manitoubass2

Lotsa ice on my end of Rainy River. About 14" in the non current areas, 8-10 inches in lighter current areas, back eddies are full of smash ice. Still need to be careful on where your going. Water levels are the lowest I've ever seen in the winter months, and I thought that would mean quicker/thicker ice, but not really the case. Still lotsa open water.

Tons of smaller lakes in Sunset Country ready to go, just look at Limeys reports

My gawd those are some dandy fish!

That replica is pretty sweet! Is that a Jake in the mouth? I like the addition of the lure

Live Target Golden Shiner lipless crank for walleye/pike.

I use lots of other presentations/baits/lures, but that one is my favorite.

Close second is plastics(various worms) with the Northland shakeyhead jig

as mentioned before, be really careful on the ice when current is involved. It does all sorts of funny things to the ice. Nothing will scare the ****

outta you faster then a good old fashioned ice drop!!!!

If I was to try floatfishing, I'd have zero issues following Mikes or Bills advice. Even if it was based on their reports alone, those guys know whats up!

a few summer ago while fishing Rainy with my kids we must have come between a large momma black bear, I posted the story on here. Getting charged at is VERY intimidating I must say!

I've had numerous run ins with bears usually portaging through the bush, but no real issues.

Last winter me and the kids had an awesome run in with wolves that gave me a new respect for them, and how intelligent of hunters they are. We were ice fishing just about a km from home out on the river. We had all the gear out on the ice, and the van parked on shore up on a hill about 120 yards away. The sun was just setting, and I noticed a lone wolf out off the sandbar maybe 150 yards away. The wolf sat there occasionally howling. It had my attention. Then a second wolf appeared at the same spot. I thought, ok, I better get the kids up in the van and I'll go pack up the gear. So I got the kids in the van and gave them a few brief instructions for if I didnt come back. So I walked back down and packed up the gear. Those two wolves were now getting closer, but didnt seem aggressive. I calmly got the gear back up to the van. When I put the keys in and fired it up, OH MY! 3 more wolves, right in front of the van in some thin bush! All I could think was wow! They totally had us, if they wanted us. It seemed to me, that they had set us up (maybe it just seemed that way????) Nonetheless, it was pretty cool of them to do that, but not attack lol.

I don't understand french very well TJ, but what I read was alot of love.

Sorry for the hard times and suffering, my sincerest condolences to you and your family.

Best of luck moving forward to all involved, and may the next year be much better to yours

sexy

I hate you...may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your groin!

lol, sorry bro. I figured it woulda hit you too.

I just spent 8 hours shoveling if that makes ya feel any better.

At least were making good ice right now. I bet Sawbill is ready to go

Hey...i'll send you 3" of ice and you send me 3" of snow....fair trade?

Did you luck out and get any of the snow we got yesterday? I woke up to about 7" this morning.

Wow! Great pics man thanks for sharing!!! Thats pretty darned epic.

That cuda pic is def. something to brag about around the esox boys!

The pic of the teeth sent shivers down my spine and gave me a lil adrenaline shot

The "local kids"... aren't they all yours? LOL

 

Great stuff... living a wonderful life up there!

We have a big family, but not THAT BIG!!! lol, your post had me chuckling!

That is a truckload of great walleye, and, some wicked looking spots to wet a line.

 

Great year for ya. Good luck in 2013.

Yes, great spots indeed! Thank you! Right back atcha

Great report. Wish I had a place where fish like that could be found from the shore. Those kids are grinning ear to ear - says it all

Yeah, since all our kids love to fish, shore fishing gets the nod most the time so nobody gets left out. We're super lucky to have such good spots in our back yard. Keep the kids happy, and everyone else will be happy too! lol

Awesome year good on ya for getting a bunch of kids out fishing. I sure do miss fishing Sudbury for shore walleye like that. Thanks for the recap.

Your welcome!!! It's fun fishing with the kids (no egos to deal with!) hehehe

Looks like a fun year you had for sure!

 

Thanks for sharing,

 

MTBF

Some seasons are better then others, and it changes every year. But at the end of each year it always averages out and ends as a great year.

Some real nice walleye slabs there!

 

How were the fall walleye on the Rainy this year???

It was tough RC, but mainly because I worked alot more then previous years. We still managed some really good fish however. The water was really low all year, and it made it really tough to track down active fish constantly (walleye). Bass numbers were insane right from ice out to late fall, but very few fish this year around the 5lb mark (which are giants around these parts). Seen alot more musky this year too, which is pretty exciting!

Sweet dood! This gets me amped!!!

Another PB!

and another

and another...

