Weeds

I may be the odd one out on this but I had a 7 foot medium light St. Croix Premier Spinning (fast) rod and I thought it was perfect for throwing Senkos. I broke the tip off and replaced it with a 6'9 St. Croix Mojo Senko Rod, xf tip. I much prefered the Premier, although it didn't have as much backbone as the Mojo it cast better, felt more sensitive and the extra length, although only marginal, made hauling in fish equal to the Medium Mojo. If you were fishing heavy cover you might prefer a heavier action but I still prefered the 7 foot ml. I'd trade my mojo for one in a heartbeat.

Nothing doing this morning. Fished for about 3 hours before the lightning chased me off the water just before 10. May get out this evening and hit some local spots.

I guess I'll start with the stumps then. Thanks

Hi all. Like alot of you I'm chomping at the bit to get out on the opener. I haven't spent much time in the boat yet this season, last time I was out about 3 weeks back (fishing for walleye)I saw very little in the way of weeds/weed beds. I'll probably be fishing on Chemong again, last time out I came across some nice stump fields and shallow bays with a lot of submerged wood. I also located some areas that are now likely to be producing decent weed growth. Anybody have much luck/success fishing the timber for early season musky or would I be better off concentating more on weed beds. Rocky shoals? Any way to keep the bass at bay besides supersizing? Thanks.

Good for you. I got skunked on the North end of Chemong this morning. I was surprised to have the lake completely to myself.

Too Bad. I'd hoped the thread was about jet ski's.

Otonabee River is open for Carp, no?

I agree with Bill. New tires cost a fortune. With a little patience and luck you can land a set of near new tires (often already mounted on rims) on kijiji for a quarter the price of new.

Nice write up; thanks for that. Funny, I dusted off the Ugly Stik just last week and spooled it with 17 pound mono, egg sinker and Owner circle hook. I'm also looking forward to some spring carp'n. Cheers.

I'll cast another vote for the Ugly Stik. It may not be the most sensitive rod around and it is kind of heavy and whippy. On the plus side it's basically indestructable (some would call that a curse rather than a blessing)so you'll always have it when you upgrade. And when your 3 year son reaches over and inexplicably breaks the tip off your beloved St. Croix upgrade while you are sitting in your mini-van, well, you'll still have the Ugly Stik. And you won't be bitter. Not in the slightest. Not....Bitter. . Another good thing about the Ugly Stik is it makes a great loaner; you can let even young kids use it without fear of breaking the tip. I think alot of the negative experiences people have with the Ugly Stik are due in part to the fact that if purchased as a combo the reel that they pair it with is really crappy. Putting a half decent reel on, 40 to 50 bucks, leaves you with a decent and very durable combo in my opinion.

Nice fish and tatoo. Kind of freaked me out at first; for some reason I thought it might be on the back of your head.

Awesome Irish. Have a good Summer. I'd love to have a float plane someday although I could still die happily (in the distant, distant, very distant future) without one. I've gotta know; how much could somebody score a working float plane for?

If you devise something truly idiot proof, someone will devise a better idiot I like that. Funny cause it's true.

I try to stay out of any threads these days that could be in any way controversial because typically they go stupid so fast...But, having said that, here goes. It's really unfair to lump the Black Bloc into the same group as the legitimate protesters. The Black Bloc will do far more to undermine their efforts to be heard/taken seriously than a Billion dollars worth of Police/security. The violent forms of protest steal the limelight and obscure what could be some very meaningful protests when people start lumping all the protesters into one category. Pepper spray everybody!! G20 meetings offer a wide range of groups the opportunity to protest economic development that comes at the cost of human rights. Childrens rights, womens rights, anti poverty groups, etc,etc. You don't have to be a crazy Hippy to relate to the real messages. Anybody have a clue what some of those messages might be; anybody even want to know?

That does sound like the perfect opener! My day was pretty much the same in that I got extremely wet; but I only managed 9 bass, they were all tiny and there was no musky.

I saw a musky do that last year. I was trying to get a buddy into his first ski. We were casting off a wharf when I see this Musky cruising along the top with his head out and yap opening and closing, heading in the general direction of my friends lure. It was a super shad rap but my friend has managed to get a huge birdsnest in a spinning reel of all things with a bunch of slack in the line. I'm like, Reel! Reel! Twitch it! Do something! It's like he's frozen, kind of reminded me of that Ghost and the Darkness flick. Fish checks out his lure and splits; he was on the top for a good while and passed close to within 10 feet of us I'd bet. Needless to say my friend is still looking for his first Musky.

I'd respectfully disagree with Raf, who no doubt catches way more Musky than me. Jaw spreaders are a worthwhile investment, probably the cheapest bit of Musky gear you're likely to purchase. They make releasing the smallish guys easier and hook cutters are really no substitiute. Although I've never caught a big Musky so he may well have a point there. Congrats on your first Musky; feels awesome eh? It's a learning curve, try and take the criticisms positively. Oh yeah, and tape the jaw spreaders so they ain't all pointy.

Wow, great opener! Nice report; goes to show you persistance pays off. My stategy of an hour or two here and there has yet to pay off but hey; it's a long season!

Nicely done Jedi! I was blanked but I'm hoping to get out again tomorrow.

I just gave up on sleep. Time to roll!

I too am really pumped up for the Musky opener this year. In previous years all of my Musky have been landed from shore so finally having a boat should really open up alot more spots. I'm really more of a casting type of guy but I'm looking forward to trying my hand at trolling some of the super sized baits I've picked up over the past couple of years (13 inch believer types). I'm eager to try out some of the Double 10's this year too, although I think for the opener I'll probably start off with more modest sized bucktails, spinnerbaits and swimbaits. I've got topwater baits I'm anxious to try out too but really don't know if early June is a good time for them. I plan on hitting my shore spots bright and early then heading out in the boat.

I've been looking to pick up a tow vehicle. Have to admit, my Montana slips a bit on the steep ramps with nothing more than 12 foot aluminum but currently have her in the driveway with a 9x5 utility trailer full of crap and it will do just fine. It kind of bugs me that me 98% of "tow" vehicles I see have one guy, no cargo, no tow.

I cheated. Can't say I'm proud of it but niether am I particularly ashamed; which is kind of funny because I despise cheating and never do it. Did it last year because I thought you had to have it back then. Neat. I could get use to this cheating thing. Just moved myself from 300 to 500 posts....

I agree, very nice. What size are the blades?

Won't be long till they have fluoro will all the characteristics of mono, but the same price as Flouro Better yet, Full Diameter Braid now with Stretch!!