The Baron

So many great photos, guys. 👍🏻 We’re still stuck in winter water temps here. I snuck out today on Lake Ontario, looking for some early pike with the backup plan being the early catch and release bass season. Sadly, the sunshine they promised never came and it was very cool on the water. The surface water temps on the main lake were the same as two weeks ago (35F) and the back bays that were up to 42-43F on March 8 were only 37-38F today after a cold snap last week. We didn’t even try pike fishing. I was going to try a big rock flat area for smallmouth, but with a SE wind the rollers were not to my liking in a small aluminum bass boat. So, we went for a boat ride up the Cataraqui River to have a look at where we’ll be slaying big largemouth in the summer. 😊🤞🏻 So, no fish… but I own a boat and was out on the water for the third time in March. If it was only 20 degrees warmer…

I’ve never really paid much attention to the BM Classic. It got a little of my attention last year, after Gussy won it 🇨🇦. I followed it a bit more this year, because it was too cold to enjoy anything outside myself. I’ve got no baseline to know if these tournaments used to be better, but I found the coverage just what I’d expect - trying to make a non-spectator sport exciting, while bombarding us with ads. Our whole world is like that now - commercialized and awash in sponsors and nonsense. So not a knock against the Classic, I’m just about done with it all. I do agree with the earlier comment that so many of these pro bass fisherman seem like guys you could step on a boat and have a good day with, “average joes” so to speak. I do appreciate that aspect very much, seeing a guy who’s quit his day job to pursue a dream and won it. That’s very cool. So I watched some highlights, but only lasted a short while on the live coverage boredom. I find the controversy over FFS more interesting than the sport itself. lol

Actually, me too. I’ve had some fun banging a squarebill off wood and rocks, but everytime I think I’m gonna throw a crankbait, it turns into digging weeds and I don’t do it for long.

I pretty much sat bolt upright in bed at 4am today, realizing I never once fished a Carolina rig last year. lol. I’ve only fished a Carolina rig a couple times with little success, but got thinking I have a few spots where it could work very well. That ended with me watching “best Carolina rig baits” over my morning coffee. One video concluded a heavily salt impregnated fluke was a great bait to use, which I’d never thought of. So I might try those. The lakes I’m thinking of have both smallmouth and largemouth. Knowing that, what would be the bait you reach for drag on a CR? And while we’re on the topic… what proven fish catching methods do you rarely fish and even almost forget about?

Another busy work week behind, but I’m catching up on my vicarious living. Good luck at the tournament @Bluebasser86! Bring us back lots of big bass photos - it’s all I got right now! 🙃

Update: I ended up getting a Curado DC 201HG for my St. Croix 7'11". Spooled it with 20# Berkley FluoroShield copoly. I've fished the S-Waver 168 a bit and a 13Fishing Glidesdale 185. The Glidesdale is 2.5oz. and does feel a bit heavy for my rod. But, I threw it last week for a couple hours and caught a really good pike which was great. I haven't thrown the S-Waver yet on my longer rod, but I think the St. Croix will be great for baits in its weight rating (1/2 - 2oz). I'm on the hunt for a rod rated a bit heavier - there's a huge fishing show coming up in early April, so thinking I might get a deal there on something about 7'10"-8' rated for 1-4oz -ish. I don't plan to fish anything over 4oz. I'm headed out for pike again today - this mild weather is offering an exceptionally early start to the fishing season. 😎

Yes, I fear this whole glidebait/wakebait interest could cost me a kidney or more. lol

Good tip. I’ll watch out for that problem, @AlabamaSpothunter 👍🏻

My Spro Rats arrived today - a 40 and a 50. These were hard to find, and I got soaked for duty on them because I wanted them ASAP. Adding these to my new plans for this year. 😁

Yes. 😁👍🏻

More nice bass pics - you folks are gonna get me through winter. I got out on Friday, on Lake Ontario. Absolutely crazy to say that about March 8. Air temps were about 55-60F, so we didn’t even need gloves. We were after big spring pike though, so I won’t post pics here (I did in the other species forum). But it sure felt good to be fishing again, especially to feel that thump and have the road load up. We have lots of cold rain this weekend, headed back down to the negatives by end of next week. Hopefully it’ll swing back up and we’ll get out again in April.🤞🏻

That’s me. Big pike in (relatively) shallow water is a lot of fun. But once bass is open, I’m done with pike until maybe late fall when the big girls start to come up again. If we start “accidentally” running into them on a late fall bass fishing trip, I’m happy to switch gears and land a few gators.

We got out on Lake Ontario today in my little Bass Tracker. March 8 and we didn’t even need gloves. Crazy. Water temp about 35-36 on the main lake, up to 42 in the back of the bay. Caught a couple good ones in 6-7ft. Still a bit early, but if it keeps up like this it’s gonna be really good in a few weeks.

