Muskoka Outdoors

An opportunity to take a group of kids fishing every day for a week came through my email this summer. Excitedly, I accepted the offer and suddenly found myself wondering where to start. Fortunately, with some time spent in some pre-fishing planning and following these suggestions, you could easily be the ‘first-time’ fishing ambassador to your own group of students.

The initial debate going through my mind was should I teach technical aspects like knots, fish biology and lure selection or allow the kids to fish with minimal discussion right from the docks? I chose to skip the technical and get the students fishing right away. It was the right choice because most of the students had never fished before.

Keep The Gear Simple
The camp provided closed-faced reels, bobbers, and several dozen worms. I added barbless hooks to the mix to ensure quick release of any fish caught and for safety when hooks are being pushed around by newcomers. To maximize fishing time with these students (I had a new group every hour until noon), I pre-tied swivels and hooks and checked drag setting on the fishing rods before the kids arrived.

Closed-faced reels may not look ‘very-cool’ to anybody who watches the pro’s, but new anglers do not usually know that there are different kinds of options available. The simplicity of the push button to release the bail will allow students to drop their bait over the dock or experiment with casting.

Teach Respect (for others, the fish, and the hook)
Space is going to be required to spread excited new anglers out. For safety and courtesy reasons, remind the anglers to stay in the space they are given. This will be tested when someone starts hooking into a school of panfish. When this happens, remind those encroaching in on the ‘lucky spot’ to wait patiently until the angler moves on or gives permission. As well, take a moment to tell the lucky angler that it is OK to move on and allow someone else to experience the joy of catching a fish. They might find they get more satisfaction from watching – at least, I do.

Show the students the difference between a barbless hook and a barbed one. Stress the importance of the presence of a barb and how it relates to increased difficulty when removing from a person’s body or a fish’s. Remind new anglers to check behind them when they cast and I asked our students to shout, “Casting”, to warn anglers walking by them. For a graphic short video on the importance of hook safety – Watch This

Enforce to the rookie anglers the importance of a quick release and to handle this fish as little as possible. Show anglers, as fish are caught, where to hold fish to reduce injuries from teeth and or fins. Initially, most of the students wanted me to release their fish, this was a perfect opportunity to point identifying marks for fish identification.

-End of Part 1-

I saw this speckled trout on Facebook and I had to ask if I could post it on my blog. Diana, has allowed me to post this picture of her 5.5 pound speck she caught…somewhere within an hour or so drive from Huntsville. Her husband has trained her well. Thanks Diana!

Diana's Big 5.5lb Speckled Trout

Catch The Fish of a Lifetime at QCL!

Several guests at Queen Charlotte Lodge have been catching chinook over 40 pounds last week! The question is, when will you be hooking into YOUR monster chinook or coho? Better yet, between the fish battles on QCL’s guided boats, you could get a chance to snap some photos of the other behemoths of sea, Humpback whales.

The great folks at at QCL like to keep me updated as to what their guests are experiencing at their Lodge. Here are some of the highlights from The Kingfisher Report at Queen Charlotte Lodge:

August 14
Greg McCoach boated a nice 44 pounder Friday but it wasn t quite enough to beat Joe Phillip’s 46 pounder.  Paul Reid released a beauty that taped out to 37 pounds – great job Paul!  Ross Wilmots 45 was the big fish on Saturday. Nice flat water on Sunday should see lots of boats offshore after Halibut and schooling Coho…

August 18
With sunrise coming a little later these days there is a certain urgency in the dining room at breakfast.  The staff is hustling just to keep eggs in the pan! Everyone wants to be on the water as soon as possible to capitalize on an awesome morning bite.  We are getting Chinooks just a little farther from shore this week, usually down about 40 feet in 140 feet of water…  First timer Andrea Dietel and her husband Chris, fishing with guide Mike Borelli have had a great time catching Tyees – a 35 & 37 on Monday, 32 & 48 on Wednesday.  Jeff Lund boated a beauty 40 pounder early in the week while Jessica Eussen, fishing with her dad Remy and guide Mike McLennan, landed and released an awesome 43 pounder off Parker Point.  Well done Jessica!  Burmah Martin has 3 big Tyees so far in her trip with 39, 40 and a 33 pounder which she chose to release.  Lots of fish in the mid 30s are keeping the Tyee bell ringing every evening…

August 21
The flat water and blue sky combination provided one of those dream days to be out on the grounds.  Some anglers took advantage and ventured offshore to watch the Humpbacks feeding steadily on needlefish and krill, a totally awesome experience that really should not be missed…Gonzalo De Braganza took the lead early on Friday, choosing to release the biggest salmon of the weekend, a chrome bright 45 pounder at Parker Point.  Great job!  Tony Vigini boated a nice 38 while Preston Kelts managed a 33 and a 38 pounder on his first day.  Tia Walsh celebrated a beautiful 37 lb Chinook on Saturday and Brent Lobson came to the scale with a fat 40 pounder.  The perfect water conditions had everyone fishing Halibut and Tom Levesque found a 69 pound reward Saturday with guide Derek Poitras out off of Eagle Rock…

Now, I trust you understand why QCL is at the top of my ‘Bucket List’. Contact the Lodge and book your next trip. Please tell them Muskoka Outdoors sent you…

*photos and report content used with permission from the QCL Blog

Huntsville’s blue pickerel (walleye). They are out there. You can find them. A recent visitor to my blog was good enough to email these photo’s of the blue fish contrasted with a normal shaded walleye. Caught in a Huntsville lake, this blue pickerel weighed in somewhere between 2 – 3 pounds!

Blue Pickerel/Walleye Photo by Dave Chaston

Close-up of tail - photo by Dave Chaston

Nice work Dave and thanks very much for the photos! Anybody else catching these?