Fisherpete

The May long weekend is when our family typically opens up the cottage, and this usually includes the following miseries: 1) Rain 2) More rain and maybe some cold 3) Lots of work 4) Little time to fish Well this year, things were a little different... The weather was perfect. More than perfect for May. All 3 brothers able to make it on the same weekend - rare, and perfect. Lots to be done - yes, but many hands to do it. As for the fishing... We arrived on Saturday around noon, unloaded the food and gear, and anchored the boats in the shallows as no docks were in yet. I wasted no time, and opened an 88c can of Walmart corn niblets (uh oh, should I have sprung the extra 50c for Del Monte?). I waded out around 100 feet from my shoreline, and spread the corn out over a small area, The water there was less than 2 feet deep. I headed back, and Paul and I cast out lines into the baited area. We then walked over and picked up the first section of dock to put in, and before getting back to the water, my rod doubled over and the reel began to scream out line! Was this a sign of things to come for the weekend? Absolutely. Simply put, they carping was on fire - the best I have ever experienced. One 88c can a day kept fish coming on a steady basis. And I spend HOW much on ONE musky lure?!?! Here`s the numbers from the 3 days... 42 landed, 4 lost New PB`s for virtually everyone... including my own at 35 inches - which I did twice! Four 34 inchers First mirror ever for any of us (landed by my son Nick) - and I lost another on Monday. I don`t think any were less than 10 pounds - seriously! And the best part - this was all accomplished while we worked!!! 10 sections of dock put in, a fence put up, the property raked (and it was not done in the fall, so you can imagine...) and much more. Cast out, put the rod in the holder, clip on a bell if we were away from the dock working... awesome, and sooooo easy Oh yeah - I almost lost a rod to a carp... GENIUS TIP - always, always, lock that rod into the holder... don`t forget the strap on the Scotty or else you WILL have to run after your rod like a madman! (Yes, I saved the rod) (Yes, I caught the fish, 33 incher) (Yes, it took me an hour today to totally take apart, wash the sand out and relube the reel hahaha!!!) Everyone truly had a great time. Here`s a taste. Fisherpete Will Paul Nick

Beauty Mike! Awesome laker, especially for your first one! And better that hook than a muskie sized one!!! Pete

I agree... you only get one set of eyes, and glasses are not an item to cheap out on in my opinion. I have had a bunch of cheapie glasses before, and a few years back switched to Oakleys - I will never go back. The optics are far better, and they have been good with warranty claims too that were my own fault. $150-200 every 4-5 years is peanuts compared to the tackle and other stuff we buy for fishing! I currently have a pair of the fishing specific polarized ones - and they are awesome. Some people just can't keep a pair though (lost, broken, etc.) - if you are one of those, well ok, cheapies may be the route for you lol! Pete

Ok thanks guys!

Does anyone know if suckers are running in Duffins creek yet? The last few times I was there looking the creek was raging and I didn't even try. Or any other locations in the area... And NO, not to eat LOL! I like to feed catfish big chunks of them - better known as cutbait. thanks Pete

Logo looks great Mike! Will you have some stickers available at the Odyssey next weekend - I would love to slap a big one of those on the side of my boat! Pete

Ummmm Dan what kind of jeans do you wear in order to poop thru them - oh wait forgot you are a ninja... carry on good sir!

I remember ice fishing Simcoe one year in March, right at the end of the season... everyone's huts had been pulled... and on this very mild and melty day, the lake looked like a minefield of plop. It was really disgusting! Dave Mercer also once mentioned a very interesting method for this when in a boat... think it involved a minnow bucket...

What is your height and weight? I am 6'1", 180lbs and my size large Helly Hansen fits me perfectly. I am selling one for my friend Al in the classifieds - same model and size, mint condition - for $175 - it's worth a look if you are close to those height/weight sizes... it is a great suit at that price. When buying mine, I tried on an XL and found it absolutely huge... but the large was perfect. I have also tried on some of the more expensive Mustangs ($400+) and actually prefer the HH.

OUCH Gregoire... OUCH! Lol... 49.5 is indeed a painful number... Just you wait... LOTW is only a few months away... (and just so you know, my cake went 52" with a tail pinch and snout straightening)

Wow wicked guitar and guitar cake!!! Uh oh... competition...! My wife lets me chase real muskies all over the place... more often than I should... and I also got my cake and ate it too lol Yeah I'm spoiled. Thanks for the b-day wishes!

