scuro

A bachelor party is always a piss-up. Your ideal will be corrupted...or may be not. I once took about 6 guys on a charter for salmon fishing on Georgian bay. That is a beautiful part of the world and they sensed that. It was very different from anything they had ever done. They still all got ticked up and we only caught one decent salmon but they remembered it and still comment about it. Pick the right time of year like now and you should have great results, we went on a blazing early summer day. I can't see any muskie charter guy wanting beer swillers on their boat. The muskie charter guys are more mystical like where by everything and anything can throw off the muskie gods. They would shriek in horror upon seeing your crew with their intentions. Salmon charter boat operators will simply laugh at your groups antics while they troll into the sunset and ring the register to a good payday. One outfit out of Meaford has two boats if your party is larger, that could be fun.

Well it's not like you can just go out on the river and catch a muskie. This is the fish of 10 thousand casts. I spent two afternoons last month tossing large pieces of lumber with no results. Personally if you are starting out in fishing and you want a good scrap, I'd start out with carp. A good 20 pounder will give you more then you can handle and you will learn how your gear and tackle hold up. Sure the carp isn't the most glorified his but pound for pound it fights as well as any fish. Large catfish are also a blast.

Yeah....the Fraser River lodge record is 12 ft. caught this year. They get bigger. One of the guides caught a 11ft and said he never wanted to catch a fish that large again!

I wasn't bored at all!!!! So are they casting large spoons close to shore for the salmon?

If fishermen want really large fish for the fight in Ontario usually they go for Muskie. Lake Sturgeon have been caught in Lake Ontario measuring as big as 6'8". A few anglers target this fish but they are rare and far between. On the Fraser, which was getting a lot of pressure this year, you would fish for 8 hours and typically land one possibly two fish. Sometimes you would get more and the one day we only caught one between the four of us. I'd have to assume that the Lake Sturgeon population would not be so concentrated here in Ontario so your results may be worse. We also had a guide. I've gone out twice now to try and catch a Sturgeon in Ontario. I did catch this. Which put up a pretty good fight. You may enjoy this link. http://www.finefishing.com/aaspecies/records/whitestu.htm

Nice report, love the pics of the kids!

I guess you can literally call your fish a bruiser . I know what you mean about getting a rush and for me it was sometimes even before I was fighting the fish. When my turn was up my adrenaline would sometimes start pumping when the rod started bouncing. Sometimes there would be no Sturgeon and it would be a squaw fish or the lead rolling but my heart was in my mouth often anticipating what could possibly come. I can only equate fishing sturgeon to getting into a fight. One moment things are normal in the world and the next moment you are in a physical drag down fight in which your heart is racing and you can feel the blood pumping in your head. Good on ya that you caught the biggest one, I can only imagine what that would have been like. I never saw a fish caught larger then 6 ft. We briefly talked about the possibility of being beat by a girl before we went fishing on that last day. It was funny, first someone said that would suck but then someone piped in that you earned it and we all got contemplativly silent and then agreed in reverent tones. When you can get a group of guys to be quiet and think about your fish you have really accomplished something. "Getting lifted off of your feet"...I heard about that from Dean and was hesitant to put it in the story because it didn't really sound plausible. Yet after looking at Simon's series of pics of the battle more closely tonight I see that your hat has come off and that both Dean and the guide are hovering around you. This pic looks like a romantic snapshot of a couple looking out on the water. You are wedged in-between Dean's legs and he has his arms around you. Really what he is doing is anchoring you to the boat! Tell me more, I didn't hear this part of the story!

