Full moon and Muskie

It's been tough to nail down an outing due to weather issues this year but things seem to be stabilizing a bit lately and with a full moon and only a few hours to fish I had hoped to make the most of my efforts. On the water immediately after work shallow running appealed to me the most but with water temps dropping 6-8 deg in the last several days who really knew what to expect. So shallow to start it was, hitting a regular hump I was discouraged to see the weeds or lack there of but decided to give it a good trolling over but after 2 hrs (it's a big hump) I moved just off the hump to see if any fish were holding just off in the deeper water. It wasn't long before I bailed to another spot certain to have plenty of vegetation. Now at this point I was keeping it in mind that full moon rising was at 7:30pm and I was on a troll that had netted me plenty of big fish over the years and I was....well...excited at the least. On return from the first pass my reel started screaming and at the end of my line was a 36" muskie. Was this to be a good couple hours??? Playing around with the underwater camera and this time having some sunlight I snapped off a decent pic of the 'skie in the net. Another pic with the camera propped up on the dash as I was fishing solo and then a great sunset pic that the Ottawa river never fails to deliver with awe. Another successful evening on the Ottawa, a fish to show for the efforts but not the size I was hoping for...oh ....I had hoped to stay out longer but my trailblazer was needed to pick up 7 screaming teenage girls from a concert!!!!!!

Damn you Justin Beiber...LOL

Solitude, Sunsets and Silence

What's the best way to beat life's daily frustrations?

Hook up and go!

Fish are always welcome but not always needed, being able to move and search new spots and get away from the grind is priceless and good for the soul.

A great sunset and the tranquility that goes with it is hard to top.

Something is wrong here

Launching at a stretch of river I had not fished at for a long time I was shocked to see the water quality. The stench in the air was almost overpowering and altough I couldn't figure out exactly what it was it was brutal.

Trying my hardest to find clear water I decided to take a run up river to see what was causing the dirty water only to see it get worse, much worse. Almost a 20 mile run later I had come into clearer water and still hadn't seen what the cause was so I pulled into a marina and asked a couple questions only to be told that they weren't sure but figured a new marina was being built on the Quebec side of the Ottawa river. If so it's a complete shame and travesty they are permitted to affect the water like they did as I was also informed that dead fish had been collected the day before.....by whom they didn't know!



Having found clear water I started my troll and it wasn't long before I hooked into a fish that had a great fight but was disappointed to see a pike on the the end of my line..even though it was close to 40". Several pike later I switched to a different area and the reel started screaming , a short fight later I see a nice mid-high 40" 'skie about 10' off the back of the boat. A quick head shake and she was gone.....oh well....can't win em all.

There is Muskie after all.

2o1o has been a strange year weather wise in Ottawa as we started out with temperatures in the mid high 30's with humidex readings in the mid-high 40's for almost all of July pushing the water temp into the mid 80's making Muskie fishing dangerous to the fish. Add to that water levels were down almost 3' making launching difficult in areas favorable for Muskie.





August wasn't that much better with torrential rain storms almost daily turning the Ottawa river into a cesspool and causing the water temp to plummet almost 12 deg.

Lately things have started to return to almost "normal" and mid 70's water temps and semi clear water is making for more favorible fishing conditions.

My buddy Brian and I experienced one of the freekiest T storms on the water recently with storm after storm rolling in and around us while sitting on the ramp waiting for a clearing to head out to a favorite casting bed. With a break in electrical activity we drove the short boat ride to the area and started casting. Brians second cast had a Muskie follow to boat side but was not in the mood to bite. Shortly after I had a big girl slam my hook very aggressively at boatside but I failed to get a hook in and then all hell broke loose.Lightning, thunder, torrential downpour wind...we got it all and deciding to hightail it to the launch we realized we had to drive into the storm.
Encouraged with the action we had in the short period we had previously experienced we headed out a couple days later to the same area for a night fish and had some success....finally!!

This little critter was lodged deep in the gills of it's host and wasn't about to let go without a fight. But a little pursuasion and it was free from the gills with no damage to the fish. Playing around with my new Fuji underwater camera I took the opportunity to snap a couple underwater shots and as you see murky water and night conditions make it tough for a good pic. A couple of tries and I was able to get a few neat shots, will have to try again soon in more light and better water quality conditions.

She measured 44" with a 17" girth and was full of energy not wanting any part of the net or being held but a quick pic and a couple release shots and she was off and swimming strong.

One for the album.

Release shot #1

Release shot #2 Good times on the water.