[mercman]

As you can tell, i'm new to this forum.I havent had time yet to read all the posts, but i see lots of steelhead and salmon reports.
Any of you interested in Pike, Musky, Walleye and Bass? I have a ton of pics if you are:wink:
Dont get me wrong i love all kinds of fishing reports, i just dont have any steelhead locally to fish.


Paul

[Meanderer]

An excellent point!! Time to mix it up a little.

What is your best pike rig for still fishing?

[mercman]

Pike is too easy.They will hit a beer cap if you bend it just right!
What about Walleye, or Bass.
I Fish largemouth using a 8 in berkley power worm in a secret color8-) Texas rigged, and slowly crawled through weed flats. 8-12 feet deep.For Walleye, nothing beats a 3 inch pink/white mister twister on an orange jig head.

[Meanderer]

Bass like crayfish. Ever try the Berkeley version?

[mercman]

Small mouth will take anything resembleing a crayfish IF there are crayfish where you are fishing. Personally, i have never caught a fish with crayfish bait, either real or artificial. Small Mouth prefer deeper water, so any bait that can get down to 18-20 feet will be good.
Large mouth will hit frogs though. Live Target frogs are killer for LMB.

[Koho]

Walleye- I like to go out to 30+ft and bottom bounce with either a white on white jig gulp minnow. Or. A live minnow a foot up my line. Just drift and wait for a stickerel or a pickerel.

Bass- all I can say is top water heaven!!!!! Imitation frogs in Lilly pads..... Nothing like seeing a lm scream 2 ft above the water, no talent but a lot of weed less fun

[J'snest]

mercman, on 10 January 2012 - 04:56 PM, said:

Small mouth will take anything resembleing a crayfish IF there are crayfish where you are fishing. Personally, i have never caught a fish with crayfish bait, either real or artificial. Small Mouth prefer deeper water, so any bait that can get down to 18-20 feet will be good.
Large mouth will hit frogs though. Live Target frogs are killer for LMB.

I fish Muskoka for Smallmouth with a drop-shot rig and a Berkley Gulp Alive Leach. Just find a rocky drop-off into 15-30 feet of water and bang, you'll have fun all day...........

[Meanderer]

I see Live Target also has a MOUSE. Must be for CATfish...

[mercman]

Meanderer, on 10 January 2012 - 05:54 PM, said:

I see Live Target also has a MOUSE. Must be for CATfish...

LMAO !!!!
LMB and pike will chomp on those like candy.

Drop shotting is something i have wanted to try. I have to get confident with the setup. Smallmouth are a real hoot to catch.
Anyone Musky hunt? I got my first last summer.42 inch, Now i"m hooked.

[mercman]

My multi-species boat

[mercman]

Walleye from my last softwater trip.

Late summer Smallie

Early season Musky. Disregard the banner.Its the only pic i have.

A tasty meal

[NADO]

Is that a puslinch lake smallmouth?

[mercman]

Nope, a St Lawerence Seaway smallie.

I fish the River from Cornwall to Sorel.Its a truly unique and amazing fishery.We have Eel, Sturgeon,Muskie,Northern Pike, Perch,Whitefish, Carp,Char,Bullhead,Channel Cat,Trout,Smallmouth,and Largemouth.

[Alfiegee]

mercman, on 10 January 2012 - 12:22 PM, said:

As you can tell, i'm new to this forum.I havent had time yet to read all the posts, but i see lots of steelhead and salmon reports.
Any of you interested in Pike, Musky, Walleye and Bass? I have a ton of pics if you are:wink:
Dont get me wrong i love all kinds of fishing reports, i just dont have any steelhead locally to fish.


Paul

Hey Paul, I guess I would be a multi species angler. The species depends on the time of year and where I am. I fish the Grand a lot and we float minnows there. You can literally catch a different type of fish from cast to cast, Pike, Walleye, Smallmouth, Channel Cats ( I have yet to catch one on a mouse ), Steelhead, Gar, Bowfin and various Panfish.
A mouse pattern will work on a fly rod fishing rivers with big Brookies up north besides working on Smallies and Pike.
Here where I live in Hamilton the harbor holds Smallies, Largies, some Pike, Carp, Sheephead, Suckers and more Cats.
I fish Lakers up near Sundridge right after ice out every spring when they are hitting on or near the surface.
I also get up to the Soo quite a bit so I get to fish Salmon up there every year, Chinnies and Pinks.
I don't fish the Salmon here in Bronte or the Credit as all the hoods come out for that and it doesn't impress me at all to witness that.
I like the mouse and crayfish as Bass and Pike baits, they can be good at the right time.
The only thing that has really eluded me is Musky, I think I have caught only 2 in my 40 years of fishing and they were both caught in the multi species French River, and not really large ones, 7 to 10 lbs. Nice fish however and I would love to catch more of them. I'm thinking of trying out Lake St Clair this year, I hear it's good Musky water.
Gawd I almost forgot my favorite, I do get out to Newfie every 2 or 3 years to see friends and fish the Atlantic Salmon run. They are an incredible fish. Very finicky, but man do they fly when you set the hook, I have seen 20 lbers clear the surface of the water by 4 ft, awesome.
Is that "multi species" enough for you ?

Alfie.

[mercman]

Yup...That Makes you a Multi Species Angler Bud !!!
St Cair is good Musky Waters for sure. I have seen 52 inchers come out of St Francis.Huge toothy beasts, and a rush to catch.
Theres some Big stuff in the river down this way. I was fishing in 30feet of water last summer, and got a shallow depth alarm on my sonar.Lasted about 5 seconds, and stopped.I figure a huge sturgeon came for a look at me.

