Sheldon Hatch

This year was the first walleye opener in years that I was not booked for guided trips and I took advantage to get out one day with my son. We where working large shallow flats for walleye when we stumbled across a great pike bite with 3 and 4 planner boards going back all at the same time.  As this opportunity knocked, my son and a I worked the huge flat landing Pike after Pike.  I am not one to leave fish to find other fish, so we settled in and fished the area until our arms burned from fatigue. To make it one of those special days,  my son has asked me the past two seasons to take him out pike fishing and this was defiantly the pike day he was looking for.

Small Flicker Shads and Sébile shallow running Koolie Minnows trolled just bellow the surface was the trick as the large pike just could not resist the high running baits. After an afternoon of fish after fish we both tossed in the towel as we had no energy left to land another gator. We packed up and made the run in while listening to ipod tunes.

It is always great to get out and fish, and this trip is one my son and I are sure to never forget. So the next time opportunity knocks – open the door and let the fish flow in one after another.

-s

NanoFil Colours coming in June

Just in time for the new season Berkley has designed some colours for the NanoFil line. This line is extremely round and is the best casting line I have ever used on a spinning reel. It is my go-to line for tossing jigs and vertical jigging. The new colours of smoke and hi-vis yellow will be released some time in June.

2012 Rocking New Graphics

During the 2012 season my boat will be rock’n some new graphics and will be easy to spot on the water and while travelling to tourneys. If you see the Sébile stop by and say hello.

A good fishing friend of mine, Gavin reported some information on walleye size vs age that I think is important for people to read.
This past season while fishing on Bay of Quinte Gavin and his crew caught a tagged walleye and recieved some great information from MNR Biologist and Fishery Manager Andy Todd. Displayed are some graphs of walleye length and weight at age for your interest.

These measurements were made on over 2100 walleye caught during the last 5 years in our routine index netting programs in the Bay of Quinte and eastern Lake Ontario.

These fish were measured during the summer months. Fish caught at other times of year would have significantly different WEIGHT at the same AGE. For example, fish caught in late fall and early winter are heavier than those caught in the summer. Also, these lengths and weights are averages and individual fish can be bigger or smaller than the average at any given age. A 10 to 11 lb fish in the summer is huge and equivalent to a 12 lb plus fish in the fall or winter. A fish greater than 32 inches total length is huge at any time of year.

Females are larger than males. Males mature one year sooner than females and this accounts for the growth difference. Most males begin to mature at age 3 years and spawn for the first time at age 4 years. Most females spawn for the first time at age 5 years.

Your tagged fish was likely about 5 years-old when tagged; that would put it at about 17 years-old when you caught it. I have seen male fish as large as your fish but most likely it was a female based on its size. Your fish was caught and tagged at Witlow Point which is located just inside Hay Bay (see map below). So, that’s not too far from where you caught the fish. But remember, mature walleye migrate to Lake Ontario for summer months then return to the Bay of Quinte in the fall and winter to spawn in the spring.

It is always great when you get to spend a day on the water with an icon in canadian fishing. In the fall of 2010 I got to fish with Bob Izumi and guide him and his crew around the Bay of Quinte. Working with some other guides leading up to Real Fishing TV arriving we stumbled across this bite where the walleyes where pushing bait to the surface and the gulls would swoop down and pluck them off. So all we had to do was keep baits up high and follow the feeding birds.
Bob was very humorous as always and as I navigated his Lund boat around to stall boards, we noticed a great weight pulling back a planer board. FISH-ON! We shuffled around in the boat so Bob could grab the rod and fight the in-line planer board and then the fish into the boat. I scooped the fish into the net and knew right away it was a nice fish, Bob was excited and went straight for the scale – the next words was music to my ears “that is the biggest walleye I have ever caught 13.5 pounds.” High-fives all around a few pictures and then the beast went back for the next lucky angler.
What a great way to spend a fall day on the water – big fish, personal bests and great chatter!

Well I get asked what I do during the winter months… I spend most of my time preparing and presenting fishing seminars, designing tournament shirts for one of my companies, Woodoo Customs and also spend many hours supporting and promoting sponsors at all the big fishing and boat shows through out Eastern Canada.

Snowboarding
So, when I find some spare time I am on the slopes Snowboarding with my family (that I don’t get to see much in the summer months).

