Fishing....With Nerds

Most of the fishing I do with students is to Lake Simcoe.  Perch fishing is abundant, they're easy to catch and great eating - perfect for beginners.   However we also do some occasional walley fishing on Lake Erie, along with a couple trips a year way up north past Sudbury for walley and pike.  In the winter we also do some ice fishing.  

Graduation Trip November 2023

I've noted elsewhere that I went back to University of Waterloo to finish my degree, at an advanced age.  Finished my undergrad degree in math in 2020, and in November 2023 I completed my masters, also at UW.  As sort of a wrap up, I wanted to do take a larger group fishing. So we took my fishing boat plus rented a pontoon boat from Cook's Bay Marina, and about 14 of us went fishing for the day. 

It started out very rough and choppy and no fish. I was starting to get concerned that I was going to have over a dozen students with no fish.  We eventually moved around a bit, got properly anchored, and it was on like Donkey Kong.  Ended the day with about 200 perch, everyone took home more than enough food for a few meals.

Lake Simcoe July-September 2023

Pics from a couple of fishing trips to Lake Simcoe in Summer 2023. Mostly students, but on PhD student wanted to bring her father along who was visiting from Jordan. Always nice to do a family fishing trip.

Swimming Lake Simcoe summer 2022

I first met Frank (Fakkhur) some years ago on an ice fishing trip I'd organized.  He's from Tunisia BTW. He asked if we could do a polar dip, I laughed and said sure, because, uh, no, you can't get in the water through a 6 inch hole.  Anyway, he showed up with a change of clothes and was disappointed.  In a number of trips since then he's always wanted to go swimming.  So this past summer, I took him and a buddy fishing. Then when we were done we went way out in the middle of the lake, anchored, and jumped in for a dip.

Canada Day 2023

I took four students shore fishing on Canada day, around the Waterloo area.  We had no success (see the lunch photo) but had fun.  We had stopped near the Grand River to try our luck, but needed directions.  So I stopped beside an old asian fellow with a bucket and a fishing rod and asked him where we could park to get to the river.  No english was his response.  I look around the truck and said Seriously?  Nobody here speaks Mandarin, huh?  Yeah, everyone spoke Mandarin except me apparently. Anyway after some translation we made it down to the Grand. Plus Baden Pond, and the Nith River in New Hamburg.

Secret Honey Hole April/May 2023

I have a secret honey hole for perch that's completely dead most of the year, but for a few weeks in April/May it's off the rails.  Pulling up two 12-13" perch every time you drop your line down.  It's the craziest perch fishing we do every year.  Last year I had to shut it down because our live well was full. I honestly couldn't put any more perch in (and we were still well below our limit).  Here's some pics from 2023:

Gogama/Shining Tree May 2023

When I take students fishing, I have little time to fish myself.  Between putting on bait, taking fish off, and dodging hooks I spend my time making sure the students are fishing.  So in May, I decided "I" was going fishing.  It was my fishing trip, but others could come along, but they'd have to help with camp setup, dishes, etc.  Below are the pics from our trip - we caught a few walleye and pike, froze, and had fun.  

Lake Simcoe September 2022

Had a lot of fun with these guys, and caught a mess of perch on Simcoe.

Lake Erie Charter 2022

Last couple of years I've organized a charter fishing trip to Erie, on a quest for large walleye.  On this trip we ended up taking two boats, with some of my buddies plus some students.

Fishing With Chickens

One of the fellows that comes along fishing with me has a username 'chncs' which he says means 'chances' but I choose to call him Chickens. Close enough.  Here's some pics from a couple of fishing trips the two of us did.