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Man, it has been a very bizarre ice fishing season! It was our first good ice fishing season in a few years! Lots of good ice out there, if fact the first year in a while that we've seen truck out there but the latest snow that we had received has made it a mess out there> Not sure I'll get out there again this year. One interesting thing that I noticed this year, was the number of BIG JUMBO's that stayed relatively shallow <15 FOW. We did catch some great fish, lost some possible giants and hope that conditions improve to the point where we can get out again!

With the help from family,they are doing up some T,s . Family is getting the 1st off,s

I can't wait to see how this "stunning" piece of highly figured Quilted Poplar turns out once finished. It's in full round now and will become a reel seat, butt cap and two wood handle inserts over the next several days.

A few years ago, my daughter and I started a little project to create a fishing alphabet book. I figured it was a good way for her to learn about fishing, reading and books. I could also use the opportunity to try and convince her that I was a better angler than I actually am. It took about two years of long stretches of procrastination, sprinkled with some focused work, and fishing interruptions to get it done. The original idea was just to create a simple printable book in black and white but as I got more into it, it kept growing with the eventual goal of publishing it on Amazon. I'm really happy with the end result and would love for some people to see it. The book is called "L is for Lunker" and is available on Amazon. I'm also more than happy to send anyone a digital copy of the book. Just send me a pm.

I've always run a kicker, keep those hours off the big motor and sip fuel. Salmon/walleyes/muskies/whatever. Kicker probably gets 10 times the amount of hours the big mill does. If you do a lot of trolling, you'd be crazy not to have one.

Hey Lew, Hopefully I can clear this up for you. I wont provide my opinion in order to keep this thread open lol. But to put it in plain language Trump imposes 25% tarrif on Canadian lumber entering the united states, the American purchaser of the lumber pays a 25% tarrif on the lumber. The money is collected by the US government. Canada imposes a retalitory tarrif on american goods a boat for example, the purchaser (your local boat dealer) pays a 25% tarrif on the boat here in canada that is collected by the canadian government. That cost would be passed down by the boat dealer to you or me when we go to buy a shiny new boat. So contrary to your understanding, canada does not pay both ways. In fact trump has been somewhat succesful in confusing americans into believing that by imposing these tarrifs, countries like canada and china will pay for them. This is not the case at all. The entire concept of a tarrif is to promote manufacturing within your own country by penalizing anyone that purchases products from a foreign manufacturer or supplier. The most recent tariff on canadian steel is an easy one...by imposing a 25% tarrif on canadian steel the US government is incentivizing any american that needs to purchase steel, to purchase it from american sources. This should boost the economy in a place like Pennsylvania that have massive steel manufacturing. Part of me even questions if Trump understood what he was doing when he initially brought up the concept, hence the continued pushing back of the imposing date. You may ask yourself then, why is everyone making such a stink about the tariffs here in Canada if its the americans that are going to pay them. The answer is that the Canadian Economy relies heavily on selling its products such as oil, lumber, potash, uranium, etc etc to the united states. If canadian resources and products are hit with a 25% tarif Americans will immediately turn to purchasing these products from other markets where tarifs are not imposed, and thus this will severely damage the canadian economy. One blatant oversight by the Trump administration was the idea of tarffing canadian oil. What they failed to realize is that Canada currently discounts oil by upwards of $17 a barrel to the united states. By imposing a tarrif on canadian oil, Canadian oil companies would essentially be forced to begin marketing their oil elsewhere while americans would be stuck going to the open market. For areas of the United States that are heavily reliant on Canadian oil due to their distance from the american coast line such as the american midwest, transportation costs to move oil from foreign sources would skyrocket the price. These areas of the states are heavily reliant on oil produced in canada and moved down via pipeline saving significant transportation costs. If the American midwest was forced to pay a 25% tarrif, they are then looking at 1. paying 25% more immediately, plus most likely needing to go and purchase oil on the open market which they would then need to transport to the middle of the continent. I dont think theres much appetite for americans to pay what 40? 50%? more for their oil. This is the real catch in all of this. Trump can threaten tariffs etc all he wants, but at the end of the day the USA does not have/has not enough resources to sustain itself. It doesnt have the oil reserves, lumber, potash, uranium, etc etc to provide itself. It will always be reliant on countries like canada to provide those resources to it. Thats what makes this all a little nerve wracking too while Trump keeps bringing up making canada its 51st state...we just saw what Russia decided to do when it needed some resources...could USA do the same? Youd hope not.

