Fisherpete

Thanks Wayne, if nobody closer is available, let me know if you will be around Tues/Wed. The one rivet is beyond hammering, there is not much left of the head. Is the stainless bolt/nut/sealant a bad idea? I found that suggestion searching the web... Take a day off from fishing? To keep the boat from sinking? SACRILEGE!

The emails to Rollie and Helen's Musky Shop have been answered by "Jim"... who does not sound like a fan of USPS at all... here is the email from him today: "We ship to Canada with UPS, or USPS. UPS is very fast but there are more duties. USPS is pretty slow, the package could get lost and they have very poor tracking. We could try and ship an order using USPS but like I said they are a poor option when shipping to Canada because of what I mentioned. If you place an order and want us to ship via USPS please state that when placing your order and we will do so. Kind regards, Jim" By the way, they have a few of what I am looking for (the secret musky lure lol) with more coming probably this week. I am waiting to see if they are getting all the desired colours in before I order. Cabelas also has a few of the item available, but not enough to order.

The last few times out, the "QUEST FOR 50" has been taking on some water... no big deal as I have a bilge pump installed, but annoying nonetheless... I did the water test in the driveway, and found a few leaking rivets. One is REALLY bad, pretty sure it needs replacing. Water was gushing out from that one. There is a second also in pretty bad shape, able to spin it freely, but may still be able to be tightened. A few others should also probably be snugged up. I'm in Scarborough, is there anyone who has a proper boat-type rivet gun around? I can bring the boat there, and don't mind paying for your time. Wayne (Irishfield) has offered to help me out before (don't know if that offer is still on the table, lol!), but if there is someone closer that would save a bunch of time and gas... I seem to remember somebody helping out CCMT with his new-used boat last year, similar issue... My other thought was to drill out the two really bad ones and replace them with stainless steel pan head bolts/nuts of the appropriate size... goop some 3M 5200 marine sealant in there at the same time. Is this a viable repair option? Thanks for your help guys.

4 fish = 8 fillets. (ok, +8 cheek pockets, yum!)

Hmmmm... let me check out Cabelas again... I checked out ordering from them the other day, and used their shipping calculator for ordering 2 of the items... the price came out really silly, but maybe if I plug in the whole order, the average price per item will work out better.

I used to use Fireline, now use PowerPro, and have always used the palomar knot. I have never had that knot fail, and it is as easy as it gets to tie. Landed a 23lb muskie on 8lb Fireline with no leader, palomar... I don't like straight line-to-line connections, when using a leader I always tie to a swivel. Mind you, the lakes that I fish are not all that clear, and the fish that I go for (pike, musky, bass) don't seem to be very line-sensitive.

Thanks Roy, I sent them an email.

Thanks Kingpin. Does anyone know any good Canadian musky shops (online or otherwise) that I could check out before I place an international order? I am looking to order 24 of a certain lure, (12 for me, 6 each for two of my buddies, in several different colours). All the shops that I have called/checked in and around the GTA are out of stock or don't carry it, and not getting any more in the near future. (including LeBaron, Tight Lines, BPS, Gagnon's, Fishing World, Angling Specialities... Steve at JB's Fishing Depot has not gotten back to me)

Some very nice fish there! That poor baby musky looks like something big & toothy tried to have it for lunch...

Anyone have an idea what it might cost me for duty fees if I order some tackle from Rollie and Helen's musky shop in WI? My order would be around $350 US including shipping. Is $50 or $60 in the ballpark?

Gorgeous tiger, Rizzo! Were you fishing solo? Pretty decent pic if that was the case... I'll be doing Balsam a couple days next week... and would love to get into a tiger like that! My one and only tiger (also on Balsam) was a low 30's fish. My buddy landed a 37" the same day. They have absolutely gorgeous markings.

You can lip a bowfin... once... then you can do it with the other hand... once... and then you can go shopping for new thumbs!

BPS does not carry them... I'm working on getting more, I am a man with a plan... and I still have the one in the other colour to tide me over until then... You available next week for a day trip Johnny? Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. Send me a PM. Let's go nail that tanker we saw earlier this year...

