Fresh water sport fishing in Quebec and Ontario






Custom Tied Rigs Meet the crew Fishing Blog 2008 Fishing Reports 2007 Fishing Reports Lakes and reservoirs Rivers and streams Ice fishing Kids fishing Catch vs live release Videos Gear Q&A Species menu: » Bass » Carp » Catfish » Northern Pike » Panfish » Perch » Trout » Walleye » Other species » Links \| Feedback		Q&A I try to answer most fishing related questions to the best of my ability, hoping to help fellow sport fishermen catch their share of "lunkers". Feel free to submit your questions by using our feedback form by clicking: http://freshwaterphil.com/contact.cfm . Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Here are some questions recently answered by FreshwaterPhil.com: Comment: I enjoy fishing in Maine ... I read your comment on Lake trout trolling with down riggers "more boring than Ice fishing" Here is a tip when you sew on the bait have it in an arc shaped after its set then troll it for a short ways and observe the motion should make a large circle about two feet err appr 40-50 cm in completed circles in water and slow the boat down two 2 maybe three km an hour fish near 15 m down going onto 20 meter shelves around edge back into 30 meter water in a zigzag fashion best of luck... Answer: Thanks for the tip. I don't fish for lakers very often, I tried it a few times in Lake Champlain, although we were using lures. I do plan to attempt trolling live and dead bait for musky, I might give your arc idea a shot. I'm not sure what you mean by "sewing the bait on". Reply: To "sew on bait" you take about a hook number 0-4 and about 12 -18 cm of 50lbs test monofilimon go through the jaw of a dead chub about 10 cm long then continue to thread down back bone to really secure bait ending with hook near tail then tighten line up until the arc is achieved after but a loop in line and but loop around gills tightening so arc will remain the same while trolling I fish primarily on big sebago lake here in southern maine for lake trout there is a great deal of fishing pressure there and i find when handling bait and takle it is best to use latex gloves unscented or no powder so that the scent of me or gas or cigerettes is not transfered to the bait the law is you can keep 6 lake trout we call em togue but onlyone may exceed 23 inches all others have to be 18-23 we could catch or limits daily but we usually onlyfish until all of us have a big one I have caught some last year that was over a meter in lenghth the biggest my group has caught was 44" and weighed closed to 11 kg good luck with this I have never fished in Canada My Dad used to go to Labrador and caught a lot of Lake trout using these methods near Labrador City He said they had alot more fish then we do and they aren't as educated haha wellgood luck Recipe Try baking lake trout for 30 min and it tastes a lot like atlantic salmon its skin melts off and the meat flakes completely away from the bone at 350 f I cant do the math to celcius with temp best of luck... I find it noble that you give fish to less fortunate I have done the same hope you ketch alot.. Try This lure if you a targeting large fish get a small 1 cm square pc of steel about 20 cm long then weld or hinge three pieces one 5 cm one 7 cm 0ne 12 cm to it about 5 cm apart down the main piece so it opens at rt angles to the main bar put with swivels three spoons on top side bar five on middle 7 on back of one color I use silver no hooks at all then run about 20 cm a steel leader back a red white daredevil or gold spoon something a bit larger than the main spoons and off color the main array captures the attention of the fish and the trailing spoon or bait seems like it is weaker than the main group or is chasing the school even the sewn on bait that has the hook this works well for for large pickeral the boat needs to be moving at least 10km an hour or you run the risk of caught on bottom again best of luck.. Reply: Interesting idea, I'm glad to hear that it works well for you. I imagine the same can be achieved without sewing the bait, although it's probably more secure when you do. I haven't fished Maine or Newfoundland, I haven't been there either, although I hear they have some pretty good fisheries out there. I tend to be more of a shallow water fisherman, my boat is at a marina on the St Lawrence River which isn't deep at all, except for the seaway channel. There are almost no salmonids in the Lake St. Francis area, but the place is teaming with most other species. As I was a shore fisherman for most of my angling life and just got a boat last summer, I stuck with mainly bass, pike and started carping a couple years ago. Now that I have the boat, I intend to target muskies, possibly walleyes for the upcoming season. I hope to eventually get to lake trout, I hear that they easier to catch around the end of April during "ice out", I still have to get a trailer and hitch so I can move the boat around whenever I need to. The big lure sounds like a super sized gang troll, I can imagine it makes quite a commotion in the water. 