My biggest perch

For this outing, I decided to brave winds gusting at 30+ km/h from my float tube. Knowing that the area I was going to fish had many rocky shoals in shallow water, I wasn't worried about getting stranded, and figured I'd be able to land the tube on any shoal once my legs needed a break from the non stop power I needed for propulsion.

Being that pike, perch and walleye are open, and that I've caught some rough fish like freshwater drum, longnose gar, and bowfin in that area, I was hoping for some good multi species action, with the ever present surprise catch being a definite possibility. One thing I was certain about, was getting a great workout no matter what the fishing conditions would be.

Got a late start, was shortly after noon when I launch at my spot. Didn't take long for me to hook a few smallmouth bass in the shallow rocks. As They are still out of season, I moved off to a deeper area, after doing some trekking while hauling my gear.

The move paid off, as I landed a small pike after a few casts. Eventually got into a few more smallmouth bass, until I moved offshore, finding a remote reef with some exposed rocks. Took me over an hour to make my way there in the wind, all while fishing a mix of spinners and crankbaits. Every fish I fought on the way, took me back downwind, making the trip more fun and more intense.

By the time I got to the near the reef, I hooked into a couple more pike in deeper water. Again, I didn't bother with pics on the float tube, to avoid losing all the ground I was making. I eventually landed my float tube on the exposed rocks, and after a few more casts, I coaxed this nice pike into hitting my spinner after a couple missed tries.

After fishing the shallows by wading around the reef for a while, Eventually I made my way back downwind, hitting small pods of roaming bass every now and then. 

Third spot I trekked to produced another pike, after a couple very small bass. After half hour or so, I landed the float tube on a weedy shoreline, and spent some time wading the shallow weeds looking for bowfin. Unfortunately, no bowfin in sight, so I trekked back to my first spot and hopped back on the float tube to fish my way back to where I had parked.

A few smallmouth bass, and then, yet another fairy tale ending. On one of my last casts before getting off the water near my parking spots, I got a decent hit from what I thought was a small bass. To my surprise, this jumbo perch was one the line, after it hit my spinner.

Though not very fat as she had recently spawned, she seemed quite long. I measured her, and to my surprise, she was just over 14 inches, beating my previous best of 13 inches.

Had I been fishing in cleaner water, she would have made it to my frying pan. Instead, I released her in good shape after a few quick pics. 

Beating your personal best of a surprise catch on the last cast, was the icing on the cake to end another great float tube outing. Another great workout on the float tube in the wind, and I couldn't have asked for a better end to the day. Hope to try the spot again in the near future.