tbayboy

Good to see the Sportspal making the rounds again . Can't wait for the first muskie report.

I find those times I'm going out not expecting anything are often the best days. So hell yeah get out there - just make sure you can get off the water quickly if a bad storm comes blowing in (play safe and all that).

First she tells you how to fish then its how to drive then ... err I'm gonna stop now before I get in trouble

Great to see guys having that much fun and still doing incredibly well with the fish. I can't imagine how much fun it would be to spend a day on the water with those guys.

Congrats Bly, thats one big *ss yellow blob of a fish you got there.

Bad enough you live in fishing heaven but then you gotta rub it in and find a wife that fishes too? Must be nice

Wow, nice fish. Congrats!

Wonderful pile of pics there Glen. Really get a sense for how much fun you all had up there.

Well said Rick - its an impressive gathering from humble beginnings (who'd have thunk this internet thing would be a useful social tool hehe). I'll definitely make an effort next year though TJ is scaring me.

Yeah then the posts asking about next years date start

ditto on the 1/0 circle hooks. Tried them for the first time last year and they're great, especially for the wacky rigging - notice much less deep hooking happening (or I was getting better at reading the line twitches - probably both).

Nice looking fish, great picture in the water too. Congrats and thanks for sharing

Damn fine fish there Lew. Really appreciate the info on the approaches you used as well (every day on OFC I learn something).

Congrats to your Uncle on the fish Lexx and the whole clan on what was obviously a great weekend.

Definete trip of a life time type stuff there. Great write up of a great trip. Thanks

Congrats Maureen, sure sounds like a great time and some fun pics too.

Great to see the bog represented in all these musky reports. Love fishing that lake even the weeds drive me batty at times.

Great stuff Cliff, was wondering when your report would show up. Sure looks like it was a load of fun, a nice mix of fishing and partying all around I'd say. Maybe next year I'll find the time to join you all up there.

Love that boat side pic, what a brute.

Thanks guys. You'll get him next time for sure Cliff - hell even those kinds of missed boatside musky hits are as good as many actual landed fish in my books. Clamp-it: nothing fancy just a canon s3 picked up off ebay for a couple hundred. Just upload the big version then the shrunk down ones in the posts look that much better

Great pics, nice to see a canoe amongst all the horsepower out there.

