One Man's Trash (Fish): 2024 Rough Report
One Man's Trash Fish is Another's Prized Quarry:
By: Logan E
12 Minute Read
For up-to-date catch photos follow @anglingupnorth on Instagram.
I rolled into 2024 with what most anglers would consider to be strange fishing aspirations; no I was not looking to land a new PB bass, walleye, or salmon (although that would still excite me), I was transfixed on some very strange goals. My usual goal of catching a lot of muskies still persisted but I wanted to add some spice and variety to the year; I aspired to catch five new species, mainly the freshwater drum, longnose gar, lake sturgeon, bowfin, and channel catfish, a bonus common carp would also not upset me! Enter the 2024 season's successes and missed opportunities.
Bowfin:
I initiated my bowfin angling in late April and in hindsight pursuing a warm water fish in early spring probably wasn't the most tactical of plans. I had some frozen suckers from ice fishing for pike so I opted to use a Carolina rig with sucker as cut bait. I positioned my bait just outside of a current seem near a shallow weed flat and sat back and watched. Fishing is not without its ironies and this endeavour yielded two catches I was not expecting on a slab of cut bait positioned on the bottom; I ended up landing a small pike and walleye and began to second guess the presence of bowfin considering the cold water temps- I opted to delay my bowfin pursuits until later in the season.
I returned to the same location in early June burning with the same aspiration to catch my first bowfin. I again utilized a Carolina rig and tipped it with a sandwich-style bait (worms and cut bait) on a circle hook. I saw a decent amount of life on the river as enticing ripples materialized on the surface teasing fish activity. After an hour of no nibbles or bites I questioned the position of my bait in the water column and opted to re-adjust its depth. I did not have any peg floats in my tackle box to create a Santee-cooper rig so I created the next best thing using a small round bobber positioned 6 inches from the end of my bait. I casted towards the last surface activity and within seconds my bait caster was free spooling several feet of line. I engaged my drag and was fighting an unknown adversary as my mind raced "please be a bowfin" I thought over and over. The fish was scrappy whatever it was, but I was hesitant to think bowfin as I had no point of reference to compare their fights. Seconds later I was raising my net and was hoisting my first ever bowfin out of the water. They're such a bizarre fish, they don't overtly appear to have teeth because of their lips, but they are toothy, their body profile is a cross between a channel catfish and an American eel! This one was clearly female due to the lack of chartreuse spawning colours that the males get. She measured in at 26 inches long and I would approximate at her being 5 to 6 pounds. Not bad, but like any ambition, I was not done.
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| A bowfin skull that perfectly exemplifies the dentition of this predatory species |
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I greedily casted my bait back out after releasing my prized catch in the pursuit of an encore. Again I positioned my Calcutta reel in free spool knowing that bowfin take a few moments to position a bait before gulping it down. It wasn't long before line was again peeling off of the reel and I was battling another suspected bowfin but something about this fight was different. During this melee I quickly discovered why bowfin have adopted the moniker 'dogfish'; this fish was bulldogging me and was out of control, I struggled to direct it away from the snags adjacent to shore. Within seconds my line was peeled into boulders and my braid was cut above the leader against a snag; gut-wrenching but exciting too, this fish felt much larger than my first bowfin. Nothing to do but re-tie and cast back out again. With a bait freshly positioned in the strike zone I sat back and gazed at the surface monitoring the disturbances indicative of bowfin activity (air gulping). Bait fishing isn't the most exciting pursuit once the bite slows so I opted to enjoy the scenery and scan the water for other signs of life. Suddenly small bait fish scattered on the surface engaging in a valiant effort to flee an unseen adversary; my experience pike fishing informed me that there was a predator on the prowl. The surface then erupted with two moving fish as I witnessed a bowfin T-bone a bullhead, what surprised me about this scene was the size of both fish. The bullhead was at least a foot long and the bowfin absolutely dwarfed my first catch, I would not be surprised if it was a 32 inch trophy. The bowfin teased me as it non-chalantly swam by the boulders I was perched on with a sideways bullhead grasped in its jaws like a proud dog with its favourite bone; another nod to this species nickname the dogfish. I was not done with this species but I called it a day because that individual was clearly no longer hungry- I will be back for the bullhead eating monster!
Chance Encounters: Silver Redhorse
In mid-May my Dad and I departed in my boat on a channel catfish mission with the goal of catching both of our first channel cats. Our first stop on this outing was a small creek that entered into the river system. This creek looked ideal for the pursuit of predators as it was expelling warm silty water into the colder clearer main river. The nutrients attract bait fish and the bait fish attract predatory fish, the warmer water in the spring will also attract the food web. I positioned my Carolina rig tipped with a worm right into the muddy creek discharge knowing that a predator would be sitting nearby using the lower visibility as an ambush point.
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| A distinct mud line from the creek's inflow at the confluence can be seen |
My dad also had a line out with worms on it and after a while he opted to rig up his spinning rod with a spoon and cast for pike instead. He asked that I reel in his line as he readied to cast (in Ontario there is only one line permitted per angler), as I reeled in his line I felt a quick jolt forward and felt the weight of a fish, unbeknownst to us there was a fish on his line. After a fight riddled with anticipation at catching what I assumed was my first channel catfish I hoisted a silver redhorse into the net. I had never angled for any species of redhorse, this was an unexpected but welcome addition to my rough fish journey.
