JOE ESOX

My buddies and i have had good experiences with steve's custom canvas in ontario. bit of a hike from hamlin tho

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great pics old man.  the cowling on your outboard is so nice and shiny!  seems like mine gets scratches from just looking at it haha

Beautiful fish! congrats!

ditto on the tough weekend at chuatarkwa. Fished fri/sat/sun there and got 3 fish (1 fish each day trolling).  Nada casting and of course did not catch a fish during the tourney.  Chose to skip the bbq/awards after the tourney to keep fishin and nailed one @ like 5:30pm.   pulled the boat early monday am to hit up another lake and did 2 more.  All fish were mid to upper 30"s.   Mostly beautiful weather though and nice to spend a long weekend on the water

well spent a solid 8 hrs 7-3 mostly casting w/some trolling and...zippo. i am very stubborn and was throwing mostly bigger baits lookin for big mama. saw a smaller tiger porpoise across my bow right off the bat and then had a nice rip trolling suspended bait pods later in the day with nobody home. oh well thats muskie fishin and sure as hell beats workin.

launched at campground- nice spot and parking situation was much better than at the marina. think i may check out oneida for bass/whatnot tomorrow while i have my boat out here just for somethin different

great- thanks for the info

Guys-  Gonna be visiting the inlaws out that way this weekend and figured I would drag the boat with me and try for tigers in otisco.  I have only been there once a few years ago and was in a kayak.   What is the preferred launch over there?  Marina or the campground (those are still the only 2 options right?).  18ft Tracker deep V.   Thanks

Nice job old man!  Re: the boga, I have been using a boga pretty regularly for 10+ years. I used to live in SW Florida and starting using it down there chasing snook and reds.    For me it makes handling some fish like pike or kings a hell of a lot easier.  You have to use common sense though and always support the weight of the fish with your other hand like Old man said (especially when lifting).   I have never injured a fish (that I know of or could see) through proper handling with a boga.  The boga knock offs (rapala in particular) are another story.  The grips are much sharper and can easily puncture the lower jaw.  IMO- use the name brand Boga (much better quality anyway.. will last a lifetime) and treat the fish with care/respect and you should be good to go.

• capt larry- in your first post you said the prizes would be delivered to the winners.. is this now not the case?

Nice-  thanks Justin.  Not a lot of info out there re: this lake (maybe thats a good thing)- I will report back here after the trip

nada?

Heading up to Cranberry Lake over Labor day weekend.  Decided it was time I check it out since i have seen so many pics of slob pike coming from there the last few years.  I have been to Tupper, Saranac and some of the other nearby  lakes but have never been to Cranberry.  Anyone have any advice for this lake?  I will be targeting pike and am 100% catch and release.  Part of the fun of fishing for me is checking out new lakes and figuring things out for myself, but it never hurts to get a little advice from others who have been there/done that.   feel free to PM me also.   Thanks

beautiful!

 I have not had much success personally with these baits, b/c I stick with confidence baits also and am stubborn, but I know of some that have.  i would say you are on the right track   

tuff shad/baker shad/boss shad

lungelumber/sledge jerkbaits

red october tubes

let em go and let em grow

Thanks for the kind words guys.  Justin-  that is a hell of a first muskie story!   Have never fished stripers but that is on my list for sure

scramp- sent you pm

damn straight old man. the larry is one of my favorite places for that reason (sounds weird maybe)- but we dont fish muskies cause its easy. i have put many hours in up there and come up empty. the river is absolutely gorgeous... the fact that it is such big water and there are giants swimming there has had me hooked for years. gotta love the experience

I have not had much luck with esox in 4th lake (had a follow from a BIG tiger a few years ago).  1st-3rd lakes however are a different story.  Casting inline spinners and trolling with tuff/boss shads and other smaller muskie baits seems to work for me.  Good luck- beautiful area.

Not too many muskie reports lately so here is one.   Spent a long weekend relaxing on the river with the wife and of course looking for big pike and ski's.  Pike fishing was very good.  Lost count after a dozen with many decent ones around ten lbs.   Biggest pike of the trip was 11 lbs on the boga and was caught trolling (all of the bigger ones were caught trolling).  At one point on Friday I had a nice rip trolling a perchbait in 40 FOW.  As I am reeling i feel some weight and my heart starts pounding.... i am thinking muskie!  Get the fish to the boat and it is the biggest pike I have ever seen...maybe 15 lbs.   Wife is ready with the net but the fish went nuts when it saw the boat.  Couple head shakes and it disappeared... heart breaker!   

My heartbreak was short lived-  Saturday evening I was out solo trolling a steep drop off and the starboard rod goes nuts.  I grab the rod and immediately realize that this is no pike.  After a decent battle I have a gorgeous St. Lawrence muskie in the beckman...  48.5 inches on the tape.   Of course I am alone and the camera is in the wife's bag.  As luck would have it another boat came over after seeing the battle,  took a pic and emailed it to me.  Nice!    Her tail looks a little stressed in the pic but she was only out of the water for a few seconds and swam off like a bullet.  Did i mention that this fish was gorgeous?  pic does not do her justice.  

Great to get a nice muskie in the net as I have not been out this year as much as i would have liked (20 month old son at home) and have also been playin in the big lake with trout/salmon .  Got a high 30's a few weeks ago but that is it so far.  The fall season is fast approaching however and it will soon be game time!   Tight lines

Congrats!    She is already a muskie junkie!   You must be very proud!

thanks for the report old man. headed up to west winds with the wife next week for 4 days. looks like i am gonna have to pass on happy hour at least one of those nights haha. just did a week on fulton chain and still have not caught a tiger out of there. some nice pike and smallies but those tigers are tough!

looks like a tiger...purdy fish

nice! ðŸ‘

thanks