Victor

Once you get it started, depending how much water it's spitting, you might want to consider changing the impeller ... some people do say that you probably should just change it since it hasn't been used for so long though.

Those are some nice looking skis. Is that 38.5" the lucky one to be the first ski on your new yak?

yeah I'd put another vote on a 12' aluminum. My only concern with that is the load/unload process. I know alot of people do it solo with that kind of set up but I don't see myself being able to do it.

But that concern also goes with the canoe though, unless you get a kevlar ... I have a 16' fiberglass canoe and I also doubt that i can load/unload it myself onto/off my car without scratching it. Mine is a 16 so a 14 might be lighter ...

Good to see you back at it. Where're all the reports with mikeh?

It sounds like both you and jedi love that boat ... that might be something I'd be interesting in buying in the near future ... allows me to go out solo on the water if I buy a small car.

Nice largie!

What Rich & Glen said.

I can't wait till I fix my boat trailer so i can try it out. I current have 6lb line on it and a 4lb leader.

I picked up one of those myself as well, too bad they ran out of the 20' version. Have yet to try using it but I have it rigged up and will try it out next time I go panfishing on the boat.

I'd imagine that it'd make the fight really enjoyable.

Hey OFC,

I have been sick for almost 2 weeks (kinda getting better now) and I had some personal problems to deal with so I haven't been out fishing for quite a while. It's just been too long and I needed to get out. Marko, FISHHERO and I tried fishing the Grand for some bigger fish on Monday but there was no action at all, probably due to the higher flows and dirty water conditions. To fight off the skunk we decided to visit a local swim yesterday which has produced for us in terms of numbers. The average size here is about 2-5lbs, the biggest I've seen that was pulled out of there was by Marko which came in at about 8-9lbs. I decided to use my bass setup instead of my 12' rods and huge baitrunner to get more fun out of the fight... and to my suprise, i hooked into this beauty.

A fully scaled mirror carp weighted in at 16lbs even.

A 16lb fish would be considered to be a monster at this place and on top of that it's a mirror.... AND it's fully scaled too. You have no idea how excited I was when I first had a glimpse of it during the fight. Here's the other side of the fish.

All in all I went 8/10 for about 4.5 hours of fishing, Marko had a pretty bad day but I think he did land 3-4. FISHHERO joined us with his family and caught a few himself as well.

Now it's exam time but this fish will cure my itch for the next little while. Thanks for reading.

inline spinners are pretty much my favourite type of lure to use (probably because I have caught alot of fish on them so I have more confidence). I use black furys and aglias alot.

Like others said, it would be better to use a swivel to avoid the line twist. As for the retrieval, it depends how deep you are fishing, if you're deep water, you can let it sink for a little before retrieving so you can get down deeper.

I have caught trout, pike, bass, crappie and panfish with these lures.

As a basic boating rule, it's best to approach wakes by having your boat on a 45-degee angle to the wake, not perpendicular.

 

Nice fish.

I stand corrected. Thanks for the info izaakwalton.

Hey Jocko, Thanks for keeping us updated so far.

When you get a chance to take that lure for a swim though, could you report back and let us know how it performs??

It seems like jedi's ex-ride is giving you some good luck ! Congrats on your first muskie, I still need to get mine.

You did the right thing with the wake, can't really do much other than ride it with the bow perpendicular to it. Just ride over it nice and slow and don't speed up.

edit: i guess i was wrong ... see izaakwalton's post below.

Hey Rich, I fished the Kitchener stretch for about 2 hours with Marko and another member yesterday evening. The flow wasn't all that fast but it sure was murky. We had nothing to show for it as well (fishing for carp).

definitely MJL, and he can write too.

But I also agree with the rest on Jamie (Crazyhook)

Thanks Victor.

 

BTW Don't try the coordinates that I posted for carp

Dan, in no time your spot will be crowded with people.

I went to the spot you posted this morning and caught a 64lb carp. Fought it with an ultra light and 2lb line.

4 fish in 15 minutes for one rod, I think it'd be pretty tough to get a better day.

