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Author Topic: My 2022 open water reports - Part 3.  (Read 4028 times)

Water Wolf

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My 2022 open water reports - Part 3.
« on: Dec 31, 2022, 01:18 AM »
My reports for Sept.


Well - here we are in September, and into autumn already, not sure where the time has gone, but it's going fast.

With the start of the fall season, the annual change of the leaves is underway and the birds are bunching up for their migrations. Only the first week into Sept. the snow geese started to show up - a bit earlier this year.

In SK. harvest for the farmers started in late Aug. so they are well into it now.
Sept. had some days at normal temps, but, there were quite a few days a bit above normal temps for this time of year. We will take it.

For me Sept. was a busy month - always something to get done.


Sept. 15th.
This would be the only trip I had this month, but, was happy to get out at least once. ;)
I went to Fishing Lake for a bit of late afternoon / evening fishing from the boat.

I was on the water from 5:04 pm - 7:15 pm.

The weather was a mix of sun and cloud with some wind from the SE and +18 deg C / 64 deg F when I got there. It was a bit warmer than that earlier on in the day.

Even though it was nice out, I was the only boat on the water. No shore fishers spotted either.
In this area most folks are done with open water fishing and boating, in general, after the Sept. Labor Day long weekend.

It took a bit of time before I found the fish, but, when I did I kept going over the same area and they kept hitting. I was in a bit deeper water this time and trolling crankbaits through suspended fish.

After I took a photo of the first fish of the day the camera /phone, fell off the area I had it sitting on, and broke it's screen.  That was the end of that phone, sheesh. :pinch:
It had the entire soft floor of the boat where it could have fallen and not get damaged, but, it happened to hit the only piece of metal I have in the floor - a stroke of bad luck. The only thing worse that could have happened would have been if the phone would have gone overboard into the lake! :o

That was a major bummer for the rest of the trip.  I suddenly realized just how much a person relies on that phone availability - I couldn't call out, I couldn't receive calls, I couldn't take anymore pictures, or look anything up that I often due - I felt quite dismayed without it.  Thankfully nothing occurred that I needed the phone for (with the exception of getting pics of my remaining catches).

Despite the setback of the broken camera/phone, at least the fishing was decent. I was able to catch and release 8 fish, 6 walleye and 2 pike - a good end to a slighty frustrating trip. :)

This is the only photo of the trip, the first fish of the day this walleye.


This was my last trip of the month.

It was not untill the beginning of Oct. that I was finally able to get a new camera /phone and have all my photos transferred to the new phone.
I was worried I would loose them all, but, thankfully the transfer worked OK and everything was saved. :thumbup_smilie:

Here are a few non fishing photos for Sept.
There were quite a few woolly bear caterpillars out this Sept.
Most of them seemed to be yellow and black this year.



I was happy how well the petunia plants did this year. :)
This is a medium tractor tire turned inside out. The 8 plants filled it in, and then some, spilling out almost to the ground.

This petunia is called "Queen of Hearts" and seems to be a tough variety, with a light pleasant scent. The humming birds, bumble bees and butterflies liked it too.


October's fishin' reports.


It's October. The leaves have all fallen from the trees. Waterfowl, of all types, are migrating through, in ever-increasing numbers, and, harvest wrapped up by mid to late Oct.  We had quite a few days of normal to above normal in temps.
Any day without snow in Oct. is a good day. ;)

We did finally get the first snow storm of the season in late Oct. and it produced a fair amount the white stuff in some areas. My area got about 6 - 8 inches. Everything melted just before Halloween.


Oct. 7th.
This would be the first trip of the month.
In the later afternoon I went to Fishing Lake for a bit of shore fishing.
I tried to find a spot that was out of the wind as it was quite rough with white caps on the main part of the lake.

I found a suitable spot and set up, shore fishing from 4:30 pm - 6:18 pm.

Myself and a king fisher were the only ones out trying for more fish this day - he got lots of small ones - leaving the bigger ones for me I suppose (lol).

The weather was a mix of sun and cloud with a strong wind from the W, and, +18 deg C / 64 deg F. temps. The stronger winds did make things feel cooler than they were.

The water was quite murky and stirred up, clumps of weeds were floating by and the water had cooled down quite a bit. The lake was showing signs of getting closer to it's fall turnover.

Not too long into the fishing and I get a hit, set the hook, and fight a pike right to the net only to have it throw the hook and shoot off right at my feet, darn.

A bit of time passes before I get another hit, but this time the fish (another pike) is landed and released.



The next bite was closer to sunset. It was a walleye this time, OK. :)

It also went back.

