gravyriggin'

Hey Turtle, There are Lakers and Walleye in Muskoka. The Lakers are usually in the deeper water, look for shoals, and the occassional flat spot around 60FoW. The Walleye fishery is a little better further up the lake, so for your location, look for a dropoff into deeper water, and dangle some minnows in front of them. Williams spoons are also generally good to be jigged about 1-3 feet above bottom. Tight Lines, GR

Glad to hear that Rosseau si starting to ice-up. Things up here are slowly cooling down, but no deep freeze to really make a lot of ice. Any word on Lake Muskoka? There's a couple of huts out on Couchiching in a number of areas, especially off Tudhope Park. Any info on the big lakse is appreciated. Tight Lines GR

Glad to see that someone else has the hardwater fever and is gearing up. GR

The excitement builds for a hopeful early start to the 2011 trout hardwater season. Wondering if anyone has any recommendations of places to access Lake of Bays for trout.I snowshoe out with a portable clam hut, so I'm hoping to avoid a marathon hike. Never wet a line in that lake yet, and have heard that there are some nice fork tails to catch. Any information would be helpful. Pray for cold weather!! GR

Lots of places in both those areas to stay and to fish. It depends on what species you're after, and that will dictate which lake you'll want to hit. Orillia borders both Lake Couchiching (Perch, pike, whities, some walleye) and Simcoe (Whities, Lakers, Perch, etc.) Once you head up into Huntsville, you're more into Laker and Walleye territory. My bet is on Huntsville for a nicer area to stay, access to lakes is a little more limited. With Simcoe, you can pretty much drive to the end of any of the lines between Barrie and Orillia to find access to a medium sized village of ice huts. Hope that helps, GR

I second having a look at Kevin Callan's guide books. I've always found the information to be a pretty realistic mix of route description and history of the area. It may take a bit of reading, but it is likely there will be some information about Specks in there. I would also recommend picking up a copy of The "Canoe Routes of Algonquin Park" map. I go through at least one a year pouring over all the routes I would like to take, and it certainly gives me lots of inspiration on those late winter evenings when you're waiting for the thaw! (not the bugs). Good luck finding a location! GR

Nice link Doug. Although I'm enjoying the hardwater action right now, I too am looking forward to the ritual trip into Algonquin for spring lakers. GR

Hey Boys, Not sure about the ice on Rosseau, or whether people have been nailing Lakers out by the Sands, but the ice at the north end of Muskoka near the Indian River is between 5-6 inches of solid black ice as of Saturday, January 30th. Couple of Lakers poked by to lay down on some ice for us. Biggest was around 4 lbs. Let me know about Rosseau and the Sands. GR

Thanks for the reply Johnny, I usually buy my minnows right by my place hoice on HWY 11 by the Muskoka Tourism centre, and have certainly been to BOTL a few times. I was thinking if the ice wasn't good I would head up Rosseau way and share the wealth at a local bait shop up there. GR

I am hoping to get onto the northern section of Lake Muskoka this weekend for some lake trout hardwater action. Any information on current ice thicknesses would be appreciated. Thanks, GR