MuskieWannabe

There is currently a Simcoe Musky restoration program underway to help them regenerate.

Just to clarify, the boat is 1495 lbs...even if you take away the motor you are still looking at aroun 1200lbs, if not a bit more. I think your 600lb is way off, just check those specs again.... As a sidebar though, it does look pretty good. Sometimes those basic boats are the best.

search "perfection knot" on google. I have begun tying and crimping my own muskie leaders, and I have found that the perfection knot is the best one if you are tying. It is pretty well the same as the canoe knot but I find it a lot easier to tie.

I'm actually having my motor raised up as as I type....If the motor is too low the exhaust will sometimes suck in a bit of water. I foudn that if out by myself, in a tiller, that after 5 or 6 hours of water splashing at the back of the motor it would sputter and spit a little bit. After talking to my mechanic and testing a few things we realized that after a few hours of water hitting my exhaust port, because the motor was too low, it would cause the motor to not run so great. My exhaust was too close to the waterline when sitting idle so we're lifting it up a little bit to give it more breathing room. No doubt it will fix my problem! Cheers!

Smallies, largies, pickerel, pike, muskies......Not too sure what else but I know I'm missing a few. Pretty good fishery and a great place to go if you have a smaller boat because even on a windy day you won't get blown around too much....Usually a first destination for me for the muskie season as it's the first spot that opens up in the summer.

Probably stolen. A boat like that, that year is worth close to $15,000 if not a bit more....

With the warm water I'll be staying in the 5-15 FOW range. Find a nice rock or weed shelf that's maybe 5' deep on top and around 15' dep off of it...that's the structure I've been using and will be using tomorrow morning. I've had some awesome luck with shallowraiders and jakes in black perch and regular perch colors. I've also been trolling around 3.5MPH, so it's quick, but not too quick for the cooling water. I also wouldn't be afriad to chuck some top water lures over shallow weeds beds early in the morning or just as trhe sun is setting...the warm water should push them a little more shallow. Good luck, MW

The best one on Ottawa is Bits and Baits...bar none!!! If you want a lure that no one carries, talk to Gord, the owner, and he'll surely do his best to get them for you...Has done it many times for me already and his selection is growing each and every season! If you search bits and baits online you'll find his website!

we openned up a smallie a few weeks back and it had 9 crayfish in its belly! The thing only weighed 2 1/2 or 3 lbs! And she was still feeding because she nailed the lure!

I think I'm doing yet another early morning fish for them tomorrow. Have found a few spots that have been holding muskeis the past few weeks so I'm hoping to see what else is around there. I've been trolling bucktails with modest success but may start off with a few jakes to see if there are any big girls lurking around. Good luck to all and hopefully we can swap lies on Monday! Cheers

Hey there guys, I'm heading to a friends house-warming party somewhere near Rice Lake for the long weekend. From what I can gather is a more shallow lake with a lot of weeds. I have heard that the South end should be my main focus, but I really have no idea. Never been out on the water here so I was just wondering if anyone had any tips for hitting this body of water. No need for honey holes or anything, but a general location to focus my efforts on would be great! Thanks for the help, MuskieWannabe

Updated!

Well, I didn't quite live up to my last day on the water but landing two more for a second straight trip was nice. I was trying a new section of the Ottawa, almost 30km from where I got the others ones this week and it paid off. Nothing too huge but I figure landing a 38" and a 32" in the same spot shows promise. Needless to say, it'll be getting a little bit more attention next week. Cheers, MW

Headed out last night, which was going to be hit or miss because there were calls of thunderstorms, but as luck would have it, we didn't get any at all and ended up being a pretty nice day, weather-wise, on the water. We hit the water around 5:30 pm and started the troll off right away. I put us into a spot that I had caught some fish before and by 6pm we had a screamer. My buddy grabbed the rod and the battle was on. Not long after the fish came shooting out of the water so I yelled to the fron of the boat for the rod tip to stay down, and also because I didn't want him to see the fish. I had taken Collin out before without any luck. I think he has caught a couple small muskies before but this was not going to be one of them. I could see her out the back of the boat and could tell she was a big girl. The battle took only a few minutes or so, although it seemed a lot longer. She kept wanting to come shooting out of the water so I just kept telling Collin to keep that tip down and keep her coming. As she got close to the boat I got the net in the water for a nice smooth catch. I took the hooks out of her and kept her in the net, THANK YOU STACEY FOR THE NEW NET!!!. We had the camera ready so I pulled her out and handed her to Collin. I snapped a few quick photos and we got her back in the water. I held her boatside for about 10 minutes before she kicked away. She didn't go too far and wasn't too keen on going anywhere so I used the electric and grabbed her again to help her along. Another 5 minutes or so and she went down and took off with a good whip of the tail. She was a beauty and will live to fight again!!! Hopefully see her in a few months!!! She measured in at 47" X 20". Congrats Collin. Out of respect for other guys that fish the area I blacked out the background. Sorry if it offends anyone but I think it's the right thing to do in this case. So, about an hour after that was released we ended up pulling up another girl, this time it was my turn! It was only 50 yrds from where the previous had come from. She was a nice 44". Again, netted her nice and easily, quick photo and had her back in the water. This one kicjked away pretty quickly and was off to fight another day. Ended up being one of the most successful days on the water yet and will be one for the books. Cheers, MW

