August Splake Action, Unbelievable Meat

Went to a friends cottage near Cloyne this weekend with the family for our yearly trip there. I was last there in November with my dad fishing Splake. The late is very very small, about 100ft deep, and extremely clear/blue water. Off grid cabin no hydro or running water, but everything you need and more. Very private.

Arrived Friday afternoon during the tropical rains, and just unpacked and swam in the rain, kids ahead blast. Saturday morning we rigged up the boats and I realized I forgot my remote for my Powerdrive. Oops. Had to drive up the road to get cell signal to download the app… which then insisted on updating my powerdrive firmware… which I was worried about but in the end it connect to my phones Bluetooth and all was well…. Just make sure I don’t lose the phone overboard when I catch a fish!

Tried trolling in the morning exactly as we did in the fall, but no luck. So we moved around til we marked some over deeper water, single suspended fish 25-30ft over 50-80fow (probably the thermocline). Then we tried to snipe them, around 9am I managed to land one 2-3lbs, then another shortly after around 4.5lbs (23” but fat as a football). 9:30am Went back to shore, tossed the fish on the stringer into the water, grabbed my knife, went back to get the fish, and the fat one was gone…. It managed to unlatch the stringer clasp and take off. Doubling up from now on. The particular clasp had a slightly warped locking sleeve that allowed the fish to thrash it open. OOOPS! Oh well, cleaned the fish and had it with brunch. These fish eat like salmon… holy moly the meat was incredible! The colour is like sockeye. The skin is so light and silvery and their backs are green.

Enjoyed the day then went back out mid afternoon with my brothers and nephew packed into the tiny boat, we fished for hour and a half and nothing, it even a mark, so I decided one more spot then we call it, so went a hundred feet off the dock in 50fow and amongst the four of us jigging, I managed two more beautiful splake, and fee I redeemed the day even though fatty got away.

Extra Small lucky strike spoon in gold tipped with 1” of worm…. Deadly.

Due to the unique ecology of the lake, the only food source available for the splake are bugs, invertebrates, and lots and lots of crayfish. The bellies of all these splake were packed with 1.5-2.5” crayfish. No plentiful minnows at all. No vegetation in the lake at all. Thick gray mucky layer coats everything including the dock. But the water is sooooo clear.

Can’t wait til November, I know there’s a monster in the lake somewhere!

Afternoon splake

Morning splake

Glorious Filets

Nice fish, blinding colour on those fillets.

Great report and catch. Those fillets look very tasty.

Wow--the color! I guess that's from all crays and insects instead of minnows.
There is a small lake close to us that has very little vegetation, mostly all marl. It's a put and take speck lake. The specks rarely survive the summer. I assumed it would not support much life. It looks like your lake does though. There must be a few small rocks for the crays to hide under, or maybe they burrow into the marl.

Mmmmmmmmm splake

Gotta love the pink coloured splake. Nice fish Mykola.

Easily my favourite fish to eat! Great report and pictures. Awesome size also.

Nice looking splake great report

Ontario sockeye! Who needs kokanee anyway…

There are always a few survivors, that don’t get picked off by loons and fishermen. I’m this lake the owner reports that one year all the splake died and washed up in a bay. My guess is they ran out of oxygen or something else happened with the water ecology that they couldn’t handle. Maybe a rapid ph change or local contamination, or toxic algae or who knows. Seems like there wouldn’t be much to eat through the winter.

Hard to find a better tasting Fish. Good Fight as well. Extremely disappointed years ago when they stopped stocking Lake Huron.

Used to be able to take the Kids up and catch them by Shore in the Spring.

Great report. I love how detailed your posts are they are not just a picture but a story with all the facts a angler needs to make the story come to life. I haven't fished hardly at all in the past few years of becoming a father. So I get to live threw posts like these
I like trolling for trout using a williams wobbler with a salted minnow 16" behind..