lew

Sure wish I was heading back up with you guys Joey and good luck to you & Paul. Hopefully their still on the prowl. See you folks down at St. Clair in a couple months....again, hopefully.

Thanks again for all your thoughts folks. Was really hoping you woulda been up there this past June Marty. We've been talking about hooking up for a musky for a long time now but can never seem to make it happen.

Thanks for the comments guys, fishing on the West Arm is always guaranteed to be a good time.

Hi guys, I've been up at Lakair on the West Arm of Nippissing with my wife and daughter for the past 2 weeks and just got home yesterday. I haven't posted a fishing report in about 3 years so figured I was due for one The weather was excellent and so was the pike & musky fishing. I don't fish for pike myself but the ladies were sure having fun with them and caught plenty although most of them were small with a few being in the 24 inch range. Here's the Misses between hits It's un-believable how aggressive those little slimers can be and they'll hit just about anything that passes their nose including very large double 12 bucks. My daughter Sheri taking a well deserved break from a day on the water The reason I spend 2-3 weeks on the West Arm every year though is the musky fishing. Their tough to locate sometimes but when their on, their REALLY on and this year was excellent !! There was a full moon a week ago and the sunset and moon rise times were pretty close and the fish were very active in the evenings for a couple days either side of it. I boated 3 gooduns, lost another large fish about 20' out and had a 50" class follow me right to the boat on a figure 8 but then spooked and wouldn't return. 1st fish was a 48 incher 2nd fish was another 48 And the 3rd was a nice hefty 50 incher. We always enjoy our time on the West Arm and have already booked a couple weeks at Lakair again next August. Our cabin this year And the view from the deck alot of evenings For what it's worth.... All 5 muskies were encountered in the evenings near sunset. All 5 muskies were encountered in open water far away from any rocks. All 5 muskies were encountered during a brisk EASTERLY wind. Don't ever let anyone tell you fish don't bite when the wind is from the east. All 5 muskies were within 1/4 mile of each other. All 5 muskies were caught in 7-8 FOW in heavy cabbage patches. All 5 muskies were caught with a very large black spinnerbait with double orange blades. The 4 fish I hooked all hit the bait within the 1st couple seconds of the bait hitting the water. The 50 incher sliced a hole in my hand that made me bleed enuff to make the deck of my boat look like a war zone.....but it was worth every drop

Their gorgeous birds for sure and fortunately their starting to show up in the Kawarthas now too. Here's a couple pics I took 2 or 3 years ago. The pics aren't Brandon or DanC quality but you get the idea.

Always a sad day for a town when those old landmarks are lost.

Two kids down the road from me, a 12 year old boy & his 8 year old sister, took pledges both last year and again this year to shave their heads bald to raise $$$$ for cancer. Picked up a cool $5000 this year

Assuming your trailer has holding tanks for drinking water, plus another for waste water while your travelling Brian, that weight can add up real fast too at 10 pounds per gallon. I know my old trailer that I kept in the park carried about 30 gallons of drinking water plus a holding tank for waste water probably held another 15 gallons. There's 450 pounds right there. Amazing how fast weight adds up.

I've had a couple new Safari's Brian and their great vehicles. I used the 05 to tow my Crestliner and it did a great job but as you said, it was an aluminum boat and didn't really weigh that much, maybe 2000 lb. including trailer. When I bought the glass boat though it was a different story. The total boat/trailer package will be at least 3500 lb's plus everything else carried in the vehicle and it became too much for the Safari in MY opinion. I travel up to Nippissing several times a year and have to go up some fairly big hills and although the Safari did a good job of pulling the heavier boat on relatively level ground, I felt it was struggling on the bigger hills. I had the extra cooler installed when I bought the van so higher engine temps were never a problem but the 190 HP just didn't seem enough for heavier loads on long hills and I think it was putting a real strain on the engine and I felt it was over working it. If your gonna tow a heavier load any distance you may want to think about something other than the Safari but again, that's only MY opinion. PLEASE DON'T GO OUT AND SPEND 40 GRAND BECAUSE I SAID SO I got rid of the Safari and purchased a new Ford F-150 Super Crew with the 5.4 motor and 310 HP and it's all the difference in the world and I hardly feel the boat behind me now, even going up the big hills.

Good to see you back in the game Bud, that's a beautiful fish !! You shoulda let me know you were in the area and I would have met up with you guys over there. You still around ??

Well done workwear, she's a purty fish indeed !!

Thanks for the update on the water levels and weed growth Andy and good luck to you too next week in South Bay.

Plenty of big muskies in Nipissing Andy, they just don't come easy. How were the water levels, still about normal ??

Outstanding Simon !!

Excellent read as always Mike, really fantastic !!

All the best to you Richard

There's a good reason I don't ever use live bait Darren

I do something similar with my Double D's Steve, 'cept I eliminate the centre hook completely and then replace the front hook with one 2 sizes bigger. Improves the action IMO plus makes the neutral buoyancy better.

Thanks Jay & good luck to you also. Can't help you with the Upper but I know the water levels & weed growth were excellent in the West Arm in early June and I'm thinking it'll be even better now. Just hoping the BIG girls are hungry

Sorta like a bad dose of musky rash Larry, just means the fish'n Gods have been very kind to ya

Was really sorry to hear we wouldn't be holidaying together again this year John but Barb's dad's health is much more important and best of luck to him. We'll be heading back up again next year and I'll give you the dates when I know them. And Dan, too bad you can't make it either, woulda been fun.

I'm heading back up August 6 for another 2 weeks and just wondered if anyone else is gonna be there the same time ??

Nice when a plan comes together, specially when it only takes 10 minutes

Attaboy Darren, a very impressive fish for sure !! Looks like you've really got your boat rigged up nice for downrigging too.

There was a time not very long ago when I ALWAYS had a Suick clipped onto my jerkbait rod and got lots of fish on them. I got into Sledges a couple years ago and find they produce even better so my Suicks have been sorta semi retired lately although I still use them sometimes when I want to go a bit deeper over the weeds. In the warm waters of summer I like to work them very fast and erratic with short pauses in between and then in the cold waters of October & November it's loooong slow sweeps, again with pauses. As Raf mentioned, the best baits are the ones that have lost the paint and absorb water. Just kinda gives them a more natural appearance going thru the water. Their an excellent wooden bait and have been around for quite awhile and will probably be hear for many years to come. I like to weight mine to get them down deeper and if any one is interested it's very easy to do. Cut a section out of the belly and insert a couple small wheel weights Fill the holes with 5 minute epoxy and touch up with a bit of paint. Don't worry about being fussy cause the muskies don't care. It gets them deeper but the extra weight, plus the absorbed water makes them more controlable and easier to do what you want with them and IMHO just makes them work that much better.