MJL

Can't say I've ever really been that successful with walleyes off dams. It's been years since I've done it. I've caught them with a few Rapalas (Original, Countdowns and Jointed in the fall) as well as soft plastic jigs + grubs and swimbaits. A few of the locals I've seen, use 3-way rigs with a live minnows on the hook and either pencil lead or a clump of split shot on the dropper. Wouldn't mind trying it again this summer.

X2 on the sunsceen.LOL Man those are beautiful brookies!

Wow! Just amazing! Thanks for taking the time to document and share this trip with us.

Congrats!

My main pier salmon reels are 4000 Stradic FG (the old white ones with the wooden handles). The guy at the Sail store in Oshawa advised that I shouldn't use the 4000 CI4+ for salmon...He experienced severe jerking/pulsing with the drags on both his 4000 CI4 reels. Looking to pick up a 4000 FK this fall though if I can find a good deal.

Live bait fish in Algonquin park is a no-no for sure - It's against the regulations. I think electric motors might also be banned in Canisbay as well so paddling a big inflatable might not be so easy (might want to check with park staff to confirm if you do plan to bring one). I've fished Canisbay a good number of times in the past (last time was 2007). Never caught a laker in there but I never really put a serious effort into it either. There's some decent smallie fishing in that lake. I caught my PB smallie from Canisbay back in 2002. If you can't find any lakers, bass would be your next best option.

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed the pics We actually did OK with the walleyes that day. They were sitting well outside of the weeds in the open (probably because of the muskies were either on the edge or right in the weeds). At the beginning of the day, I had my doubts with the super sunny conditions and the strong east winds. Brian, there are 2 days in a weekend (sometimes 3). I will just fish longer and harder on Saturday to get my fix of steelhead before going for muskies...Or fish Friday evening and catch them all so you don't get any Earlier this season, the water was actually a lot clearer than it is now due to the algae blooms. I always had a feeling that there were pike in Rice Lake but never caught one or seen one in person. Steve, in 5 casts I get 1 muskie, lose another muskie, then an OOS bass, tiger muskie and then the pike. After I caught the tiger, I said to my friend "My mind would be blown if I caught a pike today". Who knew I'd get one the very next cast.LOL

Depends on what you want to do with the reels. If you're drop shotting, vertical jigging or dragging tubes for bass or walleye, it's a great reel for that. According to just about every sales guy and occasional Shimano rep I spoke to, the CI4+ was designed to be a finesse reel and that's what it feels and performs like. If I was fishing for fast running, hard-fighting fish like salmon, steelhead, carp or big lakers through the ice, I would definitely look at other reels. I used my FK all winter on lakers and all spring on Steelhead down in the lower Niagara. I'm itching to try it out on salmon off the pier later this summer.

Congrats to G on that fine catch. I'd imagine if you did want to try smoking one of those lakers, you could probably smoke those things forever and they'd never dry out. haha

Muskies and Pike...The long, slimy fish with a mean set of teeth. Muskies have always been my unicorn. They were my happy accidents (or unhappy accidents depending on how you look at it). I've hooked a few of them trolling worm harnesses for walleye. I've had a few of them take spinners, kwikfish and even roe bags while fishing for steelhead. I've even hooked 2 with corn while fishing for carp (I was reeling in when they hit). In all the cases, I was happy to hook them, but in the end they chewed through the line and left me broken hearted and lure-less. Over the years, I've tried fishing for the small hammer-handle muskies at my local lakes and rivers from shore without luck. On Thurs, my friend invited me to his cottage on Rice Lake to do a bit of walleye fishing. Ripping bucktails was the plan. With the weeds dying off fast, we had to motor around looking for new areas to fish. We pull up to a spot, start drifting with the wind and ripping jigs through the weeds. All I can say is I've had the most magical 5 casts of my life. In 5 casts, I managed to get the Rice Lake "Esox Trifecta" First ever Muskie Muskie by Mike Leung, on Flickr Freedom by Mike Leung, on Flickr Northern Pike - First I've ever seen from Rice Lake but my neighbour told me he caught the odd one over 50yrs ago when he owned a cottage. Pike by Mike Leung, on Flickr So many teeth by Mike Leung, on Flickr pike by Mike Leung, on Flickr Tiger Muskie - Another first for me Tiger Muskie by Mike Leung, on Flickr Tiger Muskie by Mike Leung, on Flickr Tiger Muskie by Mike Leung, on Flickr Tiger Muskie by Mike Leung, on Flickr Tiger Muskie by Mike Leung, on Flickr On top of those fish, I also lost another Muskie and landed an OOS largemouth bass. Just an awesome experience. I wonder what the probability of all that happening is? In the evening we went back out again to rip bucktails at another spot and my friend and I got into a couple more muskies. It was like being on a magic carpet ride that I didn't know when it was going to end. Bucktail Muskie by Mike Leung, on Flickr Big bruiser by Mike Leung, on Flickr And now I'm shopping around for my first muskie combo I'd eventually like to try seeing muskies chase all the way to the boat and figure-8 for them like I see on TV. It looks super cool. Tight lines and Happy fishing Mike