@Pat Brown Yeah, buddy! Fingers crossed you stay in the birthday money with that big girl. 😎

I’m going to stick my toe in the swimbait pond this season and am looking for rod/reel advice. I’ll be throwing bigger baits for spring pike, then showing our local bass something different. So far I’ve picked up a R2S S-Waver 168, 13 Fishing Glidesdale 185, Savage Gear 6 3/4” 4D Perch, a 6” Cullshad and an 8” Rapala Peto. I’ll be grabbing a Spro Rat 40 and/or 50 as soon as I can find one. So, I’m looking to throw baits in the 1 1/4 - 3oz -ish range. I already had a St. Croix Bass X 7’11” Heavy/Moderate-Fast rod that’s rated 1/2-2oz., paired with Chronarch 201E 6.5:1. This isn’t labelled as a swimbait rod, but I’m thinking it will work fine for the lighter baits I’ve listed? I also want to add a bit heavier rod. A local shop has a Diawa Tatula 7’3” Swimbait rod, rated for 1-4oz. Would that be a good choice for throwing 1.5-2.5oz. hard baits around docks and other cover? Thought I might pair it with a Tatula 300 reel and 20# Berkley Fluoroshield copoly. I fish small-medium size lakes from a 16ft. aluminum bass boat. Pike up to 10-12# are pretty common, and I could certainly catch bigger. But up here a really big bass is 5-6#, and I’m just as likely to catch a smallmouth that size, as I am a largemouth.

I had the same unit! Rigged up to use in my canoe. It was better than nothing, for sure. But when we got the little bass boat I upgraded to a Garmin Echomap UHD 93sv. It was like going from a musket to an AR-15! lol

Where we fish, 30” pike are fairly common in the spring, 36” is an achievable goal but not an every day occurrence and a 38”+ pike is a real trophy. To catch the really big 40”+ you have to head north - the further, the better and if you arrive in a float plane you’re in the right spot. When summer fishing for bass, it’s usually the 24” and under pike stealing our tackle in shallow water. By the time bass season opens in late June, the big pike have slid back into deep/cold water and have to be targeted by a knowledgeable pike angler (i.e. not me).

My perfect eater size pike is about 4-6#. Smaller and bigger get set free.

I just fillet them like any other fish, then season the fillets and bake them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Once cooked, the meat will separate at the Y-bones and they’re easily removed. Then I flake the fish and we make fish tacos, or fish burgers. It’s certainly more fiddly than boneless fillets dropped into a frier, but the whole family enjoys the end result. 👍🏻

haha. Yes, we deal with those year round. Nothing makes my smile turn upside down quite like getting less than a day into using a Jackhammer or a MB Vision 110 and seeing that rod unload in an all too familiar way. 😒 My revenge will be the nice cold water spring pike fillets in the freezer - they make great fish tacos. 🌮👍🏻

We’ve had a very mild winter, so I’m expecting the ice to be out very early even in the smaller back lakes. Ontario fishing Zone 17 is open year round for pike because they’re considered invasive and a threat to what used to be a healthy musky population. So, my hope is to make a couple day trips and get in the water there, chasing spring pike by the time we turn the calendar page to April. 🤞🏻😎 I’m getting geared up with a bit heavier rod (St. Croix Bass-X 7’11” Heavy/Moderate-Fast) and a Chronarch 201E6 6.5:1 reel to throw some bigger swimbaits/jerkbaits/ploppers. My usual bass gear will be used to throw some upsized chatterbaits and spinnerbaits. Who else will be targeting spring pike? What’s your gear setup?

I don’t have Livescope, so suspended smallmouth are hard to find. On a mixed fishery, I’ll start on smallmouth in the early morning. They’ll usually hit topwater, or a small Keitech/underspin type presentation. I might then try to catch a few on a dropshot. But for me, smallmouth are either on or off. I’ll do much better on smallmouth in the fall, usually. But I’ve learned that if the smallmouth are not really on, my best plan is move on the largemouth. That’s based on only being able to fish from late June (season opener) to end of October (gets too cold for me).

Great video. I upgraded from a canoe to a Bass Tracker 165 last year, so my tolerance went up a notch. My many years in small craft have me programmed to not like fishing in wind or waves, so have some extra internal protection. I play it very safe, always choosing my spots based on wind direction as the video suggests. I also made a promise to my wife that I wear my PFD all the time. I bought a good auto inflate style and got so used to wearing it I don't even notice. If we end up fishing a shallow bay maybe frogging and take our vests off because it's really hot, we can show mom a pic of a 5#er and her first comment will be where's your life jacket. It's good to be loved more than any bass - lol. For those of us who can fish the Great Lakes, what the wind was doing the day/night before is also a factor. I went on Lake Ontario and couple times last season, only on exceptionally calm days and stayed along the shore where we launched and didn't venture far. But there were a couple days with calm winds but the lake was still rolling too much for me because of a big winds the prior 24+hours.

Those guys are just making business decisions they're forced to make. It's an arms race and unfortunately more electronics = higher chance of cashing cheques. Also, I'm sure their electronic sponsors want to see the boat full of screens, in hopes you and I might be dumb enough to think we need that. No doubt all the top pros are darn good fisherman, but then they hit a point where it's not about sport or fun, and for that I am not at all jealous. The guys I really feel for are the up and comers, who aren't fully sponsored. That said, is it not true that for a lot of them, their boats, electronics and rods/reels/tackle are bought either at a reduced cost or even free as long as they put a sticker on their boat? I mean, they've got $30k of electronics on their boat and they don't even know what they cost. You ask any other guy at the local boat ramp what his setup costs and I'll bet they know to the dollar because every purchase was a big decision. And although I know nothing about running a business in the US, I'd expect all those trips and entry fees are a tax write off for a legit business (they would be in Canada) that would make the net cost a lot less than the sticker price.

I have a truck. And a canoe. 🤔😁