Mijocama fishing summer 2026

Just got back from our yearly family fishing trip to Mijocama outfitter to kick off the summer. A growing number of family members joined, we were up to 9 of us in my chalet, as well as another dozen friends in 2 other chalets. Pike and largemouth bass were to be our target species for the next few days.

Unfortunately for myself, I'm dealing with some sort of shoulder injury that prevents me from doing much casting, so I had to content myself on guiding everyone else, using a mix of trolling and controlled drifting. Here's what happened...

Day 1.

Zev and I got up bright and early to make the 3 hour drive up to Mijocama. Heavy rain over the past few days had the previous guests leaving our chalet early, which meant that we were able to check in earlier than planned. After driving up, unloading, and eating breakfast, I headed over to the main camp to get our boat. Lucky for me, I noticed a brand new motor on on of the boats, so I was spoiled enough to get one that started up within 1-2 cranks using my left arm.

Zev and I started off by trolling jerkbaits, and it didn't take too long for him to hook our our first pike of the trip. 

He proceeded to land a few more, some of which we kept for future shore lunches during our stay at Mijocama.

By the time we got back to our chalet, everyone else was arriving. Next up on my boat, were Levi and Lindsey. As casting wasn't very productive, we trolled for pike as well. Both of them landed some nice pike, and Lindsey's first fish ended up being the biggest of the trip at just over 5 lbs.

After a late lunch, I ended up taking out Ezzy, who managed his first couple pike as well.

I ended up catching a pike on a topwater lure just before dark, didn't bother with a picture. That was it for day 1.

Day 2.

I had very little time to fish, as I was driving back to Montreal after lunch to attend my daughter's graduation later that evening. Got out solo bright and early, and with the calm mirrorlike surface, I opted to cast a PopR. Only took a few casts, and I got my first bass of the trip.

After a while, I decided to tie on a spinner and cast a weedbed on the other side of the lake. Sure enough, I landed back to back pike on a few casts.

Early morning success was nice, and before leaving I asked my boys to snap some pics of their catches while I was gone, as Eli and Avi were running their own boats. Eli, Audrey, Avi, and Ezzy, all had a pretty good rest of the day catching mainly pike, as well as some nice bass.

Seems like they did just fine without me there.

Day 3.

I made the drive in from Montreal bright an early, getting the water by 6:30 am. Landed another bass on the PopR, as well as some small pike. Kids slept in a bit, so I was solo until after breakfast. Being that his older brothers trash talk him about only being able to catch fish when I guide him, Zev asked me to teach him how to run the boat, and effectively toll for pike. I was more than happy to oblige, and Zev was the perfect student, adapting to my instructions rather quickly, for someone who'd never driven a boat before.

I showed Zev how to effectively troll sunken branches and weedlines visually, being that we were fishing in clear water without any electronics. I showed him how to avoid shoals off point based on water color changes, and how to orient himself using shoreline markers. Hoping he remembers most of it for next time...

I took a while for the pike to start biting, but when they finally did, Zev landed them one after the other.

Eventually, I also showed Zev how to drift fish large areas, using the wind and intermittent motor power to place us in casting position. He landed 2 pike back to back.

After heading to shore for a late lunch, I took Levi and Lindsey out again, and we landed a few more pike while trolling late afternoon/evening.

Day 4.

Most of our group was leaving for home mid morning, so they were busy packing and tidying the chalet. We were down to 3 of us fishing for the rest of the trip, and wasted no time getting out for the morning bite. Eli and Audrey tied on some a couple topwater lures, and sure enough, we got a few missed hits, followed by Eli landing a tiny pike. On his next cast using a One Knocker  Zara Spook, Eli landed his first bass of the trip, a nice largemouth in the 3 lbs range. I was very glad to see this size bass landed, after most of the bass in Giles lakes seem to have died off a few years ago. 

After the topwater bite died down and the wind picked up, I took them drift casting for pike on another part of the lake. Audrey tied on a #5 Mepps spinner, and she and Eli landed a few pike on our first few drifts.

