September 2007 Fish Report

As I said in the August report September started with a bang, and mostly continued in the same way. We had a dip in the third week with an unseasonable heat wave putting the fish off a bit , but the last week saw them back on the munch again. As always in September, the great fish God waves his wand and the 15`s and 17`s turn into 20`s and 25`s and the big 30`s turn up again. WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN? CAN ANYONE TELL ME? The weather did not change, the water levels the same, but every year it happens.

Jade and Craig stopping off with us for 3 days as part of a round the world trip are a perfect example. Craig fished half a day on the 30th and a day on the 31st and struggled with small fish the best 18lb. then in 1 ½ days in September had 15 x 20`s to 28 and only one below 20 (16 ½ lb) WHY?

As always Long Sault threw up a fairy story for me (these moments are what make it special for me) an older couple from the UK were over, Faith and Val from near my hometown in England. Faith arrived on a walking stick, with her wrist strapped up, in the process of recovery from a serious illness and a fall resulting in a broken wrist. By day 3 the stick had been thrown away and the wrist toned up with a few 20`s. Midway through the 2nd week she was leaping down the bank, and always waiting by the van in the mornings. One day when I called her she had just landed a 28 lb fish (before coming her PB was 9lb) I drove down to pick her up with a big silly smile on my face as she was so happy, when I got there she was into a much bigger fish, which I netted and weighed for he at 35lb 12 oz. There was no question of a stick as she skipped back to the van !!! Not to forget Val who also had a great time and now has a PB of 33lb

Similarly Harvey Learner arrived with a stick, a bad back, heart, diabetes and more pills than boilies. He struggled for the first few days then found the fish. 23 of which were over 20 and in true Long Sault style he had 4x 28`s ( his previous PB) before he finally got his first 30 (31 ½ ) with one day to spare. Again after 3 days the stick disappeared, the back was straightened out and the heart had more exercise than it had in the last 10 years. Maybe I will start advertising miracle cures for next year.

Some of the old regulars were back (some for their second visit of the year ) Richard and Daniel Wallis had 68 fish to 28:12 in their 4 days, Phil Stowers had 49 fish during the worst week of September, In the same week Mark Dimmock struggled a bit with only 26 fish to 33lb ( he had a great May session so can't win `em all) Bloody David Haynes as always didn't fill in his fish report, but then again only counts 30`s these days. I know he got 3 over 30 this trip. Jason one of our regulars struggled for numbers in September but almost every fish he caught was a 30 so he is not complaining!!

As always not everyone was mega successful. Mick Haynes and the boys were here in week 3 when it was tough, However 3 out of the five still went home with new PB`s but the biggest was only 28lb. Darren Weeks and the boys also suffered a bit with only 60 fish between them. Even paradise has its off days, and a bad day at Long Sault is better than a good day in most other places!!

Top guns for September were Steve Ringer ( not THE Steve Ringer) Steve only had 48 fish but 33 of them were over 20 and 7 over 30 ( best 37) and Kevin Kearn with 57 fish 41 over 20 and 4 x 30`s.

For those staying with us for short trips ( 2 or 3 days) The Hamilton boys as always were a pleasure and got amongst the high 20`s but no 30`s (I think) Don Barrett and Bobby were up a couple of times and had some good fish, Bobby now has a plus 30 PB. The French contingent from Montreal, George, Carl and Duke were amongst the 30`s as well. The visit from Matt and "Carp" Carpenter was interesting. Carp despite his nick name was on his first Carp mission but took to it like a duck to water with plenty of 20`s and 2 x 30`s in his two day session. Carp is one of the top local Bass anglers, and could not believe the power of the Long Sault Carp. In fact he packed up early on his last day because his arm was aching and he had a Bass tournament the next day !!!

As always there were loads more carp for the locals and short term visitors to the hotel. Next year I will keep better records of the short term visitors as we are getting more and more. Carp fever is slowly creeping into North America.

Now in November we still have a few guys out but are pretty much finished for the year. I am already missing the buzz and looking forward to May !!!