Bassin’; I kissed a fish & my next BIG fishing adventure!

Here in Ontario, we have fish seasons to protect our fish during their spawning period. In my location – Zone 20, bass season opens up the 4th Saturday in June and runs through until November 30th. Bass opener is always something I get excited about! Over the past few days I’ve spent a lot of time on the water targeting bass on the Bay of Quinte – my home water, which offers smallmouth and largemouth fishing as well as many other species! It’s truly a fishery that’s fishable year round.

With so many different techniques available to target bass, I have found favourites that will always be in my tackle bag. In the past few years a drop shot rig has been my ‘go to’ for bass, and it still holds that title. Here’s a drop shot diagram from a friends website:

What I love about the drop shot technique is the versatility! I also find this presentation suitable for anglers of all skill levels/ages! I present it in most situations (deep or shallow water, weed edges, around structure, docks, etc.) and it keeps the bait off bottom at the desired depth since the drop shot weight can be adjusted up or down the line. I twitch it slightly, dead stick it, or even troll slowly depending on what movement seems to be what the fish want at the time.

My drop shot set-up is:  7’2 Rapala Concept medium-light, extra fast action rod, Rapala Shift reel, Sufix 832 15lb test braided line. I have tried several different types of hooks, but have been happy with the Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap hooks or the VMC Spinshot Drop-shot hooks (which eliminate line twist). My ‘go to’ drop shot bait is the X-Zone Slammer. I can’t seem to keep the fish off it – and that’s not a bad problem to have!

Aside from the drop shot, top water frogs are another favourite! I’ve been throwing them a lot lately and the lily pad and slop bite has been pretty decent! It’s a lot of fun having bass explode on a frog! It has been working well in the afternoon and evening when the temperature heats up as I am sure the fish are seeking shade. Can’t say I blame them – it’s been HOT out!

If you’ve read the title of this blog you have probably been wondering about the FISH KISS! I tend to love making up some type of challenge or competition when I am out on the water fishing with friends. On Friday, my friend Matt and I were out kayak fishing and I came up with the idea that ‘The next fish that gets caught has to be kissed by the opponent!’ I had never kissed a fish before, and I really thought that I was going to catch the next fish and make him smooch it! We laughed and discussed it a bit, and I stated ‘It has to be a BIG fish. I wouldn’t want my first fish kiss to go to waste on a little one!’ He made a few casts and BAM – out comes a largemouth at around 4 pounds! …. No way! I snapped some photos of him and his catch and then he handed it over to me. Of course he also wanted photo evidence:

My next BIG fishing adventure:
In exactly 14 days, I will be boarding a plane and heading to New Brunswick for the very first time! I will be spending 9 days fly fishing in pursuit of atlantic salmon! There’s a lot of exciting details about this trip, which I cannot yet share, but if you follow me along on my Facebook page, or Twitter… you will get all the updates 🙂 I will just say for now that it’s a dream come true… and I cannot wait to tell you more!

Thank you for visiting my blog!