No boat, no time. Glad you have your's!
Also glad there are some fishermen left on this site.....

I know of several over in the Kitchens forum. I'm surprised they haven't come over here yet!!

I like Muskies. LOL.

No boat for me at present. Have to pay for my kitchen. Year after next maybe.

Hey Bill, I got skunked in Canada, can you believe that? Had the hooks of a big bucktail in what was easily a 40+ lb. fish, and she got off right next to the boat. Didn't hook another one for the rest of the week. Eagle Lake kicked my butt.

Check out the huge musky in this link. Caught last Friday on Mille Lacs in Minnesota. It's what musky fisherman dream of.

Kevin

Here is a link that might be useful: Huge musky from MN caught 10/6.

Hey Bill,
Thanks for the Oswego, NY tip. I'll have to look in on that.
We've got no boat yet :( , but our ice fishing shanty is getting dusted off - UGH! (I'm a fair weather fisherperson.)
Hubby's been having luck up in North East, Pa. for steelhead, we haven't been out for bass in awhile.

If your ever over in NW Pa. look us up well set you up for some nice bass fishing.

FISH ON!
Jackie

NO bass for me strictly offshore ...36 ft Hydrasport

MH-- They say the bass is the fish of a thousand catches, and that muskie fishing makes bass fishing look unbelieveably simple. Just the fact that you got one of those monsters up to the side of your boat I'd say is an accomplishment! To tell you the truth, I've never even SEEN a muskie. The only places around here where they can be found is up in what's called the northern territories, up near the Canadian border. Other than that, the best I can do around here is some good sized pike.

Jackie-- where's he fishing? The Susquehanna (or however it's spelled!)? The only place I've fished in that area is the Deleware Water Gap on a white water canoe trip years ago when I was a teenager. Good smallmouth!!

Hotdiggety-- where abouts are you?

(not even STRIPED bass?) :-)

Galveston Island,,,,,, NO BASS LOL

lots of bass fishing here,this summer no hurricanes so got some fishin in the evenings,cooled off enough here so getting some really nice specks now,far as boats go sold our old family boat,we just use our son's ol' trusty jon boat,trolling up to the weed beds& edge of the lilly pad's we had a blast this summer!

Hey Bill, I'm in NW Pa., Forest County. The bass fishing is in Buzzard Swamp, check out this link!

http://www.pagameandfish.com/fishing/bass-fishing/pa_aa084403a/index.html
Allegheny National Forest Campgrounds

Jackie

Jackie-- I've been down to Lake Arthur! When I was a kid in Boy Scouts, we went to a national jamboree at Moraine State Park! I seem to remember some good shore live bait fishing first thing in the morning!

hotdiggety-- I'd GLADLY trade the bass for the sea trout, redfish, and snook!!

flsun-- where abouts are you? Florida's where I STARTED bass fishing-- I lived in Homestead for 3 years back about 10 years ago, and my first time bass fishing was at L-29 on the Tamiami Trail! 2 hours into playing with a texas rigged worm, I had a 4 pound plus bass in the boat. I don't know who was hooked more-- me or the bass!!

Kevin-- I just checked out that link-- as my wife just said, that's not a fish-- THAT'S A MONSTER!!

Bill, check this link out. This musky is even bigger, and was caught on the SAME day (one day prior to full moon) as the MN fish. It was caught on Lake Nippissing (sp?) in Canada.

Sorry to keep disrupting the bass thread, but these are two very special fish. I've personally met the guide whose client caught the MN fish. Super guy, and he's starting to get pretty famous in the musky world.

It's an exciting time to be taking this sport up. It seems more and bigger fish are being caught due to good management of the fisheries, and more importantly catch and release. I just wish the big one I had on in Canada would have waited toi be completely caught before the release took place. LOL.

Bill, are you in Maine? Muskies have snuck into the fishery there, I know, and have not been welcomed in the past as fishermen there felt they were eating the native species. There is even a tournament somewhere in the state, which was held as a way to kill as many muskies as possible. Due to some education initiatives by Musky groups, I believe that way of thinking is beginning to change.