A good section of part two was told to me second hand and in parts I took the liberty to fill in the dots to make a better story. I hope that I got it right in the spirit of what happened and also in the details.

part 1 to be found here-> http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10822 -------------- -------------- As mentioned before on day two Simon bested Moosebunk. What I didn't know until recently was that this would end up being Simon's personal best fish for the trip. This one came in at a whopping 81 inches long. They actually lifted it out of the water. Simon had also began to perfect taking breaching shots with his camera. Here is a pic of Dean's Sturgeon. On day three the crew of Simon, Dean, and Diane slaughtered them again. Coming home from the Pitt river we learned that the rest of the crew had the best overall day on the water of what would be our combined 6 full days of Sturgeon fishing. Bunk's and even Simon's best fish of the week would fall to Diane. Not only did they catch huge fish they also lost some beauts that are undoubtedly seared into their memories now. These are the type of fish that gets an angler craving more of a species. In Simon's case he hooked into a Sturgeon that was estimated to be over 8 ft long. Upon the hookset it bolted straight out to the horizon. It took line until the 130 pound test broke. Simon nicknamed this fish "freight train". Dean also hooked into a very large fish that got away. He battled it all the way back from it's initial run where upon seeing the boat the Sturgeon breached the water, gave a violent head shake and dislodged itself from the hook. In that regard the Sturgeon have an advantage. The hooks are weighted to the bottom of the river with 12 ounce weights. When they do breach and shake their heads the weight swings from side to side with a lot of force that can easily dislodge the single barbless hook. As luck would have it, Diane would end up catching the largest fish. She had already been tuckered out earlier in the day by a previous 4 plus footer and then her turn in the rotation came up again. Knowing Diane I'm sure upon the hookset she pleaded to her maker, don't let this be a big fish...but that outcome was not in the plans. She hooked into a 7 and half footer estimated to be just shy of 300 pounds. The monster tries to shake free Diane said that this powerhouse brute disheartened her because she thought the fight was all over when she hopped off the boat with rod in hand to get on shore to land it. But, as it neared shore this Sturgeon knew danger lurked and promptly did another terrific run. I can imagine it now, she had given it everything to get it close to shore and then this crusher shows her another gear. The battle would last 40 minutes, which was typical for the larger fish. Landing the fish was no easy task either. Simon said that he was given the task of holding the tail with rope once the guide had control of the fish to unhook it. Once unhooked this Sturgeon gave several last thrashes of it's tail and Simon had to hold on... or forever be the one who let HER FISH get away. As described by Simon it shook it's tail and soaked everyone nearby as he got jerked from side to side. What a monster Diane had many bruises on her body from that battle that coloured into to deep rich hues a few days later. She would display none of them. She did have an interesting oval and symmetrical starburst bruise that was visible on her arm which she couldn't explain. She had initially thought the pattern was caused by someone grabbing her during the fight yet there were at least a 1/2 dozen dots that radiated perfectly from the center. Dean would close out day three with his personal best of 76 inches. That evening after another great dinner I decided to take a walk down the rivers edge and walk off some of this excess weight that I was already gaining. The hills had a particular enchanting glow that evening. looking up the Fraser river from near the lodge looking downriver Day 4 was a Southern Ontario type of day. We didn't start the morning with the normal nip in the air. A warm muggy day soon descended upon us. It had been determined that I would get the second go for Sturgeon that morning and I was mentally ready for it. I had new strategies in mind for battling Sturgeon. This time I'd use more of my body for the fight and try to use