Woke today to the first big snowfall. November 12th, 2019. Bambalam is only just, just, just, parked in the garage still wanting out. It has been six days and cabin fever is already setting in. A fast fall gone by, if this boat is away for good now that will surely be the earliest it has retired in the last decade. Sadly it is getting cold.

Yesterday tried re-spooling one of the ice rods. I recently ran all the ice rod reel lines out behind the boat one afternoon fishing muskies, to straighten any twist. All but one did this worked, yet the last reel just wouldn’t take any new line without ruin. Couldn’t figure it, but maybe it’s a sign that I’m just not ready for winter fishing yet.

It was very end of August when returning home from work in Nunavut. Admittedly, the five days tundra camping and roaming around the Ekaluk River left me a bit sore and stiff, in need of some rest. A week passed before fishing again, but once back at it, over the next ten weeks the local waters would take a pounding. I love fall fishing more than any other time really.

The changing of the leaves, the first frost, threatening north winds bring out the biggest and best beasts. Whether it be fat fall smallies or walleyes, tributary trout and salmon, swollen, ripening back lake spawners, there’s really something for everyone. For me over the past years it’s mostly been a growing fondness for muskies, with some side-helpings of sturgeon or walleye.

Little time and chance to actually fish the opener and summer muskie bite, this season still began long before then. It starts with lure building, and this year many hours during April through August work was done bringing some new ideas to life, this was just a couple of them…

6oz Deep Beaver.

.
8.5oz Heavy Trolling Spinnerbait.

.
My lures tested well. Some trolling and standard spinnerbaits required slight revisions that once finished had them working perfectly and catching fish. The Double-blades not pictured caught skis too, but in future I’ll add any flashabou only to the rear of the dressing as it tends to tangle often with the beads and front hook. The Deep Beaver was a great tie. Over a foot long, in three-jointed segments and adding the bladed tail as a fourth, this lure over 6-ounces casts a country mile and retrieves just like the actual Beaver lure does. That flash tail flutters so mint, I like it, and will use it at times when the ski fishing calls for something like a Bulldawg or Medussa as it seems to run itself best at mid depths.

The first outing of the year was just a short evening with Leah. Sometimes she takes after her mother a little too much, and despite trying to sabotage our day with a banana, she managed to reel in her first ever muskie caught on one of my spinnerbaits. A great fish for both of us.

.

.

.
She’d come along again later in the season to try for bigger fish. Deal was, she wanted me to buy her a sub sandwich from this little shop where I’d been picking ‘em up of late. Probably because I’d go on about how good they are. In the boat we chat a lot and she’s become really great at managing any rod on her side while trolling. However, there are times she breaks away to do other things.

.
It was on this same beauty day she played play hooky from school that dad had a wee accident in the boat. With some extras in the first aid kit we got the GoPro rolling to catch her turning green while I pulled a 7/0 treble hook out of my finger.

VIDEO – 7/0 HOOK COMING OUTTA ME FINGER.
.
There was a real rough patch for a time in September. Bluebird skies, supposedly hottest September on record since record keeping began, days and days it seemed the weather made the fishing tough. I kinda knew where they’d be laying but being stubborn refused to change ways, took a number of skunks for that. My friend Jesse came out one day for a run at ‘em with me and I proved how much of a funk my fishing was in. Launched the boat unattached to anything, scrambling to it as it floated away, and later had a rod slide out of a holder overboard. These gongs happened only a few days before the hook in the finger, a difficult week. On the bright side, well, just watch the video.

VIDEO – THIS IS PRETTY GOOD SHIT, SO WATCH IT!
.
Twice over the course of autumn I bumped into some bullshit on the water. Actually, it was three times with one of the anglers below being seen on two occasions. Only the angler with his dog in the PrinceCraft did I approach to speak with and of course that he didn’t take too lightly. According to that lone Quebec’er running two at that time or even four rods as he’d boast to doing, is really like driving 100 in an 80 zone. “It’s not really breaking any rules!” Well, it’s doubtful then that he or even the other fella should mind much me posting online about it, being that they’re decent, law abiding anglers.

.

.

.

