Author: Jigger

…you type with one hand!

Bad luck for me folks. I broke my left hand in a biking incident involving a driver (who wasn’t paying attention) in Montreal. It could have been worse, other than my hand and a couple stiches I’m fine. My fishing season, at least until October however, is not. Right now I can’t tie my shoes let alone a uni-to-uni knot. I might be able to operate my boat with a little help getting it in the water but fishing is not happening for at least a few weeks unfortunately. Soooo…..For now this blog belongs to you guys, the readers. Alex who is a great contributor and regular reader has sent me pics of his latest trip to mighty Lake Ontario. On his recent trip up there fishing with Yvan Rousseau Alex and his crew boated 17 beautiful Steelhead and a very respectable Chinook. Thanks for the pics Alex! On a side note, looks like there are Rousseaus everywhere who know their way around a lake 😉

If anyone else would like to share pics or stories during my convalescence just let me know in the comment box, leave your email address (not in the comment itself but rather in the required field) and I’ll post it up!

Until next time, Stay Outside! Jigger

Hey guys,

Here are some videos and pictures I took from the Walleye Tournament at Hart’s bar this year including an interview with one of the winners Robin Casgrain. The biggest fish caught was just under 9lbs and the best 3 fish total weight was brought to the weigh-in by the team of Wally and Robin Casgrain who went home 1000$ richer.

Personally although I had a blast and caught a good number of fish (including a nice musky and a few smallies) I wasn’t able to boat a fish bigger than 2lbs to save my life. I had a fantastic time and can’t wait for next year. Kyle is hoping for 30 boats next year so if you are on the fence about joining in find a partner and come have a blast. There are tons of door prizes and it’s just a great day from start to finish. This is a great event that I’m sure it will only get better with time. I want to personally thank Kyle Laframboise and those who helped for putting this together. I would also like to thank the folks at Hart’s bar who served breakfast in the morning and cold refreshements in the afternoon. The staff is a friendly bunch and added a lot to the experience. Enjoy the vids!

Winners announced

Interview with winner

Nice one at weigh-in

Kyle Sums up

Filleting the ones that didn’t make it.

Stay outside, Jigger.

If you’re a regular visitor here you’ll know that there are many pictures of walleyes on this blog. To some this might seem strange because Lake St. Francis is, after all, known for its fantastic world-class bass fishing. I do fish bass from time to time and I was lucky enough to receive an invite from my friend Simon a few weeks ago. Fishing from a 20 foot bass boat is ideal for working spots slowly because these boats have a lower profile and are built with fiberglass rather than aluminum. The result of course being a much heavier boat. I absolutely love bass fishing from these boats (of course the 70mph ride to your spots is fun too). The platform in the stern area is huge and provides you with the feeling of almost walking on the water. You have tons of room and it’s as stable as a dock. The most noticeable benefit of these boats in my opinion is that the wind pushes you around a lot less. Even though I do have a great trolling motor with plenty of tork I feel like a dry leaf on the water in my 16′ Lund on windy days. Trolling or drifting sometimes become the only options.

Simon and I worked rats deep in cover that day but it was early in the season so the matted floating weeds hadn’t settled in yet. It made it a little challenging to find largemouth but I did manage to fool this hog with a soft plastic jerkbait, largely thanks to Simon who spotted him from the front of the boat. I thought it was very nice of him to take me out AND let me catch the biggest fish of the day. 😉

For the most part fishing was a bit slow that afternoon and I ended up crawling into one of his storage compartments to avoid the rain (Always bring your rainsuits kids!). It was still a great day. Although the fish were smaller than we would have liked Simon caught close to his limit of smallies and I had fun watching. All in all, a pleasant change from trolling and definitely something I need to do more often.

See you on the water! Jigger.

Image source: howtofishforwalleye.com

If this year’s tourney is anything like the last, this event is definitely one you don’t want to miss. It is hosted by Kyle Laframboise over at Hart’s bar in St-Anicet. There will be tons of door prizes and it’s a great place to catch up and mingle with the best walleye fishermen of the area. If you can’t make it out on the water I suggest coming by Hart’s to check out the weigh-in, have a beer or two and check out some of St. Francis’ largest walleyes. Here are the details:

Date: July 31st
Time: 7am shotgun start – 3pm weigh-in.

Rules: 3 fish combined weight. Two persons per team, 100$ per team. All fish weighed must be alive. An 8oz penalty will be assigned for each fish that is not alive. No River fishing (I.E Raisin, Salmon, etc). All Provincial and Federal Fishing and Boating regulations apply. Boundaries are from Valleyfield dam to Cornwall dam. Tournament organizers not responsible for damages. No fishing before 7am.

Location: Bar du Chasseur (Hart’s Bar), 200 rue Gagnon, St-Anicet, Quebec. You can register there or at Primeau’s Marine&Small Eng before July 30th. (Corner of Hwy 2 & Fraser Rd, Summerstown ON).

For more info call Kyle Laframboise: 613-551-9268 OR Bar du Chasseur: 450-264-3324.

Spread the word! Hope to see you out there!

Jigger.

Hopefully a sign of things to come for the tournament at Harts on July 31st! Speaking of which, details on that to follow…Stay tuned!