rhymobot

I have found success in the 4 times I've fished during light rain/drizzle. 

Small lake in NJ - warm and light rain on and off for the 8 hours I spent on the water. 23 largemouth. Several 2 pounders and a couple 3s. Two other boaters during this time. Also witnessed them catching over and over.

River in Upstate NY - 6 hours and on and off drizzle on a grey day. Several chain pickrel landed. One LMB.

Lake O trib - got drenched once on a hot day but no tstorms in the forecast. on and off drizzle after that. Landed 8 lb sheepshead and a small SMB. But that's it.

Small lake close to Georgian Bay -  2.5 hours and very light rain. Hooked 8 bass. Landed 6. Two of them were 2.5 lbs to 3.

These are the four times I recall fishing in rain. And didn't get skunked. And I've been skunked plenty of times. More often than not in mid-day sun. But if it's grey and a little bit of rain in mid-day, I like my chances.

So in my experience, yes I find those conditions favourable for fishing. But then again I'm typically fishing small waters for bass. And like Joel said, the barometer can tell you a lot as well. And wind also plays a part.

So many variables affect the appetite and behaviour of fish. We'll all spend the rest of our lives trying to unlock those secrets.

It's winter and many of us don't have current fishing stories to share. So here is one you might find a little interesting.

You know how CT has great sales. A few years ago I bought these size 10 waders from CT for half off, which was only $35. It was the last one:

Well when I got home and opened the box, I found completely different waders. They were brown instead of green. And a different and better material. Different manufacturer.

I took them completely out of the box and discovered that they were actually size 13. And that's not all. They were actually used! The soles were completely covered in dried up mud and grass.

So I brought them back and got a refund and they told me that the next closest store had a couple available in my size so it all worked out in the end.

CT often takes things back no questions asked. Just like Walmart. The customer is always right. But sometimes the customer is wrong and in this case, they got duped. Well I assume something like that happened.

Normally I wouldn't break my rod in this way but it's a long story. I wrote about it in the report I posted last night. But I gotta admit, I'm pretty disappointed that I can't get just the end. Hate having to write off something like this.

I bought it for trips to DR and Cuba. And only used it last week for another reason.

I also have 3 retractable rods which I can travel with but they are maximum 5.5 feet, which I don't mind when boat fishing but 7 foot is better for surf casting.

I've only broken one rod before and my cousin broke my rod when landing his first pike with me. But all my rods I bought for $20 to $25, which were on half off sales except this one and a $70 ugly stick.

I won't be replacing the rod with another travel rod. Not in the foreseeable future that is.

i've contemplated getting a canoe in addition to my inflatable. the best part of the inflatable for me is that it goes in my trunk and goes wherever i go. no strapping it on to the roof and watching my speed on the highway. also i'd need to buy a roof rack too. and then i'd want to buy stabilizers for the canoe which run a couple hundred bucks. though you could make your own with pool noodles, piping and elbow joints but i'm not that enterprising.

the canoe definitely cuts through faster, gets from car to water faster and has more square footage in total and so i considered it for fishing my local rivers and small lakes where i'd be driving on local roads only. but then i thought a 12 or 14 footer would be hard with just one person. carrying and dealing with the roof. the inflatable is easy for one person. plus storage would be a problem especially since i moved out on my own into a condo and don't have a garage now.

one overlooked aspect of the inflatable like these fish hunters is that you can lie down and even sleep like i do sometimes. even with 2 people on it i can still sprawl out and lie down. this is for those lazy summer days where i'm on the water by 8am and need a nap by 11. cover my face with my hat and take a 20 minute power nap after anchoring down. my gf will also lie down and tan while we're trolling or anchored down.

the 14 foot aluminum my friend has you can't lie down in. but my cousin's 17 foot bass boat has perfect carpeted decks for napping. lol. i'm not a morning person so inevitably i will have to lie down at some point for those early start days.

So I've read stories on here about people reeling in a fish only for a bigger fish to sneak up and take that fish. Well at least half of it. Particularly with pike. Also seen it on a BC fishing show when they were reeling in a salmon and a sea lion or seal or something came up and smashed it right before they were gonna net it.

Anyway, it got me thinking about the two times I've seen it happen. One time was in Jamaica. I suspect the perpetrator was a 'cuda.

The 2nd time was in Cuba but the story goes like this: We went on a catamaran trip in Cayo Santa Maria in the flats. I brought a dollarama retractable with one of my cheap old reels and me, my gf, and a couple we befriended were using it to catch jacks and snappers whenever we stopped.

Then some guy from Montreal, who was trolling for 'cudas, asked to keep one of the snappers and rig it up as bait. So he threw a treble on it and let it troll. Well some 'cuda took half the fish and avoided the hook. But no worries. He went back to the jerk baits and eventually landed two.

Also, we went snorkeling on this trip and I was face to face with a 'cuda in the water and my heart skipped a beat but I quickly realized 'cudas don't attack people. Barracudas are such beautiful fish.

Never had this happen to me but makes for a great story when it does happen to one of us.

+1 to profs lake. it's free. and many access points along different streets and catwalks. heart lake you're supposed to pay admission and on top of that, supposed to pay an angling fee as well but most people don't.

another one is loafer's lake. tonnes of panfish including some crappie, just like profs. and loafers is also free.

norton place park or whatever it's called is at queen and dixie area and has panfish and also free. park in the lot SW of there.

all these places mentioned above have possibility for carp too and largemouth. loafers has the very odd pike and big koi in there.

and of course pretty much any storm pond in brampton has panfish in it.

i also have the same experience with the cranks. hit or miss. some i have caught some decent fish on. and a couple i have had don't work properly. they dive a little bit and then shoot right back up to the surface and stay sideways or whatever. like the lip wasn't doing what it's supposed to be doing. that's for both cast and retrieve and trolling.

but overall, it's good value.

just caught a nice fish last week on one of those spoons. however, another one of those spoons i had from dollarama got caught on the lining of my trunk and when i yanked on it, not even that hard, the eye of the hook simply broke.

all the points mentioned above are so very very true.

and i too like SMB for the reasons that they are harder to locate in my usual fishing radius of lakes and so when i do hook into one it feels special. and darn, that fight! the last 1.5 pounder i caught last week took me left, right, up and down for what seemed like an eternity and gave me some nervous moments when i saw the bend in the rod as he went under the boat.

and the various colourations and patterns of smallies make each one seem so different.

but ya, both gorgeous looking creatures and both pack a hell of a punch.