less arm power. I could do it...I think I can...I think I can. Our last day would be for salmon fishing now that they had lifted the salmon ban so we all wondered if Diane's lunker would stand as the best fish for the week. This was the last shot at a mammoth and we were all drooling. Diane had nothing to fear. I never even got that last chance to hold the rod seeing that we only landed one smaller fish in the morning. Was it the weather? ...or perhaps the extensive pressure put on the sturgeon since every boat on the river fished them this last week with no salmon to catch? A cold front moved in that night and things would be different the following day. It got very warm on Day 4. Our last day was the first time that we would all fish together. Most of us only knew one or two people in the crew before we met. I knew only Drew. As crews go I'd have to say that this group worked like a well oil machine. There was absolutely no bickering, squabbling, hurt feelings etc.... in fact there was genuine interest and concern shown by all for the others in our group. I'd fish with any of them again given the opportunity. From L to R - Simon, Dean, myself, Drew, Hoss, Diane, and Scott. On the last day we were going bar fishing and in Scotty dog's case that was a pretty good literal description. The cooler was full. Basically with bar fishing you find a bar, which in our case was long line of sandy beach along a stretch of current on the river. Long baitcasting rods are placed into holders and once again led weights are used to put the lure near bottom. A large glorified plastic spinner then sits in a stationary position a few inches off bottom spun by the current of the river. When a fish is on basically you would lift your rod up out of the holder and run like a fool up the beach until you met resistance. Then you would have to turn around do the hookset and then play the fish. This was actually very comical to watch because most of us hadn't sprinted in decades and a number of us wiped out on the dead run. our bar fishing set up Originally we had all planned to stay by "our" rods and play only the fish that went off on our line. The first rods in the line went off a lot more frequently then the other rods. My rod went off first and I was quickly limited out, you can only keep one. I went off in search of humpies. Funny thing was that I could see their wake as they crossed the shallow water. I tried many times to unsuccessfully to drop the lure a little in front of them and intersect them as they moved forward. What worked was reading the water. They were fighting current the whole way so I looked for the slackest current area and simply did a slow wobble across this area, that worked and I caught a dozen or so Humpies. This is a lot fun since they do put up a pretty good fight. Male humpie Female While I fished the others also limited out. Dean with a boatchaser Moosebunk giving er Nice fish Bunkster Hoss proud Diane had troubles keeping her rod up. Perhaps her arms were burned out from the day before. She landed that fish! The final gathering place It started to drizzle and the wind picked up in the later afternoon. We all gathered under the tent and drank beer and chatted idly. Only Scotty had yet to catch a fish. It really didn't look like he would catch one since we only had a half hour before we had to leave....and then just as everyone was laughing at some joke and no one was paying attention to the rods, the guide yelled out, FISH ON. That didn't register with Scotty right away so we started yelling. YOUR ROD...RUN...GET YOUR ROD. Scotty cocked his head like a deer in the headlights and quickly sprinted towards the rod. We all stood up and yelled like he was rushing down the field for a touch down. I swear if I had been able, I would have done cartwheels at that time. He grabbed that rod, ran straight, back, did a fine hookset, played the fish beautifully to shore...and then promptly fell on his ass. I looked in horror as I saw the hook pop out of the salmon's mouth with the slack line. It began to attempt to swim away. A guide ran over and swatted at the fish with a net and missed. It was getting away and more swats ensued until he finally netted it. Wish there was video of that whole scene. What a perfect ending to a trip. About time Scotty! We stayed at the Fraser River lodge http://www.fraserriverlodge.com/english/

