Moosebunk

Rick & G... on 'em good. WTG guys.

To the original post... that was brutal. No doubt. Sucks some police have to be that way. In the ER we often work alongside together, especially weekends, holidays and full moons. 9 times out of 10 officers are just awesome and friendly people... but in their position of power when that one jackarse starts taking things too far...

Agreed Art, and thanks. Hardly ever use rope but do have a couple rope lures with me every time out. They work well, especially in really weedy areas.

Quote Wikipedia... "As their vascularised swim bladders can function as lungs, most gars surface periodically to take a gulp of air, doing so more frequently in stagnant or warm water when the concentration of oxygen in the water is low. They also appear to surface in fast-moving rapids. As a result, they are extremely hardy and able to tolerate conditions that would kill most other fish." Essentially Rob, they might just be breathing when you see them surfacing... Never heard of this dood Simon, but the name totally fits. Perfect find. We were just going with the more known Bob Garley. Leah and I like singing Three Little Birds... our favorite.

So saying it survived the fires only to get eaten by a bear. Harsh world up there Dave.

Would take 8 to 12 hours Mike. Earlier season (late Dec to mid Jan) before the bush snow was too deep and parts of the skeg ponds and creeks really slushed out. Boys went across land mostly, using parts of the Skat, Ekwan and other creeks to make their way. Couldn't always go every year as it often depended on the freeze and snow. Do know that 160 were kept one three day tour, and many more put back.

Surely Rick. Will see what happens in the future.

Looks like Rick, Pete, Bill, Chris & Rob will be up next spring. ROAD TRIP!!! Plenty space in the country here for pitching a tent and git'in yer gar on. Bonfire, BBQ, beers and gar!!! On flies you miss like 75% Bill... probably way more actually. And waving the arms all about to cast oftentimes spooks them away. Thing is, the clearer and deeper the water I find, the less chance you have of getting them to turn even if you present the fly well. Those days after a wind had stirred up bays on the river to get them muddy, I find is best chance when gar are up sunning and visible. You can move in closer on the fish and more accurately cast to them. Not only that, they can't inspect the fly as easily and they snap at it not knowing better. Sometimes, they just keep following and snapping. Best places to sink a hook, tip of the snout or back into the mouth cause inbetween is a crap shoot. That'll work Chris... no question. But a slow retrieve rarely gets results actually, least not here. Neither does too fast though. The lure has to be moving and action just right, and rarely does pausing it beside the fish do anything but turn 'em off from biting it. Rob... I have never fished or even seen them over that deep. Maybe run the odd one over accidentally ripping up and down the river. Again, if they were out over clear water they'd have been tougher to have bite regardless, but keeping at them is the right idea. Have those lures run just by their eye the same distance as their snout is long. Those fish must have been migrating to or from somewhere really, don't think they're really much for chasing after open water schools of fish at all... but then again...? Leah does that... and my goof buddy too.

Friends from Attawapiskat make an annual run at freeze up to Hawley Lake to fish lakers there. What you described for numbers and size is dead on with what they do too. Hordes of five pounders kept to be smoked later. Will make for an interesting read in OOD.

Beauty Brian B bass boy! Had me confused a second... where's Misfish?

It's rare Simon... but it happens. lol.

Likely giving up January, half of February and half of April to work in 2015 Paul... so the March ice fishing can just wait awhile dood!

Great to see Mr.TCat. Those walleye look awfully blue but up that way it's not too surprising. Great times out with buddies, thanks for reporting.

So ironic this came up tonight. Noticed last week a few holes, today just above my septic a 10 foot area has been ripped to shreds, and although no noted grubs in daylight, when I lifted some grass a strange beetle scurried away. Not voles doing this, although the damage the OP photographed this spring was evident on the lawn here too. What's here now has to be the work of something bigger than voles... and I did catch whiff of a skunk a week or so ago. Maybe hiding under the porch too. Critters like these... KILL 'EM ALL!!!!

Sister was lucky. Been checked four times on Kesagami ice fishing, once on the Moose River, once half way to Fort Albany, outside Kirkland Lake at Kenogami, on the Big Rideau and on the Ganaraska, Nine times in nine years. Simon... it's definitely different up your way.

Not sure which I like better Mike, the fatty 51 or your lengthy 53. Either way, you're on fire traveling this summer and, posting some of the best muskie I've seen anywhere. Quality stuff. Congrats again.

They're gnarly Chris. Different kind of fishing. You pass through again at the right time and I already told ya dood... I'm thinking I might guide a little for these next year. Naaaaahhhh!!! Too optimistic. Maybe six, if that. Leah had no idea I'd packed that stuff for our day. It was a hit. She loves the mask most but put on quite a funny little Bob Garley performance of "Three Little Birds" while center stage on the casting deck. As always, thanks again here bunch.

Would like to click the "like" icon on this one. Nice win, have fun. Can't tell ya anything about the lake itself but can just imagine the fish waiting for ya.

