Muskoka Outdoors Network

This is not your 'standard issue' sunfish that might haunt your Muskoka dock. Arizona angler, Robert Lawler, may have shattered the Arizona state with his five pound eight ounce sunfish.

Robert caught the behemoth panfish on a Texas-rigged a 7-inch Berkley Power Worm. For the entire story about this sunfish (and more photos), visit the Field and Stream website HERE.

Should Muskoka cottagers think twice about dipping their toes over the edge of their docks this summer? Probably not. The Ontario record for a Sunfish (Pumpkinseed) is only 1 pound. I would be more worried about the 42-pound pike that lurk the weedy cottage waters.

With the recent sputtering of PETA about GoDaddy's CEO, Bob Parsons, hunting and killing and elephant in Zimbabwe, I was reminded of some property signs PETA was distributing to anyone who felt so led to support their cause.

Craig, over at Outdoor U, posted the PETA 'No Fishing' and 'No Hunting' signs on his blog site. The signs bugged me for a few reasons:

1. Because PETA made them

2. They fail to mention that pests and other animals are killed to ensure that farmers (producers) minimize their losses of vegetables for markets. (ie. mice, deer, rabbits) This erodes their self imposed moral high ground.

3. They are calling all of us who enjoy turkey dinners for Christmas – killers.

Here are their signs and what prompted me to counter with my sign (seen above the post):

Ontario residents can fish without a licence in Ontario from July 2 to July 10. The annual event is one of two opportunities that the Government of Ontario allows Canadians to fish licence-free in Ontario waters.  Anglers who hit the waters during this event are still required to follow the Ontario MNR's 2011 Fishing Regulations. This is a great opportunity to introduce somebody new to fishing.

Many Ontario communities are holding their own special fishing events during this angling event. For more information and special events in your area, visit the Ontario Family Fishing Weekend website.

Nothing beats the discovery of finding section of water that holds enough ‘hook-yearning’ fish that give your reel hand a monster set of cranking blisters. The same feeling holds true for those of us who find, or own, a plot of land that oozes wild game from bushy shadows.

We call the spot our own and like sly foxes our eyes make a quick sweep of the area to ensure the secrecy of our newly added GPS way-point. If your are like me, this hunting or fishing ‘sweet spot’ becomes one of our most closely guarded secrets. It remains unknown to all but a few close friends.

Herein, lies the potential problem with good fishing and the dilemma that it causes in my mind.

It is so easy to get wrapped up in keeping our fishing secrets with ‘the few’ – that we forget the benefit of sharing the experience with ‘the many’.

I am guilty of this.

An angler approached me, before a local fishing tournament, and asked me to mark some great fishing spots on Vernon Lake. At first, I marked all my favorite spots except for one. I struggled for several seconds before I could get my hand to mark the last and most secret of my spots.

Why?

I think it was because it is nice to have that spot on a lake where you can go and expect to catch some fish – without having to worry about another angler being there before you were. With my new found love of fly fishing, I can really appreciate the importance of solitude in your favorite fishing spot. After all – it is part of the experience of fishing.

I guess what I am wrestling with is how can we as ‘anglers and/or hunters’ expect to propagate the excitement we enjoy (and cherish) in our conservation activities if we become tight-lipped about where all the ‘good’ spots are?

Am I alone? Possibly. Ask yourself this: Could you easily hand over a GPS coordinate list of your top 5 fishing spots on your favorite lake? If your answer is yes – stop reading.

Imagine if the NHL, NBA, or NFL expected to share the excitement of their sports by keeping the venues for these high impact sports for just a select few of the population who happen to know where the next event was taking place? Does it seem realistic to expect future anglers to get ‘cranked’ about fishing when their first experiences are spent ‘fish-less’ in the great wide open of a new body of water?

