A cast of silly bystanders as usual
Saw a little marten again! These guys run fast!!!
I wasn't about to post the carp report...it was more of the same old...but since I was typing a report, I'll just add it in
Anyways...back to my #198 hunt. The fishing on Saturday sucked. I was supposed to fish with my buddy Mike today but he gave me the raincheck
I was really anxious to get into some action...so I decided to go on my goldfish hunt.
When I say goldfish, I don't mean common carp. I meant the species Carassius auratus, THE goldfish. I've never caught one but I know of this storm water management pond that had goldfish...and lots of them. So it was a short drive to Mississauga to fish Lake Aquitaine.
Lake Aquitaine brought back a lot of nostalgia. This was the place where I honed my early fishing skills. About 20 years ago, this lake was full of largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed sunfish, rockbass, perch, black crappie, brown bullhead and carp. With plentiful fish and a variety of suitable habitat, I learned to catch fish in weedbeds, between lilypads, on rocky shores and muddy bottoms.
It has been a while since I've been back. The last time I was at the lake, it was 5 years ago. I remembered arriving to a lake void of sizeable sunfish. It appeared that someone had released a massive number of goldfish into the lake. Aside from an army of goldfish, there was also hoards and hoards of finger-sized bullhead that ravenously decimate any bait presented. It was discouraging to find my childhood playground turned into a cesspool.
Recently, I realized Lake Aquitaine is my best chance of catching a goldfish. I just had to give the lake another try.
I arrived at 10am to find the popular dock empty. This was something unfamiliar. As a popular urban lake, there were ALWAYS someone fishing at the lake. Perhaps this was a sign that the goldfish and bullhead had finally wiped out any fish population?
I peered into the water and was relieved to see small sunfish flirting around. I could not see any goldfish or bullhead though. Knowing that most of the goldfish in the lake had reverted to their natural grey colouration, I may just had to cast a line to find them.
My gear today was a little silly. I didn't have any rods light enough for the small goldfish except for the icefishing rods. So that was what I took with me...an 24" light action ice rod and a 1000 size reel filled with 4lb test. This was my bluegill / perch / crappie rod for icefishing...but it'll have to do today. The tall weeds in the area restricted me to using a float rig comprised of a 2" Thill Shy Bite float, a tiny splitshot and a #22 hook (goldfish has small mouth).
I put on a tiny chunk of worm and cast my line out. Even with a short rod, I was able to get my rig 40-50 feet out. It wasn't long before I connected with a pumpkinseed sunfish. It seemed that they were on a tear and it was just a hit after another for the first 10 minutes. When the fish finally smartened up, I had to fish another area. I had not seen a goldfish or caught one.
I walked about 30 feet away and fished a slightly rocky area. Again, I found a couple of pumpkinseed sunfish. I started getting a few deep hooked fish...so I up sized the hooks to #18. On one cast, I had a fish came up to the surface to grab my float. As the fish dove down, it saw my worm offering and took it. To my surprise, this was a green sunfish!
It wasn't what I was looking for...but the green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) is a new species...and it made it on my list as #198!
Green sunfish has larger mouth than other sunfish. Although they have blue streaks on their gill plate like pumpkinseed sunfish, they lack the orange spots of the pumpkinseed. Similar to bluegills, they have a black spot on both the base of the soft ray dorsal and anal fins. Unlike the bluegills, they do not have dark vertical bars, but they do have rows of light blue sots that form broken horizontal stripes.
I was pretty happy to catch this green sunfish! I thought I had caught some with my cousin in Florida but I wasn't really paying attention to the subtle morphological differences and didn't bother to take pictures. I also saved myself some searching and gas since the only other location I know in Ontario with a population of green sunfish was 2 hours away. Yay to my childhood playground!
I continued to search for the goldfish and caught 2 more green sunfish and more pumpkinseed.
The bite frequency started to slow...and it was getting to a scratch bite. As I was landed a pumpkinseed, a grandma and two of her grandchildren came onto the dock. I showed them my fish and has them touched it. The little boy wanted to release the fish, so I asked him to hold his palm out, put laid his fish onto his palm and asked him to drop the fish back into the water.
Then...it started. That little spark in their little hearts...you could almost feel their excitement. That epiphany was upwelling and the desire was too palpable. Before he said another word, I had already guessed it.
"Can I catch a fish for Sasha to put into the water?" the little boy said.
"Sure, but let me cast the line out for you first."
Yes! Another junior angler was born!
"I want to catch one too!" the little girl said.
And so it began. My little anglers watching the little float, waiting for it to disappear, and listening for my cue to pull on the rod to set the hook.
The fish were not very cooperative. It was probably that the sun got higher and the water temperature had risen above their tolerance to hang about in the shallows. But luckily, we got a fish to bite and little Max got to reel in his first fish.
I unhooked the fish and little Sasha released it. Then it was Sasha's turn to catch a fish for Max to release. And we had that done a few minutes later.
I forgot to take a picture for the kiddies of their first fish, so it wasn't until Sasha's fish that I suggest I'll take a picture and email it to their grandma.
Seriously...this brings me more joy than hunting for goldfish.
Both of them caught two pumpkinseed sunfish each. While we were waiting, they saw rocks on the bottom of the lake, as well as weeds and wood. I took the opportunity to explain to them that the fish likes these areas because they can hide in the rocks, weeds and wood and also find food in the same places.
The fish then became completely uncooperative and it was also getting hot. I could tell the grandma wanted to leave, so I said "I think the little fishies had finished their lunch and they are now taking their afternoon nap."
Reluctantly, the little kiddies gave me a couple of high-fives and said goodbye. I know it made their day though...and I can just imagine the stories they'll be telling to their parents at home
I went back to my goldfish hunt...but it was just a barrage of pumpkinseed and the odd rock bass.
There were also 2 men and two boys fishing on the other end of the dock. I heard some excitement and saw one of the men catch a 12" largemouth bass. It was good to see a bass in this lake again.
A while later, after several more pumpkinseed, I caught a 1.5" largemouth bass. This is some very encouraging signs the lake may be on its slow recovery to previous glory.
It got too hot at 1pm for me to fish any longer so I called it a day. Although I didn't find my intended target, I did add my species #198. What made the day was sowing the seeds of fishing into the hearts of two more kids. I hope they will carry the torch for me in the future