Ontario fishing trip(lots of fish and more!) DUW

[mainbutter]

Thanks guys! Hope you enjoyed the pics as much as I enjoyed taking them

[Jyson]

...NICE!!! I wish I was that good at fishing, the only thing I ever catch is friggin crabs and innocent bystanders.

[mainbutter]

On the trip my brother also was lucky enough to run into a huge musky - 45 1/2 inches! This is a pic of my uncle holding it. I didn't get a look at the pic until today, but either the fish's mouth is deformed or the pic was taken from a weird angle or something weird with how my uncle is holding it.



I can't believe how awesome the fishing was on this trip.

[Buttons]

Awesome pics!!!

When I was about 12 or 13 I went fishing with my uncle and dad for musky. I was only young (and not very strong) so I was only using light-medium gear for perch... well I felt a good hit so started reeling in and saw that I had a pretty nice perch on my little jig. Out of nowhere I see this large dark object in the water come up and just smash my perch. The force of it pulling nearly pulled me out of the boat. My dad grabbed me by the waist and started yelling to not let go. He grabbed the rod and ended up landing a 40" or so musky! Probably the biggest (and strongest) fish I've ever caught in my life.

[Ranger]

This is a pic of my uncle holding it. I didn't get a look at the pic until today, but either the fish's mouth is deformed or the pic was taken from a weird angle or something weird with how my uncle is holding it.

I recall reading in InFisherman some time ago that you are not supposed to hold big fish by their jaws. Only bass have a jaw structure that can support their body weight. So this fish's jaw may have been broken by it's own weight. The best method is to use plastic "lip grippers" with one hand, and support the body with the other.

Congrats on the great fishing! Always nice to get a mixed bag on a trip - keeps things interesting. And big fish like your Muskie on light line is as good as it gets, IMO. One question: some of the fish appeared to have sores/cuts on their sides, are those from leeches?

[mainbutter]

yeah i don't know why he was holding it like that, heck he'd be the first to say that you shouldn't have all the weight of a large musky on the be pressing on the gill palte.. best way to hold a musky or pike is to grab hold of the gill plate(like my uncle was doing) but support all the weight by placing a hand underneath the belly. Never use grippers with musky or pike, they'll toss and flip if you don't know how to hold by the gill plate correctly, and dropping them is bad for their health.

[mainbutter]

as for the sores and such(especially on one of those pike, very strange), good question. Many muskies have scars(especially on the tail).. from other fish biting them, wear and tear during beddind in the shallows during spawning, and sadly from bad fishermen trying to snag 'em which is against ontario regs.

I once saw a musky follow my dad's lure some years ago, it had about a dozen or so 6 inch long scars from cuts of some sort across its back. These are tough critters!

[dsirkle]

One question: some of the fish appeared to have sores/cuts on their sides, are those from leeches?

Probably from Lamprey which came to the Great Lakes from overseas on freighters. Musky and Northern Pike probably bring them from the Great Lakes up tributaries to inland lakes in Ontario.

[ChristinaP]

AWESOME trip!!!! My 4 year old would have LOVED that!!! He's so into fishing right now, it's not funny. We're thinking about getting him his own pole. Great pictures! Thanks for sharing!

[jeffh231979]

wow great pics looks like you had a great time!!!