Some of you are now saying, “What about the enjoyment of the experience of, the newcomer, learning to find their own fishing spots and techniques?”.  I can’t disagree with you. I am just wondering if that is making fishing one dimensional? Could we also add to the teaching process of the outdoors a clause that encourages us to share that extremely productive bend in the river with someone else – without the need to be tight lipped? This would, in turn, encourage a more complete 2-dimensional fishing experience because it has been shared and enjoyed by others who caught just as many fish as you did.

This is not sour grapes. As the keeper of my own secret spots and a fantastic technique for catching lake trout in Algonquin Park, I am still thinking this through. I’d appreciate your thoughts.

A key factor that could lead to greater fishing success may be as simple as keeping an eye on your watch. It's an overlooked detail that easily warrants your attention.

In a recent blog post from the team at Wired 2 Fish, their Speed Fishing article caught my attention on Twitter. Full of great fish finding tips that can be implemented by any angler, I would encourage you to read the article. In particular, a section that jumped out to me was the following nugget of fishing wisdom,

"The biggest difference between a pro angler and a weekend angler is weekend anglers fish too slow in the wrong areas," Michael Iaconelli said. 

That wasn't a slight on weekend anglers, but he was illustrating the point on a recent trip, and his fellow pros backed up his theories. People are trained to fish slow and thoroughly, but when you're searching for them, you can fish slow in the wrong area for way too long. The time to slow down is after you find a biting bass and are looking to expand the area. Entire Article Here

Thanks for a great article, Jason. Follow Wired 2 Fish on Twitter here.

Yesterday's photo submission of Extreme Weather Trout, reminded me of a fishing trip I had in Algonquin Park several years ago. The unusual experience has developed, at least in my thinking, an 'unscientific' theory that trout bite voraciously during snow storms.

Here is the story,

The clouds did not look very encouraging when dad and I put our kevlar canoe into the water after our first portage. The significant temperature drop, that preceded the clouds, made me wish I had packed my winter sleeping bag. I never thought that I would need it.

After all, it was the the third weekend in May.

If I remember correctly (it was several years ago), it started to snow by the time we had reached our camp site.

“Just swell.” was all I could muster under my breath as I began to unload the contents of our canoe onto the rocky shore. Our cooking fire warmed up our moods as we prepared for an after supper fish.

That’s when we made the right and wrong decision.

As we put our supper dishes away, the warmth of the fire seemed to be more of a draw than a cold north wind with its accompanying blizzard. So, we decided to retreat to our tents for the evening and pick-up on our fishing expedition the next day.

Made sense right?

Apparently, a couple of canoes we spotted across the bay (despite the snow) said differently. For the next couple of hours before dark, we heard shouts and cheers echoing across the water. It was all very puzzling to us from within the temporary warmth of our sleeping bags and fully clothed bodies. After a long evening of cold restlessness, we hit the water hard for the whole day.

We caught nothing. The lake trout were silent.

There was no lure or bait that we did not try. We even tried where we heard all the yelling the night before.

Nothing.

Let me fast forward to the next day. After another very cold evening, we packed up camp early and headed across the lake for home. We noticed the ‘rowdy’ canoes from the night before had beaten us to the portage. The puzzle regarding the yelling (we had heard the night before) was quickly solved.

Both canoes had their limit of huge lake trout. Apparently, the fishing was phenomenal during that stinking snow storm. The anglers were so excited by the way the snow trout were biting during the storm – they were cheering and yelling to signify their joy.

“Swell.” I whispered, under my breath, as I stared in amazement at the display of trout before me.

The point of this sad tale should be obvious. There is something about bad weather that drives Lake Trout mad in Algonquin Park. If you can safely fish – do it!

Tents are for the weak.

I can’t put my finger on it yet, but the sunsets on Lake Kipawa, Quebec are different then any I have ever seen. The sky seems more brilliant blue at that magical, glowing moment before the sun hits the horizon.

