JoshS

Go for a citica, curado, or a revo, never used the diawa so couldn't tell you. Tough to beat shimano service too. You won't be disappointing with either of those choices.

I've been on a big summer pike pattern this year and have landed some nice fish on musky sized deep diving cranks. Last weekend I had the unfortunate incident of breaking off a monster on 80 pound braid (still going through a mild grieving period), I must of had a weak spot in my line caused by bouncing baits off rocks, ledges, etc. My question is: What happens to the fish? I've heard hooks will rust out, the fish will unhook itself, live with it. Any thoughts? I'd hate to be the reason for the demise of such a trophy.

Looks like you've had some success.. Beauty pike man!!

I only keep one or two here and there for dinner, and its always a small one whether it be pike, bass or walleye. Occasionally will take a limit of walleye and bring one home for my dad but on average rarely keep anything. It kills me to see someone keep a 7 pound walleye or 5 pound bass, especially on fragile fisheries..

Haha.. Wonder what the stash record is? Thats a monster bass Lew!

Hey thanks Roy, Cram. There's some football smallies on here! Gorgeous fish!!

This is easily the biggest bucket I have ever caught. I didn't weight it and don't know if its seven but my educated guess would say its close.

The lake I fish frequently has big pike that are hard to locate in the summer. The big ones are totally different from smaller pike - they suspend in deep water and feed on schools of baitfish as opposed to smaller pike who inhabit bass habitat. My lake is a big cisco lake and big pike are where the cisco are. Weeds don't grow beyond 16 ft there so I troll open water points adjacent to deep water. Try trolling musky baits and troll fast and deep! My most productive bait is a bait that looks like a XRap Magnum, its a deep diving crank that gets down to around 25 on the troll. I cant remember the name of the bait company but I do remember it has the word "creek" in the title and sells and Gagnon's Sports in oshawa for a good price of 7.99$. Dont buy them all b/c I lost my last one and need to replace them! Also, try grandma's, big heavy spinner baits, big swimbaits (try jigging them), or any big crank that looks like the natural forage in the lake that works on a fast troll.

Another vote for 100% tiger! Sure are good looking specimens, to bad about their origin.

I've caught one only at night - it was under a full moon while walleye fishing on a white grub. The whole catch and release process took about 10 seconds: I set the hook on the fish right below the bow and on the hookset it jumped in the boat, I grabbed it, the hook fell out, my friend was reviewing his pictures and had his camera in his hand, quick pick and back in the water. Fastest release I've ever done! Other than that fish, they're pretty much non catchable in the dark.

I remember Wedgewood Marina used to rent them but then I just googled this place: http://www.rubyscottages.com/amenities.html With boat rentals its all about how late they late you stay out.

Man it would be awesome to have a shore spot like that you could drive to after work!! Beauty wallies!!

Looks like a great day, nice muskies!

I use a casting medium heavy fast action 6'6 Vrod for most of my jerks and I usually throw baits 4" or bigger. I have a medium action rod that I dont like because it's too light. As for line, I used to use mono before I switched my reels over to braid a few years ago and now I wish I had one rod with mono specifically for jerkbaits... I find I get a nice bounce on the twitch with mono because of the stretch.

I personally like to drop shot with Gulp alive leaches and minnows. Also done well with the 4in senko style baits and shaky worms.

Everyone loves there guitar... haha. I like my Norman B20. Think I paid around $450 for it. Try it out next time your at the music store.

Those are some deep weeds! Where I fish, a lot of guys fishing summer pike speed troll the largest floating rapala and it gets down to about 14 feet on a fast troll. I like the grandma or believer too. Try and match up with what you think the big pike are feeding on.

Thanks for the input. I'm going to put it to the test this weekend.

Trip of a lifetime! Awesome report!

I recently picked up a St Croix mojo bass swibait rod, rated 7'9 1-4oz. How do you guys think this rod hold up for muskies? I'm mostly casting baits in that weight range and gonna pair it up with a C3 5500.

Love those spring brownies! Nice job out there!

Hey Mike, it depends on the cover you're fishing tubes in. If you have a combo for heavy cover bass fishing already then maybe get something a little lighter for your spinning combo. I use a seven foot medium action rod when fishing tubes around rocks etc for smallies and like it. If you get into dropshotting it can double as a nice dropshot rod as well.

I think I'd choose Georgian Bay for its beauty, the variety of species, close proximity to decent steelhead waters and endless spots to scope out, its just too bad the salmon population is hurting.

Was out today fishing some Lake O pike. Didn't even entice a follow today. Pike are in full spawn mode and I noticed many males and females paired up. I think the window for pre-spawn pike is shut. It was only a couple days ago I was catching some pre-spawn females. Now hopefully some big girls will still be around in May!

I was fishing humber bay a couple days ago and noticed a lot of fish breaking the surface at dusk. I think they were suckers.