I was on Lake Scugog yesterday for my 1st ice fishing outing of the year. The ice was only 2-3 inches thick and there were only about a dozen anglers out there. Made me think twice about going out but I ventured out anyways. It only took about 5 seconds to cut a hole which was a bonus. I managed to catch a couple of small perch but no walleye. 
No huts out there yet as everyone is waiting for thicker ice. Think I will too.
This is the 3rd year out of the last 4 that I have won this little annual get together. I have caught the winning fish with basically the same type of lure, using the same technique. Twice I caught the fish in pretty well the same area, it’s like it was waiting for me.
I even shared my plans with the other guys when we were out for breakfast before the start and told them where and how I intended to fish. Maybe they weren’t paying attention or listening but no one else managed to boat a Musky. I must admit, that there are not that many Musky fisherman in the crowd but all have been in this tourney for years so that excuse is wearing thin. haha. Anyway, here are a few pics of the fish. It was a nice healthy female and she was bulking up for the winter.
Seasoned musky hunters know that some of the best action is during the full moon period. Especially at dusk when you have the 2 feeding windows occurring simultaneously, sunset and moonrise. Either period on it’s own is a good time but when both happen within minutes of each other, it can be great.
We were fishing on the evening of Saturday September 1st, which was the day after full moon. We left dock at 6:30pm knowing that sunset was at 7:49pm & moonrise at 8:02pm. Of course we head straight to our ‘go-to’ spots and start casting. We are spending 20 minutes per spot and moving on trying to locate the active fish. The pleasure boaters and traffic in the channel keep us away from some of our favourite spots until sunset.
We finally were able to fish a deep weed-line near a channel marker that drops off into 25-30 feet. The weed-line then extends about 400 feet into a flat of about 14 feet and we worked with precision casts. At 8:10pm, I said we should troll back along the same weed-line and then move to the next spot.
I put on a sucker coloured, 9″ jointed Believer and put out about 40 feet of line. The rod was in the rod holder about 3 minutes and while I was adjusting my head lamp, I hear ZZZT, ZZZT, ZZZT as the line is being dragged off the reel. FISH ON! I grab the rod and feel the massive head shakes and still pulling line off. Larry reels in and slows the boat and now I have about 80 feet of line out when the fish jumps clear out of the water and we see it is a big one. After about 30 seconds, the fish is on the surface and I am able to ‘ski’ it to the boat but as soon as it sees the net, it takes off on a run. However it was only a short run and I am able to turn it toward the net and Larry scoops her in the bag.
She got wrapped up pretty good in the net and we had to cut a couple of hooks off but we were able to snap 2 pics and get her back in the water. She had a huge head and measured out at 45 inches. What a beautiful sight to see her swim away to hopefully be caught again.
We were fishing on a beautiful Saturday evening June 23rd and started off by casting open water away from a weed bed. I was using a 10″ jointed believer looking for active fish in deep water with no success.
After 20 minutes or so, we moved the boat closer to the weeds and I decided to change lures to the same bucktail I used 2 weeks ago when I boated my biggest fish to date (see post dated June 10/12). It is a DC7 with chartreuse blades with a dark blue ‘flecked’ skirt and I decided that I would speed up my retrieve. On the very first cast I threw, which was parallel to the weed edge, when WHAM! Fish on! I love it when a plan comes together! She put up a small fight but she had inhaled the lure so there was no chance of escape. She measured out at 37 inches. Check out the pics and see the beautiful sunset we had to cap off the night.
Remember…….Tight Lines and Sharp Hooks!
For a couple of weekend warriors, we have had an excellent start to the Musky season. I have landed 5 & Larry finally got his first one yesterday bringing our total to 6. I didn’t catch my 5th musky until late August last year. The Musky gods are being extra special to me after they punished me last year mercilessly.
The highlight of the weekend was a big 45 inch female that hit my lure at mach 9 only 15 feet from the boat. It absolutely inhaled my DC7 bucktail right before my eyes and I only had to give the rod a short rip & the hooks were set. It proceeded to give me the best fight I have had in a very long time. She tried everything including going under the boat and in the weeds but it was all in vane as my trusty 9 foot St. Croix rod handles any fish with ease.
