manitoubass2

Of course everyone has their preferences Dana, so you'll have to figure some of this out on your own through trials/experience.

I have a nice ice shack, seats 5 comfortably. And I still prefer to be outside of the shack, drilling holes by hand. I only use my shack about 10 times per season, and I go out almost everyday when the ice is in. The shack gets my preference though for night fishing, or when I have company.

If you buy a hand auger, always keep spare blades. And a towel to remove the ice/water from the blades after drilling a hole. And be careful around the blades!!!!! I've seen some gnarly cuts by people getting too cozy and not paying attention to what their doing.

Ice fishing is alot of fun. I'm sure if you get out there and do good, you'll be addicted. There is something about a successful ice fishing trip, baring the elements, thats just feels really awesome!

This doesn't really surprise me too much after doing some training last summer with a mining company/ontario government.

I was confused at how innaccurate our GPS co-ordinates could be/were. For 5 days I averaged about 6-8 metres off my locations(not very accurate)

I'm more worried about their poor penalty killing.

Good point, their dead last in this category

we were jigging with Bondy Baits. Pearl and Black/Orage Flake were the best producing colours over the 2 days

Ahhh, I see. Thank you. I'm clueless when it comes to musky, so please forgive my ignorance

When you say "jigging for musky", what type of jigs are you talking about? Bass style jigs or round head jigs???

Great fish, 2 50's in a day is incredible!

I'm surprised you got Gord off LOTW, hes was probably withdrawing, lol

The thing I'm worried about is how streaky a few of the top Leafs forwards can be. Can they keep winning games if/when Kessel/Lupul cool off?

Right now though they are playing some exciting hockey, and thats nice to see. Dion looks real good too, which is a major plus

Thats awesome! Thanks

and I'll add Russia for pikeperch

That would be amazing!

Here is a rather crude video for anyone interested...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP-Y6oQ18AU

Albino sucker?? what the heck is this thing?

lol, possibly? My son caught it last summer and my response was "what the hell?". A few times a year I take the kids to sucker fish in the rapids, its kinda fun, they put up a great fight and there easy for the kids to catch. But I never seen a sucker colored like this.

Earlier this year, while shore fishing, I had a fish follow me on the shoreline. I assumed it was a sucker? But it was black, and seemed to have pink lips/eyes like lack of pigment in those areas. It was very odd looking. Now in retrospect I wish I had gotten a pic to try and figure out what it was

well i got the good ole skunk last night so there is my report! but im not gonna let it get to me ill probably be back out there tonight or tomorrow trying again! Thanks again for everyones input and im sure that sooner or later the help i recieved here will help me get some fat largies!

That sucks. Maybe try the opposite of what we all recommended? lol, the beauty of fishing.

Never hurts to deadstick a minnow/jig to locate fish

Under 25" = 3 fillets ... one from the back and two from the sides...stop short at the dorsal/anal fin to avoid the Y bones.

Over 25" = 5 fillets ... one from the back and two from the sides and

two from the tail behind the dorsal and anal

fins....

 

totally boneless.... wrap those up in foil and go at 'er.

 

I use Butter Pam on the foil Garlic Butter between the fillets and seasoned with Epicure Lemon Dilly spice with fresh Chives. Medium Heat for 6min/side.

 

They're also very good on a soaked Cedar plank.

 

Randy

Everyone who eats pike should learn to fillet them this way . My pops showed me a few years ago and it works very well.

ugggh, lamprey, snagged on a flat rap. I know I'm a pansy for wearing a glove, but these creatures really creap me out.

Caught a few ice fishing last year that were around 20", so gross

Never even made an attempt to find out what kind of sucker this is? Very pale in color for the Rainy River. Never caught one again

Not a lesser known fish, but a very odd pike

the lawyer/lingcod, whatever the heck there called???

