Newbie "HOOKED" - Now help me catch a muskie!

Hey all. My names Darryl. My wife and I and our 2 children recently bought waterfront in Port Perry on Lake Scugog. I was never into fishing at all, and the only experience I had was as a child catching sunfish or perch or whatever. No real memories. Well, over the last few days I decided to give it a try and would throw a line in off my dock with my 5 year old daughter. Well I ended up catching a couple large mouth bass (my neighbour had to tell me what they were..lol) Was alot of fun..

So today for the first time I decided to go out in the boat and give it a whirl. Didnt have much time but I managed to pull in a couple fish, and lemme tell ya.. For a newbie, It was super exciting!! I have no idea what kind of fish they are (pickerel??) but the bigger one was quite the thrill. I threw all fish back btw.

Anyways, to the point of this topic...

I am really enjoying this fishing thing and although it may seem silly, before this summer is out, I am making it my mission to pull a muskie out of this lake. Now I have NO idea how...

Anyone out there know anything about Lake Scugog and where to go, what kind of bait to use.. Any tips? Also, and this sounds bad, but how the hell do I pick that thing up if I get it??? How do I take the hook out of its mouth without it biting me?? I think Id be pretty scared and exciting at the same time. Looking forward to hearing all you thoughts and how I can land a muskie this summer!! Thanks all!! Attached a couple photos of my first real experience fishing out on the lake and looking forward to swapping stories throughout the summer with all of ya.

Here are some pics of my first experience fishing out on the Lake

welcome to the forum

that fish in the picture is a walleye, i think

the first thing you should read is the fishing regulations, here is a link to the regs for zone 17, wich includes lake scugog http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR_E001336.pdf

allways check wich fish are in season before you go fishing in a new area, you can receive a heafty fine and have your license taken away, btw, if you don't have a license, GET ONE, you can buy one at lots of different sports stores like canadian tire, lebarons bass pro shops, etc.

muskie open next weekend on scugog, so g-luck trying to catch one, i have only ever caught them by chance, and never on scugog, so i can't really help out with that

i've heard that scugog is a great spot to fish, have fun and post lots of pictures for us

Oh for sure I checked to see which are in season. And I got a fishing license. Don't wanna chance it. So thats a walleye eh? They are in season so thats good..Not that it makes much of a difference so I always catch and release everything.

Gonna go out later this afternoon again. It's just so nice being out there. I see how this sport can become addictive.

I have heard stories of guys pulling out 5-10 muskies in one weekend. Who knows if it's true but I'm gonna give it a go.

and this might help you ID some of the fish you catch, here is one for the great lakes


the only fish that i don't see listed here is crappie"

gar pike

nice fish and welcome! Muskie are a fish of a thousand casts So you've probably gotta find weeds and throw what you've got for them for a long time

Maybe someone else on this board has more of an idea where the scugog muskies hide. I've seen some caught at the lindsay dam before, and they are seen probably once a year for me at that spot!

Be sure to have either a titanium leader or a fluoro leader because these guys will bite through your line very easily! And have pliers / hook cutters at any given time because you wouldnt want to be bit by them, nor do you want to kill one of those beasts

Thanks guys! and thanks bala for that picture chart!! That will help alot! Gonna keep it handy!

And EC... Scugog is just a big swamp filled with weeds, so I should have no problem finding places with weeds..

efka said:

gar pike

Click to expand...

yes, i forgot about that

daspin said:

Thanks guys! and thanks bala for that picture chart!! That will help alot! Gonna keep it handy!

And EC... Scugog is just a big swamp filled with weeds, so I should have no problem finding places with weeds..

Click to expand...

no problem, thats what this forum is for!

sunfish

aurora trout

atlantic salmon

bowfin

arctic char

eel

channel catfish

pink salmon

bluegill

slow down... haha.. I'm not fishing the great lakes anyways.. So I don't need all those fish.. I ony care about whats in Scugog and other lakes in the trent..

you made a few mistakes there efka, sunfish , eel and bowfin are all on there, and about atlantic salmon, you not allowed to fish for them anyways, so it doesn't matter

and aurora trout can only be found in two lakes, so the odds of catching one are pretty slim