I get 1 more bite just before I pack it in, and, it's another walleye, but this one also throws the hooks just before I net it. Oh well at least I felt the fight.
That would be it for the action this time out.

I leave as the sun began to set on the horizon and the coyotes start to howl.

Not bad a day in the end, just feeling a bit melancholy with the awareness of the season drawing in.


Oct. 16th.
I am back at my usual shore fishing spot.

I set up and fish from 3:54 pm - 6:05 pm.

The weather is a mix of sun and cloud with a lite wind from the NW.
The temp was a cool +3 deg C / 37 deg F.

Even though the wind was lite, the water was still murky, and, stirred up looking, with big clumps of weeds slowly drifting by. It appears the fall turn over is now in progress.

The only life at the lake are waterfowl. There were quite a few good sized flocks of snow geese going over, a few flocks of Canada geese, and, even a few swan family groups.  I have seen quite a few more flocks of swans this year than ever before. I was able to get a better look at the swans as they calmly flew by this year -  they are big birds when you see them up closer! :o

Fishing was decent that afternoon, and, on my very first cast I had a bite and land a pike. 8)

This would be the average size of pike for the day.

On my next cast I had 1 that bit the tale off the swimbait I was using, then, I had 2 more later on in the day, that just grabbed the rubber portion of another swimbait behind the hook, and, hung on all the way to the shore, only to let go as I went to net them.

As the sun began to sink, I have a bit more luck and land 3 pike in short order. :)
They all go back.

By this time it's now starting to get dark and somewhat colder, so I pack up and leave.

It was a decent day in the end.


Oct 29th.
This is the last fishing day for the month.

The weather that day was a mix of sun and cloud with a SW wind.
The temps were +8 deg C / 46 deg F for a high,but, even cooler, just a bit above the freezing mark when I was there.

On this trip I decide to try a different lake to see what shore fishing might be like elsewhere, so, I make my way to Whitesand / Pelican Lake.  When I arrive, I see that there are a few angler out in the area I was going to try. This spot is more suited to just 1 or 2 anglers, so, that many of us would be a challenge to fish. I try farther down the road, but, after the recent snow storm, and, now melting going on, the area was really muddy, and, I did not want to get bogged down with the vehicle. :P 
It was also really muddy by Stony Lake, down the road, plus, that area was very shallow, no more than 1 or 2 feet deep at the shoreline and for quite a distance out.

I decide to try and get back to Fishing Lake and see if I can find a spot before it gets too late in the day.
That worked and I find a spot that looked promising and get to fishing, from 4:29 pm - 5:50 pm.

The only anglers in this spot were 2 horned grebes that were busily catching small fish, so we shared the same space, and, I was hoping for the bigger catches.

I was glad that I moved to this spot, as the fishing action stayed consistent for the time I was there, and, in the end, I had my best results of the month, with 8 fish caught, 7 pike, and, 1 bonus walleye, on my last cast.  8) Usually, by this time, of the year, in this lake, the walleye drop into deep water for the winter, so, I was happy to find this one still active near shore.

They all went back to swim another day.

Most of the fish were caught near a reed bed. They seemed to be ambushing the lures as they went by.

The first fish.


The largest pike.


The walleye.


All in all it was good fishing for the time I had. :)
I hope to get out at least 1 more time in Nov.,but the weather is always a factor this time of year. ::)



Crunch time now - the Nov. open water report.


It's now November, and the open water season is coming to a close.
The temps are really dropping at night and that ice fishing chill is in the air.
Most of the birds are gone now except for a few that are toughing it out on the lakes and rivers.

I go out for one last try in Nov.

Nov. 4th.
This would be my first trip for the month and my last for this open water season.
I thought, I had been at Fishing Lake the whole season, might as well finish it off there as well, so, for the last time this open water season, I head out in the later afternoon for a bit of shore fishing. I decide to try a few spots this time and keep moving until I find some action.

The total fishing time is 3:50 pm - 5:55 pm, but, that also includes some driving time.

The weather is a chilly one this time, at only +2 deg C / 36 deg F. It was mainly sunny, but, the wind from the SW made things even cooler.

Spot 1.
This is the first time I have tried this spot this season. In the past it's an area where I have landed some of my larger pike from shore.
There is no one else around and I try there for a while.  In that area I had a few diving ducks, and, a flock of 8 swans fly right over me. Neat to see the swans that close.

