Mark.O

lol Thanks for the recap stuntman, I actually never looked at the condition of my line. I guess that would have given me some clues as to what happened...too bad it was so dark out too. Thanks again JP for the tips. The rod and reel set up you got me was awesome. Giordano was getting some decent bites with it too. And those Cleo's are just working like crazy. The line set up makes perfect sense, I figured it wasn't anything to do with the 8lb line but more so with my ill use of the drag. I'm heading back to try fishing again Wednesday night and this time, I'm going to be ALOT more patient with those monsters. Never expected to even get one of those on, let alone three in one night. Great fishing experience though. And all these tips are really helping. Now I won't be making the same mistakes as I was before. Thanks everyone! -Mark

Once again, thanks for the advice. My set up is as follows: - Shimano Symetre 2500FI reel - Shimano Convergence 10" rod - 8 lb line from Trilene - Lots of Cleo's Salmon fishing appears to be alot more trickier then pike or bass fishing. I'm used to the 1-2 minute fight that bass give me but not this drawn out fighting that Salmon seems to provide. But I'm more eager then ever to just go back and try fighting them again. The fight is just amazing, never thought a fish could fight like that, but apparently a 20lb fish is incredibly strong...I was actually getting tired 15 minutes into the fight. But next time, I'm going to let that fish tire out, even if it means sitting there for a good hour or two lol. I was fishing at a mouth of the Ontario river, to whomever asked me. Thanks again! -Mark

Thanks for all the replies guys. From what it sounds like, I shouldn't have a problem landing a salmon on my 8 lb line. I think my main problem was my drag. I should have fought the fish longer rather then getting excited after 15 minutes and tightening up the drag. I think I did something like 2 or 3 clicks tighter, which apparently makes a huge difference from what it sounds like. Next time I'm going to keep the drag at where it is, and let the fish tire itself out. But it's amazing at the fight they give. I've never fought a fish that big before. The biggest fish I've ever caught was a 4 lb bass so going up to salmon that weight 20-30 lbs is ridiculous. I'm going to post up my rod / reel set up and maybe someone can further help me out. Those cleo's are also amazing. They just attract the fish like crazy. I was amazed at the fact that I had 3 fish on in only 2 hours. Thanks for all the tips guys. And once again, i'll post up my set up for critiquing. -Mark

Heya all, Hope everyones doing good. Me and a buddy went fishing for salmon today at Lake Ontario at around 11 p.m. Got there and decided to use glow in the dark cleos from shore. Everything was going well till...boom, fish on. I was very excited for it, since i've never caught a salmon before. I start fighting with it, letting the drag out, reeling it in. Then boom, it's gone. Bad luck...since it took my lure as well. I tried once again. This time I saw the salmon break the surface after the bite. It was huge. I couldn't believe it. I was fighting with it for a good 15 minutes and no progress at all. I decided to tighten the line a little and I still kept fighting with it. When it was in a good distance from the shore, the line snapped again. I was devastated. But I thought I'd give this one more try...and sure enough I got another fish on. I fought with this one for a good 10 minutes when I turned the tension up a little. I had no problem reeling it in and it was close to being mine when it began to swim up to the surface and then it snapped my line. 3 cleo's down the drain...and 3 monster fish lost... Now, that was my first time fishing for salmon. I went with JP DeRose to BPS for the shopping spree when I won the WFN contest and he told me I should get 8 pound line, but he assumed I was going river fishing. Should I be using a stronger line? I just feel like there's no reason I should be losing these fish, especially when the fish feel exhausted and it feels like I just have to reel them in. Maybe 16 or 18 pound line is the solution? I'm very confused and sad at the moment...I'm not sure what to do. Judging from the size of the fish, they looked atleast 20 lbs. What am I doing wrong? Thanks. -Mark Orszulak

Woooah nice salmon man. What pound line were you using? I lost three salmon today...I think it has something to do with the lb of my line.