I am heading to far northern WI 10/25 for five days of cold weather musky hunting. Should be interesting as I have never really fished in the cold, and it could easily be snowing and in the 20's and 30's while we're on the water. Best time to catch the big girls.

Kevin

I like Muskies, everything else is just bait.

Here is a link that might be useful: Huge Canadian Musky caught 10/6

Hi all! The hubby and I live on a spring fed lake on the edge of the Ocala National Forest where we fish from our 16 foot Triumph Sportsman. A wonderful boat for fishing in Florida with a shallow draft and a stable ride. The ropalene [sp?] hull has taken many hits from stumps and logs without a mark. The bass in our lake are a blast in the spring with 5 to 7 pound fish being a daily occurance. The big ones have slowed down with the summer heat but the smaller 2 to 3 pounders are still biting in the grass mats. Our lures of choice are, in the spring top water plugs and in the grass mats weedless frogs, walked across the top.
When we get "froggie" we haul the boat out of the lake [we have a ramp in our back yard] and fish the Ocklawaha River where the bass action is good too. If you ever come to central Florida I highly reccomend the river as it is undeveloped and a wonderful winding ride even when the fish aren't biting!
Good luck to anyone wetting a line this weekend for whatever type of fish you wish to catch! nova

I feel bad since I rambled on about muskies. Any of you bassers see this little bass caught in CA last March?

Seems the FL strain introduced in CA is thriving.

Kevin

I like muskies, everything else is just bait.

Here is a link that might be useful: Little CA bass from 3/06

16' Sylvan and three avid bass fishers here.

Hey Bill! Lake Arthur is where Hubby grew up! He likes to icefish down there.
Beautiful country.......
Jackie

Muskies have snuck into the fishery there, I know, and have not been welcomed in the past as fishermen there felt they were eating the native species.

I know there are a few lakes WAY up north that have muskies in em, but I haven't heard anything about trying to erradicate them. Now, Pike are a different matter altogether. They're a little more widespread, and because they get almost as big as muskies, they'll clean a lake out of salmon, trout, and bass pretty efficiently, and The official position of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is that if you catch a pike and don't intend to take it home, PLEASE throw it up on the shore. Doesn't matter if it's a little 12" pencil, or a 48" monster. They want to get as many out of the water as possible.

As for the bass caught out in Ca., I know alot of people that even though IFGA won't recognise it, they still consider it the new record.

Robin-- WHere abouts in Miane? I'm in Bridgton!! Mine's nothing special, although that's changing a little at a time! I don't have any pics of the rear deck, which has already been recarpeted, but here's the bow, heading out at blastoff for the sept. club tournament:

And here's the rest of the boat (when I bought it, I couldn't believe Bayliner made a bassboat!):

That one's an old pic-- you can see where the trolling motor got changed out and the electronics added.

BTW-- Kevin-- you just go ahead and keep posting about your muskies-- I was just tryin to drum up a little action over here!! Kinda like seedin the water!! :-)

Nova-- The closest I've fished to where you are is the Harris Chain. I fished a club tourney there one time. Other than that, I've fished Okeechobee several times out of Clewiston. Most of my GOOD fishing happened on the Tamiami Trail and Alligator Alley.

Hi Bill - I am an native Floridaian who grew up fishing in the Clewiston and Belle Glade area. Some of my fondest memories of childhood are being in my Dad's wooden jon boat with an old Johnson Seahorse motor puttin' around the area catching "Lunkers" and bream. He also taught me the joys of flyfishing on the Fisheating Creek which is also in that area. Unfortuantly, water quality and levels in that area have dropped alarmingly and, to me, the "good ole days" there are gone. nova

I've still got friends that are members of the club I used to belong to (Homestead Ambassadors), and they say Okeechobee's coming back-- that for a while fertilizer runoff was really ruining things, and in some areas, still is, but things are starting to change for the better. They've told me that the biggest PITA with Okeechobee is the eurasian milfoil.

Bill,Im between crooked lake&lake buffum,south of lake wales,The boy's like to go down to Clewiston& Bass some,Kevin post on about them muskie, all tho I have lived here about 20 yrs,I grew up on lake michigan,many summers &a childhood friend's cottage in Michigan we grew up swimming with them muskie:)

I just sold my bass boat. It was an older bass tracker, 1989. Worked well for many years, still does actually... sold it a friend of our family.