Afternoon/evening bite was a bit tougher, but more pike were landed, mainly by Audrey.

The day ended off with Eli hooking a nice pike that ended up cutting off his One Knocker spook. He was pretty bummed by it, so I lent him one of my Zara spooks for the rest of the trip.

Day 5.

Our last day fishing Mijocama on our yearly family fishing trip. We headed out extra early to cast topwater lures again. Eli started off casting the frog patterned Zara spook I lent him. Our first spot paid off with a small pike.

For our next spot, I took them to another calm bay where I had spotted a couple bass in the shallows the previous day. Eli's first cast at the spot resulted in a smashing topwater explosion, and I knew that he had hooked into a nice fish. After a couple good runs, I netted the big largemouth bass that hit Eli's lure.

A respectable bass weighing just under 3 1/2 lbs, haven't seen one that size caught at Mijocama in over 5 years. As well, Eli got redemption for the lost pike & lure the previous evening, as this bass was likely just as big as the pike he lost.

I then pointed to a big boulder where I had seen the bass swimming on the previous day, Eli casted to it. Within seconds, he had another nice bass making summersaults at the end of his line. Landed it as well, another solid 3 pounder.

Landed another 7 pike on our last day, brining the total for the trip to a record 66 pike landed. They seem to be growing longer every year, but they a mostly a lot thinner as well. As opposed to the small perch and baby bass I normally find in their stomachs when cleaning them, these we mostly empty, except for a few that were stuffed with crayfish.

More impressive, is the comeback the largemouth bass have made after nearly being wiped out a few years ago. Hoping they will be able to grow even bigger, given the shift in predator/prey relationship over the past few years. 

Weather was perfect, warm sunny days, not too hot, with cool nights that made for perfect sleeping conditions. with less biting insects than usual.

As always, I'd like to thank al the family members and friends that joined us for our yearly trip to Mijocama, as well as my friend Jocelyn (the owner) for providing us with a brand new motor boat, and upgraded appliances / full time power in our chalet. I highly recommend Mijocama outfitter as a perfect family fishing vacation spot only 3 hours from Montreal, you can view previous blog posts detailing many trips to Mijocama by clikcing: https://freshwaterphil.com/mijocama-outfitter.cfm 

I'll leave you with some more images shared by some of the aspiring photographers in our group. Already looking forward to my 25th Mijocama anniversary trip booked for next summer.

  

Spring carp fishing in Montreal

Once upon a time, I used to spend much of my spring fishing concentrating on catching big numbers of carp. My kids were younger, and being able to set up on shore, gave them the chance to run around, play, and practice their skills catching small panfish while waiting for big carp to bite. As time passed by, the quality of fishing at my best high numbers carp fishing spot died down, to where there pretty much aren't many at all left there. Being that the spot was over an hour's drive from home, I just about stopped fishing there a number of years ago.

These days, most of my carp fishing is concentrated much closer to home, where the carp tend to big a lot less concentrated in any given area, which means much less being caught The tradeoff is that carp around Montreal tend to be much bigger, and that the spots I fish for carp are generally less than 30 minutes from home, with some even closer.

In order to increase my chances of successfully targeting big carp around Montreal, I pre-bait my areas for a few days before fishing them, given the close proximity to home. This increases my catch ratio, as carp get conditioned to both my bait, and the spot I will be fishing. By the time I arrive, the carp are often hungry and waiting for more food, if every works out as planned. That being said, nothing is guaranteed. some pre-baiting campaigns don't work immediately, some none at all. All part of the game.

After spending most of my spring fishing for predators like lake trout, pike and walleye, I finally started pre-baiting my first target carp fishing spot late mid May. After a few days, I returned to fish it with my younger son Zev, but after 2 failed outings, I gave up on the spot for now, opting to try my luck starting over and pre-baiting another spot.