Beauts...you live in my dreamworld.

The story is told from my perspective. The biggest fish were caught in the other boat while we were on the Pitt river which happened on day three. I decided to leave that for the second report. It is told in a chronological manner although not strictly so, that would break up the flow. In the first report I showcased the PB of 3 of the 7 people on the trip. Moosebunk would catch one that was one inch bigger then the Sturgeon displayed in this report. There are easily enough pictures and stories for two reports. Personally, I wouldn't do another strictly Sturgeon trip again. I'm not exaggerating about the power of these fish. Some people get off on that in a Hemingway manner...others don't. Diane whom you may know as ladyfish refused to fish Sturgeon after day three. She was done like dinner.

Nice carp...awesome report of a place that one always hears about but few go too. Thanks for sharing.

I grabbed the rod and with that it began. Is that a smile or a grimace? ...line was peeling out and it peeled more and continued to peel. Depending on your perspective I was lucky or unlucky. Most people would think that I was very lucky. But this in not the line peeling that most of you know. These fish want to rip the rod out of your hands. My whole body had instinctively tensed when I encountered the power of this bruiser. You have to hold on for dear life. More line continued to peel off. I was gripping the rod far too tightly and in the background I heard someone say, breathe Chris. First contact with a large fish could literally see you lifted off of your feet and it happened to a few in our crew. If the Sturgeon is big enough...say 6 plus ft or more, that fish can easily spool you on it's first run. If you're in danger of getting spooled the guide simply releases the anchor and follows the fish downriver. Previous to coming to the Fraser river, I would have liked to have been spooled. I had thought that Sturgeon fishing would be something like Salmon fishing...I had envisioned hauling in a giant slab of fish. These fish were no slabs, the larger they were the more in control they were. We may have lost our biggest fish simply because they dominated the fight. The peeling stopped. How long had that taken? No time to think about it, now everyone was yelling, reel. REEL. REEEEEL. Any slack in tension and the fish might get off the regulation single barbless hook. This wasn't the sort of reeling that I was used to. I have seen large fish peel line but usually after that run you get a second to reel in slack line. This was no slack line reeling. This was still a total battle. Only now with leverage, strength, and power on the gears.... I could make some headway. Yet line taken in wouldn't matter because the Sturgeon would simply peel it out on it's next run. This was simply a battle of brute force and stamina and for the first time in my life a fish had put doubt in my ability in both departments. With time I brought the fish closer to the boat and now the fish darted with mini-peels. People scrambled out of my way as I lunged from side to side on the boat. More peeling and then my fish came boatside in a somewhat manageable manner. It wasn't a long battle. I'd guess it was over in ten minutes.... but never till the end did this Sturgeon give me an inch. I exercise three times weekly but was left huffing and puffing like an old man climbing the CN tower after this encounter. Was that fun? Am I simply smiling because it's over? They caught one at the lodge 3 times the size of this one this year?!???? I contemplated this. My turn was coming up later in the day but being the kind altruistic sort of guy that I am I gave up my spot in the order so that Hoss would have a chance to catch a fish on the first day. Earlier he had lost his fish. As luck would have it I never got a shot at that second Sturgeon on day one. Damn!! My wrists were sore. As I am typing this my forearm muscles are still sore. Everyone landed a fish that first day except Dean on the other boat. On average we caught a little more then one a fish a person per day. Usually we would miss several hooksets per boat per day on the Sturgeon take. Nor was it uncommon for a Sturgeon to get off the line at least once a day. Drew would have the hot hand on day one. His fish would be about 2 ft longer then mine and we had to release the anchor to chase it downstream. As hard as my fish battled this lunker simply totally outclassed my fish in every department. Drew had this look on his face after 20 minutes of battle...with his eyes I saw him wondering if this beast was going to ever stop? This fish had to be dragged to shore. It was too large to lift onboard. Over on the other boat Scotty got into a nice fish also. A pleased Scotty with his first fish. And then the day was over at 3pm. We would come back and sit on Muskoka chairs. It was a total contrast, now we were in the lap of luxury laughing and recounting the day’s events while drinking German draft beer.... ...this was the view from our chairs of the mountain across from the resort. Day two started out well. Like yesterday we were up at 6 am to be on the river at 7 am. Hoss caught a 5 and a half footer and like me he was huffing and puffing and amazed how dogged the fight was. Power vrs power. Hoss with the best of his trip. Hoss with a head shot. Unlike me he was lovin the pain. Hoss and Simon are avid salmon fishermen and had strictly come out for the challenge. Seems like most where here for that challenge. They were here for these epic battles and lovin it. I had come for the "BC experience". Unfortunatly the salmon fishery was closed and we couldn't Salmon fish until our last day when they lifted the ban. I had no choice but to Sturgeon fish day two. Day two would see me with my personal best for the trip at 4'8". It was the second shortest PB for our crew of 7. Bunks best would fall to Simon on day 2. The real monsters would come on day 3 but you will have to wait for part 2 for that report. After day two we came back to the lodge to tackle more gourmet meals. I ate so much during the first two dinners that my stomach ached. You think I would have learned my lesson after the first meal. Salmon cooked the traditional way by a local native. Waiting for the feast. Dinner Our turn for the Pitt river excursion was day 3. We could only take 1/2 of our group, the other half would go day 4. This was one of the few times I insisted upon anything on this trip. I was going, my arms needed a break. We got up at 5 am and reached the Pitt Lake with sun up. It was a forty-minute drive across the lake in a jet boat. We were on the fish early in a pristine wilderness setting. We all worked this first pool but initially only Scotty raised a fish. We scattered, looking for our own sections of stream. Bunk and Scotty headed way downstream while Hoss stayed on this section. I went upstream. After a fair bit of fishing I brought this bulltrout to shore. The guide had given up on Scotty and Drew. They had bee-lined kilometers down river and up embankments. Harry tracked them but wasn't going to climb embankments. That meant that the guide split his time between Hoss and I. He explained that I was standing in ideal water and had most likely spooked a number of fish into deeper and fast running water...not a good strategy. We went to the top of the run and I fished from shore. Soon I caught my best bulltrout of about 2ft. (picture is of poor quality) Then I hooked into something that jumped. Harry our guide said, Bulltrout don't jump.... keep that line tight! Harry had given me more then one piece of key advice and it all came together. It was a treat to catch this fresh Sockeye, apparently this is difficult to do but with much of the fishing here in BC I had little to gage our results with. Most of the best fishing was done early. By the time this pic was taken the bites were hard to come by. I had the hot hand that day having caught more then a half dozen Bulls plus the Sockeye. Drew working a section of the river. Part two and the monsters to come.... http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.p...t=0#entry110376

