Long Lake, Nova Scotia

Despite being very busy working two jobs, I manage to fish at least 3-4 time a week. Granted, I rarely have the chance to fish for more then an hour. I get an hour long lunch and I work right beside a good size lake that has a healthy population of bass and trout so I really have no excuse not to fish regularly. With an 11 month old baby boy nearing his first steps, I try to spend ever minute I’m not working hanging out with him. Luckily he takes long naps, and goes to bed at 7pm, so I sneak in a couple of hours of fishing before sunset on most weekends. Last weekend I introduced my buddy Adrian to a new lake called Long Lake. We have fished several local lakes in the Halifax and Dartmouth area and I think we can both agree that Long Lake is our new favorite.

It takes me about 10 minutes to get to Long Lake from my apartment in Halifax and is an ideal lake for a shore fisherman. The lake is full of good size bass too. We didn’t catch any huge fish, but the fish we did catch were consistently larger then the fish we’ve caught in any of the other nearby lakes. The key to finding bass was to look for deeper areas near large rocks. The south side of the lake had the deepest spots and produced our biggest fish. We both fished with spinner baits, Adrian going with the old reliable Mepps Black Fury, while I used a silver mini Rockstar spinner. We each caught 8-9 bass and called it a day.

Adrian’s bass may not look very big, but that only because he is a big guy – 6’2″ – 225lbs +

Toronto Island Pike: How Big Do They Get?

Ever since Jon did an interview with the Toronto Sun, we have had lots of comments and questions about the fishing in Toronto, specifically Toronto Islands. The most popular question has been, “How big do the pike get?”

Well, they get as big as they do anywhere else, some reaching over 40 inches and 20+ pounds. Over the years, re-designs and modifications to our site have caused us to misplace a few photos. We do have backups though, and will be bringing back old photos to share once again. Here’s a prime example of a healthy Toronto pike caught by Jon a couple years ago. While this one was under 40 inches, it was a very solid fish.

If you have fished Center Island, you will probably recognize this spot immediately.

Shore Fishing Tactics

This week I will be (trying my best to) add at least one article or fishing log a day as I go through all of our features from the old site and adding them to the current site. Today’s addition is the first article ever written for Fishing Fury, back in 2004, about the very simple and effective shore fishing tactics Clive and I used on Toronto Island.

Every fisherman has been shore bound at one time. After all it is the oldest and most common method. You don’t have a boat, the body of water you’re fishing doesn’t support them, or it’s just not feasible to get your boat in or to the water. Many people think that you cant land big fish from shore, let alone a lot of them. But by using these tactics you will find the best structure and locations quickly getting you one step closer to hooking the big one.

The tactics discussed here are most important when fishing new water and there is only one rule: “cover everything”. You must be very thorough and meticulous in your approach the first few days. Think of it as a reconnaissance mission, you may not be catching fish your first day, but you’re gathering information that will lead to lots of fish later.

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