Moosebunk

You'd all likely wear yours more than I do in a season. Except you Mr. Whizz kid Terry. lol. Two for Simms so far... and a Redington. Tribbin' is a coming soon... I'm still thawing out from today.

Just The Specks Report. 　 Summer fishing ended after driving 2910 km's for 9 days, 62 hours on the water, a warm monsoon before a cold frost, big winds & waves, starry campfires, a cozy sleeping bag & miles upon miles of hunting for speckled trout. A report not forgotten, this merely took awhile to get around to. Truth is, play, work, tagged fish and a giant best muskie kinda slowed things some. Not planning to ramble on as much this time, I will say my buddy Mike and I returned to the Nip later in the summer for a second round of fishing there. Mike had his first taste in 2012 and was eager to try the specks again, and I on the other hand was looking to have a very different kind of trip than that which friend Len, my daughter Leah and I enjoyed earlier in the season. Weather was a real mixed bag this year, to a point that my buddy Stevie later on during the trip opted out on driving from Mattice to join us for the final days. Being just Mike and I we risked getting sick of one another, but oddly that never happened. Speck obsessed, eager as I to fish, helpful, outdoors and fishing experienced, and happy to be aboard the Lund, partnering up with Mike simply makes good sense. He's a good soul. We have fun, keeping things mildly competitive (me more so probably) yet always supportive. Days fly by and this trip especially, as the speckle fishing went beyond. 76 speckled trout with 11 over 6-pounds, 10 over 24 inches and every one of them released. An unforgettable time. One sunny afternoon after morning thunderstorms we boated 25 fish, incredible moments to share. We kept a running fish tally as we went and I pretty well dragged behind the entire time. Trying to close the gap near the end I couldn't, and Mike stayed up 39 to 37 for the trip catching the fattest and heaviest fish by 0.1 of a pound, yet leaving me the only angler to catch any specks over 25 inches. Again though, no matter how we added it all together, it was truly great fishing for us both. Our best 5-fish bag weighed in at 32.9 pounds... that's SPECKLED TROUT!!! During our stay we also caught and released four tagged fish. After waiting some time to contact the MNR to report on these specks, I was promptly phoned back and had a great chat with a local C.O. who kindly passed along the information on the fish we had released. Below are our measurements for 2013, and also the MNR's in 2012 as, all fish had been caught, aged, measured and tagged then. Speck 1. Tag #07920. Male age 5. 2013 - 24.5 X 14in. 2012 - 21.9 X 13in. Speck 2. Tag #07750. Female age 5. 2013 - 20.75 X 11.5in. 2012 - 18.8 X 9.8in. Speck 3. Tag #07828. Male age 6. 2013 - 23.5 X 13in. 2012 - 20.9 X 12.2in. Speck 4. Tag #05026. Male age 5. 2013 - 22 X ???in. 2012 - 19.7 X 10.8in. (tag fell out in net and is a souvenir now) Cool thing is, after talking with the Ministry last week it was reported that tagged fish 07920 and 07828 had been caught and released again afterwards. What about the pike and lakers? Well, little effort went into the lakers really, probably six plus hours over three attempts with nothing to show for it. Pike were tough too, and after realizing this quick we didn't put too much effort into them either. Weather and fishing conditions dictated best bite was for specks, so we capitalized on that. I have wanted to visit several other speckled trout fisheries over the years, and I probably will. But, being an absolute fish nut who's always hungry to chase the biggest fish of any species, it's hard to argue that any more beautiful and bigger blue halo'd specks could be found more plentiful anywhere else in this world. 　 Anyways, instead of more words here's a fish porn load of pics from our trip. 　 　 Good Fishin!!! Bunk.

While it snowed and blowed all around it dawned on me sitting in my float tube this afternoon that I need new waders. When getting into the water, Immediately I felt the little leak in the left foot. Arriving at the other end of the lake it became apparent there was a leak in the left knee too. Short while later, my left cheek and kiwi felt the chill of cold water. Ending back at the truck, I dumped a bucket of cold water out of the left leg and felt the Arctic air drying off my junk before heading home. Best waders I ever had were Bushland Neoprenes but they're just too warm in the summer. Bought Orvis and Misty River and they might have been the exact same waders except the name and price tag. Both lasted about 3-4 years each. Any solid recommendations for a reasonable price???

Interesting area to live Joey and I can't think of one person that has reported from those far up stretches of the Ottawa. It's almost a forgotten river up past Mattawa... for me anyways. If that's your Lund I like it. Exact same as mine!!! Hope to see more fishing from ya from up that way.

Never have I seen such realism Chris. You are a true talent in the dark room. Your photofinishing is beyond any need for further practice. I wish to God I could catch muskie like that.

Ummmmmmmm yeah! What he said. lol.

Hey... now who wouldn't want to get in on some of that smallie action??? Dropshottin' rockin I see !!!

Great fish dood! That'll put a smile on your face probably ti'll sometime long into 2014.

Solid haul of gold for U&Me & you... Mr. Prospector.

Pleasure to read doooood! Really nice!!! Most of those chum still look to be in great shape and I bet they gave you're rod a good buckling Chris. I'm with Ron here, keep at it... ALL of it.

360 anglers not fined... 90 dumbarses fined. lol.

That beats sitting on yer arse at home. A nice surprise fish.

Alone with just my wife or a couple friends on the ice... middle of nowhere Kesagami Lake... March... 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009... checked three of those times by the big plane, once by skidoo. One of those years it didn't happen at all but I can't remember which. ALL times the MNR were great with me. Although I gotta wonder what they spent just checking my card and snooping around the ice for fish??? Last week spoke with another by phone. He took the time to return my call almost immediately and we had a great conversation. Second time with this CO. It is understood though that there are always gonna be a percentage that aren't nice to deal with, and that's just life. I too think the original OP has good reason to question the costs of CO's flying around the north checking on anglers because we can imagine it to be costly... but as far as wastage goes with our tax dollars, I'm pretty sure they're just a drop in that bucket.

Lotsa largilililies lads!!! Like that shot of all ya'll.

Quality time with family for sure Jen. Nice to see a report from you. Congrats on your BIG pike as well.

In the northern land where the walleye are abundant like the southern perch, is the most fun.

A Thanksgiving feast of incredible photos Joey. Congrats again on the PB. Enjoyed the read this morning.

Great fall colors and smallies Aaron. Picked up a $2 SAIL crank as well, to try for eyes. Staying up all night working then going fishing all day... that's not easy man. Solid efforts for your day.

Thanks Lew!

Some good "other" western species there Jer. Keep fishin' on dood!

Well that then sure is one horde of nasty ghouls and goblins you've been out scaring up. You should haunt us with these kinda posts more often. Great fishing Ron & Keith.

Seriously... that is awesome! Hats off to the Skip!

Ahhhh the great outdoors. She's got some half decent buds on 'er... but she's still only a one night party for a few.

Superb Rob. Time well spent and quite enjoyed that little-ditty of a write-up. Cute lad that's gonna down many, many birds in his hunting future.

Breakfast..... droooooool!!! I'll eat just about anything... but the whole big breakfast is hard to beat.