Larry’s fish was a 37 incher caught casting a jerk bait of some kind. I caught a small 30 inch fish while trolling a Swim Whizz bait after sunset.
Check out the pics.
I was chomping at the bit waiting to hit the water yesterday and once my buddy Larry got home from work, we were finally throwing casts at 6:20 pm. A cold front moved through the night before so we decided to fish shallow water and I suggested to start where we have had success on past opening days (it`s our secret, so don`t ask). In our favour was the moon-phase. It was set to rise at 7:00pm and as you know, this is one of the best times to fish for Musky.
I decided to try my brand new all black, Shallow Raider which is perfect for fishing just under the surface of the water and above the weeds. It was 14 minutes into our first drift through the area when I thought I hit some weeds and gave my rod a short rip. Then the weeds pulled back and I had a musky on! I hadn`t set the hook properly and so it got off . I threw my next cast right back in the same area and wham! FISH ON! This time I set the hook hard and gave it an extra one for good measure. It was a nice clean 37 incher that gave a good fight.
37 inch Musky on opening day 2012
We stayed in the area and worked it over with precision casts targeting what we thought were high-percentage spots. I had just mentioned to Larry that this was the same spot where he caught a big 45 incher a couple of years ago. I threw my next cast into about 2 feet of water and moved it ever so slowly. There was a familiar bump on my lure and I set the hook hard! I didn`t realize how big she was as I was using my new 9 foot St.Croix Big Nasty rod and it handles any fish with ease. Once I saw the fish and realized how big she was, I got a little leg shake going and once she saw the boat, she really started to fight. After a few bursts of power, we got lucky when she turned and swam into the net. Sweet! It measured out at 44 inches and we took a few pics and let her go.
Caught on an all black Shallow Raider
44 inch Musky opening day 2012
It’s finally here! it has been a long 5 1/2 months since closing day and I have been counting them down ever since. The forecast is for cloudy with some rain and a high of 15C (59F) which is a lot cooler than it has been. We are finally getting some much needed rain today which may make conditions difficult tomorrow.
The plan is to fish big bucktails and big crankbaits to start and see if we raise any fish. The unusually warm spring has the water temperature higher than normal and the spawn was about 3-4 weeks early. We expect the fish to be in their summer spots by now and the weeds are in full bloom; however it’s always a challenge. That’s what I love about Musky fishing, trying to figure out where they are and what they are looking for in a lure. Sometimes it seems easy and other times, not so. Like last year, sigh, we had a lot of days when we couldn’t get the job done. Hoping for better luck this year.
Good luck to all my Musky fishing friends and remember….
TIGHT LINES and SHARP HOOKS!
Mother Nature is being kind to us Musky hunters here in the Kawartha Lakes region. On Friday November 25th, the temperature hit 14C (57F) & we hit the water for one last kick at the can. This is the latest in the year that we have ever been able to fish Musky as the season used to end on November 15th. It was extended until December 15th last year but the weather & snow came early & we shut it down for the year on November 10th.
The BEST part is we had the entire lake to ourselves! Most people have winterized their boats & have packed away all their gear. Not us! We saw 1 other boat all day & it was carrying duck hunters. The sun was shining & the wind was not as high as predicted making it a fantastic day to be on the water.
The water temperature is down to 4C (39F) so we decide to fish large plastics & slowed right down. We started to fish deeper water & would let the baits sink down as we figured this was our best chances of success. After an hour & 1 follower, we decided to change spots & Larry was casting a Storm Kickin’ Minnow over a 16 foot ledge that drops off to 29 feet when a 37 inch Musky inhaled his lure.
We repositioned the boat & 15 minutes later, Larry grunts & says “OH! There’s another one! Bigger fish!” & I looked over just in time to see the musky just under the surface with her mouth wide open & gills flaring as she shook her head wildly in attempts to get free. The hook was well set & Larry easily turned her toward me & it was in the net in under 20 seconds. It measured a 43 inches & had a 16 inch girth & of course, was safely released.
