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I just got home from the lake and this was the 1st post I read. I've known Rick for many years, infact way back to his days at Whitewater and he's one of the most honest and sincere boat dealers you'll find anywhere in Ontario and it's great to see him getting the excellent publicity here on OFC. Always nice to see the good guys getting put in the limelight !!

What are your odds of catching a musky if you stay home Bill ?? Go fish'n with your Dad & have a great day....forget about the odds

Thanks Ernie, I'll be heading up the 115 in a couple hours but I filled up yesterday in Toronto for $1.31 in anticipation of the increase for the long week-end......who'd have ever thought $1.31 was a bargain That Petro-Canada just above the 401 is ALWAYS the most expensive on the 115 and I'd push my truck past him rather than buy his gas at the rip-off price he always charges. Guess he figures he's the 1st station on the hiway and folks will stop there not knowing their getting the shaft. The cheapest on the 115 is ALWAYS the ESSO in the south bound lanes at the bottom of the hill just south of the 35 cut-off. I filled up in North Bay last week for $139.9 Hate to think what the marinas are charging.......

That's by far the best Lakair report from this year Marty and it was such a treat seeing Dawson enjoying his 1st Canadian trip so much. It was also great to see 3 generations of your family together like that. I'd hoped you & I could have gotten a little musky fish'n in together this year but obviously that couldn't happen, but hopefully next time. Have a blast on your up-coming French River trip too

Sorta did the same thing to me too Dawg

Aplumma and I were fishing for pike on the West Arm last Friday and I hooked a little 24" snot rocket on a red/white Rap, but he got all 3 trebles in himself plus he was wrapped up in the line like a calf at a rodeo. I was trying to get him untangled and the little in-grate drove a hook into my thumb deep enuff that I thought the barb would come outta my wrist on the other side It was a quick decision........either a drive all the way into the Doc's office in Sturgeon Falls or a 1/2 second of agony as I ripped it out with the pliers............DANG that hurt !!!! Jeeeeeez I hate those little snot rockets

I remember watching Gary Roach (Mr. Walleye) on the tube a few years ago and he was fishing from a large LUND, like a 20' Pro V with a huge tiller, but he also had a consol and windshsield in front of him. I remember thinking what a great idea it was for folks who like tiller but would also like the protection of a windshield. Myself, I've used both for many many years and would take a consol over a tiller, but that's just my own personal opinion. But.......when were trolling for muskies in November & December and it's snowin & blowin, I'm always happy I'm fishing from Squids big LUND with the full windshield and canopy

If I'm gonna troll a Believer, which I often do, the bumblebee is always the one I start with. ......watch for a fishing report next Wednesday

Believers, specially the 10" jointed version, are one of the best musky baits you'll find, plus they're also one of the most versatile. They're one of my favorite trolling baits, (bumblebee) they also work well as a crankbait but they also make an excellent top water bait, specially after dark when cranked very slowly over top of a weed bed. They've got rattles in them which work well in some instances, like after dark or in dirty water, but I like to remove the rattles on some of them to make them more of a silent bait and just let the natural vibration of the bait do it's thing. Different strokes for different fish.

Musky baits can be extremely expensive and there's nothing worse than having 100's of dollars worth of baits sitting in a box and not being used, so just start out slow and buy a couple at a time until you find out what works in the areas your fishing, plus what you feel comfortable casting with. Get a couple each for the different water columns. A prop bait for the surface is good, something like a Top Raider, then get a couple jerk or glide baits. Mantas work well as do Suicks or Sledges, but my personal favorites are Double D's which have an unbelievable action. You'll also need a couple crank baits for getting down deep some days. Bucktails are excellent for running across the top of weeds, then get a few BIG spinnerbaits for working thru the thicker, deeper weeds. Muskies like to bury themselves deep in the weeds and nothing is better than spinnerbaits for getting at them. Get a natural color for each bait, like perch or walleye, plus get some in brighter colors like firetiger. Some days one will work and other days you'll need to go the opposite way. For blades, get a couple each of brass silver chartreuse & orange. Start with a few basics, then work your way up as you find what works.

Yup, that could have definetely been me, I was out at JB's around 11 this morning, then I headed over to BPS after that. I went after 1 lure and ended up spending $100..... darned musky fish'n keeps me broke

Thanks for the week-end report Mike and really good to hear the tourney worked out so well for you guys after all the effort that everyone put into organizing everything. I was talking to Pete on the phone yesterday and he was telling me what a great time everyone had. Sounds like the fishing was pretty tough for the most part but there were a couple real beauts landed, and congrats to your Mrs for her fish too.

I had the pleasure of riding in Don's boat last week and it's without a doubt one of the most impressive fishing boats I've ever been in.

