MuskyGreenHorn

I thought that was all they had left in the MNR?

It seems to have a hard time vanishing from the shelves. i was it would vanish from the market.

Sounds and looks like paradise. Kgeary, I wish I was workn' at your lodge. I love big Pike just as much as I love big musky.

Do you own a boat or rent one from the lodge you stay at? Do you like a remote type setting or is a busier lake acceptable? I would look into the French River, ton of great lodges from nipissing all the way to Georgian Bay. The sme goes for the Pickeral River. Much closer, yet still an air of remoteness. Really unspoiled and some great fishing. Some of the Kawarthas have great fishing, but they are busy cottage lakes and also close to TO. I also have read good reviews on Ivanhoe. It sure is a hard choice, we are lucky here in Canada. Best of Luck.

Toyoto is the toy truck everyone else strives to be. Whats the price difference, just curious, because toyotas always seem to have the best resale value for toy trucks?

Drifter, well said. Lunatic, I do exactly what you do. Like Drifter said buy the leader flouro. i run Seagar as well. You don't need a swivel unless you are using something that you are worried will twist up your line. There are a number of knots you can use to attach the lines together. I use a uni to uni myself. Its easy to learn and never fails. Look some up. Power pro even gives you a little book showing a bunch iwith their product.

Polliwog, although that is the truth, the 5 O can always bend the rules in their favour. They can make up a reason on the spot and it will hold up in court, especially if they have a partner in the car. Truth be told, don't bend the rules yourself and there is nothing they can do.

First of all, we have to remember, they were here first and fisheries stocks collapsed because of the white man. The first nations people were here harvesting fish for thousands of years with no problems before we showed up. We are thes ones who unbalanced the great lakes, the east and west coast salmon and the Cod. There have definately been some issues in the past, but over all the view of first nations has always been one of looking to the future. This article is a good one in that it shows a example of how they are trying to play a responsible role in the stewrdship of fisheries stocks. Many first nations in Canada are now taking much more active roles in monitoring and implementing of rules and regulations. Just like us white folk, there are always a few bad apples that out there. A good example of a successful and healthy first nations commercial fishery is the whitefish fishery in Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. They are clearly making an effort to work with the MNR and move forward, so should we.

Come on now guys... Its takes a lot of union barganing to actually get the boys out to do a blitz instead of the regular day to day routine of keeping the seats warm at Timmy's... I agree what a waste of tax dollars... I have no Love for them. I don't know how many times I have been stopped for no reason and my time wated just to drive awya with no ticket. I guess older rusty cars and a beard fit the profile.

JJcanoe, suffix is not a bad choice. I agree with breaking off when needed. I find seagar pretty good in turns of staying on the spool. I agree many flouros are too stiff to using in small reels and when doing short casts. Seagar can be a little on teh tough side when it comes to break-offs.

Are you talking creek fishing? I am a big fan of seagar flourocarbon. Almost invisible and more durable. Diawa used to make a line that came in a samuri green colour. It was fantastic. Haven't seen it in years. In the spring I fish smaller creeks that are the head waters of the Ganaraska; think undercut banks, overhanging trees and log jams. I would prefer to run 4lb, but I need 6lb to deal with all of those forementioned linebreakers. The water can run gin clear and very shallow. I used 6lb seagar drifing small row bags and berkley power worms with a lot of success last spring. I pulled quite a few steelies out of some sight spots with it. I do find it a little more prone to twist than mono when using ultra small spinners, but a small swivel 18-20 inches up, solves that. It costs double that of good mono, but I found it lasts at least twice as long. I used the same reels on my walleye rods and the line lasted quite a while.

There is definately cause for alarm. Our best defense is to keep spreading the word and pressuring the Government to do more to protect our Great Lakes. Unfortunately Protecting the Environment doesn't seem to to be much of a priority for the current Harper Government. I hope more people take taht into consideration during the next election.

I really hope they don't make it here, but if history tells us anything, its doomed to repeat., so they will be here eventually. As for what will happen, its anyones guess. Look at zebra mussels and the round goby. Evryone said they would ruin everything, but ecosystems do adapt. I doubt you will see them being stocked or anything else being stocked as a counter measure. I also seriously doubt that asian carp will be the cause for a cormorant or lamprey population expolosion. Great topic though. It is one that we should be discussing and have concern for.

