Iceshanty' ers, I was fortunate to attend a fishing derby this weekend in support of a great local chosen charity named Hopewell, which is a eating disorder support center. Every year a bunch of dedicated members from Fish-Hawk.net organize this event and decide on a new charity to raise money for. These fellas are a pillar to the site and without them we would not be able to have Ottawa's now largest ice fishing derby. these fine folks make sure it goes off without a hitch.100% of all proceeds raised will be donated to Hopewell. The derby was held on the Ottawa River in Orleans, Ontario, pretty much right in my backyard! It was nice to see a bunch of guys from IceShanty out there supporting a cause. They are true folks! I am writing this at 2:00AM so please correct me guys if I forget to add anything or mixed things up
The morning began with a howling alarm clock and bowl of shreddies(I am usually one to roll out of bed and head straight for the kitchen) I didn't get much sleep the previous night as all my gear was in a bind and I had to put a little time into putting items back in it's right place. You will have a much more flawless and fun day being organized. I went to Anthony's room and gave him a good shake, must have not herd the alarm clock. He popped out of bed and we both took a look out the window to see what the weather was like for the day ahead. Snow was coming down in full force and the wind didn't help that much either..One word, .There was 6cm of snow on the ground and more to come. What can you expect though, it is winter after all! Anthony was finishing up breaky while I was getting a taste of the snow in my face getting the vehicle loaded up with our vexilars and propane. Was a good thing I loaded the rest of out crap just the night before.
We laced up our boots at home and suited in Cold-Snap gear before taking off. Living only 5 minutes from the location of the derby so drawing a sweat was not going to be a problem... I guess the local brothers had somewhat of a few advantages on this day...roads were starting to get a bit messy
Out the door at 5:30am and off to the river but not without a quick stop in at Tim Hortons. After ordering a few hot chocolates and banana nut muffins we were off to the river.
5:40am - Don (Bucketmouth) greeted us as we first pulled into the parking lot and we chatted for a bit. Arrived to the check-in trailer to fill out our waivers and say hi to everyone before shooting out to our location. Reviewed the rules for tournament a second time and chatted with Anthony regarding a few considerations right then as to out plan for the morning. We decided to fish a small back bay that is well known for it's great pike and panfish action. High hopes were just a flying' as just a week before the derby Anthony and I put on a clinic with T.H.E. Jig catching many fish in th 12'' size in the same spot. If we can find fish like there would be a very high chance of one of us placing. The way I put it is, If the first fish out of the hole is a gill, off to the next. The little *****s can be really fun sometimes and make you want to bite your rod at others when trying to pick out weed out the slab crappie amongst huge schools of 'em. Again, panfish category includes all -crappie,perch,sunnies and bluegill- crappie reaching bigger lengths of all of them was the target . Off to the river to get set-up. Did I mention it was SNOWING!!!
Got to our fishing grounds and began clearing a spot free of snow for which I would be setting up base for the entire day. It was kind of nice to see noone around for the most part, but we knew that were going to change as the morning went on. Ended up fishing deeper than I wanted too which proved to be a sin later on in the day. I knew we would get into some fish in this spot but were they going to be the quality needed to take home a grand prize? Bucketmouth was kind enough to drill Anthony and I out a few holes and proceeded to punch his own when all of a sudden ''bleeeep''. He drilled through someone's 'garbage pit' that was left on the ice and chewed up an aluminum can which immediately dulled the blades on the Jiffy. Don tried touching up his blades with a hook sharper which didn't do too much. Although he was able to get a single hole done, and there was hope for maybe another, he decided to let the auger rest for the day until Rich came down a little while later with his. That can sure ruin a great day fast.
As soon as Anthony and I turned our flashers on and got our transducers in the water we began to mark fish off of bottom in 21FOW. Right on! A minute later schools of suspended fish were being marked 10feet and below as they roamed the basin in search of food, all I could hope is that they want what I have to offer. I started off using T.H.E Jig and a small chunk of worm. The small crappies really took a liking to it and I couldn't keep them off. All were no bigger than 7'' and tossed back down the hole to regroup with their buddies. I also passed a little message along for mama and pappa. I took the small chunk off of the worm off and began working some of the fish bit higher in the water column hoping for just the one big bite. The fishing was very tough and I could not buy a bite at some points even though the fish were below me and investigating my offering of T.H.E. Jig.. Swapped patterns and still catching the odd crappie, these were a bit bigger 9-10'' were coming up through the hole so I was able to cull my smaller fish and tossed the bigger guy in the live well. Anthony set-up a few tip-ups along a weedline with big golden shiners hoping to place in the pike. T.H.E Jig was working all morning but I also had a few other tricks in mind that has never failed me on my home waters. It's pink and I had no pink Totally Hot Everyday Jigs left..I tied on new Optic Stealth Jig from Little Atom and tipped it with a pink lindy techni-tail. These tails in really tuff situations have proved to be outstanding... I lowered my bait down to 12' and worked it upwards very slowly to about the 10' mark and almost immediately began watching fish dart up to my bait and peck it as if they had no mouths. Raised it another foot towards the hole and bang, I had a good one on. Turns out to be a nice 11 1/4'' crappie, another culler and off the 10'' went back down the hole. I was happy..It was still early in the day. Bluegill started Turning on and it was a free-for-all for a few hours spanking them. Don left to fish a shallower spot with Rich just minutes before. He had an 11'' crappie as well which would have taken second if the people at the weigh-in tent knew how to measure fish. I am not to sure how he faired shallower. it looked like a lot of guys we re out where he was.
Nodie ended up showing up a bit later on in the day. We 'Trap Linked'(The link is a really cool concept, finally got to put it to use!) and made base camp over 19FOW, staying within close quarters to our tip-ups if ever a mad dash for another flag were to arise. The bite was very slow and the three of us tried a number of baits and techniques in hopes of presenting the preferred meal the crappies were keying into. No bait today worked better over another. The fish were very finicky fired right into the lock-jaw state around 1:00. We caught a mix of sunnies,gills and crappies, nothing bigger than what I had already entered earlier on in the morning. Oliver caught a beauty slabber that would have taken a spot on the leader board if he would have entered the derby...DOH.
When we got to weigh-in I was very surprised to see my name still #1 in the panfish category as there were many other talented anglers that were out to show support. Got to chat with some new faces and many old from the site. So many great prizes donated by the sponsors. They put smiles on the faces of many. I for one am very happy I took home a new one-man ice shelter. What great start to 2008!
Thanks Tim
Folks, my camera is in the shop right now and has many pictures I have wanted to share with you all over the last month. It should be done very soon. I am very anxious to see all the photo's blown up on my computer.
I was able to borrow my aunts camera for the day and took a few shots...Not as many as I would have liked, everyone was to busy PHISHEN!!!!!!
Base camp
Nodie lipping a nice crappie
Small gilligan
Baz Fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Always nice to chat with you Baz! Hope you can make it out next year!
Anthony enjoying the atmosphere and chatting with everyone
Myself receiving 1st place award for 1st place panfish(On stage Big Jim, JP, and Don Fish-Hawk.net members and organizers of the event)
In all, the members and supporters raised $4000 for Hopewell and the turnout was bigger than last years. Thanks you to all the sponsors and organizers for the evernt. Without you guys we wouldn't have an event like this in the region. Hat's off you!
-Andrew
