skrillaguerilla

I edited some of my footage from a nibble last summer into a fishing movie. I hope you guys like it!

i like these downeast salty rod holders. I am pretty sure you can get them at BPS, but i have never seen them at canadian tire.. I mailordered parts for my s-10's from the website and they got here in a week. Down-East

i'll be there on friday

if P.L.R. has no boats left, you can try Trail's End Lodge too. They had boats for rent when i stayed there over thanksgiving. They are a bit further up 36 north at the end of Crowes Line Road

i use a garmin 60csx. They are very versatile if you get some maps for them. There are free topo maps of canada floating around the web for hiking/4x4 runs, city navigator maps for in the car/truck/bicycle, and there are blue charts for out on the water (although it isn't very good coverage for small lakes, the great lakes, and big kawartha lakes are all on there). The battery life is really good (it should last you a full day on the water with 1 pair of AA) It's pretty easy to setup and use. They are also somewhat water and weatherproof. There are a host of accessories for them including mounts and aux 12v or 120v power cables. They are quite accurate (to within 3 meters) too. I bought mine from Kijiji in the spring for about $300. Map sets are anywhere from $75-$180. Just copy the maps you are going to use to a micro SD card, and way you go. The 76csx is very similar to the 60csx besides costing a bit less money. The map software works on both windows and OSX computers. I am happy with mine. troutologist makes a really good point. It's always good to be prepared in the event your GPS breaks, so carry a traditional compass and a copy of topo map of the area you are exploring.

pigeon lake for muskies!

Thanks for the replies everyone. The boat is a 14' Mirrocraft deep fisherman. It's pretty old and scratched already so i'm not too concerned about fouling the paint. I guess i could always put a small piece of leather or something to protect the paint where the clamp feet make contact. Yes those are down rigger mounts, but mounting the rod holders to them may interfere with their operation. Roy, your gunwales are twice as wide as mine so i don't think i will have a problem getting them on there. That's a really nice setup you have there. I think I'm just going to get the clamp mounts instead. That way i can quickly transfer them to different boats or pack them up for the winter. Graeme, good to hear from you again

nice pike!

Hi i am trying to order some mounts for my two rod holders. The sales guy @ down-east recommended the s-16 vertical mounts for me to bolt on top of my gunwale. I was wondering if any of you have that model rod holder and exactly how you mounted it on the gunwale. I'm not scared to drill holes in the boat, but I don't know how you would tighten these rod holders down with the provided hardware. My gunwales aren't perfectly flat like the mounting surface of the rod holder, and they are hollow on the inside. pic of the lucky boat: thanks!!

i've driven past it a bunch of times on my way to gogama, but never fished it. I imagine it would be very similar to fishing the mattagami. Worm harnesses, jigging with worms should work when it's calm. Trolling minnowbaits if it's windy worked for us. Pick the wind blown side of the lake and points to troll.

i like using rapala j-13's with a little bit of extra weight if necessary. I usually catch the bigger ones when trolling points and underwater shoals 15-25 f.o.w.. Pike like to hide and ambush stuff as it passes by them. Big ones are lazy and will sit in the slack current behind the points and shoals, and come up to strike the lure as it passes over them. On lakes with no weeds and fist sized rocks on the bottom, i like to let the rapala dig into the bottom and kick up dust every so often. Make sure you give the rod a good sweep every so often. sometimes followers will strike when the lure speeds up. 3-5km/h is a good speed to start with, unless you're in a cold front, then slow it down a bit. i like the jointed lures because they always wiggle no matter what speed you go.

