Gregoire

I personally don't believe that visibility is a concern when pike fishing. For bass I would directly tie a 6-10# fluoro leader to my line. If you wanted to you could then attach that leader to a mono leader for pike fishing via swivel. A mono leader will be less visible than a wire leader. I do not think there is any difference in visibility between fluoro and mono. If you really want to reduce visibility and believe that it will effect your fishing you should consider using fluoro as a mainline.

I would dispute the difference in abrasion difference between fluoro and mono. The bouyancy difference should help you determine what to use. I use mono leaders for musky and like them. I like how mono leaders cab make some baits more boyant. I have also used mono leaders for pike. There is an abrasion difference between leader material and mainline for both fluoro and mono.

Is that the Lancaster tourney? If so I remember going to it as a kid.

I'm toasting right now in my hometown.

Thanks for sharing. That was awesome!

I would argue this point as the term "white bucket brigade" implies a negative, and is commonly associated with people of Asian Heritage. It is a term used to imply something negative based on someone's race and actions. When discussing racism you should not view things as you see them. Rather you should try empathize with a person. In this case you might want to consider whether you would want the term "white bucket brigade" used against you. Racism is a form of harassment. As such an outside person and especially someone who is performing the harassment cannot determine whether it is on fact harassment. That determination relies completely on the victim of the harassment. Again in this case I think if you were to ask someone of Asian decent whether they liked being called part of the "white bucket brigade" I am pretty sure they would say no. My patents taught me that it is not ok to say things just because they are true, you should consider how the other person would react to your words. When was the last time you walked up to an overweight woman on the street and called her fat? For these reasons I do consider the term "white bucket brigade" to be racist. I'm not saying it isn't factual. I'm just saying that it is not a term that we should shrug off because it is based on anecdotal evidence.

I would go with braid. More durable and will last longer. The only problem is cutting it.

I wanted to add in that there were only 2 baits all week that produced for us. Mike P. a member here, makes the handlbarz. If you contact him he can tie up a few of the special bucktails that we caught a whole bunch of fish on. The HoseJerk that I caught a bunch of fish on (and that I think I lost a monster on) is made by Sean Maher. I was just talking with him and Gagnon's may still have a few of his lures in stock. Both guys are members of Muskies Canada. I have quickly learned that if you want to buy quality musky baits that catch fish buy them from people who fish for musky.

