DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

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Doug
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DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by Doug »

So “out4trout” and I have been chatting about where we might lay a beating on some mid-winter perch. Both of us are hungry for a fresh feed of perch fillets, and generally we can do exactly that on some lakes we know. EXCEPT those lakes are under a ton of snow and neither of us owns a snowmobile. O4t is pretty fit and could walk a mile in snowshoes, but me, not so much. And plus, when he tried out his snowshoes a couple days ago on a local lake it was worse than wearing no snowshoes at all. So we had to find a lake with EASY access and not so far to walk to the hot spot.

I remembered that a fellow I know had been on Charleston Lake two years ago and just slayed the jumbos. I also recalled him saying that they were right close to a road. So I called him up and asked him if he would share that spot with me, which he did. (Trusting soul, isn’t he! :wink: ) So we made plans to meet this morning close to the honey hole and from there find a good spot to park where we would not impede traffic. As a bonus, 04t’s young lad would be joining us, and he is a strong young man who could possibly be used as a pack mule…. 8)

Met up this morning and a brisk walk confirmed a decent access point, so we loaded up the sleds and headed out onto the lake. Now it is worth mentioning here that o4t is six foot thirteen, and his son is taller by a couple inches. I am a short-butt older man with arthritis in my neck and back, and carrying about twenty pounds that I did not have when I wore a younger man’s clothes. The snow was about knee-deep, and had no body, so each step your foot would slide out sideways. And even though those guys were breaking trail, it took two of my steps for every one of theirs, so I was breaking the “half-trail” and pulling my sled.

You know, when you look at “Google Earth” and estimate the distances based on their handy little so-called “SCALE” that they provide, you get a fairly good guess as to actual distances on the ground. HAH!!!!!!!! The evil folks at Google Earth probably deliberately make their scale appear to be much bigger than it is. And for example they probably don’t calculate the curvature of the earth, which over distances like this adds many hundreds of yards to the ACTUAL distance to be travelled. Evil machines and their “FREE” programs, eh? They are just softening us up for the robocalypse. :evil:

Anyways, MULTIPLE stops later, we got out to a fine-looking drop-off that the Navionics was showing. Of course, when we actually drilled the holes, the water was somewhat deeper than we had been intending to fish. We were aiming at 20 but got 24 FOW. And so we started fishing. For perch. With ultralights and micro-sized baits.

About an hour into this adventure, when my breathing had returned more or less to normal, and my pulse was finally below 100, I saw the young lad fighting a fish. It was abundantly clear that this was NOT a perch, and sure enough up came a nice lake trout which was returned down the hole immediately. Not long after that, the scene was repeated but this time a very nice lake trout came topside and straight back down the hole. I was fishing with a 1/16 oz Ice Worm on 2 lb test and a very light rod and BOOM! That’s no perch………… :shock: .and after quite a tussle another laker came up and right back into the water. Then o4t caught a laker and of course released it, there being no open season on lake trout in Charleston Lake in the winter time. Clearly we had to move, so we pulled up our lines and loaded the sleds for another trudge through that cursed snow and drilled holes in 18 to 15 FOW. I had a bump, and missed it, then o4t caught another laker.

OK, so now we decided to head REAL shallow and got onto some green coontail down about 8 feet. Should be good, right? NOPE. Another hour or two, nada, so once again we moved camp, but at least this time we were headed back towards our vehicles. (Maybe because I suggested that was the direction I was going to go…) 15 to 16 FOW, fish on the flasher, and FINALLY the young lad landed a gigantic perch. Well, five inches anyways. :roll: By now the wind had picked up considerably and I was convinced that the perch had lockjaw, so we called it a day.

Of course, there remained the death march BACK to shore, and our tracks heading out had already been obliterated by blowing wind. I think I stopped twelve or maybe even fifteen times to catch my breath, but hallelujah finally got back on a plowed road!

Five hours, five OOS lakers, one perch, and another tale to tell. I am looking forward to getting back out there once the snow has melted (or after the ICE has melted this spring!) The spot has promise for sure, and I suspect it holds perch – we just did not unlock the secret today, or maybe they were just not interested in feeding.

And no pictures accompany this little report, given that the lakers went right back down the holes…………

Doug

PS) AND I remembered to do this as a "WORD" document this time, and copy and paste here. :D
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Re: DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by smitty55 »

Good story Doug. Charleston is my favorite lake this side of Kipawa and the Laker fishing has grown considerably since they put a halt to the ice fishing season. MNR netting results in the last few years have been excellent. I actually thought all ice fishing was closed on the lake to protect the Greys. Didn't realize you could still go for pannies. It also has a decent Crappie population but I wouldn't have any idea where to start searching for them through the ice. Maybe Foster bay as it has a decent creek flowing in.

Don't know who has seen this old hand drawn map of the lake but it's one I like to peruse once in a while. Must have been a pile of work put into it.
Image

Btw Doug, with 107 posts so far, in a short month at that, I think you may have set a record. At least for as far back as I go. Your sense of humour is a welcome addition to the forums and is well appreciated. Good luck in your March fishing.

Cheers
Smitty

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Re: DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by Doug »

smitty55 wrote:Good story Doug. Charleston is my favorite lake this side of Kipawa and the Laker fishing has grown considerably since they put a halt to the ice fishing season. MNR netting results in the last few years have been excellent. I actually thought all ice fishing was closed on the lake to protect the Greys. Didn't realize you could still go for pannies. It also has a decent Crappie population but I wouldn't have any idea where to start searching for them through the ice. Maybe Foster bay as it has a decent creek flowing in.

