trapshooter

Hey Gordie, great recap of the trip. It was a pleasure to spend a week with you and Brad. You're right the guys on the trip made it even better.... and the food, wow.

Great recap Rob. Had a lot of fun with everyone on this trip. I'm glad your brother came along too... where's the rabbit picture?!?!

Way to go Lew! Awesome muskies. I got a good war wound this year myself... too bad it wasn't from a 50 incher though!

Nice fish Simon! A 28 is a great walleye.

Nice chunky bass. Must have been a blast to catch them like that.

Hey gang, thanks for the great feedback. I feel truly privileged to live here and fish these waters. Lac Seul is a fisherman's paradise, no question.

Some really awesome fish there Ben. Always nice to see a post from you. I've driven past that lake way too many times. As recent as last Wednesday in fact. One of these days I'm going to pull over and have a closer look.

Let me know if you're coming through Sioux Lookout Dan and we can try to line something up.

Thanks guys! Hey Wayne... I saw you holding a real nice muskie in a photo recently

With a day off the water here I decided it was time to get caught up with everyone on the OFC. First, I can't believe how fast the season has flown by. Summer is going to quickly become fall in NW Ontario. I already have a tree in my yard that is turning yellow and dropping leaves.

Anyhow, fishing has been great this summer. Lots and lots of walleye, some big pike and big muskie as well. Didn't put a lot of effort into bass or lake trout this summer but still got a few nice ones.

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking rather then blabbing on and on. Here's a sample of some of the nicer fish from this season.

WALLEYE

My wife with a nice one that she caught.

MUSKIE - it has been a great season for catching muskie on Lac Seul. Lots of action, some near misses and some great fish in the net. This is what I live for!!

Why not start it off with a bang! This fish was on the 3rd day of the season and was the 3rd muskie in my boat. It ate a Jimmy on the 1st spot of the day, 10 casts in. Biggest I've guided yet this year @ 53.5"

A real Lac Seul fatty!

Another chunk for my buddy Dave... just a hair under 50"

Love this release shot too.

New PB for me this summer @ 51-inches. Definitely helped ease the pain of losing one about the same size earlier that day!

Some more muskies....

This is a 52-incher that ate a top-water bait at dusk. I'd been chasing this fish for a couple weeks!

These next 3 were all caught in one evening.

Another one for Brett from Thorne Bros. We have good luck together!

These next fish were part of a 4 fish day. Could have been 5 fish but I lost a big one. Talk about a game of highs and lows! The 2 mid-forty's fish I got helped ease the pain though. They've been hitting good lately in the first hour after the sun goes down.

Thought this was a muskie.... but I'll take a 41" pike any day of the week!

Here's a couple lake trout we jigged up on Big Vermilion lake. Definitely fun for a change!

They don't run very big on that lake but when you can catch fifty lakers in the 3-6# range in a day it's all good fun.

Looking forward to heading up to Richter Lake with some OFNers Sept 3-10 on the Eddie North trip. That's going to be here before we know it!! After that back to chasing muskie until freeze up. Yes... it's an ADDICTION!! haha.

Cheers and good fishing everyone,

ben

Great fish Jay. Gotta love it when the walleye are on like that.

Thanks gang! With walleye season going strong and muskie just around the corner I think my days of chasing big lakers on Minnitaki are over until fall. Was a lot of fun while it lasted though. They are definitely a lot of fun, esp those big ones. There's another lake nearby where we jig in the summer 50-80 FOW but the fish run a lot smaller. It's easy to catch 20-30 a day but most are 2-7lbs.

Heading up lac seul again tomorrow after an absolute blow-out/cold/wet day today. We'll see how the fish are biting post-front.

Tell John Bondy that I showed Linda Rice this video and she is ordering some of his baits for her musky shop here on Lac Seul.

Very nice report. Your knowledge of mayflies is impressive!

Great job Brandon! Really enjoyed the video.

Epic!! That one Dave got is just a slob!! Great pics and story as usual Mike. My fav. pic is of that pike in the grass.

Good stuff Simon, some nice fat walleye for you. I hear ya about the mayfly nymphs, most of the walleye I've harvested in the last 10 days are loaded with them.

There is a nice Provincial Park on Hwy 72 call Ojibway PP. It's on the way to Sioux Lookout, about 30 mins off the trans canada hwy. The turn for Hwy 72 is 30 Kms EAST of Dryden. The lake the park is on is called Little Vermilion and is loaded with smallies. Just an FYI. Hope you have a great trip.

Awesome!! Great fish and Pics!!

Didn't you wear the BPS 100MPH suit before? How does it compare?

I still have the BPS Bibs (and Simms coat) and they are a good combo. The Frabill suit has more features and better hood/cuffs, pockets, pliers holder etc. It seems bullet proof so far and I've got it pretty wet already.

Thanks guys.

Johnnyb - good old mono, 12 lb, with a swivel 3' up the line.

Solo - love the Frabill suit! Awesome features, dry and very comfortable to wear.

Have a day off the water here and thought I'd get up a quick report from the spring fishing so far.

After the ice goes out here I have one thing on my mind.... lake trout! Followed the ice off the lake and were catching fish right away.

Caught that fish trolling a 4" white tube jig. Learned that trick from the guy in the background of the picture, an old-time local guide. Believe it or not, a tube jig trolls straight as an arrow and mimics a swimming smelt / ciscoe. 1oz with 100' out was getting down 15'.

To change things up we did some bushwhacking into a stocked splake lake. The action was fast with fish on my first 2 casts. I was chuckin' a in-line spinner and the other guys were getting them on slip-bobbers.

Back on the lake trout hunt....

and a real fatty for my buddy Brandon

Walleye fishing has been great since the season opened on May 21st. The spawn was over by then and the fish were scattered. Been getting them pitching jigs to shore in 2 feet of water and as deep as 20-feet vertical jigging. They are on the move, transitioning along mainland shorelines between spawning areas and their summer haunts.

Looking ahead, muskie opener (June 18th) can't come soon enough!! Got a nice package in the mail from MikeP with some of his handlebarz dbl 10's. They look awesome and I can't wait to start chuckin' some big baits!

Steve!!!!!! That's awesome, what a great trip. That laker is a sow... I dream of 40" lake trout!! Very cool! All the fish are fat in fact. Gotta love NW Ontario!!

Both those decoys are made by Cherokee sports and are sold at Wal-Marts down here. Cabelas also has them. They ignore the hen and go right for the jake. They are inflatables.

Haven't seen em up here but then again I haven't been in a Wal-mart hunting dept. this year. My buddy just got a Zinc inflatable and it looks good too but was $100 bucks at BPS.

Ouch!

I have an article in the 2011 Fishing Annual issue of Ontario OUT OF DOORS that talks all about flatlines, planer boards and dipsey divers for lake trout. First week in June will be excellent timing for these trolling tactics. As mentioned above, depth is key, both for how deep you are trolling over and how deep your baits are. A trout that is 20' below a spoon/plug passing over head can cover that distance in seconds to slam your bait. Watch for marks on the graph and try to keep baits above the fish when trolling. Dipsey divers are very effective but it really helps to have a line counter reel so you know how deep your bait is at at all times. Spoons and plugs are great off Dipseys, I like plugs (esp. jointed rapalas) behind boards and flatline you can't beat a cleo or a small inline spinner. U can add weight up the line to get them down a bit deeper too. Pretty much the name of the game is covering water and trying different baits at different depths until you find some fish. Good luck and have fun!!