My son Nick (age 11) and I headed out for a quick evening fish. Wifey came along for the ride and to be the photographer. Traffic turned out to be horrible, and we lost half an hour of fishing time as a result. On the water at 6:30pm or so. My infamous words: Here Nick, take my favourite lure and try it today. Moments later, Nick`s rod goes off hard... and soon, his second musky ever is in the cradle, a chunky 36 incher. The picture looks extremely bloody, but she was only lip hooked and released perfectly. In the next hour, Nick hooked 3 more, but all of them came off on jumps. One looked to be a good one, might have made 40 inches. Nick was a tad slow on all of them getting the rod out of the holder - gotta get those hooks in early to have the best chance at landing them! One of the hooks on the lucky lure was pretty wonky too, that might have contributed. I was starting to get more than a wee bit jealous, but being the nice guy that I am let the kiddo keep using the lucky lure lol... Moments later, once AGAIN, Nick`s rod starts screaming... and this time he quickly grabs it out of the holder and drives the hook home hard. Number two soon finds the cradle... a 30 incher or so. She got let go without ever leaving the water. The lucky lure now sits at the bottom of the lake... without us noticing, she had cut the line with her teeth during the release, and when Nick went to cast, there was nothing there! Oh well, it was pretty mangled anyway - that lure had 15 muskies to its credit in the past few weeks! I put on another of the same lure (but a different colour), and we resumed the hunt. Dad now seriously buggin for a ski... and is rewarded with a slot sized walleye on a musky lure... AGAIN! Three consecutive trips on this lake that this has happened! Lucky for Mr. Pickereye that there was no cooler in the boat tonight... so splash, in she went. I got desperate at this point, and switched up lures several times... and FINALLY, got rewarded for my efforts with a musky. This girl was long and skinny... but I was happy. (And relieved) It soon got dark, and the mosquitos were out in droves. I told Nick to reel her in, let`s go... and as he was cranking it in, he got slammed again! Not a big fish, but scrappy. Again, boatside release... and this time my jaw spreaders were a casualty. *sigh* Yet another offering to the fish gods... oh well, they are cheap. And now I know the lucky lure in a different colour works too... Final tally : Nick 3 for 6, with the heaviest fish. Dad aka Fisherpete 1 for 1, with the longest fish and a bonus walleye (hey, on this day I will take whatever small victories I can, ok!!!) I`m off to the kitchen now, to eat another slice of humble pie. Have I mentioned yet how many times today Nick has reminded me that he fished my a$$ off!!!! The quest for 50 continues...

Lol... thanks guys! But I was in their boat, so I was the guest... that makes it OK for me to outfish them. Last trip with Al, after getting the first three or four skis, I took off my hot lure and gave it to him to use. The same last Thursday with my bro! I try to share lol... I am just a muskie whisperer hahaha!!! Have you heard of a rain dance? Well, before every outing, I do a muskie dance. 1) Stomp feet, left first, them right. Repeat 4 to 5 times. This must be done in the boat so that the fish can hear and feel the vibrations. 2) Chant "Hiya hiya muskie dance". Make your voice sound as deep as possible. 3) Repeat until you feel silly. This does not take long. 4) Works even better when you perform in front of guests. It is a Kawarthas fish, there are many in this lake with these markings. I actually first started fishing this lake after seeing posts with muskies from there, and liking their markings. You are right though, looks a bit like a LSC or Erie ski.

Tough weather made for a really tough day out there today. Started fishing around 2:30pm, and the lake went from glass calm with scorching sun to howling wind, driving rain and whitecaps within an hour. After the storm blew through, I hooked and lost one, and a few hours later got a decent 40". I think the fishies saw an awful lot of lures on the bass opener... As a plus, Al's son marco got a keeper walleye on the same musky lure that I got one on last week... yum.

Monday : super early start, on the water at 5:20am. Albert after his first ski of the year. Had a mid-30's fish follow within the first 10 minutes. As the morning progressed, it became really hot, sunny and calm. Surface temps got up to 76F at one point. This has usually spelt disaster for me while muskie fishing, but I found an area close to deeper water where they were active, and we got into some action. Fish were very acrobatic today - with several lost on jumps. First fish of the day hooked (and lost soon after) was a good one... The rest were pretty average, but lots of fun. Mr. Walleye decided to be a tough guy and nail a muskie lure... bad idea, as he was in the keeper slot and came home with me! 7 hooked, 3 landed + bonus walleye. And Al got his first of what shall be many this year, right Al? I will add an awesome video of how to lose a muskie at boatside shortly... Thursday : met up for an afternoon fish with my brother Paul at a cottage he has rented for four days. I have fished this lake twice before, but never in this area at all. We scouted out a couple 'fishy' looking areas on the map, launched the boat around noon, and within 5 minutes, drag screaming and fish on! And a good one too... turned out to be 43.5" and solid. I often catch fish... but this time she caught me... with one quick flick of her tooth to the side of my thumb, a cascade of my blood redecorated the interior of my boat. My blood was actually pumping out in spurts to my hearbeat... kinda scary! While Paul took over and released her, I kept some firm pressure on it, and it soon stopped bleeding. A couple bandages - and back at it! We had steady action for the next five hours, and Paul got his first muskies of 2010. The first one of the day turned out to be the only 40+, but there were a couple respectable mid-30's in the mix. Fish #7 was on video only... here is 1-6 and 8. The only bad thing about all the action was that my gashed thumb was constantly getting wet!!! Small price to pay for the fun... No fish lost either today - they were hitting hard, and my hooks were sharp 8 landed in a day (in an afternoon!) is a new record for my boat. (old high was 5) The quest for the 50" continues...