.
Unlike 2018’s consistent and incredible muskie results, fishing this year came more in spurts. One fish for every two outings was about the score here, while last fall averaged nearly a fish for every outing. There were longer periods of no-fish days this season but then the pendulum would swing in favor and it’d be game on during active windows while fish were aggressively feeding. More days are spent on the St. Lawrence over the Ottawa so accepting outings when fish aren’t caught seems easier. The Ottawa and even Rideau are fish factories that have the odd giants and more generous numbers to catch, but if given any day to go, the allure of a Larry beast always trumps other ideas elsewhere. To date I have caught a few 50-inch fish on the Ottawa but on the Larry have a number of 55’s, a 56 and just more 50 to 54-inch skis in general. And often, they are tank-girthy goddesses. It’s hard to settle for less when you can fish for the best.

Other than the bit of lure test outings with Leah and Bren it was Stevie Z who came around first for a hard crack at ‘em. The two of us expecting to be on Lake Nipigon for five days, the forecast there was so miserable we were forced to abort and so instead he drove eleven hours to my place as a plan B. Stevie never having caught a muskie before, we’d head off on a roadtrip to Qeeeebec and try our luck with sturgeon on day one, then spend the next four days fishing all different stretches of the St. Lawrence. I love this guy, he lives every second of these moments with a smile on his face. Each night after fishing, lounging outside our motel room doors, he’d put a hurting on his Gretzky and MacCallan bottles, while I gulped BeefEater and Tomatin. Here’s how we managed beyond that…

Day 1. Sturgeon _______ (coming up)
Day 2. Muskie – skunked
Day 3. Muskie – Stevie catches his first and new PB, then I reel in a long and skinny snakeski.
Day 4. Muskie – Stevie catches his second, another awesome fish. I catch a smaller, real cleanski.
Day 5. Muskie – Stevie takes a hard rip but fish comes off, picks up a small ski later on.

Stevie loved it! That first fish put him over the moon. He’s played some big, big pike before, but after experiencing how hard the work can be for just one muskie, it’s an amazing feeling and big reward that comes with catching a fish that beats all other toothies he’s ever caught before.

.

.

.

.
After the great trip with Stevie the hot dog daze mid to late September would hit and I took an absolute beating on the water. Longest stretch of skunks ever to be had for muskies, I’d lose a rod, find a rod, stick a hook in my hand and curse my luck. Knowing a friend was flying in soon from North Dakota to get after the skis with me, I worried some.

Packing my little Midori tent, mattress, sleeping bag, cooler and stove I decided one Sunday to hit the road for an overnighter. After fishing the first day and driving to near where I wanted to fish the second, late that evening in a dark, back lot, I found a place to pop the tent up on the deck of the boat and catch some Zzzzz’s. It got quite cold through the night and the tent is just too narrow, it wasn’t a great sleep at all. However, the work was worth the reward because it was actually on the first day that I broke through the funk catching two solid skis.

VIDEO – BIG, CLEAN SKI PHOTOSHOOT.
.

.

.
When Seth arrived from Fargo my confidence level was up some but surely not through the roof. He had three days to fish and the forecast for the first two was calling wind and rain, the final day calm and sunny. He overnighted at my place after pick-up at the Ottawa airport, the next morning we left to go on the road and motel it. Seth would not have it any other way, he paid for everything for our entire time. Gas, motels, food other than what I had already made for the Coleman stove. I greatly appreciated this. Muskie fishing from fuel, to all expensive fishing gear, boat, maintenance and insurance, to tow vehicle costs and the incredible amount of my own hard work and time on the water, these are many of the investments Seth would remind me that I take on always. He just gets it!

When he was young and fishing for other things, he hooked and landed his only lifetime muskie so far, and now for his generosity he hoped for just one thing, a fish better than 48-inches. I could say, “hey, no pressure” right? But pressure is exactly what I felt. Here’s how it all went…

Day 1. Skunked in the rains.
Day 2. Skunked in the wind.
Day 3. Seth catches a just under 48. I give my turn to him, an hour later Seth catches one well over fifty.

.

.
On that third morning we both woke early and had good feelings going into the day. Seth’s first ski made him a happy man, but when that second fish hit the net I will declare, there’s few people in my lifetime I have ever seen explode with such immense joy. Although he’s not smiling in the pictures don’t let that fool you, Seth NEVER smiles in his fishing pictures, “fishing is serious business” he says. His third lifetime muskie will be immortalized as a replica for his wall.

