• Prev
• 1 of 2
• Next

Fish On Line correspondent Wil Wegman wrote this piece back in November 2003 just for fun. We thought you might enjoy reading it, so we convinced Wil to share it with our Fish On Line readers. The chilly -9C early this November morning along with the first major snowfall of the season ought to have been reason enough to stay in my warm comfy bed. Besides, that boat ramp would be covered in snow and all iced up … surely that's a good enough excuse to put the kibosh on the crazy notion of putting in yet another day on the water. And hey, what about all that salt on the roads?

It really is a terrible thing for my boat and trailer too. As my loving wife snuggled a little closer, the temptation of staying right where I was sure did make a lot of sense … at least part of me thought so anyway.  I gave my head a shake as I clumsily stumbled out of bed.

"Hun, its freezing out there … you gotta be crazy!" My darling wife Loretta quipped as I anxiously got dressed…wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that before. God bless her though, cause I also wish I had a buck for every time I've heard the words "Hun, you can go fishing if you want" … Hear that guys … "IF YOU WANT?" Can you imagine? It's music to my ears!

Thinking about all those big Lake Simcoe smallmouth, I felt rather ashamed of myself that I actually contemplated not fishing today. This is the only time of year someone with rather mediocre skills like myself actually has a chance at catching a 30 pound bag (five fish), so I would have to be crazy to stay in bed like so many 'fair-weather fisherme'’.  May the good Lord have pity on me if I ever become one of them. With my slippers still on I hustle outside across the fresh layer of snow and unhitch the straps on the snow covered boat tarp with my numb fingers. I instinctively look up and confirm that the Canadian Flag on our flag pole was hanging limp … yet another indication that the weather forecaster who predicted strong northwest winds this morning was wrong again. At least he was wrong in a good way for once. I was beginning to shake … not from the cold mind you, but from the mere thought of "Another Day on the Water". My pace quickened!

On the ride up, I thought of all the times I drove the 15-minute drive to the lake this year; 30 times, maybe closer to 40? You'd think this was my first time in ages,  I was so excited. "Calm down goof … you’re almost there", I berate myself.  Yep the launch is covered in snow … but the bass boat should come off easily enough. I'll worry about pulling it back up when the time comes… it will go in tha's the important thing for now. As the rig slides down the launch I wait for my frozen boat to thaw a bit before it comes off the trailer.  Then, I drive off in the truck to park, while listening to the Outdoor Journal radio show and  hear the host Angelo Viola talk about our day of fishing together two days earlier.  We had a slow day … Ang caught a nice big lake trout* and we managed to catch ½ dozen or so smallies, but the big 6 or even 7 pounders that were caught in the Crackle Cup** two weeks ago eluded us.  It would have been nice to get some of those on film for their Fishin' Canada Show. Jeez, I felt bad that I couldn’t find those big brutes the other day. Damn Simcoe smallies … I love' em dearly, but sometimes they just drive me nuts!

Three little raps first thing that morning but, I could't connect. I drive off to another spot.  Man is it ever cold when you're runnin'.  Another bass boat is there. "Guess we're the last die-hards out here Wil' The boater says to me. "Ya, can’t figure out why, bass is open till the end of the month … Are ya getting any Dave" "Only one, we just got here too; it's really blowi' over on the other side of the island", he replies. Dave has a reputation of being one of this country’s finest tournament anglers … nothing mediocre about his skills.

(* Lake trout close on Simcoe on Sept. 30, so naturally the fish was released. ** A new Canadian tournament record was set in 2003 when the winners, Bob Formosa and Jayson Saliba weighed in 29.59 pounds for five smallmouth. The record still stands in 2005).

We were lucky it was relatively calm here.  I end up catching one nice one on a green/red flake tube after I miss a couple. Boy they were hitting weird; one little perch-like rap and that was it; no "just weight" as we are so used to when dragging tubes for smallies at this time of the year. I hit another spot - nothing.  Back to my first area … but this time I'll fish the inside edge and change tube colors. I cast the 3/8-oz brown/red flake tube to 25 feet of water. Rap, I set the hook hard, nice fight, a decent attempt at a jump, land the 5 pound smallie - now that's more like it.  Two or three more like that on the end of a long line, and soon I'm really starting to feel good.

The few fish I’ve caught so far tell me that they are biting fairly hard for the 47 degree F. water.  They were still hitting with one quick rap but that was it - if you missed, forget it - you won't get her back.  Angelo picked up on that the other day …. Me? It took a little longer. On a lark … I cast out a gaudy chartreuse and blue back, deep diving crankbait and allow lots of line to drag behind me.  I sort of drift with the wind and allow the crank to get down and slowly wobble way behind the boat. Ding a ling; damn that’s an irritating sound the cell phone makes … my son Tyler on the other end letting me know about plans for later in the day.  I feign interest in the non-bass talk, until wham! The rod nearly gets ripped from my hands! I manage to set the hook and calmly yell in the phone that I gotta go - big fish on.

That was the first of four other hard-fighting 4-5 pound clones from the crankbait. Why would I throw a crankbait you ask, when conditions indicate that smart anglers should slow right down and fish near bottom? Well # 1.) I get tired of always fishin tubes, #2.) A week ago I caught a nice smallie on a Rapala Husky Jerk, # 3.) The bass were hittin' tubes pretty hard today so that might suggest they would take a crank, #4.) This crank could suspend and stay near bottom in their strike zone for a long time - driving the bass nuts and invoking a reactionary strike and finally, #5.) I had one tied on and felt like throwing it.

There was no doubt that getting those bass on a crank was a nice change from constantly having to drag tubes. God how I love outsmarting those big smallmouth, especially on a crankbait in November!   After a 12 pound pike nailed it in the same area, the smallies vacated or shut down there, so I moved a few hundred yards and began all over again. Unfortunately, they wouldn't take the crank, so I had to revert back to the tube jig.

Oh well, at least I had a glorious hour with the crankbait earlier, and in this spot I didn't even have to drag the tube. With a moderate west wind I could cast it and still get bit …. Oh baby, how sweet is that!

As I drove back to the launch, I thought to myself "What a great day to have been on the water!  Gorgeous sunny weather, hardly any wind, about a dozen beautiful smallmouth, and some of em even on a crankbait - man that's so cool"” I was so lost in thought about another successful fall day, that I didn't even notice the icy cold water streaming down my leg from the outboards’ water pressure tube.  Guess it must have froze and popped off behind the gauge on my console… oh well, wish I had a buck for every time that happened; guess I’ll have to fix that before tomorrow.

Think I'll work the shoal a bit more tomorrow. I can hardly wait … for "Another Day on the Water" … no excuses this time!

Wil Wegman