David Chong

Thanks for the kind introduction to this site, but why would I expect it to be any different than any other site? There will always be the few who will tear down others and what they try to do. First of all, I did not join this site just to promo Bass Talk, if you take any notice I try to participant in other discussions and try to help out! Let me give you some background on Bass Talk before you pass judgement. Bass Talk is actually the brain child of Doug Brownridge and Bass Pro Shops is merely a sponsor of this particular portion of it. The idea behind Bass Talk is to give the bass angler a place up here to go and learn from some of the best bass anglers in Canada. It also helps promos the guys who put a lot of time and effort into the sport. It hopefully will promote and bring new people into the sport. Bassmaster University has been around for a long time and has made numerous appearances up here in Canada. Although it is great to hear from and talk to legends such as Denny Brauer, Larry Nixon, etc. a tremendous amount of their content is not applicable up here e.g. fishing for bedding fish. Anyone who attended last weekend's event will definitely tell you that it was worth their while and money. We also try to heavily promotethis sport to the younger generation and female anglers at these events and always recognize them at the events. For instance the 8 youths who attended this past weekend's event all went home with a brand new Daiwa spinning combo, BPS tackle box and some tackle. We recognized our 2 female attendees with a bottle of wine each. We also used the event to raise over $2600.00 for Dave Mercer's "Casting For A Cure" (Canadian Cancer Society). We will also throughout the remaining 3 events be raising money for the Big Brothers Big Sisters "Take A Kid Fishing" day to be held on Sat. June 23th in Orillia. But maybe we're not doing any good! Bass Pro Shops is not a personal sponsor of mine but if you have an issue with them you're missing the boat and not seeing the big picture. If you chose not to shop there that is your right but the fact that they are here in Canada is good for fishing. It now gives this sport that we love, a "WOW" factor and hopefully will bring new blood into it. The larger our numbers, are the more clout that we have to affect change especially when it comes to people trying to take away our god given rights to fish! As JP stated we did offered up a pair of passes for a contest to the OFC community and judging by the response, I would say that there are members who are interested in this kind of event and news. I know that Ann Rocchi and her husband Dave is very excited about attending the Humminbird Bass Talk 2007 being held at Fishing World in Hamilton. Whoops, did I just spam you again? If I have missed something here, please let me know. I thought that this site was to be used to share news, stories and information amongst fellow anglers. If you are not allowed to mention any companies that are not sponsors of the site, please let me know. Do we not title a topic so members can decide if it is of interest to them before they read it or reply? If it is of no interest to you, please don't read it, no one is forcing you to read it! Sorry for the long winded response! FISH HARD! DREAM BIG! Dave Chong

Beautiful dog! All of our 2 dogs and 3 cats were obtained from rescued! You've got a pal for life! Dave

Bon Echo is certainly beautiful but my vote would be for Bonnechere. Round Lake has some great fishing and many of the sites are right on the water(either lake or river). Can't go wrong with either one! Bon Echo is much larger and there is wilderness sites and walk-in lakes! Lake Mazinaw does have some superb Smallmouth fishing! Dave

This past weekend's Bass Talk 2007 received rave reviews from all who attended! Here are but a few of the comments: All I can say is...once you've heard about it, it's already happened and if you weren't there you missed it. Information overload...Awesome 2 days, Awesome Line-up. Todd Currie Great job guys. I will definitely mark it on my calendar for next year. Might even make it to the steel town this year. The only problem with having it this early is it gets you cranked to fish and the season is still months away. Mark Cressman A very informative weekend I'm sure everyone can learn from an event like this .Thanks to all involved for the hard work and commitment to setting this up, and helping out a couple of great charities to boot. Excellent job. Mike Graham The next event will be held in Perth at Lake & Trail on Sat. Mar. 3rd register now to make sure that you have a seat reserved! In case you don't have a stamps we will be accepting registrations at the Ottawa Sportsman Show! Check out our web-site at www.basstalk.ca for full details including the speaker line-up! Regards, Dave

Not to say that I don't have any faith in the postal system. Anyone who has not registered for this weekend's Bass Talk 2007 seminar sessions but wishes to attend do not mail your registration/payment. Your options are: 1/You can still drop off registrations at the reel counter located in Bass Pro Shops. 2/Fax your registration to us at 416-733-7827 and we'll collect from you at the door. 3/Call our info line (416)579-1062 or e-mail us ([email protected]) your name with contact info and again we'll collect from you at the door! This should be a great event! Looking forward to seeing everyone there! Reminder the event is being held at the Regency Banquet Centre which is located at 8400 Jane St. That is the SW corner of Jane & Langstaff. Doors open at 7AM! BASS TALK

All great suggestions! Battery issues with cameras have been around a lot longer than digital cameras! Lithium Ion batteries generally hold up the best in extreme cold and NiMH the worst as far as rechargeables go. Keeping a spare set of batteries close to your body is helpful! If your camera takes AA sized batteries buy a set of Lithium batteries, they're expensive but will get the job done for you under those conditions! If you are using NiMH rechargeables make sure that you charge them fully as close to the time that you're going out as possible. If you have had them sitting around for a bit they do drain pretty quickly just on the shelf. Hope that this helps! Cheers, Dave

Daiwa has really expanded into more economical combos and would be a great choice. Reel-wise a Daiwa Regal Xi is a phenomenal buy for $50 or less. Come with a spare spool, is available in sizes from a UL 1000 up to a monster 4000 and has a Daiwa drag! Bass Pro Shops during it's Spring Classic is also a great place to get equipment! They will have their annual reek trade in program with all the older reels being donated to kids' clubs! Cheers, Dave

