Good Karma and Leviathans

[irishfield]

Dano got his pics to me quicker than I thought...guess Fern's done with him for now....so here's our post. Dano will add his comments here as well. Suckered me with the photo editing job...bugger he is that Dano! lol

....

 

As many of you know, about a year and a half ago the Comeau Family lost their entire home in Sturgeon Falls and many here on OFC donated items for an auction to raise funds for them. Marc Thorpe was one of the many donators, with a heart of gold, and I was the high bidder on a 4 day Charter with Marc.

 

This good karma was passed on to us with 5 days of beautiful weather, 4 of them on the water with cooperative fish. Who would think you’d be out on the Larry in October in a tee shirt.

 

Also thanks to OFC, and previous G2G’rs that I’ve been to, I’ve found a good fishing partner in Dano and called him in after being stood up by a bidder for the “2nd seat” on this trip. We had a BLAST !

 

The heck with welcome too….I’m leavin !

 

Then got delayed by 20 minutes or so while they loaded Saturday night carnage on a flat bed.

 

Meet these two at BPS, before opening so we didn’t get stuck in the store, and I got stuck with the ugly one in the truck for the 6 or so hour drive to Montreal.

 

Dumb ass forgot his passport…so we had to sneak by the Quebec border entrance.. lol

 

We arrived in Terrabone and moved our stuff into Marc’s up stairs apartment. What a great set up, with no lost time staying in a motel/hotel and needing to hook up. He just walks up stairs and says “LETS GO !”

 

Heading out Monday, somewhere on the Ottawa. Note Dano is already shedding clothes at 8am!

 

Marc getting spooled by Dano

 

My very first Muskie, from the Ottawa River while trolling

 

A nice church on the Ottawa, and believe it or not I did catch my fish in front of a church…just not this one. More of that Karma me thinks!

 

Monday nights meal ! Marc stocks the fridge…you cook it yourself. Or in our case…I made Dan do all the cooking !

 

A nice leisurely pace to start the mornings! That didn’t last long, as Marc worked our butts off. We trolled a bit, but most was casting… with 70% of our fish being caught casting. If you add fish on but lost and netted..that goes up to 82% casting !

 

My second Muskie was caught casting and was a 48” fish. It puffed some blood and we didn’t want to over do it, so I passed on the photo op, and chose to just let it go with a release shot. It wasn’t bleeding when released, so may have just been a lost tooth…but didn’t want to stress it anymore than necessary, hoping I caught another one for the “glory” shot.

 

Dano’s first ever Muskie! What a way to start…with a 44”r trolling.

 

We were out there minding our own business, somewhere on the Larry, when my new fishing boat went by. Gonna trade in my Lund next week, and what’s the chance of the name on the boat. Can’t read it in my low res…but it says Believe on the side of her! Darn thing did throw a 6 or 7 foot wake though. The.biggest we had to deal with out there from any ships.

 

I picked up a high 30 – low 40 or so casting. We didn’t measure I’m just guessing.

 

Dano sure knows how to get into this species. Here’s his second fish, caught casting. 50” and a bit !

 

Sunset on Tuesday evening.

 

Dan with another 40 something, again caught casting.

 

Marc got a couple shots of us in action. Me

 

Dan

 

I got a 46”r trolling on Wednesday.

 

Dano fighting another smaller fish and him and Marc posing with it.

 

Later on Wednesday Dano yelled out a few words I can’t type here and as Marc and I turned this 52”r shot out of the water like a ballistic missle. Straight up…cleared the water by over 2 feet.

 

Wife couldn’t have bought the “submarine” for my camera at a better time. Still Dan’s 52.

 

This shot really shows how big it is, in comparison to Marc’s hand.

 

Nice healthy release of the 52

Edited October 6, 2007 by irishfield

[irishfield]

Ship going by carrying a wind turbine, or two.