After a few days, I returned with my son, but again, was not able to manage any bites. I stuck with the plan for a few more days, then returned to fish the spot again with another one of my sons. This time, the perseverance and pre-baiting paid off, Eli landed his first carp of the season. Should have used the flash on my phone for this pic...

A couple days later, I returned with my son Levi and his wife, hoping to catch some more carp. Unfortunately for them, the carp weren't feeding, and we didn't get any bites.

The following evening, I went out solo, after a few last minute invitees were too occupied to come along to fish. Sure enough, my rod went off after about 45 minutes, and I knew this carp was going to be on the bigger end of what I'm used to catching at this fishing spot. The big carp put up a very good fight, and I was able to eventually land it alone.

At 27 lbs, the big carp falls into what I generally consider "trophy" size. Although I've caught many that are significantly bigger over the years at some other carp spots I fish, this spot typically yields carp in the upper teens to lower twenties, so this big carp was a welcome surprise.

Spring pike fishing in Montreal

Pike fishing season around Montreal opens early in May. Being one of the only sport fish species that are open this time of year, I naturally take the time to target them in our zone ever spring. The St Lawrence River, along with it's tributary rivers and canals, all contain pike, and many of my fishing spots have easy shore fishing access, as well as wading or float tubing.

With strong winds gusting on the day I planned the outing for, I brought along my son and his girlfriend to do some wading in the St Lawrence River. While I've managed to catch some decent sized pike there, most are rather small, and I wasn't expecting any sizeable pike.

Casting a #4 Mepps spinner, I hooked into a very nice pike, proving to myself yet again, to expect the unexpected when it come to fishing. 

This stunning 10 lbs pike turned out to be my first ever double digit pike caught in the St Lawrence river. Being that I've been fishing for nearly 5 decades, and having caught many hundreds of pike over the years, I'm glad to see that there are still some very nice pike in the river.

Released her in good condition, she took off like a torpedo in the cold water. With the new slot size and reduced bag limits for pike in this zone, we'll hopefully start seeing more of these large females.

All of us managed to land some fish, mainly on spinners and spinnerbaits, and Eli landed the only jerkbait fish of the day.

A few days later, I headed out to chase some more pike with my friend Mike. We launched mid morning, was still a bit colder and windier than planned, but outer temperature was warming quickly. After spending a good hour or so casting with only one pike and a small bass to show for, we decided to do some trolling a bit deeper. Bite was sort of sporadic throughout the day, with a lot of short striking pike. Still, we managed to land around 15 pike between the two of us, mainly trolling with spoons. 

Towards the early end of our outing in the afternoon, I tied on a mid size crankbait (Big O) I recently found while fishing, after swapping out the old trebles with new Gamakatsu hooks. Sure enough, it worked like a charm, landing my last couple pike of the day, and ending up catching a nice bonus walleye on the last pass of the day.

With walleye season opening two days prior to out outing, and the fish measuring 51 centimeters, the walleye fell into the allowable slot size, so I kept it for the table.

A few days later, I took Eli back to where I had landed that nice pike the previous week. Water level had dropped by a good 18 inches or so, and the water temps had warmed up a few degrees as well. Fish were more active, hitting a variety of lures. After hooking some bass at the first few spots we fished, I eventually connected with another decent sized pike casting a smaller #3 Mepps spinner.

We also managed to spot some bigger species warming themselves in the shallow water, namely a big musky and some fat carp. 

New York trout fishing

Well, it's that time of the year again, the interim period between the ice fishing season, and early May, when sport fishing species like pike, re-open for fishing here. With the exception of carp and a few other species of "rough" fish like gar and bowfin, there isn't much interesting fishing going on in the immediate Montreal region right now.

As such, I generally like to target different species of trout and char in April. These species prefer cool to cold water, which make casting or trolling for them quite effective. Additionally, our neighbors to the South are quite keen on stocking them into their lakes and rivers in large numbers. Being that Both New York and Vermont are close enough to drive to for a day trip, and that both states stock many thousands of trout into their waterways, the drive down is usually well worth it, as long as the weather and fish cooperate with our plans.

