Author Archives: Michael

Hunting Virginia’s invaders

April 2, 2013

Snakehead are fish that elicit polarizing feelings from anglers and environmentalists. While widely considered invasive and destructive to ecosystems, there is no doubt in their suitability as a game fish. While I did not connect with any on this trip, Pat graciously offered Ken and I guidance for other new species to target in Virginia. Read more

Burbot disaster

March 26, 2013

Following our success last week, I decided to meet Eli once more this weekend. Here’s the bad news: after it all, our hunt for lake whitefish continues. Here’s the good news…. Saturday Eli’s rod baited with a dead smelt produced two fine burbot: And he iced a small laker later in the day. Read more

Burbot blast

March 19, 2013

With the Lake Simcoe seasons for lakers and whitefish coming to a close, I decided to pay a visit to Eli and explore some new ice this weekend. You know, mix things up a little. Eli had a plan in mind, and it was soon decided that our mission would be to catch our first lake whitefish out of a lake in Quebec. Read more

Well, if you want it that badly…

March 11, 2013

As line peeled off my reel, I looked back at the mark that changed my day. One verticle line slowly scrolled to the left on my graph. That was bar that the fish had drawn. My lure was reeled 60 ft from bottom when the fish had decided it wanted it. Read more

Farewell February!

March 5, 2013

Late January blessed me with a terrific first day ice fishing on Lake Simcoe. However, February turned on the skunk factory. What seemed like an endless supply of fish-less days has finally let up. I had to sleep in this morning after yesterday’s “12 holes in 20 inches of ice” escapade. Read more

A morning at the oasis

February 12, 2013

In the right places, the Rapala W2 jigging rap tipped with a pinhead shiner can do serious damage. The past two mornings have been spent fishing my safety spot. I learned the benefits of moving around while ice fishing. It took a lot of moving around to locate fish, but once they were found I was able to keep them in the area by chumming chunks of minnows. Read more

Florida Road Trip 2012/2013

January 20, 2013

It was many months ago when Ken cordially invited me to join him on a road trip to Florida for some hard-core fishing. Our focus on this trip would be to add as many new fish species as possible to our ever-expanding lifelists. Read more

Redemption on the Rouge

November 22, 2012

I recently experienced some Heartbreak on the Rouge. Well, today was the redemption! I had planned to fish the morning, but sleep got in the way. I arrived on-river at about 2pm. I waved hello to the salmon I had caught on my last trip. Read more

Heartbreak on the Rouge

November 19, 2012

I took advantage of the nice weather yesterday to do some local fishing on the Rouge. The water was gin-clear and I was able to spot the odd fish. I ended up hooking into a male chinook salmon. The fight on the centerpin was like nothing I’ve experienced before. Read more

Northern Hogsucker success

September 5, 2012

I made quite a few trips to this Lake Ontario tributary last month in search of running salmon. Empty-handed on the salmon, I turned my sights on the northern hogsuckers that filled this creek. There were so many of them, and just as many of them to ignore my bait entirely! Read more

Long weekend cottage adventure

September 4, 2012

‘Twas the long weekend and I was invited to join my friend at his cottage. My original fishing goals for this trip were to go after lake trout and walleye, but these goals would soon be revised. For deep jigging in the lake, I bought some 1 oz. Read more

Beating the Ottawa drum

August 31, 2012

My friend had asked me for help in moving his belongings to his new student residence in Ottawa. I had heard of Walleye and Freshwater Drum being caught in these waters, so I decided to go after some new fish. I was a little late in the departure, and by the time the car was unloaded it was near dark. Read more

Catching Them All

Michael Verdirame's journey of fishing.