Took this picture on my way trout fishing mid February, do I need a shelter and a heater? For me A BIG YES. Do I need a fishfinder…no, do I need a power auger? With my arthritis another big yes. Do I need live scope… nah. Do I need a snowmachine and a quad, no…. But I wouldn’t get to 80% of the places I go. Life is short…make it as fun and comfortable as you can is my thinking.

An ice angler does not NEED all that much gear. A pail to sit on and carry ice rigs and lures (and fish being brought home!), a spud or manual auger, and warm clothing will suffice. I have been ice fishing for a very long time (over 50 years) and have rarely used a shelter. When I hit some of the back lakes, I take a minimum of equipment in a small sled, and a manual auger. No tent, no heater, no power auger, no graph, and I catch fish just fine thanks. Sure, the extra bits make life more comfortable and a graph is a great thing for some fishing, but you don't NEED them. Just sayin'.... Doug

Easy fix on the trolling drag a sock behind the boat a blue ikea bag is a great weapon

Hi all, Finally starting to warm up here, forcast tomorrow is +6C and not much colder than -4C daytime temps all week. Clocks go forward next week...spring is my favourite time to fish crappie. Got out today but there was a stiff wind so took the shack along for a quick morning session.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Fi8w6bwW2/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I was out 5 x,s before the deep snow. I walk and my knees will not allow me to walk through that mess we had,as short of a walk it is . Past 2 season were,warm temps,sketchy ice,this season,good ice,way to much snow and slush . Am I giving up,hell no, there is always next season. As for my equipment when heading out well, KISS . A good push smitty,pop up hut,heater,3 bottles of heater fuel ( I LIKE TO STRIP DOWN ) Auger, finder and 2 sticks. Pocket radio and thermos of java.

Hi all, Got out with my neighbour for a couple hours before sunset. We missed quite a few at the hole and got a couple keepers and a couple big girls. Lots of fish swimming through that would inspect and chase without committing, frustrating, but fun.

I am a testament to that.

Hi all, Managed to get out a bit later than I prefer but still did ok from around midday till 2 pm.

Hi all, been fun fishing here. Guided some guys from Iowa for crappie a couple times in the last couple of weeks, they left and came back… lol . Weather held until the last day. So glad I didn’t have to clean any fish this time…

Apply before the end of the month. My son and I have done this...an experience that will create invaluable skills and memories for a lifetime. http://www.ontario.ca/page/stewardship-youth-ranger-program

Getting there, slowly, my favourite speed. The rear grip and the reel seat have been glued onto the blank (a CTS Affinity Float 13' 3-6)..... The butt cap is finished and will get glued on before the day is over.... And the foregrip with wood insert is now a work in progress....

I’m going to try to make it to the perch fest. then maybe small lake for lake trout. then Erie for eyes. st Clair for Muskie. GB for salmon and rainbow. Then small lake north for whatever bites. that’s all I have so far. I’ve bought a bunch of gear. Hope to get a second boat too.

Number one rule of fishing, dont "overthink" it. If youre attempting to ice fish laketrout without electronics...good luck If youre hiring a permanent hut from an operator at the end of the season? Good luck you say you are deadsticking minnows...but what does your presentation look like, do you have all sorts of "cheater" mechanisms all over your line, like snap swivels, too big of jigs, big hooks etc? good luck. To me at least in my experience, the devil is 100% in the details, but overthinking about fishing on this day or the next or not is a load of whatever as far as I am concerned. In my observation, the moon has impact on two things, 1 in the spring for bass, the first full moon when the water reaches 60 degrees, youre going to see a huge wave of a spawning. 2. if its perfectly clear and calm during a full moon, ive observed that the fishing can be tougher as I personally believe the fish have fed a bit more through the night than normal. as far as the moon having any impact on fish that are below ice that cant see the sky, or observe any water level change on a small lake thats not tide impacted...ehhhh the presentation of your bait, the line your using, the knot, the hook is far more important. Permanent huts are the equivalent of going and fishing in your boat on the same shoal every single day all day...Seems crazy to think that the fishing is going to be excellent all of the time for the whole year doing that no? staying mobile, adjusting depths all matters, at the end of the day though, ice fishing is a giant unproductive PITA. As far as im concerned its something to do during the winter, but the really "banner" days are few and far between no matter how hard you grind at it. Laketrout specifically, its hard to get around them, once you are, then its hard to get them to bite, then if you do, its hard to land them. Thats the name of the game, youre either in or your out. The payoff can be pretty sweet, nothing in ice fishing beats catching lakers through the ice, but holy heck id much rather target them from a boat! Ill add, im totally aware that this is a lot of complaining...but your talking to a guy that has the snowmobiles, the livescope, the huts, heaters blah blah blah and spent 12(ish) full 8 hour days out there this winter chasing lakers, caught some, skunked some, literally didnt have any "great" days all winter this year, still did it!

