Annual summer Canada Trip August 2014

 

I made a tip back to Canada to hit the mouth of the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa River again. Both could easily produce the next world record musky. Just casting a lure into waters like that sends a chill down my spine. I blanked at my parents who live in Kingston Canada, near the Mouth of the St. Lawrence on Lake Ontario. I had three kids with me and basically could only get out for a couple hours each morning while they were still sleeping. Even still, I was in the right place, just maybe not the right time of year?


Then on to the Ottawa River in a section of the River referred to by Jim Saric from the Muksy Hunter as 'the last bastion of pure musky fishing left in the world'! The Ottawa River Musky Factory has been filling my facebook pages the last few weeks of countless 50 inch fish. In July they scored over 50 fish in a single month! With multiple big fish outings usually occurring around the major moon phases. I was hitting the river for three days in-between a major moon phase. But how could I lose? I put my cousin on his first two musky last year.

As soon as we got to the lodge I unpacked the car, had to drop the boat in the water and park the car and trailer outside of the island. I ran out on my own for literally ten minutes hoping for action. But I had three kids on their own, Jake at 17 years old, Gabe at 15 now 16 and Ryan at 7 years. We decided to fish off the dock and literally on the first cast with a spinner bait I hook up with a good fish. It had a dark color to it with a good girth and some length. Could it be? First cast! Ryan instantly wanted the rod but I was reluctant to give it up when it could be my first Canadian Musky! It fought well and was in the weeds. I worked it through and it jumped a few times revealing a trophy smallmouth. I let Ryan reel in the rest. Nice bass. Just not quite what I thought it was. This was on the 1/2oz double Colorado blade black spinner bait with the elongated skirt. The same lure that score the two musky on last year. Is usually my best bass lure here in Canada too. Ryan even missed a bowfin on it at my parents earlier in the week. I saw the fish track down the lure, hit it and hang around the boat for a while. Anyway, here's the smallmouth. Not bad. But where are all the little fish that usually hang around the dock? Was this guy eating them all? The place is usually polluted with small yellow perch and sunfish.

With no little fish at the dock we hit the water. Just as a strong storm was brewing. The barometer must have been dropping and the skies were turning ugly. After a perfect blue bird day. The weather recently had been outstanding. I take Ryan and Jake fishing just around the corner in a known musky hot spot where I've had action before but inevitably lost the fish. A big fish too near 50" maybe. We get out there and I'm kind of psyching up the whole outing. I was talking about how happy I was to finally be throwing huge lures in the land of giants. There's just something about that feeling. I think all the drama was getting to Ryan. He doesn't like it when I start to get excited because of a large predatory fish. He gets a little spooked. Well, he was so spooked that during the heavy wind and angry looking skies, a fly lands on his hand. This scared him so much he threw his rod in the water! I kid you not. I had to lunge forward and grab the bobber slowly sinking out of sight. I can't believe I caught it. But I also yelled at Ryan which totally turned him off. Too bad too because he was throwing that spinner bait like a pro.

We later drop Ryan off and Jake and I hit the water at sunset. This is the first evening. Not shortly after we see a massive surface explosion over deep water right smack in the middle of the river. This kind of surface explosion was no question a fish feeding on another fish. There were multiple blow ups occurring repetitively as if a fish was jumping away trying to escape and a much larger fish was on the chase. So we leave the weed edge in 15 feet of water to try the deep stuff where the fish had just surfaced. It was now near 80 feet deep but the sonar was lit up with fish from top to bottom but mostly near the bottom. Probably a school of mooneye getting hammered by musky. But musky are not supposed to school? It didn't take long and Jake yells, stops reeling and just points at the water, "There he is, THERE HE IS!" I tried to tell him to do a figure 8. Just keep the lure moving. Even if you don't see a fish but especially when you see one. Well, that was his first legit follow and first encounter. Missed opportunity. But wow was that exciting. We head back in to get ready for bed. I had been up since 5 and was exhausted.

The next morning I'm up well before sunrise without an alarm. Musky will do that to you. Or maybe it's just me. I hit the spot with the blow up with zero action. Then make it to a mouth of a large bay an hour or so after sunrise. I'm working a spook and not really paying attention. Then it happens. The fish went completely air born like they often do attacking a top water lure.  I was in about 6 feet of water on a weed edge but for some reason decided to cast to deeper water and that is when the fish hit.  This fish was the type of fish this place was famous for.  Easily pushing that legendary 50” mark.  A true giant, probably older than I am with more than a few musky fishermen’s hearts on its wall of fame.  Would you believe it, in bright sun, the fish completely missed the f…ing lure! This was a walk the dog spook magnum, same lure that caught my last large musky on the last super moon in early July back home.  The same lure that several fish have missed also.  Something about that walk the dog retrieve.  The side to side motion, although almost irresistible to musky, must also be difficult to calculate the exact position.  When the fish came completely out of the water, showing off all its glory within spitting distance of the boat, it then landed horizontally in a huge splash.  It then proceeded to just lay motionless at the surface for a few seconds.  Enough time for me to start jerking my lure again.  But with zero interest and the fish just sunk slowly out of sight.  Vanishing from my dreams.  As you can imagine, I tried about a dozen other lures in the general vicinity to no avail.  I couldn’t believe it.  Time to tuck my tail between my legs and head on home.  It was time to make my son breakfast like I did every morning this week.  After a full musky effort skunk fest each morning of course. 

