A Day Fishing is a Good Day

Bob and I arranged to meet for a day of trout fishing in the Calabogie area.  First stop would be Blithfield Long Lake with Mud and Gling as possibilities depending on how the day went. This was my first trip to the area since early in the year when ice was still on the lakes. Since Bompus Trail in to Blithfield and my Jetta are not compatible, I met Bob and his Jeep truck at the start of the trail around 8:45. By 9:30 we were on the water at Blithfield – the only ones on the lake. The air temperature was in the low 20’s, it was overcast and a bit breezy but not a good day for fishing. I decided to go deep so I started with my RIO Deep 6 line and an olive micro leech with a red bead head. I’m not sure why I thought this would be a good pattern but wasn’t long before I had a hit and landed about an 8 inch rainbow - small but feisty. I landed a second a few minutes later, almost identical in size. This was pretty much what Igor told Bob he had experienced a few days earlier. After that it was several hits but didn’t manage to land any more for a while. I was having trouble getting the slack out of the line with the small fish. A while later I worked my way near a beaver hut where I got a solid hit. The fish jumped showing it to be much larger – I estimate around 14 inches. A couple more jumps and he slipped the hook.After that, we moved into the centre of the lake into deeper water where the hits and fish came pretty regularly – at least for me. At around 1:30 we decided to try our luck at Mud Lake. By this time, I had landed 7 – all around the 8 inch mark so nothing spectacular but maybe a good sign for the fall.Mud Lake is a very small brook trout lake.  As its name suggests, it is not a particularly clear lake. But you never know with brook trout.Bob had fished it once before without success. Turns out we didn’t do any better this time. We had hoped to find some surface activity but we fished for a couple hours without a bite or sign of fish. A couple guys spin fishing from shore said they lost a 14 incher a few days earlier so presumably there are fish in the lake but we sure couldn’t find them.All in all not a stunning day but it was good to get out.  A number of small fish caught with promise for better next time.  The hook has been set.