Its time of the Lindsay Central Exhibition, and I can hear the Truck and Tractor pulling event going on in the distance as I make my casts in this cool September night.  This is the second year that the Lindsay Ex. is being held at its new fairgrounds on the south edge of the town of Lindsay.

I had been been stuck in the house all day today working on another project called Mopeds and Scooters | Save on Gas and felt it was about time I went out for some fresh air. So what if I hadn’t cooked dinner yet.  I had had a late lunch, and a much needed respite was necessary.

It was about 8pm. when I decided to go out and fish, but before that I had to retie my fishing line with a new snaphook - snagged the last hook in the rocks and snapped the line. Anyway it only took a few minutes and I was soon off to try my luck first at the dock.

The moon had not risen yet, as the darkness of night emerges even quicker with every passing day of September.  Cast after cast and not much happening until - fish on!  Not a keeper but a good little fight.  Had to use the pliers to pry out the hook.  A few more casts and then I got bored with this location so my next move was to fish from under the bridge.

Its a steep descent along uneven ground down the river bank at the bridge, and at night a slippery one at that. A little more difficult tonight than usual but I arrived standing up at the large boulders under the bridge at one of my favourite spots.  Next problem was to get properly balanced on the uneven shaped boulders.  Too cool for a dip, especially at night - lol.

Almost an hour had passed from when I first ventured out and no more luck tonight.  By now a bright full moon was rising and it reminded me of my girlfriend who currently happens to be thousands of miles away.  In the past on many a moon-filled night, I composed poems to her and this night with its beautiful full moon, who else could I be thinking of but her :_]

Okay, you want me to get back to the fishing, so, I was using the same hook as tied on earlier, a Mustad size #4, with a 3″ Yum Walleye grub (green body and orange tail) slipped onto it, which helped land the first little fighter this night.  But a rumbling tummy and the thought of having to cook dinnner when I got back to the house, seemed like it was time to quit. However, like most anglers out there, I had to try just a few more times.  Determined to catch something better, I changed the Walleye Grub with a 3″ white original scent Berkely PowerBait Power Grub.  I used to have lots of success with this and hoped that the same would be the case tonight.  Thank goodness my persistence was rewarded.  Casting close to the shoreline, trying hard not to get snagged in the bull-rushes, I hooked on to a good fighter.  A few minutes of whining reel, and nicely bowed rod, I saw the keeper of the night.  A lovely walleye, weighing in at 3lbs. and 17″ long.

Alright, now you were hoping that as a good catch and release kind of guy (fish that is) I would have spared this walleye and thrown it back into the Scugog for another day. Hey, remember I mentioned that I hadn’t cooked dinned yet, so what better reason than to keep it - if you know what I mean?

With my girlfriend so far away, the next best thing for me to do was to spend it outside with the moon, memories of her, and a good fish on the line.

Happy fishing in the Kawarthas!

I haven’t been out on the Scugog lately, nor have I been fishing from the riverbank. Its not because the weather has been lousy - that has never bothered me before. In fact, I recall heading out to the dock one evening earlier in the Walleye season, determined to catch another fish and present it to my friend Guilio, just to prove that I “DO” catch fish, and that they are in the Scugog right off the dock.

This evening it was weather conditions like we’ve been having lately - rain, rain and more rain! Anyhow, it was Friday, time for a break from the computer, so I donned my old green waterproofs (they match the canoe from the old point of view) and headed off to the dock. It was getting dark, perhaps around 9pm. and raining of course. I’m not sure if I’ve already posted anything about fishing in the rain, but if I haven’t then lets consider this as one such a post but I’ll make sure to post another more in-depth one later.

As always, I use a plastic jig - no jig head, one of about 6 different 2-3″ tailed grub kind, on a steel hook, sometimes even a weedless hook. Casting off the dock into the rain more than a few times to see what was out there for the catching. In less than 30 minutes and a lot of patience, sure enough, the bite was on and a good bit of reeling to bring in the catch of the day, or should I say night.

My task was accomplished. I got myself and the juicy looking Walleye back to the house. After drying and a quick change of clothes of I went to Guilios. So what if it was around 10pm.! I wanted him to get the fish fresh out of the water so to speak. Knock, knock - several times, on the back porch door at Guilios soon brought a curious man to see what was the commotion so late at night. “Here, take the plastic surprise bag I have for you,” I mentioned to Guilio. That solved his curiosity. Georgette also arrived in the kitchen to see who it was. Guilio showed the bag of Walleye and we all smiled after I related my late evenings experience of fishing n the rain over a pot of tea and cookies to finish off the day. An hour later I was back home again wondering if I would be as lucky, the next time, as this night at fishing in the rain.

Happy fishing in the Kawarthas.