NTBugtraq

A little light humour... It was very early one morning while I was on my way from the house to the boat (at my shore) when I noticed a fish on the lawn! Some 50' from shore, in the middle of the grass, was a Muskie! 20" long, probably 5lbs-ish, laying dead on the grass. The dogs all sniffed around it, and at first I gave them each a stern glare...somehow my dogs had caught a fish?? Closer inspection revealed deep gashes on either side of the mid-back...ah ha, talons! Those dang Osprey had been at work again. No doubt an enterprising Osprey had managed to catch the thing, but then must have realized it was under the legal limit and released it. I just wish they'd use a different rig for catching, and find better spots for their release! Never leave for an Osprey something you could mount...;-] Cheers, Russ

BillM, no, no fish. I spoke to a couple of other folks (before the fire) who also weren't getting anything (between Lungehaven and the old bridge). I spoke to someone on a Crestliner during the fire who had caught a Muskie up towards Big Cliff's place (near the channel to Fenlon Falls) and a small pickerel, but in general my guess was that the water was too cold (42F) and too clear. Normally I don't have to leave my bay (behind Green Island) to get my fill... Big Cliff, thanks!! You're in my BB now...;-] Make sure you shout out to me if you see me going by in my Bennington Pontoon, I'm hard to miss...4 Captain's chairs on the front half of the deck...;-] If you ever want to fish for Largemouth where Bob Izumi does...give me a shout at 878-3405 and I'll show you the way through the stumps...;-] For anyone who already fishes in Goose Bay, I'm the big cedar house where you turn out into the bay from the shoreline (the dock on the point) with all the dahlias when in season and the four dogs that race out and bark their heads off at you as you go by....;-] To confirm, nobody was hurt, and no buildings other than blinds were damaged. I haven't been back out to see whether the blinds survived or not, but I assume that at least a few of the flare-ups were probably blinds going. I'm more curious to see whether any of the bigger stumps have been burnt, as they've always been good for a 5+ pounder Largemouth. Sinker, I don't really think it had any effect on wildlife. I will admit, I'm not a duck hunter so I could be wrong, but the ducks don't generally roost out there on land as it was pretty dense. Red Wing Blackbirds did live there in season, but they've long since moved on. We might have been lucky and convinced a Cormoran or two to leave....;-] A lone Trumpeter Swan was on the bay on Saturday, en-route to the Pickering Hydro plant, but I didn't see him at all on Sunday. Since, as I said, there wasn't anything biting all the way around the island an hour before the fire (at least not biting my line) I doubt there were many fish nearby... Thanks for all the welcomes folks! Only 6 days left...good luck to all! Cheers, Russ

Howdy folks, I was at the fire first yesterday, at least in terms of being on the water beside it. I had fished completely around the reed island at 1:30pm, and headed south down the channel towards Alpine. After marking no fish, I sped up to the other end of the channel (by Snug Harbor) and proceeded to troll my way back towards the island. By the time I'd gotten turned around, it was already ablaze. I didn't pass anyone on my way out into the main lake, and there were no gun shots or decoys visible. I called 911 at 2:30pm to give them a first hand view of the fire. The fire started ~100yds in from the southern tip of the island (beside Green Island) and some 50' in from the water's edge. To me this totally precludes human action at the scene (the duck blinds are all on the water's edge.) As I was heading out to the main lake, I noticed a (possibly leaf) fire somewhere near Fish-n-Rest. I picked up two Firefighters at the dock south of Lungehaven and took them out for a tour of the island. We did a complete 360 around it at ~3:30pm. They concluded there was nothing they could do about it, and that nothing was in danger (other than the 6 blinds we saw, and the trees on the island itself of course.) Came home (I live in Goose Bay near Ken Reid Park) and sat and watched the fire in awe as it surged over and over again until ~10:00pm. By 11:00pm, there were no visible signs of fire. This morning there isn't even any smoke. I had thought it might burn for days... While the Firefighters wouldn't say conclusively, we all agreed it was likely the result of a leaf fire that had blown lit leaves up into the air and over to the island. FWIW, while fishing on the main lake trolling towards the island, I ran into a snowfall of ashes more than 1km away from the end of the island...shows you how far that stuff can travel with very little wind. Cheers, Russ