The water temperature has dropped to 50F on Lower Buckhorn & it’s time to fish slow & steady. It really is my favorite time of year to fish. Most of the resorts are closed & all the pleasure boaters are done for the year. Only the fisher-people remain & there are not many of us out it seems. All the more lake for us to fish without interruptions or intrusions.
I was out myself on Saturday Oct. 22nd and was on the water right before moonrise, my favorite time. I was fishing with my Lindy Tiger Tube (white) along a rocky drop-off & casting out into the deeper water & bringing it slowly back up the wall. The wind was up around 20mph & I was able to drift along while using the trolling motor to keep me on the edge.
While having my thumb & forefinger on the line, I felt a subtle tap on my line just like when walleye fishing with minnows. I immediately set the hook with a hard upward jerk of the rod & FISH ON! I gave it another hard jerk to make sure the hook was all the way in & the fight began. After a brief struggle trying to get the net untangled on the treble hooks on my other rod (d’oh!), I managed to land a nice 42 incher.
42 inch Musky
Then on Sunday, I was out with Larry & we were fishing a spot where Larry had caught a nice Musky 2 years ago in November. He said “maybe lightning will strike twice” as he put on a brand new Storm Seeker Shad lure.
A few casts later & Larry had a nice fish on that put up a good fight & stayed down for what seemed a long time before we saw her. After it was in the bag, the hook came out & the fish just laid perfectly still in an upright position. This was great as it gave us plenty of time to take a few pictures & release it with relative ease. It was probably the least stress we have ever put on a fish.
It is not uncommon to catch big Bass while Musky fishing and I have even caught a few big Walleye on our lake. But I have never caught two big Walleye on the same day, a half hour apart, using different baits, in different parts of the lake before.
We were back on the water on Sunday morning of Sept. 4th around 9am. A thunderstorm hit in the wee hours of the morning & dumped about 2 inches of rain. The temperature dropped from 31C (88F) to 23C (73F) & there were more thunderstorms in the forecast for the afternoon. The wind was also up to about 15-20km from the southwest; talk about a total change from the day before!
While I think the the fishing will be more difficult under these weather conditions, there is the added bonus of minimal pleasure boaters on the water disrupting our hunt. Also, it is Sunday morning of a long weekend & the lake doesn’t seem to wake up until around 11 am.
We got out around 9 am and headed for one of our typical Musky spots & started casting. I decided that today I was going to throw my biggest lures all day & try and catch BIG fish. With the conditions we were facing I wanted to slow my retrieve down and also try some glider type baits. I started out using a 9″ Sledge, (pearl tiger color pictured here) and it is the weighted model which allows it to stay down longer between jerks.
9" Sledge
While drifting with the wind along a weed edge over a drop off into 20 -25 feet, I cast over the top of the weeds & gave it a couple of cranks of the reel when a fish slammed the lure! It gave a few head shakes & stayed down in the weeds & felt like a small Musky. However once I pulled it threw all the cabbage weeds I saw it was a decent Walleye! It had the back treble hook imbedded in its back & was the reason it felt like a bigger fish at first. Too big to keep as it was over the 20″ maximum slot size for our lake so we did the CPR thing (Catch, Photograph & Release) & went back fishing.
A half hour later, we had moved on to a different location and I was using my 10″ inch Jake Bait that was successful yesterday when I boated a 42″ x 18″ Musky. This time I saw the Walleye hit my lure right at boat side; this was an aggressive fish! It was only 24″ long & it is hitting a 10″ lure for heaven sakes!
The two fish were almost identical in size & weight and would have made a nice meal but they had to be released. We did not even see a Musky on this day but the Walleye sure were active and aggressive. Maybe we should have switched species & target them? Nah! We are Musky addicts & only fish for walleye for the 3 weeks before the start of Musky season. If we do go for walleye, we have to leave the musky gear at home because ‘sure as shit’, I’m not going to fish walleye for long while my Musky rod is with me. LOL.
Remember…..TIGHT LINES & SHARP HOOKS!