[Alfiegee]

mercman, on 10 January 2012 - 10:17 PM, said:

Yup...That Makes you a Multi Species Angler Bud !!!
St Cair is good Musky Waters for sure. I have seen 52 inchers come out of St Francis.Huge toothy beasts, and a rush to catch.
Theres some Big stuff in the river down this way. I was fishing in 30feet of water last summer, and got a shallow depth alarm on my sonar.Lasted about 5 seconds, and stopped.I figure a huge sturgeon came for a look at me.

You ever fish the St Lawrence near Kingston? The company I contract for has a big deal with CFB Kingston and it sounds like I will be doing a lot of work on the base there for the next few years. The base is right on the water.
I may be in Kingston for months at a time, but don't really know that area. I know there is a lot of islands, the 1,000 Islands or something. Sounds like prime Pike and Bass territory. I know if you are near Cornwall that is upstream from you but just asking? What about the Cataraqui River that runs into the St Lawrence in that area?
Sturgeon in the area too. Now you're throwing another species at me that I have never caught, but have seen on TV and would love to try.
Anyway, that looks like a nice ride you have on the water, and that you are getting some nice "multi species" from your pics. Pretty sure I saw Bob Izumi catch a Steelie in the St Lawrence on TV a few weeks ago but not sure what part.

Alfie

[mercman]

Hey Alfie
Let me give a quick background on me, so you know where i fish mostly. I am originally from Ottawa.Moved here to Montreal in 1970 with Dad. He was in the Army.We came here right in the middle of the FLQ crisis. i was a short little english guy in the middle of a french/english war almost.
Something about this place appealed to me so i stuck around. I now onw my own bussiness and have no problem at all here.
I fish locally, the seaway just south of Montreal.I also have friends in Cornwall, where i do most of my walleye and Musky fishing. I also get up a couple of times a year, to a small lake near Arnprior, for Bass.
I have been fishing for Walleye here locally,and have had the crap scared out of me, by 100lb sturgeon jumping out of the water 20 feet from the boat.I have never caught one, but they are bottom feeders like catfish, so they are fished in the same way,but with heavier tackle:wink:


Paul

[basshat22]

Props for the Ranger. Have a '09 Sport, myself. Mostly a bass guy, but I do go for some inland trout just to change it up. Other than the occasional humiliating attempt at tributary trout in winter and spring, I stick with pan fish until my big mouthed buddies are back in season.

[NADO]

Alfiegee, on 10 January 2012 - 10:52 PM, said:

You ever fish the St Lawrence near Kingston? The company I contract for has a big deal with CFB Kingston and it sounds like I will be doing a lot of work on the base there for the next few years. The base is right on the water.
I may be in Kingston for months at a time, but don't really know that area. I know there is a lot of islands, the 1,000 Islands or something. Sounds like prime Pike and Bass territory. I know if you are near Cornwall that is upstream from you but just asking? What about the Cataraqui River that runs into the St Lawrence in that area?
Sturgeon in the area too. Now you're throwing another species at me that I have never caught, but have seen on TV and would love to try.
Anyway, that looks like a nice ride you have on the water, and that you are getting some nice "multi species" from your pics. Pretty sure I saw Bob Izumi catch a Steelie in the St Lawrence on TV a few weeks ago but not sure what part.

Alfie

The first large fish I ever caught was off wolf Island, It was a 36" pike caught on a jig and white twister tail while perch fishing with 4lb mono. There is a ferry that goes to the islands right in Kingston.

[Alfiegee]

mercman, on 11 January 2012 - 10:51 AM, said:

Hey Alfie
Let me give a quick background on me, so you know where i fish mostly. I am originally from Ottawa.Moved here to Montreal in 1970 with Dad. He was in the Army.We came here right in the middle of the FLQ crisis. i was a short little english guy in the middle of a french/english war almost.
Something about this place appealed to me so i stuck around. I now onw my own bussiness and have no problem at all here.
I fish locally, the seaway just south of Montreal.I also have friends in Cornwall, where i do most of my walleye and Musky fishing. I also get up a couple of times a year, to a small lake near Arnprior, for Bass.
I have been fishing for Walleye here locally,and have had the crap scared out of me, by 100lb sturgeon jumping out of the water 20 feet from the boat.I have never caught one, but they are bottom feeders like catfish, so they are fished in the same way,but with heavier tackle:wink:


Paul

Hey Paul. I guess you are down stream of Kingston, but it doesn't hurt to ask . I remember the FLQ crisis well. I have always liked Montreal and have made many trips there over the years. We used to charter buses to take us out to see the Expos. What a tragedy 1994 was, that season cost Montreal the Expos.They were far and away the best team in MLB. As a matter of fact Sports Illustrated picked their triple A team Harrisburg? as the second best professional ball team in N. America that year. They would have won the World Series that year but for the strike. The fans would have kept coming to the games and I think there would still be a team there. Even after the strike they were run very well. People just stopped going to the games so the money was not there. Sorry "pet peeve."
The Jazz festival there is great too, I vaguely remember a few of them LOL.
I've seen sturgeon caught on TV and I would love to do battle with one some day, the jumps, the hour or 2 fight, I think that would be great. Just to correct a popular misconception. Channel Cats are not a bottom feeder. I'm sure they take free food found on the bottom of rivers and lakes as will any fish, but as a regular Cat fisher that is not where I get them. I get them on live minnows, and lures that are not really fished near the bottom. I catch them the same way I would catch Bass or Pike.

Alfie.