I got an invite to fish from my buddy Steve again, .....I guess you could call it a practice run for the tournament next saturday....
Instead of Parklawn, ...which I know how to find now, ......we were going to launch from Ashbridges,
......out came the map again, .....
Okay, .....still looked to be pretty easy to find....
Then I talked to him on friday, ......and decided I may as well meet him at home, .....and go together, .....
Guess what? ...out came the map, .....one more time,
....I think I could moonlight as a Toronto cabbie now.....
We hooked up at around 3:45 and headed for the launch, .....the temperature was balmy, ...and the wind was a non factor, .....on the shore that is, .....
But once we cleared the channel, ...the air temp. dropped to approximately the same as the inside of my beer fridge, ......and visibility dropped to about the same as when the door is closed.....
After damn near playing kissy kissy with a channel marker, (that looked a lot like the north pole by the way
) We headed out to find some warmer water, ....preferably without ice bergs, ......
We found some around 200ft. ...though it was still barely tickling the 50 deg. mark.....
Steve went into set up mode, ....we found out early that dipseys would be the hot ticket today....
Remember the the broken clicker reel, .......it was going out again, ....with a dipsey, .......and it took a hit before Steve even got it in the holder, ......unfortunately, ......the clicker problem must be connected to the drag somehow, .....cause it siezed up, .....
I thought Steve was going water sking out the back of the boat, .....it took the SD and meat rig,
....but left the dipsey anyways..... 
The rod clicks again now, ....but only when you shake it, ......I think it needs, ........a "tune up".....
0 for 1, ....visions of thursday pop into my head.....
I'm nervous, ....so I decide to take a picture.....
We get a shaker to the boat shortly after, .....and that calms my nerves even more.....
I "reluctantly" agree that we won't take any pictures of shakers today.......
A dipsey took another hit and I'm on it......
This guy had visions of borrowing through to China I think, .....most of this battle was "vertical".....
But I did get 'er in after a nice fight, ....a respectable 24lber......
My first decent fish since my "down" time, .....I was a little tired after, ....and nothing popped out, ....or started hurting, ....so I guess I'm good to go, .......
UM, ....really never noticed that I had three balls till now though....
Shortly after that, ....I notice one of the riggers fire and grab it, .....Steve was on the phone, .....he turned to tell me he just marked a nice hook, ...
"holy $hit, ....you already got it"
"it's your turn Steve, ....here take it"
"You're doin' okay with it skoot, ....keep going"
"You're trying to kill me, .....aren't you?"
So a 12lb coho came to the boat, ......Steve got to hold it cause, ....well, .....you had to be there.....
We kept cruising this same spot, ....weren't marking squat, ....but the dipseys kept firing.....
Steve's first king, ....14lbs
My second king......19lbs.
Steve's next king, ....sorry bud, ....no shaker pics....
Things died after that, .....we trolled around for awhile, ....the radio chatter said that everyone was smoking them in tight, .....so we headed in......
They were right......My next king.......14lbs
Steve's next king.........Sorry bud, ....no shaker pics...
...againAnd the last one of the day........around 14 ......again
You can still see the fog hangin' about, ....this was just before we headed in, ....around NOON, ......and it was still chilly out on the lake.....
It was a great morning, .....after the initial rod mishap, ....went 9 for 10, .....everything but the coho came off the dipseys, ....
The ride home was an adventure in itself, ....something must have happened on the 401, ......took me an hour to crawl to the first exit that I could "skoot" off.....
Time to get out the map aga...(crap, .....it's still at home where I left it
) ..... Oh well, ....I ping ponged around subdivisions, .....till I found a hwy that ran in the right general direction, ....and finally got home just in time for dinner....
Thanks for the invite Steve, .....fun time as always, .....and it was great to meet your little "chickadee" too, ......are those holes done yet?
Hope next weekend is even better, .....talk to ya soon....
skooter