Looked out the back door this morning and saw a dead deer that was ripped apart right beside my garage last night. I back onto woods and often hear the coyotes but last night never heard a sound. Couple years back they killed a fawn 100' from my back door. I'll drag the carcass back into the woods later today.

For anyone interested, I dragged the deer into the woods behind my property on Wednesday and checked on it today and it appears the coyotes are having a fest on it. About the only parts recognizable now are the head & legs.

Only an ignorant jerk would do that. We have great friends in Pennsylvania who come up here every June and we holiday together, sure hope that crap doesn't happen to them

This was a banner year for ice! Friends are visiting Temagami this week, Nipigon and even some are just finishing up on parts of Lake O that froze over well this winter. Agree that costs are stupid for everything now but if you've already made the investment for gear, then it's just up to you investing getting yer arze in gear to go.

The only vehicle that works in these conditions is a Scoot. A lot of my neighbours had them when I owned a cottage on Wahsoune out by San Souci. Also, the only way to get out to your place on the Bay during te shoulder seasons...ice too thin, or ice breaking up..

Just slip some pontoons under it, drop anchor, and call it your pontoon boat, there's no limit on when pontoon boats have to be off 😄. You're welcome!

Those are real beauties! For eating to be honest I prefer the 10-11" fish but those jumbos sure fun to catch.

I wanted some more rod holders so I got four but they didn’t have a base. I remembered Misfish saying to try metal supermarket so I ordered there. They cut to the lengths I needed. I got 2 at 1/4”x3” 8” long and I got 4”sq and 3/8” thick to make the hard to find big Jon Downrigger base. They can mount offset so they clear my Bimini when stowed.

Yammy 90 on my 1875 ProGuide drops to a troll speed of 1.4mph using the RPM limiter. As the hours build on the motor, you will in colder water build carbon up pretty quick using that limiter so run it hard back to launch and burn that out. The Terrova 80 will pull the boat along for a troll at up to about 2.6mph. Cruise speed at 4500rpm is about 27-28mph. Go a big tiller, lots of room to roam.

Lol, a buddy of mine just posted this on FB.

All enjoyed in the confines of home lol

Yes you are right - regs say no chumming . So when you are fishing with live or dead minnows or worms - where that is allowed - you would have to be very careful when you added a minnow to your jigging spoon, or a piece of dew worm. If you were jigging it too aggressively, the minnow or part of the minnow or worm might fall off down at the bottom of the hole. Then you are just fishing with live bait, and NOT chumming, , perhaps not t(e most efficient angler in terms of how many worms or minnows you might need for an outing. Also if you are fishing with live minnows or dead ones, take a good look at them , like very closely, to see what they are. As a guide over the years in Muskoka and Halliburton m and Kawarthas , I would very often have some minnows on board purchased from various bait shops. I very carefully LOOK at every minnow before using it. The bait shops DO NOT I have purchased minnows from many different bait shops and have found all sorts of Non baitfish mixed in with them. A 5” Brown Trout, a 4” Walleye, many perch minnows, many catfish minnows, burbot , all sorts of “minnows” that are not legal baitfish - so have a good look at them before use - they kinda all look the same in a minnow bucket of a couple dozen. Re dumping “fish guts” back in the lake , make sure of 2 things. 1 - Only ever the legal game fish you catch from that lake , river. 2 - not on or along the shoreline, but out in the deepest water you can find.around the area - no one wants stinky fish guts on their shorelines, beaches . If a fish from that lake dies of old age, it doesn’t get scooped up and put in a PLASTIC garbage bag to go to a Landfill. It sinks to the bottom and decomposes and feeds the bugs, and leeches and turtles,- NATURE - sometimes it floats for a bit and the birds get at it until it sinks. So “fish guts” minus the filets, do the same when dumped back. One less plastic garbage bag goes to a landfill.