At my local fishing store they have a book with those depths. They make photocopies. I don't know if Basspro would carry that or if they did how many people in the store would know. The chart does not give you a depth for every colour and only gives you depths for 2 and 3 mph.

I too like to prepare. Excellent detailed report, it brought be there with you.

Having slayed all the under 30ish incher pike and 3 pound and less bass in previous years, it was time for a game plan change. This year the target species would be walleye, lakers, muskie, and sturgeon. Sad to say I struck out on four species. Unusually I didn't catch one walleye, even an incidental walleye. Lakers...I may have had one on but it is was off just as soon as it was on. Muskie, not even a look or follow. It would be up early to bottom bounce for walleye. Caught sunfish, rock bass, pike, smallmouth, perch...but not one walleye. Took my wife out twice to fish for Muskie. This was her second time of serious fishing. She looked at my Muskie lures and made quips such as that looks like an elongated dead rat. After three hours of heavy lead tossing my nephew cornered me on my return to take him out fishing. He bragged that he had caught 27 fish and I had only caught one. That was how my week was going. Saw a lot of pretty countryside trolling. Even this frog came from under the seats to look me seriously in the eye for the longest time. I could hear him thinking, "that speed is way too fast dude". Campfires are always pleasant. Over the years we have collected a lot of tag alongs and we basically fill the whole camp now. The kids are celebrating Paul's birthday. My wife and her sisters deny that they smoke. Okay...a very occasional social smoke now and then. Hey nieces and nephews...BUSTED!! On our final night I thought I'd give Sturgeon fishing a go. The water of this lake empties into the Ottawa so it was possible that Sturgeon could be in the lake. Got this nice catfish in 60 ft of water. Fought like a mid-30 inch pike at the boat but finally gave up exhausted. She was determined not to be lifted from the lake bottom and felt like a good snag for a few minutes. Never took her weight or length. I wouldn't have been able to find anything to measure her in the dark. Best to get her back in. So ends another summer.

I didn't recognise your daughter until I saw the pic of her fishing There it was again, that focused steeley stare.

Speed is everything. For instance 3mph at 7 colours will only get you down 22 ft. You need charts on depth vrs speed. If you slow down you can actually see the angle of line going down. Even with charts and my gps for speed, I seemed to be trolling a little deeper then I thought I was. Other factors come into play. I'll be away this week trying some trolling in a deep lake also.