What a beauty! Congrats! Totally agree with you on how to catch muskies...Just go walleye fishing.LOL

I have the CI4+ and TBH, if you're willing to spend $250, the newer Stradic FK is a much, much better reel in every regard except for weight (I also own the FK). The CI4 is as light of a reel you're going to get, however I was hugely disappointed with the drag when it came to fighting larger fish (Like Steelhead and lakers - Can't imagine what salmon off the pier would do). The drag on my CI4+ pulses when bigger fish are running - Even sent it in to be checked out and cleaned with no real difference when I got it back. I spoke to a few tackle shop owners and salespeople and they have heard a good number of similar complaints. Apparently the rigidity/stiffness (or lack thereof) with the CI4 material is to blame (even with their newer X-Ship technology). The Stradic FK is my new favourite reel.

Beauty fish Pete Looking to land my first ever muskie this season

I got tennis elbow a few years ago after 2 straight days of ripping bucktails for walleyes. Really painful. A week of rest and icing it whenever I could really helped. It cleared itself in about 5 days. That's the only fishing related issue I've had.

Well done!

Nicely done Pete! Back to Back mirrors is amazing...Buy a lottery ticket! LOL

It's been about 4 or 5yrs since I last saw him out carp fishing in the Kawarthas. Even then he was going through some health issues. Great guy and always willing to show newbies the ropes. He will be missed.

Is there room for a 2nd person on that pontoon? haha Nicely done Brian

From my understanding, the church classified capybaras as fish so the early settlers could eat them on Fridays...Anyone know the limit? They look delicious.LOL

For most of my underwater photography, I use a Canon 7D DSLR + Canon 8-15mm f/4L fish-eye lens in an underwater housing. In this case, I was just holding the camera housing in my left hand and holding the fish with my right. I also used a pistol shutter attachment to make pressing the shutter button easier. Here's a pic of my housing (without the pistol attachment).

Did my first carp trip of the year yesterday. Was slower than what I'm used to for this time of year but got into some nice fish. Ended the day by taking a selfie.LOL Carp Selfie by Mike Leung, on Flickr

Wow...I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous. I'd love to get into specks and splake such as those...One day I'll make the trip

Baitrunners definitely make things easier. You just have to remember to switch them on once you put them on the rod rest (which many people forget to do.LOL) Hard to go wrong with Shimano when it comes to baitrunners. I have an old Shimano Baitrunner 4500B, Shimano Thunnus 6000 and Shimano LongCast and put them through extremely heavy use. One other alternative to the baitrunner is to just back off the drag when the rod is on the holder. I did this for years with a 4000 Shimano Stradic when I was a kid. I also use a Daiwa Windcast Z big-pit reel which doesn't have a baitrunner feature but it does have a quick drag feature. I can go from free-spool to almost total lock-down in less than a full turn of the drag knob.

Great report Rick. On Mother's day, I hit up a stocked trout pond and brought home 2 fine brookies for my mom to clean and cook and there were plenty of dishes for her to wash afterwards...That was my present to her because as we all know, women enjoy doing those things I'm kidding...I really am

Great report Snaggy I love fishing for small stream brookies. It's definitely a nice change of pace from my steelhead fishing and it can be quite challenging and technical at times - Especially when it comes to drifting log jams and dry fly fishing when they're eating everything on the surface except your fly. Dealing with black flies and mosquitoes really does suck though.LOL