A couple things can make a huge difference to success or not. If you are on a lake that allows live or dead minnows, - grind up with pliers, knife, whatever - a minnow or 2 for each hole, bring some worms, do the same - fish "smell" better than you would imagine - brings them to your bait. Also noise - a vibrating "blade" bait - I use Showdowns - or a rattle bait on a jigging rod, very aggressively jigged up and down to create a commotion below where you are can also bring fish to your baits - sometimes the lure gets hit, sometimes a nearby tip up. If you start fishing and you don't get bit fairly quickly, there usually are not any fish below you, so you either have to move, or get the fish to come to you -they move around pretty slow in winter so it sometimes takes a while - but I have had many days on the ice where a noisy bait and a bit of smell has "called in" a bunch of fish. GL

Your right an ice angler does not need all that much gear - but it sure can be fun running and gunning, on the Reelpro Ice fishing Sled at 80 mph

With the tent, Ion ice auger, sled, pack and gear, maybe forty five pounds. Often, fishing with a buddy, one of us brings a shelter and the other brings an auger. For back-country lakes I take a hand auger. I am going for crappies tomorrow, no shelter, minimal gear but with the Ion, total weight probably 25 pounds. HTH

In NWO at Clarks they had banner ice fishing season for walleyes and some good trout as well. Still plenty of ice for the time being. I's tend to say no. With this having the best ice in 10years it really got things rolling derbies, etc. back in full swing.

I went through a very brief period 20 years ago following the solunar chart, it took six months to realize I had done well on days touted to be great days but had also had awful days with similar ‘best’ day forecasts, similarly I had great days and bad on ‘poor’ solunar forecast days. Just wondering if you have a sonar unit? Definitely helps. Deadsticking trout can work, but the LOVE to chase. 3”-4” white tube jigs, blade baits and lipless cranks a good start for lakers.

Thank you Cast-Away! I've always enjoyed my visits up North, the people I've encountered, and the many friends I've made.

I made quite a few trips to Simcoe while residing in the GTA. At least I have some memories. You're right about other opportunities (relatively) close by. It would help if I had someone to go with and share the load of dragging the sleds loaded with equipent. My 69 years are starting to show. Gotta stay off processed foods to alay the soreness caused by imflammation.

Beautiful! Champagne all the way!

I think Champagne would compliment that wood grain better

Lol….you can have the best ‘depthfinder’ in the world and still suck at fishing.

Small hovercraft.

We don’t know what they will look like, the idea will most likely be to specifically target some American products where we can buy them elsewhere…like China…

It was slow going today with the side by sides on simcoe and when they broke through the frozen slush But we didn’t get stuck today so I will be back out again tomorrow

Hi all, Got to our spot around 5pm, usually pick up a couple of whitefish and the odd walleye and pike before the bite turns on but it wasn’t until 7:20pm when the switch got flicked. We didn’t even mark a single fish before that, was getting worried… lol. Once they turned on it was non stop bites.

Do like the guys at the gun shows, rent a table to get there early and scoop up all the best deals............. 😉and maybe misfish needs a table assistant! Doug

Hi all, At the beginning of the month my local tackle shop held a promotion and we’re choosing 10 lucky people to receive a complimentary sample of some new plastics they are selling, I was one of the lucky few that got a pack. I was sceptical when the shop owner told me they were hammering walleye with them, I’m almost exclusively a live bait guy for walleye on the ice, but gave it a go. I got out twice for walleye and once for trout in the two weeks since I got the lures. The first day out for walleye was a slow day, only saw 3 fish but caught them all, 1 on a minnow and then the other two to my surprise ignored the minnow and hammered the plastic. Two days later I went for walleye again, my confidence in the plastic was higher and although I got one on a minnow the rest took the plastic. I even got a whitefish on them, which really surprised me because the whities on that lake are so finicky. About a week later I went for trout. I got a really nice one on the paddle tail, a bait I’d never tried before. Since they caught fish and I could give a positive review I decided to do do just that…. Fun video. I’m not sponsored nor have I received any compensation from the brand, just an honest user review with a mention of my local tackle store.

First and only brand new vehicle I ever bought for myself. Wish I still had it.