Bring on the ice!!!!!! Hope you all enjoyed!

is was a great year for fishing, especially with my kids. It's really really awesome to watch them grow as anglers . We had some amazing trips, a great camping trip which will now be a yearly thing, PB's were broke all over the place by the kiddos, and most importantly we enjoyed each other and nature .

Here are some pics, for you all to enjoy (I know I sure enjoyed them)

Taking out the local kids for a shore bass!

my boys PB pike!

My daughters first camping trip!!!

Even i am a little worried fishing might get put on the back burner for a bit....lol.....should take me a week to get the new sled out of my system then business as usual!

 

 

 

 

SODS LAW i think they call it Rick(melting/lack of snow). Hey....me and my bud intend hitting lower Manitou a couple of times this year.....thats kinda half way down to you....we have to get out together soon....this is ridiculous!

Yep, always happens right when you buy the machine, lol. I'm sure you'll be putting the kms on in no time though!

Yep, I'm game to hit lower Manitou. Had a blast there this summer, pretty wicked lake. And yes its rediculous, but we will get out again soon I'm sure!!!

I'm in zone 5 and an avid bass angler. Increasing limits IMO will do nothing at all to control increasing populations for the simple fact that the majority of our waters aren't pressured, and bass are rarely kept.

its already opened year round and that should offer a hint towards whether or not it would help.

Either way, I could care less.

I have not witnessed any decline in walleye populations in zone 5, at all. And pike seem to be doing great.

That keeps me happy

(ooopps, skipped over Bens post. Totally agree with him)

So sorry its melting

Sweet ride dood!!!!

I've been taking 10,000mg (1800EPA/1200DHA) of fish oil daily for some time now.

 

I feel fantastic. What a difference.

Thats roughly what I take too, 10-12 grams daily. I take more if enjoying a few adult beverages however.

All the health benefits are great, but my favorite is nutrient partitioning/negative inflammation reduction.

You'd be silly not to supplement with fish oil... cheap, effective, and covers ALOT of needs

And research shows that only select people have a correlation between their blood and dietary cholesterol levels, but most people do not.

If you have no liver issues, eat all the cholesterol you want, it won't harm you in the grand scheme of things.

The lean protein and omega 3 (EPA/DHA) content is really what makes fish desirable for healthy food consumption.

One factor to keep in mind is the content, or possible content of methyl mercury. In which case, the smaller the fish, usually the less methyl mercury content, but try to be conscience on the matter and do a little research. Shrimp is horrible for contaminants for example.

As far as red meat goes, I like moose and deer, personally. I just take my fish oil after eating it, lol (as I do with every meal)

I'm casting as I drift...

I though I'd try the stinger and see if it hung me up and it didn't... So why not use it... A few of the fish only had that hook in em.... And even with it I missed a few...

With the fish you catch it obviously isnt hurting

I like to cast and drag these baits

I've been using that for the past two years, and it can be deadly at times. I love the large ones spring/late fall, but the smaller ones in that pattern and the minnow pattern work well in the summer too.

I usually don't use stinger hooks on the larger ones though. The fish your after at those times of year will take that bait full in if the bite is on.

These are great pike and smallie baits too.

Are you trolling them, jigging them or just dragging them???

Hate to break it to you, but Red Fisher's day job was tackle salesperson. He worked for a company that distributed fishing tackle, including Eppinger (the ol' five of diamonds!) and Mitchell reels. He also became associated with Mercury outboards - his job was to sell them to fishing camps. Red's TV show was created specifically to provide a way of showing the product in use to a wide audience. Red was soft-sell, not like today's guys. He simply showed the product being used and left it that, he didn't wear logo clothing or push things too much. But make no mistake, his show was all about selling product. Red told me that personally.

 

So what kind of beer was he drinking? thats the most important thing after all

 

 

Uh, yeah, sure, whatever. But follow the money and you'll never be wrong.

lol, love the sarcasm.

We took are kids out for a few hours and had alot of fun.

Afterwards we let them choose a few things they actually like, and put them in a seperate bag. Then we let them take a snack here and there to school with them in there lunch.

The rest of it gets saved to hand out next year and/or donated along with other food items to our local charity.

I'm sure not alot of you will agree with me, but no child on earth needs that much "treats".

That being said, we do enjoy the acts of Halloween. We all had some good times and alot of laughs! I hope everyone else did to!!!!

*Chris Brock,

most of those items will last a very long time. I've kept some for years. I keep certain items for camping trips in case of emergencies.

Some wicked fish from both of you!

I like the Circa sweater too, I still got one from like 2003