Sterling

Tonight wasn't so good. Pulled up 4 fish within the first 30 minutes, then nothing at all until sundown. Had 4 extra lines this time too. Once again the average size seemed better than last year. The population is growing up! Joey how did you do with perch???

Yes we were using a mix of chubs and shiners. Still torn as to which is best. A healthy shiner will always outfish a chub, but chubs refuse to die so you're more guaranteed to have a live bait swimming around...

Managed to get out and drop lines for about 45 minutes, the fish were on fire! Pulled in 5 fish, lost 4, including a dandy that was peeling line (probably a pike). Going back out tomorrow for sure.

Anyone been out? I'll be out there tonight for a couple hours. Supposedly it was PACKED yesterday.

There's a reason Nosbonsing is cheaper and less busy; fewer fish to be caught. At least you might be able to get some keepers on Nos though.

Nipissing is hot hot hot if you don't mind C&R. Fish in Callander Bay or any other shallow area for good karma.

Maybe I'm taking crazy pills but my understanding is that medical marijuana (as in - prescribed) is allowed in any workplace. Surely it falls within the same ruleset as chronic painkillers - don't take them while operating heavy machinery.

Like Joey said, deep is where perch usually hang out. My shack is stationed in the eastern flats and we get maybe 20% perch, 70% walleye, rest is a mix of everything else including pike. If someone can suggest a way to "target perch" in shallow water, I'd be all over that!

Assuming the raymarine works reliably, I'd say it's probably better considering it's a CHIRP setup. I own the sonarphone t-box and it's super reliable. I think you do pay for the app every year, not 100% sure though. This is my first year using it. Key difference is that any lake updates are automatic and instant. Also you can select the areas to download, rather than downloading the entire country and taking up all sorts of space. Most people already have a tablet so the cost may or may not be considered as part of the setup. I must have spent $600+ on my setup since I loved it so much (brackets, case, wiring, etc). Definitely some problems with using a tablet for a purpose other than what it's intended for. Some units don't perform well in direct sunlight. You want a high brightness tablet like the Tab 4. There are other issues too, like certain cases acting as insulation and making the tablet overheat!

WOW. Garmin is stepping up bigtime. That historical view looks fantastic for profiling the fish.

Any tablet or phone really. When I'm fishing at the back of the boat, whoever is in front can hook up to the unit's wifi signal and see what I see (with their smartphone). So that's another neat feature. It won't do down imaging or side scanning, for one. But in terms of mapping etc, it's unbeatable. Navionics, Onyx, and this garmin unit (which I just learned about). And by live mapping, I mean driving into a completely uncharted lake and having contour maps (bathymetric maps) created instantly.

Not going to pretend I know the exact features of Humminbird and Lowrance, because I don't own either, but can Lowrance do bathymetric maps on the fly? I was under the impression only the onyx series was capable of that.

I say this every time this type of question comes up; if you're somewhat tech savvy, consider a navionics + t-box setup. http://www.sonarphone.mobi/ There's also the wi-fish by Raymarine, it uses CHIRP to give improved image. For $300 you have a setup capable of doing what only $2000+ Humminbird units can do. That is, chart bathymetric maps on the fly. Plus you don't have to pay for the "chip". Speaking of chips, those are archaic rip-offs, just like paying for GPS map updates yearly. There are some downsides of course, but for the price, totally worth it.

If you're ok doing catch and release and don't mind fast action but smaller fish, consider Nipissing. Fishing was outstanding in 2015-2016 and should be even better this winter.

Here I am sitting in a hotel room surrounded by skyscrapers and cars. Such good reports by Mike!

3 days 3 fish? Is that unusually slow? Incredible fish by the way, thanks for sharing.

Where did you hear this? Sounds great. A small increase like this would be done in a calculated way. Suspect they're trying to get sportsfishing harvest to 15-20,000kg by adding 1in to the slot.

