Guys Getaway 2017

Posted on: December 29th, 2017 by Scott Mills

Good friends, great weather, familiar water, what could be better when it was time for the now annual guys fishing weekend? This year we’d be returning to the now familiar waters of the Bayfield Inlet staying at Bayfield Lodge. This was my second year with fishing with this gang, having secured a second invite after being able to join for a Guest Appearance last year.

This group has been fishing together for quite some time and on these waters for the past 3 years now, having moved around to different bodies of water on previous outings. Their first time in the area, now three seasons ago,  saw most of the group catch personal best fish, which was an amazing thing to hear about. Not just one person, but several all catching their biggest! Last year was still a pretty good weekend, though not quite the same number of big fish were landed, we still saw a lot of great catches. This year was slower than normal, though having fished this area for almost 30 years, I can add two suggestions as to the cause.

First off, the Fall was unusually warm, and for a much longer period of time. Normally when I fish this area in late September, the fish have begun to move in from the deep water, and begin to hang out around weed that his still green, and the rocky drop offs. With the water being much warmer than normal, I suspect the fish were much deeper than we were prepared to fish. My second insight is that for about the 5th year in a row, the water levels were up. I think the water is the highest I’ve ever seen, which means that many of the areas we would commonly catch fish would be changed with the higher levels, I’d suggest over a foot higher. I had fished these waters about a month earlier in mid August and there too, we found it challenging to catch quality Pike. For that trip we moved on the the abundant small mouth bass that could be caught seemingly at will.

The weather for this trip was wonderful, with warm temperatures and light breezes. A few highlights for this year included Dave catching a rather giant large mouth Bass (about 20 inches and thick), Tim being on his first fishing trip (maybe ever) and landing this beauty 30 inch Pike, Scott R driving all the way in from New Brunswick, and of course a wonderful shore lunch that was capped off with watching the guys find their ways back to the boats.

It was a great weekend with the guys, another example of how important it is to have these times with friends to getaway and connect. While we all enjoy catching fish, I think the most important part of these weekends is just to connect with one another, and enjoy being out of the office and into nature. Speaking of nature, have a look at the video below of some shots of the sun coming up and then going down, breathtaking.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to scott@canadianfisherman.ca. As always don’t forget, to sign up and have my most recent post sent right to you!

Leave a Reply