Cliff, I'm wondering if they thought you were talking about stainless checkerplate or something similar with that price they gave you. I bought a piece of 1/4" aluminum.....4" x 12" to mount my GPS and they charged me $5

I'll 2nd the Meteal Supermarket Cliff and for what you need it'll be dirt cheap. There's one in Scarboro I've used a couple times and you can find it with Google. Good folks to deal with.

Sorry Jeff, I somehow missed your question. I'll be back at Lakair on August 14th and will stay for 5 or 6 days. Best of luck to you on your trip !! And thanks again to everyone for your comments.

Thanks for taking the time to post all those pictures Glen, there's some great stuff in there !! Seems like every trip we have up there just keeps on getting better

Thanks everyone Marty, it was so good to see Dawson having such an incredible time on his 1st ever trip to Canada and also to see all 3 generations of your family up there enjoying your trip together so much. Father, son & grandson all fish'n together....that's what it's all about

Sorry boys, she was 48 inches, I thought I included that. A nice fish but certainly not a monster by Nippisssing standards though.

Hi guys, I got home from Lakair this morning after another fabulous week up there and can't wait to get back up there again in August. As has already been said in several posts, the 2008 trip was excellent as it every year. We had some scattered showers Wednesday & Thursday, then myself & Aplumma got caught in a huge downpour on Friday but other than that everything was beautiful. I was using a new tent & dining shelter this year and everything worked out perfectly and never leaked a drop even in the heaviest of the rains. Musky season opened on Saturday for Lake Nippissing and I was on the water & heading for a favorite spot as the sun was breaking over the horizon and when it looks this pretty, you just know the rest of the day has to go well too. There was a nice chop on the water and I wanted to start casting to a rocky point up in Muskrat Bay before it got too bright out. I was twitching a new Firetiger Shallow Raider and after a few minutes it got smacked real hard by a musky I but only had her on for a few seconds before she spit the hook. With the cool water this season the cabbage isn't as high or as dense as usual in many areas, but I headed to another favorite spot about 1/4 away mile to have a look and found some nice thick patches in some areas with plenty of open water between them which is something I actually prefer to cast to, rather than trying to cover a huge indistinguishable flat of weed. I got downwind & clipped on a large black/orange Grim Reaper spinner bait and started working it thru the cabbage patches. The wind was working in my favour and with the help of the tracking lines on my GPS I was able to make several long drifts towards shore and move about 50' apart for each consecutive drift and cover all the patches. On the 4th drift and about 150' west of my starting point, I tossed the bait out and almost as it touched the water about 50' away, this big girl nailed it from just under the surface put up an excellent fight before I got her in the net. A quick picture and measurment and she took off strong and headed for home. It was interesting too as I got her only about 100 yards from where I landed another big fish in the fall of 05 and both fish came from 8 fow in the cabbage patches. I'm already lookin forward to heading back up there in August to see if this girls Momma is hanging around the same area. Thanks to all the OFNers who helped make this another fabulous week @ Lakair

Thanks for the great tale Mike & congrats to the pair of you on your anniversary. Whenever I see a long post from either you or Moosebunk I always leave them to read in the early morning hours with my coffee, they always make an excellent start to my day.

Thanks again for all the suggestions boyz, but I did a bit of searching on the net and found a guy not too far from home who deals in nothing but batteries, plus he came highly recommended by another OFNer who has dealt with him quite a bit. I picked up a pair of group 27 deep cycles with 225 reserve for less money than most others wanted for batteries with far less reserve. I'll install them tomorrow, then give them a good workout over the next week

Thats a great story TG and congratulations on 50 wonderful years and a good lookin family to go along with it. Diane and I will join you in the 1/2 century club in another 8 years.

Thanks for the responses guys, I've decided to go with the dedicated deep cycles rather than combos as that's what's always worked best for me in the past. I've been on the phone with various Walmarts in Toronto for an hour before I found somebody who could actually talk English, and then he had no clue what I meant by deep cycle batteries even though he works in the automotive section......what a terrible city Toronto is becoming..... Tree30eight, I'm getting the Group 27 deep cycles in Bridgenorth tomorrow for $120 each and to me I think that's a decent price compared to a few other places I've called. LeBarons is $125 but sold out Gagnons is $110 but sold out Paris Marine north of Peterboro is $147 Never called BPS so don't know their price. Very often the lttle guy is who we should start with 1st

My 2 deep cycle batteries for my trolling motor have given me flawless service for 9 seasons now but I think it's finally time to put them out to pasture and replace them. I use group 27's as that's the biggest I can get in the battery compartment but all I can find in that size is the deep cycle/ starting combo and I have only ever used the straight deep cycle and am wondering if the combo will work as well. Anyone ever use the combos for running troll motors and how are they ?? I'll be very pleased if I can get another 9 years outta them