A GARrival that's better late than never... some 2014 gar pictures and a sorta short personal season report. Enjoy. Each spring when gar season arrives I look forward to treating family and friends to this unique fishing experience. Now five years, it has pretty well become a tradition. No one gets more excited for the hunt... although some might come close. In 2006 during a rainy, no-bite, cold front, I was first introduced to gar fishing. It was seemingly something new online brought to the forums by a few, and it peaked the interest of anglers like myself. In 2009 during a more friendly day, I caught my first gar. A PB fish at that time, it was a slender 47-inches of spots, snout and teeth. Settled in 2010 back to my childhood home here in the valley, with the WarCanoe and new Lund in tow I set out to explore for gar along the vast Ottawa River. Alone or with my father, it was tough slogging while I plied new waters, trying my luck for these difficult to catch fish. It was this year when gar fishing really got into me... the year it all really started. Come 2011 the little local gar scene elevated. Noticing that over previous years no others had yet to rise up, having already built a raised casting platform for the WarCanoe and then the Lund, I later helped a buddy fit his first gar casting deck as well. This idea changed our fishing for the better, as suddenly and with regularity myself and friends were catching more and more bigger gar. Two memorable giants of that season were mine and my father's Ontario record beaters, which we released knowing even bigger fish were out there still... In 2012 more 50-inchers graced the gunnels, and there became a growing desire to introduce my girls and friends to the exceptional experience of gar fishing. Opening that door to others it was an awesome year for me and those aboard the Lund, highlighted with the catch and release of a truly exceptional 20lb, 4oz personal best, shared with a good buddy alongside. This was also a year which I deemed the net an unnecessary hazard to gar, and began experimenting with my own doctored lures as well. 2013 was the "Fifty Gar Salute." A season of an unprecedented 21 fish over 50-inches. There was only one day the Lund came up an inch short of a perfect record. Everyone aboard had fun. It was a long season full of many perfect calm, hot, sunny days. There was peace in the valley and it was my favorite year of gar fishing. Gar are a cool catch and certainly worth the chase. Respectable strength though not the most powerful fighters of the big fish world, it's the "hunt" and the "take" that make your knees shake. Sight fishing, searching, spotting that giant shadow in the murky shallows and making the perfect cast, to then witness that head and long toothy snout suddenly snap sideways giving you your brief window to drive the hook... it's priceless!!! This year there were another 21 gar over 50 inches, and countless 48 and 49'ers caught as well. A shortened season due to a later spring start, an early end due to a death in the family, and some rather tricky weather days, it was a surprise come writing this to note it actually ended so well. Friends Mike, Mike and Simon came aboard over three different occasions, Bren for another, Leah for two, and Summer joined in for one. Sneaking out myself four more times, this years ten outings took a five year total to exactly 50 days of gar fishing and 300+ hours. It's been a run... A highlight this season was one incredible 3-day weekend which kicked off with my friend Simon on a Saturday, Leah the Sunday, and me solo come Monday. During these three days a 54, 52.5, 52.5, 52, 51.5, 51,51,50,50,50 and seven 49's were boated. That's just maybe a mile of gar. Simon for his second year seems to always time it right, and Leah just keeps herself happily amused reeling in everything I hook between play times in the boat. Overall the fish were long but skinnier this season. Some fatties were certainly hooked, though the cold and late spring did not make for an ideal gar spawning year. Available bait arrived later too, and as so, it surely slowed the gar down from getting a feed on. This said, there was one day like it happens pretty well every year, that I did spot that one gar which makes all others seem small. During those fifty outings there have been five huge gar sightings now, one year not seeing one at all, one year seeing two, and all five fish scattered throughout different areas of the river. This years fish and 2010's were surely two 25-pound class fish, breaking the 55-inch mark and pushing to 60. This seasons gar... well... incredibly upon just releasing a 53-incher, as I looked up to see my boat had drifted a little in the light breeze, there in front of the bow was a gar which appeared double to almost triple the width and, with what had to be four or five more inches in length than the 53 just measured. I could still see my recovering gar resting in the shallows just to compare. This huge wide barrel of a gar blew me away. Unfortunately, when I went for my rod the giant fish on that awkwardly breezy day got the jump on me out of the shallows and cut through some weeds for deeper water. Before my Minnkota could even try and keep up I was losing sight of it in the rippled waters. It did not race away, it was just so frigging big that regular tail kicks propelled it too fast for me to keep up. Lagging further behind, unable to get a clear cast at it in time, all I could do was watch this PB record shattering gar leave a wake before dropping and disappearing from sight. I was left to wonder if maybe it was my 54-inch, 20 pound-plus from two years earlier, grown even bigger today. All I can hope now is to see it again next year... Upon first introduction many people unfamiliar to gar will comment on how ugly they are. If they know nothing of the fish they might even ask where in South America or some other travel destination does one catch such a thing. Anglers in Ontario for the most part know of their existence and have seen them all over parts of the Province at one time or another. To me they are not ugly at all. Going beyond any horrific thought of those teeth piercing flesh, from snout to tail gar are gorgeous fish. In the Ottawa River several varieties of the longnose are swimming as well. There is the common well dressed spotted appearance over golden-brown-beige skin as pictured below. There's also a more pale gray to silver look with the spotting less defined found oftentimes on bigger fish, and then finally there's the least common and mostly smaller blackish-brown gar as seen in pictures 11 to 14 above. Over the past few years I have gotten away from netting gar. Landing the fish with a handling glove allows instant control. If it hasn't fought itself out already, a gar might try two or three good thrashes to escape the hold, but it does so safely in hand and over the water. With so much strong bone and even some teeth protruding outward from it's snout, a good no-slip grip and ready arm is all that's needed. The best gloves are thick cloth or rubber work gloves, a $5-10 pair usually lasting me about a season. Having used nets in the past I found too easily a gar's narrow snout would slide through the mesh, sometimes with lure attached and, sometimes as far as the head to the eyes and gills. Those teeth too can make it quite slow and difficult to get that head back out. It's during this unnecessary stress that fish might thrash or roll as well, further injuring themselves as a result. Although gar have great body armor, solid beaks and can handle slightly longer periods out of water than most fish, it is their fins and tail that are quite delicate. Over the water or in the boat, nets easily tear into these soft, rubbery-like, leafy fins, and enough times now I have re-caught what were likely fish damaged by nets, some with no fins at all. Simplest remedy, good glove, strong arm, man-up, be careful, and take safe control of the fish the second it's at boat side. Oftentimes this way, fin damage is nil, less time is wasted, and the fish tend to settle much easier for measuring and photos once lifted in the boat. If fishing solo I would vote it be the only way. The best chances to learn and experiment are when alone on the water. A tougher fishing day can turn into a great outing if just taking the time to look around, shoot some interesting and different photographs, and play with various lures. This year it was actually during a very good bite when the water conditions and fish temperaments were screaming for me to try the fly rod. Alone, I'll dabble time-to-time with the 9-weight, but over a good few hours on this one day in particular, I tried bettering the fly fishing skills while hunting for bigger gar. Timing was perfect, and although a good few fish were missed or lost, I was able to get three to the boat with one of them a new fly best at 52-inches. It wasn't this season's biggest fish by any means, but it was a favorite... and such a good feeling too conquering gar by what is likely the most difficult method... Sorry for the cheesy-fly gar pic. This year on Facebook it appeared more and more new anglers were trying gar fishing, and many having success too. As anglers like any and all people, we all do things a little differently, shaping our own experiences through what we ourselves have learned in the past, plan and practice in the present and, hope to learn in our futures. These timeless gar having survived millennias before us, will forever be shaped by us, for hopefully what will be a healthy many more millennia to come. Rarely threatened, barely fished, little known and yet a very cool and worthy species to target, it is anyone's guess how gar fishing and especially the gar themselves might adapt "if" the fishery is to grow. So, in the meantime and for always, if out there enjoying the gar, we should try and take our best possible care with these great toothy fish. Until next year all the gar can rest up and grow bigger... Bunk.

