scuro

I'm going up north next week to give muskie fishing a true go, I'd appreciate answers to any of these questions: 1)Do you really need a Muskie type net? Can you hand grip a Muskie as you would a large pike? If a muskie net is needed what should the minimum diameter be? 2)Is there structure that should be trolled vrs. casted too? What I mean by that does some structure lead to much higher percentages for each method? 3)Big vrs small // flashy vrs realistic // fast vrs slow - If you can be out there for hours with no action, how do you know when to go big,flashy, and fast vrs smaller, more realistic, and slow? 4)trolling speeds around 5mph, I did that before and that just seems like an insane speed. Does everyone always go fast? 5)In your mind what is ideal muskie structure? 6)Any specific pointers for next week on a shield lake in the Northbay region?

I had a moment like you had recently. $120 a day for a boat rental. Sure I caught fish but these are fish I could have caught from shore. The next day I went out with leadcore in a canoe and caught a laker. That was kinda of magical...so many things came into play but I kept it simple. People blow 10's of thousands of dollars on fishing...buying trucks...boats....motors. Changing their life even with cottage purchases. Where am I going with this? It's easy to get caught up in the gear and miss the core elements of fishing. Knowledge, being in touch with your environment, patience,....and luck. Luck changes.......recently I tried foul mouthing a lake, it produced for me to prove me wrong!!

Mackerel...when they are there they are there. When they are not they are not. Large schools come close to shore in the summer. The farther you can chuck out a spoon the better. 3/4 cleos work great...any colour with silver. When they are "on" you will see others fishing from shore. Don't let that bother you even if you have fish inbetween two people....there are plenty of fish. They will cast with three hooks on the line and sometimes have 3 Mackerel on. I liked the longer cast because you have more action. It's a great fish for kids. Cast it out for them and let them reel it in. I liked my lure in about 5 to 10 ft of water....so I reeled in medium to medium slow. When they are there you can have a fish on with every cast.

Backwoods with Leffe....how backwoods is that? Awesome beer, excellent report, sounds like the type of trip I have been chastised for (but honey if I can't see a way through the jungle I won't cross it ) Looking more closely at this pic.... Is that Dan "excited catching so many fish" or is that Dan after a few? (notice the empties at the front of the boat)?

I did go barefoot....I didn't step on a hook....I slipped during a light rain and went flying. My foot caught the bottom of a metal seat. I had a nice cut and couldn't walk for a few days. I'll always wear something in the boat now.

I actually fished below the dam last summer. Met a local who said he used to always be able to catch walleye there. Beautiful spot...watch out for large submerged bolders. It's not deep at all although there are a few pockets that I could see from shore. Caught nothing but a few bass there on that one night.

If that fish weighed two hundred pounds I would still lift it by myself

I went into my local tackle store yesterday and mentioned that I was going to a lake south of Huntsville. The owner said why are you going there, there is a lot of fishing pressure on that lake. I'm going with my mother and the kids so I really don't have a choice. This last spring I was at another lake and again talked to an owner of a local tackle store. He suggested targetting whitefish because walleye are hard to come by. ..what regions of Ontario have heavy fishing pressure. If you were to draw a map what parts of Ontario would you put in the heavy fishing pressure section?

I also heard good things about Wheatly chrome fishing from a patron in my local fishing store.

At 46 I finally spent a week with my wife on a fly-in. We hadn't really fished before. That was a great trip. Finding a new common interest makes it feel like one is dating again. I look forward to fishing with my wife in two weeks....and yeah when it came to bringing the big fish to the boat and getting the best looks, she out fished me!

That's gonna be a curse for me. I'm going up to the cottage that we have rented for over 10 years in the third week of August. While not known as a Muskie lake there are Muskie in there. It has several good areas of weed on rock and sand bottom with real good drop offs all around. I'm ready for bear. I have slowly been accumulating gear and I am ready to go. This will be the dry run where I will devote a few hours for a few days specifically on Muskie. At worst I'll have the routines down for when I finally go fishing with my older brother. We both have busy lives and live in separate cities. We haven't even vacationed together as families for three years. This year for my birthday he agreed to go Muskie fishing with me for a weekend this fall after thanksgiving. I cover the cost, bring the gear, and pick the lake. Hopefully it's going to be an annual thing. We were extremely close as kids. The goal is to catch a muskie and photograph it. I have cousin who lives in Germany. He comes to Canada every few years. He loves to fish and hunt and is very intrigued by Muskie, a fish that one doesn't see in Europe. He wants to go salmon fishing and although I have done salmon fishing with my brother in law and enjoyed the experience, I hate to say it on this board...compared to casting to your target, I find it a bit mundane. To me there is nothing like feeling that strike in your hands, hearing the rod squeal, water splash...and then having to out smart a crafty competitors every move. I also like knowing that it was you who put all he elements together for success. Here is a thought that just occurred to me. There is a one nice reed bed along a point that sticks out from shore where the lake narrows. There is deep water on the downstream side and the front of the point. But...it is near the cabins...say a 100 yards from the dock. Kids are playing on the beach and the dock all the time. You would hear screaming and yelling. The kids would be jumping in the water and clattering with canoes. Some might even come by to see what we are doing. Do muskie need the solitude or do they adjust to noise if the habitat is good?

