A TIME TO GIVE THANKS
It is Remembrance Day so I am going to start off the last open water report of the year remembering those who have served our country. My dad was a navigator in the Royal Canadian Airforce during the Second World War. His Lancaster flew over Germany on solo reconnaissance missions during the latter half of the war. Many of his friends and colleagues never made it back. He was one of the lucky few and even met my mother there who served as a Wren for the British Army. He never talked about the war very much, a deep scar that he carried with him the rest of his life. The picture below shows them getting married in 1944.
WES DAVID – I’M FOREVER GRATEFUL
My wife and I attended the Remembrance Day ceremonies in our community as we always do. We were anxious for these morning ceremonies as due to COVID 19 restrictions, we were unable to attend any Remembrance Day ceremonies in person on November 11, 2020.
After the Remembrance Day ceremonies, I am heading out for mule deer with a good friend who has a coveted Alberta mule deer draw tag burning a hole in his pocket. The next day, my hunting partner Chuck and I will be hunting a 5X5 whitetail buck that we call the Teflon Don because he left me scratching my head during last year’s hunting season. He has given Chuck the slip several times during the start of this years rifle season. I was fortunate enough to fill my 2021, white-tailed deer tag during the first week of the rifle season so I will just be along as a helper and photographer on Chuck’s hunt.
If all goes well, maybe over the weekend, I will grab my fishing gear and head to the Bow River to do battle with a few rainbow and brown trout. Regardless of what hunting or fishing opportunities I will be taking advantage of I will not forget that the freedom I enjoy to hunt and fish and spend time in the outdoors is because of the sacrifices our Canadian soldiers have made for our country in the past, present, and what they’re willing to do if need be in the future.
Regardless if I’m successful or not on my next hunting or fishing adventure, I will be sure to quietly say a few words, giving thanks to all the fallen men and women that sacrificed and gave their lives so I can be in the field hunting, and on the water fishing, NOT FIGHTING. I am forever grateful.
MANITOBA
RED RIVER ON FIRE
It took a while to happen but when it did all hell broke loose. An increase in current flow along with a run of bait and goldeye brought the big greenbacks into the river in waves towards the end of October.
I managed to make it out for day with friend Jim Price and we got one Master Angler along with numerous solid fish. You can read more on that day here.
The Red River Shines Once Again
THIS IS WHAT THE RED RIVER IS FAMOUS FOR – BIG GREEN!
Guide Todd Longley got in on the action as well. “The fall walleye run was late this year but when it finally did start to happen by the third week in October it was nothing short of spectacular.
Getting up to four master angler green back walleye per day and countless five and six pounders was a dream come true. The Red River is a lot clearer these days and it was something else to see walleye following other walleye to the surface. There is still time to get in on the action as the fall walleye run is still in full swing.”
LAKE OF THE PRAIRIES
I made a quick trip last weekend out the north end of this productive reservoir and the border between Manitoba and Saskatchewan. An old friend and I fished the bridge that goes over the reservoir at Highway # 5. While it was a major achievement launching the boat because of record low water, the fishing was good. Our largest walleye was 25 inches but there was plenty of action. This section was absolutely loaded with bait and big schools of something to be determined. See for your self below.
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO – GLENN MCDONALD
Winter has hit in a big way in Northwestern Ontario. For anyone still out fishing this will signal the end of the season, or will it? Not us musky anglers, we are still looking for that last bite. The past few weeks have seen weather conditions all over the map. Cold fronts, warm fronts, sunny days and snow days. We have been on the water as much as we can and have been rewarded with a solid fall bite.
THE SUCKER BITE FINALLY HAPPENED!
Over the Halloween weekend we finally started to see the whitefish and cisco stage up in familiar areas for their fall spawn. With the bait fish moving in, the muskies were not far behind. Water temps remained steady around 48-50 degrees as we headed into November and this led to a delayed migration of the bait fish. The musky were slow to follow into the areas adjacent to spawning grounds. With some time on the water scouting various areas we finally put a pattern together. The main lake level is still low, and with it lower current throughout the lakes. Finding inflow creeks, and increased current helped us produce some fish.
A one of two fish day would be considered a good day in July, in November we are looking for three fish or better. I started our live bait ‘sucker rig’ run with a hat trick of fish, including a beauty of a tiger musky.
FIRST MUSKIES ARE ALWAYS AWESOME
Ange Storey came fishing with us a couple times and got to see me hook into a nice tiger on a sucker rig. A few days later it was her turn. The clicker on my rod signaled a musky had grabbed the sucker. I handed the rod to a reluctant Ange. Moments later she set the hook. What seemed like a five minute battle to her, in reality was only 15 seconds. I slid the bag under her very first musky. Bumping out to 43”, a legit musky by any standards. Congrats Ange! Now you understand why we do this crazy thing we call musky hunting!
A DOUBLE DIGIT WEEKEND OF MUSKIES IN THE NET
The first weekend of November brought us the sucker bite in full swing. Starting the weekend with a five fish day, Dave Chaval nailed four and Kyla McDonald added another. We lost a few boatside and had a few laughs in the boat. The three of us being the core of the 54 or Bust crew, we don’t often get to fish together. Any time we get out together we always have a good time and the fish are just a bonus.
Dave Chaval brought our buddy, Murray Peters out for a late afternoon fishing trip while I had to go out of town. They wasted little time with Murray hooking into his first sucker rig fish. A gorgeous tiger musky!
Ending the weekend off, Dave, myself and brother in law, Richard Madussi spent a beautiful fall day on the water. Being able to fish in a hoodie in early November is amazing, and we knew it wouldn’t last.
BATTING OVER 50 PERCENT
Despite dropping a few fish at the boat we went 5 for 8 and landed some great fish! The best part of these last few trips out has been the video we have been able to capture. As we video everything we do for our YouTube channel, we are working on getting cool angles and shots. Given the fact that we have had an amazing summer, we went into these last couple trips with the mindset that we would try to get good video, at the expense of missing some fish. Although we may have missed a fish or two, we did capture some amazing underwater footage of muskies boatside. Stay tuned to our YouTube channel this winter to watch all our catches.
THAT IS A WRAP
As I write this, on Remembrance Day, I want to thank all our veterans and their families for the many sacrifices they have made for freedom.
With the open water season almost done, most of us will be looking ahead to the ice fishing season. For us, we will try to get out a time or two yet and I will provide the editor with some photos to share if we have success. For anyone still fishing, please be extra cautious out there. This is not the time of year to go out for your first musky hunt. Until next time, that’s a wrap.
Follow team 54 or Bust at our Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/54orbust/?hl=en
And go check out our YouTube channel for all our fishing experiences
https://www.youtube.com/c/54orbust
SASKATCHEWAN
TOBIN LAKE
There is still a few hardcore anglers out on the river in Nipawin but friends Russ Heatherington and Boyd Holmen had a good day last week on a main lake point. They jigged up three fish over eight pounds and caught some nice pike as well. They were happy to end the season on a positive.