For my first trout outing of the spring, I caught up with my friend Mike. We last fished together for muskies during the fall, so it was nice spending the day together on the water after a long winter. We headed down to Lake Champlain, to fish for lake trout. Incidentally, lake trout are actually members of the char family, and they thrive in near freezing water temperature better than most of their trout cousins. Either way, trolling for them right after ice out is a lot simpler than during the summer, as they are mostly up in less than 20 feet of water, gorging themselves on smelt and alewives in Lake Champlain. Being that Lake Champlain is bordered by both New York and Vermont, both states stock the lake, and as such, both states have a reciprocal license agreement, meaning that either license will let you fish most of the shared basin of the lake, which would be our target fishing area. A daily fishing license in New York is $10 for non residents, Vermont is $21 for the same, so I obviously opted to pay New York.

Lake Champlain is well over 100 miles long, over 10 miles wide, with a maximum depth of about 400 feet. Big water by anyone's standards, and with a South wind gusting over 20 km/h, the waves and white caps made for a rough ride out to our spot. Mike's 20 foot Lund is equipped with suspension seats, which made the simulated rodeo a little easier on our lower backs. On a lake that big, you better be with someone that really knows what they are doing, and has the proper boat, equipment and experience to effectively put us onto some good fishing. Aka, Mike.

After a good 1/2 hour or so of a bumpy ride, we finally got set up to start trolling. Plan was to set the Minn Kota trolling motor on auto pilot and cruise control, in order for us to be able to both fight fish while running lines without anyone at the helm controlling the boat. Unfortunately, the big waves hitting the bow made the trolling motor go berserk, so he had to steer, as we trolled a few lines running crankbaits and spoons, some with the help of planer boards to keep a good spread on our lines.

After about 1/2 hour of nothing, Mike decided to run down to the end of our planned pass, and try a  deeper pass on the way back up. As well, the troll would be smoother with the waves coming from behind us. Sure enough, we got the auto pilot set this time, and the rest of the day was a breeze.

It took less than 2 minutes for the the first hit, landed my first laker of the season. 

Being that lake trout are extremely fishy, and quite polluted in Lake Champlain, the plan was to release them all. After a quick release, I got another hit, this time, the lake trout was a lot bigger.

At around 10 lbs or so, it ended up being the biggest of the day.

For a lake the size and depth of Lake Champlain, one would think there was a good potential for lake trout to grow very big, but in reality, the lake record under 20 lbs. Despite having caught many dozens of lake trout there over the years, my 2 biggest ones were both in the 12 lbs range.

Now, my hope was to beat my previous best during a hot bite, but that didn't happen. What did happen, was non stop action on every pass we made. in about 5 hours or so of fishing, we landed a whopping 20 lake trout, most in the 5 to 8 lbs range. Probably about 125 lbs or so in total, which made for pretty much non stop, rod bending action.

By far, the most productive day I've ever had on Lake Champlain. Well worth my $10 daily fishing license fee to New York state.

For my second April trip to New York 6 days later, I chose to target stocked trout in the Adirondacks region of the state. New York has a good trout stocking program in many of it's Northern counties, including the rivers in Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties, which are typically where I focus my efforts, being that they are the closest to home for day trips of this sort.

As in most of my previous outings to New York's trout rivers, I went along with Jimmy, to wade the  frigid rivers. We fished 4 different spots over a good 5 hours or so, 3 of which contained brown trout. Rainbows were supposed to be stocked as well, but seems they are a bit delayed for some reason. One of our spots proved the most productive, with us landing about a dozen trout, and a couple fallfish. My last 2 fish of the day, were the biggest, caught them casting a brand new #4 blue fox spinner, before I eventually lost the lure to a snag.

The feisty brown trout made for some good fun using medium light in strong current, had my drag singing nicely. Kept some for the table, and after having picked up some new seasonings on the US side of the border, I decided to give three of them a try.

Old Bay seems to be unanimous best so far...