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Wow that's huge! Nice Musky. Great pictures of the Osprey - would have liked to see it attack that Pike/Musky that it made a meal of!!

Awesome... Looks like you had a great week!

Congratulations on some huge fish Lew. Great report. I don't know how you do it..... that is.... catch such big fish but not smile in the photo of you holding it!! 007

I was looking back over some photos of the smallmouth bass that I caught at Silent Lake and noticed that many of the fish had small black spots on their tails and fins - see pics below. I've never noticed these spots before and there were'nt any on the largemouth bass that I caught in the same lake. Can anyone tell me what these spots are? Is it some kind of parasite or disease? Cheers 007

Great pictures as usual Dan. Looks like a beautiful place. Glad your camera is back up and running. Look forward to more pics from the Lake Superior area soon. 007

Wow. Those bass look huge, well they would they're so close to the camera!! No seriously those are some impressive fish. I can only dream about fish that size given my recent luck. The ones I catch are probably the ones those guys are eating! LOL If you don't mind me asking what bait/lures were you using and what depth were the fish in? Thanks for the report. Cheers 007

Looks like a good job Cliff! Glad the little one is outfishing you these days! Take care 007

I can't be sure about camping at Parks with Muskies as I haven't caught one at any of the parks I've been to - though I too would like to find such a place and catch one of those toothy creatures. Otherwise for good fishing I would suggest the following parks (some I have been to, others have been recommended to me): Algonquin Charleston Lake Balsam Lake (pretty sure there are muskies in there) Bonnechere Bon Echo Killbear Restoule Silent Lake St Lawrence (pretty sure there are muskies in there) Good luck 007

Welcome to the board. Take a look at my recent report from Silent Lake. I rented a canoe for 6 hours at a cost of $15 + $20 refundable deposit - includes all safety equipment. I generally rented the canoe from about 10 till 4pm - it is possible to catch fish at this time - though they tend to be small smallmouth bass, largemouth bass and the odd pumpkinseed sunfish. I also did some fishing from shore in the evening but still caught small fish. I used a float with worms or microtubes and tended to fish shorelines with broken rock and fallen trees. While it is mainly small fish - they must have parents! Maybe other baits and lures would work for the bigger fish in the right places but they didn't work for me so I just stuck with the fun of non-stop fishing with worms for the smaller bass. Good luck and post a report when you get back! 007

Nice one Rich. Looks like a respectable size carp. 007

Nice fish/shots. Thanks Victor for the 'compliment' - not sure I like that "King of Small fish" tag - but you're right based on most of my fishing this year. While it looks like I may have the record for consistently catching small fish of all species I just can't compete with that fish of Graftongal!!!! Anyone got anymore memeorable small fish pics?

Thanks for the nice comments about the camera work. I am a keen photographer and when the fish aren't biting I really enjoy taking scenery shots. I guess the good thing is I rarely get skunked and I will always come home from a trip with good memories and lots of pictures to remember the trip by for when I'm old and grey and can't rememembr what I had for breakfast that day! . Have a great day - weekend is almost here... and its a long one! 007

Thanks for the great tips guys. Next time I will try to find some of those drop-off/transition locations and persist with the tubes and crankbaits until I succeed. I think the next place I go to I will be camping near a rocky headland - so sounds like a good spot from shore or boat. If those small ones are anything to go by - I can't wait for the fun of catching a big one! Cheers 007

Hi folks. Seeing as I seem to have been catching my fair share of small fish this year I thought there should be a thread to showcase the smallest fish that people have caught on rod n reel! Shame on us all for forgetting the small fish in our quest for big fish. Size isn't everything you know! So what you waiting for post some of your smallest fish shots - you know the one - that small rock bass that went for that big lure or that tiny pike with a big appetite. I can't be the only one to hook these small fish but I bet no one has caught smaller ones than me!LOL Here's a few of mine from the last few years on this side of the pond! Enjoy - and try not to laugh out loud. Cheers 007

Hi all, As you may have seen from my recent Silent Lake I know where to find small smallmouth bass..... but where are the big fish at this time of year? Let's say your fishing a typical Canadian shield lake - lots of rock not much weed, where would the big fish be? What depth would they be at? Would they be hanging around humps, rocks or logs or all of them? Is it best to fish the shoreline in the evening but fish deeper during the day? What baits/lures should I be using? If using tubes - do I vertical jig on bottom or cast and retrieve from a boat? Lots of questions I know - but looks like I need some help to catch a decent smallie! Any tips and tried and tested methods would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Cheers 007

Thanks for the comments guys. Thanks for the tips TBayBoy, I'll try those out soon. Cliff - can't wait to tackle my first walleye - hopefully i'll target them soon!

The new waterproof camera that landlocked probably refers to is the Olympus 770SW - they've been advertising it a lot. Considering getting one myself. But if you don't need a waterproof camera then I'm sure there are better or better value small digitals out there, just not sure which to recommend - though anything by canon is bound to be good.

