jediangler

Great report and good eats. I just love the way St. Clair musky look.

Great report. I always tell my fishing buddies that muskies keep bankers hours, 9 to 5. But that's just so they'll let me sleep in a little longer.

Amber is for overcast or rainy days so you can still see through the water without them being too dark. Grey or green for sunny days.

Congrats on your first ski Mike. It looks like a nice healthy too.

Went to Sturgeon lake for musky opener with my brother Joonmoon, Griff and the Shipper. We left KW at 4am and were fishing by 7am. Joonmoon had the first hook-up at 7:45am. It was 29.5" and officially started the 2008 musky season. Griff caught this, his 1st ever walleye, on a T1 titanium spinnerbait in red chrome. He also hooked but lost his 1st musky on the same spinnerbait after fighting it for 8 seconds. Joonmoon then lost another fish and seen several follows before it was my turn. Check out the jealous look on the Shipper's face in the backround. It was 25" and very acrobatic. Then Joonmoon caught it's twin, another 25"er. The Shipper managed one perch that was referred to as the "one stinkin' perch" for the rest of the trip. All muskies were landed on Mepps Musky Killer bucktails with gold blade and black buck. Winds were 25km/h changing from W to NW to N and the water temp was 67F when we packed it in at 1pm. Then the long drive home with the AC cranked. Great start to this musky season with friends and family.

Thanks

Nice crappies. Great pics and report. Never ventured in to Big & little Bald lakes, maybe this year.

Great report with lots of species represented. I only ever catch walleye now as an accident while fishing for ski. I was on Sturgeon from 7am - 1pm. It was too hot to go on after that. Good thing it was windy.

WTG minnow. Congrats on the PB as well as sliming your ride. You will never get that smell out of your carpet, and as Martha would say "that's a good thing".

That's musky fishing. We had a newbie out for his first time as well. He hooked one and fought it for 8 seconds before it got off. We all told him that "you're not supposed to land your first musky" so he wouldn't be upset. Your story is a great reason to remember to figure 8 after avery cast. I had a mid 30's inch fish follow and stop at the boat. When I started to figure 8 he just took off. As I watched it go a 42" hit my bucktail from under the boat. No wonder the smaller musky bolted.

That sounds like a lot more fun than a regular single species tournament. Congrats on 4th out of 150. Very impressive.

Island lake in Orangeville might be a little farther than you wanted but has panfish a plenty.

WTG knightfisher and congrats to Tom.Chock up another one for team Sportspal. We landed 3 musky in my Sportspal Pirate today in the Kawarthas.We saw some osprey but looks like you saw some cormorants.

Good job memart, Congrats. What was big fish of the tournament?

Sturgeon was 67F today and 70F in the shallows.

My brother Joonmoon tied these blue fox spinners up last year and they are killer for pike. They out fish plain spinners at better than 2 to 1. He has the tying gear from his bucktail jig tying days. I would say that it is worth the cost.

I'll be on Sturgeon as well. If you see two Sportspals come say hello .

Puckhead the shore fishing is OK but the boat rentals are reasonably priced and will make all the difference. Any worm & bobber set up will keep the panfish hitting for all little anglers. Freshwaterfan you can install a paddle keeper on the side of your yak with bungee cord to keep the paddle out of your way. I just leave it in my lap and a paddle leash attached. I usually just rest my forearms on it to fish.

A fitting tribite to all who keep the wheels in motion at OFC. Well done Cliff.

I've fished it a few times. We've caught walleye, crappie, perch, catfish, musky and both large and smallmouth bass. Where are you camping?

My brother Joonmoon and I took the Shipper to Island lake to celebrate his birthday. After walking my daughter to school I picked them up, and after a Timmies stop, we were off to Orangeville. Arrived and were fishing by 11am. Joonmoon guided the Shipper in my Sportspal and I rented a kayak from the conservation area. We had the lake pretty much to ourselves. The wind was 25km/h, and our target species was crappie. We went upwind and set up for a drift. It wasn't long before the birthday boy had a fish on. It was a small pike but it was a start. Here Joonmoon tries to get a pic but before he snaps it the fish squirms out of his hands. I come in for a closer look at the small perch rapala he used to catch the pike in the 12' rental kayak I picked out of their rental fleet. They had 2 sit on top style and a tandem sit in kayak as well as this Boreal Design/Kasko yak. It cost $15/h or $40 for a day. I rented it for 2hrs. It had a rudder at the back that came in very handy when paddling upwind and for controlling the angle of the yak while drifting. Behind me you can see a fireman taking his 3yr old daughter and husky fishing in a little 12' tinny. Besides two young guys renting a jon boat, that was all the boat traffic we saw. I caught 2 perch and 2 pike on a 1/16oz jig and grub in yellow. Joonmoon caught 2 crappie on little jig & grubs in dark colours. The Shipper caught 2 pike, a WGSF, a sunfish, a crappie and this largemouth bass. I know it's OOS and frowned upon, but I'm pretty sure this one wasn't doing any spawning yet. Joonmoon shows off his 11" crappie. We left the conservation area at 2:30pm after 3hrs of fishing so I could be back for my daughter's swimming lesson at 4pm. Before I clean and deliver them to the Shipper, Joonmoon's crappies and 1 of my perch pose for a picture in my sink. I hope he enjoyed his fresh birthday fish fry, and remembers that it was made possible by the Sportspal Pirate. I won't tell you how old he is, I'll just say he's halfway to 92 even though he looks halfway to 140.

Very inspirational, thank you.

I have a 7yr old, and agree that a conservation area with decent shore fishing, a playground and beach area would be a slam dunk. I like Island lake, but Valen's is a kid's paradise. http://www.conservationhamilton.ca/parks/visit/valens.asp

I'll be throwing a bucktail over the first weed growth next to shallow dark bottom areas. Good luck to all.

Great story and a priceless smile on her face.