well, decided to give the pike a try at Bayfront Park in Hamilton just after the opener. i picked a miserable day to get out fishing. but decided to brave the elements and give it a go. got down to the harbour around 10am. and proceeded to pound the shoreline. had a plan to throw jerkbaits and jointed rapalas. after a snag and breaking the back treble off one of my xraps i moved to some deeper waters. i would start by casting either bait out and then retrieving it in and doin this in a umbrelle pattern to cover all the water i was facing. then, go back along the same pattern to my starting point, but using a different retrieve. faster then slow, slow then fast, longer pauses, more jerks of the bait... u get the point. then, put that rod down, pick up the other and throw out along the same areas as the last, giving the fish 2 different baits and many different speeds and looks at them. while fishing off a point insidw the marina off some large rocks, i had a big hit on my jointed rapala. a size 12 in a baby pike pattern. to my enjoyment, it was no pike, but instead a very healthy 3.2Lb Largemouth bass. after a quick weigh on the scale and a picture from a passer by, she was put back so i can catch her when the season opens.
After that, the action was not slow persay... but more like non exsistant. i didn;t get another strike, let alone fish the rest of the day,. i packed it in around 4pm and headed home. for my efforts, i broke 1 treble hook off an Xrap, lost another xrap. and got really wet. as i said, the weather was brutal. windy, cold and raining, all day long. still had an enjoyable day though. covered lots of water, got lots of practice casting. we have a tremendous fishery in the hamilton harbour. not only for rough fish like carp and sheepshead. but also catfish, perch, crappie, trout and salmon and some big pike and bass! its a great place and spring and summer to take the kids, with a simple worm and hook they can catch all the catfish they can count. great place to get a youngster hooked for life on fishing! anyone interested in goin down and seing some of the areas i fish, by all means, shoot me a PM! its not a secret spot by any means! happy fishin fella's!
this is a map of the area, still figuring out the map thing here and how to show things, but u can see i have highlighted the boat launch, a free public launch.
