Well..with the exception of not putting any big fish in the boat, this was one of those days that you only dream of. It didn't start off well as we didn't do our due diligence and showed up to a Mica Bay boat launch that was too shallow to launch a boat in. After moving down the lake a bit to launch in Loffs Bay, things got better. The sun poked out, wind died down and CDA Lake was like a sheet of glass. I don't get a chance to hit CDA much, but my friend that I went with has fished it for years and said that he has not seen the entire Lake as calm as it was even once.

The best way I can describe it is that it felt like we were fishing in an aquarium all day. Water clarity was great and with the calm water, you could see a tremendous amount in the water. We bounced to a few different bays on CDA. The weeds were still looking great. Enough about the conditions...I'm not sure the exact time, but we fished from somewhere between 11am - 4pm. During that time, we had doubles I believe 4 times and on one particular cast my friend hollers to "check this out" and there were 4 pike boat side that had followed him in. I gave my friend a 4 fish head start as pike kept hammering my frog, but not hooking up. I vowed to put a pike in the boat with a frog and put one in the boat on the first cast after downsizing to a bit smaller frog. I quickly caught up to him and then we were fish for fish pretty much all day. While we lost count during the insanity (at one point when I was fishing my frog in the beginning, my friend boated 3 pike on 4 casts)... but our best attempt at recalling the number was 31 pike in the boat in that 5 hr stretch. Unfortunately there were no big girls in all those fish. Most all were in the 24" ish range with the biggest being about 29".

What an amazing cap to a wonderful season that saw my son and daughter get to put their first ever pike in the boat. A big thanks again to AJs Dad who has not only taken time to personally show me good water, but has generously helped with pike fishing strategies, tips, bait presentations, you name it....As a result of his generosity, there are people who got the opportunity to make memories just in this one summer that will not be forgotten in a lifetime. My only beef with you Mark is that I was perfectly content with my Tiger Muskie fetish and you ruined it! lol I guess I'll have to make a Curlew trip next year and hopefully see some of that action that Mark K had this year and re-ignite the tiger fetish.

As my fishing poles are retired for the winter, it'd be a good time to say thanks to WA Lakes for hosting this site and to all of you WA Lakers who are so generous with helping other anglers have success in this beautiful sport. Just the wisdom gleaned from trolling this site has been enough to save hundreds of wasted hours on the water learning from the school of hard knocks. Thanks again to all of you,
Darin

Mike Carey

11/20/2012 9:30:00 PM

wow, great day on the water! I have to fish this lake in my lifetime.

farmer_aa

11/20/2012 11:53:00 PM

That sounds like an epic day! I've gotta get up there a few more times before hard water... congratulations!

Augwen

11/21/2012 5:48:00 AM

Nice report and Great sentiments!! Thanx!!

Amx

11/21/2012 1:15:00 PM

A GREAT day.

Mike, summer is coming. Can you say "Road Trip"? lol

afk

11/21/2012 7:47:00 PM

Thanks for the report!

AJ's Dad

11/21/2012 10:34:00 PM

Darin,
It's always fun to watch people fall in love with pike fishing. I have enjoyed our conversations and the few times we were able to get on the water together. You're a quick learner and it's great to see your passion for pike fishing grow as you put more of these amazing fish in the boat. It was great to hear that your kids got to cvatch some pike this year and a couple iof your friends getting into some good fish. It may not be over. If we get a nice stretch of weather, I just might get out there again.

Happy Fishing

jjbowler

11/21/2012 11:22:00 PM

Hey aj's dad, I've read a ton of posts of yours over the last year or so and I'm surprised we haven't run into one another on the water but I'm really looking to learn a few things about local pike-ing. Me and a buddy were one of the loyal POR everyday fishermen (RIP). And now we need a few pointers on Hayden and the couer d'alene/ chains. If you wouldn't mind letting me pick your brain sometime .... Hopefully soon cuz were thinking about getting out this weekend, that would be awesome. My email is jjbowler@comcast.net. Or if you'd rather chat on the phone my number is 509-979-4737. Hope to hear from ya

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