The fishing started off a bit slow, but, I did have a bite and was able to land my first fish by 4:11 pm.
This pike. :)


After that fish I lost 3 lures in a row.
I have not lost any lures at all this open water season, but, on this last trip, I made up for that, darn. ::)
They are getting more and more expensive to replace. :o

This is the public shore fishing area for the lake, so, there was also alot of other lost lures and large amounts of fishing line there. That's what I was hooking. I could see my stuck lures come out of the water attached to snarls of fishing line, but, could not free them.
I wish all those hooks and heaps of line could be removed somehow from the water there. It definitely poses a risk to the fish and other wildlife that use that area. :(

After losing the lures, I move to another spot a short drive down the lake.
This is another area where I have had larger pike in the past from shore.

Spot 2.
This was a bit more sheltered from the wind than the first spot.
It's a bit more shallow here than in the past and after half an hour of fishing without even a nibble it was time to move one more time.

Spot 3.
Was a fair move that took some time to get to, but I get there and fish for the last 50 min of the trip. There are a few horned greebs fishing around here so at least there are small bait fish about.
Starting out, it does not look good for this area as there are no bites or signs of game fish at all, but, right at the end, my last cast in fact, I hook into a fish and fight it into the net. :azn:
Pike, in the moon light.


As it turns out this is the last one of the trip and open water season.
It was a slower end to the season, but at least there was no skunk, which is always a good thing. ;)


The next day the 2nd winter storm of the season rolled in with zero visibility in places and good amounts of snow.
Good thing I got out when I did. It looks like the snow is here to stay now. :P

This year I spent my entire open water season at Fishing Lake and area where I had a good time each trip out. There were a few days where I thought a skunk might be in the mix, but, I can be thankful for no skunks at all, this open water season. ;D
Now, I will get ready for the new ice fishing season, and, look forward to what it may bring. :tipup:

I would like to thank all of you for coming along with me, as I share my 2022 open water season.
I hope you all had a good open water season as well.

See you all on IceShanty.



Water Wolf signing off, for now.


Raquettedacker

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Re: My 2022 open water reports - Part 3.
« Reply #1 on: Dec 31, 2022, 07:49 AM »
Read all 3 parts ..You sure do have a great journal.  Thanks for sharing….👍👍. Happy New Year.
Sometimes we live no particular way but our own.....<br />Strangers stopping strangers just to shake there hand...<br />\"Dying is the easy part. Learning how to live is the hard part....\"

ran7ger

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Re: My 2022 open water reports - Part 3.
« Reply #2 on: Dec 31, 2022, 12:25 PM »
 great reports WW!  looking forward to seeing more over on iceshanty.
got a fish on the line and my boat on the water
and it's gettin' near time to take the cows to the slaughter

Water Wolf

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Re: My 2022 open water reports - Part 3.
« Reply #3 on: Dec 31, 2022, 01:55 PM »
Hi Raquettedacker & ran7ger, thanks for the positive feedback. :)

You guys did good to get through it, lol. :w00t:

Happy New Year to both of you as well, and, good fishin' in 2023. ;D

WW

Raquettedacker

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Re: My 2022 open water reports - Part 3.
« Reply #4 on: Dec 31, 2022, 02:49 PM »


Sometimes we live no particular way but our own.....<br />Strangers stopping strangers just to shake there hand...<br />\"Dying is the easy part. Learning how to live is the hard part....\"

WyoMinFisher

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Re: My 2022 open water reports - Part 3.
« Reply #5 on: Aug 08, 2023, 01:11 PM »
Always enjoy reading your updates!!  Headed up your way tonight Water Wolf, hope you've been having a phenomenal year!  Going to be staying in Kuroki for a week and fishing in Fishing Lake and Stoney outside of Margo with some friends....

Water Wolf

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Re: My 2022 open water reports - Part 3.
« Reply #6 on: Oct 02, 2023, 01:48 PM »
Thanks WyoMinFisher,
Just saw that you were fishing the same waters as me, neat. 8)
Hope you had good luck, and, a good time, while you were here. :)

Thanks for the Happy New Year, Raquettedacker, same to you. ;D

WW

WyoMinFisher

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Re: My 2022 open water reports - Part 3.
« Reply #7 on: Oct 02, 2023, 05:44 PM »
We had a phenomenal trip thanks!!  Planning on coming back again next August.   Missed a day of fishing due to torrential downpour (went to the casino in Yorkton) and a day to wind.  Will probably bring the big boat up next year.....

Water Wolf

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Re: My 2022 open water reports - Part 3.
« Reply #8 on: Oct 18, 2023, 01:18 PM »
Hi WyoMinFisher,
Good to see you had fun up here, despite the weather. :w00t:

Wind is a common factor out here, and it does limit the fishable days for sure, as for rain, we could have used a bit more of it for the farmers fields and gardens this year, but, not when we are trying to fish, lol. ;)

Good luck this winter, and, again next Aug. :)

WW

 



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