I caught this beauty in May 2006 at Toronto Islands. Somehow I forgot to post it here and just came across it while looking through some old photos. The fish was caught on opening day while I was back in Ontario briefly to fish with Jon at Little Vermilion (which probably explains why I never posted it). I only visited the islands three times that year and the fishing was tough.
I had caught a small pike at the same location just minutes before this one smashed my Mepps Aglia #5. I had just made a long distance cast in one of my favorite spots. A small boat was passing by about 50 feet from where my lure hit the water. After a few cranks of the reel everything just stopped. Instinct told me to set the hook, but when I did nothing happened. It was stuck. I knew it wasn’t a snag, because I had fished that area and was familiar with the depths. Suddenly I felt a heavy head shake and I knew it was a big one. She bulldogged down into the weeds and what had felt like a big one now felt like a huge one! I managed to pull her out of the weeds after what felt like an eternity and finally got a good view as she thrashed around on the surface. I got the big pike close to shore and struggled to setup my camera on a picnic table and set the timer. She looked a little beat up, but swam away strong!
I posted this image in the forums but I don’t think anyone took a close look at it. This photo was taken by a fellow named Ed that I met while fishing on Sunday.
This 25″ or so pike hit really hard and some how was able to mangle the snap swivel on the end of my leader. I did my best to tire this guy out and keep my line tight so that he wouldn’t get away. Right up until I got him almost on shore and grabbed him he flipped back into the water and swam away with a fresh piece of Mepps bling still in his mouth.
It was a horrible start to a beautiful day. Later we saw a couple smaller pike following our baits all the way up to the shoreline, but no other pike were caught. I’ve also updated the Toronto Islands 2009 photo gallery to include some new photos!
Saturday May 2nd marks the first day of pike season in select areas of Ontario. Luckily for me, one of those areas happens to be nearby the place I’m visiting, so if all goes well, I’ll be reporting about some slimy green monsters by this time tomorrow. Every fisherman has their favorite go to lure for pike, and some will tell you it doesn’t matter what you use, you get them. Sometimes pike fishing really is that easy, but the high pressure pike of Toronto Islands cant be tricked by just any lure. Several years ago, when Jon and I first started fishing in Toronto we had enormous luck on Mepps spinner baits, and as far as I’m concerned, you cant get a better early season pike lure off the shelf. People will tell you you need something to fish slower for those inactive pike, but if you use a spinner as much as I do, you know they can be fished at any speed.
I know a lot of our readers will be out tomorrow, so good luck! I’ll be carrying plenty of Fishing Fury stickers with me, so feel free to come and talk to me if you see me, and I can hook you up. I don’t have a proper pike rod with me, but I’ll be attempting to cast out my very own Rockstar Lures that were specifically designed for Toronto Islands pike. Not only are they larger then your average spinner bait, but they are an ideal weight for shore casting the canals throughout the islands.
Heres a shot of an average Toronto pike I caught back in 2006, the last time I had fished the islands heavily.
I managed to sneak out on opening day here in Nova Scotia. I didn’t have a lot of time, and I had my son Ash with me, so I had to make sure I went somewhere where I knew I could get into some trout without spending an entire day fishing (although I really wish I could have fished all day!). My destination of choice was a small creek near the highway that had produced a few little trout last year. It was really the only viable choice since all of the nearby lakes still have a thick layer of ice on them. Water levels were very high thanks to the recent melt of last weeks snowstorm.
After a short walk though the woods exploring, we ended up at the side of the highway fishing in a ditch. I saw several small trout after casting a #2 silver Mepps Aglia spinner, and within a few more casts I landed the first and only fish of the day, a beautiful little brook trout. My son Ash was super excited to see the fish, trout are one of the 10 or so fish he can name on sight, but this was the first he had seen in real life. After he had a chance to touch the fish, I told he it was time let let him go home and we released him back into the cold water.
I found this short five minute clip from the show How It’s Made on youtube. It’s about fishing lures, or more specifically the Williams and Mepps brands.
Yesterday I went fishing again with Fishermen’s Fleet I didn’t have a partner so I was randomly setup with another guy who was alone. My partner ended up being Mike, pictured holding the two massive tuna (click the image to enlarge), not the same Mike in the featured article below. Anyway, Mike was only here [...]