After a few more cast we decided that it was getting a bit dark, actually darker than we would like, and decided to head back to camp. Tim tried to start the motor, but there was nothing. It was turning, but not catching. We tinkered with it a bit, but it would not turn over. We were about 18 miles from camp, and we had already seen a few boats motor by us on the way back. We saw one boat, and tried to contact it, but it did not hear the horn. Finally we got the spotlight, and we were able to get the attention of a boat that was motoring by as I was just getting dark. They came over and sent out a call on the radio asking for someone to contact Sandy's so that they could send a boat out to tow us is. We got on the trolling motor as they went to a nearby saddle to fish. After about 20 minutes without any action they came back to us, as it seemed clear that the message was not received at camp. They offered to run John back to camp so that he could get his boat and return to tow us. It was just Tim, me and a trolling motor on a dead calm lake motoring along the main channel in the direction of camp. We figured at the 2 miles per hour clip we were travelling we would be back to camp by breakfast if there was no rescue party and if the battery held up. It turned out that Tim and I were only out there for an hour and a half. After about a half hour a lightning storm started to form to the west. We saw lightning striking, but heard no thunder, but being out in the middle of a huge lake I felt the tension starting to rise. So I start to gab. I think I talked non stop until we saw some lights an hour or so later to the east of us. There was a boat. We were safe. It turns out the boat was about 2 1/2 miles away, so although we could see it, it took at least 15 minutes to get to us. When it got close we could see that Jim Saric, Steve Heiting, and Kevin Schmidt had come for us, not John as we thought. All of this despite the fact that they were schedules to film the next day. Was I ever happy to see them. This is another reason to go to the University of Esox, Jim takes personal responsiveness for all the campers, and it was a relief to see him and him 20ft ranger with a 250 on the back. He took one look at us and one look at where we were and said: "It's too far to tow you in, there is a camp right around that island. We'll take you there and tie you off for the night, then we'll take you in." Steve asked "How's you guys do?" When I told him we landed a big girl he was ecstatic, and a bit of the tension came off. I was very impressed that Jim knew the lake so well that he could tell where we were, but I was thankful that we would be safe. When we got to the dock I could see that we were at an old abandoned camp. We pulled around and Jim let us go. We went to put the trolling motor in but there was no juice. So we paddled in. We got to the dock, and I stepped on to tie us off. On my second step I felt my weight go through a plank. I immediately went limp and fell down. Luckily I did not get wet or injured. At this point Steve Heiting was on the dock as well. He was doing his best to calm us down. making some jokes and reminding me to keep to the joists. I guess I got a little too relaxed as Jim said "let's hurry up so that we can beat this storm in." At that point we tied off quickly and headed home. Not before Steve reminded Tim to grab the camera, as he said the rest of the camp would want to see pictures of "the big girl". As I said the next day to Steve, I enjoyed the twilight tour of the lake. In reality it was anything but that. For the most part we motored pretty quickly back to camp. Occasionally we would stop so that Jim could get his bearings. As some of you know, LOTW can be treacherous during the day with submerge reefs and isolated shallow rocks. Occasionally we would slow and Jim would say "island to the right." Kevin would say "marker to the right", and Steve would be flashing a spotlight towards both. This crew worked together in perfect cohesion to get us home safely. Once home John was waiting at the dock for us. He had a beer for me and I was thankful to be on terra firma. We stayed up a bit too late that night drinking and talking. I was all sorts of wound up, but thankful to be at a camp run by such great people. I later learned that if the university of esox were not going on Bill Sandy and his son Brandon would have headed out to get us. What a great lodge. The next morning I slept in a bit. I woke up at a quarter past seven, just in time to get a good breakfast and for the seminars. When all the tallies were done John and another camper were in a tie for most fish with 3 and I was in second with 3 ties with a bunch of other campers. John also had landed the biggest fish. It was a slow start for me but it heated up quickly. The guys in our cabin gave us a tip on a big fish that was 20 miles from camp, and that they would not be returning to. John and I were alone again, as Tim was heading to his boat to get it towed in, so we decided to make the run. When we got to the spot John raised the big girl on a cowgirl, and I got her to show herself on a throwback bait, but she would not commit. I took a quick look at the map and found some similar structure and we motored over to it. We fished the obvious points, but as had been the strategy all week, we fished a bit beyond it. All of a sudden I had a strike. I was beyond happy as I had little action since Sunday. I nice 39" ski was shortly in the boat. We went to same similar structure and John hooked another fish, but lost her. Motored to another spot that we had seen, and I beat John to the spot on a cast and I landed another healthy 40" girl. I was really excited as it was my first fish on the 8. Unlike earlier fish, when I saw her following I sped up the bait and got her into the 8. She ate on the hesitation after the 3rd turn. Another spot and a crazy fish for John. She hooked up. John grabbed my throwback rod and tossed it out, and handed it to me. He then tossed out again and had her follow. He hooked her on the but she spat the hook. I saw that she was still on it and said "she's still on it". Finally she ate and was in the bag. A healthy 41"er This fish was like a komikazee fish, committed to eating the bait. John also hooked another fish on the 8. She was 38" Thinking the bit was hot was decided to head to a spot where we had seen a few big fish. Unfortunately these spots were in a lot of wind and we burnt the trolling motor. On the way in we though a lot of fish would have been caught. When we got in only a few fish had been caught. It turned out we had figured out an pattern, and never should have left the area. At dinner Mark and Dave offered to take me out. Both John and I wanted to go with them, as we were neck and neck for most fish. We talked about it, but Tim was getting his boat towed to the dock by Mark, and we wanted him to go out, as we had a great day already. Tim was really happy. We went out without a trolling motor anyway. We were in search of another big fish, but we came up short. It turned out that it was another slow night. When the results were tabulated John ended up with the big fish, and also won the tie break for most fish. He swept the honours. What we learned Don't bring too many baits. We both had 100+ but only used a dozen and hooked fish on only 4. Once you hook a fish try to repeat that pattern. Practice the 8 and be prepared to throw double 10's. That is the only way to consistently catch fish. On LOTW is you do not have a double 10 being tossed in the boat at all times you will miss fish. All in all it was a great week. The memories will last a lifetime, and I would go back in a heartbeat. I loved it. I learned that people who fish, even those that fish for a living, are great people.

