Whitemikeca

Yeah I really wish I got a better picture of that fish. It was pretty good size of Pigeon.

I was out on pigeon with Adam (Addy79) yesterday for another musky hunt. Unfortunatly we didnt have a very productive day. We ventured off to the North East end of the lake for the first time and we had a hard time fishing around the shoals with the wind coming directly from the west. We then decided to troll the NE end of the lake and I noticed we were not marking any bait fish at all on the sonar. Eventually we gave up and headed back to my usual milkrun. The fishing continued to be tough and dispite marking a lot of bait fish, the muskys didnt seem to be bitting. Eventually near the end of the day I managed one decent fish trolling a believer.

Here is the picture of the fish I caught the day I went up by myself. I was too lazy to setup the camera on a timer so I just took this quick photo of the fish in the net.

Great report. Nice looking fish there. I am heading upto pigeon tomorrow so hopefully I can get my own post up! Thanks for the report!

Nice fish guys! Thanks for the report.

Wow, those are some nice fish. Good job! I wish they grew like that in the kawarthas!!

Sounds like a great day! No wonder I didnt catch more fish! You pressured them too much on Saturday! Thanks!!! I am not having quite as much luck this year. I have been getting 1-3 fish per trip. I am hoping to bust out and have a good day soon. Last year around this time I got my personal best 6 fish in one day, all trolling.

Sorry Adam, I forgot to ask you if you were free to go up Sunday. I made a last second decision and just went up solo. How about this Sunday??

Thanks. Yeah its a area I have always trolled but they seemed to have moved about 5 feet deeper now thats its fall.

I got out on Pigeon Friday with Raf. The 30km winds made it tough to fish. Casting was out of the question so we spent most of the day trolling along deep bars adjacent to sheltered shorelines. Eventually the wind got too bad and we called it a day earlier than we had hoped. We did manage one fish though. I caught this guy trolling a beliver, as usual. Much thanks to Raf! It was his decision to troll deeper than I usually troll and 10 mins later I get this critter. Thanks again for coming up there with me Raf! I was back up on Pigeon by myself on Sunday. I managed another good fish, same length but a lot fatter than the one above trolling the same bar with the same lure . Because I was by myself I just got a quick picture of the fish in the net. It's on my camera which I think I left on my boat so I will try and update the thread afterwards with the pic.

Nice! I can't wait to get out on the water. Looks like is should be some decent weather. Hopefully we get a little cloud cover.

I got a lot of pms and I think I responded to all of them. I am going to go up with Raf as he replied first.

I am heading up to Pigeon on Friday for some fall muskies but unfortunatly none of my regular fishing partners can make it. I am still going to go up by myself but I would rather have a partner if possible. If one of you is interested then PM me. I would prefer someone who has experience with musky fishing, specifically how to handle the fish and preferably with their own muskie rod/reel. I am coming from Toronto so I could also pick up if on the way. PM me and we can discuss. Hoping to have another successful outing like this past weekend. http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=47561

Thanks for the heads up Lew. I have a navionics map chip and an old paper chart. Will I be able to see the rocks on these maps our are they not marked? I plan on trolling for about half the day over the 20+ foot areas targeting the 7-10 humps. I just hope there aren't any surprises

Thanks guys. I am heading up again this Friday. I have never really fished the North East end of the lake so I think I am going to try it this weekend. Looking at the GPS, there looks to be plenty of nice rock humps, shelves and shoals there which tend to be my fav types of spots. Hopefully it works out and I can post another report. Mike

Saturday the conditions were great. We caught three fish in 4 hours. We had to cut the day short but I think we could have gotten a couple more had we stayed another couple hours. Monday the north east wind really threw us off. My normal tactics/areas seemed dead. Luckly we changed things up, slowed down and caught two fish and had another lost fish right by the boat towards the end of the day. Hopefully what I learned this weekend will help me out next weekend!

Anytime Adam! Lets get up there this friday! I need to make up for the lack of fishing this summer.

