Dam dinos...

Cal and I spent three days fishing at Pointe du Bois, in the tailrace of the Manitoba Hydro power station. The new spillway has dramatically changed the structure and patterns that I remember from the eighties and nineties but the sturgeon fishing has remained the same. Over the three days we  managed over 40 sturgeon, many sauger, a few pike, a smallmouth and a large sucker.

 

This trip we were only targeting sturgeon and the fish were co-operating. The largest fish caught was 51 1/2"  with many others between 40" and that length. Within this range the fish all came to the boat relatively easily and the size of the fish determined how long it was before they tired enough to be brought up for measurements, photos and release. We wondered if that was the case for all sizes, even those well above 50" long.

If these fish ran like trout or some of our other line stripping game fish, they could become one of the most desired fish on our bucket list. Something like the 5 lb. bluegill that bluegill fishers dream about. But they just sulk on the bottom and I'd imagine those rare specimens over 60 or 70" inches would tire out most anglers with their typical catfish rods before being boated.

Most of the sturgeon had one or more lampreys on them that quickly dislodged themselves when the fish were boated. We wondered how they might work as bait but decided to leave that experiment for another day. Also many of the fish were tagged but we were unsure about the value of collecting the numbers so didn't record any. Cal had built a cradle to land the fish which I'd think was less stressful on the fish than a landing net, particularly smaller nets. All in all a memorable trip, one that warrants future repetition, perhaps when the mooneye bite starts.

2 wt. fun...

How did I forget about the blast I had fishing my little 2 wt last year? Maybe a case of "out of sight...out of mind" since it had slowly slipped to the back of my rod box. On what was my second trip to my favorite river I threw in the rod as an afterthought and boy, was I glad I did. Conditions were perfect and the low water kept the meat fishermen in their vehicles. A few slowed to watch the action but during those times there was nothing happening. Strange. As soon as they pulled away the rod dipped and the fight was on again. I caught about 20 walleye/sauger, a number of pike, a 25" carp, a few suckers and a nice 10.25" rock bass.

 

Four of the walleyes hit the ice in the cooler but will be warmed up again in the fry pan tonight.

A quillback and #33

Good friend Cal and I went on the hunt for some trophy white bass, drum and carp and managed a few good ones including this nice drum. Also caught some nice MA white bass wading in Lake Winnipeg and carp up to 29.5" in Lake Manitoba. When he caught a quillback on a small jig and worm I ran for the fly rod in my car and started fishing. They were in the current in significant numbers and I eventually hooked one close enough to the mouth to call it a new fly caught species. This beauty fought as hard as any 20" trout I've ever caught.

Fish Cat Scout Review

 

 First things first. On this inaugural voyage of the Fish Cat Scout I did catch fish, if only barely. This 19 1/2" male brown graciously accepted my offering and turned a poor day of fishing into a slow day. As is evident, my fish photos need tuning but more on that later.

So what do I think of the Scout?  My experience started with trying to stuff a partially deflated frameless pontoon boat into a somewhat inflated (I lowered the back seats) Santa Fe SUV. After much wriggling, pushing and letting more air out, I was able to shoehorn the Scout into my vehicle for transport. 

Would I do this again? The jury is still out on that one. If I had a truck or larger vehicle where the scout would fit into the bed/trunk area without any fiddling...definitely!
Given the effort involved it might just be just as easy to carry the boat deflated and then inflate onsite. I do have an electric pump that will go much of the way and then only require a slight firming up by hand. Then again, carried the way it was, only a few hand pumps had it full.

I added a number of accessories I thought would prove useful and I wasn't disappointed in most of my choices. First up was a fish finder, using a float tube adapter commercially available. I found it a bit clunky because of the enclosed battery pack and wished I had gone a different route, perhaps with a Scotty adapter and remote battery pack.

Another addition was the Scotty anchor lock. I had used one on my previous fishing kayak and loved it. Easy to operate with one hand and with a vinyl covered 5 lb weight, perfect for lake fishing. I suspect for river fishing a larger weight would be required to hold the Scout in current. The Scotty mount is attached with two straps through the small hole at the front of the tube, behind the seat.

The rod holder is self explanatory and proved useful for several methods of presentation and temporary rod storage.