I left off right as we were going to fish with Tim and turn our dynamic duo into an awesome trio. This was on Tuesday of our trip. Tim is an avid musky hunter. In preparation for the trip Tim had purchased a new ranger with powered by a 150 Evinrude 4 stroke. His boat is a beaty, with plenty of space to move around. Perfect for fishing and taking his family of 4 out on the water. We decided to take his boat out as it would allow a bit more room for us. It worked out really well with Tim and John in the front. Tim was throwing one of his handmade gliders and John was throwing a handlebarz double 10. It was working really well for them. The first night we went out on Tuesday evening Tim was the pike master. He was catching them all over. He caught a few really nice pike pushing 40", but each time he was pisssed as it was musky we were chasing. He did manage a nice musky that evening, but I do not have a pic of his fish. We fished the next day with Tim, but much like the rest of the week it was slow. John hooked into 3 fish that day but none made it to the boat. That night when we went out Tim was experiencing some engine trouble. Not something that you would expect out of a new boat and motor. John and I really felt for him. We went out for that evening in John's boat but the fishing was tough, and no fish were landed, although we saw about 10, including a giant, a fish that we would return for later in the week. That morning John and I went out together as John ran his boat to Young's point to try an get it fixed. We saw a lot of fish, and for the first time in a few days I finally got a bite. Unfortunately it was from a wasp that bit my stomach as my belly fat rolled over it as I bent over. In a funny twist as I was jumping in pain due to the bite and attracted a large musky to my bait. So I saw my first musky in a while and got bit for the first time in days. That night Tim was back with his boat and it was working great. We decided to head out to fish an area where we had seen a big fish. Tim was casting his glider for most of the night and John was up front casting a shallow raider. I was in back casting a handlebarz double ten. A bait that I decided to toss for a while, as it had been producing. John hooked into a good fish pretty early on, but lost it. A theme that was starting to get pretty common for him for the trip. The evening was pretty slow for me, as had been most of the trip since Sunday. As we moved through the spot I was tossing the double ten and working it hard. As we were just finishing up on the spot I felt an urge to toss a topraider, so I asked anyone if they wanted the Ten. John said he would, so I took it off my rod and clipped it onto his winch and sling blaade (the same rod and reel I was using) Before I had time to attach another lure John had a hit. I think the next 15 minutes will forever be burned into my memory for the rest of my life. All I heard next was FISH FISH FISH FISH. JOhn had hooked into a big one. The entire week John was setting the hook hard. At one point he travelled from one side of the boat to the other fruitlessly trying to set the hook on a rubber bait. A few other times he hooked onto rocks or wood really hard. Whenever he set the hook he momentum took him backwards in the boat. Tim was beside him, and when John set the hook on this big girl it was a stalemate. Tim said he saw John trying to move backwards, but he was stopped dead by the mass of the fish. At this point the both started losing their SH#$%. I had immediately grabbed the net and was looking for the fish. Tim and John both saw the fish first. I moved to the front of the boat as they were both freaking out. I don't know what came over me but I was a voice of reason. I told Tim to get the F out of the way and pushed him to the back of the boat. Very quickly I saw the beast about 4 feet down at the side of the boat. I calmly told John to bring her up as I was in position to net. He replied, "I can't move her". I remember saying "Raise your rod tip and walk backwards." I had seen the big girl. and although she was hooked well, the bucktail only had one treble on it, and I wanted her landed as quickly as possible. For the first time on the trip John followed my instructions and the big girl was in the bag. She was easy to unhook and John was all set to grab her for a photo. Tim and John were crowding around the net and I had to scold them like a school teacher to give me space. I think I sent both of them to the back of the boat while I unhooked the beast. Now this girl was so big I was not sure that John would be able to lift her. She measured out in the water at 51.5", but Tim thought she was bigger. As JOhn was lifting her up I thought I saw him fumble her, and reached for her, planting my thumb into her large teeth. I was bleeding like a stuck pig, and John was fine for the photo. At this point Tim and John took over for the release, as I tried to stop the blood flow. After the huge rush of this big girl we continued to fish the area, as one of the pieces of advice given by the pros was to keep fishing an area where you find a fish, as there are likely to be more. It seemed like on the next cast that John hooked another 40" fish on the 8. After landing her I picked John up and paraded him around the front casting deck. After we had released her John lost another on the 8. At this point Tim and I decided it was time for John to have a time out and we sent him to the back of the boat to cool down. That was it for the fishing for the rest of the night, although Time and I continued to cast, the excitement was far from over.

