Weeds

Nice Fish and nice report. Sounds like a great day despite the knucklehead.

You are right GCD, I am talking about a spincasting rod, not a spinning rod.

Good day eh. I've had a spare baitcasting reel kicking around for a while and have been too stingy to buy yet another rod. I picked up a tiny 25 dollar 5 foot ugly stik spincasting combo at Walmart this morning, tossed the spincasting reel aside and put my baitcaster on there. It looks like it should be a pretty sweet combo for casting light lures and panfishing, maybe the odd small bass thrown in there. Looks like you could cast with it all day with absolutely no arm fatigue either. Anyone foresee any problems? Actually kind of a nice change from the 7 and a half foot musky rod.

Back on the first page of this thread Sharper mentions the Ugly stiks are a good price at bass pro. Anybody know if they are on sale too? Or how much they are regular even? I need an all purpose rod for my backup baitcaster and was thinking of giving the ugly stik a go, I've heard alot of both good and bad about them so I figured I'd see for myself. Thanks.

Definately a big fish, I imagine the fight would be incredible. Care to share what lure you you were using? Trolling I'm guesing.

Caught this guy about 2:30 in the afternoon a few days ago. Conditions were hot and clear and he hit a bouchertail inline spinner tipped with a white kalins mogambo grub. Probably the smallest of the musky I've caught so far this year but had some nice colours and fought well. Easy release too as I had a bud along for once to give me a hand and snap a decent pic. We were hoping to get him his first but no luck, I think he's probably hooked now anyways. I love those grubs. Found a place today where I can get them for 69 cents apiece. Sweet! The one I've been using is getting pretty torn up!

Weirdo.

I figure having a bad beer is a lot like having a bad day while fishing. A pretty rare occurence. They all good..

Awesome pair of fish!!

Wow, I knew there were plenty of pike down there but am surprised by the bass. Nicely done!

Wow!! Awesome fish.

Nice report and some beauty pics.

Are the Salmon already within casting distance from the shores of T.O. ? I would have thought it would be awhile yet.

So did you get any bass? Curious, what lure were you using?

Nice Walleye! I caught my first of the season yesterday (2nd ever) and it was a fraction of that size! Good Luck with the Muskys, I'm stuck down here in Toronto for a few days but can't wait to get back to the Kawarthas. I'll live vicariously through you till then!

Definately my favourite spinnerbait and possibly my favourite lure. They cast incredibly well, resist snagging really well also, the single blade model throws off some huge vibrations even at a slow speed and compared to some other lures they aren't even that pricey. I love spinnerbaits, must be one of the easiest lures to unhook from a fish too which is a big plus in my books.

I would consider having a mount made in the event that a fish could not be successfully released, which hopefully does not happen to me very often. What should an angler do with the fish, put it in the freezer? How long will it keep/remain suitable for taxidermy purposes? Are they any ballpark figures regarding cost, say a 5 pound largemouth for example? Not that I have the cash but I'm curious. Thanks, Rossco

I lost the top section of a two piece Quantum rod about a month back while casting, it just seperated and flew out into the lake. Lebarons (where I bought it) referred me to the Quantum service centre and the guy said no problem, bring it in and they'd replace it (despite not having a receipt) . I'll find out this weekend if it's too good to be true. You never know, some companies really go that extra mile for you..........others don't.

Yup. Well Done. Congrats!

The only pic I took. Very Poor, although I didn't get either the muskys head or tail I did manage to capture part of my sandal. That's a monster Lew, I'd love to catch something like some day. Plenty of season left guess....

I don't know if we'll ever find out either but money spent on collecting carp for autopsies is better spent than solely focusing on searching for people to ticket. With hundreds of conservation officers on the payroll, designating 5, 10, or even 20 to addressing a potentially serious threat to our fishery seems like a no-brainer, regardless of the amount of fuel they may have in their tanks.

It seems hard to believe that they don't already have a good idea of what's going on. Admittedly I know very little biology/science (my knowledge of geography, history, math, french, english and economics are also somewhat limited) but how long can it really take and how many specimens do you have to analyze before you have a reasonable idea of what's up?

I've been following the carp saga through the other threads. Has the ministry issued any kind of statement yet? I haven't seen any sign of the kill off so far and I'm hoping I never do.

Well, I'm officially addicted! I just managed my second musky and it was just as exciting as the first, maybe more so. The good news for all those guys out there who don't have acsess to a boat is that this fish must have been within 10 feet of shore tops, maybe 4 feet of water or less. As I lost my beloved slopmaster yesterday I was chucking an inline buchertail spinnerbait (black bucktail-silver blade-white twister) and wondering if the hook was too dull. BOOM!! This thing hit hard and started tearing off line even though I had the drag set pretty tight. Did some huge jumps too, must of had it's whole body close to 3 feet out of the water!! In the end it was probably around 36 inches (which makes me realize I must of overestimated the size of my first musky) but STRONG. I cut one of the trebles off as I figured it would make for an easier/quicker release and would have extracted that piece but it swam off before I could. There was nothing holding it in really, I hope he throws it easily enough. I took a really crappy pic (again), not really worth posting but I probably will later anyways. Anyways, Cheers, I'm still pumped up This was only about 45 minutes ago, God I love living in the Kawarthas!!

I never really figured out how to cast completely overhand but instead mastered (I use that term loosely) a side arm cast. I find it more natural and comfortable when using spincasting rods as well, or even throwing baseballs. I don't think it really hinders you unless your fishing in really tight quarters perhaps. On the plus side overhanging trees and branches are less of a problem. I figure just cast however is comfortable. Just my two cents......which in retrospect is pretty worthless.