Thanks, I had originally misread. I swear I saw someone from the MNR or NFN claim 25%. This summary offers pretty good insight. Mortality is high in tournaments because the fish aren't immediately released. Seems like catch & immediate release gives a 98%+ survival rate, which I think is fantastic. Interestingly, fizzing leads to much higher mortality. Also, cooler water = lower mortality. http://www.fishfactor.tv/documents/Competitive%20Angling-Peche%20Competitive/walleye%20catch%20and%20release%20mortality.pdf

Amen. If you're into C&R Nipissing is phenomenal right now. Best I've seen in a decade (the decade I've been here, ha). Can't wait for these little fish to grow up. I'm cautiously optimistic that there will once again be a healthy population of fish. If we were at 10% keepers I'd be happy. We're on year 2 of a 3-4 year growth cycle for the 2014 stockers, only a couple more seasons to go! Kill rate through the ice is a huge problem. Netting or not, it's something we have to address. Perhaps this needs to go beyond Nipissing too. Noticed that about commercial netting data. Where is it? Did I miss that part? It can be interpolated though. We have enough numbers to figure it out. Someone claimed 13% sportsfishing, 87% commercial. Not sure how accurate that is. Important to note that in past years, both sports and commercial fishing exceeded the recommended yearly catch. Now sportsfishing is in the safe zone, finally. Time for the commercial fishery to play their part. The experts warn that at this rate, a collapse of the population could occur. It's funny and sad, but I think a collapse would be the fastest way to resolve the situation and save the lake long term... As far as we know the self-imposed moratorium and rules aren't working. I'd like to hear how they've adjusted in 2016, and sincerely hope they managed to rein in the uncooperative folk. Consider that in 2015, "illegal" netting during the moratorium alone exceeding sportsfishing harvest. That's 8 days of illegal netting exceeding a full year of sportsfishing. Astounding.

With the old slot, shutting down the lake would be the right move. With the new slot, most people don't harvest any fish at all on Nipissing, so the lake is safe over the winter. Keeping the lake open is the right move, unless they can substantiate claims of 25% mortality.

As much as people are slamming the MNR for recommending "yet another study", I believe it's the right move. I personally think fish mortality is huge through the ice - something we need to fix. The current slot limits for sportsfishing are adequate and put our harvest levels within the safe zone. I know that puts our harvest rate at 3% of all catches, but lets fix the 3%, not the slot. I read the full report from the independent study. Some interesting highlights; 1. Number of catches from sports fishing is at an all time high. 2. Number of harvested fish (fish kept) from sports fishing is at an all time low. 3. Sportsfishing harvest has been cut 1/8 from 2014, when the new slot went in. 4. As others have pointed out, netting is now overwhelmingly responsible for harvest numbers. I think us sportsfishermen have done our part in reducing our harvest. I encourage everyone to continue supporting the new slot size, as painful as it is now.

DanD that is so cool...

Tremendous news! Crazy to think it was an infection the whole time.

For pike I love me a #1 syclops spoon, they cast like a football so you get tremendous distance. Hot tiger is my best but any color will do. Finicky fish like summer specks, nothing beats slow death hook with half a nightcrawler. 8lb fluoro line, bury that hook completely. Deep walleye shad raps are great, the UV ones performed well this summer in tanned water. Harnesses always work too if you can get your speed way down. For perch my strategy is different; I bring my line in, take off whatever I'm fishing with, and go home. (jk, perch or walleye rigs in the winter anyway).

"Media" prediction was 270 to 170. Final results 218 to 279. Wonder who had the media in their pocket? Like manitoubass said, Trump strikes me as an idiot in some ways, but it's remarkable how idiotic the democrats were this cycle. Screwing over my boy Bernie (whom had a better shot, by the way), mixed with tremendous in-party corruption. Serves them right. Seems like the biggest force in Donald's favor was the DNC's corruption. Next 4 years is going to be entertaining, to say the least.