great photos! thanks for taking the time to scan and upload them

Sweet truck!, yes i consider it a truck, it has a boxed frame, solid rear axle, a 2 speed transfer case, and sometimes they come with electronic rear lockers - some features you won't see on a few of the 'domestic' brands! If i was in the market for a new SUV i would be going with an xterra for sure! You're gonna love that 4l motor too. Come on over to my Canadian Nissan Truck Club website. There is lots to learn there and i guarantee you will get the off road itch after you see what other owners have done and can do with their xterras. Members also get discounts on service and other perks from a couple of the participating dealerships in the GTA and Milton. Canadian Nissan Truck Club my username is nige on that forum. I've been enjoying my old Pathfinder for close to 8 years now. Outside of bigger motor, manual gearbox and solid front axle, there is absolutely nothing else i want changed on it. It hauls my 14' aluminum no problem and has just enough space to carry a week's worth of camping and fishing gear and tools for two people and a dog (probably more if i use the boat for holding coolers, beer, tents, guitars etc.). I've taken it to Florida, Timmins twice, countless trips into the Muskoka, North Bay area, and stinktown (t.o.), and almost every ski hill, lake and river within a 4 hour drive of here. I've modified it a little bit and i take it down all the trails in the Minden/Kawarthas area where it has seen it's fair share of off road abuse (including a hydrolocked engine!). The 4 wheeling is a bit rough on them and i have spent my fair share of time disassembling and cleaning parts. I've been planning a cross-country trip out to BC with it to visit all my friends and family in Calgary, Christina Lake, Kelowna, Vancouver and Victoria, and i know it will make the trip without any fuss. As for domestics, I would like to see how many 1995 vintage trucks like Blazers and Exploders are still on the road with everything still working on them. It's very rare to see anything other than beat up old Jeeps and Toyotas that are that old and still running trails. Jeez, we even have some 80's Nissans that run the trails with us every so often. Anyway, enough babbling. Hope to see you over there on the club message board photo by my friend Slawek

it's a good lake to fish, but it can be a zoo on the weekends. I just got a nice 3lb smallmouth trolling a wood minnow about 15 feet down. Let the lure bump the bottom every so often, it attracts strikes, and troll the lure off drops from shallow to deep. The bass like to hang around the drop offs. there are pickeral in the lake now too, just troll wind-blown points with rapalas etc. and you should be able to get one. Try to throw them back, i have been fishing that lake for years and i was really surprised to catch a pickeral there. I know they are stocked, but it would be cool for them to build up a natural population. Pike will bite pretty much anything there. spoons and rapalas, spinnebaits, bucktails you name it. they can get pretty big in there, but i haven't caught one over 30" in a few years. It gets fished out really fast. have fun and don't lose your temper @ the boat launch lol

congrats on the new boat. I also have an 80's mirrocraft. I love it, but the floor is getting a bit soft

hey save some for us guys upstream nice fish!!!

what an awesome way to fish the grand! i would like to rent one and try it out when bass opens next spring!

i'd also like to add that I am very good with computers, so updateable and downloadable maps for the gps side are a good thing

Which model would you get? I am trying to shop for christmas stuff and i wanted to get my friend a new sonar for his 21' boat. He uses it primarily for downrigging the great lakes, but sometimes it finds it's way into smaller inland lakes for other fish. It has to have a Sonar and GPS and a colour screen. We have had good luck with Humminbird and Lowrance units but I am open to any suggestions. I am looking for the best value for my money. Considering i use a Humminbird 200dx, i am a little out of date on my fishfinder product knowledge. Thanks guys

well i'm back from the weekend. That was a really nice (and weedy!) lake and the cottage was great. We fished friday, saturday and sunday morning. We caught a few pickerel (one really nice 21.5" 3.6 lbs) and one bass, but had no musky by saturday night. We had trolled and casted to all the spots everyone had suggested, but came up empty handed. To make matters worse my motor was acting up a little (starved for fuel, which we later accredited to a cracked fuel pick-up tube inside the tank). We were a little bummed 'cause we had tried so hard. We woke up this morning and decided to top up the gas on the boat (we had to cut the pick-up tube short) and give it another shot. We could have just jigged for pickerel and went home with a full cooler, but we really wanted to catch a musky before going home especially after seeing pictures of our cabin neighbors with a 17 lb musky on saturday afternoon! For those of you familiar with pigeon lake, we trolled down the northwest side south to bobcaygeon and had no luck. We the crossed the channel eastwards and trolled south along the west side of the big island. It was there we were certain we had a musky strike because my friend was trolling a believer on the shallow setting and he got a big hit. Thinking it was a weed snag, he let his guard down. I saw the rod jerk and we were in 25 feet of water with rock bottom according to the sonar. He reeled the lure in and sure enough it had no weeds on it. I put on my j-13 blue and silver rapala because it had been catching pickerel and bass on Saturday and i wasn't having any luck with the big spinner tails. I let it out about 75 yards or so and my other friend got his lure back down as well. We continued to troll south (i learned to go a little faster than pickerel troll speed) and approached the small group of exposed rocks near the orange channel marker. As soon as I began my right turn toward the channel marker, the rod jerked and i quickly set the hook. I thought i had a nice pickerel on the end until I saw a musky rocket 2 feet out of the water! I have never fought a fish like that before. Rainbows are pretty tricky, but this musky tested every single thing i've ever learned about playing fish! I even got a break when she darted underneath the boat like a pike only to come flying out of the water behind me on the other side! If i hadn't had my rod tip in the water under the boat, i may have lost her right there! After a few more quick hops and runs, she started to tire (me too!) and i was able to coast her along side of the boat where my friend had the cradle ready. The fish still had energy and didn't like the cradle very much so she thrashed about and tore the hook from the corner of her mouth. Before she could escape, my other friend quickly grabbed her tail like we do with salmon and hauled the whole mess in the boat. We were blown away just to get one on the line, let alone have it in the boat. So here she is; my 1st musky! We know it was longer than 36 inches because it went off my fishing regulations sticker on the bench. It felt like it weighed around 10 pounds or so, but i was shaking like a leaf after i caught it so I'm not sure. We got her back in the water quickly and it took about 15 minutes to get her revived and she kicked up a big splash and headed back to the depths. i put a short clip on youtube of me reviving her. We learned that cradles are one of the most frustrating items to use and they are way tricker than using grippers or a rubber net. i could see the cradle helping with larger fish, but it was so annoying to use it because the hooks would instantly get stuck in it and the fish could break free. I almost lost this nice pickerel when landing it. it would be nice if they made the cradles out of the good rubber webbing that the salmon nets we use are made of. The hooks are way less prone to getting stuck in it and it sort of keeps it's shape when you put it underwater. i want to thank you guys that gave me tips and pointers, i was really getting worried that we would leave the lake without seeing one. I am definitely going to chase these fish a little more often! they are waay more fun and challenging to land then a big pike!!