The fishing is also fantastic because the lake lets you target (what are in my mind) the big 3 fish species: pickerel (walleye), lake trout and pike. For more information on Quebec’s Lake Kipawa (because I want to get to my story) visit this site.

For 2 - 3 years, the guys of our Triple L Fishing Club ventured to an island fishing lodge in Lake Kipawa. This lake is so big, that it took us a couple of years to fine-tune a short list on where we should fish. Fortunately, some of the best fishing spots for us were 30 second boat rides from the cabins.

This was the case on the night of the caper.

Dad and I anchored in rocky bay right across from the lodge. I think we picked it because the fish finder showed great rock structure and a steep drop-off just a few feet from shore. We had visions of lunker lake trout swarming our lures and bait.

For one of those rare moments, our plan worked out.

The lake trout started biting and I think we could have called it a frenzy. Our presentation consisted of hooked herring and Berkley Gulp jigs. Somewhere between our 4th landed trout and a lure change I noticed smoke coming from the back corner of one of our cabins. I pointed out the smoke plume to dad and he grabbed his binoculars to confirm what we were seeing. We both went through mental checklists in our heads to remember what we did with the stove when supper had finished.

Another trout hit my lure and I quickly brought it in as dad tried to reach the rest of the gang on the radio. We were hoping that they might still be on shore with a radio.

No answer.

At that point, we knew we had to go check it out. I have to admit – it was a tough decision to make. The right ones usually are. So, we raced over to the docks with imaginary sirens blazing. As we docked and ran to the site of the fire, we were relieved to find that the fire was just the lodge owner burning some leaves. From our fishing angle, it looked like the fire was coming from our cabins. After having a good laugh with the owner, we hurried back to our fishing frenzy location.

As you would expect – the fish were gone. The timing of the whole chain of events made me wonder if we should return back to the camp to make sure the lodge owner was not being held hostage by a school of ‘special-ops’ trout.

Fire missions aside, we had some great fishing moments on Lake Kipawa. We found a spinning rig (or chartreuse jig heads) with a minnow or Berkley Gulp bait worked for both Lake Trout and Pickerel. If you can bring some live leeches to the party – you will virtually guarantee yourself some fresh pickerel in the pan. Take one night to do some after dark pickerel fishing. Not only will you see a great sunset, but you may get lucky (as we did one night) and see the walleye school into the bay we were fishing in.

Don’t fall for the burning cabin trick…

Finding smallmouth bass this summer may be easier than you think!

I was fortunate enough, last summer, to have been invited to a small lake north of Huntsville by, Kevin Swinscoe. The lake, which can only be accessed by surrounding land owners, shimmered enticingly as I approached Kevin’s dock and waiting motor boat.

Before we left in the boat, Kevin introduced me to the equipment we were going to use:

1. A six weight fly rod and reel rigged with a Messinger Frog (photo top)

2. A ‘standard issue’ spincasting rod with a Berkley Sabertail Grub (green)

I took a quick look up to the driveway where my car was parked. My own equipment was there occupying the entire back seat. If you listened carefully enough, you could have heard my favorite blue Rapala cringe, as Kevin said,

“You won’t need your equipment.”

When Kevin started the boat and we drove away from the dock, I hoped he was right about his assessment of my equipment.

Kevin’s plan was simple and effective. We would start at one end of the small lake and allow the wind to drift us down one side of the contoured shore. The motor was only used to make minor course corrections.

As we started our silent drifting, Kevin, reminded me to cast into the ‘pockets’ of weeds and shore structures that were prevalent along the lake’s banks. This proved key to our success as bass began to annihilate the top-water Messinger frog on Kevin’s fly rod. The smallmouth bass were also hungry for my sub-surface offering of the frog-like Berkley grub.

One of my favorite times to fish for smallmouth bass is during the golden moment after a supper BBQ and the sun begins to set. Usually retreating with the sun is the wind. A small wind factor can help the angler to make some pinpoint casts while casting for pocket smallmouth.

