From Smallest Catch to Biggest Catch

It was a cloudy and rainy day in the backwoods of southern Ontario. We donned our rain gear and packed up the boat with our coolers and our fishing gear. The six of us were headed to a small river pool at the base of a waterfall. After a 20 minute boat ride to the portage start we unloaded our gear and trudged through the mud next to the stream that led us to the waterfall. We climbed down a rocky path to a calm pool to the left of the waterfall, two small boats were waiting for us. After loading our gear, the gas tanks and our lunches will split up, three to a boat.

I was with my dad and my uncle and my brother was with my grandpa and Stu. Their boat stayed in the deep pool just below the waterfall while we traveled up the river a little ways. It was shallow and weedy, casting brought in a few small northern pike, and trolling a lindy rig brought in some decent walleyes. The rain was off and on during the day.

After getting stuck one or twice in the long grassy weeds we decided to turn around, the other boat that had stayed in the pool was doing very well with walleye, even catching one casting a red and white daredevil. We headed back to see if you could capitalize on the location as well.

Trolling a number 5 blade JB lures wire lindy rig, white and red with a leech on the hook I hooked into a very small northern going into the pool. Measuring no more than 5 inches I could have used it as bait.

We trolled around the pool for a while. The depth change was extraordinary, one minute we would be in 20 feet of water and the next we would be in 6 feet. As the day went on we didn't catch many more fish, my uncle and dad hooked into some walleye that were good to keep. I kept my line out as we slowly trolled to where the boats were stored as we headed in for the day. I had about one fourth of an inch of leech still left on the lindy rig. All of a sudden there was a massive hit on my line, it was pulled onto a small point that was behind the boat and I was terrified that the line would catch on a rock and snap. My day quickly backed the boat up so that we were back in the mouth of the pool. The big fish on the end of my line was making the drag scream. I fought the fish well and was finally able to bring it close to the boat for my uncle to net it. A big pike!

I was ecstatic, it was just about 37 inches. I went from catching the smallest fish to catching the biggest fish in the pool.