Was out on Pigeon for some fall musky action for a half day on Saturday and then a full day yesterday. The fishing was a little slower than we had hoped but think I have a good pattern planned out for this upcoming weekend. Anyway, here are our results. A little guy that Myphan caught while trolling. It was her first Muskie ever. Its hard to see in the photo but I think it's tail was bitten by another musky during the fight. It stopped fighting really quick and when we pulled it in it's tail was shreaded and bleeding profusly. When I put it back in the water it darted off quick. For some reason I cant get the picture to rotate. I looks fine in photobucket but it flips it when I add the line here. Adam got this guy casting a spinner bait. It hit near the boat and nearly jumped in the boat during the fight. I got this guy casting a shallow raider. For the size he put up a monster fight. I though he was a lot bigger than he ended up being. Got this nice Pigeon brute trolling a believer over my favorate spot on the lake. Great fight. We got a few quick videos catching and releasing the last muskie using the iphone. A little bit of the fight The release We caught one more muskie (around 40") but the picture was taken with another camera. I will try and get it and update the post.

John, I can't give you me secret spots because I am hoping to get up a few more times this year but I would suggest the following: 1. Troll faster. This time of year I do generally try and slow down a little (In the summer I often troll at 6-7 mph) but I would suggest trying 4-5 mph. I also troll with believers and they troll really well at high speeds. I usually start the day off going fast to cover more ground. If they are not biting then I slow down. Everyone will tell you to go slow this time of year but they will still chase something going faster than 5mph. Try and troll along drop offs and as close to shoals as you safely can (If you don’t have a GPS then be very careful with this). The believers will hit bottom when you are in less than 15 feet at these speeds, this is good, the action of the lure hitting bottom seems to trigger the fish. Just make sure you use a heavy duty leader (JB's fishing depot). 2. My best casting spots on Pigeon are all on shoals and rock ledges. The fish seem to hang right on the drops waiting to ambush anything that swims above them. I use believers or spinner baits and run them fast over top of these areas. 3. Points! There are a number of points on the lake were the weed lines extend out 100 metres or so in the shape of the point. I work the edges of these weeds slowly with a glide bait or jerk bait. I hope this helps. We got 5 muskies when we were up there this weekend. I will try and get a post us later with pics.

Thanks guys, I didn't measure him because I was concerned with getting him back in the water. I caught a 45 incher last year on Pigeon and looking at the pictures side by side this fish looks longer. I know where he lives now so I will measure him next time Rich, the believer is the only musky lure I troll with anymore. Last year I caught > 10 skis trolling believers on Pigeon. Most of them on the walleye colour believer. I have a really good pattern down now as to where to troll and how deep.

Finally got out musky fishing for the first time this year last weekend. Caught this guy trolling on a 10 inch beleiver. He put up a great fight. He stayed deep, taking drag on my Calcutta 400 for a few mins. When he got to the boat I was greated with 3 nice jumps. A few minites later we caught a 34 incher on the same lure but didn't take pictures. Both fish were released of course.

Wow, great report, thanks. Several members of my family have cottages up on Manitoulin so I have spent a lot of time up there over the years. It truly is an amazing fishing destination. Have you ever fished Lake Kagawong? Best Smallmouth lake I have ever fished for numbers. Not uncommon to catch 50+ fish per person in a session. I can't wait to get up there this summer!

Here are some pics from my last two fishing outings. I usually go almost every weekend but due to work and all the rain we have gotten this summer, there was a 7 week span between these outings! I nearly lost my sanity! The first one was a 45.5 incher I caught in August. He was long but a little lean for his size. This past weekend I went out with my buddy Dan to try and finally pop his muskie cherry. He has been out muskie fishing with me many times but he never manages to catch one...until now. Then 5 mins later....this guy put up a great fight! He pulled drag on my Calcutta TE 300, he jumped 3 times and then made a run under the boat. Luckily he was hooked really well. All 3 of these fish were caught trolling believers and all three were caught within a couple hundred yards of each other. Unfortunately for team 8 I keep forgetting to bring my team 8 sign! I am hoping the weather holds up until monday so I get out there again.

I caught two on pigeon this weekend at about 5-6 mph. Or at least thats how fast my GPS says I am going but I am not sure how reliable it is. I never seem to have much luck when I am down in the 3-4 range.

Congrats on the catch! I know exactly where you caught that fish and I have caught several at that spot over that last couple of years. Watch out! The muskie bug is an expensive habit! I was out on Pigeon myself on Sat and we managed 2 skis. I will try and post the pics in the next few days.