Sunday, April 29, 2012

Tom’s Tiring Brown Trout Trip, April 29, 2012

I pulled into the empty parking lot at Foran’s in Grimsby at 5:30 am to put the boat in the water for Tom’s 6:00 am start. A 13 hour day on the water the day before had me a little tired and slow moving, but I was still on schedule. I put the boat in the water, warmed up the motors and pulled out the rods. The sun was just coming up and the winds were still and the skies were slightly overcast, but not threatening rain.

A friend of mine also pulled into the parking lot by this point. Steve, who normally fishes Hamilton Beach and periodically down towards Jordon, decided to launch from Foran’s today after he discovered a number of "skinny water" Browns and Kings in front of Grimsby, from the day before. He mentioned that he also had an Atlantic Salmon yesterday from less then 9 feet of water. This was sounding good. Providing me two options for Tom to pick from; go where I knew kings were caught yesterday or fish directly in front where Browns and some salmon were caught in shallow yesterday.

The motors were well warmed up by this point and checked my Lowrance HDS8 for the time and discover it was already 6:15 and no sign of Tom yet. It was minutes later when he pulled into the parking lot and made his way to the dock. He was extremely apologetic, but he had a good excuse. His 18 month old daughter had the flu all night and kept him and his wife up. I asked if he need to do this some other time, but he insisted we carry on and get out fishing.

He came on board and we discussed the two options, filling him in on what I have heard and seen on the lake from the day before. Tom said he was interested in catching Brown Trout and to save the Kings for our trip in the Summer. Sounds great since I love to mix it up and try some different types of fishing. It was simply a troll that started once we passed the rocks at the Marina entrance. I put two lines in the water as flatlines and then proceeded to the bow the put out the big boards. I put them out at least 120 feet to each side with hopes that a greater distance will result in a more stealthy shallow water approach. We started fishing 12 – 16 feet of water and the boards would at times be in as shallow as 9 feet. I knew this because we snagged bottom a few times using shallow diving baits that run 9 feet deep on a long line.

We first trolled about ½ mile east of the marina and then we had our first strike from the outside board rod. We were a little slow to get to the rod, since the line was already off the board clip and back a distance when we finally got to the rod. When Tom had the rod in his hand a few head shakes and the fish was off. We will blame that one on being tired.

We trolled a little further east and discovered the water had gotten much clearer and it was time to make our way back west. We trolled to in front of Foran’s again and Steve who was fishing directly in front since our departure time, said he had two kings already in the boat. While he relayed that message, the inside board rod goes off and I quickly get to it this time to take up the slack line and then pass the rod over to Tom. Steve from the other boats cheers Tom on and we giggle with the silliness of it all. Tom brings the first fish to the boat. A nice 6 lbs female Brown Trout. That was on a Bomber Long A Michael Jackson colour set out 200 ft behind the board without weight.

From Photo_Gallery7


We put the fish back in the water and it was gone in no time. We get that line back out and moments later the rod set at the back corner of the boat using a William half and half Spoon (we picked it out of Tom’s box to try) and I added a 4 ounce weight set out 40 feet in 16 feet of water. The rod starts pulling hard right beside where Tom was standing. He fought the fish to merely 20 feet from the boat. It was another 6 lbs Brown Trout in estimation that was head thrashing on the surface when the hook pulled free and lure went zinging past my ear.

We trolled further west to as far as Murry Park and noticed the water getting clearer and we decided to turn once more towards Foran’s. There was a lull in action for about an hour as we were making our way back to the waters we needed to fish. This time we worked the contour lines where it dropped from 12 feet to 16 feet, but the whole way through we were left without a bite. When we passed Foran’s entrance this time trolling east we angled out to deeper water and found us in 18 feet of water when we took a rip on the starboard outside board rod. The line from the reel started pulling drag and almost instantly broke the line. That was a Purple Renosky with the pink belly back 200 feet on mono without weight. That’s three we have lost.

Then we trolled out to as much as 30 feet of water to see if there was any green water out that far and to our confirmation, it had cleared once we passed 25 feet of water.

So we did a loop to troll past the front of Foran’s again and it paid off as we took another shot on the Bomber Long A Michael Jackson off the planerboard. This was a colourful male Brown Trout that finished our morning full of fun and relaxation.

From Photo_Gallery7


A relaxing trip was necessary for both Tom and I after being tired from the night before and the day before, activities.

Shane Thombs FINtastic Sportfishing
www.FINtasticSportfishing.com

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