Gregoire

I got one for my conquest 401 earlier this year from Aikman's but at the time that was the last one he had in stock. The handle is ok, but the balance seems a little off. I have a buddy who had his calcutta TE 400 serviced in Peterborough and they added a power handle to his. I would phone both of these places first to see what they have. Ebay has some as well, but I personally don't like the way they look. F_ast, I have an original handle from my conquest 401 with the assembly as well that I will not be using. Drop me a PM if you are interested.

an epic read

I can't believe that some people are holding a guy responsible for a phrase that he uttered while catching a giant fish. It's not like he is going around claiming to everyone that he caught a record fish. He was excited at catching a monster and made a comment while I'm sure he was pumped up with adrenaline. For those who fish musky catching a monster can be overwhelming. I could understand in the heat of the moment making a ridiculous comment. My buddy caught a big fish this summer and after he caught it I had to send him to the back of the boat while I unhooked it, he was that excited. At the time we though it was pushing 40 pounds, but later learned it was more like 30. If we were on video I might have claimed it was a 40. This thread is getting stupid.

After getting burned on a 6'9" musky rod I ordered from them I would never get a rod shipped to Canada again.

Great report and a beast of a fish. Thanks for sharing.

Wow you have them dialed in.

Just put your reel on freespool while you take the hooks out. Sometimes you can unhook the lure from the leader. I have never felt a need to cut the line. Seeing as if you catch a musky it will be your first make sure you take a big breath and organize yourself before you unhook the fish, but only if your net is long enough to keep the fish in the water. On a few occasions I have sent my fishing partner to the back of the boat while I unhooked the fish, as he was just too excited to safely handle the fish. If you can watch some videos about unhooking musky before your trip. Also if you release the fish and it does not go straight down, make sure to stick around. Sometimes a fish will stay along the surface and will need to be revived for a longer period of time. If it cannot dive down it could be hit by a boat.

Great fish and a great report. Thanks for taking the time to put it together.

Nice fish, they seem to be fattening up for the fall a bi early this year.

The veritas is a better rod at that price point IMO. The compre has a limited lifetime warranty. I agree with GBW, go to the store and try the reel on both rods and see which one feels better. If they are close decide whether the warranty (shimano) or quality (Abu) are more important.

Try running a mouse style lure over him at dusk

Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to post of pic of me wearing one of those shirts holding a beast of a musky. Those are some hogs.

I think I saw one at sail in oshawa

As was mentioned I would message Mike P for handlebatz. If you are looking for other stuff I would go with pro tackle musky shop. Stacy is a great guy to deal with. Bass pro in Vaughan stocks bondy baits, but only the vertical jigging kind. JB's seems to be stocking less and less musky stuff every time I go in there.

Nice fish, thanks for sharing.

Solid reels for those who wind with the incorrect hand.

Just being the devils advocate and stiring the pot but what would stop someone from claiming that the fish in their freezer was bought and not angled? In my neighborhood even the Loblaws sells walleye fillets.

I've been really lucky this summer. Been going out once a week for salmon and once for musky, except for my trip to LOTW where we pounded the water everyday. Started fishing as soon as I could hold a rod with my granpy showing me the ropes fishing streams for brookies in Nova Scotia. That soon turned into me spending the entire day casting for perch of the dock of my cottage on Hamilton Island outside of Lancaster. After my family sold that place when I was 6 I only got to fish once a year or so. When I got my first degree my dad took me on a fishing trip for walleye north of Mont Laurier in Quebec and that got me interested again. 4 years later I got my B. Ed and moved to Toronto. My girlfriends parents rented a cottage in the muskoka's and I pounded the bass for a week. When I got back to the city I noticed this huge lake to the south and started fishing the shore for pike. I landed some nice ones in the spring but found that it really slowed down in the summer. Through this site I gained an interest in musky and was lucky enough to meet Fisherpete who taught me the ropes of musky fishing. Through him I met another fishing buddy who I go put for salmon with. I an very grateful to OFC. this website has provided me with a wealth if knowledge and a great group of fishing buddies.

Love your LSC reports.

Thanks for pointing out that the name change was not accurate. I have fixed it.

Look up trolling for lake trout with 3 way swivels. I guess a dipsy would work, but they really aren't a lot of fun on fish under 10 pounds.

Got out fishing with cowanjo on Saturday. We went out with his son for a bit. The plan was to do a little bassin', but we got out on the water and John's son is casting the rod like a champ. I was pretty impressed seeing as he is only 10. After casting for a bit we do a bit of trolling, but only raised one fish during the afternoon. On the way in both John and I pulled in a nice bass from the slop. We were cooking dinner and I was casting the dock with a frog for bass. I pull one decent guy in and John comes down and starts casting. On one of the casts John says, "I see a really big fish under my lure." He is not sure what it is, but tells me it has a dorsal fin. John is not sure if it is a musky or a carp. I think it is a musky so I grab my musky rod from the boat and start tossing a slopmaster half heartedly. John see's the musky follow, but I don't have my sunglasses on and know that the steaks need tending on the BBQ so I head up. Right after I get to the BBQ I hear John shout "I got it." I sprint down to the boat grab the net and get the fish in the bag. I also managed a nice photo of John, his family, his wife's cousin and her kids with the fish on the dock. This skinny girl came from about 2 feet of water way in the slop. We spent the afternoon cruising all around the lake looking for a ski, and she was waiting for us at the dock. Go figure, I can never figure out these fish. After dinner John and I went out for a few hours. We managed to raise that turned on a bucktail twice, I have no idea how it didn't get hooked. I also caught a decent 17 inch bass on a topraider, which has proven to be an all species lure for me. So far this year I have 1 walleye, 1 bass and 1 musky on the same coloured topraider. I ended up going home that night, but wish I had stayed, as John and his buddy hooked into 4 musky Sunday morning.

That is a great offer, very generous of you Mike.

That is insane

Great video, thanks for sharing.