Taking the day off tomorrow and heading over the islands. Hoping to finally start getting my pre-baited spots on track. I'll post a conditions report tomorrow night in case anyone is thinking of heading over this coming weekend.
Just got back....
No ice, lots of milfoil weed on the canal bottoms. Water temps ranging in different places from 35 to 42
Saw three decent sized OOS toothy critters hanging around in the shallows. I located a huge school of perch and spent an hour driving them psycho with a size 16 hook and a thin strip of aluminum foil.
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No Carp spotted anywhere, the water in the pond is still black with no weed growth. I took a measurement at the ferry dock and the water level is still down by 1.25 metres. This creates a few new "interesting" features:
The pond at the café end still has a sand bar in the channel under the footbridge.
The bricks that the bowfin usually hide at, aren't even in the water anymore!
You can wade across sunfish cut quite easily (pike on the fly in May anyone?)
The cut at the west end of snake island to snug harbor has dried up completely.
Most of the canals have new beaches about 6 ft wide, so now you can fish the water side of the big red bushes that usually line the canals.
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It looks like spring is finally arriving at the islands, could be some new features to adapt to this year....
Sounds like I need to go there with a shovel and do some constructive deconstruction...
I'm thinking carp on the fly if you can wade.
Did you see any bowfins? Don't have to say where...just a "yes" or "no" is quite sufficient
No, but I only walked about half of the outer perimeter of Bowfin central and there's a lot of dead black leaf sludge that they could be buried under.
EDIT* I like your idea of Carp on the fly, but let's throw in a wakeboard...!
Thanks Mike. We'll see if work allows me to check it out one of these days.
Carp-boarding!
rain Tuesday and continued through the week will be the game changer for bowfin and carp....thanks for the report Mike....
Wow! Mike posted a picture of one of his catches!
Thanks for the info Mike. Fly + wakeboard... would love to see that.
Forgot to mention that the Centre island and Hanlan's point ferry terminals open this Friday (April 12th), with a limited service until May 24 when they will then switch to full tourist ferry schedule until September.