Bass opener family fishing trip

Spent the bass opener fishing trip up North with my dad, 4 sons and some family friends last week. As we need to book well in advance, the weather is always the wildcard. As we fish for Largemouth bass well past their natural Northern limit, heat waves are crucial to good fishing conditions. On years when the humidex goes over 35 Celcius, the fishing is virtually non stop.

This year, we had cooler conditions, as well as 3 days of intermittent rain and thunderstorms, with a cold front coming in midway through our trip. Needless to say, the fishing was slower than we had hoped for, but we still managed to enjoy some good fishing.

As my dad isn't getting any younger (he's 81), I opted to rent a large SUV and pack us all in, so I can be the sole driver. Despite renting a large Suburban, we barely fit all our clothes, gear and food in it. Got to our lake a bit before noon, set up the boats with all our gear, and headed off to unload at the cabin.

The temperatures was still climbing at that point, the fish turned on early in the afternoon. By 3:00 PM, I had my first nice bass landed, followed by another nice one a couple hours later. Both over 3 lbs, caught while shore fishing during the BBQ before heading out on the boat for the evening bite.

As the evening rolled in and surface mirror like, I attempted throwing a variety of topwater lures I had brought along. I was determined to test them against each other on a lake where topwater conditions are quite tough (except during heatwaves). I tested Zara puppies, Lucky 13's and Pop R's. Overall, the Pop R outperformed all others by far.

As I was casting the Pop R near a stump where I had just seen a couple big splashes, a nice 2.5 lb bass jumped out of the water and inhaled my lure before it even hit the surface, much like a dog catching a Frisbee. Probably the most aggressive fish I have caught on that lake in 10 years. It jumped and even tail danced, quite unusual for a largemouth bass.

My 9 year old Levi was up before sunrise the next morning, hooked and lost a smallmouth bass just around sunrise, while casting a Pop R. That, along with the catch he had witnessed the previous evening, was enough to sell him on the Pop R for the rest of the trip. Took him along with my 11 year old Avi out for a couple hours, Avi landed another nice 3 lbs + bass. Managed some more nice ones throughout the day, including some back to back largies.

Though I didn't get to fish much with my 15 year old Ari, as he was guiding my dad most of the time, I did teach him how to properly fillet a bass. Indeed, he ended up cleaning 2 bag limits of big bass, great chance to practice on a fish I'd normally release around Montreal. However, when I'm in a clean, pristine lake, I'm happy to keep some to eat for my growing family.

Next morning, it was my 5 year old Eli's turn. He landed his first 3 lb bass around 7:30 AM.

Later on, Levi managed another nice on on his Pop R.

Next morning, while casting his Pop R, Levi managed a feat that I was lucky to witness for the first time (besides Youtube); he caught 2 bass on one cast on the same lure. Again, the Pop R was on fire.

The thunder clouds rolled in by mid afternoon, followed by a night of rain and a cold front. Though it made for a gorgeous rainbow, it really slowed down the fishing a lot.

Fishing didn't pick up until Thursday evening, our last outing of the trip, when, around 8:00 PM, we suddenly hit back to back beauties to end the trip.

As the spot gets more popular every year, I already booked my spot for the 2012 bass opener.

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