lew

Good to hear I'm not the only one to get rid of boats that aren't being used enough. Only issue that came up was when we book a cabin, specially for 2 weeks, we always haul a pile of stuff with us. I've got a short box pick-up so a lot of the bigger bulkier items would be carried in the boat along with my 8' rods so I needed another alternative so I bought a cap with roof racks on it. I'll just store it at back of the yard when not being used. Should work well.

Sorry dan668, we were posting at the same time and your right, the decision was a tough one. If this is your 1st time at Mashkinonje your gonna love it and if you've been there before you know what I mean. Regan and Goldie are as good as they come when it comes to running a lodge and customer service. Have a great trip.

Thanks boys, good to know most agree that it's foolish to keep a boat sitting in the garage most of the time when someone else could be using it. I've also sold off most of my musky gear and have just kept a couple rods and a few baits that I know work up on Nipissing. And for those that have offered me a seat in their boat, thanks very much for the more than generous offer. And Rich, I think September is gonna be your turn for the 50.

I was a lucky guy and was born into a family who absolutely loved fishing and my Dad got me into the sport waaaay back about 1950. We always had a boat and my earliest memories go back to learning how to fish out of this cedarstrip and that rod & reel Dad's using is probably the outfit I learned with. Great memories ... I enjoyed fishing my whole life and then 40 odd years ago I got my 1st musky and my focus turned to them and for the last 4 decades musky was basically the only fish I chased. We had a house trailer in the Kawarthas for 36 years and I always had a boat and spent a crazy amount of time travelling around the area musky fishing. There's an insane amount of muskies in the Kawarthas and for the most part they're very easy to catch and getting multiple fish a day is the norm, infact one morning I boated 9 fish in 2 hours. I used to average around 80 - 100 fish a year and my best season was 115 fish. Trouble is the Kawartha muskies for the most part are smaller fish compared to a lot of Ontario. There's lots of fish in the high 40's and over the years I was able to get quite a few over 50 but there's just too many small fish and after many years I began to lose interest in the area. I live right in the heart of the Kawarthas and am only 200' from Clear Lake but haven't fished here in 2-3 years. I enjoy fishing the Ottawa & St. Lawrence but my favorite place is the West Arm of Nippissing and I've been going up there 2-3 weeks a year for about 12 years now. Not near the numbers of musky but when you get one it's almost always a good fish with most in the high 40's to low 50's. Trouble is the last couple years my boat has sat in my garage 49 weeks a year and only gets wet up on Nippissing as the only fishing I do now is a week in June and a couple more in August. A group of us from this board head up to Mashkinonge Lodge on the West Arm every June for the musky opener and Regan who owns the place is a musky nut like me. We've fished together a few times and he always liked my boat and said he wanted a glass boat and he'd like to buy it. I've thought about selling it for a couple years so a few weeks back I made the tough decision to sell it and just use a camp boat when I head north. My wife and I are heading up to Memquisit next week for a couple weeks and I've already reserved a boat for the trip. It's a fantastic boat and I hated to part with it but it just didn't make sense to have it just sitting in the garage collecting dust 49 weeks a year. Regan made the drive down yesterday and picked it up and I don't mind saying it was tough to see it heading down the road with him Been a very long time since I was boatless but it was the best decision and it's for sure gone to a great new home. Here it is in my garage just before it left. Heading out my driveway for the last time. Sure gonna miss her and my garage looks so darned empty now. I've put some very nice muskies in that boat and she's well slimed and I know for sure Regan will continue the tradition.

AttaBoy Mike, outstanding fish and a great tale to go with it, congrats on the PB. Don't worry about what anyone thinks about you putting on that glove, I once got my thumb sliced open for 8 stitches from a dopey little 30"er.

Nice to meet you and Pete yesterday Dave and good luck with the new gear. Good to see you fellas put a bit of slime in the boat too.

Stay there Dave, I'll be there in about 2 months LOL

Thanks Dave, we're gonna be taking in all the sights and are really looking forward to spending time in the Annapolis Valley and all the small fishing villages. We did Nova Scotia 25 years ago but didn't spend enough time down where you are now. Interestingly though, my ship was HMCS Annapolis. I did my basic training just north of Digby in Cornwallis and even though that training base is closed down now there's still a museum there I want to visit. As I said above, we're gonna spend a day or 2 in Halifax but from what I can see from wandering around on Google Maps it doesn't appear as if any of my old stomping grounds even exist anymore. Guess I'm gonna be a stranger in a place I knew very well many many years ago.

My wife and I are heading to the east coast in September for a few weeks, gonna do Nova Scotia & PEI but won't be setting any destinations, just gonna cruise around till we see something we like and stop. I was stationed in Halifax with the Navy back in the 60's but from pictures I've seen it sure looks a LOT different now than it did 1/2 a century ago. Digby and the entire south coast of Nova Scotia are definitely on the list. No destinations and no time schedule makes for a great trip.

Don't forget the new girls uniform Joey

We always have a great time when we all get together every year Joey and this trip was no exception. A blast as usual and already looking forward to next year. Pictures turned out great too.

Have a safe trip Art and we'll see you & Joe on Saturday.

I don't think the types of weapons being used is the real problem, I think the REAL problem is why the heck do so many Americans feel the need to go out on a regular basis and kill as many other Americans as they can. The slaughter of innocent people south of the border for absolutely NO reason just boggles my mind.

Well done on the 50, some guys never reach that mark. Real pretty fish !!

My wife & I will be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary this coming October, we were blessed with 2 wonderful kids, we're both retired & live a fantastic life in the country and my wife kicked cancer in the azz last year. Money is just fluff, I've already won the lottery many times over.

Sorry to hear that Norm, Steve was a great guy. He was always trying to talk me into going carp fishing with him and said once I tried it I'd never want to chase muskies again but his persuasions were never strong enough LOL Always sad when we lose another good guy.

Every things fine guys, thanks, I just decided to take a break from posting here for awhile.

And yet another post bites the dust...so friggen sad.

Clear Lake in the Kawarthas was wide open yesterday and today it's completely frozen over but I sure wouldn't go out on it. I was by Chemong an hour ago and it's the same, basically frozen right across. Sposed to be in the 40's later this week so that should get rid of it again..

Different type of crowd around here these days it would seem Kelvin, the G2G's used to be a real popular thing at one time.

You got yourself some nice fish this year Mike and good to see your gonna spend more time casting too, it's a great way to catch'em.

Sorry to hear that Sam, it's a lousy disease and hopefully Princess Margaret has some good news for you. My wife beat it last year so don't ever give up hope bud.

This site has always been about loads of topics other than fishing and is what keeps this place so interesting and has always been the norm.

I store firewood on my old skids, yours looks much nicer. Really nice job !!

So how'd you like driving in the snow with the new winter tires Steve ?