The Wacky Whilrpool

     My dad did some scouting, and found a very hidden part of the same waterbody that housed the bowfin from earlier in the year. This part of the swamp was completely different though. It was where the cold water from the canal mixed in with the warm water from the swamp creating a very unique blend of qualities. The water was bright blue, almost the colour of antifreeze. The middle had a huge chunk of scum algae that would spin with the whirlpool at the center. The water looked very clear, and not particularly deep, however I was mistaken, it was very deep as I would find out the following year where you could see the bottom.There was a thick school of Bluntnose minnows in the shallows that would ruthlessly attack anything in the water. I would end up snagging a few of them, just retrieving my lure. Another thing to note about this spot, was a terrible chemical spill in the 70s, left most of this water body horribly contaminated with PCBs.

     Despite its surreal and uninhabitable appearance, the spot had some hot action. The second my spinner hit the water, I got crushed by a Largemouth Bass, then my dad got one, and me another. I am certain that I would end up catching these same Bass the following 2 years, as they stayed in the exact same spots, just got bigger as the years went on.

This picture sums up the spot quite well. The bass would get a bit bigger

     After the bass bite died down, we switched to worms and started getting into some panfish. I had one pull much harder than I expected and caught this.

A Chunk Green Sunfish x Bluegill. Hybrids do not count as either species

     Then I got the first photo of a rock bass. There were a lot of them in this spot

Species #14- Rock Bass (Ambloplites rupestris)- Easily identified by their red eye 

     My dad and I only ended up catching a bunch of sunfish after this. Despite catching many Bluegills, I never photographed one. So I could not count it at this point. Eventually the bite stopped completely. Then we saw a massive bowfin cruising around the shallows. I tried freelining a worm to it, but it saw me, and just kept moving along. 

     Suddenly a bunch of strange fish started pouring in from out of nowhere. They looked like gizzard shad (which are not listed as being in this water body in any of the creel surveys). Nothing I did would get any interest, and they only seemed interested in the scum algae. It was a bewildering experience to be able to see tons of fish and none of them interested in your bait. I later found out that they are strictly vegetarians and very difficult to catch, though people do manage to catch them on green lures. 

Running out of time for 2013

     After the carp experience I was determined to try fishing for carp again. Unfortunately I had no clue what I was doing, and just ended up putting corn on the hook and hoping for the best. I had a few small taps and set the hook into this thing

 Species #10 Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera): I didn't identify this thing for 2 years, This one is not only 

member of a tiny species, it is a juvenile spotfin shiner.

     I spent the rest of the summer catching more bowfin and largemouth bass. I also managed to get a few surprises that I didn't even know were in the creek. The first was the carp I wanted to get a picture of. I initially thought is was a Goldfish just based on its size. It is not a Goldfish. This was helpful as it helped me find a spot to try fishing for carp, especially a low pressured area where I could get away with a sloppy rig. 

Species #11 Common Carp (Cypinus carpio): I swear the other ones were bigger... honestly

     The other interesting fish I managed to catch here was a beautiful invasive fish from Europe. They aren't too common (or so I thought, I have caught plenty since) in Ontario, so catching one was pretty cool

Species #12 Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus): a beautiful fish far from home

     And here are some other cool pictures of rudd from later years.

     I was going to go on vacation to Virginia with my dad and brother for the last week of summer before I headed off for my first year of university. Before we went, we wanted to get one last fishing trip close to home (we would go in Virginia). We decided to try fishing a large hydroelectric dam, I had gotten a goby there earlier this year, but the spot terrified me. The water flows incredibly fast and there are massive rocks that litter the entire bottom. It is also very deep. This trip was a different story however. The dam was turned off for repairs of some kind and the entire bottom was filled with carp, hundreds of carp. We only had lures and worms and the water was crystal clear, they spooked very easily. The resident smallmouth were not so skittish though, and I got a new species

 

Species #13 Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu): They have smaller mouths than

Largemouth Bass. Largemouth also have a dark-black horizontal line

     I actually managed to hook a larger one closer to the dam. I reeled it to shore, and then had a problem. I had to reel it vertical about 5 feet up onto the rocks I was standing on. I didn't have a net with me. I was also using barbless hooks. Being very careful I grabbed m line and lifted it by hand up to where I could grab its lip. It shook and put my hook into my hand. I dropped it (thankfully it was off or I would have a nice mark) and had a hook in my hand. Thankfully it slid out as easily as it went in, although I recieved a fair bit of ridicule from my dad (and deservedly so.)

