Nothing beats the discovery of finding section of water that holds enough ‘hook-yearning’ fish that give your reel hand a monster set of cranking blisters. The same feeling holds true for those of us who find, or own, a plot of land that oozes wild game from bushy shadows.

We call the spot our own and like sly foxes our eyes make a quick sweep of the area to ensure the secrecy of our newly added GPS

The view below at one of my secret spots

way-point. If your are like me, this hunting or fishing ’sweet spot’ becomes one of our most closely guarded secrets. It remains unknown to all but a few close friends.

Herein, lies the potential problem with good fishing and the dilemma that it causes in my mind.

It is so easy to get wrapped up in keeping our secrets with ‘the few’ – that we forget the benefit of sharing the experience with ‘the many’.

I am guilty of this. Big Time!

An angler approached me, before a local fishing  tournament, and asked me to mark some great fishing spots on Vernon Lake. At first, I marked all my favorite spots except for one. I struggled for several seconds before I could get my hand to mark the last and most secret of my spots.

Why?

I think it was because it is nice to have that spot on a lake where you can go and expect to catch some fish – without having to worry about another angler being there before you were. With my new found love of fly fishing, I can really appreciate the importance of solitude in your favorite fishing spot. After all – it is part of the experience of fishing.

I guess what I am wrestling with is how can we as ‘anglers and/or hunters’ expect to propagate the excitement we enjoy (and cherish) in our conservation activities if we become tight-lipped about where all the ‘good’ spots are?

Am I alone? Possibly. Ask yourself this: Could you easily hand over a GPS coordinate list of your top 5 fishing spots on your favorite lake? If your answer is yes – stop reading.

Imagine if the NHL, NBA, or NFL expected to share the excitement of their sports by keeping the venues for these high impact sports for just a select few of the population who happen to know where the next event was taking place? Does it seem realistic to expect future anglers to get ‘cranked’ about fishing when their first experiences are spent ‘fish-less’ in the great wide open of a new body of water?

Some of you are now saying, “What about the enjoyment of the experience of, the newcomer, learning to find their own fishing spots and techniques?”.  I can’t disagree with you. I am just wondering if that is making fishing one dimensional? Could we also add to the teaching process of the outdoors a clause that encourages us to share that extremely productive bend in the river with someone else – without the need to be tight lipped? This would, in turn, encourage a more complete 2-dimensional fishing  experience because it has been shared and enjoyed by others who caught just as many fish as you did.

This is not sour grapes. As the keeper of my own secret spots and a fantastic technique for catching lake trout in Algonquin Park, I am still thinking this through. I’d appreciate your thoughts.

Is it time to end the secrecy and let others enjoy the fishing in your spot?

Jacob and his father scored big while ice fishing on Mary Lake this week! Both anglers were excited to pull out two of Mary Lake’s popular sport fish: A Northern Pike and Lake Trout.

I was checking around for local ice fishing updates when I heard that Jacob had hooked into these fish. They were fishing from a ’secret location’ somewhere on Mary Lake in 35 feet of water. Jigs tipped with live bait tempted the trout and pike to strike. There was 8 – 10 inches of ice.

The duo braved a blizzard to reach the sanctuary of their hut. Jacob wondered if the changing weather system was a contributing factor to making these fish (and others) hit their jigs.

Jacob Hehir holding his hard water Northern Pike

A great lake trout from Mary Lake!

I was able to get an interview with 13 year old Jacob and he patiently answered my questions about fishing with his dad. He has been fishing as long as he can remember. His mother shares that he had several visits to an ice hut as a baby. Jacob appreciates being able to spend quality time with his father. Not only is he able to learn more about fishing from his dad, but he enjoys the freedom of being able to share ‘life issues’ in the shelter of their ice hut or boat.

Jacob’s top 2 game fish to pursue are smallmouth bass and lake trout. For exciting summer  bass action, he recommends fishing during the early morning calm with top water ’spooks’. His tips for new ice anglers are simple:

1. Dress Warmly
2. Watch Your Lines

Before I finished my interview, Jacob wanted me to be sure to include a ’shout-out’ to one of his favorite fishing mentors, Louie Miceli.

Thanks for your time Jacob! I appreciate it.

*Note – If you have would like a photo of your ice fishing success stories to appear on my blog, please email them to me using the contact information below.

Leave the paddle-boat and pond behind, this is fishing at its most extreme. Innovative anglers risk their lives in ultimate fishing face-offs. Lassoing deadly sharks deep in a coral reef, vaulting from jagged cliffs in the Seychelles, and swim-wrestling a monster bass in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean-alone. Catch the world’s most daring fishing endeavors in Hooked: Extreme Angling.

A PR rep from National Geographic sent me some video, pictures and show information on National Geographic’s extreme fishing show. Consider visiting the show’s website to watch some of more amazing fishing footage of their upcoming episodes! My favorite ‘teaser’ episode is the one I embedded below. A guy trolls from his surfboard and hooks into a massive thresher shark and then it pulls him out to more shark infested water…

The new shows start Sunday October 18 at 9pm ET/PT.

These pictures shows that at least one huge Lake Trout and Pickerel have been caught and still swim in Lake Muskoka 2009.

New friend and co-worker, Erin, shared these 2 fish photos with me. She caught this beautiful lake trout this spring in Lake Muskoka. Specifically (and it was all she would share with me), she hooked into this lake trout at “The Kettles” while using a jig head and minnow.

Before I could post the Lake Trout photo, Erin excitedly told me, at work, to look at the cell phone photo of this 14lb pickerel she caught last night. It was also netted and released in Lake Muskoka. The exact location still remains a ’secret’ to Muskoka Outdoors. The pickerel fought for over a half-hour on Erin’s old and ‘questionable’ fishing line. Erin claims it was luck – but I say it was skill. Great work Erin!

Canada’s newest speckle trout angler, Trevor, lands a fantastic speckled trout during his special birthday fishing trip!

Happy birthday Trevor and beautiful fish!

*For Muskoka Outdoors readers: I have tried to get the location of this secret Haliburton lake out of the proud Uncle behind Trevor. All he will tell me is that it was caught in Lake Non-of-ya (None of ya business)! I would like to remind Trevor (and his Uncle) that they could take me to this lake blindfolded sometime…

Fellow World Fishing Network blogger writes an excellent post on muskie fishing from a kayak.

It is an excellent read and he shares some great stories with some tips on how to get started on your own muskie fishing via kayak adventure. To read his story on WFN -CLICK HERE-

To see Jamie in action and get a taste of how close this kind of fishing can be – watch this you tube video of Jaimie with a musky hooked to his hand: