Tom McCutcheon

One of the first Muskie reels I had was a Cardiff. It worked well and will do the job. I eventually upgraded to higher end reels and passed the Cardiff along to a young angler in MCI who was just getting started; for the price of a beer.....

Personally, I would look for another eastern launch or inland water to fish. I used to run a 20' glass cuddy cabin with full windshield. Under those conditions, it will be extremely bumpy on the west end of the lake.

Suggestion.....Take the above two photos with you to the automotive shop and tell them you want it to look like that..... Wow...what a neat and tidy installation.

That will get you started.....now hold on to your wallet....LOL

Better answer than mine.....LOL Certainly better explained.

I'm not sure, but I think there is something in the MTO regulations that say the safety chain needs to be high strength steel? You know, the gold coloured stuff.

You can get in at around $200. to $250. new all in rod and reel at BPS or Cabelas. That will give you a good start and tell you whether you like targeting Muskies or not. The problem with less expensive gear is weight and they don't last very long before something wears out or breaks. I'm not saying that high end stuff won't break, it does, but it generally is manufactured to higher standards. Check out used...in the classifieds of this and other forums. Lots of good deals out there.

I got lots I could rent you at a reasonable rate of $5.00 a lure per hour......LOL You would be amazed at the size of the lures they use on St. Clair...Most of what the Charter guys use is between 4 and 8 inches. I think a lot of that has to do with the 8 to 12 rod spreads and it's easier and quicker to retrieve and change smaller baits up. Your baits will work...Hell anything will work at times. If I had the secret, I would only have 4 or 5 baits....

Thanks Pete....tripped over my fingers. I have too many rods (don't tell my wife that) and forgot what was an all around rod instead of specialty. St. Croix has a variety of models in a variety of price ranges. Starting from entry level Muskie Mojo up to the Elite at just under $900.00 a pop. Canadian at todays rate of $1.31 and taxes included.

Safety pin spinner baits will come through the weeds better than an inline. The ones I mentioned are all readily available at most good tackle shops. If you can get your hands on a Videkie, Beaver Lure or River Rat do it. These baits are mostly custom made in the larger sizes and come up to 6 or 8 ounces. Colours would be red and black body with gold blades, silver blades or a combination of both. Either willow leaf or Colorado, or combination of both.

8'6" MHF will allow you to cast most baits up to 8 or 12 oz's . Depending on the reel, you could use it for trolling as well, but not for trolling big lipped, deep diver body baits. (ones with a dive curve to 25+ feet) Again spool it with minimum 80lb braid of your choice.

What are your plans? Casting or trolling? Whatever you get, it should be able to handle minimum of 80lb. braid.

Good point Chris...The lead between the treble weed catcher and the lure needs to be longer than the length of the weeds, per se. In really heavy weed edges, this method may keep the lure free of weeds and with an active wobble, for perhaps 10 or 15 minutes before you need to check and clear weeds from the treble. Most often that is the only location for weeds though and the lure will remain clean. Another good reason for running short leads on weed edges, it makes it easier and quicker to check your lure. Quite often you can see your lure and how it is running before you need to bring it in to check it. This is most effective for safety pin type spinner baits IE: Grinders, Grim Reapers, Handlebarz Eggs etc. etc. trolled a short distance back so they are only 1 or 2 feet below the surface. Body baits that dive to 3 feet or more get run in the prop wash on a short leash depending on the dive curve of the lure.

Mike suggests running shorter leads so the lure stays higher in the water column....good advice. Another thing to try would be running your lure directly behind the boat (10 to 20 feet) in the prop wash.

One solution is to use a three or four foot leader and attach a treble with the barbs cut off, at the end tied to your mainline. The treble will catch the weeds before they foul the lure. You still need to check the lure often though, and Andy has stated, the use of spinner baits or bucktails in heavy weeds is better than body baits.

If you go with Scotsman Point, there is lots of things nearby for the wife to do while you look for Muskies..... Like a small winery, antique shops in town etc. etc.

Two locations which come to mind that I can recommend. Both are well run and maintained. Scotsman Point Resort on Buckhorn Lake Pine Vista Resort on Stony Lake.

Akrisoner, I am not arguing with your statement, in fact I think we are both on the same page. The question was "In The Muskie World" and I answered. The Muskie in my avatar is a 53 and it is not my biggest, just the best looking one of a bunch of photos taken. I know of lots of anglers, both who guide and just fish, who have caught fish over 50 inches and each year they catch and release similar size specimens. These regular catches do not come from the Kawarthas.

The question was, in the Muskie world what is considered a big fish, and I believe my answer to be reasonably accurate. If you read my reply correctly, the 54" mark was intended as a bench mark for a reproduction mount. Those who routinely catch fish over 50 inches would also tell you that a big fish in their eyes would be something above 54 or 55 inches.

In the world of Muskie anglers, breaking the 50" barrier seems to be the most common goal. After that you start getting into real candidates for reproduction mounts with anything above 54" or so. Four years ago an average Muskie in the Kawartha was around 35" to 40". Now I believe those fish are anywhere around 40" or 44". There are 50" plus fish in the Kawarthas.

Please don't take this next bit of advise the wrong way. It is in no way meant as criticism. Read and understand the proper handling and release procedures regarding Muskies. Being a relative of Northern Pike, they do not seem to have the same capacity to recover after even a short battle. For the size of the fish compared to it's cousin, they are extremely fragile and need time to recuperate. Similar to Pike (or any larger fish) vertical holds will damage the internal organs and vertebrae. Get your camera ready for the picture while the fish is swimming in the net in the water. Tough to do in a canoe, but the larger your net the better. They act as a live well. A lot of Muskie Anglers will NOT target them when the water temps get much above the mid to high 70's. If you wish to learn more about your intended target, you can sit in on any Muskies Canada meeting with no obligation to join. Once your a member, a lot of the chapters are now running a mentoring class. You can get paired up a number of times with an experienced member and shorten your learning curve. Good luck and have fun.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions and that is what makes both our countries great, You still can say and print what you want to. The only point I have issue with in the last post was the one about the officer creating a traffic hazard by putting the rear end of his car out into traffic. The reason they are taught to do this is because of all the officers, emergency responders and tow truck operators who have been killed by some idiot who would not move over and sped past the situation clipping the said emergency personnel. They now leave the vehicle back some distance and offset to protect themselves and the people in the vehicle they have pulled over. I personally know of one such case where the responder was hit and flew through the air approx. 200' before coming to rest splattered on the back doors of a parked cube van ......

# 8...JB's just off the 401 west of the 400. On the edge of your 2 hour criteria would be Angling Outfitters in Woodstock, Fishing World in Hamilton, Grimsby Tackle Grimsby, Gagnon's in Oshawa and on the eastern edge would be Pro Tackle in Belleville. #1..I have the Lexa 300 in the 7.1 ratio and it does a good job of bringing in smaller bucktails both single and double blades, but I use it mainly for keeping up with glide and top water baits. There are several others on the market though such as the new Abu Beast. I have heard great reports about it. #'s 2 and 3..leaders....Stainless and Titanium are mostly used when throwing body baits. IE: top waters, glide, walk the dog, suspending jerk baits etc. Depending on the bait and the weight of the leader, you might use the lighter titanium in order to maintain the action of the bait. Fluorocarbon leaders I use on most safety pin spinner baits and in line bucktails. Length of leaders when casting, I try to keep between 12" and 18". When trolling nothing less than 36" and most often 48" 130# to 150# floro, stainless or titanium. When trolling deep water with lots of rock and zebra muscles, 300# single strand wire about 6' #4.. yes a lot of MCI members are going barbless now. They don't seem to report too many losses due to coming unpinned. What it does help with is the release of the fish and also the release of yourself when you end up putting a number 6 hook in your hand. (it does happen) #5 you will get barred Muskies in the Kawarthas, but I have never heard of or seen a spotted Muskie in the Kawarthas #6.. I don't see why it wouldn't work, but most Pike I know of are suicidal and you don't need to figure 8 them. #7.. BIG FISH EAT BIG BAITS.........need I say more...

Now there's a vote of optimism.....

Ya...cameras can play tricks on size of fish........and numbers.....