Having only fished the smallest part of Nipigon I can't tell you much. The fishing was unremarkable at that time(see earlier posts). Yet even on this small arm along highway 11 things were different. To begin with there was a major current that would run both ways in this section of the arm! The wind blowing across this huge lake would move huge amounts of water. When the wind blew north you could actually see the the current rolling over a point like on a river. I marked all sorts of fish against that point but was stupid enough to call it day seeing that we hadn't met the relatives yet. The wind never blew north again. Near the resort is a bridge and the current would change directions sometimes several times within an hour. This attracted fish and I have to say that our easiest fishing on this section of the lake was by this current. As I mentioned before the main lake is cold. You would have spring conditions well into the summer, then I started checking out the incoming water. Remarkably one source was 15 degrees warmer then another source. Fishing was hot by the warm incoming water because it was a cold summer. Later in the summer the other river would be a magnet. Who knows how warm the main lake gets. Mostly I got an impression of Lake Nipigon in hearing people talk about it. You know a place is good when people get that far off look as they visualize what they are about to describe. They told me enough so that I want to go back again....Lakers for sure...brookies if you come at the right time...walleye all over the place...and pike that are completely overlooked. That sounds like a great multispecies fishery. I also walked and fished the shores of Superior. Just standing on the shore I got the impression that I was in BC on the southern coastal islands...rolling hills on islands and a vast plain of water. It was remarkable to catch brookies so close to shore. In fact other people in our party were casting from shore with cleos and catching good sized brookies. I'm sure there is good fishing in Superior too. Charters out of each town. The thing that impressed me the most about the area was once you got off the most beaten path, the fishing gets better exponentially. Better yet the area is stunning. There is so much water to fish...even on the most beaten path, we saw maybe one fishing boat for two 1/2 days.

I'm at the point where I want to give Muskie fishing a serious go, it time to catch that first one. Sure I have made stabs at it, trolling giant spinners at ridiculous speeds or casting huge pieces of wood till my arms felt like molten lead. Two weeks from now it will bea different story . For one I have more then one Muskie lure to troll and cast with lol. Secondly, I am big guy, I like to throw metal and wood and like to impart action on my lures. Most of all l like the feel of utter chaos in the boat when a large fish hits a casting lure. Muskie fishing seems like a natural fit. So I have been told that these conditions are good: a ) a bit of chop, b ) partially cloudy or overcast, c ) before the full moon, d ) before a cold front. Then I hear of "opening" and "closing windows", and how it is all completely unpredictable. But...having said all that...are there little tiny cues in your Muskie environment that tell you that you are there at the right time and the right place. I'm thinking of cues like some species of bird, a particular look to the water, the feel of the air......give me ANYTHING so that when my arms are like lead this next time around I'll have a little more confidence to continue longer.

Yeah it's from years of bruising caused by rank amateur anglers who consitently drop them on the ground...even when kneeling!!!

It bears a lot of weight if it is written, signed, and dated by you. If it is simple, keep it simple and go that route. For example, "everything to my wife except my overpriced carp gear which goes to the first non-british OFNer who wants it". If there are any complications go to the lawyer.

Awesome part of the world. Nice pics

British anglers look sideways? That's gettin a little weird. So I go looking for British Carp photos but instead find bloopers on carpanglers group forum. Looks like the large ones are a squirmy fish. http://pictures.carpanglersgroup.com/bloopers/ I have grabbed carp by the mouth. It works better with medium sized carp. Now I am thinkin that this photo might be a british carp angling faux pa? What could I do, I was by myself? Besides who wants carp slim all over your hands?

Nice report with good pics to give one a sense of the location. Love the pic with the Nephew. I understand your plight with children. My daughters are all older now and my wife now likes fishing

Too bad about the lost gear!

I just noticed that most Carp anglers kneel when holding a large Carp for a pic. Large Pike, Muskie, and Salmon fishermen don't do that. There has got to be a reason.

CHUNKY...now that is carp fishing and a better fight then the average pedestrian angler could even dream about. How many tackle boxes have muskie lures that have never caught a fish?

I can only dream....

This recent thread discusses Nipigon. http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9679

You saw the church at sunrise as you drove by...I saw the church after we determined that we didn't want to stay in Longlac. At least some in the town have a sense of humour. Look closely...you might get a laugh out of the vandal's remark.

doohhhh!!! duplicate...where is the delete button?