Canada Fishing Info

Call it what you will, musky, muskie, muskellunge or its scientific name of esox masquinongy – the muskie is one of freshwater angling’s most challenging targets. It was an autographed picture of Boston Red Sox great Ted Williams holding up a giant muskie he had landed on White Sand Lake. As the lure gets close, the angler will dip his rod tip under the water and begin to feverishly create a figure eight motion with the lure to entice a strike. Sometimes the muskie swims away, sometimes it figure eights behind the lure until it loses interest, and, if lucky, sometimes it tries to eat the lure. read more

On a lucky day for you to a grind-it-out day for them, you’ll find one or two behind sunglasses, still barking business. Sonoma County has Bodega Bay, Half Moon Bay enters the ocean from Pillar Point, and boats come and go from Santa Cruz and Moss Landing and Monterey (thoughts on Cannery Row mingled above) and on down the line. The HMB charter boat Huli Cat made the run Tuesday, stopping to make bait outside the Red Can, worked between the Guide and 601 (at 37′00/123′05, according to the skip), and had 19 longfins for four anglers, who farmed at least another 15 fish. Out Monday, drifting live bait alongside Angel Island (at Blunt Point), Alcatraz (at high water) and over Berkeley Flats, the boat worked through all the short fish for five keepers, including 29- and 32-pounders, landed by a husband and wife, both into their octogenarian years. When he finds a large school, he positions his boat over the fish, and his clients jig them up on spoon lures, 20, 30, 40 fish in a day, fishing, catching and releasing until they’re giddy or bored. read more

From left, the pilot, Tom Trigg, Darren Clamm, Richard Valentine, Eric Trigg, Evan Trigg and Ron Reeder. TAMAROA - A handful of Tamaroa anglers know what a real fishing trip looks like–hundreds of miles away where even the cell phones won't connect with the outside world. Valentine is part of a fishing group that includes Tom Trigg, Darren Clamm, Richard Valentine, Eric Trigg, Evan Trigg–all of Tamaroa–and Ron Reeder of Murphysboro. The smaller lakes around Crane Lake are teeming with smallmouth bass, northern pike and walleye and the quiet is deafening. read more

I had received word from a friend that in recent days a certain nexus had been achieved, a downturn, slightly, in the number of anglers and boats on the Bighorn, and an uptick in the dry fly fishing. Come here on some summer days and you’ll pass your time dredging the river’s holes with San Juan worms, drifting these big flies unseen 5 or 6 feet down exactly with the speed of the current. A two-ended boat with oars, it was quickly loaded with a cooler (lunch and drinks), fly vests, a landing net, rain gear and fishing rods. The Bighorn is a river whose waters below the Yellowtail Dam for 15 or more miles are filled with thousands upon thousands of trout, many of them big, 20 inches or more. read more

YELLOW PERCH are reported from Candlewood Lake(Jumbos), Highland Lake, Tyler Lake, Mudge Pond andCoventry Lake. Farmington River conditions continue to be excellentfor summer trout fishing and anglers can also lookforward to even more fish in the river for Labor Dayweekend. Isonychia (#10-12, fast water, evening), Needhami(#22-28, early morning), Blue Wing Olives (#22-28,mid-late afternoon), Sulphurs duns (#16-18, morning;afternoon to early evening for spinners), Stenonema(Cahill #14-18), Rusty Spinners (#18-26), Caddis (tan#16-20, all day; green #22-26, evening; summer pupa,#18-20 morning), Midges (#22-32, morning), Black Ants(#14-20, mid day in fast water), Flying Ants (#18-22,mid day, when windy/humid), Stone Hopper (#8-12, midday) and Golden Drake (Potomanthus, #10-14, lateevening) are successful patterns. Lakes & Ponds â” Anglers are finding some good lateAugust trout fishing at Crystal Lake (Ellington),Coventry Lake, Highland Lake, East Twin Lake, BeachPond and Long Pond. Consistent spots include the Race, Plum Gut, ThamesRiver, Bartlett Reef, Hatchett Reef, Connecticut Riverfrom the Baldwin (I-95) Bridge to the breakwaters(including the DEP Marine Headquarters fishing pier),Long Sand Shoal, Sixmile Reef, Southwest Reef, FalknerIsland area to the reefs off Branford, StratfordShoal/Middle Ground area, Penfield Reef, and theNorwalk Islands. read more

You could almost hear the bagpipes as Brian Swayne of San Rafael told the tale about the big salmon at California City. To make a long story short about the luck of the Irish, the stunning 47-inch-long fish weighed in at a whopping 48 pounds, which, depending on the reliability of weigh-in proceedings at the San Rafael Yacht Club, would make it one of the biggest salmon caught off Tiburon in recent years. The two Dublin natives were drifting shiners for halibut at Paradise Cay without a lot of luck when they decided to switch rigs and troll for salmon off Tiburon at Cal City. He hooked a 24-pound salmon in the last minutes of the 67th annual Marin Yacht Club salmon derby off Stinson Beach on Saturday afternoon and collected a $3,000 jackpot. Endress is quick to say that buddies Ricky Ho and Bart Ribotta were pivotal in helping him snatch the top prize from Doving by getting the winning fish aboard by the derby deadline. read more

The board approved a 2007 Wisconsin waterfowl season structure that includes an increase in the canvasback duck bag to two birds, elimination of the early closure provision for the exterior zone of the regular Canada goose season, and opening day shooting hours beginning at 9 a. The board also adopted a statewide nontoxic shot requirement when hunting rail, snipe and moorhens beginning in 2007, and beginning in 2008 hunters will be required to use nontoxic shot when hunting mourning doves on DNR lands. Fish deep weed edges with small leeches and jigs with plastic tubes and add a wax worm if fish are finicky. Crawlers on floating Lindy rigs, stick baits, popping frogs, and spinner baits are all producing good action. Walleye action is erratic, with decent catches on leeches and crawlers fished on weed edges and in weed pockets. Smallmouth action is good on the flowages and larger rivers with small plastics fished in wood near deep water areas. read more

E very summer for the past 11 years I’ve traveled north to KO Lodge in eastern Ontario, Canada. In year’s past, I’ve pursued the wary and mighty muskellunge with a crazed obsession, caught my trophy northern pike and eaten enough freshly caught walleye to know they are the best eating freshwater fish in the world. Twelve casts with a Super Zara Spook topwater one morning produced seven strikes and six fish that would range from 21 1/42 to 31 1/42 pounds. I could write 10 columns about this trip telling you of secret places where only a canoe or kayak allows access to smallmouth-laden water, of the cries of wild wolves at night, of seeing the Milky Way brighter than I’ve ever seen it, of good food and beer after a day of being outdoors, of sitting around a campfire late into the night. read more

read more

Although it was sixty years ago, I clearly recall his lean frame, tan leather face, white hair and knarled hands that could undo any fishing knot. Fishing is an opportunity to help a child develop a love of the outdoors â” far more important than the fishing itself. Fish swallow bait deep, making it difficult to remove the hook without killing the fish. I learned to spin cast at about age 6 or 7 and fly fish at 16 and it’s been my favorite hobby the whole time. read more