right on, i'll make my way to that side of the lake for a couple hours too. I am not used to fishing on such a big lake!, The Mattagami was the last big one i was on. I don't really count lake ontario 'cause you never have to go very far to get into salmon and trout

thanks for all the replies guys. We intend on releasing every musky we catch, so we have a cradle, grippers, 2 sets of long nose pliers, and i have a set of channel locs to cut hooks that are troublesome. The only think is should pick up is a set of jaw spreaders incase the hooks are deep. We might keep a couple of pickeral if we catch some, i can't resist the cheek meat I have been studying this map i found on the fishhawk website. I'm not sure if the spots apply for this time of season, but by the sounds of it, trolling the shoreline should get us at least one i hope Hawk Talk Pigeon Lake We're gonna stop at bass pro tomorrow on the way up, so i will get a couple big spinnerbaits. I made my own bucktail spinners that have claimed a couple pike so i will try those up there 1 more sleep

I like Tabcrawler too.

we decided on renting a cottage at pigeon lake resort. It was a really good price for 3 guys over 2 nights for $225 with a spot to keep my boat tied at night. I am pretty excited to try musky fishing for the first time. I am searching through everyone's threads about pigeon lake and checking out the pictures. I think i should make a trip to the tackle shop first because i hear that white lures are working really well right now, and i have none besides one small bucktail. Does anyone have any tips on what methods we should use? I always like trolling because it keeps your bait in the water the most time. Also, are there any pike on pigeon lake or is it stricktly musky? thanks for all your suggestions and advice so far. Garry2r's, I will have to come fishing with you when it's just me and my buddy, not 3 of us.

I have enjoyed my Abu Garcia C4 6500 baitcaster. It is my first and only baitcasting reel i own, and i mated it with a nice 1-piece rapala hm-45 rod. It's an awesome setup for bass and larger pike, but i'm not sure how it would hold up to casting larger musky lures all season long, but i would definitely need a heavier rod to do that. It does a great job casting 3/4 and 1 ounce spoons and bucktails. I have had to have it serviced once in the 4 seasons i have owned it. I paid around $165 for the reel and $35 to service it this spring (it had salt crust in it from when i took it down south). The drag is still really smooth and it is quiet. it works great for trolling, and the clicker is nice and loud to let you know when you get a strike/snag. I used to get bird-nests in it when i try to cast light lures into the wind, but i have gotten much better at casting and it's very rare that i get tangles in it anymore. I don't think you need a magnetic anti-backlash system, but i have never tried one (i think the abu c5 green reel had one) so i can't speak of on experience. If it worked well, it probably would have been useful when i was learning to cast with it, but now that i am comfortable with it, I don't think i would ever need/want to sped the extra money to get one. You could try one of the saltwater reels too. I think the are a little heavier yet than the freshwater versions. I don't think it's really fair to compare the Abu baitcasters to the Shimano Calcuttas. The Shimano reels are nearly 3 times as much as the Abu's. I am a firm believer of you get what you pay for, but i am happy with the value i got for my Abu reel which I bought 4 years ago. You can get the c4 for less than $100 now. I wonder if the shimano reel would last 3 times as long as the Abu?