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Part of the problem is that it is difficult to prove what someone is fishing for. If a CO see's someone tossing a spinnerbait and the angler claims he's fishing for pike, was there a regulation broken? It's hard to prove intent and all too often there is no real proof or evidence. There are also many anglers that do not know about lures and the types to use along with very little knowledge about the habitat, biology and spawning cycles of various species that the regulations are based on. I have a cottage on Loughborough lake and have watched and reported a number of obvious offenders but it is difficult to prove. The only successful intervention occurred when an out of province angler was actually putting large mouth bass in his live well. As an early season Crappie guy with a serious bass glitter boat I get hassled and accused of bass fishing constantly, to the point that it's no longer an enjoyable activity. I understand the challenges and actions from concerned folks watching out but it's equally important to understand that not every angler is out there hammering out of season fish. More information and education is required but as long as it is legal to catch some species while other species are out of season I feel that this problem will just continue and it becomes a matter of personal ethics to go fishing at this time of the year.

I have had mostly good interventions with police officers, and with COs, and I have had interventions that were less good with both groups. If one meets a law enforcement officer of any stripe who is bound and determined to lay a charge, regardless of guilt or innocence, chances are that the meeting with that LEO is going to be strained. I do not envy these folks their chosen careers, and everybody can have a bad day. But please don't approach me, when I am doing nothing wrong or illegal, and accuse me of something. It is not a good start to an encounter with a citizen who is paying their salary.

I was fishing crappie in the spring 50 deg water temps, fishing out of the only boat I owned at the time i was in the reeds or just off them ultralight rods 4 lb test and crappie jigs did not have a bigger rod line or lures then what is standard for panfish 3 ft of water and the mnr/police boat comes flying up to me and stops beside me their wake was so big my motor hit the bottom of the lake and it pushed me about 20 ft way from them They told I was under arrest for fishing bass out of season i said , but I’m fishing crappie yeah, you are in a bass boat you are not going to talk your way out of this one well I only own one boat and this is it if you look at the back you can see the plates for downriggers. the continued to try to get me to say I was fishing bass i showed them the 4lb line the ultralight rods and jigs and told the they were welcome to look in my boat for any bass equipment still not happy i opened the livewell and showed 8 crappie nope still harassing me about fishing spawning bass i explained at 50degs bass will be following the minnows and feeding to prepare to spawn and would not be here yet at that point I got rude threw the F bomb and many other words and to charge me or F bomb off. they finally said well we don’t have enough evidence so we will let you go but if you come back we will charge you next time I told them I’m not leaving and will be back again tomorrow so feel free to charge me now they left ps. I was fishing crappie all the bass were near shore and in the rivers. None where I was

Not surprised at all, where do you think they got the data from? The original hydro charts, lol! Any spots I fish with any frequency I just turn on Autochart Live and make my own maps anyhow.

SOLD!!! I got to thinking (which is a dangerous activity for a man like me), and I realize that I spend very little of my time at the stern of the boat where I have the graph, and rather spend most time on the bow casting platform with the bow-mount electric. I already knew why guys have two (or more) graphs, but did not really want to have something else up front in the way. So I do not actually spend much time looking at the graph and learning how it works. The last time I REALLY understand my graphs, it was a Lowrance X-16 (paper) in the boat, and a Lowrance Z-6000P portable everywhere else. I really did understand them. But I also wore a younger man's clothes.............and my head wasn't full of all the KNOWLEDGE from the last 30 or 40 years. 🙄 Doug

Great guiding job, They will not forget this trip especially the little Guy. Keep up the good work.

It's really easy to distinguish crappie baits from spinnerbaits. I don't care where someone is or what boat their in, I always try and figure out what they're tossing before I judge them lol. And catching OOS bass is almost impossible when you're fishing the same water they're bedding in. All you can do is get them in and toss them back. The amount of giant bass I got this year out on Gbay for pike opener was insane. These fish were roaming big weed and mud flats, no bedding yet (Assumption on my behalf) I've got a funny OPP story for you guys. Out in Parry Sound jigging up lakers maybe mid Sept. I had a OPP boat roll up to us out of nowhere in some really thick fog and told us we were fishing out of season. I asked the officer what fish is out of season on Sept 15th? He said lake trout. I tried not to chuckle and told him that lakers were in season until the 30th. He told me they closed on Sept 1st. I had to remind him to check the regs again.. He still couldn't figure it out. Finally I passed him my phone with the regs that clearly stated from Sept 1-30th is a catch and release only season. He wasn't very happy.. On the flip side, anytime I've been pulled over by the MNR it's been a great convo, no accusations, just a quick ask to check the live well. OPP needs to take a page out of their playbook.

The Queen did it again! Left the pickeral alone and drove around looking for pike.. lol.. took us an hour to get 300m from camp... even had a double header at one point. Then back for wings and a nice warm fire and movie!! I even let her beat me at cribbage. Also had , at one point, 6 golden eagles hunting over camp, we usually see them in pairs, so that was something I've never seen before. Probably about a 5 foot wingspan. Rainy day today so a good day to sit by the fire and read.. get some quiet time in. Oh.. and no more wondering whats going on at camp when were not there. Got this handy camera to keep an eye on things while were gone. One tiny bar but it works like a charm! Even managed a couple small pickeral the evening before to have for breakfast. Place is full of smaller pickeral... even after 15 years here I cant for the life of me find the bigger ones...

More than a touch Im afraid.....

Years ago a buddy and I were fishing for big bluegills ("BULLgills) around the long May weekend on Loughborough. We were fishing a stretch of the south shore where there are a lot of very nice year-round homes, and yes, two home owners came down and shouted at us about fishing bass. I told the one guy, go ahead and call the COs, we are fishing for bluegills. About an hour later I could see a boat bearing down on us, and I told my buddy I thought it looked like the CO's boat. Sure enough, just as he was pulling up, I hooked a largemouth, and released it without taking it out of the water completely. The CO (whom I knew) said that looked like a bass, and I acknowledged it was indeed a bass, but we were fishing for bluegills. (Ultralight rigs, 4 lb test, 1/16 oz jigs, etc). He looked in the livewell, checked our licences and safety equipment, and wished us a good day. I said I figured the guy on shore had reported us. "Oh no, I just happened to be out here" 🙄 Doug

Yeah, I hear ya every year people accuse us of bass fishing in the spring from a distance in pad beds. Yelling out “bass is closed”. I’m always waiting for the CO to show up so we can laugh our butts off when he tries to bust us for this big caper and finds a livewell full of crappie lol. I can only imagine what it’s like in a bass boat.

Bet you would be surprised how old most of the data is

Hydrocharts don't change all that much. If you've got current updates you're good.

They were flipping docks for pike and lake trout

A friend of mine got nailed by an aggressive CO on Balsam a few years ago. Got a birds nest jigging a deep weed edge for eyes early June. While trying to untangle, the wind blew him near shore. CO accused him of fishing bass in a know spawning area. checked boat and even house trailer on lake for evidence. None found. Wrote ticket anyway. Debated taking a day off work to fight it in court in Lindsay. In the end just paid it. Maddening.