Trout fishing lessons...

Forest Life...

Trout aren't easy...
So last Saturday my new fishing friend Arthur, picked me up @ about 4 bells and we headed out to the Calabogie area. I was happy to be part of his new canoe testing and glad to go along as ballast too. :-) After a work-out getting the canoe in the water, at the first lake, we got blanked by the Specks that are supposed to be living in there. :-( Now that's with Art using worms and me sticking to my artificial lures, like always. I'm kinda stubborn like that. ;-)

So, we packed up then and with just a few stops for a breath, we managed to get back up the hill to the vehicle. Soon, we were headed up the road to the Rainbow Trout lake where I was real glad to see an easy launching spot to make up for the harder one earlier. :-)

Well, after an hour or so of tossing live worms and lures at those Rainbows, buddy Art sets the hook on his first ever Rainbow Trout! Surprisingly enough this particular 'bow did not jump out of the water like most Rainbows are prone to do. But a 12 or 13 inch Rainbow, feels real good in the hand, even if he's a non-jumper! :-)

I tossed some of my favorite stuff like a #1 silver Mepps Aglia spinner and a Dardevle Skeeter as well as a #0 Panther Martin spinner, and even an F5 Rapala, all to no avail. Finally, I got one "bump" on an old silver #0 Olympic spinner, but didn't get a hook-up. :-(

The jagged rocks and tall, thick conifers along the shorelines of these little lakes, so reminded me of my own home waters of Sudbury, fishing them as a kid, so many years ago now. As I looked around it was like touching my roots sort of, if you know what I mean. I noticed that there was much activity in the shallow waters along the shores of both lakes. There were lots of tiny minnows about an inch long and many little schools of two and three inchers, swimming about too. I lost track of how many little Crayfish I spotted moving among the shoreline debris and lots of two plus inch long crawdaddy's too. I eyeballed three or four frogs of various sizes, and a snake over two feet long, not positively ID'd but looked kinda like either a Water snake or a Milk snake perhaps. This thing swam underwater far too easily and was going after one of the frogs when I spotted him. Unfortunately, I broke one of my own basic rules this trip and "forgot" to pack my camera along, so, no snake pics for the blog... :-(

As we headed back to the launch site, I took a few last casts right to the edge of a massive glacial boulder sitting in fifteen or so feet of water. If ever a spot looked "trouty" this big boulder was it, and yet, not a single strike to my best presentations.

We started unloading our gear and bringing it to the vehicle when Art tells me he's gonna let another worm soak, off this nice lookin' bit of launch-site lake-shore, while we finish getting the gear stowed. "Sounds good to me!" I call back from my perch on an old stump nearby, while taking in all of the beautiful scenery. Not even two minutes pass and Art walks over to his pole between loads to the SUV and says, "I think I've got a bite"!

"ALRIGHT", I fire back, as I jump up and head over to the action spot myself to join in. Wow, a real nice lookin' fish flashes below the surface about ten feet out from shore and buddy is cheerin' while I'm whoopin' and this fish is pullin' and splashin' every which way but loose. Being as this is a Trout lake, in that pretty clear water, we both got to see everything happening, live. Man, what a rush that was, to even just SEE all this stuff going on! :-) Can you imagine how Art must have been feeling through all of this beautiful action?

Well, after a little bit of fancy dancin' and possessed with a strong desire to win, my man Art, grasps this lovely Rainbow Trout around the bod and holds it up where I can see that's it's probably pushin' a bit over the two pound mark, or nearly a kilo if you do your calculations that way. ;-) A really fine fish in anybody's books, I'd say.

He then asks me if I'd mind if he took one more cast and of course I said to go ahead, so he did. He puts the rod down at an angle, sets a rock on the butt section to keep it solid and then calmly lights up a smoke. We talk a little, while I follow suit, about that sweet 'bow he just landed and as we look over at the propped up rod, it's tip is doing a little two-step. A second or three later and my Trout guy is reeling in another freakin' Rainbow. This one is around a pound and it didn't jump either. Strange. So you see folks, it pays, to make that "one last cast" now doesn't it? :-)

Final Score from two lakes: Art, the Trout Guy, 3 Rainbows... LarryB, the web guy, zip!

Yup, as for little ol' me, unfortunately, I had to wear the skunk button on the way home. :-) The main lesson I should have learned on that outing was, Use Worms For Trout! The proof, again, was that even my friend Art, who had never caught a Rainbow before, spanked me good, by sticking to Dew worms for these finicky critters. I should have baited up and took a few more last casts... :-)

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P.S. Trust me, the next time Art needs ballast, I'm using worms and that's all there is to it! :-)