Gregoire

I think there is a lot of hype and hyperbole out there; lots of gimmicks with varying actual impacts. However, I think it is our job as consumers to try and weed through the sales talk and find out what is real and what isn't; what may work for s, and what may not. It's like any other industry really. I totally agree with the above statement. The problem is that most anglers do not have the time or the money to try out all the new gear...That is why forums like this one are such a valuable resource. Instead of hearing how good all the new equipment is from the company that makes it we need to get an impartial opinion about the gear. On that note I have gone on a purchasing binge during the last few months and need to post a review...maybe I'll start a topic now.

Thanks for sharing that was awesome.

I was watching a facts of fishing show the other night, the one where Dave was on Lake St. Claire with Pete Maina, and I remember Pete saying that shorter rods for musky fishing were needed for the hookset and the power they provided, but the advent of braid has allowed anglers to use longer rods, which allow for longer casts, and easier figure 8's at the boatside. I have never used a rod over 7ft but bought an 8 ft rod this year and plan on trying this theory when i get out on the water. As far as bass fishing goes, I always had a preference for shorter rods. I own a 7ft rod but really like my 6'3" bronzeback rod. While I might not agree with Garry 2r's about everything the fishing industry feeds us a being manure, I prefer to think that as consumers we have way more choice than we had in the past, the problem is we need to have the resources to try out the equipment to find out what our preference is.

Thanks for all the replies. I was not disappointed in numbers at all, as I know how slow the fishing can be in the dog days of summer. I actually chanced upon a relaxed way to drift fish in the canoe, and thought of a few other ways to drift deeper for lakers in the summer. One of the things that really hurt me was not have a topo map of the lakes. I was also disappointed that we did not get into any of the remote lakes that we originally planned to. I think in the near future we'll I'll be purchasing a smaller canoe for portgaging.

I have had good experiences dealing with pure fishing, but it may take a while for them to get back to you. My advice would be to call and talk to someone in person.

Last week a buddy and I went camping to Lake Superior Provincial Park for a week. I was excited as I had never been this far north, and I would get a chance to catch brook trout. I learned how to fish in small streams for brookies with my grandfather in Nova Scotia, and they are a special fish for me. We initially planned on portaging into some back lakes, but inexperience and laziness (plus my general lack of physical fitness) resulted in us botching that plan. As a result the fishing was a little slow. We stayed at Rabbit Blanket, and I was excited to fish the lake, and portage into some back lakes. The first day there we got out on the lake and started fishing. I was thinking that a pristine lake would be teaming with brookies. It wasn't, I only caught a few dink perch. I was a bit pissed, as I do not have to drive 10 hours to catch perch. No problem I thought, we'll portage into the back lakes and the fishing will be unreal. That plan was ruined when a beaver dam blocked the portage route. We searched all around for an alternative route in, but could not see anything obvious, and being novice portagers we decided to go back a make a plan B. Plan B was to get a canoe at Miji and fish that lake. The next day we woke up somewhat early and made the drive to Miji, unpacked the canoe and got out on the water. After fishing for an hour or so my buddy got a hit. I was excited as he had never caught a trout. I grabbed the net with eager anticipation only to see a sucker on the end of the line. At this point of the trip I was getting a little pissed. I could not believe that I travelled so far only to catch suckers and perch. After fishing for a few more hours I finally got a hit. At this point I was holding my breath, all I needed to catch was another sucker...or worse a carp, and I was going to give up and drink so much that I forgot the rest of the trip. Luckily it was the first brookie of the trip. We spent the rest of the trip fishing a a leisurely pace. In all I caught 4 trout and my buddy got nothing but suckers. The biggest fish of the trip a healthy 14" fat brookie. I believe this was a pb On the last day of the trip I caught 2 more trout 1 brookie and what I think was a splake: As a bonus I have an ex student who is working up at the park. I was able to spend some time with him and feed him his first brookie. All in all it was a good trip. The fishing was not as good as I would like, but I would head back to the park in a heartbeat, as the scenery and experience was unreal. If any of you get a chance to head up that way I would strongly encourage it.

I have a 2 piece rapala magnum rod that i no longer use. Messega me if you are interested in buying it. If you want to upgrade the compre is available in a 7ft 2 pc rod. I have one and I like it a lot.