The Scout comes with a storage bag that includes a simple system to secure a spare rod. I almost always carry a second rod if only to avoid changing spools; something best left to on-shore breaks or larger boats. Having said that, I did change out a spool by just standing up in the Scout near shore to re-line the rod. It can be done.

And then the camera mount. I had bought the Scotty mount, intending to use it on the rod holder when required but ended up not liking that option. The camera angle was wrong and of course, I lost the use of the rod holder. The kit came with a tubing adapter which I attached to the cross tube at the front of the Scout. Not sure I like this setup either and other options will be explored.



With only one day on the water, I can say I really like the Fish Cat Scout so far. Some of the things I liked were:

1. Oars. Despite being fairly small, the oars bite enough water to make the boat very responsive, both in a straight line and when turning. The oars easily lock out of the way when not required and quickly engage when needed.With this boat I wouldn't be afraid to head out anywhere, knowing I could return even against a fairly stiff breeze. I don't have any experience in strong winds and can't comment on how it would handle those conditions.
2. Kayak seat. This boat is even more comfortable than my last fishing kayak which had a high-end seat. The seat is fully adjustable and combined with sitting on an air mattress, is one of the most comfortable seats I've found. I have a bit of a wonky back and by moving my legs around, both on and under the front bar I was able to maintain a high level of comfort all day.
3. Dry storage. The front of the scout, the area behind the seat, is dry and ample so storage of everything you bring along is easy and secure. The area is also easily accessed, unlike the smaller float tubes. I was easily able to rummage through my tackle bags and cooler to locate what I needed.
4. Electric motor possibility. I think it would be relatively straightforward to build a portable motor mount that could handle one of the small Minn Kotas. There is certainly room and enough support for a battery. For now I found the oars adequate but should an electric motor become advantageous, I wouldn't hesitate to try adding one.
5. Portability. This boat compresses to a package not much bigger than the much smaller float tubes. And its frame-less. Those of you with framed pontoon boats know what I mean.

As far as things I don't like, I can't really think of any right now. I hope the vinyl bladders hold up, and if not, will wish they had inserted urethane bladders instead. A bit more built-in storage would have been nice but was really not missed. Perhaps a nicer colour; I've never been that fond of our military colours. Oh yeah, I often took the stripping basket off...you couldn't rest your feet on the bar with it on. It was easy to throw it into the area behind the seat until required.

Fish Cat Scout

Fish Cat Scout

I've bought another fishing platform. I know, I've already got the Lund, the Skimmer 116 and the Fish Cat float tube, so why do I need another boat. Well here's my rational.

The Lund is great on bigger waters and when I have company it shines there. The Skimmer, well, it just didn't work out as planned and is really a poor substitute for my previous fishing kayak. When the age/weight of kayak ratio started approaching unity with my old yak I looked for a lighter one. The Skimmer is light, you can throw it around, carry it a mile, easily load it on a car rooftop but try to paddle it for more than 10 minutes and you end up with a sore posterior and lower back. And the Fish Cat is great on a small pond but get out on a larger lake and the knees start acting up, especially when the wind kicks up. I even bought a used 10' framed pontoon boat a couple of years ago but never could figure out a way to transport it on my vehicle without dismantling it. I sold it last year without ever having fished from it.

Enter the Fish Cat Scout which at first glance could solve a lot of my fishing issues. The boat is frameless, so can be transported in your mother's VW and may even fit into my Santa Fe partially deflated...we'll see. The boat has oars, so can be rowed over some decent distances. The boat is 7' long so it can handle some minor white water and should prove suitable for fishing rivers and windier, larger lakes. A possible downside is the vinyl bladder, I wished they had used urethane. For those who consider this a deal breaker, look at the Outcast Stealth Pro. So this quasi-toon might replace two platforms; my yak and the float tube. For now I'm going to mount a Scotty rod holder, Scotty anchor lock and Humminbird fish finder on it and head out for a test on the first stocked trout lake with open water. More later.

Fishing on the ice

Not about fly fishing or new species on the fly, not even open water...this last post of the 2015/16 fishing season merely serves to document the close of another great year of fishing. Cal and I were after big fish, lake trout, burbot or pike, but no giants were caught though Cal came close with this 39" pike.

We also caught lakers, walleye and whitefish but most were of the "eater" variety. It was still a great trip with good company, 2 days of beautiful weather and enough action to make me eager about the upcoming open water season.