limeyangler

Hi all, Ok...so we still have 2-3 feet of ice.....but its only 3-4 weeks before i get in the boat for the first time this year. Last year...litterally on my final boat fishing trip in November my trolling motor packed up. I know they can be repaired....but i dont want to get advice on fixing it lol....its way past saving...trust me, its time to get a new one It was an old 36lb thrust Minn Kota Bow mount....electric steer. It was good on my 16.5 aluminium boat....but slightly underpowered in windy conditions.....soooooo I'm looking at a new Minn Kota after deciding against some of the other brands like MotorGuide. Given i want electric steer and not cable.....and it needs to be 12V and i'm looking at the 55lbs thrust, its between the Powerdrive and Terrova. How many bells and whistles is optional, but with all the stuff...i.e Universal Sonar, Autopilot, Co-pilot, Weedless Prop 2, there is roughly a $200 - $300 price difference...the Terrova being the more expensive motor. Yes i know you can pick them up 2nd hand...ebay etc...etc...but iv'e been looking and aint found exactly what i'm looking for ...yet. I was just wondering what people thought of the 2 models...can anyone tell me what they like about one over the other? because apart from the deploy lever(...yup...the powerdrive one is a real pain...my buddy has one...but apparently they have re-designed that this year) and the foot pedal...(which i'd hardly use as i'm getting the co-pilot which my buddy also has...like that a lot) i cant see much difference between the 2 models .

Ive been here (canada) 2 years....i have already lost count of the times i've been stopped. I have had some really pleasant, chatty and informative COs stop me....and some real jerks too. One thing i can say is that although its unpleasant when experiencing the attention of an officer in the 'real jerk' category, at least they are out protecting the resource. Make sure your not breaking the law....and the time spent in the company of an unpleasant CO will be short(ish)

Excellent! Nice Lakers Dale. Thats a fine looking scooter you got there, i gots to get one of those......i've got $62 canadian tire money....lol....a ways to go yet. Wabigoon was snow covered when i left for work on Sunday morning....by the time i got home we also had a little more water "on dee lake"....lol.

who cares if they is ugly...lol...i got one on a jig through the ice last winter a bit bigger than the one your holding....fought like a young mike tyson!

NO KIDDING!

Hi all. Well my on-call job has suddenly sprung to life. I had only been called in one time previously since September, then all of a sudden....WHAM!....combined with my full time job I have been working back to back night shifts for the last 10 days (don’t wanna sound too whiney, cuz I know that in the current economic climate, just having a job is a blessing).......but.......I still managed 2 short sessions between shifts Friday and Saturday evening with my buddy Lew. On Friday evening Lew called and said they were going to Olsen's Landing near downtown Dryden for a quick fish around 6pm. I reckoned I could still cram in a couple hours sleep if I went as I did not start till midnight...so I hopped on the snowmachine and whizzed across to meet Lew. LEW ALREADY HAD THE HOLES DRILLED, AND GORD, HIS SON CHAD AND HIS DAD WERE THERE TOO I HAD THE FIRST FISH....A NICE FAT 31" PIKE, PEELED LINE LIKE CRAZY, LOVE THAT SOUND OF A SCREAMING REEL! I GOT A WHOLE LOAD OF LITTLE ONES AFTER THAT, AROUND 6"-9" WHICH ALL WENT BACK, THEN I GOT ONE WORTH KEEPING CONSIDERING THE SIZE AROUND FORGOT MY ROD RESTS IN HASTE TO GET OUT, HANDGRIPS WERE AN EXCELLENT REPLACEMENT....LOL CHAD WAS KEPT BUSY WITH BITES BUT COULD NOT HOOK ANYTHING FINALLY CHAD'S PATIENCE WAS REWARDED, A DECENT PIKE LEW WAS BUSY CATCHING LITTLE SAUGER AND WALLEYE WHEN HE alertED US TO A VISITOR, A FOX I GOT A LITTLE PIKE JUST AS I WAS PACKING UP A great way to spend an hour and a half, and a much needed fix of fishing despite my sleep deprivation....lol. The next day I slept a bit in the morning after my shift, and waited for Lew to get his slow butt back from International Falls, he was pretty late getting back and our planned trip into Dore Lake still went ahead, it was just gonna be for a couple of hours though as we did not head out till 4:30pm. We were stopped on the way in by a CO...same guy who stopped me a couple of weeks back...and an OPP officer.....registration, insurance, fishing licenses...do you have any alcohol with you?....did you fish yesterday?......Do you have any fish at home? Did feel like they really wanted to nail us for something...anything...anyway...after 10 mins we fired up the snowmachine again and were set up by 5:30pm....I was a bit annoyed as the cable to my fishfinder's transducer had got cut in two somehow....and fishing 'blind' was a weird feeling...aint done it for a while. LEW GOT US GOING WITH THE FIRST WALLEYE, AFTER I HAD HAD A SMALL PIKE, HE WAS JOKING AROUND ABOUT HOW PEOPLE HOLD THE FISH OUT ARMS LENGTH FOR PHOTOS.....LOL IT WAS AROUND 7 DEGREES C, LEW IN HIS T-SHIRT....LOL. STILL IN HIS T-SHIRT AS THE SUN AND TEMPERATURE STARTED TO DIP ...CRAZY IF YOU ASK ME WE WERE GETTING CLOSE TO OUR LIMIT OF 8 FISH, ALL NICE KEEPER SIZE BETWEEN 15" AND 17", REALLY NICE DARK GOLDEN FISH IN THIS LAKE, WITH PROMINENT PERCH LIKE BARRING ACROSS THEIR BACKS I GOT A NICE 21" FISH, BUT DECIDED TO PUT IT BACK AS THERE WERE LOTS OF SMALLER ONES BITING LEW FINALLY DECIDED TO PUT HIS COAT ON....LOL AS WE CAUGHT OUR LAST FEW FISH WE WERE TREATED TO A GLORIOUS SUNSET......... AFTER 2 HOURS WE HAD OUR LIMIT AND WERE HEADED BACK Still at least 2.5' of ice out there, but last day for walleye will be 14th, then I’ll be after trout and will be hitting a lake with lots of SMB, see if I can ice my first bass. Till the next time....tight lines all.

Thats an awesome report, how many fish!!!??? great stuff. I too usually get hassled at the border, either crossing to USA and when in europe....annoys the hell out of me...oh well. That shot of the houses on the sand bank/high hill....wow...dont look that secure to me. Great report, appreciate the time you must have spent putting that together.

i say fair play to Lunkerville, knda reminds me of me fishing...lol....very hit and miss even when i'm on some of the best fishing spots going....lol....as for the charlie moore thing...it has a niche to fill i guess....its kinda like fishing for frat boys....lolnot meaning to offend any frat boys....lol....much.

nice walleye Ben, sorry....i mean REALLY NICE walleye. Cant wait to get up there in the boat in 6 weeks.....give that map you covered in Xs a go

its a pike. water clarity of wabigoon makes 'em light as ben said juveniles are stripy and i have caught plenty of Wabigoon pike......and this is one of them!

Happy birthday Bly

Thanks for the replies guys, I really dont think the 2nd fish is a muskie. There are lots of northerns in wabigoon with redish tinged fins, and the young ones seem to have much more pronounced stripes /barring...its true that there are a lot of northern/muskie in the lake......but i dont think this is even one of them.

Hi all, So far the arrival of our bundle of joy has limited my fishing trips, wouldn't change a thing though i still get out ....a lot....just more local lakes. So, i got out Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week.......lol.....just not all dayers anymore. I went to Bear Narrows on Eagle lake on Monday evening, Rice Bay on Eagle Lake Tuesday evening and for an hour in the evening out the front of our house on Lake Wabigoon. Walleye being the primary target species..... DAY 1 BEAR NARROWS AT EAGLE LAKE AFTER 3 ETERNAL NIGHT SHIFTS AT WORK....LOL....I WAS ALITTLE MORE THAN PLEASED TO GET AN EVENINGS FISHING IN I WAS SET UP BY 5PM, AND THE BITE STARTED AFTER HALF AN HOUR, HAD TO DRILL A LOT OF HOLES, BUT FOUND A NICE DROP OFF FROM 12 FOW TO 18 FOW, FISHED THE DEEP END OF THE DROP OFF, BRIGHT PINK AND ORANGE JIGS SEEMED TO WORK BEST TODAY LOTS OF THESE LITTLE GUYS AROUND TODAY AFTER LOTS OF BABY SAUGER ACTION GOT INTO ANOTHER KEEPER WENT QUIET FOR ABOUT HALF AN HOUR UNTIL 6:30 PM, THEN I GOT HIS GUY...WAS IN THE SLOT SO HAD TO GO BACK SEEMS I WAS IN BABY SAUGER CENTRAL! I WAS FISHING NEAR BOTTOM WHEN I SAW A GOOD SIZE FISH ARCH AT 8 FOW, I REELED UP QUICKLY HOPING IT WOULD BE MY THIRD KEEPER WALLEYE, TURNED OUT TO BE A PIKE. BY 7PM SEEMED ONLY SMALL GUYS WERE AROUND, I CAUGHT A LOT OF THESE THAT EVENING THE BITE WAS GETTING SLOWER, AND I WANTED TO GET MY LIMIT OF 4, SO WHEN A SLIGHTLY BIGER SAUGER SUCKED IN THE MINNOW....LOL...I KEPT IT. THE BABY SAUGERS CONTINUED TO FLOW JUST AS THE BITE HAD ALL BUT STOPPED, MY SET LINE TARTED TO GO, REELED UP A 15" SAUGER....THAT WOULD DO FOR MY 4TH AND LAST FISH....WALLEYE FOR LUNCH TOMORROW! DAY 2 RICE BAY AT EAGLE LAKE On Tuesday i had planned to go with my buddy Lew by snowmachine into Dore lake. The weather had turned pretty warm and it was uncertain whether there would be enough snow on some of the trails in, so whilst doing some errands in town i stopped by Lew's place and he'd been thinking the same thing. We decided we would hit Rice Bay for the evening walleye bite instead of an earlier start and longer journey into Dore Lake. It was the closing day at Rice bay as it is a designated fish sanctuary from the 31st March, and lew's dad and brother in law plus a few others were due to meet us out there. CHANGED PLANS LEAD TO AN EARLY LUNCH OF WALLEYE WITH A GOOD FEED INSIDE ME....LOL......A NAP WAS ALWAYS ON THE CARDS, DID NOT REALISE MY WIFE TOOK THIS SNEEKY PIC TILL I WAS UPLOADING THE PICS QUITE A FEW OF US OUT THERE ON TUESDAY, STILL LOTS OF ICE AND WE ALL DROVE OUT ABOUT 2 MILES AND WERE SET UP BY 5 PM I GOT 2 NICE 11" PERCH STRAIGHT OFF THE BAT WHICH I DONATED TO LEW'S DAD, BUT LEW GOT OUR GROUP OFF TO A START WITH A DECENT KEEPER WALLEYE THE WIND WAS REALLY GUSTING WITH WET SNOW, SO NOT MANY PICS.......I HAD 2 DECENT SIZE WALLEYE BY NOW AND LEW WAS REELING IN HIS 3RD AS I WAS REELING IN MY 3RD, MY SET LINE WENT, BUT I WAS BUSY SO LEW OBLIGED... I GOT MY LIMIT, AS DID EVERYONE ELSE IN OUR GRUOP, I LOST A GIANT WALLEYE...TYPICAL......BUT THE REST WERE ALL UNDER 18" WE WERE ALL HEADED BACK BY 8PM DAY 3 ON WABIGOON I FRONT OF THE HOUSE FOR AN HOUR Although i had planned to meet Lew at the West Arm of Wabigoon Lake, my chores had piled up a bit by my third day off, so after a lot of running around and cooing over baby ....i decided to just squeeze in about an hour before sunset in front of the house. Seems strange to me now, but i walked down as it seemed to much hassle to fire up the snowmobile....funny logic i know...but it made sense at the time....lol. Not many fish out there this year at all, and Lew did much better with his dad down the West Arm, but to me fishing is fishing to a certain degree, and i had fun anyway. WE'VE HAD ANOTHER 6" OF SNOW, WINTER CAME BACK A BIT, AND STILL PLENTY OF ICE EVERYWHERE AFTER 15 MINUTES OR SO A LARGE FISH ARCH APPEARED ON SONAR, CIRCLED MY BAIT TWICE, THEN NAILED IT, HOLY CRAP....THIS THING WAS PEELING LINE, AND SHAKING ITS HEAD LIKE A PIKE...YUP...A BIG FAT PIKE!!! FEW MORE INCHESFOR TEAM #3. ABOUT 20 MINUTES LATER A SMALLER ONE HIT MY SET LINE PLENTY OF SMALL WALLEYE AROUND, JUST NO TAKERS RIGHT AT THE END OF AN HOUR I HOOKED THIS SMALL ONE, IT WAS GETTING DARK AND CALLED IT A DAY A good 3 days, plenty of fish for lunch/suppers....love it! Tight lines all

