Algonquin Park Trip [MAY 24]

[Death Roe Romeo]

how did the fishing go?

[jwm]

We caught one small catfish, and that was it. Unfortunately for me one of the guys with us carried my rods on the final portage of the day and left them on the bank without telling me... So I lost two rods and two reels.. Not the greatest weekend ever, but the guys going to at least buy me 1 new rod and reel. The ones I took were pretty old and beat up so I wasn't going to be too upset if they got lost or damaged, but to not even have gotten the chance to use them was really shitty.

I think smallmouth opens on our next trip in June, so I should be able to catch something then, and I'm still working for my first lake trout!

[TransientAngler]

I have the magic lure for lakers
http://outdoorcanada.ca/8822/gear/ta...rout-tacklebox
When they suggest taking the sucker meat and wrapping it to the bottom of the Banana bait I would suggest otherwise. You need to replace the back treble forsure but not with another lighter treble. You need to throw a J hook that matches the size banana bait you are using and add another Oring so as to make the back J hook's point face upwards. Then take the sucker strip(can be any strip of meat-even a hole anchovy) and thread it on the back hook. If you are using belly meat then place the hook through the harder cartiledge of the pectoral fins.
The action is going to be ridiculous on the bait. the banana bait goes one way and the meat the other. like an S pattern. Its irresistible to lakers.
You rig this up with a normal three way rig and use a stop and go technique allowing for the bait to kinda speed up and then drop. When checking your bait reel it slow and watch for followers. This is a guaranteed to work presentation that i have proven to many non believers. I have guided 3 fish over 45 lbs with this technique. Sorry I dont have any pics of the rig.

[jwm]

TransientAngler, thanks for the tip, I've never thought of doing that by replacing the hook. Ive got some nice spoons and stuff, but I'd probably need some much biggers ones for this to work. I'll try to give it a shot in june if I can.

[cbiegel]

Man, those pictures are amazing. It's a shame you didn't much fishing in but I sounds like yuo have to focus on covering water. Perhaps in the future you could plan a trip that was a little shorter and more fishing focused. I guess that would depend on your friends and their inclinations.

[jwm]

Well the focus shifted to sending the other guys back to the last portage the next morning to try and find my rods. After that we decided to stay in the same place again that night. Overall the trip wasn't as hardcore as the first trip we did. But the crazy thunderstorm we had to paddle back through on the last day was pretty intense.