diggyj
Rice Lake Master
On Friday I went up to the cottage to get in a day of fishng and to bring the boat home as I want to hit Simcoe this upcoming week. I got up there at about 9 am and was on the water at my first spot at 9:30 am.
When I got out onto the water the winds were quite gusty, probably between 15-25 km/hr, for that reason I decided to finally hit the OUSE river and try it out. The lake was quite choppy with some nasty whitecaps. It was cold. Fishing the lake would have been challenging. I got into the mouth of the river and worked some docks just upstream using a Rapala Shad Rap in the Perch colour. I was targetting aggressive bass, walleye or muskies. After a while with no luck I saw a local fire up his boat and head father upstream.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
Not sure how long I was there but I decided to also move upstream. Went around a few bends in the river and passed the gentleman I saw head out earlier. We chatted for a bit and asked if he was having luck and if he fished the river often and what I could expect. He told me that he didn't catch anything yet but that there are some big musky on the river so naturally I was pumped. I went past him and went farther up the river. Worked another spot on the river with no luck.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
Later on the same gentleman passed me and went farther up the river, at this point he said he had only caught a couple of Rock Bass. So stayed where I was as I was in 8-10 feet of water with scattered weeds and thick weeds along either side of the river. I was also spotting lots of big fish on my fishfinders. This was the last time we crossed paths.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
Still not having any luck I was wondering if I was wasting my time? Anyways a short time later still casting my Perch Shad Rap, I get a strike on a slow retrieve and I set the hook and think it is a small bass but when I begin to reel it in and get it close to the boat, I realized it was a small and I mean very small musky.
I was extremely excited as this was my 1st ever musky so I didn't care how big or small it was. I caught one before on the Trent River a few years back but it was a few hours before the actual musky opener so it didn't really count in my mind.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
Unfortunately this one was only 16"...... :'(
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
Here is the combo that I used for most of the day.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
I guess the guy I spoke with was right about muskies being on the river. I know it was small but it's still a musky.
Worked a few more spots with no luck.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
At this point in time I was seeing fish on the finders and seeing actual Perch chase my Rapala back to the boat on my retrieves so I decided to target some panfish. I switched over to a SCUD BUG tipped with a Waxie and quickly was getting one after the other with lots of bites in bewteen.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
I managed to catch 3 Perch, 1 Rock bass and 1 Bluegill.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
Came across one of the beaver dams on the river during my river travels.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
By the time I got off the water I spent 4.5 hours fishing the river and landed 6 fish. The weather got warmer and the winds died down significantly. All in all a pleasant day on the river and it was an awsome experience cathcing my 1st ever musky. 16" isn't much of a personal best but now it gives me something to shoot for and I am sure the next one will definately be over 16"
Dirk.............
When I got out onto the water the winds were quite gusty, probably between 15-25 km/hr, for that reason I decided to finally hit the OUSE river and try it out. The lake was quite choppy with some nasty whitecaps. It was cold. Fishing the lake would have been challenging. I got into the mouth of the river and worked some docks just upstream using a Rapala Shad Rap in the Perch colour. I was targetting aggressive bass, walleye or muskies. After a while with no luck I saw a local fire up his boat and head father upstream.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
Not sure how long I was there but I decided to also move upstream. Went around a few bends in the river and passed the gentleman I saw head out earlier. We chatted for a bit and asked if he was having luck and if he fished the river often and what I could expect. He told me that he didn't catch anything yet but that there are some big musky on the river so naturally I was pumped. I went past him and went farther up the river. Worked another spot on the river with no luck.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
Later on the same gentleman passed me and went farther up the river, at this point he said he had only caught a couple of Rock Bass. So stayed where I was as I was in 8-10 feet of water with scattered weeds and thick weeds along either side of the river. I was also spotting lots of big fish on my fishfinders. This was the last time we crossed paths.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
Still not having any luck I was wondering if I was wasting my time? Anyways a short time later still casting my Perch Shad Rap, I get a strike on a slow retrieve and I set the hook and think it is a small bass but when I begin to reel it in and get it close to the boat, I realized it was a small and I mean very small musky.
I was extremely excited as this was my 1st ever musky so I didn't care how big or small it was. I caught one before on the Trent River a few years back but it was a few hours before the actual musky opener so it didn't really count in my mind.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
Unfortunately this one was only 16"...... :'(
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
Here is the combo that I used for most of the day.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
I guess the guy I spoke with was right about muskies being on the river. I know it was small but it's still a musky.
Worked a few more spots with no luck.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
At this point in time I was seeing fish on the finders and seeing actual Perch chase my Rapala back to the boat on my retrieves so I decided to target some panfish. I switched over to a SCUD BUG tipped with a Waxie and quickly was getting one after the other with lots of bites in bewteen.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
I managed to catch 3 Perch, 1 Rock bass and 1 Bluegill.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
Came across one of the beaver dams on the river during my river travels.
By diggyj, shot with DSC-W5 at 2009-09-26
By the time I got off the water I spent 4.5 hours fishing the river and landed 6 fish. The weather got warmer and the winds died down significantly. All in all a pleasant day on the river and it was an awsome experience cathcing my 1st ever musky. 16" isn't much of a personal best but now it gives me something to shoot for and I am sure the next one will definately be over 16"
Dirk.............
