smbhunter

So Roger, when are you going to change your name to BPSBAGELBOY??? I'm not really one to talk, I got the big bagel in my last two tournaments.

On October 16 I went muskie fishing with a buddy and we decided to try a body of water that I have been on before but only fished for bass and pike. I wanted to try this lake earlier in the year but never did since the reports and comments were not very promising. My buddy has fished this lake several times for muskie and has had some good days so I decided to trust his judgement and knowledge of the lake and what a great decision that turned out to be. The first couple of spots didn't turn up anything so we decided to hit a nice back bay. Immediately I got very excited about the potential I saw in this bay, and my buddy kept assuring me that we would at least see some fish in there. Within the first 15 minutes of casting my bucktail I hooked into a fish that would turn out to be my personal best muskie, a 42 incher. I screamed in celebration when the fish entered the net and quickly popped out the hook, took a few photos and released the beauty. Once I settled myself down we went back over the structure to make another pass and within 20 minutes I had a nice fish follow up my Suick. About another 15-20 minutes later I had another fish follow my Suick, which I think was a big pike but didn't get a good enough look at it to confirm. Once again about 15 minutes after that I went back to my bucktail which got me the first fish and was almost immediately rewarded with a second muskie in the boat. This on measured out to be a nice 40 incher and gave me the most muskie I've ever landed in one day. I guess all this action came within a peak feeding time because we didn't catch another muskie for the rest of the day, but did manage a couple of 3-5 lb pike, a small bass, and we both missed a few hits. All in all, it was a great day on the water with a good friend, who turned out to be a good guide. The second pic from the left is the 40 incher, all the rest are from the 42.

That looks like a very large silver redhorse, (not 100% certain, but about 90% sure). My buddy caught one a couple years ago in the Notty, at Angus.

That is some excellent news. I've never liked the felt soles for many reasons, the main one being stated in the article.

Nipissing was real tough last week, but the weather was mainly to blame for that. It will only get better in the next couple weeks.

Congratulations Steve! Just do me a favor and stay away from the big smallies on the 15th Good job buddy.

Welcome aboard. If you're looking to meet great people, you have come to the right place.

Hey Gregger I thought we were going???

Thanks for the info. I'll post a report when I get back next week.

rock bass. Nice trout BTW

I'm heading out to Alberta later this week to visit my brother and want to do some fishing. My brother has lived there for over a year now and hasn't even tried to fish. Anyway, he lives just outside of Edmonton and we plan on going into Banff for a day or two. I'm bringing a 6 wt fly rod and some flies for the rivers and I figure my brothers equipment and tackle should suffice if we plan on doing some lake fishing, but have no idea where to even start. I would prefer to try out the rivers and get some species that I have never caught before like, cutthroat, mountain whitefish, bull trout, grayling and maybe even goldeye or mooneye, if I can't get anything else. Any info for Banff and/or around the Edmonton area would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

Don't really have a great look at the tail, but it looks like a chinook. The gum and mouth discoloration is just a phase issue with genetics, like a silver pike, or the blue coloured walleye. The tail would be a dead giveaway to the species, chinook have spots covering the entire tail and coho only have spots on the upper lobe of the tail. In terms of hybrids, the only salmon hybrid I know of is a pinook (pink x chinook), which to my knowledge, are all created in hatcheries. I've only seen one of these creatures in person, never caught one, but they are quite distinct in appearance. However, if this hybrid exists, I'm sure it's possible with others, but not with this fish. Good job on the catch.

Great looking fish. I'm usually at promised land camp 2-3 times a year and have never caught a largemouth up there. Whenever my dad gets up there he gets quite a few, but he likes the largemouth fishing more than I do. I go after smallies, wallies, pike, and skies when I'm up there, but after seeing your post, I might be tempted to give the largies a shot when I head up on the 12th. That is if you left some without hookburn Good job on those largies and congrats on the PB's.

Very sorry to hear about your father. Prayers and wishes to you and your family.

Beauty fish lew. Good to hear the family is doing well.