My eleven year old son Nick, after seeing my musky pictures from last weeks trip, had been bugging me all week to go out so he could catch his first. He managed to sweeten the deal for himself too - by getting me to agree to buy him a new game for hix Xbox 360 if he actually landed one. The idea of trolling really appealed to him too - just chill out and let the boat do most of the work! We got on the water around noon, with a nice chop on the 70F water. Good thing there was some wind, because it would have been a scorcher otherwise. I started out casting in a weedy bay that produced a 35 on the opener. There were two guys in there, casting plastic worms... hmmmm.... After half an hour or so, we trolled out of the bay, and Nick got a hit - which turned out to be a decent LM bass. We then motored over to the area that produced two fish last week. Quicky found the right depth, cast out, and less than a minute later BAM fish on! I could tell it was another good one from the headshakes. Nick is getting really good with the cradle, and she came in without a problem. Beautiful golden 43 incher! Continued the same troll, and about half an hour later, Nicks rod went off! He actually struggled a bit getting the rod out of the Scotty holder with the tension of a musky pulling on it, but managed, and fought her like a pro. Not bad at all for his first, a healthy 38 incher! He was a wee bit concerned about holding her after seeing those teeth, but she behaved long enough for a quick pic. A few more hours of fishing got two more muskies for me, a 33 and 31. These two were aerial acrobats, leaving the water on multiple occasions each. I really wanted to hang around for the evening bite, but Nick had started to tire, so we packed it in. Pretty productive afternoon, and hopefully Nick got the musky bug!

If Lake Dalrymple is an indicator of the pike vs. muskie debate, then methinks trouble looms... that lake has seriously gone downhill, even more so in the past five years or so. It is just overrun with hammer handles plagued with blackspot. Haven't seen a muskie there in four years. Hopefully the Kawartha muskies are eventually able to adapt their spawning habits and the two species can co-exist. If nothing else, we will be catching some sexy looking tigers for a while. *sigh*

Thanks for the kind comments guys. It was a great trip for sure. Johnny - the pike that we landed all now reside in Patrick's dad's freezer... ready for the frying pan. I think I finally got the hang of cleaning them without those pesky Y-bones. They were the only fish kept on the trip, and the one 23" walleye (yum!). Although after the numbers of pike that we saw following our lures, I think that they have established themselves pretty well in there already. Grrr.... it will be interesting to see what impact it has longterm on the muskie fishery.

Got buzzed by a jet ski this week while out fishing... flew by us at WOT no more than 50 feet from the boat. Whole lake to drive on, and he chooses to go there. Soooo tempted to cast out something big, heavy and hooky that way, but fortunately for him, morons are out of season.

I did mine yesterday with the power washer... no soap or anything. Came out great. My floors are removable - makes it even easier, I just take them out, lean against the side of the boat and power spray, start at the top and work my way down. Amazing how much crap comes out...

I saw a muskie do this once years ago at Rice, right beside my boat dock... there was a swarm of water beetles on the surface there, I thought he may have been eating a mouthful of those...

Pumpkinseed, which is a type of sunfish.

