ErikY.
07-04-2005, 05:07 PM
Young Jimmy and I went out to Twin Lake, entered at the East entrance. It was a beautiful day @ 22C and raining a little as we pulled up, but I knew it would blow over qickly. We went in as the sun came out and immediately were surrounded by hundreds of perch in 1 to 5 metres water with 4 metres of murky vis. Water temp down to 5 metres was around 17C, 6C (in the 40F range) below that. I was wearing the new 3mm vest from MEC plus my 3mm Henderson Goldcore and an extra hood plus my 3mm MEC shorts all over top of the 3mm Elios. I was sick of being cold, especially at depth, so the 35$ vest did the trick. Now I have about 9mm on my chest, 9mm on my head, and 6mm on my groin, plus the dry glove setup. 16 lbs on the weight harness I built last year. I was on a mission today for big fish (for our fresh water lakes) and wanted to hunt some Burbot (Freshwater Ling Cod). I had just read that they do not hunt in the day, but instead go out into the cold water to sleep. At night they come into the shallows to hunt perch and small Pike.
Anyway, Jimmy had my OMER for 30 minutes and shot a few perch, amazed at the accuracy of the aim. I actually attempted a shot with my old JBL Explorer 22 and missed as I didn't remember how damn hard you have to pull the trigger compared to the OMER. From that I learned that I tend to jerk the gun forward slightly just before I shoot, which inevitabely spooks the fish. Good lesson.
I got my gun back and started swimming south. I saw a big Pike and stalked him for a while, but he figured me out despite my best efforts to appear uninterested in him. I shot a few perch and saw a few more smaller Pike, then came upon a 6 or 7 lb Pike swimming at 4 metres deep. I dove at a 90 degree angle away from him, dove down to 5 (16') metres and came up underneath and to the side, took the shot right behind the gill plate but too low for a stone shot. He fought like crazy and was the biggest Pike yet for me. I brained him as fast as possible and strung him up.
I ended up on the south side of the lake and got 1 more Pike, even bigger than the last! A thunderstorm was brewing so I decided to work my way back, cutting across the deeper part of the lake rather than skirting the shallows. I dove to 13 metres (40'), looked around, ascended, breathed up, and dove again. Diving into Twin Lake at these depths takes some practice as you basically dive into the void, waiting for the floor to show up. It gets dark enough that you even lose the visual cues that you are moving, with just the compression and cold to tell you that you are still sinking. Eventually the bottom appeared and I swam horizontally, looking for the heavily camouflaged Burbot. I spotted a good-sized one, shot him from above and brought him up to the surface. I tried to brain him in 5 or 6 attempts, but he kept fighting. I positioned the knife much farther back on the head and that seemed to do the trick. Their brains are not at an equilateral triangle from the eyes like most fish, which I found frustrating as I don't like the fish to suffer.
I dove again to 11 metres and spotted another, pinned him to the dirt from above, and brought him up.
Now I had 4 of the biggest fish I ever shot, and all on one stringer. The thunderstorm returned and I was seeing the flashes while I was 5 metres down, so figured it was time to make my way back to shore and head home.
All in all I was in the water for 3+ hours (3+ hours in Imperial) and did not ever get cold! Jimmy got a Pike and some perch too.
Definitely one of the best days spearing ever!
Erik
Anyway, Jimmy had my OMER for 30 minutes and shot a few perch, amazed at the accuracy of the aim. I actually attempted a shot with my old JBL Explorer 22 and missed as I didn't remember how damn hard you have to pull the trigger compared to the OMER. From that I learned that I tend to jerk the gun forward slightly just before I shoot, which inevitabely spooks the fish. Good lesson.
I got my gun back and started swimming south. I saw a big Pike and stalked him for a while, but he figured me out despite my best efforts to appear uninterested in him. I shot a few perch and saw a few more smaller Pike, then came upon a 6 or 7 lb Pike swimming at 4 metres deep. I dove at a 90 degree angle away from him, dove down to 5 (16') metres and came up underneath and to the side, took the shot right behind the gill plate but too low for a stone shot. He fought like crazy and was the biggest Pike yet for me. I brained him as fast as possible and strung him up.
I ended up on the south side of the lake and got 1 more Pike, even bigger than the last! A thunderstorm was brewing so I decided to work my way back, cutting across the deeper part of the lake rather than skirting the shallows. I dove to 13 metres (40'), looked around, ascended, breathed up, and dove again. Diving into Twin Lake at these depths takes some practice as you basically dive into the void, waiting for the floor to show up. It gets dark enough that you even lose the visual cues that you are moving, with just the compression and cold to tell you that you are still sinking. Eventually the bottom appeared and I swam horizontally, looking for the heavily camouflaged Burbot. I spotted a good-sized one, shot him from above and brought him up to the surface. I tried to brain him in 5 or 6 attempts, but he kept fighting. I positioned the knife much farther back on the head and that seemed to do the trick. Their brains are not at an equilateral triangle from the eyes like most fish, which I found frustrating as I don't like the fish to suffer.
I dove again to 11 metres and spotted another, pinned him to the dirt from above, and brought him up.
Now I had 4 of the biggest fish I ever shot, and all on one stringer. The thunderstorm returned and I was seeing the flashes while I was 5 metres down, so figured it was time to make my way back to shore and head home.
All in all I was in the water for 3+ hours (3+ hours in Imperial) and did not ever get cold! Jimmy got a Pike and some perch too.
Definitely one of the best days spearing ever!
Erik