I have three cats and would have to agree with thae above statement .....LOL.....but their stupidity is what makes them so fun! MY CAT BERT IS NOT AMUSED!

nice looking walleye...wow...three minnows......hungry walleye up there. I'm sitting here torn at the moment, got the green light from the missus for fishing the next couple of days.....do i go for walleye or trout.....guess i better get to thunder for both hopefully. Gotta love all the ice still about...snowmachine might be retiring soon though.

What can i say....AWESOME..... bit scary about big brother watching your posts....lol Dude...that video is awsome...what a cute kid! I'm enjoying our newborn baby...but i'm really looking forward to going fishing with him soon. Priceless...thanks for sharing.

Damn......i think i said it before....i'm jealous...lol Great stuff wallacio.

schtooopendiferous report Tom, good to see ya back in action. ive been having similar experiences to yourself with regards to fish not commiting to bite...lots on screen, but just lickin minnows...until like you say...someone flicks a switch...time is different on different lakes. I've not had any decent walleye really this season...but we have a good 2 - 3 feet of ice still and 2 weeks to go before end of season...i'm ever hopefull...lol. Thanks for sharing.

Nice pike, i dont know whether or not i'm happy to see open water reports or not....lol....still quite a bit of ice up here......then the horrible 1 -2 week wait for rthe transition...

Great report dara, i was just about to say those are big splake! made me smile when you mentioned the wet elbows...lol...even though you dont wanna do it...its instinct...instant uncontrolable reaction....lol......not too bad when its not too cold...but i did it in minus 25C this year...dumb...dumb...dumb....and the fish still got away.....lol.

Great post, good luck on catching your first. Dont really have much opportunity for steel up here, there is Thunder bay, but its a bit of a hike for me at 4hrs.

Great stuff Cliff! Those are some nice looking fish....and happy Birthday to your daughter...i still remember your post last summer when she got a prize for best Perch in the kids fishing derby...watch out Mr. Izumi...Sydney is coming to get ya!

Hi all, Grabbed 1/2 an hour in front of the house yesterday evening.............. Not much has been out there this year, but fishing is fishing for me...love it....and being a bit busier now (and for the rest of my life...lol) its convenient, if not very productive when the ice is here. I'm kinda hoping that this year with the early melt we had, the lack of snow on the ice etc....that it will be as good as the 1st year we were here 2 years ago, the fish had definitely come in to spawn in our bay....and the fishing was HOT for walleye from the end of March till closing day mid April....anyway.................. BYE DADDY.....TIGHT LINES! GOT SET UP 100 YARDS FROM OUR SHORE........3 SMALL FISH IN 15 MINUTES THEN IT WENT QUIET WHILE THE SUN STARTED TO GO DOWN.......going.....going GOING.......... CHARGE MY JIG ONE LAST TIME BEFORE ITS GONE............. GOOOOING................................. GONE A COUPLE MINUTES AFTER SUNSET A FEW FISH STARTED SHOWING ON THE GRAPH...SMALL ONES A FUN HALF HOUR OR SO....AND AN EVEN BETTER WELCOMING COMMITTEE ON MY RETURN FROM THE ICE

I work tonight and Sunday night, but if we leave here early Sunday Morning and get back by 2pm i'''d be good for Manitou