The Big Bass of Black Lake

Fox with a big one.
Wolfie is impressed! 

Today is June 21st, the longest day of the year and the so-called beginning of summer, although the local weather sure doesn't feel like summer. It's a great paradox because just as summer is officially here, the days will begin shortening on the slow march toward December 21, the winter solstice. 

For me, I mark the beginning of summer with the opening of the bass fishing season which is the last weekend of June. 

The post-spawn bass are ravenous and the angling results are usually good early in the season -- sometimes even spectacular right off the dock, as my grandsons discovered last year. 

Most of my bass fishing over the years has been at the family cottage. Our daughter and her husband bought the place on Black Lake from my parents about 15 years ago. They have renovated it over the years from a simple summer-only cottage into a four-season lake house that can accommodate our extended family. It is a beautiful property sloping to the water's edge. 

Theo with his trophy bass
caught off the dock last summer

Located only 80 kilometres from west-end Ottawa, the lake is about three kilometres long surrounded by mostly rocky shoreline and numerous small bays where most of the large mouth bass hang out in the shallow weed beds during summer. 

In the early 1990s I introduced our kids, Erin, Anna and Scott to the art of angling here, and 30 years later I have hooked my grandsons fishing. My grand daughters are up next if I can get them to give it a try.

The older boys, Fox and his cousin Theo are fast learners. It appears that I have them convinced fishing is fun. They both caught trophy sized large mouth bass last summer before the age of seven. It took me 30 years to reach that milestone.

Gramps teaching Wolfie the basics
of fishing

Fox's little brother Wolfie is a work in progress. In the moment he seems to enjoy angling, but like most small children his attention span is short. He's inclined to throw the worms in the lake to see the smaller pan fish eat them. Last year he tried to toss his rod off the dock to watch it sink . Thankfully I caught him in mid launch.

Scott with a big large mouth

I started my son Scott fishing at the age of three and he caught on quickly. We're still pursuing the sport  together 33 years later. Along with hockey, it's his favourite sport.

My daughter Erin also loves to dip a line whenever she can find the time, which is rare given her two busy boys. At this point she's content to bait the hook and help the boys land the catch. We had some fun outings at the cottage when Erin was a small child catching lots of pan fish and bass off the dock, just as her kids are doing now. It's gratifying to see the generational connection that fishing brings to our family. 

In order to preserve the quality angling, we return almost all of the fish we catch back to the lake to fight again. That's the best approach to serve the future generations of anglers on Black Lake. 

Sometimes the bass aren't so remarkable, as this photo demonstrates.
Whitehorse friend John Firth measured his catch using his drink can. 

            

I caught this chunky large mouth
a few years back and took a selfie of 
my arm holding the fish out for the 
photo opportunity.