Billy - Curtiss

Sounds like a great day dude! Nice musky! More inches for the team! Or did you forget your sign?! edit - I guess it pays to read the fine print! Too bad about the sign!

Great pics dude and welcome to the site! You'll find a wealth of inspiration and insight on this board!

Beautiful smallies and yeah, amazing shirt dude!

Rad!! Yeah, the stomach is one of the most painful places to get tattooed.

Try the arbor knot. http://www.activeangler.com/articles/how-t...knots/arbor.asp

I took a buddy of mine with whom I play music out to the Toronto Islands yesterday morning to try our hands at landing pike and bass. It was an incredibly nice morning and we caught the ferry and were casting by 6:45 AM. We pretty much fished every single place possible for hours with nary a bite. Then we discovered a nice little bass stronghold and while we garnered several follows and some bites, we weren't able to land one. Eventually, we made our way to one of Highdrifter's fabled honey holes that I became privy to after plying him with booze, a side of pig and 3 heads of cattle. It is also Highdrifter's personal belief that Happy Hour for pike is right in and around 11:00 AM. This day was no exception. We rolled into said honey hole right at 11:00 AM on the dot and I got a hit on my first cast. This beauty breached shooting straight up and out of the lake before heading back down and diving as far down into the slop as possible. I was using 10 lb Crystal Fireline and intitally, the thing wouldn't even budge an inch. I was convinced I was going to snap the line. So I waded out waste deep into the pristine waters (I still smell funky!) and moved further down shore to try pulling it out from a different angle. This was the trick apparently. With a little more effort this bad boy came thrashing into shore. My buddy got some great video footage of the catch and subsequent release. I have no idea what the weight was but it measured in at 34 inches. After that, we didn't even bother fishing anymore. We made straight for the Cafe for pints and burgers to revel in the excitement! So now I know they're really there. And all that remains to be done is for me to land something 40 inches or more. My weekly forays to the island just keep getting better and better!

I actually caught my personal best pike out there yesterday and saw many others cruising around. So they're definitely around. Happy hour for pike, for whatever reason, tends to be around 11:00 AM. Report soon to follow...

Bump. Does anyone know if swimming is a no go then on this lake? Will it clear up in 2 weeks time?

Oh man, my buddy rented a cottage for one week at the end of July on Katchewanooka and I'm supposed to be going for half of that week to fish for Muskie. Will this affect the quality of fishing? Should I avoid swimming in the lake?

Cool. Thanks man. I'll grab a bag of barbless hooks and switch them up!

Is anybody clear on the regulations as per fishing here? Is it strictly a no live bait / single barbless hook zone? Or will I be fine tossing Panther Martins around?

So far!

Nice pike indeed! I've fished Grenadier about 4 times now and ain't never caught nothin'! Now that I've got a float tube, I'm hoping my luck will change.

My girl went up to Sudbury this past long weekend to visit her parents who happen to be avid angler / hunters. She brought me back her Mom's Browning float tube and some new chest waders! I'm as happy as can be. Now that Highdrifter has schooled my arse in the art of steelheading, he'll hopefully teach me the fine art of float tubing as well! Those island pike and bass won't know what hit them!

That's just tragic. I don't agree with the bit about being a strong swimmer.....you should always wear a life jacket. I capsized May 24 weekend and being fully clothed and wearing rain gear, I don't think the fact that I'm a strong swimmer would have helped much.

Nice to see that you've finally bucked the skunk! I say we hit it up again next week. You know there are 40' + gators lurking in those island depths just waiting to be taken!

Thanks for the heads up! I'll be incredibly stoked if there actually are rainbows in there. I guess I'll spend some time fishing the pond and see what I can get!

Thanks dude. Might that be the Beeton Creek? Specks would be rad given the total skunking on my last outing!

