My Bachelor Party - Day 2/3

So, the first night, Tight Moves is up late, pounding drinks back because that is what he expects at a bachelor party - and rightfully so.  However, the rest of us take it a little easier, preparing to be up early the next morning.  Upon convincing him that the next night would be a 'Big Night' (not that it took really any convincing - Tight has this way of convincing himself of ideas by a series of asking and answering his own questions), he hits the sack.  I did remind him that he was my first mate, and that he didn't want to disappoint me on my bachelor party... Or so I thought... 6:00 am

Me - Hey!  Get up!  We're going fishing now!

Tight - Go without me.  Pick me up when you come back in.

Me - What?!

So, with that, I set out to explore a brand new remote lake, 8 hours North of civilization - alone.  However, at least my best man and cousin would remain close all day - not that I would need it in the end.

Emmanuel and Pele were up when I was, as were Mek Mek and Sir.  Mek Mek and Sir would hangclose to me throughout the day while Emmanuel and Pele had their own plan...

Their plan was as follows:

1. Fish for one hour.
2. Go back to the cottage for a coffee.
3. Fish for one hour.
4. Go back to the cottage for a coffee.
5. Fish for one hour.
6. Go back to thecottage to eat.
7. Repeat in the afternoon.

They never strayed more than 20 minutes boat ride from the cottage and some hot beverages.  Those Italians love them some coffee.  But can you blame them?  It was cold.  Sure, Pele brought up some warm fishing clothes - jogging pants, long sleeve shirts, a baseball cap and running shoes.  Nevermind that he didn't bring anything like gloves or a toque perhaps.  It was the weather...

Anyhow, back to the fishing; it started to rain overnight, and continued on right throughout the day.  It was cold and rainy.  However, the fishing was not too bad.  Sir was able to land a nice 7 lb pike, as well as a smattering of other smaller pike.  In a sheltered cove, I was able to elicit a lot of topwater strikes on my new Norman Top Dollar walking bait, which combines a water spitting attraction with a walk the dog action.  (That is one catchy fucking slogan).  However, I was unable to hook up until I switched to an inline spinner (one of my homemade jobs).  Moving on, I found a small island close to shore where the lake opened up and the current funneled into this shallow saddle.  So, I anchored here and gave it a shot.  Casting inline spinners towards and parallel to shore, I was able to land a few small pike and a decent smallmouth bass.  Not bad for a team of one.

That's what I thought until we ran into Knot'Yo and Kakka who showed us what 'doing well' really means.

10.10 lb Kakka



Knot'Yo 12.12 lb pike, HIS 12.12 lb pike...

Knot'Yo and Kakka caught these two monsters, along with a host of other in the 5 to 10 lb range in this one large bay at the South of the Lake!  Using silver and blue husky jerks,  they caught their personal best pike, and Grand Slam qualifiers! 
Catching those gators made them good and hungry, so in we all went for as fresh a fish fry as they come!  On my way in, I pass a boat with 3 anglers in it.  They wave, and I assume they were waving to someone else since no one had 3 in their boat aside from Spam, and I know what that boat looks like.  I get back to the cottage and have a fun time docking by myself when the boat of three pull up and Pele, Emmanuel and Tight Moves are in the boat!  Bastard jumped ship and joined Team Italia!

Fried fish + fried potatoes = heaven (via coronary)



Tight looking for something vegetarian friendly...

Yep, I still cooked on my bachelor party...

After lunch I had a nice nap.  It was so nice that I slept almost until it got dark!  No worries since the bite definitely tapered off and little success was had afterwards.

That night was not the 'big night' that Tight had hyped it up to be.  In fact, it was rather relaxed as it got really cold, and the night sky really cleared up, revealing a night sky dotted by thousands of stars.

Fishing was much of the same thenext day, although tougher.  A smattering of pike were caught throughout the day, but nothing of significance - especially when compared to the 10 and 12 lbers caught the day before.  Camo did manage to catch his only fish of the weekend - a sucker, leaving Tight as the only one who got skunked.  Shoulda'a just woke up that first morning.  As seen on this blog, karma is a fishing bitch...

Knot'Yo - nothing left to prove

Spam - my boat's wake will sink your puny boat...

On the last day, only Spam, Sir, Knot'Yo and I head out for a last minute chance at a giant.  The morning was cold and crisp.  It was sunny and cloud free.  A high pressure system had moved in, and expectedly, we caught nothing that last morning.

We packed it in and headed home later that morning.  The drive home felt shorter than the drive up.  Perhaps we all slept more, tired from a great fishing weekend.  Perhaps sleeping was better than being awake for Mek Mek's first time driving with a trailered boat.