We all played in the pool and returned after some poutine (cheese fries smothered in gravy, aka Canadian Crack) from Montebello.  This time we had a full boat with Gabe, Ryan, Jake and I.  I couldn’t tell Gabe or Ryan that we were going fishing for this musky or else they wouldn’t have liked to come.  But Gabe was cool with giving us a few minutes effort and Ryan had on a worm for some panfish.  As soon as we arrived we see a huge essox surface not far from where I had the morning encounter.  Jake soon starts screaming and pointing again.  He got another follow!  And did the exact same thing except this time I think he got in half a figure 8.  If he would have just kept his mouth shut, not pointed or gotten overly excited and kept moving his rod, he might have hooked that fish.  But landing it with the rod he had is another story.  Was it a pike?  Or was it Mr. Big from earlier?  He did say it was much larger than the fish from the night before.  Who knows, I never saw it.  Not soon after did we get hit with a scary looking storm and had to leave with rain pelting us the entire run home.  The remainder of the week pretty much saw me beating that spot to death.  Jake and I got out together every evening after dinner just at sunset.  Prime time.  On that first evening we encountered another boat both specifically working this area, both using huge lures and following through EVERY cast with a thorough figure 8 or three.  These guys knew what they were doing.  I later found out this was the Ottawa River Musky Factory, with a GLoomis pro on board. I also came to find out they boated 10 muskies those three days, the same three days I was on the water and we ran into each other three or 4 times too.  Unbelievable.

On the last evening Jake and I hit the water.  I was still muskyless.  Jake had not even caught a perch off the dock although he hadn’t tried too much.  Ryan had beat those fish to death.  He even helped teach three other kids from the lodge how to fish, unhook a fish and how to set the hook. That made me proud.  But Jake was fishless. We hit near where we first saw a nice fish and Jake hooks up on the figure 8!  It’s a nice musky, not huge but a musky no less and as soon as I grab the net the hook pulls.  This time Jake saw the fish, dropped the rod into a figure 8 and sure enough the fish struck on the first turn.  We both saw the whole thing.  Now that's exciting musky fishing.  Cool!  But still no fish in the boat.  The musky hit the spinner bait. 

With the final minutes of our trip nearing an end we returned to the giant’s lair.  I beat that spot to death the last few days and never did have another encounter.   Jake is casting a musky prop bait right into the weeds fowling in from time to time.  Then a huge surface strike and fish on!  It’s a nice pike near 6 pounds maybe.  Not soon afterwards he gets another pike on the spinner bait but still no musky.  I once heard from a very experienced musky angler that where there's pike, there won't be musky and where there are musky, there won't be any pike.  Maybe there's some truth to that.  Maybe the Ottawa River Musky Factory Guys landed my fish and she's since left the area.  We finished off the evening with a glorious sunset but an ominous storm threatening to cut our trip short.   Jake had a follow from a gar. That was it, the last evening but at least I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets that was that much more special with that ever present feeling that at any given second the largest predatory freshwater fish in North America could come knocking. 

One more morning.  The night before I could barely sleep. I kept thinking that I only had one more morning and that I should get good nights sleep because I was the only driver the following day.  The kids had to be back for some band practice on a Friday!  Plus it was Gabe's BDay.  But why come home to go to work on a Friday when I've taken the rest of the week off???  We had played monopoly till past midnight the night before with Ryan taking top honors. Later that night the dang bat returned and was flying around my room at 3am.  I think it woke me as it crawled on the ceiling making these menacing sounds as its claws scratched the old log columns. What was I going to do?  If Ryan woke up he’d be frightened and I’ve have to due something about for sure then.  So I hid under the covers.  Only peaking from time to time to wait for my chance to lock it out of the room.  Well, that worked but not till 4 something.  At this point I might as well go fishing.  I was on the water well, well before sunrise.  I hit some of my favorite spots where I previously had a follow from some essox and a couple other locations and of course beat the same spot as before and struck out, big time.  I’m Canadian Musky cursed.    At least looking at the pictures from the trip of everyone Else's smiles sooths me to some degree.  But I have the musky bug bad.  And there is only one cure. Only one thing left to do now…. Start planning redemption. 

My mother with a bass on Lake Ontario.  The small little bay in front of the their house is always a hot spot.  In the spring it fills with giant smallies and provides excellent wade/fly fishing for trophy smallmouth.

The kids at the bar having breakfast.

Ryan beating up on some smallmouth right next to the pool.  We even live lined a few fish on quick strike rigs while I sunbathed.  It's 70 feet of water within a cast from shore here.

Jake Jones with a nice top water pike. 

Smaller fish but nice all the same. 

Toofs