Gregoire

I've heard one of the best chances of getting a big pike in on some superior tribs. Seriously jealous of the 47" pike. That is huge. Like european strain huge.

jack of all trades and master of none

I would but I only have my G1

Sweat rod. I'd kill for that combo...not literally though.

A very nice offer and hopefully someone with a flexible work schedule takes you up on it.

Sounds like a great day, and really great news about the musky. I'm hoping that it was a female. It would be really nice to see a musky recovery on those lakes.

Thanks for the report, and keep them coming.

Generous offer. I'm in Montreal till tomorrow celebrating the day dedicated to the person who birthed me and am seriously jealous of those who will get to go.

Sorry to hijack but are you guys going to stock any of the TI shallow superD's?

Agreed on the trolling set up. It would only set you back a bout 150-200$ depending on the rod and reel choice.

I would also want to know what reel you have on both rods and what baits you plan on casting. If I had to choose one for each application I would use the compre for trolling and the St croix for casting, escpecially if you plan on throwing a lot of blades or bulldogs, as the added length of the rod will allow you to make wider turns on the figure 8 and speed up the bait. If you are throwing glide baits and jerk baits I would think that you would be ok with the compre.

My favorite fish to target is musky, and love the violence of the strike. The few times I have seen them take to the air was exilerating and when you are trolling for them rod in hand, as I prefer to do in one lake that has a large amount of vegetation, the strike jars you. You feel it throughout your entire body, and the strongest one wins. A hungry musky commits hits a bait so hard, and you have to counter that strike with your own strength. I guess I love it because it takes me back to my football days, and the thrill of delivering a big hit, without the pain and aches after a game. I can still feel some of the violent strikes in my bones, just like I still feel some of my hardest hits. I also love how hard a salmon fights, taking 20+ minutes to land a fish and feeling the burn in your arms from the runs. And just when you think the fish is spent, it peels off 100ft of line. If I had to choose it would be musky, but Luckily I don't Oh yeah...if I couldn't fish for musky or salmon I would be perfectly happy with topwater bass action, and could live with shore fishing for pike. Luckily I don't need to choose.

That is surprising to me. Large bucktails have been a good musky bait for me. Not sure how much the colour matters, but the profile and vibration seem to trigger strikes.

You didn't mention a preference for Musky

Another popular reel in that price range is the Okuma Isis. You've probably heard it before but you get what you pay for. If you buy a cheap real now you will just end up buying a better real later. My first musky reel was a C4. I still have it lying around somewhere, but I moved on the a better reel very quickly. If I were you I would look for a used Abu revo toro or a Calcutta B. If you don't like it musky fishing you can sell it for what you paid for it. If you like musky fishing you started with a good reel. If you buy one of the cheaper reels and decide to sell it you are losing half your money.

I like fisherpete tackle purges

Are the brookies that you catch all of the same year class? The reason I ask is because I fished a stocked trout in Nova Scotia with me uncle once, and he talked about how the newly stocked fish were very active, especially soon after they were stocked. However, the older fish that had been in the lake for a while were much rarer to catch. If the lake is very deep and there are some smelt, or other deepwater prey species and the lake does not have a natural deep water predator, maybe the brookies that are larger fill that void, and act more like lake trout than brook trout.

obstacles, not barriers

The problem with that title is that they are not all ladies.

They did a show a few years ago where they took a scratch amateur golfer and they had him quit his job and focus on nothing but golfing for a year to see if he could make it. I'm thinking doing that with an amateur fisherman would be cool, mainly because I'd like to be the one selected for the show.

This post has evolved into a great discussion. It really has made me reflect on the value er place on sports, and the effect that the violence that we celebrate can take on the lives of not just professional athletes, but also young amateur athletes. Uglifish I understand where you are coming from, and definitely take issue with people who use a slight injury as an excuse, or a means for litigation, but I think there is a legitimate issue with concussion in sport that needs to be expressed. For me a major difference between someone who suffers a concussion in an car accident and while playing a sport is that a car accident is seen by society as being a tragedy, whereas a concussion in sport is often a result of a violent collision that is often celebrated and sometimes even a direct result of direct teaching and instruction by a coach. Just think about it, you never have anyone say "drive out there with you truck and knock the crap out of that civic." You often hear "you are bigger and stronger than that kid, knock the crap out of him."

I recently picked up a a rapala sharpener from pro tackle musky shop in Belleville. http://www.protacklemuskyshop.com/. I was on my way home from Montreal and stopped in. Great selection and service. Send an e-mail and ask for what you want, I think the guys name is Stacy. The sharpener I bought is not on the website, but I am sure if you asked him about the musky sized hook sharpener from rapala Stacy would know what you are talking about. If you make an order of $150 or more shipping is free. They also have a certain colour sledge that is hard to find, in case you are interested in casting a bit more this year.

Just saw that Junior's brain is being donated for research. Not sure what the results will be, but hopefully some answers will be found. If brain damage is found I think it would be a result of his football career. I do not know a lot about the research, but hope there is baseline data that is being used as a comparison.

Thanks for sharing, cool report.

I think that if his brain is donated to science that would help to answer a lot of questions. Did you read the SI article. A lot of lawsuits are being launched against the NLF over the issue of brain trauma and concussions. The NFL is taking this issue very seriously, look at how the rules are being changed with regards to blows to the head. I also do not think that a discussion regarding the long term effects of repeated brain trauma is futile, as it raises awareness of an important issue, and not only in football but in hockey as well.