Whatever the case, the weekend was great, and was exactly what I would have wanted, and got for my bachelor party.  Thanks to my brother, Sir, for planning this thing.  Thanks to all of my groomsmen for standing with me on my wedding day, ad being there to back me up on all the days leading up to it.  Thanks to the rest of my friends who thought enough of me (or fishing) to spend a weekend with us up North.

My Bachelor Party - Part 1

So, I got married in November.  And you know what that means...

BACHELOR PARTY!

Knowing me, there is no doubt as to what kind of bachelor party would be perfect.  Vegas?  Nah. Strippers?  Nah.  Booze?  Yah.  Fishing?  Absolutely!

So, with that decided, Sir went about organizing my bachelor party.  More about that in a minute.

With 2 non anglers and 2 infrequent anglers, I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to finish and give the custom rods to my groomsmen.  So, I finished the rods for Sir, Knot'Yo, Spam, Mek Mek and Kato.  Tuna and Sk8er could not come, so their rods would take a back seat.  I was hoping that each rod would bust their cherry this weekend, which would be fitting.

Accompanying me on my bachelor party were Sir, Spam, Knot'Yo, Kakka, CamoToe, Mek Mek, Pele, Tight Moves, Emmanuel, and Kato.  We went to Horseshoe Island Camp on Mistinikon Lake located near Matachewan, Ontario, about 8 hours north of Toronto.  The drive felt shorter than it was due to the great conversations in the car, and the naps.

After about 8 hours, we arrive at the launch where a barge would take us to the island, and our cottages.  The lake is very scenic with limited access, and very few cottages on its shores.  It was definitely breath-taking; dare I say it, "majestic'...

We had 2 cottages, with Spam, Knot'Yo, Kakka, CamoToe and Kato in one cottage and Sir, Mek Mek, Emmanuel, Pele, Tight and myself in the other. 

Included with the cottages was a boat rental for every 2 people.  Because Spam had moved to San Fran, Sir and I agreed that he would use SotW for this weekend.  In that boat, he would be joined by CamoToe and Kato.  Kakka and Knot'Yo would be in the other.  Sir and Mek Mek, and Emmanuel and Pele were partnered; leaving Tight with me.  Had I known that this would mean I would fish alone, I may have picked another partner.

So, we were in Northern Ontario fishing heaven, ready to fish.  Unfortunately, it appeared that the Gods of Fishing did not open up the skies to shine their light on us.  However, open up the skies they did.  Leading into this weekend, the temperature dropped to temperatures hovering above zero, accompanied by sporadic rain and heavy winds.  As a result, the fishing was tough, and only a few were caught on the first day.  I caught one smallie trolling a jointed shad rap, but nothing else.  Mek Mek was able to bust that rod's cherry with his first pike.  It would not be the only thing he busted that weekend.  However, Kakka and Knot'Yo had much better luck, which would be a theme for the weekend.  Knot'Yo also busted his rod's cherry.

Kakka with his and Knot'Yo's catch for the first night

Knot'Yo's Kakka...

That first evening, we retired to our cottages where we would have some nice meals and some drinks.  After dinner, we sat outside enjoying the northern night sky.  With so little light pollution from big cities, the number of stars that you can see if astounding, and something I recommend to anyone.  If you get a chance, go for it.

Day 2 is next...

Ice Fishing

So, cabin fever was killing us.  We were glued to WFN, watching other people fish, wiching we were the ones fishing when one of our friends asks, "What better way to get your fishing fix than to go fishing?"  To which I reply, "What'chu talkin' 'bout Willis?!  It's winter.  How we gunna fish?"  As he takes a sip from his drink and puts the glass down, I hear the clink of the ice on the glass and realize just what Willis was talkin' 'bout.
So, with that, we set out to Cook's Bay in Lake Simcoe for some winter fishing.  (I know, I know - I should have known better with my track record there...).  On this hunt would be the usual suspects: Myself, Sir, Duk, Knot'Yo, Spam, and three others - The GodFaja, Camo-Toe, Just Cuz.  Just Cuz is named such because he is just Camo'Toe's Cuz.

from left to right: The GodFaja, Duk, Just Cuz, Knot'Yo, CamoToe, Spam

We get out there and they truck us to the party hut in this:

If you have ever met us, you will know that we are big boys, which made for a fun drive lol.  Anyhow, we get set up and lines in the water and wait.  And we wait.  And then wait somemore.

Absolutely nothing bit.  Eight lines.  Zero fish.  Eventually, we lost patience and played outside in the snow. 

On the upside, we had a killer snowball fight.