GregF2. There are still plenty of walleye and big perch. I dissagree that rice that is fragile. Like I said before, its an ever changing ecosystem. It's faced with a lot of challenges and liek any ecosystem it goes through a natural cycle of highs and low. That being said, if we do pressure a system to much it eperience very drastic changes much like what happened to Lake Erie in the 80's. The walleye and perch populations crashed huge. I have a great deal of knowledge about this stuff because I do it for a living. Billy bog. I have had teh privalege of working on Lake Erie. The commercial fishery in Ontario actually harvets less fish annually that Ohio, New york and Michigan sport anglers combined. In fact the big crash in the 80's saw State Anglers greatly eclispe our commercial boys. The poblem wasn't poaching persay, but the fact that the statesite population on Lake erie makes the people living along teh north shore look liek a small village. Lake Erie is curently doing very well. The commercial limits are set by a partnerships bewteen the MNR, the Three state DNR's and teh Ontario Commercial Fisheries Association. Greg2 is correct i ssaying that there are many resident poachers on our lakes. To this I ask. If you are already breaking the laws, how will a closed season stop you. Closing a fishery simply because there is a potential of poaching is a loss cause. We simply need more C/O's. Rice lake is unique in that it is largely a panfish fishery Billy Bob. And yes everyone, people do keep boat loads of panfish and take the time to fillet them. They are very tasty. Think electric fillet knives, a drum style electric descaler from bass pro and a case of beer. makes for an afternoon. And I do apologize Bill Bob, it is unfair to pick solely on Americans. There are planty of Canadians who stay at Rice Lake resorts and keep too many fish. Its the resorts I am angry with for encouraging and cattering this behaviour. If we all want resposible stewardship, than why are we arguing? We have to support the MNR. Abide by their guidelines, spread the good word and fish by example. I am very fortunate that I now guide for a living. I get to show people and teach them first hand about fish biology rather than writing about it in long boring reports that the average person never reads. The idea was spark discussion and it certainly has.

Wow Rice Laker.... Yes I said "WOW" again You are really just proving me even more right... Did you notice that the MNR set the bluegill limits to 30 for larger specimens. This is to prevent stunting and ensure that teh larger ones are left to breed to ensure larger size stays in the gene pool. So you think we should still fish hard for bluegills even though that idea is from the 1960's? You say that there are more bluegills than ever in the last 5 years and that they are spawning in areas they never spawned before. To that I ask. Did you do your own lake wide study? Didn't think so. Leave the Science to the MNR. I wish they could check every lake every year as well, but its not going to happen. The lake is an ever changing ecosystem, faced with new challanges all the time. In the past 10 or so years zebra mussels have drastcally changed the lake. I am very familiar with Dr. Casselman and his work. What he is saying is that he believes there will be a shift in many lakes towards a warm water fishery from a cool water one. This means centracids (the sunfish family which includes bass and sunfish) will increase as the habitat will be more favorabel to them. Keeping more of them will not reverse the effects of global warming. If you want to stop that shift, stop global warming. I understand that your business and others like it may be hurting in the past couple of years. I would like to ask if the economic downturn in the US may have some influence there. Also those new regs are infact "NEW" so they can't be to blame for the decrease in peole coming from south of the boarder. There is more to the issue. Maybe its an old trend/fad? I don't know why and I understand you have lost business. Are yoou seriously telling me that poeple need to take more 300 fish home each after they stay here for a week? I mean if a Family of 5 comes and tehy each get a license, that 1500 fish. that isn't enough? You stated... "Rice Lake is also notable in that there are very few public access fishing areas so even if locals did target bluegills, they would not be able to access them without a boat." Hmmm, guess what the ice is good for? Do I even have to elaborate? And lastly the safety concern. I stated that I agree ice fishing is risky. Most people recognize this. Every lake is unique and has areas that are potentially more hazardous and some people learn the hard way unfortunately, but to simply stay off the ice completely is unreasonable. I, like most anglers pay close attention to what local clubs/authorities and agencies have to say and only go out when its its safe. I am really not sure what you are trying to say.

