Aug 1st: Fish, fish and more fish!

Deja Vu - Peter and Cheryl's Boat

We left Beausoleil Island on a beautiful day and headed to 12 Mile Bay,  We were looking forward to meeting up with Peter and Cheryl on Deja Vu. Although in Orillia we already caught up with what each other had been doing, it would be fun to boat together. We especially like anchoring with them. They anchor and we just tie to them, our own private travelling dock!

12 Mile Bay Bass

Deja Vu pulled in shortly after we arrived in 12 Mile Bay. It is a very nice anchorage, great for kayaking and very protected. Plus, I often catch fish. I caught a couple nice bass shortly after we tied to Deja Vu. They made a very tasty dinner.









 The next morning the water was very calm so I went for a kayak ride up a small inlet.

I was in the middle of a lot of weeds and I spotted a chair. It looked liked a very well made teak chair. It was kind of stuck in some branches and weeds but I was able to free it. I knew there was no room for it on our boat but thought Peter might like to have it.

I tied a rope to it and with no small effort I towed it back to Peter's boat.







It was very heavy because the cushion was waterlogged. After removing the cushion it was much more manageable.




We tied a rope to it and Peter hauled it aboard Deja Vu.









It looked even better than I thought. Peter will take it from here. The chair was the biggest catch in 12 Mile Bay.








We moved on to Massasagua Provincial Park. We had caught some nice bass there last year and it is a very nice area with very protected anchorages, It was a really pretty ride through Georgian Bay.

Steve's Bass

We arrived at our anchorage in Massasaugua and it was perfect. We once again tied to Deja Vu, our moving dock, and started fishing. We decided that the fish like sitting in the shade provided under Deja Vu. We caught more nice bass than we ever have before. It was a lot of fun and dinner was looking really good. I caught several bass, one I thought was pretty big. Next thing I knew, Peter caught one that was even bigger.

Cheryl's larger Bass

Cheryl got in the act when she grabbed my rod which was sitting in the rod holder and pulled up another really nice one.


Next thing I knew, Peter caught one that was even bigger.

Peter with the largest bass.

When we clean fish we often cut open the stomach to see what they are eating. Peter's big bass had this large crayfish in its stomach. It was in amazingly good shape. The glasses are in the picture for a size perspective. The bass must have just eaten the crayfish.









We had thought Peter's fish was the largest. Cindy and Randy were on their boat on Balsam Lake. I sent them pictures of our fish. They were duly impressed. A short while later Cindy sent pictures of the fish she had just caught. Awesome!  It's so impressive I put both pictures she sent in the blog. Way to go Cindy!

Cindy with her awesome Bass

I looked in another bass stomach and found another crayfish in very good condition. Peter suggested I use it to fish. I put the crayfish on the hook, dropped it in the water and put the rod in the rod holder between our two boats. Nothing took it so after a while I forgot about it.

We went to bed and it was a very quiet night. Quiet that is, until 3:30 am. I woke up to something banging against the boat. At first I was afraid Peter's anchor was dragging, but there was no wind. I got up to check it out and saw Peter and Cheryl on the deck with a flashlight. What could they be doing?  Peter yelled, "Steve you caught a fish!" I looked down and saw a very large catfish thrashing around. After a couple tries I was able to get it in the net. I was surprised how heavy it was.

Catfish are good to eat but a pain to clean. We still had plenty of bass and it was after all 3:30 am. We decided to turn it loose. It was dark and I didn't want to keep it out of the water too long so sadly I didn't get a picture. It was by far the largest catfish I ever caught up here.

Steve cleaning the windows

While we were in a nice calm spot I decided to clean the windows. Cheryl had shown me her new window cleaning process. She had two special cloths. First you wipe the window with a wet cloth and then dry it with a second special cloth. No soap, no hard rubbing. It worked amazingly well. I will definitely be buying some of those.




This once again was a nice place to kayak. The scenery was striking under the sunny clear blue sky.
I took a number of pictures showing the terrain in this area.

Old wooden boat washed up on a rock shelf

On my kayak ride I came across the remains of a wooden boat. It was pretty deteriorated but the engine, fuel tank and transmission were all still there. It had to have been there a very long time. Quite unusual to see something like that up here.



I told Peter I found a good project boat for him but I couldn't tow it back like the chair. When I showed him the picture he declined the offer.

I enjoy seeing the great variety of Dragon Flies as we are travelling here. This large on cooperated enough for me to get a good picture. These larger ones sound almost like a humming bird. You can hear them coming and going.


We enjoyed Massasauga Park but it was time to head to Parry Sound. This was Friday morning of a three day holiday weekend. A good time to avoid the crowds on the water and in anchorages.




Last blog's flower: Bergamot

Wild Bergamot

Bergamot is a member of the mint family (paired leaves and square stem) and is easily confused with Bee Balm although the colouring of both plants are quite different. Bergamot prefers dry fields or the borders of thickets. Monarda fistulosa is an herbaceous perennial that grows from slender creeping rhizomes, thus commonly occurring in large clumps. The plants are typically up to 3 ft (0.9 m) tall, with a few erect branches. Its leaves are about 2-3 in (5–8 cm) long, lance-shaped, and toothed. Its compact flower clusters are solitary at the ends of branches. Each cluster is about 1.5 in (4 cm) long, containing about 20–50 flowers. Wild bergamot often grows in rich soils in dry fields, thickets, and clearings, usually on limy soil. The plants generally flower from June to September.^[4]

This blog's flower: