well, another report! went fishing just outside of dunnville on the welland river/chippewa creek. made 3 trips out here, should have taken more pictures... but i didn;t, next time i will! lol. anyways, went out to take a look as my buddy said it was a nice spot to get into some fish. so we went out, and boy was he right. we slammed the crappies all day long!! didn;t take any pics, as they were all fairly small, a few bigger ones in the mix though, but we had the numbers game goin that day! the first time we were there was May 8th, but still had a handful of ppl fishing above the falls for walleye, with a few being caught, and under my watchful eye, they were promptly released. now, a surprise for myself, fishing below the rapids, i hooked into a decent pike, only my second ever and a new PB! lol, don;t get too excited, it was nuthin special. but a nice treat and my first of the year.
mixed in the bag was a ton of crappie, some pumpkinseeds, the pike, and a few catfish. made for a fun day for the girlfriend and myself. gorgeous day out, couldn;t ask for anythin better. up where the guys were fishing for the walleye, a couple bass were caught as well, with one being a real hawg! this largie was easily pushing 5lbs!! it was a beauty, but, OSS so it was also quickly released.
went back a few days later to try for some now, in season walleye and some more crappies! well, weather was a bit cooler and windier then the last time, and this time, the BUGS came out to play!! fishing was a little tougher. figured out the crappie after a few minutes of playin around and started gettin some. so, Ashley, my lovely girlfriend, was fishing them, as i went above the rapids to try for some eyes! well, no luck with the eyes, did get a couple small largemouth for my efforts on a small jig with a berkley gulp minnow on it. Ashley also got a small bass too. so, back down the the crappies, then, i got adventurous and headed along the river bank to get to a couple fish holding spots, put a dead minnow on as we had a couple, and tried for some channel cats, and sure enough, my spots payed off as i landed a few small ones, then.. and keep in mind i;m on a bank, 6 feet above the water that goes straight down into the river, i drop my line down, and as soon as it hit the water, bam, float goes under! so, as i proceed to set the hook and what i expect is a channel cat from the undercut bank, the fish doesn;t move, so i;m thinkin, ok, i got a big one here... and off she runs, straight out to the middle of the river. so i yell to ashley to get me the net as i fight it, now garnering some attention from a few fellow anglers around us. after a 10 minute fight, and me climbing around some trees and playin monkey man tryin not to lose this fish in a brush pile it ran around, i finally get down to where i can land it. so, i get the net, scoop the fish, and see... scales... ok, its a big carp... or is it? muahaha. sorry... so, i pull it up and my buddy asks, what is it... and my response... i have no idea! i;ve never seen this fish before in my life. so, we get it on the bank where i can look at it, and an older gentleman comes over and without missing a beat... thats a "Big Mouth Buffalo" well, i have heard of them, never seen or caught one before, so this was kinda exciting now! get a weight of him and a couple pics, and back to the water!
9.87 Lbs on the scale
and one more for the road.
he said it was only the second one hes ever seen around here, only other was years before down in the niagara river. later learned they are not native to our waters, but are quite common in the U.S.
went back again a couple days ago, and again, was not a fun day to be out, windy, cold, some rain. fish were not cooperating at all, couldn;t buy a strike, so i let Ashley keep tryin for crappie and i wondered off to find fish hiding in cover. managed to get a small bluegill then moved to the upper part of the river to try for some eyes again, well, after gettin a few bites in the same area, i finally for a big hit and a hookup! was i finally goin to get my first ever walleye?!? lol, no, i was not... rite after gettin a solid hookset, i was bitten off by a rather large pike. was using 8lb mono, it hit on a tube jig rigged texas style to avoid all the snags there. tied on a new jig head 1/8oz and a gulp minnow, landed a 1lb largie and that was it. lots of birds flying around, was kinda creepy. lol. i'll be back there soon for some more fishing, and be sure to have more pictures.
mixed in the bag was a ton of crappie, some pumpkinseeds, the pike, and a few catfish. made for a fun day for the girlfriend and myself. gorgeous day out, couldn;t ask for anythin better. up where the guys were fishing for the walleye, a couple bass were caught as well, with one being a real hawg! this largie was easily pushing 5lbs!! it was a beauty, but, OSS so it was also quickly released.
went back a few days later to try for some now, in season walleye and some more crappies! well, weather was a bit cooler and windier then the last time, and this time, the BUGS came out to play!! fishing was a little tougher. figured out the crappie after a few minutes of playin around and started gettin some. so, Ashley, my lovely girlfriend, was fishing them, as i went above the rapids to try for some eyes! well, no luck with the eyes, did get a couple small largemouth for my efforts on a small jig with a berkley gulp minnow on it. Ashley also got a small bass too. so, back down the the crappies, then, i got adventurous and headed along the river bank to get to a couple fish holding spots, put a dead minnow on as we had a couple, and tried for some channel cats, and sure enough, my spots payed off as i landed a few small ones, then.. and keep in mind i;m on a bank, 6 feet above the water that goes straight down into the river, i drop my line down, and as soon as it hit the water, bam, float goes under! so, as i proceed to set the hook and what i expect is a channel cat from the undercut bank, the fish doesn;t move, so i;m thinkin, ok, i got a big one here... and off she runs, straight out to the middle of the river. so i yell to ashley to get me the net as i fight it, now garnering some attention from a few fellow anglers around us. after a 10 minute fight, and me climbing around some trees and playin monkey man tryin not to lose this fish in a brush pile it ran around, i finally get down to where i can land it. so, i get the net, scoop the fish, and see... scales... ok, its a big carp... or is it? muahaha. sorry... so, i pull it up and my buddy asks, what is it... and my response... i have no idea! i;ve never seen this fish before in my life. so, we get it on the bank where i can look at it, and an older gentleman comes over and without missing a beat... thats a "Big Mouth Buffalo" well, i have heard of them, never seen or caught one before, so this was kinda exciting now! get a weight of him and a couple pics, and back to the water!
9.87 Lbs on the scale
and one more for the road.
he said it was only the second one hes ever seen around here, only other was years before down in the niagara river. later learned they are not native to our waters, but are quite common in the U.S.
went back again a couple days ago, and again, was not a fun day to be out, windy, cold, some rain. fish were not cooperating at all, couldn;t buy a strike, so i let Ashley keep tryin for crappie and i wondered off to find fish hiding in cover. managed to get a small bluegill then moved to the upper part of the river to try for some eyes again, well, after gettin a few bites in the same area, i finally for a big hit and a hookup! was i finally goin to get my first ever walleye?!? lol, no, i was not... rite after gettin a solid hookset, i was bitten off by a rather large pike. was using 8lb mono, it hit on a tube jig rigged texas style to avoid all the snags there. tied on a new jig head 1/8oz and a gulp minnow, landed a 1lb largie and that was it. lots of birds flying around, was kinda creepy. lol. i'll be back there soon for some more fishing, and be sure to have more pictures.
