Aperched on Smoke on the Water

April 18, 2009 marked the beginning of the Orillia Perch Festival. This was a day of firsts for me. It was the first time David (the Suzuki) would pull our chariot, Smoke on the Water. It would be the beginning of the age of the Perch Festival for the BASStards. It would be my first time on Couchiching, and the list goes on.

Firstly, although David could pull Smoke on the Water, I cannot say that he did so without hesitation. Hills proved to be a challenge for my steed as it struggled to pull the boat up hills while maintaining speed. It was so much a challenge that his thirst doubled while towing. However, pulling the boat out of the water at days end proved not a problem.

Launching the boat in the water of Lake Couchiching, I was accompanied by Sir Fusses, Musky Hunter, Spam and Knot'Yo. We launched and were on the water by 9am. Not that it mattered. For the first 3 hours we remained fishless. On top of that, the temperature was dropping and a breeze picking up off of the lake. With no fish in the livewells, we headed into the Narrows to fish in the relatively sheltered docks. This proved to be the right decision.

Eventually Sir hooked intoa small perch. Success! We had broken ground, so to speak, and would be able to entere aperch for Sir. Slowly but surely, the rest of us caught our first perches, shortly followed by our second and third fish. Well, all of this was with the exception of Spam. Apparently he blew his load over in Dunnville lol.

Anyhow, this continued for the next 4-5 hours. With all said and done, I had caught some 50 perch. Sir had 50 of his own. Knot'yo landed 40 while Musky boated 30. In the end, Spam caught his entry fish and finished with 15. We kept 30 for my Grandmother, and let the rest go. All in all, it was a great day.

Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures as we forgot to use the cameras in the hustle and bustle of the hectic perching action. An interesting note: We did not catch any other species of fish for teh entire day! No pumpkinseed, sunfish or rockbass - only perch. I have to admit that this is a first for me.

It was neat to see all of the other derby fisherman out there. At one point there had to be close to 200 boats in one relatively concentrated area. I had never experienced anything like this before, and I can tell you this won't be my last time. I should be headed there again before the end of the. I hope you come along for the trip.