banner day on balsam

[beagle dad]

high winds chilly morning and fish eating

 

went out early lake was rough

picked Cpl areas

worked them hard with hair jigs. took a little to zero in on the fish

11-14 ft was the key.. crazy thing was not only walleye in that depth but also

bass and pike..in numbers..bass not on nests or even spawned out yet. both lm and sm

all fished released as walleye were not big enough or small enough (balsam slot)

none the less numbers are very encouraging for the future of this lake

[davey buoy]

That's always good to hear! Sounds like a fun day!

[Terry]

nice

if my boat ever shows up I must get over there, I always enjoy fishing balsam

[beagle dad]

even wife (anchor) was on fire !!!

8 beauties landed by her

[Roy]

Glad you had a good time Beagle Dad. Thanks for the report.

 

Terry, what is it, two weeks before estimated time of delivery?

[Terry]

june 15th, and counting I added a 9.9 pro kicker to the order this week ,so I hope it will not be delayed

[Rizzo]

sounds like a great day. Not excited to hear about the pike you caught though. Although I generally don't eat fish, a Balsam pike never survives me catching it. Luckily my buddy will eat anything

[sofabed]

good to see some one was catching them. Fished balsam Saturday and got 4 eyes for the day

[beagle dad]

good to see some one was catching them. Fished balsam Saturday and got 4 eyes for the day

the fish are where the weeds are gonna be in Cpl weeks

basically jigged open water

[fishnsled]

Sounds like a great day on the water. Good stuff!

[beagle dad]

sounds like a great day. Not excited to hear about the pike you caught though. Although I generally don't eat fish, a Balsam pike never survives me catching it. Luckily my buddy will eat anything

you will be there till the cows come home trying to get rid of pike

have been catching them for the last 3 yrs

looks like they are there to stay

[davey buoy]

you will be there till the cows come home trying to get rid of pike

have been catching them for the last 3 yrs

looks like they are there to stay

Not that there is anything wrong with that .lol.

[Sinker]

Actually, there is a lot wrong with that! Certainly NOT a good thing!!!

 

S.

[Rizzo]

I know me keeping the pike I get won't make much of a difference...but if every angler did it certainly wouldn't hurt (the musky)

[davey buoy]

Defineatly on my lake to fish list!,seems like it's thriving pretty well.

[Sinker]

Davey buoy......pike are not supposed to be in that lake. It won't be long and they will be into cameron, then sturg, then the tri lakes. They're also making their way up from the east end of rice lake.

 

Kill 'em all!

 

S.

[davey buoy]

Davey buoy......pike are not supposed to be in that lake. It won't be long and they will be into cameron, then sturg, then the tri lakes. They're also making their way up from the east end of rice lake.

 

Kill 'em all!

 

S.

I understand that. There still seems to be a good variety of other fish as well. What can you do once a invasive fish gets in and gets a good hold.Same can be said about other lakes and different species of fish taking over that were not there at one time.

Edited May 28, 2013 by davey buoy

[beagle dad]

davey buoy, on 27 May 2013 - 19:58, said:

I understand that. There still seems to be a good variety of other fish as well. What can you do once a invasive fish gets in and gets a good hold.Same can be said about other lakes and different species of fish taking over that were not there at one time.

x2

 

who knows whats next

[beagle dad]

Sinker, on 27 May 2013 - 19:47, said:

Davey buoy......pike are not supposed to be in that lake. It won't be long and they will be into cameron, then sturg, then the tri lakes. They're also making their way up from the east end of rice lake.

 

Kill 'em all!

 

S.

really??????

 

I suppose you believe walleye,musky lm and sm bass are all native to the kawarthas

imo we will just have to work with what we get..the big problems seem to be when we try to control the fisheries

[Sinker]

I didn't say anything about native species. What I'm saying is I think a musky fishery is more valuable than a pike fishery.

 

S.

[Harrison]

I hope Balsam does not go the way of Crowe Lake where pike KILLED the musky fishery.

 

Sinker is right. Snot rockets on Trilakes or Rice would suck. Great for the tackle store though.

Edited May 28, 2013 by Harrison

[BITEME]

Im curious how people think pike should not be in the Kawarthas Its not like locks are going to keep them from traveling. as far as balsam goes they have been in there a long long time I remember when i was a kid fishing with my uncle you would get the odd one and really nice walters at that time Muskie was the bad guy in there and i dont agree the muskie fishery is of more value then pike or any other fish in the kawarthas. Each has its place and nature and evolution will sort it out.

 

Peter

[glen]

Musky are way more important then catching 3lb pike. There are thousands of lakes where you can go catch a 3lb pike. How many lakes are there were you can catch a 10lb or larger musky.

Lets vote. Who would like to catch a 3lb pike? Now who would like to catch a 10lb or larger musky?

To figure out what is going to happen to all of the K lakes look at what has already happened. Canal, Mitchell, Crowe and others are reported snot rocket lakes. With fewer muskie all the time.

The votes just came in. People want better muskie fishing on more lakes.

[Fisherpete]

As others have mentioned,pike have been in Balsam for a long time already. I have been catching them there for almost 10 years, and heard about them in there before that. It is way beyond the stage where keeping and or killing any pike catches will impact the population in the lake. I have caught pike there in numbers, and of good size out of Balsam (up to 39"), as well as many tigers (biggest 41") which are truly a beautiful fish. Tigers up to 51" have been caught in Balsam already, so again that is a testament to just how long pike have been in there. If the muskies are slow on any given day, I have several go-to pike spots that always give up a few - which keeps things interesting.

 

In the past few years, my fishing partners and I have also continued to catch good numbers of muskies, including many smaller ones - so muskies are still successfully reproducing in Balsam. Will Balsam end up like some of the other lakes that have been overrun by pike? Maybe, but I don't think that is anywhere in the near future, or anything that anglers can really control. I say just enjoy the fishery for what it is today and leave the species control processes to experts like the MNR and MCI.

 

One more note... big muskies like hammer handle snacks

 

Pete

[Rich]

This is the kawarthas were talking about. Per capita, they have the smallest muskies on average. Most are in the 30" range. So ... Same size as pike then.

 

So whats the problem? There won't be EASY muskies anymore. Just big ones.

 

3lb pike or 3lb muskies?

 

What weighs more? 100lbs of bricks, or 100lbs of feathers?

Edited May 28, 2013 by Rich