Fisherpete & Patrick's 2010 Muskie trip

[Cudz]

Nice going. Some people dream of catching one fish like that in their life and you manage 2 already this year! Cingrats, those are clean looking fish

[houski]

Not a bad week at all fellas! Sweet 'skis. That last one was pretty thick!

[ctdd2006]

....so much for "a fish of a thousand casts"!? I know you put the time in...and were clearly rewarded! Congrats! Two over 45" in one trip? Awesome stuff! Congrats on the baby boy enroute!

[Fisherpete]

Thanks for the kind comments guys. It was a great trip for sure. Johnny - the pike that we landed all now reside in Patrick's dad's freezer... ready for the frying pan. I think I finally got the hang of cleaning them without those pesky Y-bones. They were the only fish kept on the trip, and the one 23" walleye (yum!). Although after the numbers of pike that we saw following our lures, I think that they have established themselves pretty well in there already. Grrr.... it will be interesting to see what impact it has longterm on the muskie fishery.

[mepps]

I've read several theories about muskie and pike in the same bodies of water, and it seems that its not as bad as it was originally believed. Muskie have been seen spawning in deeper water when pike are around in the shallows...

[Tom McCutcheon]

I've read several theories about muskie and pike in the same bodies of water, and it seems that its not as bad as it was originally believed. Muskie have been seen spawning in deeper water when pike are around in the shallows..

 

That happens in Georgian Bay and the St Lawrence etc but here in the Kawarthas most of the lakes have been formed from flooded rivers or creeks when the Trent locks were established 100+ years ago. The Muskie is the native fish and the Pike are making their way in from Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe. A number of the lakes formed from flooding have an average depth of 20 feet. There are deeper sections of these lakes but not many compared to the overall lake structure.

The Northern Pike "IS" a major concern for the Kawarthas and Muskies Canada is working with the OMNR to find a solution.

 

 

Tom Mccutcheon

Muskies Canada

[ehg]

Great report, gotta love trhe muskies.

[Cookslav]

Our Hunt camp is on a lake that is part of the Crowe river system...used to be lots of Muskie, until the Pike got in years ago.

Muskie are still in there but catching one is now a prety rare occurance.

 

I can't speak as an expert, or even an experienced person when it comes to Pike overtaking a lake but I can say in this instance pike getting into this lake all but erradicated the Muskie population over a 20 year period.

 

Last year one of the guys got a healthy 40" inch beauty, but thats the first, and last Muskie we've heard of being caught from the lake in the last 10 years....so I guess they are still there, but not in spades like they used to be.

[Fisherpete]

If Lake Dalrymple is an indicator of the pike vs. muskie debate, then methinks trouble looms... that lake has seriously gone downhill, even more so in the past five years or so. It is just overrun with hammer handles plagued with blackspot. Haven't seen a muskie there in four years. Hopefully the Kawartha muskies are eventually able to adapt their spawning habits and the two species can co-exist. If nothing else, we will be catching some sexy looking tigers for a while. *sigh*

[TroutnMuskieHunter]

Awesopme report right there Pete!!!....Those Muskies sure look healthy...congrats!