The best one yet.This summer, was coming back to the public dock and noticed a jet boat parked on the ramp side of the dock.So, i stop about 200ft out, and waited for him to get his trailer and get his boat out.15 minutes later, nothing Now i have another boat in the queue ,So i idle over to the dock, and this little guy is sleeping!!!! and his girlfriend is laying on the dock taking sun I was so shocked, i didnt know what to say.I yelled to wake up the little guy, and said Hey !!! this isnt a resort here!! can you please move the boat to the other side of the dock, so i can leave?...........He looked at me, shrugged and saiid 'On no hablo anglais'

I gave him a quick english lesson, and he finally moved his boat, bumping mine in the process.If the wife wasnt with me, i probably would have gone ballistic at this point.

Thats so ridiculous I had to laugh a bit, sorry!

The only time I have any patience for waiting at the landing is when someone is having trouble lining up there trailor, I just feel bad for them. But even then, it should never take any more than 3-4 minutes to launch or load and move outta the way

I guess you guys aren't aware that the boat launch is the equivalent of the office water cooler?

I run into these same issues once in awhile too. Seems to happen alot when the American tourists are around. Go ahead and talk fishing, but pull the truck/boat up and get it the hell outta the way first!

Fortunately on my home waters we have a private launch, and that takes care of that problem, lol

OH MY! Beauty walleyes.

Sounds like you had a great time on the water

Also, look for spots that have a drop off. Access to deep water is important this time of year. They may move shallow periodically, then move back to deeper waters. If there moving shallow, it's pretty safe to say they'll be more aggressive at that time. If you find them deeper, watch and see if there suspended or not, and fish accordingly to depth. If the fish are suspended, senkos and drop shotting would be my go to.

If I confused you, don't feel bad, lol. I confuse myself at times too!

The "feedbag" turns on and off throughout the day, they won't feed heavy all day. You'll have to experiment (like you already seem to be doing) .

As for bait selection, depth etc, all the normal variables come into play. Weather, water clarity, water temps just to name a few.

I'm not sure where your fishing? But on my homewaters the bass are schooling up and heading deep (much earlier this year than previous years). Once they school and move to deeper hardbottom, slower and more subtle techniques work best for me. Even if they'll take cranks, I have to work them very slowly, with pauses on the retrieve.

If your looking at trailers, I do well working Berkley Chigger craws, VERY slowly along bottom. Get right in the rocks, and slowly crawl that bait back to the boat.

And if you notice the fish getting more active/aggressive, then alter your approach accordingly. This is the time to throw cranks and more aggressive baits.

Again, it's all about experimenting. I'm sure you'll find something that works each time your out.

It's the best time of the year for quality bass, best of luck to you and look forward to seeing some pics!

Right on MuskyMike!

Looks like a great time

Mine seem less then satisfactory after seeing Colin's haha

 

Nothing wrong with those MM! I really like the middle one, thats pretty cool

Right on Dana and GBW! Thansk for the input.

I was hoping there was some good reviews on it, cause I am always in need of spares, and I got a $50 doller cert. I need to use up at Anglers Pro Shop. Gonna pare it up with an extra Okuma Avenger I have laying around begging to get some use.

Thanks again

Yeah, I use the Voltaeus, and I love it. But I haven't used many other rods. All I can tell you is that it's a far, far better rod than the Ugly Stiks I've used.

Thats good to hear. It felt good in the hand, and it's nice looking. Do you have any issues with the guides? Or am I just being too critical, lol.

They look like they are in the 50-60 dollar range and look like they are a newer version of the voltare or whatever the one dave used to chatch a shark with. The guides look better though.

Are you referring to the Volteus? I was taking a look at them the other day, and it looks like a decent back up rod. The guides looked horrendously low budget and flimsy though.

Anyone on here use that rod? Thoughts?

Here is a few pics of mine. Turned out ok but I wish I would have got a bigger pumpkin, lol. I carved it with my fillet knife, worked really good.

That sucks that your got smashed up, thats a real bummer.

Dan Bouck (I cant remember which thread?) but he had a really nice carving too!