For the past five years or so, my friend Patrick and I have went on a June fishing trip, targeting muskie of course. We had three lakes in mind this year, four if we ended up at Rice Lake to go carping for the final weekend. The week was a bit broken up, due to some commitments, but the fishing schedule was as follows: Saturday (muskie opener), Monday, and then Wednesday-Saturday. Patrick could not make the opener, so I went out with the wifey, son and pooch. It was very windy, and there was a ton of boat traffic, but the ice was broken on the muskie season with a clean and healthy 35" fish. My son Nick likes to fish, but at age eleven is more into constant action like panfishing. He tried fishing for musky for about an hour, and then settled back with the MP3 player and chilled out with Milo. Sunday was a fun-filled day of helping my brother move... with the highlight being the large piano he owns. Off to the hammer he goes... good luck Will! Monday was a day trip for Patrick and I... so we planned to maximize our time, and fish from 7am until 9pm... a solid 14 hour day. The first 10 hours of fishing left a bitter taste in our mouths... nada, not even a follow. Had the lake been pounded too much on opening weekend? We started to troll a stretch of water that looked promising, and moments later, my lure was destroyed by the hit of a big fish. After a great fight, my first beauty of 2010 was in the boat. A gorgeous 45.5", and a nice upgrade for Team One in the OFC tournament! After a quick revival, off she went. Revitalized, we continued the troll, and soon after, Patrick had his first of the year, a scrappy 31". We closed out the day at one of my honey holes for this lake, and Patrick caught his second, a 32". Monday turned out OK after all! I had to work Tuesday morning, and then joined my wife in the afternoon at her doctors office for her second ultrasound... she is 4 months pregnant with our second child. The ultrasound made it immediately obvious that it is our second boy in there! Suggestions for names welcome... she is leaning towards Tyler... I prefer Bucktail LMAO!!! Patrick and I packed up and left late Tuesday, so we could get off to an early start fishing on Wednesday. Well, the early start didn't happen, but we were on the water by 9am. The day was grey, cold, windy and wet, but the fishing was hot. We decided to troll out from the launch, and a decent smallmouth hit Pat's muskie lure! 5 minutes, first fish landed, not bad! 5 minutes later, a chunky largemouth came in on a giant bucktail. We moved to a bay that has produced some nice muskies over the years, and I was soon rewarded with a solid 36". We continued working our way down the bay, and soon confirmed that Pike have indeed made their way into this lake, and in numbers as well. I like Pike, but have mixed feelings about seeing them in this lake. Pat and I already knew that there must have been pike in there, as we both caught tigers in 2008, but this was our first time catching pike. And we got a bunch of them in the next hour... I caught a 31" and a 28", Pat got a 32", and several more follows... my 31" is an upgrade for Team One as well. In the middle of the pikefest, a 32" muskie came to play with me as well. Rain was coming down pretty hard when she hit, right at boatside. I got to see her rocket up from 8' down and smash my plug. As evening set in, we moved to our favourite walleye hole, and I soon got what proved to be the best walleye of the trip, a chunky 23". 4 more walleye followed, but all were in the slot size for the lake and had to be released. Oh yeah, the 23" eye is another upgrade for the team On Thursday, we decided to try another lake, that Johnny Bass and I visited a few weeks earlier, and had a follow by a giant ski. The day was tough, with only 3 fish landed in 9 hours of fishing... Pat caught a World's Greatest Sport Fish (Rock Bass) and I got 2 muskies, a 26" and a 36". The 36" was right as we were preparing to leave, and once again hit right at boatside... saved the day from being a total loss. On Friday, we headed back to the lake where we had done so well on Wednesday, although conditions were drastically different. Hot, sunny and calm. By noon the water temps had risen from 65F to 70F. The jetskiers and waterskiiers were out in numbers as well... yech. The fish were turned right off, and apart from a few panfish, a tiny walleye and this overly ambitious 17" smallmouth which drilled a 10" Beleiver, the day was horrible. Saturday - the final day of the trip. Conditions were overcast, with light mist/drizzle falling... hmmm, similar to Wednesday... would the lake behave today or should we go elsewhere? We decided to stay and hope for the best. Soon after starting, I got a huge hit while trolling past a dropoff - but she shook free before we could see her. Damn... would have been a good one. We moved to the pike bay, and soon had 2 follows and a 30"ish pike lost at boatside. The day passed quickly, and as evening set in, we decided to hit one of our muskie areas which typically produces in late summer. The weedbeds have just started taking their normal formations, but we found some nice deep cabbage, and after 5 minutes of trolling, my rod went off, the drag SCREAMING. As soon as I took the rod out of the holder, and felt those massive headshakes, I knew she was a good one. My heart started pounding when we saw her in the water for the first time - she was HUGE, thick from head to tail, with a massive head. After a few crazy boatside runs, she was in the cradle. This was the heaviest ski I had ever seen - and man was she hard to hold. As it turns out, she was not my longest ever - she came in at 45.5" (I got two 47"ers last fall), but by far the heaviest. After a quick revival, she swam away strongly, and we followed her with the boat until she dove down deep. No better way to end the trip!