Stocked inland lakes around here the Sutton spoon is a great one. Various NK's get props as well. Arctic and Northern Ontario trips a best producer for numbers and biggest fish has been the "Big Jim" Husky Jr... and Sr. too.

Good to see you back here Chris. Reports like this are an asset to any fishing forum, and a pleasure for any angler or father to view.

You said what I said in just two sentences... lol.

Only topwater ever caught was with a Top Raider. Want to try the luck with a Jackpot sometime.

Rewarded for all that grueling hardwork in bug country. Nice one dood!

Exactly. lol. It's been a different year all around. Winter laker numbers were down a little but getting on and off lakes with the big snow was trickier, and more days the hut was needed because of the cold. Adds up to more energy spent. Many people on Quinte had a banner ice season though... Spring... when it finally arrived the timing was off. Finished with crappie and bows before they even really got going. Lakers were more scattered with the colder lake temps too, and the walleye were really weird. Patterns were off, no doubt about it. Had to work harder... adapt. Sometimes it was too late. Gar were about the only thing good to me this year, but they were harder to catch overall too. Lots of long fish, but overall skinnier. They were late and slow to put the feed on, and not a good spawning year either. Only fished one day in the past two months at home. Been traveling. Slave great but nothing to compare to, yet Nipigon was different. Weed oriented big pike were tough, specks and lakers good though. Hear the bass season isn't up to snuff for many, and that muskie in July were slow, but it's improving now. Not sure how the salmon guys did overall, but judging by reports... it hasn't been a good year.. Fall fishing up next... hope it drags on with sunny, colorful days. Looking forward to smallies, eyes and skis.