Briant Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 (edited) Well I promised I would post a review and some photos so here it is. We stayed at West Nipissing Resort in the Northwest bay from July 19th - 26th. Nice resort with very friendly owners. Ian and Lill always made sure we had everything we needed and were very helpful with any request or questions we had. Our two cottages were located on the bluff overlooking the bay with awesome sunset views. There was a very nice in-ground swimming pool right next to us which some of us took advantage of. The cottages had everything we needed and were clean and roomy. We didn't end up getting up there until Sat evening due to the massive traffic jam of people heading up north but we still managed to catch a few fish from underneath the bridge on 64. Sunday we hit the water early and right away I caught a decent pike on a big spinnerbait. About 10 casts later, I raised a mid 40"s Musky on a Phantom soft tail right off West Hardwood Island. She came up right next to the boat and about gave my Uncle and I a heart attack. That was the only Musky we saw that day but we managed some nice pike and bass. Monday we hired Musky Guide Danny Colomby and had the luxury of fishing out of his beautiful 21' Triton. This is the second time I've fished with Danny and it's always a pleasure. He showed us all the spots to fish and we hooked into two nice fish, got one in the net as the other fish popped off. Danny is a very knowledgeable guide that will help you shorten the learning curve on putting together a pattern. He has a firm grasp on seasonal Musky patterns and knows where to find the fish regardless of the season. The next couple of days it was super windy and a little rain so we were stuck fishing wind protected bays and islands. Everyone was catching fish though just not Musky. On Thursday we got a good break and were able to make a run to a good spot that Danny showed us. Not long after we started working this spot, I had the biggest fish I've ever seen, an absolute heart stopping tank take a swipe at my bucktail and miss, she followed to the boat and was hot but a 4 1/2' roller decided to push my trolling motor out of the water and the sound of the blades churning the water spooked her and she was gone. We moved two more decent fish that day but couldn't get anything to commit. I did miss a few fish though on my jerk bait and either a nice pike or musky left some teeth marks and a tooth in my bait. I had a feeling in my heart that Friday was the day. It was one day prior to a new moon and conditions were favorable. We got up early and made the run to the same honey hole. As we circled the spot, I was marking bait and big hooks so we decided to troll a little bit. This turned out to be our meal ticket. Within 30 mins of trolling, the port side rod goes off and starts screaming!!! I knew we had a big fish. My uncle has never caught a musky before so he was up first. Once he had the rod in his hands he thought it was a snag lol. I assured him that it was a big fish as the fish surfaced off in the distance after peeling 80 yards of line out. The fish wasn't hooked good but we got her in the net and she was a nice, fat 48" Musky - my uncle had beat my personal best with his first fish lol. We were both super excited. We ended up picking up two more fish all within 1 1/2 hours to complete the hat trick. The other two fish were 36" and 34" respectively. The wind and waves started picking up so we decided to head back to camp before it started getting too nasty. The 15 mile run back was interesting as white knuckled as you can get without being scared. The rollers increased to 4 1/2 - 5' and we got drenched from cross spraying water. I have a new found respect for Lake Nipissing. My boat handled it well but we took it nice and slow and it took us two hours to get back. It was all worth it in the end though as this completed one of the best days and trips I've ever experienced. My Grandfather and his Brother were fishing the back bays of Northwest Bay most of the week and did good on the bass and pike. Both of them caught personal best Large Mouth. Everyone had a great time and did not want to leave. Till next time Canada..... Enjoy the photos - I will keep it simple and just post the link to my flickr album. Thanks to all of those members who shared their knowledge and tips for locating Muskies on Nipissing. I am grateful for that! https://www.flickr.com/photos/11622775@N00/sets/72157645642273610/ Edited July 30, 2014 by Briant
Musky or Specks Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 Nice report. Congrats to your uncle on a great fish.
lew Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 . a nice, fat 48" Musky - my uncle had beat my personal best with his first fish lol. And that's what it's all about right there !! Good to hear you guys had such a great trip and put some real nice fish in the boat. I'm heading up to the West Arm next week for 16 days so hopefully the musky bite is still on.
Briant Posted July 30, 2014 Author Report Posted July 30, 2014 And that's what it's all about right there !! Good to hear you guys had such a great trip and put some real nice fish in the boat. I'm heading up to the West Arm next week for 16 days so hopefully the musky bite is still on. I think it will be Lew. I wish we were staying another week as we just had starting figuring out a pattern. You should do good!
Rich Clemens Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 Great report Briant and you got a lot of great pics there. Thanks for sharing. I'll be hitting the West Arm this coming week and hope the big girls are a wee bit hungry.
Roy Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 Great report, Brian. Glad you all had such a good time. I will be up there Saturday and hope to do half as well as you did. There will also be a few other OFCers there...we'll be encouraging each other.
Tim Mills Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 Enjoyable report. Your group caught a nice assortment of fish. Thanks for giving feedback on the resort. I would like to get up there at some point in the future.
Nipfisher Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 Nice report Brian, Danny Columby is a good friend of mine and I have had the pleasure of fishing with him a few times. If you haven't done so yet, message him and let him know you got a nice one on that spot. He will log it in his journal and it will help him continue to find musky on Nipissing.
Briant Posted July 31, 2014 Author Report Posted July 31, 2014 Thanks fellas. I think next time I'm gonna go in Aug or Sept. Seems like things were a little behind this year, don't get me wrong, we had a killer time, but the weeds were still not were they should be and fish were hard to locate.
Briant Posted July 31, 2014 Author Report Posted July 31, 2014 Nice report Brian, Danny Columby is a good friend of mine and I have had the pleasure of fishing with him a few times. If you haven't done so yet, message him and let him know you got a nice one on that spot. He will log it in his journal and it will help him continue to find musky on Nipissing. Already done, I've been in contact with Danny and sent him the info / pics.
lew Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 Thanks fellas. I think next time I'm gonna go in Aug or Sept. Seems like things were a little behind this year, don't get me wrong, we had a killer time, but the weeds were still not were they should be and fish were hard to locate. I always fish the West Arm which is just a few miles south of you and by mid June the cabbage is normally within a foot of the surface which is perfect. Was up there 5 weeks ago and the weeds were basically nonexistent. Only heard of one nice musky (52") caught in the area all week and that came off an island point with a little patch of weed at the end of it. Hopefully now there's enough cabbage in the next couple weeks to bring the girls back into their normal areas.
Rich Clemens Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 Hopefully now there's enough cabbage in the next couple weeks to bring the girls back into their normal areas. X10. We sure hope so
BillsTheBassMan Posted August 1, 2014 Report Posted August 1, 2014 Awesome Briant, glad the tripped worked out well. Im pretty sure we raised that same fish off west hardwood on opener. Glad to sew the trip went well.
aplumma Posted August 1, 2014 Report Posted August 1, 2014 Great report, Brian. Glad you all had such a good time. I will be up there Saturday and hope to do half as well as you did. There will also be a few other OFCers there...we'll be encouraging each other. Don't kid yourself Roy I will sending you to the fishing wastelands as many times as I can. lol See you all Sunday mid day I expect. Art
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