We needed to change to a boat that my hubby can walk around. He has some health problems with his circulation so he can no longer sit for any extended periods of time. I cannot remember the last time that we went fishing together.

I've been thinking about getting a pontoon boat or a deck boat, something that a person can walk around on and elevate their feet.

I'll tell ya-- you can get a real nice good sized bassboat for what you'll pay for a new pontoon boat.

The 21' 2003 Ranger that follows behind this 6'x8' front fishing deck belongs to a good friend of mine, and is currently for sale for $20K. That's a 3 year old boat that originally went for $45K.

Oh, and the boat's in perfect shape.

I forgot to post the pic!!

That does look like a nice boat... but unfortunately my hubby would not be able to spend a large amount of time in a boat like that.

I still have 17' john boat, for those times when I need to troll for walleye.

Besides, bass are just green carp... we all know that gar are the true sport fish...

http://www.garfishing.com/

Are you a member of GASS?

No,not a member, but we have posted alot pictures on their site. My family is big into catching gar right now.

After years of bass fishing, then years of walleye fishing, then years of muskie fishing, eventually you just move on to the next best thing... currently we are on a gar fishing craze. In a few years we will probably have moved on to something else...

From muskies to gar, that puzzles me.

Kevin

I like muskies, everything else is just bait.

Gar fight better...

And muskie fishing is better "up north" - we have some, but not enough to make it a regular fishing quest.

Well it's true there are a number of fish that probably fight harder than muskies; pike, stripers, steelhead, and I guess gar. But a musky is, well, a musky. Beautiful, majestic, difficult to find and catch, they also love to follow to the boat, and when they follow your bait around and around that figure eight, it's enough to stop your heart. When they smack the crap out of a topwater at night is pretty awesome, too.

The gar here in WI are skinny and ugly, and I don't want them bothering me. They can stay out of site with their cousins, the small pike. I don't mind a big pike, but those small ones are a pain.

Kevin

I like muskies.

When a muskie comes up to the surface, looks around, and then stares at you, you know that you might as well move because he ain't takin' any bait there...

I haven't been fishing musky for long, but know plenty of people that get them to bite on the second or third follow, sometimes with the same bait, sometimes with a different throwback bait.

I wouldn't wait all day after a follow, but a couple extra casts will sometimes induce them to strike.

If not, depending on the aggression shown during the follow, you leave, then come back to the spot later with a different presentation.

I'm leaving tomorrow midday for a fall trophy hunt near the WI/UP border. Freezing temps means lots of warm clothes, slower moving baits, and a couple big fat suckers on quick strike rigs hanging over the side.

I can't wait.

By the way, a few musky guys I know from OH, KY, MO, etc. inform me that gar are in fact a blast to catch. Hard to get the iron into their bony mouths from what I'm told. Somebody also mentioned they can be caught with a frayed piece of nylon rope?

Kevin

I like muskies.

Yup, frayed rope is what is all about... a nylon rope, frayed and then brushed smooth... A few glitter strands for flash. Gar will hit a bait on the top of the water like a large bass. They are hard to land... and they will dance like a bass also. Gar have razor sharp teeth that stick out the sides of their mouths so they can slice line easy. They thrash from side to side - you have to wear thick leather gloves to handle them.

We started catching gar when trying to fish for northern, using a bluegill and large bobber... we thought wouldn't it be fun to actually land one of those and then the hunt was on... which led us to the rope lures.

We have caught gar using bluegill on large bobber, but the ropes are easier to land them with... hookless fishing is great for kids.

Every spring before bass season starts here in New Hampshire, they have a compition on who can catch the largest fish. This is all fine and good but it's taking the male bass from their job of protecting the eggs. Why do they do this and hurt the population ???? Makes me want to throw rocks at the boat .... or worse.

I just answered this in the thread you started, but one thing that just occured to me rereading your post-- People who are going after big fish aren't going to want the males, anyway!! They're looking for the big females off to the side of the beds!! Not the little males!! I know if it were me, and I was sight fishing, the males would be more of a hinderance than anything else!!