 

We got blown off the water early on Wednesday afternoon and made some quick arrangements with Roy for supper at his house. Once again I'd really like to thank Roy and his lovely partner J for having us for supper and some good laughs.

 

J, Marc, Dan and Roy

 

Roy also was kind enough to pass on some of his creations to Dan and I. We tank tested them as soon as we got back to the apartment! I fished with the green with spots one and on the 5th cast had a 40"r on Thursday morning…but unfortunately lost it boat side before it was ready for a net.

 

One of God's creations that also came to visit us on Thursday.

 

Once again casting, I nailed this 50"r for my new PB!

 

Dan waiting for that rod to go off just one last time!

 

All in all we had over 30 fish, 25 over 40"s, show themselves to us. We lost at least 6 or 7 fish that outsmarted us, or we didn't hook set well enough. One had shoulders at least 8 inches wide that I had right beside the boat staring at my bait. We boated either 10 or 11 fish. A few smaller ones, but the ones to note were 44", 46", 48", a 50"r each and Dan's monster at 52"s.

 

I really want to thank Marc Thorpe for giving us the charter of a lifetime. We talked about it on the boat and believe it was just Good Karma all around that lead us to this trip of a lifetime. We didn't have to wear the Gortex once and were fishing in tee shirts in October. We saw/caught more fish than most do in a lifetime, and that's going to be hard to repeat..but we'll be trying again next year without a doubt!

 

Our trip almost ended tragically. 10 miles short of Ottawa we almost killed a guy walking on the side of the road. He was walking in a black shirt, black pants...carrying a 2.5 gallon gas can and he was walking ON the pavement. I saw him from 20 feet away and almost rolled the truck swerving to miss him. We damn near turned around and ran him down just for being a dumb ass.

 

Picked my daughter up and headed down the 416/401 for home...to find the collectors closed and no access to the 400. Fog thick as pea soup we could only read signs as we went under them...but got up 409/427/27 to hand Dano off to Fern at 27/9. From there it took my daughter and I 2 1/2 hours to get home in the fog. We could see 2 passing line ticks at a time.

Edited October 6, 2007 by irishfield

[fatherof3]

that was a great read.Congrats on all the fish and looks like you had a great time

[Golfisher]

Good karma indeed!

[Greencoachdog]

Nice report and pics Wayne! Congrats on y'alls new PBs@

 

That Roy is such a suck-up eh?

[ccmtcanada]

Wow....I'm stunned...what an incredible report. The pictures were amazing...the fish were even better, but the smiles really tells the story. The only problem is, since these were your first muskies, all other outings will pale in comparison...LOL.

 

Great job Wanye, Dano and Marc!

[motv8tr]

Awesome stuff guys, and i didn't have to wait all day for the download Congrats on the monsters!

 

Maureen

[wuchikubo]

Great report and pics Wayne. WTG on your PB muskie. I wouldn't have expected anything less seeing you out with Marc, truly a great individual.

 

It was also nice to see you had a chance to meet up with other OFNers such as Roy.

 

The good karma that you received was well deserved. Thanks for the trip report.

[SlowPoke]

Excellent report boys... glad to see you guys put Marc on some quality fish!

I'm heading out now to hopefully get a few of my own!

-Brian

[misfish]

Great report,awesome pictures and those are some great looking fish and Dano, first time????????WTG.

 

Kudo to Marc for putting smiles on faces once again,and to Roy and J,Im sure Dano was getting tired of cooking for Wayne.LOL

[Chuck Best]

Great news Wayne,I'm glad to hear that your trip finally became a reality and you had a good time.Kudos for Mark putting you guys on so many fish .Great report and pics ....Thx......TC and tight lines.....Chuck.....

[Rich Clemens]

I hate you guys. All that musky action makes me sick. That truely would be the trip of a lifetime and there is good reason for those smiles that run from ear to ear. Great job guys and thanks for sharing your adventure. Simply amazing.

