Reef Runner

Beauty!

And that’s musky fishing for ya. good effort and sounds like you’re doing the right stuff. You’ll tie into one eventually. I use a palomar knot to tie to the o-ring. it takes some practice but placing your thumb and on the spool/line and applying little pressure when casting will reduce your birdsnests. Follows: Don’t pause before the figure 8, make it a fluid motion at the end of your retrieve. Sometimes you just can’t get them to go. Return to the spot later or try a different lure. Im too poor to buy cheap is my mo. lol. Buying quality gear will be dependable when you need it to be and will hold up over time.

Tying PP directly to the welded ring already provided atop the flouro huskie muskie leader and snap lure on the end. TDR is definitely a good rod for trolling. Speed as fast as you can move without your lure blowing up out of the water, differs by the lure.

PowerPro is what I’ve been using for years 80#. For leaders not joining two lines here. generally 120-150# reliable snaps, bearing swivel and welded ring. I can recommend Huskie Muskie leaders from Handlebarzfishing.com. 12 inch for casting, that or 36 inch for trolling. Rods, can be personal preference, casting you want a heavy duty but light 8 foot or more. Trolling you can use a telephone poll. I’ve seen guys use a heavy or xtra heavy downrigging rod that doesn’t cost much but do the job. Reels:Started with an Abu Ambassador, great real for the price and good for starting out. Still have one for trolling only (has the clicking function on the drag that alerts me when I get a pull, I can focus more on boat position and route). Casting, after time the gears will wear out in the abu from repeated retrieval of big baits. I’m a shimano reel guy: Shimano Tranx, calcuttas are ideal but $$$.

My go to’s: Jakes/believers for trolling 10inches and up. Casting inline bucktails (double 8s, 10s). Big heavy duty spinner baits. Rubber (bulldawgs, Medusas). lots of good advice above. Can get pricey for sure. “Invest” in heavy braid 80# and 120# leader so you don’t donate those expensive baits to the lake lol. Best of luck. Reef

Extremely rare. I fish there pretty much 1-2x a month. Folks moved up there early 90s and, even though pike were present at the time, still had a fishable musky population then. Starting in the 2000s musky was in a steady decline, started getting into more tigers than pure strain. 2010s lake pike population started to decline as well. Now it’s mostly bass. If you tie into a ski it’s a rare occurrence. Not to say it’s zero, but chances are low.

Concur with the gentlemen above. Moon River Cottages (located in Arnold’s Bay) also rents boats Moon River Cottages (705) 375-2081

For conservation areas within an hour Mountsburg close to Guelph or Island Lake in Orangeville. These places get hammered pretty hard so expect a pressured fishery and plenty of hammer handles. If you’re willing to stretch the drive to 1.5-2 hours to the Kawartha’s, namely, Canal, Mitchell and Balsam Lakes hold some good pike. Reef

PM sent.

It’s purported that Ramsey Lake right in Sudbury have Crappies. Otherwise, the French R and bodies south. We spend a week on the Key R every summer and get lots (boat access only) but imagine they can be had from shore off the highway. Reef

Massassauga PP for bass and pike. Eyes tough to find but they’re in there.

PM sent. Best of luck.

Depending where you go some sites have a bear box you can put your cooler in; Massassauga has them. Crown land will not but a provincial park back country site may have them. Call ahead and ask what your site has. some parks also have raised platform decks you can pitch your tent on rather than the ground. Bungees come in handy here. I’ve left my cooler in the boat shored and anchored. I ratchet strap the cooler tight; bruin will have to work for his lunch as hard as I had lug the darn thing if he wants a free lunch. At least for my better half, important they have a wind breaker for the boat and warm gear for the evenings. This time of year bugs aren’t bad but be prepared with the OFF spray. Never used the air horn but having it handy provides a sense of comfort.

Used a 25hp electric start Suzuki tiller in a deep and wide 14 tinner for a week at a cottage I rented earlier this summer. Even with a max load (water access ferrying in all our gear in 1 trip) the motor would fly. Never had a problem and started every morning with a push of a button. Even with two of us in the boat had to put a cinder block on the bow to even the weight and get us on plane in a couple seconds. Great motor all around. Would definitely recommend. edit to add: was great on fuel. We’d make the 14km trip out to GBay a couple times that week and the boat was used mostly back trolling for eyes 6-8hrs a day for 6 days, only refuelled once all week.

Beauty!