     To make matters worse, my dad goes and pulls out a shorthead redhorse. I have been wanting to catch a shorthead redhorse since I started this crazy hunt. my dad tells me where he caught it and moves over to my smallmouth spot. I catch another smallmouth... and my dad gets another shorthead redhorse. Then he catches a golden redhorse. The good news is that I now know of a spot to catch redhorse suckers, the bad news is that as of 2015, this has not happened yet. 

     This was one of the best trips I had ever had up to this point. I ended up catching 8 smallmouth and losing 3, and my dad caught a bunch of smallmouth and redhorses. I'd always thought that a real angler needs to be able to catch bass, and now I had caught both types. None were particularly large, in fact, many would not even consider them to be big enough to be called small, but I certainly felt like I had accomplished something.

 

 

Intro to Carp

     I had another opportunity to go fishing with my cousin, and this time it was for carp. I found the gear to be very elaborate, at least compared to what I was normally used to. We used a hair rig that allows the corn to be added to a loop under the hook, and a plastic hairstop that prevents the corn from coming off. We had sliding sinkers with detachable weights that allow the carp to run without feeling the weight, and if we get snagged, the weight will come off. This also allows the carp to survive if we get snagged and broken off, which is important foreshadowing. I had also never had experience with chumming before, we tossed a ton of boiled corn into our fishing spot to keep the carp in the area when they move through.

     The location involved a little bit of hiking and some tricky footwork over lots of loose rocks that are placed all around the water (I presume they are for preventing erosion?). The waves were quite strong here, so was the wind, and since we were not using a bolt rig, it would be difficult to tell when the bites were occurring.

     I noticed a few tiny taps on my line and set the hook. Nothing. I kept thinking I saw something bite and kept setting the hook into open water. On around the 5th try I felt some weight. The fish didn't like that and immediately started peeling drag. I learned how to really fight a fish this time. Keeping the rod tip high, and not reeling against the drag. (I kept reeling against the drag and learned from my cousin that that only twists your line.) After the lonest battle with a fish I have had to date, we had the carp on shore.

     I went in a few inches of water with the carp, my cousin took the hook out and I lifted it up for a photo... then I proceeded to get fish slapped in the face and the carp made it free.

     My cousin hooked up next and after a short fight, he brought in a massive Freshwater Drum. My cousin showed me how to use a centerpin rod and reel while bringing it in. The idea of using the friction of your had as the drag was a little unnerving, but I would get the next chance to catch a fish on it. Although, this was probably not intentional.

     My cousin left to grab some more corn from his bag, and the centerpin rod got a few ferocious taps. I ran over and set the hook into a big fish. I went to pass it off to my cousin who told me to catch it. It took a while to get used to the set up, and with much weaker line than what I am used to, it was tricky to persuade the carp where to go.

     I had gotten the carp just close enough to shore to get a good glimpse of it when it came to the surface. It was much bigger then the first one, and showed it. It dove deep, I let it take line patiently letting it run and then I felt much more weight than usual. Too much weight, I could not reel in. I tried freeing the line from the snag. After a little working, it came free, and so did the fish.

     I had to go to work at this point and was a little bummed that I didn't get a photo. At the same time I was just so happy to have had the opportunity to try and tame these behemoths. Since this trip Carp have become one of my favourite fish to target. They fight extremely well, they grow big, and you can catch quite a few on a good day.