First off welcome back to all the Lakair travelers. Now on to what you missed Actually first a quick bit of backstory. Last year Mikeh bid on a couple muskie charters and ended up winning two so last fall we went out for a day of trolling. We took turns on the hits and it went like this: Mike first - 30"er released at boat, Sean: 44"er landed, Mike: fish threw hook, Sean: 48.5"er landed and that was the end of the day. I'd offered the last hit to Mike as he didn't land the one before but he said no and regrets it to this day . Fast forward to Saturday morning as we head up to the Kawarthas and I'm shoving my lucky horseshoe where the sun don't shine getting ready for another day of fun. This time we were going out with Rodel Misa of Kawarth King Muskie guides and unlike the fall trip the weather looked nice so we were going to cast (trollings ok but I like doing things in a boat). We were on the water at 7:30 and my god did we work the water. I'd forgotten how much work tossing those big lures all day can be. I have to give big thanks to Rodel - I learned way more in that one day than I could have possibly hoped for. Hell I have baits I'd moved to the bottom of the barrel because I thought they sucked but now I know how to use them (I'm a suick fan now!). The weather was weird - we started at 10 degrees out with pants and fleece jackets and by 10am we were in shorts and t-shirts as the sun just beat down on us with no wind at all. The fish were really hiding during this weather and we had a single follow on Mike's spinner bait. About noon Mike and I switched spots putting me on the front of the boat with Rodel and my horseshoe started to warm up. Rodel was pulling a suick when he had a hit beside the boat. "Dude, grab this!" he shouts and hands me the rod while taking mine away. A few seconds later (wasn't much to do as she hit right by the boat) and I'm holding this little girl: <a href=" title="Little guy by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3093/2601752947_33021d9844_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Little guy" /></a> And Mike is giving me that "your going in the drink soon" look as he'd just left the spot a few minutes earlier We kept working the lake and the weather went nuts - 20k winds just appeared from no where and we getting a little worried about whatever storm must be coming with them but it turns out we missed it and stayed dry all day. Unfortunately the overcast skies and chop which would be great musky weather didn't help too much (too fast of a change from the flat hot day maybe?) but we did manage to raise another that slowly swam away after looking at a large tiger tube. We'd been out 11 hours and were casting into some weed beds while Rodel's auto pilot trolling motor (Mike has trolling motor envy now) was working its holding us in place in a pretty good wind when Rodel said what all of us where thinking: "F**ck it guys, lets head back". You know what happened then of course - cue the horseshoe! I had been tossing a yellow spinner bait when it went nuts - not a thunk hit but rather a huge bunch of thrashing and the fight was on. And what a fight it was - this guy was kicking my ass all over the place. What a riot. When we finally got her into the cradle I couldn't believe she wasn't bigger than she was given the fight. Turned out to be 42 1/2" but with a lot of fight in her. I apologize i advance for the hold here - I goofed bringing her out of the water and had my hand backwards: <a href=" title="Best of the day by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3182/2602584658_0c2333179f_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Best of the day" /></a> After that fight she took her time reviving but swam off to curse us for ruining her day. <a href=" title="Setting her free by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3064/2602586062_943d9c5ffc_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Setting her free" /></a> We hit one more spot but at 7pm we called it and by then my poor arm was more than ready. Big props to Rodel for the work he put in. He taught us a bunch about the various lures (we tossed spinner baits, sledges, suicks, tubes and some other stuff I forget) and I got to try a bunch of interesting gear which is great as I now have a much better idea of the rod I want to pick up for jerk baits (anyone got a 6 to 6 1/2 heavy fast they want to sell?). It was also clear that he really wanted to get fish in the boat - he could have stopped after 8 hours and we'd have had a great day but you could tell he loved being out there as much as we did - great time with a great guy. Of course I'm pretty sure Mike will never invite me Musky fishing with him again as he got the big skunkaroo. So as we drove home with a nice new bruise on my side for the pole and my arm feeling like its ready to fall off Mike suggests we take what we learned and try again Sunday. I said as long as we don't start with me getting up at 4:30am I'm ok with it so we planned on a much later start Sunday. Arm and hand still sore from Saturday we started tossing around 9:30am Sunday and it was amazing how much more confident I felt with my lures after the day before (and how much I released I wanted a new rod). The fish weren't helping much though. I had a little 30"er or so shoot out from behind the boat on a figure 8 (something I always forgot to do before going out with Rodel) which was pretty cool even if she missed and and didn't come back. Mike had a big walleye follow his spinner which was interesting (we chatted with some guys fishing eyes and no one had a good day with those apparently). About noon we were cutting across some water when my perch patterned baby grandma stopped mid retrieve. Woohoo, game on! She pulled some drag and I knew it was decent fish. After a bit I got her under control though she was still pretty far out (had hit on a long bomb cast). She slowed down so I just lifted my rod tip up to hold the tension and looked to Mike to tell him where the camera is (because I've got this fish in the bag you know). Lesson #1 boy and girls: there's a reel on side that you turn and it pulls the line in - USE IT! With my tip high and no leverage she came at me a bit then pulled back and I could feel the grandma slide right out of her mouth, DOH! . 100% user error but it was a hit and I learned from it right? grrrr. After Mike finished mocking me he put on a walleye patterned believer and we worked a shoreline drop off when I hear "ooh ooh ooh" and I expect to see a bend in his line but no he's pointing at the water and there's a nice fat musky swimming by the boat and back into deep water. I tried a follow up cast but no luck. Now it was my turn to mock: where's the figure eight on that follow Mike? Unfortunately that was the last Muskie we saw. To take a break I tossed out a bucktail jig on my walleye rod wouldn't you know it - ZZZZZZZIIINNNG. Reels starts spinning and the lines going crazy. Holy crap its a Musky I yell and we get all excited (even started recording video). About a minute or two into the fight we see carp jumping (been seeing them all day) when Mike goes "maybe its a carp" and it dawns on me that this fight isn't typical musky and that Mike's probably right. Sigh..... <a href=" title="Carp on a bucktail! by Sean Maurik, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3194/2601759867_0913301834_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Carp on a bucktail!" /></a> Yep my first, only and personal best carp came in at 15 lbs on 8lb fireline and a chartruese bucktail jig. Unfortunately it was snagged so it doesn't even count. Ah well. After that the wind picked up and the water got really muddy. We kept working at it but nothing showed and the storms started to show up on the skyline so we called it early. So 18 hours of musky bait tossing, 2 musky and 1 carp landed and I've learned a few things: 1. I need to hit the gym - those baits kicked my ass, my arms hurting just typing this 2. Mike will never take me musky fishing again 3. Always keep your lures clean (Rodel was very picking about that hehe ) 4. I'm going to be spending a lot more money on Musky gear - damn you fishing addiction! Have a good week everyone Sean

Great stuff TJ. Quite the multi picnic table spread out there and nice to see Bill with the colts - it's not a fishing/camping trip til someone pulls out the old wine tips!

Nice stuff EHG, nothing like a simple setup to bring back the fun of fishing.

Great stuff Limey, was glad to help with the video so that I can now get even more jealous of you and your little slice of heaven. Looking forward to many more.