trapshooter

Nice fish there. I bet the walleye cooked up real nice.

EDUCATE!!

NIIIICE boat Mike!! We just talked about canoes last week. Glad to see you found one... and in such great shape and loooow price!!

Keep willing that ice to melt... I need it gone by May 3rd!!

Wow Mike, you made it look like I knew what I was doing!! hahaha. Great report buddy. What a fantastic summary of our day, awesome pics and vids. That was too much fun and I know we'll have a 'round two'. Isn't anybody going to poke fun at my spinning reel? lol. Honestly, steelheading/floatfishing isn't as easy as you guys make it look. I kinda felt like a fish out of water, however, I had a great teacher... with the patience of a saint!! Thanks again Mike, it was definitely a trip I'll never forget.

Steve - pleasure to finally meet you. Funny that it wasn't even a fishing related event. Neil was awesome!! Everybody Knows This is Nowhere was my fav but there were a lot of great classics. Down by The River, also incredable. And I could go on, and on, and on.........

Good to meet you and dave as well, Will.

Anything is edible, I guess. I wouldn't keep one myself, especially not a big one. Lots of ppl. eat catfish though.

Sorry gang, as it turns out I won't be able to make it thursday.

Yeah, nice to meet up with you guys as well. Two 19's is awesome!! Steve is a great guy to fish with, not to mention that nice live sucker he tossed you guys. Class act for sure.

TILLER!!

With all the cat reports coming in from the Grand River lately, I knew I had to give it a shot. Perfect timing with a trip home to S. Ontario this week.

I arranged a guided day on the Grand River with Steve Piggott (smithville-fisher) who runs Angler's Way Guide Service. Steve is a great guy to fish with... very knowledgeable and friendly. He walked me through all things Cat fishing related.

We had a great day out there, landing double digit cats with most being in the 8-12lb range.

Within 5 mins of setting up I hear Steve yell... "There's a cat" and I stepped into my first Channel Catfish ever.

Steve tying into one.

Double. About 20 mins into the day.

More cats.

Steve's rig. Pretty much my dream boat. 20' Lund Alaskan Tiler, 90HP.

The last fish of the day turned out to be the kicker! 17.3lbs on the digital scale

Thanks, Steve, for an amazing day out there.

NO KIDDING!

lol

Nice limit out of Dore there Simon. Good eats for sure. Be careful, mr. greenpants is watching you!! hahaha.

Nice laker and good lookin pooch too. Love ice fishing!

How much is it (typically) to hire a guide?

Depending on experience, equipment (your boat or the guides) and number of people - $160-$400/day

Do you tip them at the end of the day/week?

Either way, it doesn't matter to me. Most of my guests tip at the end of their trip. Not getting tipped (which has never happened to me in 4 years) would send a clear message that you didn't have good experience at all.

Does every guide make you a shore lunch, or is that just on TV?

Depends what you want. Where I guide, shorelunch is included with every guided day on the water.

If one is new to a lake (say Rice Lake, or Sturgeon) would you all recommend hiring a guide for a day to show you some spots/techniques for the week?

It would definitely shorten your learning cure for that lake and (hopefully) have you on fish for your trip better then if you started from scratch, on your own. Definitley find out how much the guide is actually on that body of water. The more the guide fishes any particular lake, the more likely they will know what's going on with the fishing.

If you are using a guide for the day when you are staying for the week, will they load you up with a weeks worth of spots and tips, or would that be job security suicide?

Double edged sword for sure. This really depends on the individual guide. The best thing you can do is talk to perspective guides before hand and get a feel for these things you're wondering about.

Does it make me less of a man if I hire a guide instead of pretending that I know enough to find fish on my own?

No.

Has anyone ever hired a guide on a lake that wasn't from a resort that they were staying at?

No.

I live in the area but haven't heard of it. If it's a fly-in, chances are you won't have to work too hard for your fish. June is the best month for catching walleye in NW Ontario. If you can't bring in minnows, crawlers or leaches - get some gulp alive. Jigs and spinner rigs will catch a lot of fish but don't rule out casting cranks to wind blown structure. Good luck and post a report here when you get back.

i can see where a lot of people can relate to this Ben but if a twenty dollar lure catches big musky and thats what you like to catch and it makes ya happy so be it, if a 20 $ lure catches perch and that's what makes ya happy then so be it as well.

 

i guess my point is if your catching the fish that makes you happy and gives you a thrill the price of the lure shouldnt have to relate to a species or certain size of fish i guess

I hear ya, and that's why I said it was just my opinion. Different strokes for different folks... whatever floats your boat. It's that type of thing.

I bet it catches fishermen as well as it catches fish. If it's not a muskie bait, I'm not paying twenty bucks for it. That's just my opinion.

Pattern, pattern, pattern. The only way to know is to pattern your gun with different loads. Loads will perform differently in different guns and choke combinations. What works well for someone might not perform very well at all in your gun. Good luck.

Niiiiice Ryan! Awesome pictures. You guys laid a hurting on those cats. Well done.

alibi is fine with me. What time?

Again, Outstanding. Those pike a flawless.

Great pic with the snow/ice and open water in the background. What a pretty fish.

What superdad said. We do it the same way, set the releases so they don't release when a fish hits on our inlines - waaay to much work to turn around and get your board. Simply reel board in, have your buddy unclip it boatside and continue fighting fish.

 

Think of teh inline board as a bobber.. it will behave differently if you have a fish on.

More good advice. Raf's the one who taught me to run boards.

Less then 2 weeks now raf and we'll be out there, hopefully watching boards behave 'differently'.

Using a planer board for crankbaits, you set the 'clicker' on the reel and have the drag set such that it just holds the board and line out. When a fish strikes, IF it is big enough you will hear the clicker on the reel and see the board being pulled back - FISH ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You should have the board clip set tight and the board doesn't come off with a fish, you reel the board in, remove it and fight the fish.

 

It's a REAL pain if you have to pull the lines in and chase a planer board

 

As Duber said, you can get tattle flag kits and they'll tell you if there is a smaller fish or weeds on the line. You can make them yourself, buy some springs at CTC, a nylon bushing and a piece of stainless wire.

 

They work GREAT and allow the lines to be away from the boat - ergo More fish

 

Cheers

There's the best answer you've got so far. You definitely don't want your inline planar boards to release from your line until you reel them to the boat (with fish still on the line) and take them off yourself and continue fighting the fish.