At this time of the evening (at least in my experience – and Kevin’s) bass move into shallow water and occupy weed, dock and structure pockets along the shore.

Pockets are formed when any portion of weed beds and shore structures collide and create open ambush points for bass to sit, and wait, for incoming prey. I realize that what I am saying should be obvious to most, but I have included some photos in this post to help illustrate what I mean. I have put red fish icons in some of the places I would call pockets for bass. The splash seen in the middle photo (photo right) is from one of the bass that hammered Kevin’s frog fly.

Pay attention special attention where rocks, boulders, and trees interface with the water from the shoreline. These create fantastic ambush points – especially when in close proximity to docks. You don’t need a boat to capitalize on bass pockets. Find the nearest dock that has weeds on either side of it. Fish the pocket where the weeds meet the dock in deeper water.

After the smell of the BBQ is whisked away by the light evening breeze into the setting sun, look for smallmouth pockets along the shore of your favorite lake. Turn off your fish finder and forget fancy presentations. As Kevin says,

“You won’t need it…”

Plan your next fishing trip to Muskoka, Haliburton or Parry-Sound with these 2011 fish stocking lists from the Ontario MNR. Download the PDF's to see if your favourite lake has recently been stocked.

Download the Bracebridge area fish stocking list here (includes Huntsville Lakes)

Download the Haliburton area fish stocking list here

Download the Parry-Sound area fish stocking list here

For more details on more Ontario lakes, you can also use the Ontario MNR's online fishing map tool. It is helpful in confirming what fish species are found (and stocked) in lakes you may have never fished before. Use the map system by following this link.

I have crossed Spiers' creek many times as a hunter. Each time across, I would look at the cold, clear water flowing beneath my feet and wonder if drinking it would cause havoc in my intestinal tract. An unfortunate event that could bring a highly anticipated hunting trip to an abrupt end.

This time however, things were different.  I was armed with a LifeStraw.

I sprawled out as best I could on the creek's uneven banks and place the LifeStraw to my mouth. A nearby beaver damn triggered my mind to silently warn that this may not be a great idea. After taking a deep breath, I put the straw in the water and began to 'suck' the water from the icy creek to my mouth. Initially, it seemed that the water was not going to move up through the straw, but with some mild extra effort (as the packaging suggests), the cold liquid filled my mouth.

The taste was wild, icy, and natural. The way a creek should taste.

More importantly, the Lifestraw removes 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria (>LOG 7 reduction) and 99.9% of waterborne protozoan cysts (>LOG 3 reduction). The hollow fibre membrane filters (without iodine) particles as small as 0.2 microns. Take that Giardia and typical muddy streams! I had no intestinal 'issues' after my creek drinking experience with LifeStraw.

This is the kind of vital outdoor tool that will make finding safe water on remote hunting, fishing or hiking trips much easier.  The LifeStraw fits in my hunting and fly fishing packs and is durable enough to stand pack travel between extra ammunition and my GPS.  It will be invaluable to me on my favourite trout stream or Algonquin Park lake trout lake. No more 'dip-and-pray' or 'chemical-spray' water bottle fillings.

The filter will safely clean up to 1000 litres (264 gallons) of creek, lake and puddle type water reservoirs. For only $20 per straw, you get great value for water safety. Assuming you drinking 3 - 4 liters (3 - 4 quarts) of water per day while hiking, the LifeStraw will last between 250-330 days - worth of drinking before it reaches its expiry of 264 gallons (1,000 litres).

In freezing temperatures (which I did not get to try the filter in yet), I recommend that you take extra care to blow out the excess water that can 'sit' or remain inside the straw after use. Ice formation in the straw will break the filter's effectiveness. Lying down to get water from whatever source you are considering taking water from, may not be the best idea. Fill your favourite (wide mouthed) water bottle and use the straw from there.

Go ahead - taste a creek today with LifeStraw.