It's very easy to just get in a motorboat and troll. When things are working you just don't question that way of fishing. Out on the big lakes it's a safer way to go but is it necessary on a smaller shield lake? A canoe has advantages, the major one being that you are more actively fishing and enjoying the surroundings more. No noise, no smell, and the subtle sound of birds is lovely. A canoe is more agile also and that would particularly benefit flutter spoons. I was toying with two hard strokes and then pausing till the canoe almost stops....then two more hard strokes. On the GPS I saw that this would bring you from about 5 mph to 0 with a good deal of time spent in the 2 mph range. The effect on the spoon would be a rising in the water column and then fluttering down. Sure you could do that with a motor boat but no one would. That is how I caught the one fish although at the time it was more accidental in that I was attempting to adjust the rod. The other thing that I would try is trolling in the 1 mph range. That makes it a lot harder to gauge how deep you are because I haven't seen any charts at this speed. A motor boat can't normally reach those speeds on a troll. The lures still have good action at that speed. The disadvantage of the canoe is if there is any sort of significant wind. I wouldn't try trolling in those conditions. I also found the laker fishing was tough last week. I can imagine that the recent heat drove them down and they were getting accustomed to the darker depths. PM if you do go out and let me know whats working for you.

Being skunked is the worst, double so 2 days in a row. On day two I'd be breaking out the small jigs/micro plastic and/or worms on a jig or bobber if necessary to put dink bass/perch in the boat. Did you resort to live bait? How did the canoeing go....run into any wind?

Can't believe I missed such a fine report especially since it is about Nipigon and cruising Nipigon. I was up in that area at the same time and I can attest to the poor weather. Can you tell us a bit more about the cruise? It's something I thought of doing in the future. How did it work out with the smaller boats towed along? Did they do a lot of fishing off of the main boat? I actually got to see the boat at reflection lake resort. The cost was $1500 per person for 6 days. Any detail would be appreciated.

I've read hundreds and hundreds of reports on several boards over five years of active cruising. This one stuck in my mind the whole day, it's a classic. If someone says small boat, I'll think of your misadventure off the bat. "No way I am getting into that boat with the weather forecast predicting "WIND". Such is life, we all live through bad things at some point that seem like such a disaster in the moment. Your wife will never forget that trip either. I also did something I never do, I bought a lure based on a report. I've got my pink x-rap.

I read your story and then told my wife about it and we shared it over coffee. She enjoyed it too, especially the part about the Ukrainian scouts coming to the rescue. She plays scrabble with me and I have done stupid things on a boat so we could both relate. We also rent a cabin every year not far from the park. I know that area well and have canoed through it. I've never tipped a boat but then again the smallest boat I've rented was a 14ft., given the opportunity I'm sure I would have done it by now. I've had several rods go overboard and can strongly recommend the more expensive rods with cork in the handle. You had some lovely pics, glad the camera was saved. I look back on mine from that time period and cherish them everytime I see them. Electronics are not automatically ruined if they are submerged. The big mistake that most make is that they turn on the unit and short it out because there is still water inside. Open all the compartments and wait ten days. You would be surprised how often electronics can be saved. Did I mention I went in the drink with my cell phone?

Did the annual week with me mom and my kids at a cottage near Huntsville. Basically I fished in the morning and evenings in a canoe if the weather cooperated. I also rented a boat for two days and trolled a bit with mom in the middle of the day. She likes the ride. Trolled very hard for lakers on those days and I was skunked in that department. Did manage to catch fish and was happy that I am getting much better at locating and catching fish but I wanted a laker. On the last evening I go out with fish finder, gps, leadcore, and tackle in a canoe. Now at my local tackle store I have met guys who go to Algonquin park and go for lakers but I thought they were a bit daft and a little too idealistic. My original intention was simply to get a bit deeper for some bigger pike...but then I had to set up and I couldn't get the rod holder to clamp properly and the next thing you know....I've drifted into 60ft of water. Being that deep I dropped the core down to let out line without snagging. Checking the gps I have no problem doing 4-5 miles an hour on a steady paddle. 2-3 mph is a lilly dipping sort of stroke. This is different, no fumes, costs nothing, quiet....and fish on! First one of the week. Not a keeper but big enough to tell me that I was on to something. I fished for another hour or two with no problems. If anything I fished better. I was more aware of line and my surroundings...less mindless sitting there controlling the motor. So I got to thinking...why buy that big boat? Do I really love bass fishing that much? For the few times that I can go out in the year, isn't it better to go some place exceptional or simply scale down and do it simple?