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| My first fish, a nice smallie |
The smallmouth bass population, it would seem, is increasing exponentially in Red Lake. Just about everybody we talked to from camp had caught at least one last summer. Many people had multiple catches. This is a new trend. We saw our first bass about 10 years ago.
A young lad from one of the cabins at the west end discovered his minnow trap this summer contained lots of young bass which would seem to indicate next year's catchable population will continue to grow.
Brenda and I only fished from the boat twice this summer since we were laser-focused on completing the exterior of our cabin. We can catch walleye off the dock but I have developed an allergic-like reaction to them that triggers painful pseudo-gout in my knees. Actually we have always preferred northern pike anyway so when we took off in the boat, we went looking for Esox lucius. On our first trip the cotton fluff from poplar trees was so thick on the lake surface it immediately jammed our reels and we came home empty-handed. On the second foray which was Aug. 21 -- the day I finished installing the metal roofing -- we actually fished for about two hours.
My first fish was the smallmouth bass that you see above. The pike really weren't biting very well but we eventually got a couple in the low-20 inches which we took home for supper. In addition to the two boat trips I did catch a few pike off the dock over the summer and we feasted on those as well. And a couple of friends from camp also donated us one.
Last year I caught an enormous smallmouth during the few hours that I fished for pike.
In other news, all of Northwestern Ontario seems to have been invaded this summer by Gypsy moths.
The moths were a plague inside everybody's cabins, coming in every time you opened the door at night. At home in Nolalu I discovered several inches of dead moths in our wood-burning stove this fall.
We saw defoliated quaking aspen trees from the lake but curiously, nobody seems to have seen the caterpillars. Hard to figure, that one.
On a sad note, no loons successfully fledged this year. Apparently the record high water ruined all their nests.
7 comments:
Nice Small Mouth. Too bad they are considered invasive up at Red Lake. They put up a nice fight and seeing them jump out of the lake is always fun. Hope you ate it. Are you supposed to destroy them, or is that not correct?
Mike S.
They are considered a game fish and therefore anglers must abide by the fishing regulations that pertain to them such as seasons and limits. You are right about them being considered invasive since they are not native to the lake. However, bass have been moving north throughout Northwestern Ontario for decades, probably as a result of climate change.
The fear that they will replace a species -- walleye, for instance -- is largely unfounded. At our home in Nolalu just about all the lakes have walleye, northern pike and smallmouth bass. The only examples I know of them dominating over walleye is in some border lakes that where walleye were tremendously overharvested by anglers.
I'm with you, they are lots of fun to catch and good to eat. I didn't keep this one as I'm pretty much sticking to eating northern pike since I know they don't trigger my pseudo-gout.
Incidentally, since I mentioned the huge bass I caught last year, I have since looked up the Ontario record for this species. It is 9.8 pounds. The one I caught last year was the largest I had ever seen but was more like five pounds.
Thanks for the clarification Dan. I recall you telling me what the walleye were doing to you when you attempted to show me how to fillet the northern two years back when I stayed at Bow Narrows and introduced myself at your dock. I enjoy your blog and look for updates daily.
Mike S
Yeah, what a weird allergy, eh? Other things that bring it on are shellfish. This thing first manifested itself about 6-7 years ago. When a rheumatologist told me it was brought on by eating fish I didn't believe him. I mean, I've been eating all kinds of fish my whole life. It has only been since we started building the cabin a few years ago that I clued-in to the link with walleye. Last year proved to be the clincher. We had eaten several meals of northern pike before the same friends I mentioned above also brought us a couple of walleye along with the pike. I had no sooner finished my walleye dinner than I was reaching for the ibuprofen and ice packs. Fast treatment, I have found, usually prevents a full-blown attack where one or both of my knees swell and are hot to the touch. Even still, I'm left with a sore knee for weeks. It's just bonkers.
I caught my first small mouth this year at BN. Much smaller than the one you had, mine was maybe 8 to 10 inches long.
In Iowa we have just the opposite issue with Small mouth and Walleye. On the inland rivers they stock walleye and small are native. Small fisherman do not like the walleye being stocked, they don't like them completing with the Small mouth. Many fisherman here think the walleye have reduced the small mouth population.
I believe that small mouth reproduce and walleye do not. I am not a biologist but my understanding is that on the inland rivers of Iowa(not the Mississippi, I believe both reproduce naturally) there is an issue with plankton or lack of plankton in the reproductive process walleye will not reproduce. That is why they stock them.
I like having walleye in the river so I am for stocking of walleye.
Interesting! Here in Ontario the OMNR uses the lack of reproductive success as a basis for stocking some species. For instance, around Thunder Bay they will stock speckled trout and splake in small lakes. Splake are a hybrid and therefore will not reproduce but the speckled trout are a native fish in the area, just not in the lakes where they are planted. Those lakes don't have the conditions for spawning. The idea is the stocking offers fishing opportunities but will never upset nature. Eventually, the stocked fish just die from old age (or are caught).
Dan, Good to have some reading material from you. I haven't checked your blog in a few months and loved Oct and Nov. Interesting take on smallies. I was on the west end in June and again in late Aug. I too dealt with the cotton on the lake which made fishing awfully difficult. We didnt catch as many walleyes as normal on the west end in June, but we figured it had to do with the high water. We felt the lake was full of food due to the high water. I could completely be wrong. Our fishing in Aug was much better. We fished Pipestone a ton for the week we were there. Id hate to hear smallies are taking over walleyes. Id prefer to hear the other way around. We like to eat pike too. Weird deal with the allergy. Love the photos of the cabin!! Happy Holiday!!
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