tjsa's most excellent LOTW's trip

[Roy]

Sounds like a good time, Tom. I've never seen crayfish in such great numbers and out in the open too!

Thanks for sharing that.

[lunkerbasshunter]

great report! Loved your report! those were some crazy little crayfish, Makes sense why fishing is great there with all those guys around!

 

Cheers!

[tjsa]

....Great report Tom. Almost made it there 2 summers ago with TEP but ended up staying in Vermillion Bay due to the algae bloom on LOTW. Stayed at an old motel a few blocks behind Bobby's (got the shirt ) actually right between the tavern and the public launch. I'd go back in heart beat and would definitely take more coin for Bobby's.

Thanks everyone.

 

And Chris, the algae bloom was just starting when I was there. Everything is late starting up here this year with the cooler temps and rain we had in the spring. I only saw the bloom in secluded sheltered little back bays.

And, the mayflies were in full hatch also, but we still caught fish. I guess that when you mostly fish for walleye on this lake in 20+ fe et of water, the hatch doesn`t have a significant effect on success. We did not come across too many bass though, so they may have had something to do with that.

 

Oh, and regarding Bobby`s, I used cash, limited me to a specific value to spend. The credit card did not see the light of day, :lol:

Edited August 10, 2008 by tjsa

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Great report. Cool shots of the crawfish and the wildlife. Congrats on your first Musky.

[tjsa]

Thanks Johnny, but I have to laugh at your avatar compared to my picture. My hands were similarly placed, just a wee bit closer together,

 

I ain`t complaining though, sheesh, I went one for 2 on the ``fish of a thousand casts``.

[TJQ]

Awesome Report !! Glad ya got a bit of a break! I worked on LOTW for a summer when I was 20, those pictures bring back alot of memories... especially the pelicans. If im not mistaken, lotw is the worlds largest summer nesting grounds for pelicans, at least i was told that somewhere along the line.

[tjsa]

Sounds like a good time, Tom. I've never seen crayfish in such great numbers and out in the open too!

Thanks for sharing that.

 

Roy, it didn`t really matter what time of the day, mornings had lots more of them than afternoons, but there were always a few hundred along the beach. On the last day a barge went by with 2 Bobcat mini-forwarders on them to the cottage just north of us to put in a septic field. The waves from the barge washed a lot of them well out of the water. I walked down the line of them, and man, they can move fast even out of the water. A couple stood their ground, picked them up to see if they were Rusty Crayfish or not. Nope, just the regular crayfish species native to Northern Ontario.

Its kinda creepy in a way, go out after dark, and shine a flashlight in the water, and THOUSANDS of eyes light up from them,

 

One creature I did not want to tangle with on this trip, and they are there for sure, was a snapping turtle. I got this pic off another fishing board, he took the pic pre-fishing for the 2007 KBI, don`t know how old this guy or girl is, but hazard a guess between 100 and 200 yrs. old.

 

 

 

Those claws are probably longer than my fingers. And look at the mass. No need to turn turtle and hide in your shell when you are this big, although a scraping of the hull might be in order.

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Thanks Johnny, but I have to laugh at your avatar compared to my picture. My hands were similarly placed, just a wee bit closer together,

 

I ain`t complaining though, sheesh, I went one for 2 on the ``fish of a thousand casts``.

 

My first Musky was similar in size to yours so don't feel too bad.lol It could only get better from here on.lol

[tjsa]

Awesome Report !! Glad ya got a bit of a break! I worked on LOTW for a summer when I was 20, those pictures bring back alot of memories... especially the pelicans. If im not mistaken, lotw is the worlds largest summer nesting grounds for pelicans, at least i was told that somewhere along the line.

 

I can believe that TJQ, they are everywhere. Kinda hard to think of a seagoing bird(at least to our general knowledge) of mating in the middle if Canada. But the food resource for them is there, so why not. Who knows how they found their way there from the coasts. We have a few hundred in certain lakes in the Thunder Bay district also, mainly on the larger lakes in our area. Suprisingly, not on Lac Des Mille Lac, or Shebandowan, YET.

They have recently been seen locally in the Kaministiquia River, and the inner and outer harbour of Thunder Bay.

[tjsa]

My first Musky was similar in size to yours so don't feel too bad.lol It could only get better from here on.lol

 

 

Ohhhh, I am not feeling bad at all, I caught`s a Musky. I was just noticing your avatar, and seeing my pic, and ................well...................

[douG]

Thanks for a great report, tjsa. Definitely some things I've not seen before.

[Whopper]

Great report Tom!

 

Glad to see ya get out of the house for more than just a day!

Now about that drive..... 6.5 hours???? walk in the park bud!

 

Sounds like you had a good time and you took some nice pics!

 

Thanks for sharing!

[huntervasili]

Nice going up there with the eyes and Ski's Some great shots... I believe I will be hitting LOTW on my cross Canada trip.

[Terry]

great report

I need to go there some day

[tjsa]

Thanks again everyone. If I had my lifetime to live over again, I would not get to see, fish, or explore all of this lake. It`s so flipping huge.

[Mr. Follow]

Great Report but does anyone else here think that looks alot like a smalle Tiger Musky?????

[tbayboy]

Very cool report Tom, those pelican/comorant shots and the crayfish are just crazy. Love you pike comment, just got of a 4 day Lac des milles lac trip myself and yup, guys up here REALLY don't think much of pike (Luckily for us Lac was nice us to us again this year).

 

Thanks for the great report.

[Victor]

That's the report i was waiting for ! Looks like you had a great time and it's beautiful there. Very cool to see the"raft" of birds as well

 

Thanks for sharing!

[tjsa]

Very cool report Tom, those pelican/comorant shots and the crayfish are just crazy. Love you pike comment, just got of a 4 day Lac des milles lac trip myself and yup, guys up here REALLY don't think much of pike (Luckily for us Lac was nice us to us again this year).

 

Thanks for the great report.

 

Yeah, about the pike comment, we really do disdain them up here don`t we.

 

Lots of other people make pike reports, and I enjoy reading their posts and pictures for sure.

 

I hate them, they steal my walleye harnesses and presentations all the time.

Only tangled with 2 of them this trip, one I landed, a small one, the other, about 7 lbs., one last thrash and beads, clevises, and blades were flying everywhere.

 

Uhggg........gotta re-tie now

[ccmtcanada]

Fantastic report and pics TJSA!! Great tos ee you getting out there and enjoying yourself. Congrast on your first muskie...my first was about the same size too.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write all that up! Appreciate the effort!

[highdrifter]

Awesome.. I remember my time spent on that water like it was yesterday!! I was never the same after that..

 

Wicked report Brah. Just wondering though. How far where you from whitefish bay?

 

I know the area a little bit from when I was hired as a guide for Tomahawk during college, Dog Bone Reef in particular (available on a hydrograph) where I mostly took the customers who wanted walleye..

 

Thanks for sharing that!

HD

[tjsa]

I was probably about 20 km's northwest of Whitefish Bay at least.

[limeyangler]

Great report TJSA.....you almost drove right past my house to get to LOTW....i was down south at the time......but we live in Dryden on Lake Wabigoon...next time you come up...lemme know...not many members this far north it seems. lololol

Edited August 12, 2008 by limeyangler

[lew]

I was away for most of the summer Tom and missed this story, but it looks as if you had a fantastic trip with some incredible pictures, specially the bear & eagle. Were starting to see Bald Eagles down in the Kawarthas the last couple years and their a very welcome sight........at least to me anyways.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post this great fish'n tale & congrats on your 1st ever musky too !!

[corvette1]

great report looks like the too of you had a awesome time