16 spoons mounted on a frame going at 10 KM / hour sounds like a huge load, what sort of line/rod combo do you use to troll the rig? Comment - reply: I use trolling reel with hundred pound test steel colored line this same set up can be used deep sea fishing for marlin and small sharks...the Idea came from when I commercially fished for tuna we used a bigger frame and rubber squid 500 lbs + tuna would take that small off colored trailing foot long squid we catch about three a week did quite well to go 10 meters deep you only need to let out 2 or three colors...My buddy has a big boat for sebago but My family ussually fishes from a canoe we make alot of cedar strip canoes although we can make plank and rib My father poleoarpaddle@tds.com has alot of pictures of canoes we made in the past and old boats we have restored he is 72 now and still building them I mentioned your web site to him and he told me that the great lakes is pretty near ontario that area is known for land locked king salmon My cousin Mark Phillips fishes lake michigan and has caught some 15 footers quite a big salmon here our land locked atlantic salmon can grow to a meter...bon chance in fishing another thing when freshwater fishing starts in maine the ice isnt out usually in the lakes and ponds we get around it with a 2 16 foot sections of 1 inch pvc pipe we rig it with bait push it under the ice the when we pull back the line releasesfrom the notch under the ice works best when there is about 2 feet of water near shore then we can reel in slowly fish on bottom or put a bobber on and suspend the bait about two feet under the ice well until spring fishing starts good luck with the ice... Reply: We get some kings / chinooks about a 4 hour drive from my place, but the water is too big for my boat. I have a 14 foot cadormat, I wouldn't feel very comfortable taking it out on lake Ontario, all I would need is a couple gusts of wind to capsize the boat. We have some nice sized reservoirs that have big lakers, but as I don't have a trailer yet, I haven't got around to targeting the lakers. I do intend to shore fish for the big chinook / kings next November, they usually come up the smaller tributaries in November to spawn and die. They are caught from shore drifting roe sacs with sinkers, apparently they go up to 35-40 lbs. And elder friend of mine tipped me off about this last December, buy the time I wanted to go out, they were all gone. I'll try to be ready on time for them in November 2008. Question: Hi, Do you have any new updates on ICE fishing. I was at lac barriere at Baroux and it's been great for me as well. Answer: I haven't tried Baroux this season yet, I've been trying to target Northern Pike. Baroux provided me with a good start to ice fishing, I went the about 5-6 times over the past few years. In all honesty, I find it better for kids as the action is decent. I don't find it a great sport or fight to catch lethargic, stocked fish that have their fins clipped off, although they taste pretty good and are bigger than most wild trout in the area. You can read up to date reports about my last few outings on my blog, click: http://freshwater-phil.blogspot.com Question: Phil, I hope to fly to Quebec in the spring to wet a line and fish a lake for giant Pike. (25+ pounds) I hope to fish with you. I have retired from my business and have some time at last to enjoy life. I hope you will invite me to go along. Answer: 25+ Lbs is quite a large pike, I've never caught one that big myself. The province of Quebec is huge, so if you want to find fish that big in our lakes, I suggest you "go all out" and visit an outfitter with guide services in the mid to Northern part of the province. Many of these are "fly ins" and will cost a pretty penny, but if you are coming up this far to enjoy our great outdoors not to mention catching trophies, your trip will be infinitely more pleasant and successful as opposed to trying to fish the southern part of the province, where the landscape is more commercialized and populated, and trophy pike are harder to catch. Although I haven't been that far up North myself, I would recommend trying Lake Misstassini which also has a huge walleye and trout population. The lake is the largest in the province, about 100 miles long, and is located in territory under the control of the Cree nation. I believe you must use their guide services on the lake, and I think they also run the outfitters camps there. As far as coming fishing with me, my schedule is really day to day, as I typically fish within 1 hour drive of Montreal, if I'm not too busy on a given day, I'll "sneak out" for a couple hours. I also have quite a few people that are lined up to come with me this spring, so I highly doubt I'll find time to schedule with people I don't know. I haven't decided to start guiding yet, although I haven't ruled it out completely at this point. Question: Hey Phil, just visited your site and loved it. Especially the info on why you're considered a real fisherman. I thought of my dad when he was still alive and how he'd fish in some of the craziest places with nothing but what God gave him, a pole, a few artificial baits, some worms, and time away from work. Mom got him a poem to put in his boat that best describes how much fishing meant to him. here it is-"He fishes in the morning he fishes in the evening he fishes in foul weather and when the sun is bright he fishes fishes fishes it's all he'll ever do and all he ever catches is hell from his fed up wife". It fits your way of life too. Mom did go with Dad most of the time but I don't think it would've mattered to him if she chose not to. He was a good fisherman and a great Dad sadly missed by his fishing partner, myself. Enjoy the poem and good luck fishing. Answer: Glad to hear that you had quality time fishing with your dad, I keep trying to convince my dad to come out more often at his age, although we get quality days during the regular season. The poem could be applied to myself, although my wife is quite happy when I take the kids fishing, and very tolerant of my fishing addiction. Reply: Phil, I noticed you where also talking about always using a leader when fishing for the big ones so I thought I would give some input on something I tried with success at Lake Nipigon last year. My oldest brother who is a tournament bass fisherman for the American bass federation talked me into trying Power Pro fishing line on the big ones. So we gave it a field test and found it to be superior than all other fishing lines. It is rounded like monofilament but stronger than steel. I never once lost any fish and while fishing for walleye in rapids I got a snag in the rocks with my last jig. Not wanting to lose my jig, I actually pulled the boat up the rapids backwards and saved my jig for more fishing. Power Pro is amazing line worth trying yourself. You won't be disappointed. It comes in a 10# with a 4# mono diameter and I've seen it at 50# with a 20# diameter. What ever size you use you'll have better presentation with it while fishing. Good Luck!!!!! Answer: I switched to power pro for carping last season, I use 50 LB line with 12 LB diameter. The line is virtually impossible to cut on rocks, I haven't lost a fish since switching. I even managed to pull a 23 LB carp for about 30-40 feet while the line was wedged between 2 rocks, until the fish swam upward, it didn't even fray. I have a YouTube video on line testing mono, Fireline, and Power Pro, you can watch by clicking: http://youtube.com/watch?v=K9mSMguMeMU . My Fishing buddy uses only Power Pro on most of his reels, I think he has the 20LB / 6 LB diameter which he also uses for carping, although I've seen that one being cut on the rocks with almost no effort. That being said, I still haven't tried it for pike as their teeth are extremely sharp and plentiful, while walleyes have only a few canines. Pike and musky teeth are also sharp along the edges kind of like a knife, while walleyes have rounded teeth that are sharp only at the point. This is why many people don't bother using leaders for walleye. As I fish waters that contain mainly pike and bass, most of my live bait rigs have leaders. I also fished with a musky guide in October, he used 65LB Power Pro, but he insisted on using either steel or heavy 150 lb Fluorocarbon leaders, again due to the sharp teeth. I my experience, big bass don't shy away from live bait even with leaders. As live bait provide their own action, a leader won't affect them much. I also have a huge stash of 14LB / 6 Lb test Fireline I got a really great deal on a few years ago, it is more than enough for my bass and pike needs for the next 5-10 years, and 4-5 reels that I keep stocked with Fireline, as my kids fish with it too. I realize that Power Pro is a better product, but the Fireline I have is good enough for my needs, so I couldn't justify totally switching to Power pro. Reply: Hey Phil, thanks for the reply and the info. Incidentally, I hauled in a whopper 43in.-18.5lbs northern with the 40# line last July. We fish at Gull Bay on Lake Nipigon. We haven' trolled yet but are getting our gear ready to do it this year. There's gotta be some monster pike in that bay. Anyways, Thanks again for everything and I wish you and your family the very best of luck this fishing season. Answer: Sounds like a nice trophy. Were you using a leader? I do plan to start trolling myself, as I'm just getting into musky fishing. Being around the corner of the St Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers helps too, I figured it was about time to start taking advantage of this opportunity now that I bought a boat. I picked up some gear to start, you can check my blog for more info. Blog comment: hey phil I would just have to say, you site is amazing for people that live in the montreal area, i love your site and i do not se why you shouldnt be a pro fisherman like on tv. My name is Dan i am 14 years old and I LIVE TO FISH. Answer: Thank you for the comment, I'm glad to read that you enjoyed the web site. I'm not quite sure the guys on TV have as much family time as I do, which is very important to us. Pro Tournament fisherman are also bound to very strict schedules and many hours away from home. Don't let me discourage you, you still have plenty of time to fish before you have kids. Good luck. Question: Phil, You say that you appreciate all feedback so here goes. ..I think the way you have come to the Long Sault area and blatantly kill carp is disgusting. There are numerous operations on both the Canadian and American side of the Long Sault area that cater to European carp fisherman who strictly practice catch and release because they care about the carp. This area has only become popular for carp fishing in the past 10 years which is how I suppose you heard about it and now take advantage of this. I noticed you had the audacity to post a dead carp on a Long Sault operators sight. ARE YOU FOR REAL!!!! You will not be very popular next season in the Long Sault area are at all!!! Answer: Although we both have VERY different opinions, I still do appreciate the feedback. I find it more disgusting that people would come hundreds of miles to simply hook a fish, torture it by fighting it, then release it, hoping to put it through the same ordeal again! This is true cruelty to creatures. Do you think that perhaps the carp enjoys fighting as much as the anglers do? The people you mentioned don't care about carp, they care about themselves. If they truly "cared" about carp, they wouldn't be anglers, they would be PETA members. Many of the people you refer to are tourists, however I pay taxes to Canada, in addition to MNR license fees, so this gives me at least an equal right to fish there, if not more. I personally have been fishing the Long Sault area since the age of 5, which is way before any of these people and outfitters showed up in the first place. Fish have been used for food for thousands of years before "catch and release" was ever invented. In fact, God designated carp as food when he created the world. Killing carp is not worse than killing chicken or beef (except for PETA). Although I don't enjoy eating them, ALL carp that I have killed have gone to feed poor people in my neighborhood. Some had tears of joy in their eyes, as they received enough food to feed their family for a while, despite knowing about the MNR advisories, which I told them about before keeping any fish from that area. If you had no food to eat, I guarantee that you would NOT be releasing any food. I release any carp I don't plan to keep, but the Ontario ministry has no limits on carp for a good reasons. Long Sault has more carp than many other species combined do and are actually classified as non native / invasive species. By taking 20-30 carp per year, I'm not harvesting more than your average walleye or perch fisherman does, and those species already have limits . The very fact that they have bag limits on other species proves that there are "catch and keep" anglers out there too. Here are some comments I've received regarding this post, I obviously skipped derogatory comments and insults; if you want to comment on this issue, use our feedback form by clicking here. - Phil I fully agree with your views on Catch and Keep. - Phil, I'd rather not get involved, I like to eat what I catch myself but I don't really want to debate this. I think you were attacked by an ideologist personally, don't worry about it. - Personally I'm mostly a catch and release fisherman, although I do sometimes keep a few small fish for eating. If I'm fishing in the city, I don't, because the water isn't clean, but up north, I'll keep a few and cook them on a campfire. I don't feel that bad keeping a few small fish, as long as I'm going to eat them. However, I do usually always release fish like carp, musky, and pike over 5 lbs. Part of my fun in fishing is watching a fish swim away after a good fight. I know it does seem pointless to hook a fish and then release it, but I love the outdoors and it's not a sport I'm going to give up. Anyways, thanks, and good fishing! - I personally don't have a problem with a person keeping their legal limit of fish to eat. I am only personally opposed to the keeping of large trophy game fish and / or low density/endangered fish. Carp are a non-native / invasive species of which there is definitely no shortage of. Keeping a few to eat will definitely not hurt their population and having too many carp around has definitely hurt some native sport fishes populations and spawning habitat. If Europeans have problems with regs on carp in Canada ,I feel the can take as many carp from us as they want and transplant them back to where they belong. - This is s tough point. I am strictly except in the rarest of situations (say fishing pristine water in the north, for trout or maybe walleye and i only keep my limit) a catch and release fisherman. My belief and as I said it's my belief only, is that catching and releasing at least allows the fish to go home recuperate and live on....sure it's somewhat torturous to catch and then release but....kill it and it's dead! release it and maybe he's had a bad day for sure but he will get over it, and indeed live to swim another day and from what I hear from friends in the UK carp are never caught the same way twice due to their being very smart, and their ability to learn from their mistakes, or so I've been told, so unless a fisherman changes tactics that fish he will never catch again. I have a hard time understanding the catch and kill policy especially if you are not catching for yourself. I'm not a fan of catching fish for others really but that's just me. In the case of a religious or even a conscience point of view that catch and release is torture, as compared to outright killing a fish well I say go and seek the input of others and in the case of religious beliefs in terms of ..if ya catch it better make it worth it and kill it....seek out many opinions from those in the know. Maybe there is a varying view out there as to what one religious person might think as compared to another. Fish by the way do not feel pain as you or I (fish eat all kinds of things with spikes and points so a hook through their mouth flesh does not register a true pain response as we know it) their brains are far less sophisticated than ours without going all scientific they feel stress and for lack of a better word nervous when caught to the point of being so nervous they can actually die when fought too long or hard due to lactic acid build up, and therefore the reason for proper release knowledge to release a fish so he can survive and not just turn belly up in the next few seconds after being let go of. Long story short...too late...I'm for catch and release but i think that when getting the opinion of others there are always varying degrees and opinions so find the opinion that suits you and do what you want. But at the very least don't break the bag limits that's the absolute non no. And for those of the UK there are so many carp here and so few to fish for them not likely that taking a few carp each year is going to hurt the fishing at all in my opinion. Here are some more back and forth comments I've had about this issue with one of the Long Sault carp clubs. They have been re-printed with permission from the web site's manager, Jeff Vaughan: From Jeff: Colin and I are English, we were brought up to cherish and protect carp as if they were our own children. You will NEVER see one of us mishandling or endangering carp, and we are likely to get upset when those fishing with us do. HOWEVER we now live in Canada, and the Canadian way is different. It is completly legal as long as you have a fishing licence to kill as many fish as you like. NOTHING will make us like this, but we at least respect it. I do not like to see any carp damaged, but if I am truthful people taking the smaller fish for the table (say up to 15lb) can only improve the fishery as there are too many, but taking plus 20`s and even as happened this year a plus 50 is tough for me to understand. It may have taken this creature 20 or even 30 years to reach this size!! Regular shop customers who are "carp killers" know very well our thoughts on this subject, and I must say they respect our views. I believe many now only take smaller fish and then ONLY what they need. They also give Colin and I the courtesy of not rubbing our noses in it !! There are no piles of dead bodies on the bank ! (Possibly because Colin would be liable to throw them in lol:) In the same way I do not want Dead fish photos on this site. Frankly it makes my stomach turnover and I truley feel sick when I see them. FOR the record, below is my reply to Freshwater Phil re the post I have deleted ( this is the first ever post I have deleted apart from unwanted Porn) This is not a personal attack on Phil, I have never met the guy. From Jeff: Hi Phil and welcome to the site. Although we have not met I have seen your own site and some of your photographs etc. My operation is a little different from yours. I respect fully your rights to kill carp, I do not like it but that is life. I know many of the customers to the Long Sault carp shop kill carp, even some I consider good friends, again I do not like it but that is the Canadian way. However my staff and this site promote catch and release for carp and if I see any photographs of dead or badly handled carp appear on the site I will delete them. You may notice I have deleted one of your posts under the 2007 season for this reason. Dead fish or even live fish held up by the gills for photography upsets me and will upset a lot of my customers. Again I repeat you are welcome on the site, but request you do not post dead carp pictures. Re ice fishing at Long Sault, There is a guy "Claude" in LS who hires out the huts , probably you are best off calling Mark Jarvis or his wife at Carpins in Long Sault Lastly a personal plea. If you MUST kill carp please only kill the small fish I have seen on your website big fish dead in a heap by the side of the bridge, and you quoted as saying you do not personally eat them but give them to friends !!!! Over fishing has killed off a lot of sport fishing in Canada lets not now start on the Carp. Freshwater Phil replied: I tried tried to reply to a response to my ice fishing post, but something didn't work properly in the system. I do plan to return for more carpin next year, although I don't have any plans to keep any as of yet. It turns out that many of the people that were originally jumping for joy when I brought them the carps, were left with a big mess to clean up once they cleaned and prepared the fish. They don't want to clean any more fish at home, some were having a local fish store clean them for a fee, but towards the end of the 2007 season, a few actually asked me not to bring any more carp. I would like to point out that I don't enjoy killing carp, and if I don't have any requests for them, I release them without even taking them out of the water (unless they are big and I want a good picture). I understand that British people have conservation views when it comes to carp, but in Canada, invasive species such as carp and gobies are destroying our native fisheries. Having fished Long Sault since the late 70's, I can attest to the fact that the only fishery that is growing in size and numbers is carp and more recently gobies. All other species are becoming more scarce and smaller. As much as I understand your point of view, many local / native anglers view carp as a nuisance an a major threat to spawning native fish. From Jeff: Firstly I repeat my earlier statement. I do not like people killing carp but respect your rights to do so. There are however some points in your mail I must take issue with. 1; Non of us if we are honest, can say it is morally right to put a hook in a fishes mouth and take it out of its natural environment. Good fishermen do this in the most humane way possible and those with respect for the fish know how to look after them and put them back without harm. 2; As to your statement that it is worse to "torture a fish and put it back, than to torture a fish and then kill it" to use a good old English term this is BOLLOCKS. Firstly I dispute the torture bit, if you know anything about fishing you will know their have been numerous studies proving fish do not feel pain as we understand it. (and if this were not the case the PETA people would have closed us down already) But let`s assume for the sake of your argument they do feel pain. My reply is simple. If you took a beating in a bar would you rather they finished you off with a bullet in the head or call a medic and let you recover? 3; I also agree that killing 20 or 30 carp per year will do little harm in Long Sault. PROVIDING these are small fish, and providing there are not 100`s of people doing it. However your website and your You Tube videos are littered with dead carp photos. I haven't added up the bodies because as I say I find it sickening, but it looks like a lot to me. 4; As much as I love carp, even I would kill one to give to a starving man. Again though, from what I understand big carp taste like shit (the real reason your friends don't want them any more) and only small carp are really edible. If you are a half way decent fisherman you will be catching so many fish at Long Sault you can be selective and kill only the small fish. Why then are all your dead carp photos of big fish? 5; As to the decline in fishing being due to the carp. What do you think they are doing to your waters? There are two main reasons that other fishing is in decline. TOO MANY FISH WERE BEING KILLED. I hear stories all the time from guys saying I used to be able to kill 300 perch in a day and now I am lucky to kill 50. But also have you not noticed fish sizes have declined along with the water becoming clear due to Zebra muscles, these buggars are filtering out all the microscopic algae and microbes at the bottom of your food chain. As far as I know the carp are the only predator you have for the muscles!! The long and short of it is. You will never win a debate on killing carp with a Brit, we simply HATE it. I repeat again each to his own, but simply, all I am saying is there will be no dead carp on my site if I can avoid it. Good luck with your fishing and I truly hope you do as you say and practice catch and release next year. From Phil: I noticed the latest response to my last message, in response to it: The pics on my web site were taken over 2 seasons, more carp were killed in 2006 than 2007, that is why you can count more than 20 dead carp on my web site. I did kill some over 20 LB (less than 10 over 2 seasons) , although most were the average 10 LB - 14 LB fish. In reponse to fish feeling pain, although I doubt that predatory fish feel pain, as they have to chew on dorsal fins, I have a good feeling that carp are more sensitive, which is why some anglers use hair rigs. I personally keep my hooks covered with corn, and never leave the points exposed, to avoid spooking them. Even if we were to assume that they don't feel pain when hooked, I'm sure they don't enjoy fighting for their lives, as the hook will often tear through their mouths. Additionally, they must feel high stress levels during and after the battle. I've caught some carp that looked as if they had a bad day at the body piercing shop, they must have been caught 3-4 times, and had various hook wounds in seperate areas of their mouths. I'm obviously not going to post pics of any more dead carp to your web site, although I'm not going to go overboard with "release blankets" and "weigh bags" that I have seen some British anglers using, then are simply too much for me. You can be sure that when I do release a fish, I revive it properly to make sure it can swim away on it's own. I've released many sport fish, including musky, pike, bass, etc, and actually have a live release carp video I haven't converted to online format yet, I hope to do so over the next month or so. From Iceman: I could not bear to look at the rest of your site Phil. Do you also have bloody pics of pike, musky, bass, perch etc. with holes in their heads? Freshwater Phil replied: I take bag limits of bass and pike from clean waters on a regular basis, provided the season is open. I don't have any obligation to be more "righteous" than the MNR that creates these laws to begin with. Even "conservation" licenses allow for keeping a couple fish per day of these species. The reason most pics of these fish on my site don't have holes in their heads, is because their heads are a lot harder than the top of a carp's head. I usually kill fish by knocking them out with a rock or beer bottle, carp