The bite continued. Stevie Z’s window came first, then the lull, but after Seth’s final day the fishing stayed good for awhile. Brenda had been up for a go and my friend Christine as well. Nothing huge but still muskies!

.

.
For the second year in a row my buddy Clive cruised up from Toronto. Last autumn he fished a couple days with me and managed to hammer two new personal best skis fifty and well over. We had one great day too, when we both caught 50+ inchers.

Clive has many more years muskie fishing than myself, while I have the experience with the Larry. Together we do fish well and both talk plenty about it. Strapped for a boat partner, I was putting out last minute invites to those I thought might be able to answer the call, Clive did! An overnighter for sturgeon then muskie was in the plans. Here’s how that went down…

Day 1. We caught 18 sturgeon. (more on that coming up)
Day 2. Dead tired and sore from catching 18 sturgeon the day before, Clive got a buzzer beater ski.

.
The last four outings of my season were pretty much skunks while out alone. One day five pike kept me busy but no skis. A second day I marked two lunkers fifty yards apart with the sidescan, beat that spot to death but couldn’t get one to bite. Another day I took a hard rip to Nowheresville and that was it. And, a day inbetween all these I hooked a fish that roared off with eighty feet of line on the first tug. Beautifully managed to get’er near boat side, the fish surfaced just out of net reach and that’s when I saw only one hook on the rear treble stuck into the back of it’s head. The fish rolled, that single point easily popped and it swam away. The middle treble had been in at one time because two points were twisted and straightened out. The fish had OK girth and was probably 50 to 52 inches.

But now rewinding to before those three days and Clive too, it was with Brenda aboard that I guess we capped off “our”season on a high note. Driving down to the Larry, launching the boat and readying all things for our afternoon, it was one of those outings I can remember feeling no pressure. Brenda often; but not always, does that for me. Cool, beautiful and sunny, we weren’t fishing long before I caught site of a ski on the sidescan. There it was, this long fish in about 24 feet of water over a totally featureless and flat bottom. It cast a shadow on the scan about 4 to 6 feet away from itself, suspended, likely roaming and willing to eat. Zooming in on the picture quick I dropped a waypoint right on its head, but then backing out from the sonar setting I must have hit some wrong button because I suddenly froze sonar, depth, chart and scan on both Lowrances. Idling, concerned, a bit panicked, it took about ten minutes of running through settings to somehow get all electronics back online and normal again. Still don’t know how I did it. But, when that was worked out and the charts came on, I saw we were in shallower and behind the way-pointed muskie so we dropped the lines quick and trolled right to it. Technically it was my turn for a fish because that’s what Brenda and I do when trolling is take turns but, being it was likely her last trip of the season and not mine, I offered it to her. She gladly took it!

.
In a calm bay we cooked a great early supper on the Coleman and trolled a couple more hours until the sun set. Even though Bren had a fish already, I offered to make a deal with her for my turn but she declined. On tour in the final light I was pulling deep and against the current when the Tekota sang out. “That’s a fish,” I always say!”

What started as a zip, zip, zip like a smaller ski didn’t fool me. Larry beasts can often do that, swimming towards you with the lure and headshaking. Not all pull against your direction, I find big fish often come with you, some going as far as to race towards the boat. Some smart muskies have fooled anglers this way before, I often don’t drop the motor into neutral right away because of this.

The ski started out that way until eventually it was all just heavy weight keeping low. Big headshakes from deep, short and hard pulls, the drag was looser now to accommodate the bursts of power. When it finally surfaced at the boat it was real close, Brenda made zero mistake netting it fast. I’d caught some of my own nice fish this fall season, given up more to others and put family and friends on some greats, but I was sooo very glad Brenda didn’t take the deal for my turn and karma rewarded that with this one. Another fish comfortably over the 50-inch benchmark it was the girth, cleanliness and head-to-tail awesome beauty of this muskie that really make it exceptional. Bren captured it in the net and again in perfect light with the photo.

.
As for those two sturgeon outings eh…? Think I’m gonna defer that to another entirely separate Home Angling write-up here at the Outdoor Angle. Keep an eye for it!

.
Thanks for reading.
.

Bunk.
.