They all come in as you described. As they are fighting at the boat they will roll as they meet the resistance of the rod and line. As has been previously mentioned that is why they will get wrapped in the line occacionally and is one reason why many musky anglers prefer to use fluoro or mono leaders, as they will do less damage to a fish when they roll. This is the last I will comment on this topic, as I realize that it is pointless to debate with someone who is never wrong in his mind. Believe what you want.

As some of you know last week Cowanjo and I attended the University of Esox at Sandy's Blackhawk Lodge in the Northwest Angle in the lake of the Woods. This school is run but The Musky Hunter Magazine and was a great learning experience. Some incredibly experienced musky anglers where instructors at the camp, and everyday seminars were given that were both informative and interesting. However my favourite part of the school was that at the end of the evening when everyone came in for the night we were able to talk with Jim Saric, Steve Heiting, Spence Petros, Bill Sandy, and Kevin Schmidt. The knowledge that we gained from having personal conversations with these guys was priceless. If any of you ever get a chance to attend this school I would highly recommend it. I was excited when John called me on Wednesday evening and told me we could head up a bit early. This meant that we could get in some fishing on Friday before the camp started. I met John at 5:30 Thursday morning and we were on our way a little after 6. We ended up driving 20+ hours on Thursday and made it to International Falls at 2 am that night. That meant that we had a short drive on Friday and would get to fish LOTW. It turned out that we would have been better off just launching the boat on Friday, as the fishing was slow. We stayed on the southern part Canadian water, and they were very stained. We sat through a Lightning storm that was circling us, but never got to us. and the water was so stained that we had trouble seeing our lures. In addition these were the hottest conditions I have ever fished in in my life. At one point it was so hot and humid that my body was covered in sweat that would not evaporate. The only positive was that John ended up choosing a back bay for us to fish, where we churned up a few giants during the week. We went back to chase these beasts all week, but did not get any of them in the boat. That night we could not get a room in or around Young's point, so we had to head back in to Warroad Mn to stay the night. It turned out this was a good thing, as John was able to contact his work and let them know that he would not have service. This was the first time in 10 years that he would be offline. Something that I think he enjoyed, even though he would not admit it. On Saturday we got to the lake early and decided to run up to a spot of the angle where there was structure surrounded by deep water. We had been a little discouraged from the day before so we were happy to move 10+ fish in the day. We checked in a little before 3 and were happy to receive a few lures, a note book and a camp guide. A few seminars later, and a nice ham dinner and we were off to fish the evening. We went back to the bay where we say the giant, and raised another large fish, but were not stressful. That night at the camp we found that a few fish were raised, and the first 50 of the week was landed. The Next day was Sunday, and it was our second best day, and my best day for numbers and size. We went back to the first spot we went to on Saturday and raised another big fish. We continued the drift, and I decided to mix things up and hook on a HoseJerk bait, this is a rise and dive jerk bait, similar to a suick, but with better action in my opinion. It does not require the added weight that a suick does to stay submerged, and will dart from side to side occasionally, and sometimes on the rise will turn on to its back as it reaches the surface, much like a dying perch would. Sean Maher makes these baits, and I think the are available at Le Baron in Markham. I started off by hooking a small musky in a small cut bay with weeds. A quick fight and she was shaken off boatside. We continued the drift and reached an island complex. I made a cast to the island a after the first jerk fish on! I was really excited. We got the fish to the boat and it was in the bag. A new PB for me at 45.5". High fives