Perchin on Simcoe Report (in the cold and rain)

April 16, 2011

So, we had planned on doing some perching on Simcoe with Sir, Kakka, My Best Friend's Girl and myself on Saturday, April 16, 2011.  However, the night before, My Best Friend's Girl mysteriously fell ill, and so we brought in a sub - Knot'Yo.  The weather that morning was cold and windy.  All day, the weather hovered around 5 degrees Celsius.

We left Sir's place around 4 am, and arrived at Harry's Riverside Sports and Bar in Keswick around 6 am.  The sun had not broken the horizon yet, and we launched in the dark.  We could already feel the cold wind off the lake.  I was glad I had worn my snowboarding jacket at that point.

We started fishing the eastern shore of Cook's Bay in about 10 ft of water.  I started out using a small jig and spinner tipped with a soft plastic tube.  I was fishing it slowly along bottom.  The other guys were using minnows and worms.  At this first spot, we caught nothing.  We moved to another spot with similar conditions, and remained skunked.

Sir likes the challenge of a bobber in gale force winds...

Knot'Yo braving the cold

Yellow Kakka... must have had corn the night before...

We finally got to the top of Cooks Bay, and rounded to corner to stronger winds.  We located ourselves between Snake Island and the mainland in about 8 ft of water with weedbeds surrounded by sandy bottom, and anchored.  At this point, I had switched to a modified dropshot rig where my weight was a jighead tipped with a minnow, with another hook tied about 20 inches above, also tipped with a minnow.  I dropped my rig in and bam!  Fish on!  I reel her in and bring in a nice Simcoe perch!  I got the skunk off and we were then in business. 

At this point, the rain starts, and we begin to get wet!  Because of the rain, I could not take anymore on the water pictures, so I will describe it to you.  All in all, we caught somewhere around 150 perch between the 4 of us, including some really nice jumbos, the largest of which is credited to Knot'Yo - it looked like a bass lol.  Some of these fish were really fat, and obviously pregnant.  One even oozed out what looked like thick Mountain Dew when Kakka squeezed the poor preggers fish.  It was all over our chairs.  Disrespect...  We ended up keeping 26 for the pan.

I eventually stopped using live bait due to my fingers freezing in the water, and switched to soft plast tubes on my rig.  The soft plastic proved just as effective as the live bait for me, and I used it for the rest of the afternoon.

Eventually, we headed back to Harry's to warm up and grab some food.  White caps were beginning to form on the lake, and the drive back was much slower than the drive out.  It was not a fun drive back.  When we got home, we took some pics.

 Don't be fooled by the pic, that fish was jumbo, just not as jumbo as the guy holding it...

So, according to my goals, I started using soft plastics, and used soft plastics for a large portion of the fishing day (although not 50%).  So far so good.

Food pics

So, I had posted a recipe for fish patties.  I finally got around to taking pictures of the process.  Here are the pics...

Dill mustard mayo

Ready for consumption.

Next, my lobster bake...

May we not forget...

I apologize to all as it may seem that I have forgotten about you.  However, that cannot be further from the truth.  I have pictures and new recipes.  I have 2 reports.  I have updates on fishing rods.  I had a busy May filled with the wedding of Sir and Pink Lightning, custom fishing rods, and putting our condo up for sale.

My pictures will hopefully be uploaded tomorrow, accompanied by our first softwater outing of this season.  Stay tuned,

Fish Patty Sandwiches

Here is another fish based recipe to hold you ove until I get my pictures of perch fishing last weekend uploaded.

If you ask Musky, I had been talking about a fish sandwich idea for a couple of months. Well, I finally made these sandwiches, and let me tell you, they were what I had been imagining.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:
6 small cod fillets (frozen)
15-20 crackers
green onions
1 tablespoon of whip dressing (Miracle Whip) o mayonnaise
1 egg
salt & pepper
chili seasoning
bread crumbs
bread of your choice
lettuce
tomatoes
sliced red onions
2 tablspoons of whip dressing (Miracle Whip) or mayonnaise
some fresh dill to taste
mustard to taste

Now, this recipe is a take on a crab cake recipe, but worked out great with the fish.

First, poach the cod in a shallow pan.
Bring a shallow pan of water to a simmer, add cod, and cook until no longer opaque.
Drain cod and set aside to cool..
Once cool, place cod in a bowl and crumble crackers into the fish.
I use Ritz for added flavour.  Substitute with your cracker of choice.
Mix in 1 tablepoon of Whip Dressing.
Mix egg into mixture.
Add chili seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.
Form into 4 patties.
Sprinkle bread crumbs onto the patties for texture.
Pan fry the patties over medium high heat until golden brown.

For the dill sauce;
Chop the dill and mix into 2 tablespoons of Whip Dressing.
Add mustard to taste.

Toast bread, and dill sauce, lettuce, tomato slices, and red onions to fish patties and enjoy. 

Musky really enjoyed this dish, as did I.  I could ot be happier with how it turned out, and is a dish that I will make again.
I really need to remember to take pictures of these dishes.  But trust me, they are tasty.

Til next time....

Update

Here is a brief update of where I am with respect to fishing.  I have been pretty busy finishing off the rods for my groomsmen.  I am quite happy with my progress as  rod builder. My wraps have improved as has my epoxy work.  I want to progress to the point where my epoxy work is smooth and clean.  Still a ways to go. 
I have recievd nearly all of the parts for custom rod orders for Kakka and My Best Friend's Girl, and am really excited to get going on those rods.  I have glued the butts to their rods, but am waiting for some parts to bling up their rods.
I am really excited abou Musky's rod.  I have to paint her blank,and I have to order her bilng.  I am ordering a few Matagi parts for her,which are pretty expensive premium Japanese components.  However, they shoud make her rod really nice.
We have had warm weather here and the ice s mostly off the lakes.  I am looking forward to getting out on the water and scratching that fishing itch.

Sorry this post wasnt't funny or entertaining.  Just infomative.  I may as well Twitter this.  Too bad I hate the idea of Twitter.