jwl

right on that's excellent, my kids have all been boating and around fishing since weeks old, it's a great way to share time with the family....although maybe ya better not give the wife too many ideas...if she sees you make it too easy to sling the boy over your shoulder and go fishin you will never get out without the kids fishing anymore awesome pics

right on man, me and the wife regularly watch UFC and stuff when we can, and I have seen a few fights on TV from Calgary as well....congrats to your brother man

looks good here at my place right now,haveto see if it reaches me...maybe i will be safe if I don't wash the car or boat, or not cut my lawn

not gonna touch on any brand names here, but are you going 8 to 9.9 because you don't want the worries of of registering the boat and insurance and such? depending on the boat, you say it's a deep 14, you may want to go a bit bigger than a 9.9 for sure, lots of deepV 14's can take 25's even 30's on the back, some are heavy. I have a 14 foot ultralite model...it's rated for a 15 but I run a 9.9 on it...that's the smallest motor I would want on that boat...it pushes the boat around pretty nice and doesn't make it feel like it's underpowered, but we tested my bro-in-law's 6 on it before when he was fixing the motor up at it really lags, but in comparison, the boat I have the 9.9 on is all of about 250lbs before you load it up...if I had the extra cash to spend right now I would put a 15 on it....to me registering the boat isn't the issue, I already have a bigger boat registered and insured, it just happens that we had the 9.9 for years now that we used on 2 different boats so that's what I use on the newer one. In comparison though, we had it on an older 14 footer steel boat and it really seemed to lag cuz of the weight of the boat, then we traded the 14 for a 12 footer aluminum and the 9.9 kicked butt on there, and then a few years back we got the 14 brand new just the boat no motor and been using the 9.9 on it ever since...sure I would love to have a brand new 15 for it, but I really can't justify putting a couple thousand dollar motor on a boat that you can buy brand new for 15 hundred....if I where to do that I may as well just buy a whole other boat package, but i don't think the wife would go for that we already have 3 boats

yahoo, that's a nice one man, must be in the 30lber range, that's gonna help our team!!! you are gonna make that one tough to beat for the season...thanks for the challenge We all know sometimes musky fishing is definately not a numbers game, but there is always that chance of catching a hog like that one that makes it so appealing, thanks for that big teaser

this time of year, you are pretty much better off to fish really early in the morninglike first light until maybe 9-10 in the morning tops. Early in the morning the water is at it's lowest it will be for the day, the current is slower and way less stuff floating around in the water. Once the water starts to go up, this is a big transition time for the fish, it get's the fish on the move and not much into feeding, and as the water rises, the cuurrent picks up and then all the crap gets flushed down river and the whirlpool is where most of the debris end sup and hangs in there for a while..weeds, logs, garbage, whatever floats down river and it hangs up in the whirlpool for a couple days some times before making it's way down stream. After the water gets to the high water mark for the day the fishing starts to pick up again but then you have to be aware of the billion more sngas out there..basically put everything you walk across to get to the water's edge at first light with be what you arefishing into and over in the afternoon when the water is at high level. If you aren't well versed in fishing and readin that type of heavy current then be prepared to lose a pile of tackle, even guys like me who have almost 30 years experience fishing that water have days where the river eats half our tackle boxes Only bring what you think you may need for the day as well..although people are all gung-ho to head down there and maybe try a new fishing spot for the day with bells on, the way back up isn't going to have the same appeal. Remeber to be careful on the rocks in the morning heading to the water's edge, they are slippery like you wouldn't believe, and when ya get down to the water..look behind you at the high water mark cuz that's where you will be fishing later in the day..the water comes up pretty quick once it starts..it will be at high volume within like an hour or so, and if you decide to do some exploring stay on the paths, and be careful, the Niagara Gorge and River aren't very forgiving places at the best of times.