Later that day my Dad attained his goal of catching a channel cat as we bait fished behind a main river sandbar.
We then moved on to a large tributary of the river and signs of life were immediately apparent. Hundreds of red horse were swimming up current and we took a break from pursuing channel cats to capitalize on this opportunity. Keeping worms on the hook proved to be a harder endeavour than enticing these fish to bite. My dad and I proceeded to catch several silver red horse and our bait supply quickly dwindled. We both departed the river that day with a newfound appreciation for how hard silver redhorse fight and how action-packed a spawning run can be! This chance encounter reinforced my appreciation for rough fish species.
Channel Catfish:
My first attempt at catching a channel cat proved to be difficult so I decided to turn to my friend Tyler for his expertise. Tyler and his brother Eric have a lot of experience catfishing and they've managed to fine-tune their approaches having success in catching size and numbers of channel cats.
I asked Tyler his advice and what structure to look for and I departed on another cat mission. This time I brought my buddy Josh along for the ride because he had never caught a fish before (not very Canadian I know.) After spending the first light muskie fishing with no success we opted to pursue catfish. We arrived at a main river sandbar and within minutes of arrival we both had landed decent sized and scrappy channel cats. They weren't giants but they represented a new species for me, and a first ever fish for Josh, both very memorable in their own right.
Freshwater Drum:
Ironically the freshwater drum proved to be a difficult target for me. These fish are often considered to be a nuisance by anglers who are pursuing more traditional fish like bass and walleye and they often elicit disappointment when an angler is tricked to believe that they have a giant desired species on their line. I am not a species hater and by all accounts anglers agree that these guys are hard-fighting so I was anticipating an action-packed day. For a fish that is known to be a pesky nuisance they proved to be awfully elusive; my oldest daughters and I fished a large tributary of Lake Nipissing using a variety of tactics. We tried bottom fishing worms, using leeches and worms under floats, and trolling pickerel rigs to no avail, I did however manage to donate my cellphone to the abyss. I will be back in 2025 you nuisance freshwater drum!
Longnose Gar:
My gar hunt started in late July as I departed with my oldest daughter on the west arm of Lake Nipissing. I had read online that the shallow weed-choked bays of this area were ripe with gar so I departed with giddy anticipation to see and hook my first gar. The day proved to be windy and the waters churned into a chocolate milk appearance. Sight fishing and scouring shoreline to find gar proved to be fruitless given the conditions. Instead my daughter put on a walleye and yellow perch clinic and we had a blast angling for more traditional species.
Gar aspirations were postponed and I plan to target them in 2025 on smaller bodies of water where they will be easier to locate. I also aspire to chase them on the Ottawa River because this is where Canadian gar are at their absolute peak in size and numbers.
Lake Sturgeon:
Unfortunately lake sturgeon are not open in my fishery management zone, they were extirpated or threatened in most of the Great Lakes region. In 2024 I simply didn't find the time to drive somewhere else to legally target this species. 2025 and onward I plan on commuting to Timmins where they have an open season for lake sturgeon, hopefully I can complete my dino grand-slam in 2025 by catching a bowfin, sturgeon, and longnose gar. Sturgeon like many other species of fish can be utilized as a cautionary tale to warn anglers of the perils of not respecting a resource, unfortunately this is more common with species of rough fish.
Closing Thoughts:
Much like the groups of muskie, bass, walleye, salmon, and trout anglers that banded together to promote angling research, best release practices, and catch and release sentiments it is time to do so for our other lesser-known native species. Bowfin, gar, and sturgeon have been swimming in our waters long before evolution created anything that resembled today's sport fish and this very fact should elicit a certain level of respect. A species shouldn't just be judged by its appearance or reputation, sometimes there is more to the story than that; most of the aforementioned species pull drag, are acrobatic, fight hard, can be a challenge to catch, and provide genuine entertainment to any level of angler.
So next time you land a non-game species take a few seconds to consider the important ecological role and niche the species fills, you may just be handling someone’s favourite quarry. Forego bashing it on the head, cursing its name, and throwing it onto the shore, take a moment to reflect on the thrill that it has offered during the fight and you may just find yourself bit by the rough fish bug... I certainly have been.
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As a bonus I did catch something that I did curse, bonk on the head, and throw onto the shore, and no I am not a hypocrite (at least I try not to be.) While out fishing for rainbow trout on Lake Huron in late November my buddy Adam caught a good sized trout with a fresh lamprey mark on its tail. It turned out this parasitic eel-like fish had spooked near the boat and latched onto the boat transom. Much to my friend's disdain I hand wrangled the supersized worm and brought it on board. These fish are invasive and have had a disastrous impact on the pelagic species of the great lakes. So yeah... it was bonked and thrown on shore for good measure to provide some nourishment for some shore birds. The sea lamprey closed off my 2024 rough fish pursuit with a species I wish were not present.
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| You can see a fresh lamprey wound on this rainbow trout |
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| An odd ball fish I am more than happy to bonk- the invasive sea lamprey |
For up-to-date catch photos follow @anglingupnorth on Instagram.
Attached are the links to my other blog posts:
Canadian Angling Giants:
The (Catch and Release) Tools of the Trade: Muskies 101:
Welcome to Abyssal Angling:
2020-2024 Fish Photo Dump:
Ontario Angling Hitlist Chapter 1: Frigid Fishing:
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