Fishing Fury » Nova Scotia

Koppers LIVETARGET Smelt: First Impressions

Clive Mathias — Sun, 30 May 2010 01:08:35 +0000

I don’t think that anyone will argue that Koppers LIVETARGET lures are some of the most realistic lures on the market. Lets face it, not all lures are created equal. If you placed this lure beside any of its competition, I’d be willing to bet most fishermen would choose the LIVETARGET lure simply because it just looks better. So the big question is, do these lures just catch fishermen, or do they catch fish too?

The good folks at Koppers must have paid close attention in biology class, because they have covered all the details with this lure. Not only is the profile more realistic, but the smallest details have been covered right down the the smallest fin.

After having a good look at this lure I was very impressed. One detail that I found unusual was the large LIVETARGET logo on the back of the lure. Sure there are other companies that have their logo on their lures, but for a company that worked so hard to achieve the most realistic lure they could, I found it a very odd design choice.

Just like the real thing...wait...real smelt don't have logos - or do they?

To test out these lures, I felt that I needed to try a different approach. So I asked my son Ash to try them out. You see, he doesn’t really care what his lures look like. Hell, he doesn’t even know what a smelt is, he’s two. Now, I’m not saying I’m a pro or anything, but I’m fairly certain I could catch a bass on the least realistic lure ever made. So to truly test this lure I handed the rod over to my son, a two year old with no concept of how the lure should be retrieved – how fast or how slow or how it should move through the water. Without the dexterity to create a provoking retrieve, Ash would have to rely solely on the lures good looks. I’d be lying if I said I expected him to catch a lot of fish, but thats exactly what he did.

Now none of the fish we caught were big, but between us, we landed about 10 fish – more then I have ever caught in that spot at one time. Not only did we catch a bunch of fish, but water temperatures are still below the ideal temperature. For sake of comparison, I usually fish this spot with small Rapala X-Raps, but I think that these LIVETARGET lures may have just taken their spot in my tackle box.

Stay tuned for a more in depth review!

My First Fish of 2010!

Clive Mathias — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:21:27 +0000

I’ve been out fishing a few times this year testing out some new lures at a local lake that is open all year. The first official day of the 2010 fishing season in Nova Scotia started yesterday, and I was excited to get back to my favorite trout hole. When I say hole, I mean just that. This spot is a little ditch off one of our main highways. Luckily for me, its only a five minute five from where I work. I spent my lunch hour at the ditch and did a little bit of underwater filming while catching a small trout. After lunch I realized I didn’t get a photo of a fish to post, so during my last break I snuck out again. My coworkers laughed and said I wouldn’t be able to get there, catch a fish and return in 15 minutes, but I decided to try anyway.

The plan was five minutes to get there, five minutes to catch a fish and take a photo, then five minutes to get back. The first part of the plan didn’t go to well. I hit just about every red light on the way and the trip took eight minutes. I rushed to the ditch and luckily I caught a trout on the first cast. One fish caught and picture taken in three minutes, leaving only 3 minutes to spare. The drive back to work took exactly five minutes putting my total time at 17 minutes.

If you had fifteen minutes to catch a fish from where you are sitting right now, could you do it?

Fishing St. Margarets Bay, NS

Clive Mathias — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 01:16:24 +0000

I finally had the chance to do some saltwater fishing here in Nova Scotia. I met up with my buddy Craig who lives out on Black Point in St Margaret’s Bay around noon on Sunday. I’ve been listening to Craig talk about the bucket fulls of mackerel he’s been catching this summer, so I figured I should check it out before it gets too cold. We launched from the shore of his uncles house and headed out toward deeper water. The map doesn’t really justify how massive the bay is, especially when you are sitting in a 14 foot aluminum boat.

View Larger Map

Craig didn’t waste any time, catching a small mackerel on the first cast, which was released after a few photos. Its not uncommon to catch 3-4 mackerel at a time when you can find a big school of fish, but we really had a hard time finding them. We covered a lot of water drifting and then we headed out to fish around the small islands within the bay. We’d heard reports of mackerel being caught in the area yesterday, but as fate would have it, all the fish had moved on. It wasn’t until we were heading back to the launch that we came across some more fish. I thought I had snagged some sea weed, but it turned out to be three good size mackerel, at the same time, including the biggest of the day. Craig also caught a couple more fish before we motored back. It wasn’t the best day of fishing, but a great time was definitely had by all. I’ll definitely be heading out again as soon as I can.

Beware Of Bill

Clive Mathias — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 23:24:01 +0000

So the locals here in Halifax are in a bit of a frenzy about hurricane Bill. The current path of the storm has it landing directly on Nova Scotia sometime on Sunday with winds up to 120km. Nova Scotia was last hit by Juan in 2004 and there was massive damage. Being born, and having spent significant time in the Caribbean, I’m no stranger to hurricanes, but it never hurts to be prepared, so stock up on water at the very least. Chances are the hurricane will have lost a a lot of its power by the time it reaches me, but Bermuda is feeling the effects as we speak. Hopefully everyone down there is prepared.

via NOAA

Ash’s First Fish…Almost

Clive Mathias — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:06:36 +0000

So I’ve been taking my son Ash fishing with me regularly since April. He’s got a solid grasp on reeling even though he isn’t even two years old yet. He has never caught a fish by himself so we went fishing for a few hours yesterday to try and get his first fish. Its was pretty hot out, so we stuck to deep drop offs and he finally hooked into a fish by himself! He hooked into a nice little bass and I could tell he wasn’t quite sure what to make of the whole event. I’m sure it didn’t help that I was running around madly to get the camera. The moment I started recording the event he decided he was done and simply put the rod down on the ground and stepped back. Luckily, the bass wasn’t big enough to take the rod into the drink. I picked up the rod and the fish shook lose – so close!

Ash with a bass at the end of the line.

My First Fish Of The Year!

Clive Mathias — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 23:07:39 +0000

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.

Winter Driving

Clive Mathias — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:26:39 +0000

I’ve lived in a lot of different places, but Halifax Nova Scotia has the worst drivers by far. I think it can be blamed on the fact that most of the people in the city grew up out in the country and simply don’t know how to drive in a city with more then 13 cars. In the winter things are particularly bad. Not only are there bad drivers, but the snow removal is pitiful. Of course, the only thing worse then the snow removal is the giant pot-holes all over every major road.

I could go on about the driving here, but instead I think these photos I took Friday morning sum things up pretty well.

How does that even happen?

Solid Nova Scotia Smallmouth

Clive Mathias — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:07:34 +0000

I’ve been fishing 3-4 times a week for most of the season here in Nova Scotia. I’ve got plenty of fish, at least 50 bass by my count (they make you track that here on your license). Yet, after all of those bass, I haven’t caught one over a pound. My buddy Dominic from work, just got himself a new fishing rod a few weeks back and took me out to a lake he’s been fishing recently. Right away he catches a nice bass, and then another later that afternoon. Meanwhile I kept catching baby bass after baby bass. I even put on a bigger lure, and still got little fish. I’m gonna chalk it up to beginners luck, but he out fished me bad.

I offered to land this smallmouth for him since it’s been so long since I’ve handled a good size fish