You're right Doug. Apart from a largeish day-use beach at the top end of the lake and the canoe rental dock the lake is pretty untouched. The whole lake is in the provincial park, there are no cottages, not even campsites on the lake and no motor boats. Sure was a silent lake - well except for the loons calling at night and the creatures running through our camp site at night that gave us a fright - racoons or skunks I think. 007

Hello one and all! Well my quest to catch as many of Ontario's fish species this year continued at Silent Lake Provincial Park. Target species - Smallmouth Bass. Friday morning, we headed out of the city and towards the Bancroft area to camp on the shores of Silent Lake. I must say its a beautiful park - beautiful forests, Canadian shield clear rocky lake and very peaceful - no motor boats and no crowds. We were camped in a walk-in site at the southern end of the park. The walk-in sites are a great way of getting away from the crowds and experiencing the great outdoors but with the added bonus of some facilities near-by. After setting up the tent I was off to try my luck from shore. The shoreline is littered with broken rock and the odd fallen tree - so plenty of structure to fish for Smallmouth Bass. Unusually for me I decided to start off with lures rather than worms. Tried Mepps spinners and Rapala Crankbaits but no luck. I think it was just too hot for the fish to chase lures, so I turned to worms to see if there were at least some fish around. Sure enough it wasn't long before the smallmouth bass came out from the rocky shadows to devour my tasty worm offering. Some pics of that evening's fishing.... So, technically I had succeeded in catching my target species but this size of fish wasn't what I had come for. Next day my wife and I decided to do some exploring in a canoe. Canoeing around the lake near to shore, we found lots of likely places to fish - mainly rocks and fallen trees - but very little in the way of weeds. At one rocky spot I started casting to shore with float fished worm and had an absolute blast - catching bass after bass. Not to be out done my wife picked up a rod and had a great time catching both smallmouth and largemouth bass and even the odd sunfish for good measure. It was such good action that my wife had to learn the art of unhooking fish as I often had a fish on of my own and couldn't help her out! The problem was... they were all small fish as these pics show.... Where were the big fish?! Should I have left the shoreline and fished deeper? I did try (a little half heartedly) to fish with tubes in deeper water and even tried topwater baits in the evenings but had no luck - so decided to stick at fishing the rocky shoreline in the hope that one of the big fish would be hiding there and come out to play. At one point we did see one decent 3lb in the shallows in among the small fish, but it wouldn't take the bait.... though wouldn't you know it, it did take a dead piece of worm off the surface that I had taken off the hook and thrown into the water!!! On the Saturday we also had a surprise encounter with this almost metre long creature - slithering its way towards our boat! After a few quick pics, we decided that it was a little close for comfort and as it looked like it wanted to get into the canoe with us we paddled for our lives! LOL Anyone know what type of snake it is? I looked it up on the internet and its not definitely not a water snake. The closest looking snake I could find in Ontario is the Eastern Milk Snake - but none of the descriptions mention anything about it being a snake that likes water! Sure was a nice looking creature with its red, cream and black pattern - but would like to know for sure what it is - any help appreciated. The next day, we took a canoe out again and tried some new spots but generally just enjoyed the scenery as the fishing was slower due to hot temps, glaring sun and a breeze that meant keeping the canoe in one place was pretty difficult. Here's a few scenery shots..... Well I succeeded in catching a smallmouth bass but this 1lb fish, which turned out to be the biggest of the weekend was a little disappointing. However the experience and enjoyment of being in the outdoors more than made up for the lack of big fish. Hope you enjoyed the report. Hopefully I will add to my list soon - perhaps a walleye or musky (I wish) and will certainly be chasing some more smallies when I go camping again up at Fairbank P.P near Sudbury in a couple of weeks. Take care everyone. 007

Looks like a good day out fishing despite the hot temps - thanks for the report. Sure looks like a Bluegill and a Black Crappie to me too. 007

Nice one TBayBoy - that scenery sure beats fishing the Toronto Islands! 007

Some nice carp there Marko - congrats! 007

It's the same story with me - no topwater fish yet. I generally get frustrated with the lures and go back to the worms. Perhaps too quickly - perhaps I should do like you and just leave the worms at home and try with all the lures I buy and never seem to use!!! Good luck

Thanks guys - was beginning to think that no one had one of the two cameras as my post had made it to the dreaded second page where few people read! Thanks Mepps - I thought I recalled a post from you last year on the subject but couldn't remember if you advocated the pentax or the olympus - must have been the latter. Snypa and Pinch - I've heard good and bad things about the new Olympus 770sw - so good to hear some more positives. It sounds like neither of you have had problems with leaks and you seem to be pleased with the the pictures. The Olympus sounds to be the better camera - depth, settings etc. I'm just concerned by some reviews I've seen on-line that say that the camera leaked and broke. Also people have said its a bit of a pain to use because of the menu system - any concerns there? Njones - The Pentax is also tempting as it is cheaper and they make good cameras, though can't be used as deep down. I guess I should go to Henry's and take a look at them both. Any other pics or comments from you guys would be gratefully received. Thanks 007

Nice one Highdrifter! I don't suppose you're gonna PM me with that GTA Smallie location that you referred to now are you???? Pweeesssse. I think I asked you the same question last year, and you were tight lipped then! Maybe one day we can hook up and catch some smallies in the GTA from Lake Ontario- that would sure be cool! Tightlines. 007