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Very nice indeed, congrats from me as well. There are not many things I love more than to see young lads fishing and keeping the tradition alive. Especially when it is with Gramps. Speaking of alive I am very happy to see yous released it.

I must say I envy you for catching them smallies. Pound for pound they are one of the best scrappers. There are no bass here in Alberta and I sure miss them. I've made a couple trips to BC just for some bass fishing on Duck Lake near Creston. Big large mouth and lots of sunfish, perch and rock bass. Most anglers in BC (at least 30 years ago) frowned upon bass and won't even fish for them as they are so into their salmon fishing. Why not enjoy the best of both. I don't doubt that you were happy to be in your boat when that bear came along looking for a meal. I'm not a bit surprised it left the area when it detected you. I expect this was in June, so it would have been out of hibernation long enough to have food in it's belly. Once out of hibernation the bear spends all it's time eating in preparation for the next big sleep. There is an old saying that a bear can smell bacon frying three miles away. Which doesn't surprise me, I can smell it at least a mile away, I love the stuff LOL. They do have a very keen sense of smell. Of course black bears are not as aggressive toward humans but one should still be aware of their surroundings when in bear country. Howdy Lew, as you have proven, you did do the right thing by slowly backing away, those that run when it's too late tend to suffer the most serious injuries as it excites the predatory instinct in a bear and in most cases it will give chase and the rest is up to the bear. And also drawing attention to the other one you encountered which doesn't take much. Some say to be very loud and make yourself look big and aggressive if you confront a black bear (but not a grizzly) as far as I am concerned with my experience it all depends on the bear, maybe he's in a bad mood and ticked off at the world and looking for a fight or could be he's feeling just the opposite. They are as individual in personality as our dogs. In my stompin grounds I always carry bear spray, two bottles of it because it is grizzly country and there are quite a few of them. If it was just black bear I wouldn't carry any. I really don't want to have to use it on a bear as It is just horrible stuff but I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Thank you. This old computer won't let me put my long winded stories into paragraphs.

A few years ago I was walking along a dirt road up on Nipissing and heard a noise just off to my right. I turned and 2 small bear cubs came out from behind a fallen tree and a couple seconds later Momma came out and I figured right then I may be in trouble. I'll never forget the look on her face, she pushed between the 2 cubs and was staring right at me as she lowered her head and her ears went straight back. I'm no bear expert but to me her message was loud and clear...take off right now...I slowly backed away and fortunately me she didn't follow me. It was a tad bit tense for a few seconds but now I'm happy it happened as it something I may never encounter again. Another incident I had was on the dirt road I live on. I was out for my daily 4 mile walk early one morning when a bear came up out of the ditch beside the road only 40 feet in front of me. He was looking away from me so I made a noise to let him know I was there and when he saw me he made a loud grunting sound then turned and ran back into the woods. I don't think he was running scared but rather just wanted to get away from me. Again, another encounter I'm happy happened to me.

I have learned so much about bears. This is awesome. I for whatever reason have an irrational fear of bears…but perhaps not? I absolutely love seeing them, but they terrify me. Every time I’m in the woods I’m concerned about crossing one with cubs. an awesome interaction I had with a big black bear was one bass opener morning in zone 14 I’d just caught 3 4lb smallies schooled off of a rock face and had stunk up the boat with fish smell and sure enough a few minutes later out walked a big black bear no more than 10 yards from me. I think he/she was surprised to see a human in a boat standing right there. He took a really good sniff and the went on his way. Needless to say I was happy to be in a boat 🤣

Very nice!

That old theory that a grizzly can't run down hill is a bunch of Bull Cast-Away. I have videos of them doing exactly that, at full tilt, it just helps them go that much faster. I have a video of a large male grizzly running down hill so fast that it is damn scary, after that he took down an elk. They have what seems to be unstoppable stamina. We have wild horses out here in Alberta and the Wild Horse society has about 40 trail cams scattered around and have captured grizzly's taking horses down after a long chase. The brown bear that I believe you are referring to is just a different color phase of a black bear. In some parts of the country, many moons ago, the grizzly was called a brown bear. The photos of the bears are not mine.

Congrats on the fish. I have a grandson that age and he would have the same ear to ear smile ! Just a friendly heads up...you may want to share that photo with just friends and family. Posting a photo of an out of season fish on a public forum is probably not a good idea. https://oodmag.com/qa-can-take-picture-caught-fish-closed-season/

Yes Pigeon.

I understand the main two differences are that a Grizzly has the prominent hump above the front shoulders and cannot run down hill. A black bear and also a brown bear can both run down hill.

Very exciting for a boy that age to catch a good size fish like that and release it back into the water. That looks like Pigeon Lake with the Big Island in the background.

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Congrats to your Grandson, he looks real proud of himself.

My 10 year grandson caught his first muskie 46" and it was released back into the lake. He loves fishing!

Lures and taxkle box everything included great value at $200

Lures and tackle box everything included great value at $200

Lures and tackle box everything included great value at $100

Musky lures and tackle tray, great buy at $85

Lures and tackle tray, everything included great buy at $100

Tackle box and lures everything included great buy $200

Tackle box and lures...$200 everything

I first saw that idea on an incarnation of this very website some 20 years ago, except with milk crates. Still a cool idea though!

I have a Lakewood box (fool and his money), but there aren't a lot of choices in pre-made Musky boxes. I've seen the downspout solution before, my only suggestion is to cut some slots in each "tube" with a jigsaw, so the hooks don't tangle. With my (foolish again) thought that the more baits I have, the better my chances are at hooking a Muskie, I now have two baits in some of the individual tubes...at least the slots keep them apart to some extent.

Yeah, the video is not new, and i'm sure seasoned musky guys like yourself have seen it all before, but I broke my last Thorn Bros double sided box which was gifted to me by some guys I guided and was in desperate need of immediate tackle storage, I guess because its 'musky tackle' I shouldn't have been surprised at the cost, but HOLYFREEKINGUACAMOLE BATMAN....$400??!!?? LOL...I'm good with hooks catching here and there, beats what I had before too.

That's actually pretty old school Simon and the idea has been around forever but your right, it'll save you a bunch of cash. They work OK but the hooks on long lures have a tendency to catch under the inserts which can be a hassle. Enjoy your new box.