Bass fishing at Mijocama

Headed up for our yearly family fishing vacation just after the bass opener in zone 10, which has now been moved back to June 15th. We got up just in time to catch the tail end of a heat wave, typically the best time to fish largemouth bass that are at the Northern end of their range.

Day 1:

Didn't take long for Avi to draw first blood, he caught this small bass on his first cast:

After settling into our cabin, we decided to get in the water to beat the heat and attempt catching some more fish. Plan worked quite well, I caught 4 in a row, then Levi landed his first of the trip:

Headed out for the evening bite with a storn moving in, fish were in a frenzy. We caught 9 keepers, including this nice one Avi landed, his first keepr of the trip:

Rain moved in shortly after, bringing a cold front along with it. It rained most of the first night. 

Day 2: 

We were lucky to catch a couple hours without rain early the next morning. I headed out with Avi, as he was the only one awake before 6:00 AM. Didn't take long for him to land another fat bass:

It then rained non stop all day, quite heavily at times. Ari hit the fillet table, as he still needed some practice. We made sure he had his hands full:

Not much fishing on day 2 due to the rain and cold wind.

Day 3:

The rain finally blew over, but left us with a nasty cold front. We actually had to light the wood oven to keep warm in the cabin. Headed out for a cold morning bite with Eli, the bass had virtually gone inactive. Luckily, we managed a couple decent ones, including Eli'd first bass of the trip:

The wind was picking up, eventually gusting at 25 - 30 KM/H for most of the day, really didn't make for good fishing conditions. The kids persisted, trying to fish off the dock in front of our cabin. After catching some small perch and sunfish, Avi hooked into a 25 lb snapping turtle. Ari landed and safely released it:

Didn't take long for it to run back to it's home in the fallen trees:

The snapping turtle in the lake are getting bigger, more aggressive, and fearless. Wading in the lake, I cam across a quite large one, probably in the 40 lbs - 50 lbs range. It stood it's ground about 5 feet away from me, even as I approached it. I poked it's nose with my rod, and it didn't even flinch, eventually moving off after it probably figured our that I wasn't going to make an easy meal.

Day 4:

Much of the same weather conditions all day, though slightly warmer, as a warm front was moving in. Fishing, slower than usual, though we still managed a couple nice ones. Headed out to a remote lake on the outfitter's territory for a couple hours with my 2 youngest ones, had to trek nearly one KM through the woods with a small motor and all our gear. Fishing is typically easier on that lake, but after some issues with the motor I borrowed from them, I was forced to troll by rowing the small lake, as having my kids cast lures from a small 12 foot unstable rowboat was too risky. We still managed some more bass, Eli catching one on his first pass:

Not much action after later that evening back on the main lake either.

Day 5:

Our last day of fishing, another heat wave finally moving in. Fishing picked up slightly, and the kids spent much of the day swimming and diving for lost lures. Eventually, I got them wading for bass:

Didn't take long for Levi to catch the biggest bass of the trip, a nice 3.5 lbs largemouth bass:

My dad took some well deserved time off, and spent much of the trip fishing from our dock, enjoying the scenery:

When we weren't fishing, we spent our time enjoying the outdoors, making BBQ's and bonfire's, sipping cold beer and strong bourbon. The kids spent their free time playing with some friends that joined us, swimming, catching turtles, small snakes, chipmunks, and just being boys our in the nature. All too soon, the trip ended as we packed up and left early the next morning.

Over the years, we've enjoyed some spectacular bass fishing at Mijocama. This year, the cold front slowed the fishing down a bit, but we still managed to have a great vacation.

Headed up North to another outfitter with my older son Ari next week, planning to fish for some big pike. While our yearly fishing trip to Mijocama is more of a vacation, the upcoming fishing trip should be all about serious fishing if all goes as planned. Stay tuned... 

I highly recommend Mijocama outfitter as a prime destination for trophy bass fishing and family fishing trips. For more information on Mijocama outfitter, or to contact them, click http://freshwaterphil.com/mijocama-outfitter.cfm