Off to a slow start

With a full schedule and commitments outstanding I have been off to a slow muskie start this year. Holidays are planned for July so the muskie boat will be parked briefly. August will see plenty of muskie action...can't wait to get out and get the big one..
Stay tuned!!

My Custom Baits, Painted!

Here they are, after several coats of paint layered to give a blended look and a good clear finish I'm pretty happy with my baits. I'm sure with lots more practice I'll improve on the airbrush techniques.

I crafted two different styles and will paint different patterns on the next batch...maybe a walleye pattern or sucker!

At $50 plus for some custom baits making them is not only economical but a fish caught on your own bait is even more of a thrill.

Off Season Muskie Bait Making

With a six month layoff from fishing Muskies there is lots of time to sharpen hooks, grease reels re-spool and do boat fixes. If you like Muskie fishing and want to save a little cash and have a creative edge you can also make your own Muskie baits.

I have chosen a couple styles of baits that are good for casting or a slow troll. To start I gather all my materials required, wire, wood, lexan, glue and tools to shape the baits.

Having a pattern to trace getting ready to cut your bait out is a good idea when making multiple baits. I use a band saw to make quick work of this balsa wood.

Next step is to bend up the thru-wire and glue the baits together with a good waterproof high strength durable glue. Clamping and letting sit overnight is a very good idea.

Make sure a good quality fising wiire is used and you'll have a durable long lasting bait.

Next carve out and sand to the correct size and install the lexan lip.

I drilled 2 holes just behind the belly hook to give the bait weight and stability into which lead will be poured.

Pour the lead and get ready to paint.

Painting comes next, 3 coats of primer sanding between coats and then airbrush to your favorite pattern.....stay tuned for the finished product.

Paradise In April/ Lake "O" Browns

Another cross province trek yields yet more spectacular Lake Ontario Brown action.
For the second time in 3 days I found myself driving long distances in search of Brown Trout, this time hitting a completely different part of that big fish tank know as Lake Ontario.

Being one of the nicest days of the year so far , temps reaching the low 20's and the sun bright and high in the sky, water clarity was amazing....I mean amazing!!

The short boat ride to the fishing hole from the inlet was very scenic even though we were dealing with water levels approaching 2.5' below the norm.

You can tell the health of an area based on how much wildlife you see and these waters were full of fish , aquatic animals dotting the shore line and birds everywhere...I knew we were in for some good fishing.

On the lake the scenery was even more impressive with shoreline rock formations thousands of years old and still a slave to nature.

We set up the troll and made several passes on a previously proven break line but the fish were not active or had moved out to deeper water due to the clear, bright sunny day and no wind conditions. We decided to see if changing up our tactics would prove successful for us.

With 2 anglers and 2 lines per angler and planer boards set we were covering approx 200' of water and were running different baits at different depths to see what would work.It wasn't long before we had the first fish in the boat and had switched the other baits to run at that depth

The bite was on and with each pass we were having hits/ losses and hook ups

Great fighting fish and clear water makes for plenty of eye opening action!!

The last one of the day fought the best with plenty of aerobic leaps and powerful runs but was no match for patience and a skilled net man.

What an amazing day of fishing in April....the lake was as perfect as it can get.

Can't wait to get out again!!

Special thanks to Laker John.

Lake Ontario Browns And a New Species To Add To The List

Fresh water fishing has begun with a trip to Lake Ontario for some Browns with some friends. Being that Muskie is still almost 3 months away dipping the line for other species is always an option. What started as a rendezvous at the local beach launch turned out to be an action filled day with lots of laughs and reminising of other outings we've had over the years.

Blue sky day , no wind to start and with 2 lines we were stoked to get into some action. We trolled a spot not to far from down town Toronto that had some pretty interesting scenery on the way to the spot...

My bud Arnaldo was captian for the day in his fine Tracker boat rigged perfectly for the type of fishing we were planning to do.

We trolled mainly in and out of shallow water looking for baitfish hoping the Trout woould be around and feeding.

Arnaldo keeping an attentive eye on the sonar looking for signs of fish and proper depth.

Action started soon and after several hookups and losses we thought we were into a big fish but the line peeled out and snapped, unfortunately this happened twice before we managed this decent Brown which fought well for it's size.

Keeping on the troll we decided to try to get me onto a species I had never caught before and with time winding down we switched over to some different techniques in hopes of hooking up.

It wasn't long befor we were into a few of these size Drum which fought good but were just about as stinky as a fish gets...

All in all a great day (what day fishing isn't??) and worth the almost 9 hr round trip for a day fish...

No matter what you catch....fishing always is a good time !!

Bucktail Madness 2010 inline baits

2010 is going to be long and hard on my casting outfits after the success of 2009. With many big fish released on large inline bucktails I have already begun to stock up for 2010 and the St.Clair Hound by the Dog River Lodge Lure Company is first on my assault list.

These baits are some of the best made inline spinners I have ever seen and run as good as they look.

Burning the tops of weeds or slow retrieving these baits along edges works wonders for either suspended fish or those lurking the weeds for prey. I hope to post many fish pics courtesy of the Hound in 2010 so stay tuned for some Ottawa River muskie action at it's finest.

You can choose just about any color you like.

March 1st update

Wow what a brutal winter for ice fishing and ice is off on most waterbodies already. Hopefully I'll be able to make a trek up into the Calabogie area for some rainbows before all the ice is gone.

Meanwhile visit me at WFN as an official ambassador to WFN for the Eastern Ontarion area.

There will be plenty of boat mod pics to come and when the seasons start to open, lots of fish pics.