I know that island well, we used to call it crap island. In another couple of weeks, that small island will be nothing but cormorants and their leftover white goo. They use that one island as a main resting point during migration times, and some will use it throughout the season. I'm actually surprised that there is still some green foliage left on the island. When the cormorants hold their wings out, they are just drying off their feathers. If traveling around this island, or any other cormorant infested island, travel on the upwind side of it. The smell is one of the worst I have ever experienced.

That is a true monster. Excellent job. Those spotted muskie are beautiful looking fish and they sure do grow bigger then the other strains. Awesome fish.

If you are spraying a nest, the best time to do it is at night or very early in the morning. This ensures that all of the occupants are inside the nest and they all get a dose of the good stuff, otherwise if even one survives with the queen, they will start over. Hope this helps.

Little Lake is a great spot to pass a few hours and get into some fish. Lots of smaller bass and pike in the lake around 2 lbs or so, but there is plenty of larger fish in there as well. I have caught pike up to 12 lbs and my biggest bass was just a shade under 23", with some bigger ones seen and lost. However, those bigger fish seem to only be around in the fall. Right now you are looking at getting numbers of fish with pike maybe up to 5 lbs and bass maybe up to 3. Great lake to have some fun in.

Congrats on your daughters PB and first place finish. The smile says it all.

LMAO!!! Great report and pics.

Good job Steve. Those fish are hawgs. See you on balsam.

I tried a salmon from a lake ontario trib a few years back, (can't remember if was from bowmanville or wilmot), that was a nice silver 4-5 lbs fish. I figured if I was going to try one, I'd try a smaller one for better taste and quality. Boy was I wrong. I swear I could taste the chemical in that fish. I'm not sure if this was an isolated bad fish or not, but I never tried another salmon since. I've had mixed results with rainbow up to about 3 lbs from lake o, but if I want a fish to eat, I'll hit a gbay trib and get me a very tastey trout or salmon up to 5 lbs.

Why do authorities seem to act only when it's too late. I'll never understand this.

I've used Vanish, Vanish Transition, Seaguar, and Trilene 100% Flouro as my main line, simply because I don't want to continue tying leaders on all day. For the most part, I wouldn't recommend putting flouro on a spinning reel as a main line since the properties of flouro usually makes it too difficult. It twists very easily and the memory sucks, but knowing this, I just keep a close eye on the reel and line to avoid any major problems. Vanish Transition is the line I put on 90% of my reels, both baitcast and spinning. It's very strong line with great knot strength and excellent castability once the memory settles. With baitcasters, you need to let a good portion of line out behind the boat with a big lipped crankbait, (or something that will create enough resistance to stretch the line out) and troll it for a few seconds, then reel it in and you will have no problems with casting. Vanish is not as good as it used to be. The formula for the line was changed too many times for my liking, and ever since the transition came out to market I've noticed it hasn't been the same, which is why I use only the transition now. Seaguar is one of the better handling flourocarbon lines for spinning reels, but I found it to be weaker than the transition in both line strength and knot strength. However, I use the heavier tests for making musky and pike leaders and find it superior to any other line for heavy leaders. Trilene 100% Flouro is one of the best flourocarbon lines I have used to date. It handles great on spinning gear, doesn't twist as easily as some other flouro lines, and is very strong. The only issue I have with this line is that it doesn't cast as far as some other flouro lines, but is as good or better in every other category. For leader line flourocarbon, choose a small spool of float or fly fishing leader material. I can't explain it but I have found the actual leader material lines to be stronger than any other line that is used as a leader. The only time I'll use this line as a leader is when I'm drop shotting and need a smaller diameter line for a lead, which is usually in an 8 or 6 lbs test. If fishing for pike or musky use 80lb test minimum unless the fish are generally on the smaller side, then you could get away with 40 or 50 lb test, which is quite difficult to tie at this diameter and should be crimped. If you prefer not to go this high, just use a steel leader in a thin diameter. Pike and/or musky are usually not line shy fish. I hope this helps