I want to go - can you call my boss for me and tell him I am sick lol

One of my co-workers Robyn has an amazing talent - she really should be on cake boss! She surprised me at work in December for my birthday with this thing of absolute beauty! The cake was vanilla, with vanilla butter icing, and it tasted just as good as it looked... the skin, fins, etc. were made of fondant... and the whole thing hand painted with edible cake paint... simply amazing! She made it the right size too (48") hahaha... she didn't want a musky CAKE to be my first 50 hahahaha!!! In production Even the scale texture was imprinted in the fondant skin... Even did the teeth out of fondant! Thanks again girl - it truly made my day! Pete

Nope, no boxes or documents... just as they are, which is in pretty nice shape. Thanks for the reply!

I am clearing out a bunch of tackle for my friend Al in the classifieds, and there are 4 reels that he gave me to sell that I have no clue of the value. I will do some online searching, but am looking for some help from the appraisers on this site! Two of the reels are pretty old and thought that they might have some appeal to a collector... anyways, here they are: 1) Penn Master 151 baitcaster, RH 2) Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 5600 Plus 3) Pflueger Skilkast (trademark no. 1953) also says Pflueger Summit no 1995 on the sideplate 4) Pflueger Trump (trademark no 1943)

Great post and some very nice walters! Pete p.s. Your PM does not seem to be active - if you are still interested in any of the ice gear I had in the classifieds check the post - some has been sold, but some prices have been dropped.

PM sent Mike

I'm in the middle of this myself with the ensuite off my bedroom... it's a bit bigger than yours at 10'x5'. Two weeks ago, I decided to repair a leaky tub faucet. A drip had almost become a stream. I shut off the water main, removed the handle to the faucet, and started removing the cartridge - which was so old and brittle that it shattered inside the mixing valve. I was able to remove it by breaking it into pieces and pulling them out with pliers, but damaged the threads inside the mixing valve body in the process... the new cartridge stripped while putting it in and leaked even worse... this now meant that the wall would have to be opened up and the mixing valve/faucet replaced! At this point, I looked at the original steel tub, which had already been reglazed once by the previous owner, but was now peeling again, looked at the acrylic tub surround which had been installed by a drunken orangutang and had a crack in the main section, looked at the dated vanity... needed a coat of paint... and half a day later, the bathroom was gutted. Tub out. Arylic surround, layer of tiles underneath, drywall - out. Old plumbing fixtures - out. Vanity - out. Flooring - out - and this by far was the hardest and messiest to remove. I have since redone all the bathtub/shower/vanity plumbing, including installing shutoffs, installed a new acrylic deep soaker tub, drywalled the tub alcove with DensShield, bought a sweet faucet/shower set, bought a new faucet for the vanity, new towel bars, toilet paper holder, etc... all really nice fairly high end stuff. I will be re-using the mirror above my old vanity (it is new), and the toilet (also new). I have also bought a high end waterproof laminate flooring - a few friends of mine have used it in their bathrooms and have had no issues with it. I am fairly handy, but am learning as I go with much of the work. You can find out pretty much how to do anything on Youtube if you look! I am around $1500 in so far. I will likely spend another $400-500 on tiling the surround, around the same for a new vanity and countertop, a few bucks for some new baseboards, then all I need is some paint and two blinds for the windows. All said and done, probably around $3000, and it's going to be a sweet looking bathroom. It's going slow, a few hours here and there at a time, but probably saved me at least $4000 when all is said and done. Peter

Thanks everyone! I have already ordered a spare battery for the camera which will stay in an inside pocket, it won't happen to me again... and maybe she would have made 50 with a tail pinch or on a bump board, but I am content with 49.5... for now After helping Andrew pull in his 55 this summer, the bar has been set higher anyway!!!

Thanks! The camera angle is a bit misleading - trust me, I measured several times, she was 49.5". If I said she was a 50" even though she looks like it in the pics, I would always know the difference... it's a moot point anyways, I'm going to catch a 55" next summer at LOTW!!! I am planning to buy one of those bump boards that Ben Beattie uses for next season - they look awesome. When I fish with a partner, we measure them in my 60" Frabill cradle, in the water.