Nice work Dan!

I have always done well with maize, so far I haven't had too many days where bollies are catching all the fish and maize isn't.

Maybe you are just fishing the wrong spots or at the wrong times?

Nice fish, but it's just sad to see... we've received so many confirmations of pike being caught at Balsam, I wonder when they will really take over that lake.

is it safe to eat a pike of that size? issues with mercury build up? especially for a teenager - wouldn't want his growth to be stunted

he's probably not going to eat another one like that for at least another month or 2, so it's not going to be a problem.

lol, i actually got one at 0.0000 ... never gonna get that again. I didn't know how it work for the first 2, and on the 3rd one i finally knew i had to press that thing ... must have gotten too excited and it just so happened it ran out ...

went out after lunch for a little bit, kept my drag loose stuck my rod in a rod holder thing and read a book LOL, doing pretty much wut rich said. Checked it periodically, didnt get anything for bout 2 hours, threw an xrap around for a little bit and went home.

Went out again after dinner since rich had suggested evenings, anyhow, didnt have any luck either, although i saw something swimming in the water, looked kinda like a beaver or otter or smthin. Anyone know wut mammals are native to the grand? kinda curious (tried to snap a pic but it kept going underwater whenever i tried and it was gettng dark). Anyhow tossed rest of my corn out as far as i could, ill prolly give it another shot tomorrow at the same spot. One question tho, since there is a bit of a current wont the corn just get carried away? :S

Bubblez

Now that's where the trick comes in haha. If you know there's current, throw the corn upstream of where you anticipate your hookbait to land... so when it gets to the bottom, it will be somewhat close to the hookbait.

Have you seen carp at that spot your fishing though? Like I said earlier, the usual spot that I have fished before, has no fish at all this time of the year. If it still doesn't work out after another 2 or 3 trips, you might want to find another spot where you know they'd be there for sure. (whether they want to eat or not would be another thing...)

What Rich said, just keep it simple. Make sure that you're either holding onto your rod tightly .. or if you let it sit down on a branch, make sure the drag's loose and you're close to it. If you didn't do any of that, your rod will fly into the lake/river in a matter of seconds.... lol...

Try to find the slower water and cast there, it'll be hard to hold bottom where the flow is faster. I have fished the Grand quite alot for carp but only early in the summer ... last week I checked out my usual spot and no carp was to be seen there ... instead I found them holding at a small shallow bay that's literally no flow.

Good luck and let us know how u make out.

This question/discussion has came up a couple times here on OFC for the time I've been here and if I remember correctly that the general consensus is that their spinning reel sucks. Their baitrunners are alright but sometimes they don't work properly (baitrunner doesn't engage/disengage). Most people think their centerpins are alright though, for an entry level pin.

you're kidding me, a report in July and no nudity? lol

Nice report Glen, good to see you catching some again

A lot of factors to consider here. If you don't use a specific technique, I'd say, get one that's fairly beefy (maybe medium heavy) for the times when you fish in the slops/thick weed. Get a medium for general use and maybe a light action for the smaller fish/better sensitivity.

IMO canadian tire's rod are overpriced (unless they have a big sale), with the same price at bigger tackle stores you can get something with better quality.

Anybody have weight estimate on a fish like that? Mine was 31 inches (same length as my net handle) but it had a pretty solid gut on it to. I've caught a few in lake ontario that were longer, but much skinnier.

 

cheers,

Ryan

With carp it's hard to estimate their weight based on length, some are much fatter than others while some are just long and lean, also there are some who has big shoulders. Judging by your photos, I'd say 18-22lbs... I can be way off though.

Barg's 1on1 D is alright when he playing against another Centre, I guess, but he's not that great for anyone who has some speed and I still think that he commits stupid fouls sometimes... that either get him into foul trouble or give up easy points. He did improve though and I hope it would continue.

hated to see AP go... have enjoyed watching him and all his fadeaways ... but I think it's a move that we have to make ... it hasn't been working for the last few seasons.