Thanks everyone! And just like Maureen said, the votes didn't matter at all. The votes were just for the secondary prize which I wasn't even close to winning. They told me that they "loved my video" and "picked it out of all the entries". So no ill-play was involved in this winning

I just talked to a WFN representative and they told me I'll most likely be able to pick up the boat this Saturday or Sunday. As for the fishing pro, it'll probably end up being Dave Mercer since I requested that lol. I'm veeeeeeeeeeeeeery excited for this and I'm going to get my brother to come and take pictures of the event. Make sure to check out the video if you haven't already. http://www.wfn.tv/rogers I'm on the front page =)

Heya everyone, I don't know how to say this politely but...I won the WFN contest! It came as a big surprise to me on Friday morning when I received the phone call at around 9 a.m. Someone called my house and said, "Hi, can I speak to Mark?". My sister thought it was my work calling and hesitated to give me the phone. The woman on the other end said, "Hi, is this Mark?". And I responded, "Yes, yes it is. May I ask who's calling?". "It's WFN calling to congratulate you on winning the Grand prize". I couldn't believe it. I was speechless and I thought it was a joke. It was such great news. I thought that one of my friends was playing some cruel joke on me, but it turned out to be the truth. I was sooooooooooo excited. And I still am, very much so. Winning the prize means alot to me. I've never owned a boat, I've always loved fishing (although ALL of my fishing has taken place from shore), and I've always loved to produce videos. For one of my videos to be considered good enough to win such a prize fills me with pride and happiness. I want to be an editor/producer later on in life and I'm heading to Ryerson this fall for Radio and Television to pursue that dream. I'm excited for this week since they're going to give me a call and tell me how / when I will be awarded the prize. Apparently I will be going to Bass Pro Shops at Vaughn Mills to get the boat. There will also be a production crew waiting to tape the event. As well, they are considering bringing in the fishing pro to come with me on my shopping spree and they also want to tape me on the boat, getting fishing lessons from the pro. I have no idea who the pro is, but some good fishing advice is always appreciated especially when you have a decent amount of money to spend. =) Thank you to anyone who supported my video. And thanks for reading my story. This event is truly surreal to me. It is single handely the most proudest moment of my life. I still can't believe I won the prize...and I can't wait to use it =) - Mark

douG, I used the "moss mouse" by snagproof, in the white color. Nothing beats the moss mouse for top water fishing, in my opinion. I've had a decent amount of hits on it (this being the first landed fish on it actually) but nothing bit it like this bass. If you're going top water fishing, I really recommend it. And if you do get it, make sure you bend the hooks up to increase your chances of hooking the fish, that's what helped me out. -Mark

Heya all, I'm heading up to Sauble beach this week and I wanted to do some fishing. I was wondering if anyone knows any good fishing spots in the area or a general area I could go fishing? I've looked around the web but can't find any information. It's right on Lake Huron, so I assume there must be some good areas to go fishing. Anyone have any idea? Thanks for any help or suggestions. -Mark

Heya all, Yesterday I went up fishing at Scugog with a bunch of buddies in hope of landing some good bass and pike (and maybe even a musky ). Got there around 9 am and the bites were pretty slow. Nothing really was biting until around 1 pm, that's when I landed a personal best of mine, a 3 lb 14 ounce 18 inch largemouth bass. All thanks to the moss mouse.

What about Bluffer's Park? Anyone ever heard anything about the fishing there? Apparently Pike and Walleye are possible there?

Where abouts on the Grand River is the walleye located?

Heya all, So tomorrow I have no work, no plans and nothing to worry about. So i'm going fishing. Now, the problem is finding a place to go fishing. I live in Mississauga so I try to stay in a 50 km radius from where I live, which pretty much means the GTA area (or Halton region). I've been to the Toronto Islands plenty of times fishing for pike, been to Guelph lake twice with little success, to Fairy lake in Acton twice now, and to the dam near Wild Water Kingdom with little success. It's not bass season yet so i'm not going after any bass but I do want to go pike fishing. And I want to try a new location. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Or am I better off staying with the locations I have now? Any suggestions or comments are appreciated. Thanks alot - Mark (p.s I'm stuck fishing from shore since I don't have a boat)

Hey all, Me and a bunch of buddies are going up to Algonquin this weekend to Mew Lake. I've heard that lake trout is in season there so I want to go fishing for some. Has anyone been to areas near or around Mew Lake? Or to Mew Lake? If so, how were the trout biting? Also, I know it's not bass season yet, but are they biting there? What other fish can I be expecting to catch? And finally and most importantly, what kind of lures / bait should I be bringing if I'm going fishing for lakers? So far i've gotten a silver / blue spoon (labeled with a 60), a jig for drolling, and a small tungsten spoon. Any other suggestions? Thanks a bunch. -Mark