A short time ago with all the hype surrounding higher gas prices I saw on the news a little blurb relating to the "weekend warriors" heading out to the Muskoka area for an example. The blurb suggested that perhaps instead of frequent trips some may opt to make less trips,but longer ones at a time. For me, higher gas isn't going to change my "summer lifestyle" to me it's no different than a couple years ago when gas was the price it is now anyways. This really doesn't amount to all that much more to fill the car if you think about it. maybe it costs me an extra $20 round trip to travel the about 350 klicks to my trailer from home. I got worse troubles than not goping to my trailer that much in the summer if I can't afford an extra $20 for the trip. As for using my boats, it costs maybe $25 to fill my tank on the Viper as opposed to maybe $20 the last couple years, of which depending on where I am fishing and actual time put on the gas motor or if I am goofing off with the kids tubing for example. But that being said, I already expect some times that I am going to burn a tank of gas a day in the bigger boat according to my activities. Like I said if I don't have $20 bucks for the day to screw around in the boat..fishing a couple hours with just the grownups, then taking the kids out for a bit, then going for a family boot up the lake goofing off or taking the kids tubing all for the $20-$25 bucks in a day then I got bigger problems than worrying about going out in the boat for the day. Besides, not too much else you can do for the day of good family fun with the wife and 3 kids and often a freind or so that tags along all for only $20 bucks or so. As for the little boat, heck I been to my camp 4 times so far this season,mind you the weather hasn't let me spend alot of hours on the water, but of those 4 trips, I spent probably about 12-14 days up at camp al together, and so far only threw about $40 worth of gas and oil in the boat all together, of which I still have a full tank of gas sitting in the shed, so it's maybe actually cost me $20 for gas for all that time, and that includes a few hours of fishing, some goofing off with my kids, touring around with the wife cuz she likes to check out what people have done to improve thier properties ect( so she can get some bright ideas for our lot). So really, I have come to the conclusion that although gas seems to be really high,it really doesn't cost us all that much money "extra" to keep up the summe rlifestyle we enjoy so much, we work hard, we save in the winter, sometimes we work extra in the winter, and that's what a big part of our "fun money" is for...it's for going to our trailer and having a good time, fishing, boating ect..that the summer may bring. As for keeping more fish, for me ,definately no, I only keep maybe 6-8 fish or so a year anyways, and that's somehting I have done for years and years, I pretty much go fishing for fun not food, so this is not going to change for my family although my wife wishes I kept fish more often. I can see however that with the US dollar being pretty much the same as the Canadian dollar and in some places actually the US dollar is worth less than our in the tourism sector, I can see that many people from the US may opt not to travel to Canada this summer for vacation time.

right on man, you got your pic back...nice fish

I always give the lights a check before leaving the driveway...always unplug the lights when putting the boat in and out of the water, get everything all secured on the way home, connect the lights and give them a check again

oh and make sure to pack really heavy for the walk back up

no worries here either man..I have a great sense of humour and am a pretty easy going guy about 99.5% of the time, I like the kidding around and the occasional good ribbin that come with sharing in fishing adventures along the way...and as for the board....I like the kiddin around it makes it all fun and from reading posts ect that other people make, all part of what makes it a community as for the always great fishin with the kids part.....you must have never took my 3 girls and occasionally some of thier friends along with you in the boat then for the day

great report, I love seeing the kids have a blast out there getting some fresh airt and good ole wholesome family fun

well sort of off white , bottom half of the minnow bucket we let the little one humour herself by keeping a couple little ones in there for a bit..man was she bummed when I told her we had to dump them back in off our dock....don't worry I teach my kids about respecting our resources and conservation along the way, I am on the executive commity for a local to me conservation club and get involved in a few projects each year for fish/wildlife/habitat enhancement...nuttin wrong with letting a 5 year old have some fun with a couple little fish for a few minutes that she caught with her sister

the part about some rude so called "fishermen" says it all right there, and ruins alot of options for alot of people. I for one would sure not to start the motor up on my $100 thousand or more boat to find out that someone fishing got thier line all stuck around my prop, or hooks in my mooring cover, dings ect, not to mention the expensive property that gets scored off people's boats every season as well. it's a tough call to make, and really no one does own the water so to speak, but some marinas can say they sort of own the parts they built specially if it is a harbour type setting constructed up inner and outer breakwalls.