Congrats. Considering the equipment that you were working with you did great. I should caution you that that one lure can quickly turn into a huge musky box full of them...followed by a box for spinerbaits and a box for bucktails...and a few extra boxes for those lures that don't fit in your other boxes. Followed by many different rod and reel combos...just prepare yourself to spend a large amount of your disposable income.

I will side with you on this one as it is clear that you were not targeting musky on this trip. A lot of musky fisherman are passionate about the sport and may not attempt to land a musky without the proper gear, that is assuming that it is not a pb. A 40 inch musky is probably 10 plus years old, and a musky on eagle lake must be way larger than that one to be legally kept, so your last comment was out of line.

I've found that steel leaders can damage fish if they roll. I prefer to use fluoro or mono leaders.

I'm getting excited for my trip to Lake Superior Provincial Park. I'll be there with a buddy for a week and I'm looking forward to portaging into a few back lakes. I'm going to start getting my gear together tonight. It's going to be tough to pack so light. Like many people I have a huge tackle addiction. I posted about this a while ago but if anyone has any updates or advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Happy Canada day to all, We had the niece over but missed the east york parade. I bit of a bummer but the rest of the day should go well.

At least we didn't end up with the guy from Turkey

I'm heading up to my father in laws. A little lake that does not get enough pressure. Last year I caught bass after bass casting from shore. Nothing huge, but a good day. I ended up with bass thumb for the first time in my life.

If you are targetting musky you should invest in all the proper equipment, rods, reels, landing equipment and release gear. Otherwise you are probably going to harm the fish. I would argue that landing musky with medium action rods would put undue stress on them.

I was wondering how long it would take the Musky Whisperer to get its first slime of 2011. Congrats.

I would say compre...I was looking at a few earlier in the year and they had a few nice split grip rods with an exposed blank...I decided to go a bit pricier with an avid instead. I still lust after a cumara though.

That is a great offer Geoff, I wish I could take you up on it...but I snuck away the last few weekends and I'm on honey do list duty tomorrow.

By the tone of some of the threads lately I'm going to guess some type of bass bait.

That was a very nice tribute. Sorry for your loss.

I think I caught this guy right after he was spawning. I'm guessing all the injuries were a result of that. I've caught pike with spawning wounds before, but never that fresh. The base of his tail was literally rubbed raw. He seemed healthy though. I'm guessing the pike are still spawning, which seems weird as the water temperature is fairly warm. The water was pretty murky in places so maybe that influences the spawn as well. If pike were logical creatures it would make sense for them to spawn in murky water, as the roe would be less visible. I'm just throwing out an assumption.

It was a fraction the size of some of the Cats that you are catching. I'm holding out for the 20 pound Pike to match your 20 pound cat.

Got out today trying to catch my first fish of 2011. Made it to my spot by 9:30, caught my first fish before ten. I though it would be a good day, but it wasn't. The only good thing was that I avoided the skunk. I couldn't figure out the pattern. The fish I caught was sunning itself. I basted a body bait in scent and let it sit in front of it's snoot until it bit. The rest of the day I tried sight fishing, but couldn't find any more sunning fish. The Pike did not seem interested in anything I tossed at them. A lot of bodies were out today. I remembered why I usually avoid opener weekend, as there are way too many people, but next weekend is a no go as I am working. The fiance almost shot me when I told her I was going fishing this morning, as we are moving on Monday, and there is a lot of packing to be done. The way I see it, I have all day Sunday to pack, as long as I don't decide to head out in the morning. Anyway here is the pic. I forgot my OFC Tourney sign, but he was a small one anyway. You can't see it in the pic, but his tail was all torn up from the spawn. He was a bit over 26 inches and swam away pissed at me for interrupting his tanning time. I'm hoping to get out a few more times before May runs out, as long as it doesn't result in me getting divorced before I get married.

Please indicate how I was whining

I take issue with people whining about not being able to erase their accounts. To begin with, one of the conditions of joining this site is that your account cannot be erased. If you did not realize this it is your fault. Secondly, in our day and age erasing an account is more of a symbolic move as anything posted on line leaves a digital footprint that can be traced and found. Arguing that you can erase your facebook account to support your argument is a faulty argument when you consider the massive privacy issues that facebook deals with. Event though this is a public forum it is a privately owned entity. The moderators control it. If you take the time to read the rules when you sign up this is evident. Don't whine because you are too lazy to read or understand the rules.