manitoubass2

only other fish I wanna target that I dont normally target, is a good laker

I doubt I'll ever beat that, but I will try BillM had one bigger, lol. My 47" was the best fishing story ever though, totally retarded the circumstances in which I caught it. I was shore fishing with one other guy that I don't really know. But he was about 20 feet from me, so throughout the day we started chatting. We were fishing a drop off with a current break downside of the rapids. After an hour of so, I said " I'm gonna put on a Berkley Ripple Shad, and I actually rigged it on a 3/8oz round jig head. Then I said " I'm gonna cast it shallow on that sand, the big fish is gonna be there sunning". I cast out towards the shallow shore, and the bait never even had a chance to sink, instant hook set. I think I actually casted the bait right into the fishes mouth, or so it seemed. Took both of us to land it on shore, it was very cool.

One fish I really wanna catch is a musky, a big musky. But I wanna catch it in Rainy River, so my odds suck big time. I've landed one per year, all around 25-27". Then a few days ago I landed two back to back at 27". Then the next day, I had one turn on me a few times, that was 40+. Made me go nuts, I tried for that one fish all day, to no avail. The good news is the river always changes, and it's looking like we might have a swing of muskies this year, for whatever reason. I really want to take advantage of that. The other goal is a 50" Pike. Biggest to date was a 47" last year. This goal might take years and years, but I'm hopeful, lol

Jeebus, thats an awesome crappie!!! Clarence, you have the best avatar ever....

Lew doesn't post pics very often, might be a long wait, lol. Sweet combo Lew, if it feels perfect, it is perfect!!! That price tag is well worth it over the long term

Wow Drifter, just wow!!!!!

Sorry guys, no pics. I've seen four in my life, all were in the last ten years. One was dead on the weigh scale up in Ear Falls at the Weyerhaueser sawmill. It was pretty small, maybe 50lbs. The next came while traveling through Eagle Lake backroads where there was literally thousands of deer. This one was big and healthy. If I had a camera or a cell phone at the time, I woulda got pics. It sat about 20 yards in front of me on the gravel road. He/she looked me over for 2-3 minutes, then bolted into an open field. I'm not sure on the weight, but this one looked super healthy and over 100lbs for sure. The next one came on a trip down Cedar Narrows road off the 502, while me and my Dad were heading to Mainville lake to fish walleye. It was pretty early, just after sun up. We were seeing rabbits like crazy, like 30 or 40 in mere minutes. Then a cougar/mountain lion/whatever the heck there called bolted out onto the road from the treeline, hot in pursuit of a rabbit. This one was small but healthy looking, maybe 60-70lbs. We seen it for all of maybe 2 seconds. The last one was two summers ago. Me, the girlfriend and our kids were heading to our shore fishing/camp spot. We were on the road a few minutes away from our spot, when I heard a faint sound in the bush. I told my kids/girlfriend to hold up, because we have run into bears and wolves in the past. We held up, the sound stopped. We waited a few seconds, then walked forwards just a few steps. Then the sound came again but it was louder, so I told them to stop again. I thought bear, so I told my girlfriend we were just gonna turn around and leave. Then, a big cat walked right out, maybe 30 feet away, possibly even less. It looked over its shoulder but kept walking into the other side of the bush. We cancelled all plans and headed home for the night. But in all my experiences with them, there just impossible to get pics of, they are so fast, and they appear outta nowhere. I'm sure Limeyangler has either seen some or heard of others seeing them around here, as a few I seen were pretty darn close to his area. Oh, and they invoke fear, last thing you think when you see one is "wheres my camera?", lol. And thanks to brandon and answering my questions on bears. Turn out me, and possibly the MNR are wrong. Thanks brandon for taking the time to explain why I was wrong, I like to learn, and I'll be the first to admit I was totally wrong about my local bears, lol. Thanks dood, I always like learning and you taught me some great stuff!!!!!

Brown bear, my bad. These are not black bears. They have very different body type and structure. Of course though, I'm just going off the MNR and have no idea how accurate they are with bear indentification. And you work with bears, lol, so maybe I should just take your word for it

I had caught one on Rainy River last year that I though was a sea lamprey, it was about 12". I called the MNR and they asked me to preserve it so they could identify it. Turn out it wasn't a sea lamprey and was indeed native. The size is an indication maybe, but not a sure fire way to identify the species.

They are grizzly bears, not black bears. Yes, lots of grizzlies, and lots of cinnamon grizzlies. Although, I grew up seeing grizzlies all the time, but I just started seeing cinnamon grizzlies about 6-7 years ago. They started showing up around Ear Falls further up north, and in the past two years I've started seeing them around Emo area. Some of them are super nice looking, others you can't really tell the difference between the two

Sweet pics Raf and BillM, your picture taking skills far exceed mine. That eagle/brookie shot is amazing

Horrible music choice and please, please pull your shorts up!!!!! Nice report and great fish! The red tinge on that one is crazy, good shootin'

Nope, don't mind at all BillM. Feel free to post any wildlife shots, I love to see what we run into while trecking through the bush or out in the boat

hahahaha, I appreciate the time Twocoda!

lol, not a bear, but I forgot about this pic from last year

That wasn't even the biggest one. I'm looking through alot of my old unorganized pics trying to find some others. I had one that had to be close to 600lbs, man it was hyyyuge. I also have pics of a 700lb (ish) black bear that was hands down the largest living black bear I've ever encountered. I did see one dead on the 502 highway that was close to a 1000lbs, hit by and old lady in a small diesel car. I think it was in a local paper even? The bear wa almost bigger then the car, I think it was one of those old diesel rabbits???? I'm in NW Ontario, I've lived with bears, deer, moose, mountain lions etc... It's all pretty cool to see. Nothing really bothers me accept for wolfs, big wolfs in packs scare the hell outta me for some reason

Of course you do, it's a great rush! Of course I only say that because up to this point, I'm still alive, lol.

wow, never seen a bear like that!!!! Thanks for posting!!!!

lol, there is only about thirty of them in Ontario. Upper and lowere Manitou, Manitou Rapids, Manitou lake etc etc... I guess thats why alot of people assume I'm from Manitoulin, sounds similar

Awesome fish!!!! I bet you your neighbor wasn't too impressed with his catch, lol. I could totally see the "back in the day" stories starting right after he landed it . And thats totally cool to see an elder with a fish like that, gotta respect that!

Glad you enjoyed them! If everyone crosses their fingers, the weather will co-operate the next few days and the sturgeon will still be spawning, so I can capture on film what I witness about 5 days ago. It's an unreal site to see thousands of them in shallow water, doing there thing! From 14" to what looks like some that would surely measure 90". I'll keep trying for the members here, cause I know not everyone gets to witness such an incredible sight...

Looks like you got that "lucky" thing going that we talked about the other day, lol. Nice clean fish dood, looks like alot of fun!!!!

Thanks dood! And my pleasure!!!!

Come on man! It's awesome when you establish the pattern and have everything fire on all cylinders, then the next cast the current totally changes everything, lol. I hear ya bro. Awesome surprise RC!!!!!! Thanks for the Repor