Another quick fishing trip

Last night after work I hit the water for an hour and a half and was really happy with the outcome! The fishing has been a little tough for me lately, and sometimes you need a big fish (or two) to brighten your day. Luckily, I caught a couple, and also a crappie! I haven't caught many of them so it was a nice surprise. I took some photos and videos, so here we go (in order of being caught):

First smallie of the night

Sydenham Lake is LOADED with panfish, and crazy rock bass!

A beautiful crappie! 

A big fat smallie - YA!!!

Alrighty, so here is the video for the crappie:

And the big smallie, save the best for last! I was a little excited for this one:

Although the days are now getting shorter, the heat is still cranked here in Ontario. I am really looking forward to the long weekend! I will be fishing on Saturday, hitting up Canada's Wonderland on Sunday, and for the holiday Monday I will be participating in a really cool event I want to tell you about.

Facebook has been an amazing tool for me to meet so many anglers from all over the world. There is a very strong presence in the angling community, and the support there is awesome as well. It's great to see where people are fishing, what they are using, and what they are catching. I have been talking to some locals lately and one of the guys had an idea of a fishing get-together. I renamed Facebook, Fishbook, and we are doing our first gathering on Monday in Port Hope, Ontario! Here is a link for the event:

Fishbook - Fishing the Ganny

Everyone and anyone is invited! We are targeting salmon and trout, both of which I have never caught! So it'll be great to meet some new anglers and hopefully make some memories, and learn a thing or two about fly fishing!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Ashley

Take someone fishing

This past Saturday, I took my brother out on the lake for some bass fishing. It was fun to spend time with him, and I hope to get out again soon and catch more fish next time :) John doesn't have the sickness for fishing that I do... yet. Actually, I am the only one in my immediate family with this obsession...

 A little Rae comedy.. haha

Regardless of how many fish were boated, I still had a good time and did what is important:  took someone fishing! I have taken a few people out this year, and once I am finally able to get my own boat I will be able to take more people out. I am SO excited for that! It's a great feeling seeing how excited people get to catch their first fish, and get hooked for life!

Last nights variety

I went out for about an hour on Sydenham Lake last night pretty close to dark. I went to the most popular shoal, and here is what I caught:

A wee smallie!

My first Slammer mudcat!

And my largie was caught on HD video:

My first fly fishing experience

I have wanted for a long time to try fly fishing. I wanted the experience to be perfect, that way I could really get a feel for it and have a good shot at pursuing it. Well, yesterday was just that!

I went out with a good friend, he showed me the ropes and I had one of the most peaceful and tranquil days on the water I have ever had! I've always thought that fly fishing seemed so artistic and I was definitely right. Something about standing in a stream and hearing nothing but the sound of water rushing over rocks, birds chirping and a splash when a smallie grabs your fly is totally amazing! Can you tell I am in love?

Here are some photos:

Learning to cast

 My first smallie on a fly!

He got some serious air!

Practice makes perfect.... eventually!

Another fish on!

Just a little guy, but what a fight!

Lastly, my favourite photo. 

You will definitely hear more on this topic, reel soon :)

Fishing with the Extreme Angler

A few weekends ago (the long weekend), I headed up to Lake Simcoe to fish with Mark Kulik. We ended up fishing Simcoe, Georgian Bay and Lake Couchiching. I wrote about him in my last post as we pre-fished for the Kingston Open together. He's a great guy and someone I am happy to call a friend! He taught me so much and I am very thankful to have that opportunity. Mark wrote about our adventure on his WFN blog ! The purpose was to have some fun and shoot video for our Youtube Channels, so here is some of what we came up with: