Nice one Tania!

Fish can be an important part of a healthy diet, because they are high in quality protein and low in saturated fat, but in some cases care must be taken because of contaminant levels in the fish.

Anglers can use the guide to identify species and angling destinations with lower contaminant levels. The 2011-2012 edition includes advice for sport fish from more than 1,950 lakes, rivers and streams around the province.

As it turns out the northern pike in the Toronto Harbour and Toronto Islands are actually quite safe to eat, with a suggested limit of 8 meals per month.

Interactive Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish

Awesome catch and release Aaron!

via OFNC

One of the new lures, and companies, that I’m most excited about this year is based right here in Ontario. Koppers Fishing was created by Grant Kopper who has been making his own lures since the age of eight, and now thirty years later his company is now selling in Canada and the United States. Koppers lures spare no expense in detail, these are some of the most realistic crankbaits I’ve ever seen and their Live Target System makes it easy to find the lure that fits your applications. The new Blueback Herring is one lure I will definitely be picking up this year, this bait looks like a solid contenterd for monster bass and big pike. Lures sell for between 10-12 dollars each.

Check out this video from WFN featuring Grant Kopper and one of his Live Target Crawfish crankbaits.

Nungesser Lake pike, caught by Paul Kuhns at Anglers Kingdom, Caught on a Bull Dawg.

Paul’s pike hit a bulldog he was casting into about 7 feet of water and slowly retrieving out into about 12 feet of water. We had only been fishing for about 5 minutes and were only a five minute boat ride from camp. It doesn’t always happen or happen that quickly but if you keep fishing in the right spot you will eventually be there at the right time. A few days earlier I was guiding another group in that same exact spot. I always put out small dark colored markers. I had a very large pike grab a small walleye and although I had 30lb power pro I had been experimenting with a 4 foot fluorocarbon leader to increase the number of walleye. (it did increase walleye bites) However the pike bit me off after about 5 minutes. Although I hadn’t seen the pike, I shared with my other guests that a large (45″ plus) pike was in the area. We came straight to the exact spot that morning and it worked beautifully. Whether it was the same fish isn’t positive but that scenario has worked for me many times over the years. – Kevin

via Anglers Kingdom

And a side note to all of you readers who have been to Brett Geary’s Sportsmans Lodge, Nungesser Lake is fairly close by and Anglers Kingdom is run by Brett’s brother Kevin who has caught more then his fair share of enormous pike. Both Little Vermilion and Naungesser have produced several pike over 50 inches.

Tattoo by Dave Allen of Sugar Shack Tattoo in Kincardine, Ontario Canada.

Both Scott Duncan and David Allen at Sugar Shack are top notch artists who love to fish. If you are looking for a quality fishing tattoo and you live in Ontario, this is the place to go!

Out came my box of Rockstar inline spinners. The clouds finally cleared away for a few moments, so I switched my chartreuse inline spinner to one with a big silver blade to create some flash. First cast with the silver one and I was on. And it was big! A nice fight and soon she was in the cradle, which this time was handled like a PRO by Albert. Once in the cradle, I realized that this was another really long fish – and the tape measure proved me right, another 47″!

Albert and Marco immediately dove into my box of Rockstars and clipped them on. I had not even picked up my rod yet after my release when Albert, on his first cast, shouted out “There’s one… there’s one… right behind my lure…SHE’S ON!!!”. She had followed him in and then nailed it right at boatside! She fought hard, and kept trying to dive under the boat or head towards the motor, but soon she was cradled, and Albert had smashed his old PB of 36″, with a 42″! While helping unhook her, she got me good with her gill rakers, but I hardly noticed at the time. Some first aid would have to be administered soon after so I didn’t bleed all over Albert’s boat carpet! A few pics of the happy camper with his prize catch, and she released well.

It’s a great feeling to know my lures are helping people catch big fish!

Caught and photographed by Luc Graveline. The pike was caught in the Lavase River, in North Bay Ontario.

via OFNC

Continue reading The Return to Mystery Lake

Updated: I’ve uploaded photos from the trip to the Mystery Lake 2009 photo gallery. I realize the 2004 gallery isn’t even complete and I hope to fix this over the winter.

When I return from my brief coma I will have a full update about my weekend at Springwood Cottages and Kennebec Lake, but just to tease you a bit I will leave you with a few of my favorite scenery shots and a big frog that took a yellow slug-go.