heads usually pop open with brains squirting out, bass and pike sometimes have their eyes bulge after a couple good shots, but the top of the head remains intact. I find this to be the quickest / cleanest way of killing large fish. For smaller trout, I simply rip out their throat and snap the neck, clubbing them is too messy. I don't bother with perch, they are too small and often infested with worms. I've released a couple muskies, as they were too small (under 36 inches) , still not sure if I would mount a trophy fish (over 50 inches) or release it, I would really have to decide once I catch one, I don't think I will be eating many muskies as their mercury / PCB levels are too high. I wouldn't mind tasting one though, just to see what they are like. Question: Please could you tell me how to tie line on to non eye hooks? Answer: I've never tried, I only buy hooks with eyes. Sorry I can't help. Question: Hey Phil! Have you caught stripers in the Montreal area? I go to Maine to catch them, but would love to catch some here (release of course, they are protected) I too will be hunting the musky this fall. I also caught a gar yesterday but was unable to land it. (he cut my line like an ER surgeon). Answer: The only stripers I've caught were in a freshwater reservoir on the Texas / Oklahoma border (Lake Texoma).They were originally stocked in there in the 1950's, they have thrived in the freshwater system and now outnumber the other species in the lake. I go down there every once in a while to visit family, I always try to stop by the lake for some striper fishing. I have never targeted them in saltwater or anywhere else, I doubt they would come this far upstream. As for gar, although I've never targeted them, we caught one a few weeks ago, he was barely hooked, but the line had a steel leader as we were targeting pike. If ever you do catch one, don't get anywhere near the beak as they have an "overbite" and hundreds of needle like teeth sticking out. It barely touched my leg when it was thrashing in the boat, and made 4 or 5 little holes in my skin, which I disinfected with some booze. I haven't started targeting musky yet, I plan to start over the next few weeks, as I now have a boat which should help. Happy hunting. Question: Hey, I was checking out your site and was wondering, are the pics, or some of them, on your Pike page photoshopped or modified? Plus, one pic says it's a 35 incher but it looks much bigger to me, possibly a 40+ incher. I'm a pike and bass fisherman too… Answer: Although the pictures are run through Photoshop to shrink their total size in kilobytes, the actual pics are never "modified" to enlarge fish, etc. I have no need to do anything of the sort, as my pics can attest to. That being said, their are several camera tricks anyone can use to make fish appear larger, such as holding the fish right in front of the camera lens, although this will also result in your fingers looking like fat sausages. Bear in mind that I'm only 5'6 so any large fish will look bigger when a short person such as myself or Bob Izumi is holding it. Good luck with the "bucketmouths". Question: Hi Phil, Nice site. You have done a great deal of fishing. I'm a new fisherman, only 4-5 years of experience, and I'm almost solely fishing in Quebec on two lakes at my cottage. I really like your rigging section, but I find that some of the terms/details are confusing. May I suggest you add some photographs of the rigs you describe. I would love to try out some of the rigging, but I don't know if I could do it correctly. BTW. I also love to eat fish. I'm a huge fan of Pike (I don't bother de-boning), little hard to eat, but totally worth it. I'll eat Bass in the spring and fall, but the summer parasites/worms throw me off. And f@# PETA! ;-) Keep up the good work. Answer:* I'm currently re-designing the rigging section on the web site, ask I'm going to start selling custom tied rigs on the web site within the next couple weeks. I noticed that not to many merchants / stores carry proper live bait rigging systems, they seem to focus about 95% of their business on lures or terminal tackle. As setting up efficient rigs is somewhat time consuming and done by trial and error, I figure that many of our viewers can benefit from my experience tying the rigs for them, the end product will simply snap on to your swivel or snap. The rigs will come will detailed usage instructions, a graphical web site description, , and small zip lock bags for convenient storage. I will keep your email address on file and let you know as soon as I'm ready to start marketing them. Ps. What region of Quebec do you fish? Re: Thank you for the information. Please let me know when you have some more details about the rigging. I mostly use lures, jigs, etc... at the moment and sometimes worms. Most live bait, other than worms, frogs, and crayfish are banned in my neck of the woods. I fish on Big and Little Cedar lakes near Messines Quebec (and sometimes on Blue Sea). Big Cedar is a fantastic lake. It's over 75% Indian land, so when you're out on the boat, it's like your in a world by yourself. It's definitely worth a trip. Check out Moosehead lodge (http://www.moosehead-lodge.com/accueil-a.htm) if your thinking of a trip (bare bones cheap accommodations and friendly, knowledgeable