I did not want to offend anyone from the USA. I have family in the US and many american friends. Also I guide them up on LOTW. Up there though we strongly encourage catch and release and emphasis is put on having shore lunch. For anyone used to fishing walleye on the Kawarthas (i grew up doing it) LOTW would blow your mind. The walleye fishery there is the best I have ever experienced anywhere in teh province and I think it has a lot to do with respectful anglers. I am all for Americans coming to Rice Lake and fishing and taking fish home. I know many come and respect our waters, but it is the ones that come to the resorts to fill their freezers that tick us off. And trust me, it happens and that is exactly what Irving Cogar is catering to. My eveidence/ experience is on a personal level and thus anecdotal, but I knew that if I spoke up others would follow. As usual it's a couple of rotten apples spoiling it for the rest. I would also like to add that daily catch limits aren't the same as possession limits. 300 fish a day times a 5 days stay does not mean you can take 1500 fish home. It means you can take 300 home at the end of the week. if you can eat 300 a day for first 4 days be my guest. About concerns of bass being caught through the ice. Catching a fish is a stressful situation for the animal. Even in teh best case senario, using barbless hooks, landing it quickly and releasing without removing it from the water, the fish still experience stress. All anglers accept we fish for fun and also many of for the table. I studied fish in University and College for six years. Here is the worst time of yar to catch a fish is actually in the heat of the summer. Since fish are cold blooded, their metabolism is at it's highest when the water is warmest. That equates to a much more unpleasent expeience. Ever notice how bass puke up their last couple of meals when you catch them in the summer? But bass are tough customers as they are great hunters and opportunists and studies show that post-release motality in the summer is low. Trust me, angling a bass through the ice, is not an issue for concern. As for enforement concerns. We all share that concern, (I woudl love for Irving-Cogars freezers to get checked in the summer) and unfortunately its a big problem here in Ontario all four seasons. More poaching probably occues during the open water season as fish are actually actually more accessible to people. Ice fishing takes some serious skill and dedication. And it easier for a C/O to check on a few anglers on teh ice tahn the thosands of boats, docks, warfs and shorelines during the summer. The enforement issue is a whole other debate and comes down to politics here in Ontario. I will save it for another time and place.

Noted Bill. Since this is just a forum, I went off on a rant. Hopefully people read the actual article and they will easily see where I am coming from. My letter to the article's author was a much more honed version of the "rant" version. LOL. GLW. I like your take on this. Still though I think its good to inform the general public that a "private" interest group is trying to present themselves as us. Sneaky, Sneaky... and Shame on them. And the women in question made her group sound rather ignorant and uninformed...

I writing the author of this article with a modified version of thsi post.

Typical... People think they own the water, when all they own is a piece of land beside it. The way I see it, anyone who paid for a valid fishing license has more rights and say about what happens on the water anyway, heck we are the ones paying the people who manage the resource. I fully respect MNR guidlines and private property owner rights. Being a fisheries biologist myself, I know they don't pull regs out of the thin air. If the MNR has opened the season for panfish, then they think I take the extra pressure. I do agree that their are not enough CO's (conservation officers). Does she really want more of these? I know I do, but keep reading to find out why she doesn't... As for safety... Give me a break... People have been driving their sleds and trucks all over Rice lake for as Long as I can remember anyway. Its a fact, going on the ice anywhere poses a risk, but it won't ever stop people, Irving-Cogar is just fear mongering. She also claims that ice fishing will be bad for the lake and then states that there hasn't been ice fishing on the lake in 90 years.... So if there hasn't been ice fishing in 90 years, where does the evidence that it is bad come from.... 2+2=4 not 3. And as for resorts being winterised... What has that got to do with anything???? I mean seriously? If you want to miss out on potential winter business that's your problem Susan. Besides Rice lake is close to a lot of people (read: GTA, peterborough, cobourg, port hope). So day trips are very reasonable for a heck of a lot of Ontarion's, we don't need anywhere to stay. I grew up on a major cottage route 10 minutes from Bewdley. There has anyways been traffic, all four seasons, going to Rice Lake and the surroundung area, so it won't be a like there is a noticable traffic increase. I mean how can local business's complain about more customers coming to an area that could use a boost in the winter the months. I just reread the article. Maybe Irving-Cogar should do some basic research..... Panfish are an invasive species??? WOW, that is just plain dumb. I will give her that crappie are not native to Rice, that is not the same thing as invasive. Besides what problem do crappie pose? The are additional angling opportunity and a tasty one at that. She has a problem with an open season but also a problem with limiting panfish... Hmmm kind of contradtictory. I mean who needs more than 300 sunfish, 30 Crappie, and 50 perch in a day? Something sound Fishy with her arguements... Haha I worked "fishy" into this. Anywho back to the rant. I will tell you who wants higher limits but only during the open water season... The resorts... The resorts on Rice Lake typically cater to guests from south of the boarder, no offense to them, but I have whitnessed it first hand and have I have met droves of em' over the years who rant and rave about coming every year as family tradition since the 50's and 60's. They come strickly to slay panfish and they take boat loads home every season. And for some reason Asian people get picked on when we should be picking on Resorts who cater to non-resident anglers, who freeze insane amounts of fish year after year. These limits are set for the entire management area and not just rice lake, so she has no ground to stand on. Basically she wants higher limts so her guests can keep more fish in the summer. While lower daily limits spread evenly over the "ENTIRE" year are just better management practice, she could actually care less, like she wants everyone to believe. You gotta love when someone with no idea on a topic attacks the professionals who study and work in the fish science field for a living... Her Organization represents the resorts, not the general public as Micheal Brown pointed out. I am glad this issue and article was brought to my attention. I don't blame the person who wrote it, its actually good reporting. As her Organization represents 30 some odd resorts, she can take this this number to council and it has some weight. Now if we start a petition for people lving within zone 17 and get a few thousand signatures and give that to council... Well i rest my case, Susan and Other "seasonal" business owners can stay where ever it is they stay during the "off" season, while the local small business owners who welcome happy anglers in all seasons come spend some money in our rural area during the hard, long and cold months of the year. As you can tell, this article and women has got my blood boiling, but I thought the truth needed to be heard so here it is.