Tuesday night saw me get stuck at a work function until almost 2am, so Wednesday's plans of heading out for a muskie hunt looked slim. I woke up around 9:30am and decided to go for it. I looked at the forecast, and was not a fan of the wind, snow or air temperature that was forecast for my destination... but I decided to go anyway. Not knowing what I would find at the launch, I packed salt, a shovel, and a small anchor and rope in case there was ice to break! As I drove up, I noticed that all the small ponds were frozen, as well as smaller bays on two of the lakes on the way... not looking good for my 2WD vehicle! I arrived at the launch, and was happy to see it was clear. The lake however was another story - covered in whitecaps. I loaded the boat, donned my survival suit and launched. Less than 5 minutes later, the flurries that had been falling turned into a full-blown snowfall - which really stung the eyes and face as I headed to my first spot. The water was a chilly 37F - the coldest I have ever fished for muskies. I started fishing around 12:45pm - so I only had about 4 hours of light to fish. The lake was quite rough all over, and I tried casting a few of my favourite spots briefly but soon settled for the comfort of trolling. I worked a few of my prime runs, and then headed to a spot that has produced 3 quality fish in the past two years - including a 46" and a 48". I trolled it in one direction, then switched lures and turned around. Around 30 seconds later, the clicker on the Tekota screamed - I looked at the rod to see if I was hung up on bottom, but big headshakes indicated otherwise! As soon as I took the rod out of the holder, I knew this was a good fish. She stayed deep, and did not go on any crazy runs, but I could feel her power every time she shook her head. After a minute, I was able to raise her up - and my heart started racing for several reasons - she was big, and was barely hooked by one prong of one treble, right in the tip of her top lip. One hard run, jump, or thrash and she was history. I have a folding stowmaster net, which unfortunately was stowed in the compact position... so as I gingerly tried to keep the beast from shaking free with one hand on the rod, I tried to unfold and extend the net with the other. I failed. At this point, terrified of losing her, I just grabbed the net by the hoop, handle still inside and the hoop in a V, and stuck it in the water, and by some miracle, guided her into it on the first shot. The chances of this working out as it did were so minimal that I actually laughed like a mad fool when it happened! I extended the handle and looked down at my captive, and the hook had already fallen out! I soon realized that what I had in front of me might just be the muskie that I have been chasing for 10 years... could it be my first 50? The beauty of the giant stowmaster nets are that they act as a big holding pen, and the fish are fully submerged and free to swim around and revive themselves as you set up for your picture. She needed no reviving thanks to the cold water, and sat upright with gills flaring as I set up, occasionaly testing the boundaries of her confines with her snout. I set up my camera on a special tripod I rigged up for my solo missions, and pressed the power button - but nothing happened. I took out the battery, which I had only charged a few days ago, put it back in and tried again - still nothing. I was at a loss. My phone has a camera, and also takes video, but it would be very hard if not impossible to get a picture of me holding a big fish with it. At this point I decided to get a measurement, and go from there. I lifted her out of the net, and laid her down on the vinyl floor where I had the tape already laid out. 49.5" glorious inches, and a full belly to boot. My new PB! (Old was 48"). I snapped a few quick pics with the phone, and decided that it was more important to get her back in the water then messing around trying to take an impossible pic. I recorded the following video of the release - she took off in seconds. I am really happy with finally getting a big one this late in the year - I have had very little success fishing muskies past October, and intentionally changed my pattern sligtly today - with a big payoff. What should worked this time of year DID work. Am I upset that I didn't get the money shot because of my camera not working - sure. But think of all the things that did go right - the fish never should have been succesfully landed with the way it was barely hooked and my struggles deploying the net. I got a few decent shots of her to remember her by, and she released perfectly to go and grow even bigger for next year. And I came ever so close to that magical 50 mark. With one or two trips left this year (weather permitting), there is still a chance... and let me tell you, there will be a second camera in the boat next time! The good - Just getting out fishing. No ice to deal with. Not a single boat on the water except for me. Fall tactics actually working. Landing her despite the odds. Succesful release. New PB! The bad - Wind and waves. Blowing snow. The ugly - stupid camera! Thanks for reading!

Great fish and trip! Your 49" is a tank, and that pike is a monster too. Pete

Thanks everyone! It is my 3rd tiger this year, but the others were much smaller fish. I caught 3 last year as well. They have absolutely ridiculous sets of teeth on them, and this specimen was no exception. Here's a couple shots of the set of teeth from a 36" tiger I caught last year, weapons of mass piscatorial destruction!

Got out on Saturday despite the crappy weather and caught 3 muskies, a 32", a 33" and this 41" tiger which is a PB for me. The tiger followed my friend Patrick's lure out from a weedbed... I got her on the follow up cast Tigers have to be one of the prettiest freshwater fish - just awesome markings, and man what a set of teeth on them.