service). Question: Hi your site is great and it is impressive that you target so many species. I am also pleased to hear that you have been bitten by the carp bug for they are a great fish, if you like carp then you should check out the tench (tinca tinca latin) found in British waters. I notice you kill the fish which I first thought was crazy but then I notice you eat them aswell which makes the whole process worthwhile. I have never eaten any fish I've caught but I am told pike is nice. However, I must point out that you stated god created the world, this is not fact and upon looking at evidence there is only the bible to refer to. However science is gathering evidence everyday on how the eart could have been created. It is for this reason I suggest you change your website to read something like "The bible suggests...." or "My religous beliefs suggest..." this would be much more un biased. Religious beliefs are good none the less. Happy fishing, for a great carp bait try shelled mussel. The next big thing over here is Halibut and Trout Pellets.... a record Zander of 21lb has just been landed by accident on a pellet, these predatory fish are like a cross between a pike and a perch.. Answer: Thank you for sending feedback, in response to your comments, I don't actually eat the carp, I was giving them away to an organization that feeds the poor people in my neighborhood, but I gave them so many they don't want them any more for now, so I'm back to catch and release. I also give away most of the pike I catch, although I'll eat a few over the year. Deboning them is an art that requires lots of practice, so I try to fillet as many as I can. Bass taste great, we just got back from a trip where we all filled our bag limits with 2-4 Lb fish, which I also filleted and de-boned. As far as bait, many people from the UK fish the same spots I do, they come over for week long carp trips here. I've seen them using mainly boilies, after chumming the water with a good 10 - 15 KG of boiled corn. I use boiled corn as bait, the fish here aren't as picky as in Europe, and they are more abundant than any other species where I fish for them. We don't even need to use hair rigs, I simply thread the niblets directly onto the hook. I never heard of "zander" but a cross between perch and pike is a "walleye", although people from Ontario tend to call them "pickerels", and Quebeckers sometimes use the French name "Dore". My fishing buddy caught a small one the other day as he was reeling in his carp line baited with corn. They are one of the finest tasting freshwater fish we have here. Regarding religious beliefs, I didn't create the site to be politically correct, I do actually get some nasty comments from "Peta" type people that are "vegans", "conservationists", etc. In my heart I am 100% sure that God created the world, the notion that it happened on it's own, to me, is as ridiculous as me showing you a nice portrait and telling you that it happened "accidentally" when someone spilled a jar of ink onto a blank canvas. Again this is my belief, and I try to live by my beliefs, so as the author of the web site, I naturally posted the reasons I feel justified eating other living creatures. Tight lines. Freshwater Phil Question: Phil, realy enjoyed your site. It gives someone like me, who hasnt done this kind of fishing before, where to start. I have a question for you. I don't know where you are situated, and maybe you dont know, but I am going to be around Rigaud, Quebec, on the Outawais. Is there any fishing around that way thanks. Fresh water Phil answers: There is a campground in Rigaud that rents 16 foot motor boats, I was there many years ago, caught some bass and perch. I also found a huge dead carp floating on the surface, and I'm pretty sure you will find most species there as well. I'm not sure about where to get bait in that area though, I don't fish there to often. Question: Hi Phil - Great site, looks like you've caught some monsters! I live in northern Vermont, and I want to try and set up a cheap fishing vacation up in Quebec, preferably at a lake that's quiet and has boat rentals on site. Do you have any tips on places I might look? Thanks, and keep up the good work! Fresh water Phil answers: If you're looking for the big ones, your best bet would be The St Lawrence or Outaouais rivers. The are plenty of boat rentals on both, I usually go to a CR Sport (http://crsport2000.com ) for bait and boat rentals when I need them. If you are looking for something more quiet, be prepared to pay more. Quebec has hundreds of outfitters in different regions, you can browse the FPQ English web site for detailed listings by region, activity, type of fish, etc. Click: http://www.fpq.com/en/ Hope this helps you, I would love to hear how your trip went if you make it out here. Question: HELLO SIR/MA I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF YOU CAN ARRANGE ACCOMODATION FOR OUR CLIENTS IN YOUR PROPERTY THEY WILL BE COMING ON A FISHING VACATION IN YOUR PROPERTY FROM 26TH OF MAY TO 5TH JUNE 2007, A TOTAL OF TEN DAYS. WE WILL BE NEEDING A TOTAL OF FIVE SINGLE ROOMS OR THREE DOUBLE IN ALL,PLS KINDLY ADVICE OF AVAILABILITY. Answer: You must have confused us with someone else, we don't have a resort.

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