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My son and I haven't been up to the Kawarthas for several years because of Covid and my son started a new job so no vacation time . I also had some heart problems . We only got out 4 days last week because of the wind and rain . We fished 2 days on Pigeon and 2 days on Sturgeon . We boated 3 Muskies had 7 follows and 4 hits from Muskies . We only count hits if we see the Muskie . One 34" er and 2 follows came from 2 1/2 ft of water in a stump and down timber shore line we fish . Some of our favorite weed edges we couldn't fish with 8 -12 mph winds . Thursday and Friday were a lot better weather wise . My son did a good job taking care of his old Dad on this trip I spent a lot of time setting instead of casting . We had a fun time and I hope we can make a trip next year . Good luck to everyone when you get out . Here is my sons first fish on Monday from Pigeon . Hank Jr

got skunked! Hit Pigeon... that Noggies Creek launch (Bass Lake Rd?) is alright.. didn't know it was there til recently.. I hit all the recommended spots of the North end of the lake and tried Lew's suggestions from last year. I don't have a large arsenal of baits (6 or so) as I am slowly building. I mostly used a black with OJ double blade bucktail.. one thing is for sure- it's a workout! I trolled a bit too.. put in 9 hours and saw one confirmed musky at the bottom end of the big island near the big point. It nearly cleared the water.. looked like a dolphin porpoising! I guess it was chasing bait? That was near midday.. Called it a day at 4 as I had to be back. Good day but not used to the skunk as I ussually alway get fish if out for multi species on light gear. I am loving the Lexa 400 and Okuma rod.. casts beautifully

Absolutely Bill, every time you don't figure 8 you may be missing nice fish. And FWIW, I used to do a HUGE amount of musky fishing after dark and the majority of my fish came on an 8 right beside the boat.....talk about a rush when you don't even know she's there until she clobbers the bait LOL

Welcome to musky fishing. dont feel too bad, the fishing has been awful the past few days, the fish are most certainly waiting for some cold weather. Everything is sort of just sitting in summer limbo. Need the water to cool off for the fish to get in the mood

So I was supposed to be at my hunt camp with a buddy for a couple days with one overnight, doing some camp work before deer season. BUT!!! I have a rotten cold, so yesterday after we did pretty much a full day's work he got out of Dodge to avoid Typhoid Mary. In the meantime, he had given me a package of moose backstraps, which I had thawed for last night's supper that did not happen. Gee heck, I had to cook them tonight and he did not get any. 😉 So I hit them with a shot of soya sauce and some seasonings, and pan-fried them to rare, then fried a couple free range eggs in the pan juices. (I gathered those eggs this afternoon at my son's farm) And some corn on the cob, picked fresh this morning just north of me. AWESOME!

Lotsa good info there Bill. ^^^^

10in is a perfect size for the Kawarthas, especially this time of year. I make all my lure choices based upon water temps because that's usually a good indicator of activity level. What are the temps right now? High 60's/Low 70's I'd be trolling 4-6mph with baits high in the water column (No deeper than 8-10ft) One of my fav fall baits is a 13in Grandma. They're cheap and they catch fish. Rubber baits like Bulldawgs and Medussas are usually tossed out and brought back in with big long jerks. You should check out Youtube, there are so many vids on how to fish certain lures People love big rubber because for the most part they're easy to throw, easy to work and they definitely put fish in the boat.

I love big glides when the water gets cooler, also don't forget about that Oct topwater bite

Musky will definitely move deeper as the water cools. The challenge with bucktails is being able to get them down in that zone, even at slower speeds. So yeah, that's why rubber like BullDawgs and Medusa's become effective, but I also like to throw jerkbaits and cranks. Even some glide baits like a Hellhound will get down to those deeper edges. I also find the fish transition from weed to rock (on Shield lakes) as the days get shorter. Once the weeds start to brown out and stop producing oxygen, its time to start looking deeper. We usually troll a lot more as the thermometer drops....Jake's, Grandma's, Triple D's are all part of the program. In lakes that have Cisco and/or Whitefish, their spawn in November can be the hottest bite of the year.

Yes, absolutely. Bring out those bucktails. I like to do 6 casts fast and 6 casts slower. Change it up until you figure out what they want. Don't forget to figure 8 or at least do a big L in the water after each cast.

is this the 5k prop that looks like a Twizzler?

Most of my life I have always fried them in tons of butter and some spices. The one thing though was that they soak up so much of it that at times the inside would almost get a bit mushy with all the extra moisture. Last night I did them again with the schnitzel method and fried with a butter and bacon fat mix and I will never do them any other way again. The outside dark brown coating was nice and crunchy while the inside was light and almost fluffy without any excess moisture. The smoked bread crumbs add a great touch of flavour. Definitely recommend that method, panko bread crumbs would work well I'm sure and could be spiced up as well. I'm a bit surprised how many neighbours aren't mushrooms fans, the one guy that always will take one is up at his cottage for another week. Looks like the dehydrator will be getting a good workout.