Fishing The Opener

The Pike and Walley opener was a fantastic week. We spent the first bit of it camping, but the majority of the trip, we were at our usual May 24 spot.....Waterfalls Lodge in Espanola On. Even though Bass were not open, we couldn't keep them off our baits, they were swimming with the Pike, and just as aggressive.

Day 1

On day 1, we were only on the water for half the day. We got to the lodge and on the water as fast as we could, and the fish greeted us with one unforgettable appetite.

23" Pike

The first 2 days, were unbelievable, it was like TV fishing. We were throwing X-Raps and slashing them as hard as we could, and the fish were reciprocating, by hitting them as hard as they could!

21" Pike

20" Pike

Day 2

Forgot to turn the Auto-Focus on

The next morning, we had to bundle up. It wasn't brutal, but at 5am, a moving boat creates a wind that is a little harsh. Still throwing the X-Raps before breakfast, we targeted some new weed growth near 14 feet of water in a small cove. Perch and White seemed to be the magic colours fishing near a fallen tree. During one retrieve I sneezed causing an extended pause, and a fish hit that turned out to be the fish of a lifetime. I brought in what looked to be a regular Walley, until I realized that it matched my windbreaker. I've been reading quite a bit about Blue Walley, and was so excited to catch on, that I threw my brand new glasses overboard as I removed them for a second photo.

The Blue Walley

After landing the Blue, and a few smaller Pike, we went for breakfast at the lodge. Day 2 turned out to be one of the most entertaining days we had all trip. After getting some tips from a regular, we rigged up some rods with pink tubes, on weedless/weightless hooks and spinner baits. I know it sounds like Bass bait, but it was supposed to be dynamite for Pike in these waters.

After a couple nice Bass, and some smaller Pike, we decided to head to a point that has produced larger fish for us in the past.

But we ran out of gas on the way, and had to get towed back to camp....wasting about 2 hrs of the day. When we were back at the camp, I decided to cast around with a spinner bait, and on 3 casts, I landed 2 Pike, one just shy of 20, the other hit 26 inches. Not bad for heading out with the trolling motor. I was alone in the boat, and I learned quite quickly how valuable the landing cradle is. I was able to keep the fish in the water while I worked on them. The larger fish had the main hook, and the stinger in him, and did not want to let go. Keeping him in the water saved his life.






We finally made it back on the water with both engines running, and head to that point we wanted to fish. About my second cast, I had a follow with on the spinner, and quickly went into a figure eight right at the boat, and the pike slammed my bait. After a good fight, I guided the Pike into the cradle, got a quick measurement, some photos, and put the 31 inch Pike back.

31" Pike

The chartreuse spinner bait with a sliver colorado blade seemed to be ticket on day 2. I managed to hook a few smaller pike, and a few pike over 20 inch's through out the day. After dinner, as night started to fall on us, I hooked a few more pike, and a nice Walley. 

27 " Walley

Coming across a point, I remembered hearing one of the regulars saying that spinnerbaits were lethal for Walley when the evening bite started. So I decided to tip my spinner with a Gulp Leech, and worked it slowly along the point. Throwing the spinner up to the shallows, and dragging it close to bottom was the plan, but the Walley hit much closer to shore that I would have expected her to be. It hit in about a foot of water, just as I started my retrieve. With the lack of weeds this year, and no typical spawning areas, its was tough to find Walley in the top lakes.

Day 3

Day 3 brought some tough conditions. We woke up to the worst thing possible.....a cold front. The temperature dropped to a brisk 7C and we thought our day was gone for sure. We decided to slow our presentation down. Longer pauses with the X-Raps, and some Gulp Jerk Shads fished weightless on a 2/0 hook rigged Tex-Posed got us into some fish. We decided to head into the top lake on the chain, and Moe caught what is probably the smallest Pike I've ever seen. Just under 10 inch's.

And since were talking about small fish, this smallie was caught on that X-Rap. It came in with the belly hook in its mouth, and the tail hook in its tail.

Evening brought some more nice Bass and Pike. We had 2 Pike in the 20 inch range come out of one one bay, and that beautiful smallie come off of a beach just minutes from out cottage.

Day 4

After a week like that, we had no idea what Day 4 had in store for us. The cold front was still lingering, and some morning drizzle kept us off the water until after breakfast. 

We managed some smaller Pike, and a few nice smallies. The wind was pushing hard from the North, I thought that fishing finesse would be the only way to go, but as the wind picked up, keeping control of my line, and the boat became a bit of work. We decided to take it easy, work our way back to the camp with X-raps and jigs. We managed a few more fish, and called it a night. Packing our gear was a little sad, but we new we are only 360 days away from being back!