all around and back to fishing. I made a cast on the other side of the island and retrieved. I made another cast, and struck up a conversation with John. If you do not know me, one thing that I am more than capable of doing is talking. It must have been a minute or so after I was done making a point when I began my retrieve. On the first movement of the bait I had hooked my first deadstick musky. A huge topwater strike and a nice fight later and I had hooked a nice 43.5" ski, matching my previous PB. When we went in for dinner I was happy to discover that I had landed the most fish for the day. I do not think another boat had landed more than 1 musky. John and I thought we had LOTW figured out, and that we would put tons of fish in the boat. I was feeling really confident, almost cocky, and Karma came back to get me. Our outing that evening did not yield any more musky, but the fishing was slow all around. After a good nights sleep we were sitting down for breakfast when The Musky Hunter, Mr. Jim Saric himself sat down beside John and me and asked us if we wanted to fish with him. We were giddy and obviously agreed. We had decided that I would start off up front of the boat casting a bucktail and John would be in back. I was a little nervous and on the first spot Jim set us up on the spot, and i made my first cast...backlash. Jim was a gentleman and held us on the spot until I managed to undo the backlash we were ready again. My highlight of the day was standing next to Jim as he had a follow. Jim: There's one (In my head I hear the musky hunter music start) Jim: Talk to me Me: She's still on it. She's hot on it. Jim: She's on. (John get's the net and bags it for Jim. Jim: She's bigger than I thought. Turns out that she was 49.5. Both John and I got our pictures taken with Jim. I am waiting for these pics and when I get them will edit this post. John also landed a 40 incher on the figure 8. I grabbed the net and kept fishing. Jim took one look at us, said "looks like you guys have that under control" and kept fishing. That was a nice feeling. The pic of that fish will follow as well. That night John and I were eager to go off on our own and apply the lessons we had learned from Jim to the water. I was fishing a top raider and John was fishing a handlebarz bucktail. I highly recommend handlebraz lures. Mike P, and member of this site, will make them custom for you, and they are the only bucktails that put fish in the boat for John and I. We went back to a spot that Jim brought is to in the day and started fishing. Pretty early in the evening as I was beginning my figure 8 I got a boatside strike. I was excited but quickly pissed as I saw it was a northern. Normally I love catching pike, but when you are in the Northwest Angle musky hunting a pike pisses you off. Anyway she was a healthy 37" here's a pic We moved on from that spot, as I read an article by Steve Heiting that said were there's pike in LOTW there is no musky. About 300 yards from that spot John hooked a nice fish. It had been about a month or so since I had the opportunity to net a fish for John, and I forgot how to open the net. John had a nice fish on, but after I finally got the net open, it managed to get 3 lures tangled in the net. Finally I said screw it, and put the fish in the bag, with the bag backwards. Despite the fact that I tried to screw it up, we had a nice 47.5 fish in the bboat. Let me just interject that we were eating dinner that night, and every night with some pretty committed musky anglers. Mark and Dave both had 20 ft boats with HDS 10's and loved to fish. We had some great talks with them over meals about musky hunting. The next day Mark and Dave were out with Spence Petros. They had drifted through an area that John and I had been the day earlier and Dave caught a 49.5" ski. I was pissed as I really liked the spot, but it was so windy we couldn't dissect the spot. Dave was very excited and as he motored out of the spot he blew his lower unit out on an isolated rock. He was pissed, but not too much as March had a great boat as well, and he had just landed his PB. The other guy at the table was Tim. He was fishing alone as his partner cancelled last minute due to a family emergency. As a result we all decided to head out together, something that would be both good and bad. The good and bad will have to wait as I have errands to run. I'll come back with part 2 later tonight.

