suspicious large blob on the screen. It hugged the bottom and didn't look like the numerous small bait schools I've been seeing all day. I decided to stop and toss the jig at it. Almost immediately the blob showed a reaction and slowly rose up toward the shad. I hovered the jig over his head and twitched it like an injured minnow, keeping it just ahead of the blob. Breath held, eyes wide, anticipation building but ready for disappointment, like the many refusals by bass I had earlier on. As the blob neared the lure, it started to show the shape of a long fish. With a smooth kick of the tail, I watched the torpedo zoom forward, amalgamating the 2 sonar returns into 1. A light thud was felt on the rod as the tip started to curl downard. A quick pull skyward and the tug of war was on. During the fight, the beast held it's strength and energy, as if with a plan in mind. As I held him in the net while grabbing the pliers, he sprang into action. Jumping cleanly out of the net and making a B-line away from the yak. Luckily the rod didn't get pulled into the depths and I had him back in the net after a second round. As I tried to get a weight, he leapt again while twisting his body. In the flurry of action my finger ended up in his mouth somehow despite using a gripper, leaving me some nice battle scars. As I was prodding the damage, a tooth popped out of the wound 🫪..... He came out at 9¾lbs. Merely ⅔ the size of my previous PB but left a bigger mark in me. Literally. The action wasn't over yet... I kept moving toward my favourite spot as I pondered how to stop the bleeding. Nearing the spot, I spied another large mark on screen. This one even more of a pike shape. I casted the shad at the mark again, struggling to reel while down one finger. It took a few tries, but the torpedo shape launched itself into my jig close to my kayak and immediately ripped drag. This time the fish was markedly more energetic. Drag screaming, rod bent into a "C", the adrenaline pumps started back up and I felt the anticipation again for a second giant in such a short time. Grind... Rasp... My heart sank as I realize I'm feeling the pike's teeth on the line... I had 30lb fluorocarbon tied on, I thought it was safe. It wasn't. As it went for yet another big run, it succeeded in breaking free as my rod swung back with a limp line. I managed to bring the fish to the surface only once. While it wasn't as big as the first one, it must've been at least 5-6lbs. The rest of the day was a blur as I bypassed my favourite spot, occupied by a boater family swimming and diving from the cliff. A little baby pike on the super fluke rounded out the trip. It was not fun packing up with the adrenaline wearing off but it was a day I will not soon forget.

First time back to my favourite lake to target bass. Didn't realize until I left but I spent nearly 13 hours on the water 😨 Took a very long time to find any fish willing to bite on the sonar, and even then they acted quite pressured and refused everything. Only managed to fool 1 bigger smallie on a green pumpkin senko after turning their nose up on a similar Yum dinger with chartreuse tail. A long ago gaming friend in the US sent over some of his flies for pike, but the wind turned up quite high so only managed to throw it for a short time. Still managed to land a little smallie tho! I'm really enjoying jerkbait fishing for pike. You can see them ripping through the dark water and t-boning your lure even from afar. Very cool! Speaking of jerkbait, I tried a zoom superfluke on the picky smallies in the flats. I was having a hard time zeroing in on them on the screen and left the the lure in the water in front of me after jerking it in. As I was trying to figure out my screen, a big smallie smoked the slow sinking bait and ripped drag! Unfortunately I didn't react with a good hook set so he came off after a single jump. What an exhilarating experience! But the main event is to come in the next part...