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Esox Soul


MJL

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Muskies and Pike...The long, slimy fish with a mean set of teeth. Muskies have always been my unicorn. They were my happy accidents (or unhappy accidents depending on how you look at it). I've hooked a few of them trolling worm harnesses for walleye. I've had a few of them take spinners, kwikfish and even roe bags while fishing for steelhead. I've even hooked 2 with corn while fishing for carp (I was reeling in when they hit). In all the cases, I was happy to hook them, but in the end they chewed through the line and left me broken hearted and lure-less.

 

Over the years, I've tried fishing for the small hammer-handle muskies at my local lakes and rivers from shore without luck.

 

On Thurs, my friend invited me to his cottage on Rice Lake to do a bit of walleye fishing. Ripping bucktails was the plan. With the weeds dying off fast, we had to motor around looking for new areas to fish. We pull up to a spot, start drifting with the wind and ripping jigs through the weeds. All I can say is I've had the most magical 5 casts of my life.

 

In 5 casts, I managed to get the Rice Lake "Esox Trifecta"

 

First ever Muskie :D

 

27736187786_bb0c909e8f_z.jpgMuskie by Mike Leung, on Flickr

 

27158211084_2d66528eb0_z.jpgFreedom by Mike Leung, on Flickr

 

Northern Pike - First I've ever seen from Rice Lake but my neighbour told me he caught the odd one over 50yrs ago when he owned a cottage.

 

27158190624_004caf0041_z.jpgPike by Mike Leung, on Flickr

 

27770212065_a0ebcd0512_z.jpgSo many teeth by Mike Leung, on Flickr

 

27158195904_402489cdf2_z.jpgpike by Mike Leung, on Flickr

 

Tiger Muskie - Another first for me :D

 

27158201934_d266d5dc79_z.jpgTiger Muskie by Mike Leung, on Flickr

 

27158205074_76e53fde20_z.jpgTiger Muskie by Mike Leung, on Flickr

 

27158198584_452d8d3a4e_z.jpgTiger Muskie by Mike Leung, on Flickr

 

27670039262_12112d7ae2_z.jpgTiger Muskie by Mike Leung, on Flickr

 

27159389263_83b5304e94_z.jpgTiger Muskie by Mike Leung, on Flickr

 

On top of those fish, I also lost another Muskie and landed an OOS largemouth bass. Just an awesome experience. I wonder what the probability of all that happening is?

 

In the evening we went back out again to rip bucktails at another spot and my friend and I got into a couple more muskies. It was like being on a magic carpet ride that I didn't know when it was going to end.

 

27736182556_625a29590f_z.jpgBucktail Muskie by Mike Leung, on Flickr

 

27158187364_a72195b4fc_z.jpgBig bruiser by Mike Leung, on Flickr

 

And now I'm shopping around for my first muskie combo :lol:

 

I'd eventually like to try seeing muskies chase all the way to the boat and figure-8 for them like I see on TV. It looks super cool.

 

Tight lines and Happy fishing

 

Mike

 

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Seriously? Ive fished rice lake for 25 years. The last 5 years, at least once a week, generally 2 or 3 times.

 

NEVER caught a pike there.

NEVER caught a tiger in my life.

And never caught that many musky in total out of that lake!!!

 

Lucky is an understatement!!!

 

Congrats on an awesome day! I bet you never do that again.

 

Thats the first pike ive actually seen out of rice too!

 

S.

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Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed the pics :)

 

Beautiful pictures!!.. I see why you didn't catch any Walters..lol

 

We actually did OK with the walleyes that day. They were sitting well outside of the weeds in the open (probably because of the muskies were either on the edge or right in the weeds). At the beginning of the day, I had my doubts with the super sunny conditions and the strong east winds.

 

This is awesome Mike. Great pictures bud, and nice fish.

 

 

I see a bonus here. The best musky are late fall. That means you wont be harrasing my steel head. :P LOL

 

 

Congrats bud.

 

Brian, there are 2 days in a weekend (sometimes 3). I will just fish longer and harder on Saturday to get my fix of steelhead before going for muskies...Or fish Friday evening and catch them all so you don't get any :P

 

You hit the jackpot!
Surprised how clear Rice Lake water is.
Didn't know pike were in there.

 

Earlier this season, the water was actually a lot clearer than it is now due to the algae blooms. I always had a feeling that there were pike in Rice Lake but never caught one or seen one in person.

 

a pike and a tiger muskie from Rice on the same outing.....

 

i know folks who have cottages on Rice who swear neither are in the lake....

 

Nows the time to head to Lake O to see if you can catch a unicorn. :)

 

Steve, in 5 casts I get 1 muskie, lose another muskie, then an OOS bass, tiger muskie and then the pike. After I caught the tiger, I said to my friend "My mind would be blown if I caught a pike today". Who knew I'd get one the very next cast.LOL

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Brian, there are 2 days in a weekend (sometimes 3). I will just fish longer and harder on Saturday to get my fix of steelhead before going for muskies...Or fish Friday evening and catch them all so you don't get any :P

 

 

 

 

Well since you put it that way Mike, I,ll fish fall bass on saturday, then steel sunday. Whom I kidding. LOL

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Thanks again guys :)

 

Since that day, I've been reading tons of articles on musky fishing and shopping around for musky tackle on various Classifieds and Kijiji that would fit my needs. I've been constantly dreaming about Figure-8's and fish chasing up to the boat.

 

I traded a friend some old carp gear for a Curado 300E in great condition. Still shopping around for a rod, lures and a few other items. I've got about 20-30 pictures in mind (above and below the water) that I'm hoping to get in the next few seasons. It's definitely a new journey.

 

I'm afraid I'm showing symptoms of Musky Fever. haha.

 

Seriously? Ive fished rice lake for 25 years. The last 5 years, at least once a week, generally 2 or 3 times.

NEVER caught a pike there.
NEVER caught a tiger in my life.
And never caught that many musky in total out of that lake!!!

Lucky is an understatement!!!

Congrats on an awesome day! I bet you never do that again.

Thats the first pike ive actually seen out of rice too!

S.

 

Shayne, from what a few people told me, Rice has one of the lower densities of muskies compared to other Kawartha lakes. But, whatever you do see are bigger on average??? Perhaps someone who targets muskies there could confirm. I'm actually not sure what the average size of muskies is in the kawarthas (or any other lake for that matter).

 

As for the Tigers, one of my friends caught 2 last year on Rice and on Facebook, another angler claims he caught 3 on walleye opening week (with a pic to back it up). Seems there could be more pike moving into the lake???

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