My fishing buddy and I went to our favorite bass lake 2+ hours into Quebec from Ottawa.  For me it includes an extra 45 minutes to get to his place.  So six hours of driving to get six hours of fishing.  That is pretty much my limit!  We got 15-20  each mostly LM. There is only one small spot on the lake where SM remain.  I guess the LM are crowding them out.  I have heard of competing species systematically removing  other species by targeting their young.  We think the sore spots on their mouths are males fighting with each other either protecting their nest or mates.  Most were caught casting to shore with a Stillwater line (intermediate).  I did try my dry line but switched back because you do need to get from one hot spot to the next.  Trolling a bit deeper was more productive.  My favorite fly for bass is the Mississippi Mermaid (cone head, green plastic chenille body and marabou tail).  I was catching them on a brown Coney Leech as well.  I don't think it matters much.  It has been a late Spring in our region and many reports of Bass still on their nests but these later spawners are not the desired reproducers.   The earlier spawner's fry have the best chance of survival.

This picture is actually from last year because I can't seem to catch many this Spring at my favorite little lake about an hour away from home. Of course I have been able to catch the recently stocked fish but that is not what we are after.  We might have had some 'winter kill' but I really think the culprit is ice fishers.  On small and shallow lakes trout are very vulnerable.  These lakes really should not be open during the winter.  Even though I've been out at least once a week, I seemed to have missed the boatman hatch.  That is one of the more exciting times to be on a lake as the trout are all on the surface taking these meaty morsels.   Maybe it is yet to come but not for me. The water temperature is over 70F and that is the danger range for trout.  It is time to go hunting for Bass!  And yet, I am told that the Bass are not around yet.  It has been a long, cold and wet Spr

I've gone out on average once a week to the Calabogie Highlands since ice-off and to date I've landed two trout, one Rainbow and one Brook Trout that are older than 2 years.  I've caught lots of this year's stockers but that is not what we all want to catch.  They are delicate for the first month or so after stocking and should not be targetted. It has been argued that the fish are there, just not biting.  But my records show a significant decline each year for the past three years in all of the lakes that I fish regularly. I record species, numbers caught, released, dates and lakes.  We all should be doing this and reporting to OMNR so they know that fish are being caught.  If they don't get reports, they will stop stocking a lake!  But are there two year old fish in the lakes?  One fisher I talked to said he pulled out 30 brookies out of a small lake ice fishing in just a few minutes and they all averaged two pounds!  That means they are at the surface just below the ice trying to survive with the remaining oxygenated water.  In other jurisdictions they close small lakes to ice fishing.  Quebec closes all trout lakes to ice fishing.  Something needs to change or we won't have a worthwhile trout fishery close to the Capital.  Actually, I recently talked to a few fishers from Bancroft and their stocked trout lakes aren't that good either and they were down here fish