Here is a humorous little video project I did just recently…

Calabogie Peaks is having a video competition and we thought it would be fun to make a parody-spoof on a childhood wildlife favourite – Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. The Calabogie Rider (fun-a-ride-is calabo-dica) is a strange species that can be found hanging around Calabogie Peaks Resort. Microwave some popcorn and watch the video to get some insight on this majestic creature that frequents the very hills we all snowboard and ski on.

So as you can see in the winter I am busy with fishing, but also get out and spend some time on the hills.

Got to play around with the up and coming release of Fugawi 5 at the Toronto International Boat Show, all I can say is – Awesome!

Fugawai Marine 5 Navigational Software
Fugawi updates its navigational software with the introduction of Marine5, which offers the ability to plan trips from a PC as well as a host of other features.

For more information on the new release scheduled for mid March you can also visit Fugawi.com

About Fugawi:
Established in 1995 in Toronto, Canada, Northport Systems, Inc. (www.fugawi.com) now supplies desktop, mobile and web-based navigation and mapping software products to over 130 countries under the Fugawi and other leading brands.

Once again it is great to represent Canada and fish at the highest level in the Professional walleye world. This is going to be another great tournament and if you get a chance to make it out to Brimley MI don’t miss the end of day weigh-ins.

-sheldon

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Anglers Insight Marketing
Published September 21, 2011

Plymouth, WI – September 20, 2011

Bay Mills Resort & Casinos is located in Brimley, Michigan on the shores of Lake Superior. From the resort’s boat launch anglers have access to Lake Superior, the Saint Mary’s River system, plus downstream from the international locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. For the past two years Bay Mills Resort & Casinos has successfully hosted a special invitational tournament for the top AIM Pro Anglers from the previous season and is now ready to host an international tournament.

In 2012, Bay Mills will introduce a new tournament format – a special invitational tournament which will be open to 30 Pro Anglers from the United States and 30 Pro Anglers from Canada. Rod Jones, General Manager of Bay Mills Casinos said, “This is a great opportunity to showcase the area fishery which literally forms the border between the U.S. and Canada. Our past experience with the AIM Catch-Record-Release? format demonstrates that we can highlight the great fishing the area has to offer with zero impact on the local resources.”

Jones continues, “What better way than to bring together the top 60 professional anglers from both sides of the border to experience the vast outdoor resources of the Great Lakes. Bay Mills is committed to making this the most lucrative tournament of the year for these walleye fishing pros.”

The Bay Mills Can-Am Invitational will be held on May 31 – June 2, 2012. Three unique features will be incorporated into the tournament. First, each of the 60 Pro Anglers will receive $300 from Bay Mills Resort & Casinos at registration – before the tournament even begins – totaling $18,000. Second, the Can-AM Pro Anglers will also be competing for Team Bonuses.  Each Pro Angler will be competing as a member of an American or Canadian Team with each Pro’s C-R-R weight being added to their respective team’s weight.  The Team with the highest total C-R-R weight will each receive a $250 bonus – that is another $7,500. Third, because of Bay Mills Resort & Casinos’ sponsorship, the complete cash prize and bonus payouts will exceed 150% of the Pro Angler entry fees.  This will make the Bay Mills Can-Am Invitational the most lucrative walleye tournament in 2012.

Entries in the Bay Mills Can-Am Invitational will be accepted in early 2012. Pro Anglers, and Co-angler partners wishing to participate, are encouraged to reserve these dates now.

For more information about all the facilities and special events at Bay Mills Resort & Casinos, please go to www.4baymills.com. More information about AIM as well as up-to-the-minute updates about the 2012 tournament schedule can be found at www.aimfishing.com.

Anglers Insight Marketing, LLC™ (AIM) is a unique tournament organization which is owned by stockholders, the majority of which are Professional walleye anglers. AIM Professionals are among the All Stars of professional fishing, with cumulative HUNDREDS of years of tournament experience, including countless tournament victories, series championships, and Angler of the Year titles. This insight and knowledge is now being employed to provide the finest tournament experience for the participants, and the maximum exposure for the host tournament sites and corporate partners.

Well the bite has been tough this fall on Bay of Quinte.

But, over the past week I have managed to figure out a lead core bite with small cranks. The trick to this technique is to run up shallow on the shoals with a little speed so the lead core lifts the bait up off the bottom, due to the resistance of the line running through the water. Once you move out into the deeper water you slow down the troll and the bait will begin to drop. The Bait of choice has been the 7cm Black and Silver Berkley Flicker Shad.