Don't know who has seen this old hand drawn map of the lake but it's one I like to peruse once in a while. Must have been a pile of work put into it.
Image

Btw Doug, with 107 posts so far, in a short month at that, I think you may have set a record. At least for as far back as I go. Your sense of humour is a welcome addition to the forums and is well appreciated. Good luck in your March fishing.

Cheers
Thanks for your kind words!

That is a VERY cool map, wish I could see it in a bigger format..........

Doug
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Re: DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by MichaelGA »

Big as I could find it on photobucket.

open the URL in a new tab or window.
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s57 ... g~original
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Re: DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by Out4trout »

Great report Doug!
Next time we will hit the perch, were just a bit early today I suspect.

Smitty - I live at Charleston Lake, there are a few people who ice fish here. No big crowds, with only Pike and pan-fish open, and a lot of water to cover. It's the same regs as Big Rideau...

Doug - I do have a larger copy of that map, I'll dig it out. It's amazing that was all done from a rowed skiff, without the benefit of aerial images.
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Re: DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by zippyfx »

Great report! Nice story, glad you had a good time... Buddy of mine has a cottage on the lake so I may invite myself to go looking for lakers!
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Re: DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by Natch09 »

Awesome report Doug , keep them a coming . Cheers Greg.
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Doug
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Re: DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by Doug »

zippyfx wrote:Great report! Nice story, glad you had a good time... Buddy of mine has a cottage on the lake so I may invite myself to go looking for lakers!
The lake trout season does not open there until the first Saturday in June. Those ones we caught were out of season, so we moved away from where we caught them. To have stayed there would have suggested to anybody watching that we were actually targeting lakers. Just sayin'.............

Doug
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Re: DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by Netman »

Doug wrote:
zippyfx wrote:Great report! Nice story, glad you had a good time... Buddy of mine has a cottage on the lake so I may invite myself to go looking for lakers!
The lake trout season does not open there until the first Saturday in June. Those ones we caught were out of season, so we moved away from where we caught them. To have stayed there would have suggested to anybody watching that we were actually targeting lakers. Just sayin'.............

Doug
Actually the Lake trout season on Charleston opens on the 4th Saturday in May and has been that way for several years now
.... Just sayin' :wink:

Good to see no paramedics were required lol. Keep those reports coming
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Re: DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by RJ »

Wow Doug, ya had me huffin and puffin... :lol:

Conditions suck everywhere. Short jaunts to spots you know fish are at is best bet these days. I'd love to see 2 days of rain, pronto.

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Re: DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by Doug »

[/quote]

Actually the Lake trout season on Charleston opens on the 4th Saturday in May and has been that way for several years now
.... Just sayin' :wink:

Good to see no paramedics were required lol. Keep those reports coming[/quote]

Thanks for that!

I did ask o4t if the opener was the first Saturday in June, and his reply was something to the effect that it was the same as the other lakes in the area............which I have lost track of after Loughborough was re-opened for a year-round laker season.

Doug
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Re: DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by Out4trout »

Yup you did ask Doug, and Netman is correct.
May 23 2015 for Zone 18. The extra two weeks are nice!
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Re: DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by zippyfx »

Doug wrote:
zippyfx wrote:Great report! Nice story, glad you had a good time... Buddy of mine has a cottage on the lake so I may invite myself to go looking for lakers!
The lake trout season does not open there until the first Saturday in June. Those ones we caught were out of season, so we moved away from where we caught them. To have stayed there would have suggested to anybody watching that we were actually targeting lakers. Just sayin'.............

Doug
Should have been more clear... I was thinking about the summer. :)
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Re: DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by smitty55 »

Doug, or anyone, pm me your addy and I'll send you the jpeg so you can see it on your own viewer. Much better. A cottage I rented for opening weekend for a few years from Lakeline Lodge had that map on the wall. I spent a good few beers staring at it for sure. :lol: It was common enough around the lake through the CLA from what I was told.

O4T I'd forgotten you were from there. Didn't you have a couple of lead core outfits for sale a while back?. I still use them, and copper, as they suit me fine in my tinny. So many ways to fish Lakers. I've met guys there who still flat line in shallower (20-30ft) with Williams and Cleos etc, even in the heat of summer. One of these days I'll put some good time into jigging, or so I keep saying lol.

Zippy, good idea. You won't regret it. Beautiful lake. The amount of structure is wild. Fish earlier in the day for the Lakers is the best tip I can give you, specially well into the summer. The bite tends to die off after 10:00 or earlier, although with the right winds Big water can sometime produce all day. But I don't have a big boat. One of the great things about the lake is that you can usually always get out of the wind somewhere, whether it be Eastern water or my favorite, Western water. Plus there's an outhouse in the back of Tallow Rock bay which comes in handy at times. The lake also has a good Smallie population, so after the Greys slow down you can fish Bass.

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Smitty

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Re: DEATH MARCH ON CHARLESTON LAKE (report)

Post by Out4trout »

smitty55 wrote:O4T I'd forgotten you were from there. Didn't you have a couple of lead core outfits for sale a while back?. I still use them, and copper, as they suit me fine in my tinny. So many ways to fish Lakers.
Actually, I still have my leadcore rigs, but I live on the same road as the guy who was selling his a few years ago... :D While I don`t use lead-core much anymore, I keep the old Penn handy for when there are 3 of us, lead-core straight out the back between the riggers. Just can`t turn as tight lol. Caught a few dandies on lead-core over the years, back in the glory days. I definitely prefer jigging myself, but the wind doesn`t always cooperate.

Copper - wow, You`re part of a rare breed. I`ve never used copper myself, but know a few older locals who still do.
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