    

A few Invasives

     After figuring out how to catch bowfin consistently at my usual spot, I wanted to catch them elsewhere. There was a place in St.Catherines that was supposed to be really good for them and catfish. We pulled up to a beautiful park that was packed with picnickers, and had a short but scenic walk down to the water. There was Lake Ontario on one side, then a short beach separating the lake from the creek we planned on fishing. It was weird to see such a massive body of water next to a tiny body of water, and they were not connected.

     I tried for bowfin with my spinner and proceeded to get nothing, until I snagged and wrecked one of the treble hooks on my spinner. Not having a replacement, I switched to night crawlers. We had been seeing lots of little fish jumping around, and it was not long before my little brother managed to catch a white fish I had never seen before. I cast out to get one and caught a dinky little brown bullhead.

 I thought this was a yellow bullhead at the time because it was yellow...

I also had no clue what I was doing

     A few bullheads later I pulled up one of those white fish. We caught tons of them this size by the end of the day. Lots of bullheads as well. I never did cast into the shallow, thick weeds to try for the bowfin.

 Species #8 White Perch (Morone americana)- An invasive species in Ontario

     There was nothing else to note that day. Our next trip was to a large hydro weir, almost a whole month later, to try for smallmouth bass. My dad caught one, and a few redhorse suckers. I was not as fortunate. The water was flowing extremely fast and I snagged virtually every cast. Eventually I caught this

 Species #9 Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus)- This would be the first of many

They are invasive and likely the most common fish in the Niagara region

     I went a very long time without catching a fish that could pull any drag, although I had a trip planned with my cousin a few days later that would change that

Lure Crusher

     It was 2013 now, spring had come and past. I was busy with school and didn't get out until a week before bass season opened. I was determined to catch a "dogfish". Using bowfinanglers.com and roughfish.com, I figured out their habitat and some tactics for catching them. Having heard reports of misidentified snakeheads in a nearby canal I figured I should try it first. This was the beginning of my real lifelist adventure, and what ended up getting me hooked on fishing to begin with.

     I didn't have any bait at this time, and I was determined to catch fish on lures. At the time I thought that 2 things that make a real fisherman are being able to catch bass (I thought they were very illusive and hard to catch at the time), and catching fish on lures (which is definitely an important skill). I went down to the canal and cast out my brand new Blue Fox-Vibrax spinner. In hindsight, the canal is a terrible habitat for bowfin as it is deep, cool water with lots of oxygen. They are in there, but not caught very often.

     I started casting towards some structure under a train bridge. I quickly hooked up with 2 rock bass. I did not know that rock bass were considered panfish at the time, and being pre-bass season I did not want to be catching fish out of season. I did not have a camera of my own at this time, so no pictures of my first rock bass. The distinctive red eye is a dead giveaway that they were rock bass though.

     My next spot was a swamp down the street from my house. I brought up trying to fish that spot to my dad the year before, but he didn't want to be seen fishing in such a tiny, swampy body of water. We had only ever seen young kids fishing there, and only heard of people catching sunfish in there. On my own, I had no qualms about fishing there. I am very glad I did. The spot is absolutely beautiful. It has a thin fast flowing channel on one side of the road. It has thick overhanging trees on the left side, and thick bulrushes on the right. The other side is much wider, with white lillies taking up 90% of the right edge. A submerged tree with a single branch betraying its presence, is found on the extreme left. There are small trees all in a line completely submerged on the right edge, almost on shore but dead and the entire base submerged beneath the swampy abyss. There is a thin channel through the lillies that is much deeper than the surrounding water and holds some nice fish. This spot would quickly become my favourite spot. The fish were typically quite small, but the variety of fish and wildlife I ran into over the next 2 years make this the most memorable spot for me. I encountered redear turtles, weasels, water snakes (they really like my frog lure, and although never hooked, I have had 2 hold on until I needed to coax them off it on shore), there is a blue and a white heron, a group of black swans (which I later found escaped from a nearby farm), and a weird grey looking heron with red eyes, that scared the crap out of me when I ended up 2ft from it going through the brush. I have also seen muskrats, a beaver, and it is where I got my first tick.