Deadline Reminder! Don't forget tonight at the 10PM closing is the deadline for "WIN YOUR REGISTRATION BACK IN THE FORM OF A $120 BPS GIFT CARD!" draw! Drop your registration & payment off at the reel counter in BASS PRO SHOPS for your chance to win! Also remember that everyone who attends this weekend's seminar sessions will receive a 15% discount coupon valid at BASS PRO SHOPS until Sun. Feb. 18, 2007! The way that some of you folks spend money there, you could pay off your seminar costs right there! We'll look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday & Sunday! Regards, Dave

BASS PRO SHOPS BASS TALK 2007 BONUSES! SPECIAL NEWS FLASH! For anyone who has not yet registered for the BASS PRO SHOPS BASS TALK 2007 being held Feb. 10th & 11th at the Regency Banquet Hall in Vaughan don't delay, do so before Tues. Feb. 6th. Registrations along with payment may be dropped off at the reel counter at BASS PRO SHOPS! If you do so you'll be entered into a draw along with everyone else who has already registered for $120 BASS PRO SHOP Gift Card! Another added bonus, every attendee to this BASS TALK event will receive a 15% discount coupon valid at the Vaughan Mills BASS PRO SHOPS until Sun. Feb. 18th! Of course there are a few restrictions, sale items, boats & motors, etc. Yes, that's correct every attendee will receive this! Not only is this going to a great educational event but it's going to help you with those tackle purchases as well! Looking forward to seeing everyone there! Bass Talk 2007

UPDATE! Unfortunately due to scheduling conflicts BASS PRO SHOPS head office was unable to provide BASS TALK 2007 with a high ranking US Pro! On the positive side rather than settling we've managed to bring in some more elite Canadian talent! Welcome to the BASS PRO SHOP BASS TALK Lineup FISH TV co-host, Ron James and the"ICEMAN" himself Simon Frost! The complete line-up with topics will be available on our website shortly! Also there will be some additional fabulous draw prizes for all attendees donated by the Bass Pro Shop in Vaughan Mills! Get those registrations in ASAP as this MAIN EVENT is less than 2 weeks away Thank You, Dave Chong

John, They're all right! A sideways sweep set is what I feel gets those hooks solidly! Love it when those Smallies are eating jerks! Cheers, Dave

Congratulations to Ann Rocchi who is the winner of the 2 passes to Bass Talk 2007! Thank you to all who entered our contest! For the unfortunate non-winners you can still register, for full info please visit our web-site at www.basstalk.ca The first sessions are less than 2 weeks away! Regards, Dave

I'm thrilled to be part of such a great team of talented anglers! Looking for to some fun shoots this upcoming summer! Anyone who has suggestions for a show feel free to contact us at the Etreme Angler website! Regards, Dave

Bassman, You are definitely entitled to your opinion and can do what you wish with your money! From all the responses and feedback that we received last year, the majority of attendees definitely felt that it was worth their while and that they got their money's worth! The speakers here are amongst the elite bass tournament anglers in Canada and are more than willing to share their experiences and ideas with all the attendees. I've been fishing my entire life and strongly believe that you never stop learning in this sport. I have myself paid for and attended 5 different BassMasters University sessions(similar US based events). Even though I'm speaking at some of these sessions I'm also anxious to hear the other presenters as well! Other than fishing what better way to spend a winter's day/weekend than learning and talking bass fishing! As for a cash grab, there are many expenses that go into these functions, hall & equipment rentals, food, speaker fees and so on... Last year we also raised over $3000.00 for Dave Mercer's "Casting For A Cure" (Canadain Cancer Society) and plan to do even more this year. We've also added the Big Brothers Big Sisters Take a Kid Fishing Day to the causes that we support. Did I mention that coffee, donuts and lunch are included in your registration! BTW if you're going to spend your money on equipment make it a Daiwa! Cheers, Dave

I obtain my first Lucky Craft about 10 years ago in California. People who were with me thought I was nuts to spend that kind of money on a lure! Well, over the years I've spent $$$thousands on them and they have won me tens of $$$thousand. As far as I'm considered the return on investment was well worth it. I am currently part of Lucky Craft USA's regional pro-staff but this only came about this year! All I can tell you is try one and see if it works for you, most people that I know who have tried one usually end up with 2, 3, 4 ... What can I say? Fishing is a disease Cheers, Dave

2007 is just flying along! We've already had the Toronto Boat Show, we'll be bass fishing in no time! We would like to announce the following additions: Backwater Tackle as the retail sponsor for the Huntsville event at Ward Edmonds! Baitcasters as the retail sponsor for the Lake & Trail event in Perth! Fishing World as the retail sponsor for the Humminbird event in Hamilton! Reminder that the Bass Pro Shops event is coming up quick so get your registrations in ASAP! Thanks, Dave & Doug

Thanks for the warm welcome! We are going to do the draw Mon. Jan. 29th and announce the winner! We would appreciate it if you don't win and are planning on attending to get your registrations in as soon as possible. This makes it easier on us when it comes to planning the lunch and stuff. Cheers, Dave

The speakers and topics are different for each session! The topics are varied and should be of interest to anyone who would like to be a better bass angler! If you don't happen to win feel free to purchase a tickets and come out for some fun informative talks! Cheers, Dave

Away from fishing I operate a Photo Retail Business called Exposures Plus! We deal in almost anything that involves photos right from digital cameras to frames and albums. We also provide photo finishing services! Feel free to contact me at [email protected] if you require anything in these areas and I will do my best to help you out! Regards, Dave Chong