A Fish for All Seasons

Last week Dave and I spent a day targeting Lake Simcoe perch, with much futility... We caught four perch, none of a size destined for the fry-pan! But the day was not in vain!

Lake Simcoe is one of the most productive lakes in North America. It also has one of the most diverse populations of sport-fish species of any lake in Ontario. There is a fish for all angling styles, a fish for all angling abilities and a fish for any recipe. Most of all though, Lake Simcoe has a fish for all seasons! Our outing though, found us catching a fish species with no season!

We caught well over a dozen Lake Simcoe cisco, or, “Lake Herring.” 

The cisco were active again. This time though, they were fast and furious! At times we were seeing well over a few dozen circling our bait. They appeared around noon and every half hour or so a school would swim through.

A Walk in the Woods

A heavy snowfall can bring many things. Delays to some, discoveries to others. Yesterday I went for discoveries. The afternoon gave me an opportunity for a short walk in the woods.

Snow covers up many things. It hides much and conceals that which died and fell in the autumn. Beneath the blanket of snow and ice a rejuvenation is happening. When it eventually melts the brown and grey will be turning green. But before that, the snow obscures this birth of new life.

The snow does not only shroud new life though. It also unveils the existence of creatures that the woods conceal from most eyes.

Yesterday the snow was the circumstantial evidence of the denizens of the forest. 

Snow Day

This past Friday found southern Ontario engulfed in a storm unlike any we had seen in recent years. Much like the storms of my childhood, this storm left in its wake a snowfall that made sidewalks impassable, closed schools and businesses, and wreaked havoc on our roads. It seemed everyone was affected to some degree!

For Nima and I it simply meant our one-hour trip to the fish huts became two and a half hours! And fishing the holes outside the hut wasn’t happening. Too windy, too snowy and no open holes.

So how was the fishing? Not as good as one would have hoped. Sporadic action throughout the morning and early afternoon. At three o’clock though a school of perch decided to cruise through.

With the maximum amount of lines legally allowed down the holes, there were a few times when there were three or four fish hooked at once! But alas, nothing of a size worth keeping. 

For about half an hour just before we were to leave, things did get interesting though. We were fishing in about twenty feet of water. At about six foot below the ice we started to see some larger fish quickly swim by. When our baited hooks were brought to that depth the suspended swimmers would start to show some attention, but quickly sped off. They appeared to be lake whitefish. Twice, one of these suspended fish inhaled the lead weight on the line, so the bait was switched up and presentation altered. 

Fish on! After a short fight a new species for the year was brought through the ice. A Lake Simcoe Cisco, or lake herring.

There is no open season for cisco on Lake Simcoe; and for good reason. Their numbers once rivaled the whitefish, but over fishing took its toll. Whitefish seem to reproduce more successfully and the MNR has been restocking them for many years now. If people continue to release all ciscos caught, we may see the species’ population brought back to a sustainable level. Angler awareness is key. To help with this most rental huts on the lake display a small poster pointing out the differences between whitefish and cisco. The most easily observed differences between the two is the mouth. Characteristic of a bottom dwelling fish, the whitefish’s upper jaw protrudes over the bottom.The cisco’s bottom jaw extends further forward of its upper, indicative of a fish that feeds well above the lake bed.  

I’m sure we’ll be catching plenty of cisco, and releasing them of course, for many years before they’ll be table-fair!    

Good Eats

Yes, we do eat everything we catch and keep! 

Angling, or fishing to you neophytes, is most certainly the oldest sport that still stays true to its humble beginnings thousands of years ago. Casting a hook to catch fish is even recorded in Biblical writings:

Isaiah 19:8, “The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks...”

As with all sports, angling finds its origins in a serious activity with roots to survival. But unlike most modern sport, angling, like hunting, rewards us with more than just bragging rights, pennants or cups. It fulfills a basic need. It gives us the chance to put food on the table.  

So what we catch and keep, we eat! And quite often, those meals are the most rewarding and most delicious!  

 Good eats, indeed!