I know that water very well and all points in between in the Niagara Gorge,I grew up in Niagara Falls, and fished the lower river from the shore avidly since I was about 12 years old when my mom decided it was ok for me to hike down there with my cousin or some freinds without any grownups around. Got about 27 years experience fishing that water I have a pretty good idea of what is biting,what time of year, and how to get em

sometimes nice muskies can be so elusive even the picture gets away

depending on where you are coming from, you might wanna save your time and gas money. all the wind we been having around here makes the pool a mess with floating debris, and tis the season the moss and grassy stuff starts to grow thick. It's too late for any good trout fishing with this warm weather, bass is still closed, about the only thing ya could fish for really down there right now is carp If you do head down in the near furture remember a couple things...if you go down there really early in the morning the water will be low , all the rocks leading down to the water will be slippery as crap....then also you will see after about 8;30-10 in the morning the water will start to rise so don't stray too far from your gear as it will not take long to be under water, you will easily see the high water mark...once it peaks max level it will stay that way until later in the evening then start to go down again...during the rise and fall of the water levels the fishing isd pretty much spent for a while until it';s levels off both ways, high and low levels.

nice way to start off the day..catching a 5er, way to tough it out in the rain, I was at camp Mon evening to Wed and the whacky weather has the fishin a bit goofed up to say the least..looks like you guys stuck with it and did pretty good under the tough conditions

Headed out to the trailer on Monday for a quick little trip to break up the hub-bub and get some fishing in. As usual it was a great time. This time my kids got in on a bunch of the fun goffing around with my ultralight rod and catching a pile of panfish off the dock for a few laughs. The bite was fast and furious and hard to keep up with the worms. probably cost me about 5 bucks an hour in worms this way but watching the kids have a ball was well worth it They didn't stop until they got the panfish grandslam Our 13 year old taking her little sister down on the dock for a few casts first up..a pumkinseed rock bass my little one wanted to keep a couple "pets" next up...bluegill then to top it off for the panfish grandsalm out of the lake...a perch now my little one collected a couple more "pets" of couse she wanted to play with them for a bit before we let them go ta da!!!!...finally got one... . The kids had a great time goofing around and it was nice to see one of the older kids take some time out with her little sister to have some fun and share some greatmemories along the way. Since we where making this trip a good time for the kids we decided to have a little extra fun..so me and my buddy ran into town for some errands....what did we get???...first stop was the bait store so we could replenish the kid's worm supply and get a few more chubs for the adventure. Then of course we "had" to go to the liquor store for some big kid pops, then after that..what mixes well with some good booze???...yepper you guess it...explosives got a whack of fireworks to vlast off for the kids before bed and you know you did your job as the parents when the kid's day ends like this . couldn't resist getting a pic in there too...nothing to brag about as far as entries for the team goes, but got into a few fish for the couple days as wellm that is when the wind and crap wether would let us out on the water, I was doing a bit of meat hunting to top up a bit in the freezer for an upcoming fish fry so I decided to keep this one for the table.

that's a great way to start out with the boat....you got out there, gave the boat a decent test run, and youput some fish in the boat

great report and pics from the adventure..very nice way to sepnd some time for your anniversary, everyone has to get away withuot thier kids now and again

I do that alot at my camp as well, works great when there is a slight breeze to drift along in the boat...I use the chartreuusse Gulp worm for this or 6 inch white twisters

sounds like a pretty good day, that musky you got is pretty solid and chunky for the size of it, i bet that was a scrappy one

I got one I won in a fishing derby, it was in a Remington kit with a multi-tool, a buck knife and flashlight in a nice litle wooden box, it's pretty handy to have around camp

sounds like a blast, although I don't know if we can believe fish stories from a guy who only has a bit over 6 thousand posts on here