I don't know why this bugs me, maybe it is your know it all tone, but I have seen pike and musky roll multiple times. While I am not trained or educated as a biologist or otherwise I do watch a lot of swamp people and have caught a fair number of pike and musky in the past few years. In my mind the death roll that an alligator will do in an attempt to escape being caught is very similar to what a musky and pike will do. Instead of arguing semantics, and trying to prove that you are right and others are wrong you could admit that others can reasonably see things differently or that you may have been mistaken. Just my 2 cents.

I had a musky do a death roll earlier this year and a pike do one last week. Not sure about that statement. You're assessment of the thief seems accurate to me though.

Wow. I have often dreamed about going in to the water with a huge musky. Good on him for making the commitment.

If you plan on using the same rods for trolling and casting get the salty's rubber coated. I think you can get them from trojan. If you have separate trolling rods with foam handles you have no need to worry.

Just getting settled in the motel at international falls. It was a long days drive but all that hard work means that we are going to get out tomorrow a full day earlier than expected.

Thanks guys. I'm just getting the last of the car packed, and then it is off to meet John and get on the open highway, and at this hour they should be open.

I'm heading off to LOTW tomorrow with cowanjo for a week of Musky fishing. We will be doing the Musky Hunter University of Esox. We are going to try to get there a day early to do some pre-fishing, which will make for a long drive tomorrow, but I think adrenaline will keep us up. I cannot remember the last time I was so excited for something. It takes me back to my football days. Tomorrow is like the first day of a road trip. Riding the bus all day, staying in a hotel along the way, getting ready for the big game. I still have a bit of packing to do, but the amount of musky stuff I have is unreal. I definitely will be doing a tackle purge when I get back. Anyone looking for some musky rods and reels, plus a wide assortment of baits, keep your eyes peeled to the classified forums at the end of the month. I have decided that I will be selling the stuff that I am not using.

Instead of the thumbar you use your thumb. My dad has an old daiwa baitcaster that was the same. It takes a litte getting used to, but if you know haw to use a baitcaster it shouldn't be too bad. I know Pete will be ok cause I've seen him cast with a Tekota.

There is conflicting evidence about musky mortality and water temperatures. A lot of people believe that a higher water temperature will cause a musky to experience lactic acid build up quicker. As a general rule as long as you bring the fish to the boat fast and release it quickly you should be ok. If you are really worried just do a water release. Some people will tell you that you should stop fishing when the water temperature is above 80, but I think that is a little misleading. In shallow lakes that warm quickly I think that musky have evolved, for lack of a better word, to respond better in warm water. There is a wealth of information online on this topic. If you are interested in doing some research go to musky first and run a search. For me I would start to be concerned about the mortality of the fish once the water temps reach 80. I would consider putting the gear away, especially on deeper lakes, at 83-85.

I thought that there had always been cougars in Ontario http://failposters.com/uploads/saved_posters/fail-poster-e3cw620zue-COUGARS.jpg I believe they peaked in popularity after the first American Pie movie

wow wow wow wow wow wow

You are so lucky that you are a righty Pete. The Revo Winch is popular for pulling in the bucktails, I have one and it makes it pretty easy, especially paired with a sling blade. I have also heard that a TE with a power handle (you can order them on eBay) is a nice set up, especially the LJV. The Shimano Trinidad is another popular reel that can be very effective for burning big blades. There is also the Tranx as well, but that is an expensive option.

Is this something you actually do, or is it a result of you trying to cast under the branch and missing?