Lake Scugog, Late January

So here we are, one month of the year gone. The weather is unpredictable, temperature fluctuations ridiculous, unrest throughout the world and continuous turmoil in Toronto City council! But there’s always an assured constant. We can go fishing!  

We managed to get another day out on the ice before the month ended; and before the water on the ice was deeper than the ice was thick! With temps predicted to be five or six degrees above freezing and a few inches of rain forecast for the day, the ice-hut operator called me the day before to see if we were still on. There could be water flowing off the ice, under the huts and down our fishing holes. There might be no snow on the ice to block the wind around the huts. That’s what I was told. 

What I was interested in though, was whether they were catching fish, and if the ice was safe. In my experience and in my humble opinion, ice-hut operators lie about the former but speak truthfully of the latter. There’s ten inches of ice and of course they’re catching fish!

We were still on. A little water might dampen the day but not the spirit. The guys wore waterproof hiking boots, Aimee her “Wellies” and I donned my camouflaged, neoprene chest waders. I was dressed for a late-season duck hunt. I was staying warm and dry no matter what!

We were out on the ice by noon. The weather cooperated. It rained ever so sporadically,  allowing us to fish the holes we had outside the hut through most of the afternoon. To the West, the shore was half a click, Scugog Island sat about three quarters of a kilometer to the East. As the afternoon progressed the fog set in and the shorelines vanished from sight. And as the fog settled on us, it seemed to freeze, crystalizing as it swirled around us, mingling with our breath.  

Scugog is a productive fishery. It produces ample perch, not vast quantities of “jumbos,” but many small to medium size fish. The variety of species is also diverse. There’s something for everyone! During the summer when all species are in season Scugog hosts a renowned bass derby, rental and private boats dot the lake and the shoreline in places is crammed with families hoping to catch dinner. But, more importantly, Scugog has a healthy and accessible musky population. It produces trophy fish, even when targeting the less aggressive species in the lake. This past week only emphasizes this.

During one of last year’s outings, a friend of ours, new to fishing, new to the country, caught a musky for his first fish! This year didn’t disappoint either! Within half an hour of our lines being down the holes Nima had a musky! Unfortunately the fight went to the lake. We saw the fish, its tale was visible in one hole, its head through the next one! But the fish out did us; it swam off to fight another day!

Now here’s where I must tell you a little about my good friend Nima. Nima fishes, he fishes seriously. Nima loves fishing more than anything; other than his beautiful wife and precious little daughter. He’s only been fishing for about seven years. Before that his main concern was escaping the tyrannical regime of Islamic Iran. Now, he fishes weekly. 

Nima has embraced Canadian culture. His favorite thing about Canadiana is our connection to the lakes and rivers that hold monster fish. Canada gives him the freedom to earn an honest living, worship without persecution and FISH!   

This year Nima’s goal is to land a trophy musky. We weren’t targeting musky as the season is closed throughout the winter; walleye, perch and crappie were in our sights. But musky, not unlike their smaller cousin the norther pike, are ferocious, indiscriminate creatures of opportunity, and even our tiny, two-inch minnows were fair game and an easy meal for a lurking musky. Another musky was hooked within the hour! 

Nima’s goal is yet to be realized, but we’re only a month into the year. It would also seem more fitting to land that musky during the open season anyway! Not that he’d keep one, a few photos are all that’s needed; and a memory! 

We didn’t catch great quantities. Nima didn’t land his musky. But we caught multiple species; perch, crappy, walleye, bluegills, musky... And the year’s first largemouth bass! Again, another out-of-season fish. But further proof that Lake Scugog is a fantastic fishery! 

Although we didn’t fill any limits, in fact I only took three fish home, our trip though was successful. We stayed dry and warm, we had great company and had fun. We caught fish, multiple species of fish. We fish seriously, we’re not out there to drink beer and barbeque. It’s not a tailgate party, it’s fishing.

Now it’s February, and yesterday Wiarton Willie predicted only two more weeks of winter. I somehow don’t believe him. But I’m not troubled by that, it only means more hard-water fishing!

Let’s see how many more times we can get out on the ice!