I'm heading up to Tottenham this weekend for the bluegrass festival and will be camping out there at the conservation area. I know there's a pond there but am not too sure if it's worth fishing at all. Still, it would be nice to bring along my gear and spend some time fishing. Any suggestions?

Ha ha ha!! I got back last night but had to work today and just got home! I have to admit, given the reports on this site coupled with the dire warnings of a bunch of locals, I WAS expecting to get carried off by the skeeters. They were around, but I found them to be tolerable even without repellent. Maybe it's the hardened northern Ontario boy in me? So, my buddy Rick and I fished for about 4 hours on Friday evening and another 8 hours on Saturday. We didn't catch a single fish unfortunately. In spite of this, I had a blast! Not too sure about Rick though! We covered a ridiculous amount of area and fished portions of Saugeen River, South Saugeen River, Rocky Saugeen River, Beaver River, Black Creek, Traverston Creek and capped it all off fishing off the drop at Lake Eugenia hoping for a rainbow or two. For the most part, we were restricted to fishing from bridge access points which wasn't that great. There really weren't many pools of depth at all. I'm fine trekking up or down stream with just my shorts and running shoes, and at times, I was nearly nipple deep in the goods, but Rick wasn't so eager or agile! Fishing these rivers / tribs is a tough go and I'm thinking next time, kayaks are in order and I will just focus on one river and really work it and find all of the nooks and crannies. We fished the portion of the Beaver River close to Kimberley and this was where the best pools were found. I'll definitely head back again to this spot soon. The nature in the area was breathtaking and in addition to seeing some awesome waterfalls (Eugenia, Hogg's) we saw plenty of deer, groundhogs and wild turkeys. For me, one of the most poignant aspects of the trip was seeing the Mennonites bootin' around in their horse drawn carriages. We were fishing off of one bridge for about half an hour and about 6 of them went by at different times. Unlike life in the metropolis, they all waved and smiled. And at a time when oil prices are skyrocketing and the source itself is gradually dwindling to complete nothingness, I felt that in many ways, they totally have it down. Throughout the day Saturday, we ran into many locals who told us that we would have a grand ol' time fishing the dam on the Saugeen in Walkerton. Having hitherto had no luck with the fish we thought it'd be worth a try. After losing a brand new Smithwick Rogue and a brand new Husky Jerk to the rocks below the dam, I switched up to a good old fashioned worm / hook/ slip float combo. After getting only a few tiny nibbles over the next half hour, I turned to Rick and proclaimed there to be absolutely no fish of merit in this particular hole. And no sooner had I said this, what appeared to be about a 36 ' muskie breached water right in front of me in the midst of mowing down a meaty minnow. My mouth was totally agape. And I swear the sucker winked at me to boot! So I missed out on the chance to land my first ever muskie as well. So there you have it. No fish but one heck of a good time. I sometimes forget that the journey is just as meaningful as attaining a desired end in this mad world. And I can't wait to get back out there and see if all of this experience will ultimately help me land my first dang' speck! Thanks for all the tips gang and a big thanks to my team mate EHG for mad hook ups!

I thought they just hired Ron Wilson?

I'm super stoked to be heading up to the Saugeen River and some of the tributaries tomorrow. Having never fished for specks, I'm sure that I'm not entirely prepared tackle wise. EHG suggested #2 Panther Martins. Unfortunately, I was only able to find #4's. They are pretty small but I'm not sure if they are going to be too big? I was also wondering if anyone uses slipfoat rigs much like one would use for steelhead? Will worms do the trick? Sorry for all of the stupid questions! I'm still very much a newbie in many regards!

That'd be amazing dude! I tried calling you moments ago. Answer your phone! Today is prime for Harbour pike. Let's hit it brah!

Thanks. I actually opted to do just that and have just returned from Canadian Tire. Less $100.00 of course!

Ha! Thanks. I will have my tourney sign! I'm hoping for better luck....my May 24 northern excursion for lakers turned out to be a snow / hail filled skunking.