The Mojo Rods say made in North America.... When stuff is made in the USA it says so... So my guess for the mojo line is... Mexico. A better question would be. Where are graphite blanks made? I suspect even the high end models that are made in the USA have parts that are made all over the world, just like anything else. Where do the guides come from, the cork handles and reel seats. Really, made in the USA means "ASSEMBLED" in the USA or Sweden or Canada or where ever.

Hey Ross, I understand the your thinking with the gear ratio thing. The problem with large bucktails especially the double bladed ones is the amount of resistance they create. Lower gear ratio equals more torque. All of the bigger reels that people are using for burning bucktails with the exception of the revo toro and shimano curado 300 have low enough enough ratios to have the power to pull those puppies in. How they make up in terms of amount of line retrieved per handle turn is by having a larger spool diameter. The revo toro and curado are low profile so they have a smaller spool so they can have the same line capacity as the bigger reels. I agree with raf. Stay away from the low profile reels for musky baits. Also burning big bucktails wears your arm/wrist out in a hurry so a power handle is a must, the longer handle equates to a larger cranking diameter which means much less fatigue. My last piece of advice is don't cheap out. A good reel will give you many years of service. That said, I don't consider the Abu 7000 cheaping out. It's a good no frills reel. I have some pretty old ones still in active duty. The black abu 7000iHSN is also a solid reel, but again more money. Shimano also has a calcutta B in instead of the TE, about half the price, and its solid and I use a Tekota 500. St. Croix makes a decent muskie reel as well. Also seeing as you are in peterborough and their warranty/service place is there, I would factor that in. They have great service there. Stay away from Okuma and the newer Diawa Millionare and bass pros muskie reels. Happy hunting buddy.

Nice. What is the material used to make those glide baits?

Nice, I hoping to see some nice photos. But seriously, the lake was just raped back in the day. Nice to see how resilient a fishery can be. By the way, those are nice fish by any lakes standards. Ron are yiu seeing a lot come through the ice? And am I missing something here about the pic Ron posted Micheal? Where is the hook mark?

I was gonna ask if Bud was still there too, great guy, glad to hear he is still around. I was always loyal to shimano, but got sick of paying for their stuff. Turns out, you get what you pay for... Who woulda thunk. Shimano has by far the best service around.

Some lunge eh... Good size? Numbers? I grew up 10 mins from Bewdley and have always done well tracking down panfish, bass and eyes, but musky weren't much more than tall tales and myths from yesteryear. Some of the stories and records from the 50's and 60's are insane, the lake was full of musky, but back then most of them were keep and killed. I haven't fished Rice much in the last 7 or 8 years as I moved away, but I am back and did battle with a lunker on my bass gear late this past fall. Now it seems everyone has a current story about a lunge showing up while they are fishing for whatever. My question is, how healthy is the Musky population on Rice? I guide up on LOTW, but should I be spending a little more time on Rice when I return south in the fall?