Upper G2G Report

[Rizzo]

It sure was tough rolling out of bed this morning, but what a great day to be out on the water. Thanks to those who got there early and cleared the ramp. Very exciting to see green water when we got there. For most of us (other than Jack's boat!) things were pretty tough out there. My partner Shawn and I tried everything...troll upstream, troll downstream, fish deep, fish less deep...heck we even did 2 minutes of casting...frozen guides put an end to that idea. Part way through the day we decided to do some jigging after hours of trolling produced nothing more than some arm-shocking jolts on bottom. Around 2 p.m. I caught this fish dragging/jigging a big white spinnerbait on bottom. My plan was to go to bed and post this photo in a day or two, but when I got home I put the photo on the computer and noticed something a bit different about this musky...something I hadn't noticed in the boat. Maybe someone else will see what I'm talking about. I didn't have a good look at it because after this awkward pose I put the fish down in the water so it could catch its breath and I could get a more flattering hold. Soon as she hit the water it took off like a shot! No chance for better photo or release shot. Guess those cold water muskies (37 degrees is what I saw) don't need much reviving. Either way, I'd much rather see a fish swim away strong than get a better photo! It was great to see some familiar faces and meet a few more OFC'er's.

 

[irishfield]

You and your tigers.... very nice fish Roger. I thought of jigging fuzzy duzzits... but with three in the boat decide to keep trolling ! Next time.

[jwl]

nice fish man, we saw you guys boat that one...good move on the jigging, we slowed things down too and drifted some huge FinS minnows about 5 hours too late,although by 9:30,walleyemen had already lost one at boat side..great plan that one. I my partner walleyemen got a pic from my boat of you guys netting that .

 

Not a tiger however..Niagara muskies take on 3 colour patterns..that's a typically marked barred musky for the river.

[ehg]

That's a real fine musky there!

The fins on it are lobed a bit with some spots, has some pike in it.

Sounds like a great day was had.

[pikeie]

That's a real fine musky there!

The fins on it are lobed a bit with some spots, has some pike in it.

Sounds like a great day was had.

 

hard to tell if the caudal fin (tail) is lobed or not, its a tough angle. nice fish though! good job!!

[medmart]

Nice looking musky congrats good way to finish the season

 

Rob

[fishindevil]

Nice ski guys !!!. ..niagara rivers finest...love the colors too...cheers

[douG]

That's one clean fat fish, Rizzo. Congratulations on that beauty.

[lew]

WTG Roger and congrats, that's a great lookin fish and as always, it was good seeing you again.

 

It was an excellent day with a good bunch of guys, fantastic weather and a great supper to finish off the 08 season

[Greencoachdog]

That's one beautiful hard earned fish Rizz!!!

 

Congrats on that one!!!

[Rich]

Beauty ski for sure, and well deserved! Congrats!

[TroutnMuskieHunter]

Beauty Muskie Roger!!....the colors are so different from the ones here in the Ottawa R......thanks for sharing

[Handlebarz]

Great healthy looking ski Rizzo it pays to think like a musky sometimes

[BUSTER]

very nice

[MCTFisher9120]

Congrad's on catching that nice musky!

[fishdawg]

nice fish bud - well earned for the time you put in there

[Spiel]

.....Fantastic! Kudos to all who ventured out whilst I stayed cozy and warm.

[mistyriver1]

Nice looking ski Rizzo, congrats !!!

[tibbs]

Nice Musky!

 

Looks freezing out there!

[DANIMAL]

Very nice barred musky. A tiger would have had a more rounded tail fin, like a pike.

[walleyemen]

Well the day started out with me picking up Jack and his boat and heading to the ramp to check itout , thru down lots of salt, sand and chipped abunch away, then it was go time, did i mention how freaking cold it was! We started off trolling and at 9:30 fish on, got all the way to the boat and with one turn it's off, although with all it's spunk it almost jumped in the boat, excited to say the least, Did i mention it was cold! Spent the next few hours, changing things up and having some great conversation with Jack who i had meet for the first time and had aloud me the pleasure of accompaning him in his boat. Anyone getting the chance to fish with Jack, i recomend them to do so, very experienced niagara river fisherman and one hell of a great guy to spend a afternoon with.

