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Back from LOTW....good trip


bigcreekdad

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P9030148.jpg This is my personal best muskie to date....50", and estimated at 40lbs by guide and lodge owner. Fish hit in a high odds spot....back end of a small bay with strong NE winds blowing onto a beach. Fish hit 10' off the beach on an orange on black bucktail, with an orange rabbit/marabou trailer. I about died when I set the hook and the fish came to the surface.

P9030146.jpgThis is the same fish with my guide, Trevor, holding it. He wanted the photo as it was his best guided muskie so far this season.

P9010142.jpg Spent one day fishing for smallmouth in a hike-in lake where the lodge keeps a couple boats. Used nothing but a flyrod and small poppers. Easily the best smallie day I've ever had. No idea how many fish, but I guessed at 10 an hour for 6 1/2 hours....so, a lot! Ove half we over 14", with the best at 18.5". The fish pictured is an 18 incher....I didn't photo the bigger one as it ws my second fish caught andI though I might do better....prtty cocky eh?

 

Trip was a spur of the moment deal. My son is an avid muskie fisherman, and has been in Iraq with 10th Mountain Division for a little over a year. He's due home by Thanksgiving. While he and I haved fished the French River since he was 10, I thought I'd look for a new muskie spot for him and I for next summer. Started scouting the net, and came across Crow Rock Lodge out of Kenora. My wife OK'd a 5 day fishing trip ( what a wife!) and I called up there and made a resevation in mid August o fish ove Labor Day weekend. Instead of driving 18 hour by myself, I flew to International Falls, and rented a car for the 2 1/2 hourdrve to Kenora, where I was picked up for the 35 minute boat ride to the lodge. Crow Rock has been run by the same family for almost 50 years, and is a great place. Cabins and main lodge are clean and very well maintained. In addition, food is great, guides are quite good, and boats are 16.5' Crestliners with 50hp Yamaha 4 strokes. As you can exect, Lake of the Woods is huge, and has over 15000 islands. For this reason, and since I was alone, I chose to take aguide 4 of the 5 days ( the oter day I was in the smallmouth lake). I'm glad I did, but I feel I know my way enuf around now that I will take my own boat next time.

 

Although I caught my PB muskie, and had the awesome smallie day on the fly rod, the trip was typical in that 2 of the 5 days I could only account for 2 pike in total, but that's typical fishing in Canada from my experience. Besides the big lunge, I lost at least 2 others ( thatI could see....fortunately they were not big guys), and had several other follows and surface strikes from lunge. In addition, I landed 8 or so nice pike up to 38". Overall....damn good trip!

 

Off to the FrenchRiver for my final trip of the season on the 16th.....this retirement gig is going tokill me!

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