[Handlebarz]

great report for shure Wayne you guys had a trip to remember for a long time some nice PB's for both now ya gotta go out and top it. congratz guys

[Marc Thorpe]

another turning point, a fork stuck in the road

Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go

So make the best of this test, and don't ask why

It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time

 

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.

I hope you had the time of your life.

 

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind

Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time

Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial

For what it's worth it was worth all the while

 

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.

I hope you had the time of your life.

 

 

Dan and Wayne,thanks for the wonderful time and great laughs,trully a karma moment

To Roy and J,once again you surpassed the heights of welcomeness and filling out tummies

Nice to see OFC members,band together and come to the aid of others

The recipe to Karma

 

may God shine on you all,trully a dissplay of kindesss in aiding others

[dustink]

Congrats Wayne & Dano!!! Wow....some great fish there and looks like a trip that will be remembered for a long time!

 

Good Karma indeed, and well deserved.

 

dk

[b2kptbo]

Great report, glad you boys had a good time, thanks...

[Musky or Specks]

Wow musky fishing like that can only be dreamed about. Congrats on what looked like an amazing trip.

[Dano]

I must say this was one of the finest trips I've ever been on, fishing or otherwise. I wasnt sure what to expect as it has been many years since I've been to Quebec and I have never fished for musky.

 

The Montreal area really surprised me with its fishing opportunities seemingly around every corner. Marc told me how many species were available just in the Ottawa and Larry and it just blew me away. It was really cool seeing the sturgeon jumping out of the water all around us and the ocean freighters passing by.

 

The fishing was off the hook (as were many musky that I missed!) the first follow I had up to the boat caught me off guard, I just froze and said, "There's a fish...." Marc or Wayne, I cant remember which, probably both said, "Well, do something dummy, dont just stand there breathing through your mouth!" So I scared it away!!

 

I never did entice any boatside followers to hit, but Wayne did. I decided that I like to hook my fish away from the boat anyway so I have more line to reel in......

 

Casting was my preferred way to catch these fish, I guess it made me feel a little more in control and it gave me something to do, plus feeling these fish smash the bait was out of this world, nevermind the powerful runs they would make, with most of my fish breaking water.

 

Marc is an excellent guide and a nice guy, unfortunately there was no one around for him to follow, so he had to find his own spots . We had a lot of fun, but you have to fish hard, which was fine by me. He truly knows his stuff and has put in monster amounts of time on the water developing his portfolio of hot musky spots, so please dont ask.

 

Already looking forward to next year, these fish get under your skin, they should have cigarette pack like warnings on every musky- Caution- extremely addictive! lol

 

Again, thanks to Wayne for this opportunity, you are a good friend. Thanks to Marc for the unreal fishing and laughs and Roy and J for your hospitality, this is a trip I will remember for the rest of my life.

[irishfield]

"Well, do something dummy, dont just stand there breathing through your mouth!" So I scared it away!!

 

[Mike the Pike]

Now that was an excellent report Wayne and Dano nice to know you are safe with the new camera Wayne

 

Marc nice of you to donate this trip for a good cause

 

Wish I had more time to explore fishing in my own backyard.

 

See ya in the BOQ guys.

 

MTP

[scuro]

Yer did it up right boys!!! Awesome report! Where is the bit about your arms falling off from tossin' cord wood with hooks all day long?

[fishindevil]

Right on !!!!!! great fishing trip....and really nice sized muskies for sure !!!!! great report wayne,man thats a trip of a lifetime ,with marc....great pics as well wayne,man im gonna do that one day for sure.....thanks for sharing ...cheers

[Joey]

Well there's the report I was waiting for. Awesome and well done guys Looks like you had a great time and I recognize that dwarf chef, he makes a mean dinner

 

Truely great report Wayne

 

Joey

[carll2]

awesome report guys

the shot of the church is practically in my back yard

good to see you got into some thick fish

thanks for the report and pics

[Terry]

wow great report and fish..what a trip

 

 

 

the 50" club is getting full