Did some more trolling and i honestely at one point said to myself i have to be freaking nuts to be out here, did i mention it was cold!, Jack not giving up and racking his head decided for us to think outside the box and start jigging huge white swim baits and boy did it pay off, 3rd or 4th drift bang i got one one, get it to the boat the fish does a jump and Jack with his expert goaly skill nets the fish in mid air, spectacular! My P.B Niagara musky and no skunk for us, several drifts later bang another on one , again get it to the boat one turn of the head gone, and of course it would have beaten my previous fish, bummer, several drifts again Jacks turn , but again it gets off, last hour of the day bag i got one on and ut oh, this baby's got back, set the hook reeel good and it's one, goes for a short run and then decides to run at the boat on us , goes under, i manuver it around to the other side and she appear, definatly bigger, 4 footer atleast and very fat and thick, she does 2 turns and pop shes off, i allmost cried, o.k maybe i did when i got home LOL, great amazing day on the water, it was a pleasure to have got to meet everyone, great bunch of guyzs, sorry i couldn't make supper , had the wifes x-mas party, again thanks to everyone and special thanks to Jack for an amazing day on the water a true class act, Bruce sorry i didn't get to meet you, but familly comes first, we missed you out there,

SO!!! here are my photo's hope i get everyone one right if not please correct me!

Corvette

Irishfield and company!

Rizzo bringing there fish in!

And our only boated fish of the day!

OH YA DID I MENTION IT WAS COLD!

[muskyhunter5150]

Nice fish guys!

[lunkerbasshunter]

great fish! Wow what an early xmas present that was!

 

Cheers!

[walleyemen]

Was a great day for sure!

[jwl]

Wayne it was a great time having you in the boat for the day, thanks for going the extra mile and showing up a bit early to grab me and the boat so my wife had the option of using our van for the day to go out with my kids. And also so we could show up a bit early and start clearing the ramp...boy did we ever need to do that!!!! By the time everyone rolled in, which I must add I was very impressed that we had 7 boats out there for the day!!!, we had accomplished the mission and everyone was able to launch without any troubles. Thanks to Corvette1 for popping the boat in first and being the icebreaker for the skim on the banks.

 

It was great to see that we had some action with only about an hour into the day!!!, it still amazes me when musky fishing sometimes when you are using huge baits with a load of hooks, and fish still get off the hook That first one you had on sure tested the gear ratio on your reel when it bolted straight at the boat and didn't stop!!! That made my morning right there just to know that we found what we where looking for. The Niagara River can be a tough code to crack as it is an ever changing body of water when it comes to currents and wind ect, it plays a huge factor in the day.

 

We sure managed to pass the day very well for a pretty chilly day, with some great conversation of fishing adventures from each other's season, and times gone past and some other common interests and family ect along the way. We must have had a great time because for sitting out there all day long in the cold, we sure managed to pass the day pretty quickly. Thanks for bringing the thermos of hot tea out there it was good to warm the belly if you drank it fast enough that it didn't get cold By the way, you left it in my boat if you are looking for it, I found it when I was covering it up last night and organizing a few things....will figure out a way to get it to you soon!!!

 

Thanks alot for having the patience to stick by my decision of not doing so much exploring but sticking it out in basically the same area for the whole day, alot of people would give up on an area after a while, but I had to trust my instinct on this one,perhaps it wasn't the huge adventure you where looking for, but I feel I made the right choice. I think you will have no problem remebering that general area as a future refference..specially seeing as we pretty much blacked out that whole section on your GPS with our path

 

I am also glad that in my decision to stick to a general area that we had some action. I love when my instincts and expereinces pay off and I help people getb into some fish for the day. I don't generally care who catches them as long as the targetted species see my boat, it tells me I must be doing somehting right out there...although I do like to catch them once in a while too

 

I had somewhat of a game plan for the day, with a couple different presentations in mind, my only regret is that we didn't change up to "plan B" sooner, I have a feeling we would have been into to even more fish. Once I decided to change tactics and you agreed to give it a go, then there was where a couple other factors of river fishing come into play....where to put the boat when starting a drift...gotta experiment with the way the current is going to take the boat, and also where it is going to take your line in comparison, and yesterday the wind was also a big factor in this as it picked up throughout the day. You need to have as natural as a presentation you can or you won't get the fish in my experience. It did not take us too long to find it for sure.

 

In the short remainder of the day we had left after revamping our game plan we some great action in my books. Everyone who targets muskies knows it can be a tough go on the best of days, many hours put into it, and many skunk days in the mix, so for us to connect with 4 fish in the day..the last 3 being within a short time of the afternoon, I would have to give us a big pat on the back for doing something right, although we lost 3

 

The last fish of the day you had on was sure a nice one...I would hazzard a good guess to be well into pushing a 4 footer and a good 25 lber no problems...I still cannot believe that it just seemed to get to the boat..open it's mouth and out pops you bait...and I even rigged that one up with a stinger as well Funny part is I was talkign to you about that earlier in the day saying it has happened to me on a few occasions over the years while musky hunting...and it happened to us a couple times..maybe next time we should talk about how well they where hooked.

 

Thanks for sharing the pics...gotta admit it, you look pretty cold in that pic, hard to smile with your teeth chattering???..lol

 

Thanks again for chipping in all you help and being part of a great day out there Wayne, it was a pleasure sharing my boat for the day and doing our best to get into some Niagara hogs..next time bundle up and I can give you a lesson on catching the monster steelies on the other end of the river