     My first cast got struck by a Largemouth Bass. It flew out of the water in a marvelous acrobatic display desperately trying to shake off the steel intruder in its mouth. I quickly understood why so many people loved catching them, it was an incredible experience! I cast out again and caught a chunky bluegill. a few casts later I caught another Largemouth. Since they were still out of season I could not fish this spot anymore.

     I told my dad about it and he wanted to check it out as well. We waited until bass season opened before returning. My dad, my brother and I pulled up to the swamp. I saw a few ripples by the tree and thought they were bowfin surfacing for air. I started casting with my spinner towards the submerged tree and my lure got completely destroyed. A few shorts runs of the drag a long shape surfaced, it was a bowfin! It didn't like the look of me and bolted right under me, through the pipe where the water flows under the road to the other side. The determination of this small fish was incredible! I finally tired it out and got it to shore, I would not give up, even in my hands. It bit through my line (20lb braid) while I was trying to get the lure out. Thankfully I still had a good grip on it. I was so excited to have found what I was looking for, but then my dad had some terrible news... "where is the camera?" He said to put it on the stringer so I wouldn't lose any fingers when he looked for it in the car. I put it on the stringer and my brother found the camera. We snapped a quick picture and put the bowfin back. I hope the stringer didn't hurt it too much (there was no noticeable damage, but it is bad practice). I vowed never to do anything similar again.

 

 #5 Bowfin (Amia Calva)- A beautiful young male (the fish) The thing on my

 finger was because I decided to deep fry it two days before

     I had to retie my line. I got the spinner back on, cast again and got hit again. I thought it might be another bowfin,, but there was too much twisting around. It was a brown bullhead (I initially thought it was black due to the barbels). Notice the nice teeth marks that look just like a bowfin bit on it? Strange to catch a brown bullhead in the middle of the day on a lure.

 

 

Definitely a Brown Bullhead. It must have done something mean to a bowfin to get such a

nasty bite on it's anal fin. 

      I hooked up with 3 more bowfin that day. I lost 1 on shore with my favourite spinner still in its mouth, their teeth cut through line far too easily. I lost another as soon as I got my spinner out of it's mouth. The 3rd and final one flopped out of my hands into the water during the photo op. 

     My dad was the photographer, and he was very hard to convince to take photos of small fish. This bass, despite it's total lack of girth, or fight, as my first legal one. I had to ask very nicely, and my dad reluctantly took the shot.

 #6 Largemouth Bass (Micropterus solmoides)- Also cauught on a spinner I caught tons of these

This is where I realized bass were easy to catch, but large ones were not

     My dad caught a lot of little bass, and then his rod folded over and there was a ton of splashing. He landed a bass larger than any I had ever seen. He told me to grab its lip, I did, felt the prick of the hook and dropped the bass. It was free. My dad was not happy with my fish landing skills, I lost him a beautiful fish. I don't think I will live this down until he catches another one as large. This same situation would loose me a monster smallmouth bass not too long from now. 

     I switched to worms and quickly caught a little pumpkinseed. I had the camera since my dad caught a bowfin and a few decent sized bass. So I snapped a picture of it for reference.

 

#7 Pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus)- One of the easiest fish in the world to catch

They hunt in large schools and are super aggressive 

     Unfortunately, I fished this spot mostly on my own, camera-less and only got one other photo of a bowfin. I was also terrible at holding them, and couldn't lift up any that were thicker than my grip. So a lot of ugly net photos ensued. 

 

 

 The only other photo I got from 2013. Female Bowfin

 This was a common occurrence. had 2 of them bite through my hooks on shore. At first I 

thought I broke it with the pliers. I was wrong. Do not use discount hooks on Bowfin

Bowfin are known for their dentition. Those teeth are much sharper than they look