Fishing for Pike and Small Mouth on the Canadian Mississippi River with the Day Trippers

September 28, 2008

James McBeath and I had an extraordinary day of fishing with the Day Trippers just West of Ottawa Canada a few weeks back. As you can see from the photo’s we had perfect fishing weather. It looks a bit chilly, but honestly it was about 75 degree’s and perfect for just relaxing with a great friend and enjoying a fantastic and fruitful day of fishing. Something else that I experienced was my first encounter with a Loon… For anyone that is not familiar, this was the coolest and most active bird I have ever come across. This guy was talkative! He followed us around for some time making all kinds of great sounds and flaring his wings while bolstering his chest out. At first we thought he was bothered by us, so we attempted to move on, but kept following… I figure he was trying to pick up some tips from James as to how he was catching so many fish!!!
The river we were on is the Mississippi just up river from Almonte, and the conditions were perfect. Super calm water, plenty of reeds to get into and the fish were biting big time! James caught (and kissed!) this 2.5 lb small mouth, and landed several others as well. Man those small mouths were fun to catch… As you can see I was fortunate to catch and release my first ever Northern Pike. This was a great experience. The fish fought a good fight, and once I landed it, took great care to ensure he was not injured beyond the hook and was placed nicely back in the water… He swam away in a flash! I also caught a good sized Small Mouth Bass at roughly 4 lbs. There were tons of bites and some made it all the way back to the boat, but all in all I brought 3 fish into the boat for official catch and release. I consider that a huge success and owe it all to James for showing me how to “Get’er dun” Canadian style!
There is something very special about kayak fishing. I am getting quickly “HOOKED” big time. Being able to use the Day Tray for mounting rod holders and troll around getting exercise and also viewing gorgeous scenery is very hard to describe… but these photo’s do tell a thousand words.
Get out there and go kayak fishing!