Whirlwind through Central Canada
I set a goal a few years ago to catch at least a new species (lifer) in each Canadian provinces and territories. Prior to this trip, I had caught new species in 7 Canadian provinces (BC, ON, QC, NB, NS, PE, NL).
George was going to Saskatoon for his annual geese hunt and offered me an opportunity I couldn't refuse - an opportunity to fish Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In the span of 96 hours, we drove 3200km and fished in 3 provinces (ON, MB and SK).
Fishing overall was excellent, but hunting new species was difficult. Luckily, I did catch a new species from each of MB and SK to check off 2 more provinces!
I don't have a blog post written up yet, but to be honest, we just did a lot of driving with a few hours of fishing here and there. There's not much to write about. So instead, I figure I would just share some pictures here with a bit of commentary.
Day 1, we drove from Sudbury to Thunder Bay. Lake Superior was gorgeous and the stretch between Sault Ste Marie and Kenora was my favourite of the entire drive.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_ZaPxLh_m..._9303_post.jpg
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5wl_rAxNY..._9317_post.jpg
Finally, we arrived at our first fishing location.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M5APX7UoV..._9318_post.jpg
Eurasian Ruffe are invasive but they are not as numerous and wide spread as the Round Goby. Small areas of Lake Superior are the only places to consistently find them. Even so, we only caught 3 between the 2 of us. We caught a bunch of Yellow Perch up to 11 inches long as well, but they are "just perch" to us species hunters.
Eurasian Ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernua) - Species #632
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rQGcg0K0J..._9328_post.jpg
Day 2, we drove from Thunder Bay straight to Winnipeg and finally arrived at our fishing location.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oOKoCZy7r..._9341_post.jpg
We were fishing for Goldeye with 2" chunks of worm on 5lb leader about 3' under a float. But big Channel Catfish kept taking out bait. I hooked into a large one that finally wore through the 5lb leader after a 5min fight. Then George hooked into one that we eventually decided to break off because it was taking too long to land. George hooked into another one and I volunteered to bring it in. We had it to shore and the line snapped just as the fish rested in the shallows and it kicked away.
But we were not there for Channel Catfish...we wanted Goldeye. Finally, I caught one...then two more...before George caught one of his own too.
Goldeye (Hiodon alosoides) - Species #633 - Manitoba lifer!
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W7jM9iAGN..._9335_post.jpg
After we caught our targets, we decided to seek some revenge on these Catfish. Plus, there was a good chance I could break my 28" Channel Catfish personal best. I upgraded the gear to 15lb leader and 20lb braid on a MH rod and it took very little time to hook up.
Honestly, we had a much harder time trying to catch a Ruffe or a Goldeye than these Channel Catfish. Sure, they fight "hard"...but where is the challenge? With a 15lb leader, 20lb braid, a 4000 size spinning reel and a MH freshwater spinning rod, I was able to land it within 5 min. It only took one good run at the beginning...and then just a couple of really short burst toward the end. And they were more willing biters than the Goldeye. We could have catch them all day if we wanted.
32" Channel Catfish
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Gdjc5DoP..._9360_post.jpg
Long and very chunky. We didn't weight it...I honestly don't care how much it weights...but it was the thickest Channel Catfish I've ever seen!
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WzWtu2JvC..._9369_post.jpg
Nothing was really biting except for Channel Catfish. We were secretly hoping for a Bigmouth Buffalo but they are rare and picky eater. The Channel Catfish kept it interesting.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2amumssia..._9370_post.jpg
We were chased off by an evening storm...so that was it.
Day 3, we drove across Manitoba fishing a couple of spots along the way. Our first spot had a population of Bigmouth Shiner but all we found were Creek Chub and Common Shiner. We continued to our second spot.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c1NdAXnke..._9411_post.jpg
My friend told me there were River Darters, which would be a new species for me, but all we caught were Blackside Darter.
Blackside Darter
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JYJ32Qu5s..._9404_post.jpg
We decided to fish the same area for Quillback Carpsucker with a float rig, since the bottom was extremely rocky and the current was too chaotic. As soon as we switched to the "larger" gear, the fish came fast and furious for a while. We caught 4 Walleye on 4 casts...all of them were between 14-18" long.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-43TqQ6Krz..._9409_post.jpg
George also caught a Shorthead Redhorse and a few White Sucker, but there was no Quillback Carpsucker. We caught a few more Walleye here and there while searching for Quillback. If we had used a crankbait, as the guy beside us did, we could have caught walleye after walleye in that size for 3 hours. But we were species hunters...and these were "just walleye". We wanted a Quillback which we couldn't find in the end.
Day 4, we fished a small spot in Saskatchewan for something more dependable. It was too easy to find these Northern Pearl Dace, but it helped me to check off a new species from Saskatchewan.
Northern Pearl Dace (Margariscus nachtriebi) - Species #634 - Saskatchewan lifer!
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4GNxvL_HY..._9420_post.jpg
It was the right habitat for Central Mudminnow and I tried for a while but only caught more Northern Pearl Dace and some Brook Stickleback.
Finally, we headed straight to Saskatoon. The South Saskatchewan River was beautiful and access to the river within Saskatoon was readily available...but the fishing sucked where we were located. We had zero hits, not even from micros, and the only life I saw were juvenile Sucker species that were too small to catch.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Aa9WyiX3..._9422_post.jpg
But overall, this trip was fantastic! I've now driven through all 10 Canadian provinces and caught fish in 9 of them. Next year, I hope to have a chance to catch a new species in Alberta. :)