Dog River Lodge Lure Company http://www.dogriverlodge.co.nr/ I ordered a spinner on Friday from these guys and got it in the mail yesterday. It only cost me, to buy the spinner and ship it, $23, which is a pretty good deal, and it looks awesome! I'm also loking at the mmbaits lures. River rat also has some awesoem ones...Caught a lot of fish on theirs already. riverratlures.com mmbaits.com

Well, as luck would have it, they are no loner calling for any thunder or lightning and instead are just calling for off and on sprinkling from about 9am until around 10pm. From all reports though, we're only suppossed to be getting a few mm's of rain in total today so it mightn't be too bad this evening. We may get a little wet but I have a feeling that it won't be too bad. Fingers crossed! I'm taking out my fiancee and another friend who has never yet caught a muskie. Hopefully we can hook him onto one tonight. Cheers!

Hey there lads, Just wondering what people think about fishing just after a thunderstorm has rolled through? They are calling for thunderstorms to end tomorrow around 3pm and I am planning on trying for some muskies from around 5pm until dark. Just wondering what experiences people have with fishing just after thunderstorms. I'm hoping that they will still be somewhat active. They aren't calling for huge downpours and only a few mm's of rain in total so I don't think they will be shut right down altogether. Hopefully some people out there have had good expereinces after a thunderstorm to keep my hopes alive for tomrrow afternoon! Cheers, MuskieWannabe

Hit the Ottawa on Saturday. Despite the lack of any wind whatsoever and the burning hot sun, managed this chunky 34 incher. At 11:30am under the sun, which goes to show you that even though weather, wind, and time of day may be against you, if you put in your time you can still catch them some days! Cheers

So, some of you may remember a few weeks ago I was asking about them because I was in the market for a new muskie net...Well, I had talked to them on several occations before heading down there, from Ottawa I might add. I was visiting soem friends but was pretty stoked on getting a net. They had told me about three times, have the emails to prove it, and they came right out and said they had the frabill's and beckman's in stock and would have them for me when I was to arrive. So i went there, as planned, and that's when they told me that they don't even carry the frabill's I had asked them abuot only a few days earlier. They had a backman there and were going to sell it to me....BUT IT DIDN'T HAVE A HANDLE!!!! Seriously....So, needless to say, I was pretty p.o.ed. They had a great selection of muskie baits but man, if you don't have what I want, just say so rather than make me go out of my way and tell me you don't have it once I am there. It all ended up great though as Stacey at Pro Tackle Muskie had the net I wanted and was a lot cheaper than anything at JB's. Let's put it this way, the big kahuna at JB's was $250 while Stacey is selling them for $180!!!! To save $70, it's worth the little bit in gas! Thanks Stacey and I'm hoping to break in the new net tonight!!! MuskieWanabe

Trolling the Ottawa with a spinner....didn't hit too hard but put up a good fight for my buddy.

Went out last night and took a buddy of mine who doesn't fish too often and has never caught a muskie before. After 2 and a half hours of nada we finally hit one. Couldn't get a good measure on it but it was in the 42-43" range. Nice and fat too. Needless to say, he wants to go out again.

I am figuring aruond the $150 range, but just don't want one that be around $179.99 and tack the tax on it and end up over $200. Hopefully they will still have some in stock towards the end of the month! Thanks

Hey there all, I live in Ottawa and am heading to Toronto in the next couple of weeks and was wondering if anyone knew if JB's carried musky nets? The only places around that I know for sure would be Pro Tackle Musky, but I'm not even sure yet if they actually keep them in stock. Just wondering if anyone had any insight as to if anyone around carried some muskie nets? I think I'm looking between the Frabill Big Game, the Big Kahuna, and one of the Beckman muskie nets. I've used them all and all are pretty sweet, but I'd liek to keep it well under the $200 as much as possible. Cheers, MuskieWannabe

an inline spinner, black with orange blades...It was pretty sweet. I may try taking a video next time....

Hit up same gar yesterday....couldn't find the tape measure but she would be pushing the 50" plateau I think.... If her tail had been straight out she'd look a bit bigger, but she's up there.