northernpike56

piers first, you should start going down and fishing them at night in a few weeks for staging salmon, then about mid sept-early october you should fish the creeks for them (provided that the creek is still open of course). Steelhead and brown trout usually follow a bit after salmon and can be caught all winter long.

Agreed.

I have 2.5 and 3 cm gulp minnows.. The only thing that has happened with them is that they dry up onto the hook if left out too long. I have caught crappie, bass, pike, and walleye with them either on a jig or tipping a lure (mepps spinners). I took several 12" crappie this spring with a 1/8 oz jighead and a 2.5 cm gulp minnow, as well as a 24" pike.

I was wondering if anybody would be willing to share a spot where I could catch something other than sunfish and gobbys. From what I've heard, the fishing tends to lack in the area, but I'm sure there must be a few spots around to drop a line. I have also heard that there are some resident trout there, but have no idea where they are. Thanks, Matt. P.S. If you'd feel more comfortable, shoot me a PM.

6'0 ML spinning rod and reel, 6 lb mono for your rod setup. For lures, the above advice is good. Mepps work very well for me in algonquin. I usaully bring an assortment of mepps blk fury #0,1,2, panther martins in the same sizes, small 1-3" floating rapala plugs, and a few spoons such as little cleo's and kastmasters. Also bring some hooks and sinkers, as well as worms. If you are mostly fishing in a lake, then go with the above advice. Use the wolf river rig (3-way rig). It is esentially the mainline tied to snap swivel, 18-24" dropper with 2-4 oz. weight, 5-6 ft fluoro leader with your lure tied on the back. Let it sink a bit then start trolling, the trout will most likely be holding along the thermocline.

my friend caught a 13 lbs one.. I believe he killed it.

when I was in grade 7 or 8 I saw a guy catch a 6 pound walleye from lasalle. me and my friend actually netted it for him, then netted a huge bass a guy caught with his daughter a few minutes later. I would think that walleye was a stocked fish, but we never looked for any tags or anything. So there could be a few walleye that will survive to grow that big as well.

I caught a walleye at my cottage on the dock, put it on my stringer, fished the rest of the morning with no luck, then threw it back because I didn't feel like cleaning and cooking just one. I caught the same one less than a week later. how do I know? it had a 'soar' gill flap. Fish was handled nicely on the stringer, and obviously would have lived if he didn't get filleted the second time I caught him

snapping turtles have stolen my fish 3 times.. from what ive noticed, they usaully go for the slim bodied fish first (had one take 1 small walleye off and only munched on 2 smallies I had on as well.., had one take a pike but leave the crappie, and the other one took a rainbow trout.) It really ticks me off, but now I usaully check my stringer every 15-30 minutes depending on where I'm fishing.

I've heard 8ft deep from multiple people, but havnt brought a sonar on it myself.

So, I went to sail, bought a saros 2500FD (was on sale 25% off). I grabbed a 6'0 ML premier and put it on for a test and they felt great. I tried the sahara 1000 and 2500 as well, but they were either too small or heavy. The Saros seemed to be perfect, it balanced very nicely with the rod. I spooled it up with 6 lb mono, and am going to try it out for some panfish/bass in a few minutes!!! I think I am going to get a 7'0 MH avid soon, I looked at it as well and was pleased with it. I will let you guys know when I finally purchase, I still am thinking a lot about it. Thanks again for your help!! Matt.

OK thanks guys.. so heres the new idea then: 5'6 UL st. croix triumph paired with a shimano sedona/sahara 500/750FD & 4 lb mono (resident brookies) 6'0 ML st. croix premier paired with a shimano sahara 1000FD & 6 lb mono (panfish, stream trout, bass, walleye) 7'0 MH st. croix avid paired with my quantum resource 30 & 16-20 lb braid (bass and pike) the UL setup will have to wait a bit, I don't have the money to purchase all this stuff at once, but I will probably go back out today and take a good look at the sahara 1000FD and a 7'0 MH avid. one more thing, what type of line would you spool up my potential MH combo with? would a spool of 300 yd fireline original be a good choice?

I have had issues with them wrapping themselves around the line into a ball. The solution was to break their claws a little bit. Not like your ripping them off- just snap them a bit. That way they also can't defend themselves from the smallies, so the fish will grab on better and quicker. I have always just hooked them through the tail and let them sit on the bottom with a split shot, but I'm sure pulling them back slowly would work fine too. Good luck tell us how it goes!! Matt.

I was actually looking at a 6'6 MH today. Would 14 lb braid be fine? I have some fear of heavier lines, I don't know why.

Hey guys I have gotten to the point where some of my old spinning setups aren't satisfying me anymore (especially after using a couple of my friends spinning setups), and am looking to purchase a few new medium quality rods and reels to match up with some existing things I have that are of decent quality and condition. For 'existing inventory', I have a 6'0 ML st. croix premier and a fairly large quantum resource 30 spinning reel. The rest of my stuff is either lower quality or pretty beat up. I am thinking about setting up these 3 combos: 5'6 UL st. croix triumph paired with a shimano sedona 1000FD & 4 lb mono (small stream brookie rod) 6'0 ML st. croix premier paired with a shimano sahara 2500FD & 6 lb mono (bass/trout/panfish rod) 6'6 M st. croix avid paired with my quantum resource 30 & 10 lb braid (bass and small pike rod) Will be getting a heavy baitcaster for pike/musky later but thats an entirely different animal.. So, my questions are: what do you think about these setups? are they good for their intended uses? in your opinion, do you think all the rods and reels match up with each other weight wise (don't want the setup to feel to butt heavy). My quantum resource 30 reel is pretty heavy and has a large capacity and I hate the feeling of a really off-balanced rod. I'd be more then happy to hear any other suggestions of what to look at, but please keep in mind I'm only 16 so can't really go out and purchase a top-of-the-line G.Loomis or such. Thanks a lot, Matt.

AGREED

I caught mine while looking for pike.. shallow, weedy waters in bays.

I think i am the dogfish master for sparrow lake.. they are all I seem to catch. I caught 1 8 lbs dogfish with a sucker under a float (pike rig), another large one grabbed onto a perch I was bringing in, one hit a jig and pig setup, and I had a bunch of break offs from huge fish that I am assuming were dogfish last year. I have pics but cant seem to post them.

Thanks for the responses now I have a bit of info on how I might catch a muskie. I got a huge spinnerbait like 6" long, and now I have some ideas of where to look. I am leaving tomorrow for a week then visiting some friends on Lake Muskoka. I will have internet access so if I get one I will let you know.

anybody..?

I am going to sparrow lake in a few days (leave on saturday) and I am looking for some advice on fishing for a few species. I know there are LMB, SMB, pike, muskie, walleye, crappie, perch, sunfish, dogfish, and channel cats in the lake. I have caught at least one of every species in there except for muskie. It is my goal to catch one of each species but I have never caught the muskie (never caught one before actually). I am wondering if anybody could point me in the right direction on the lake to find muskie and walleye, as well as what types of lures to use to catch them. Those are the two I had trouble with last year, I caught a walleye only by luck and no muskie. I only need to catch one of each to complete my "goal", so any spot that could even just have a few of that species would work. Thanks, Matt

exactly what green said. Stocking lists are valuble tools.

sheepies and gobbys

SENKOS!!!! I like black or watermelon/red fleck 5" for LMB and 3-4" for SMB.

I have a silver one. only tried it out a few times but I caught a decent pike trolling it over a weedbed