crappieperchhunter

Nothing doing at any of my spring shore fishing crappie or perch spots yet Bruce. Glad to hear someone is getting out and getting bit.

Mom has moved back up to Caygeon for the summer so we where up there visiting yesterday Cliff. And of course we did a little tour around while we where in town. I agree the water is as high as I have ever seen it in the 25 years we have been going up there. It is just roaring through the channel in town between Pidgeon and Sturgeon, the surges are just slamming into Gordons Yacht club. Half our back yard at the cottage is still underwater as well. I really can't believe the difference from last spring when they let everything drain so low. Especially after the winter we had with far less snow. Where's all the water coming from?

Good idea. I used to do a lot of carp fishing and needed buckets for my feed. Kawartha Dairy in Bobcaygeon gave me all the food grade buckets I needed just for asking. Maybe some syrup guys could squirrel some as well.

Looks so good Brian. We do Shrimp Fettiucine Alfredo and love it. If you like broccoli steam some up and throw it in. Awesome in Alfredo. Also we have the same cast iron pot you have on the back left burner of your stove. If you like crusty bread....find a no knead bread recipe and do it in that pot. Awesome...totally awesome and great for sopping up this dish with. Edit to add...from your dumpling post....nice Mcgyver job on the steamer ....but do yourself a favour and grab an electric plug in one. Value village has them all the time for cheap. I guess people get them as wedding gifts and never use them....but they are the bomb.

Happy Birthday Beansie. Hope you have a great day. The count down is on for a trip to our spring spot for some bluegills and crappie.

LOL. Always. Debbe thinks a good steak without a nice bottle of wine is a mortal sin.

An icy slippery mess here. Glad mine are still on too.

LOL. Who needs coffee when you have the "FORCE". A co-worker picked up a Disney themed toaster at Disney in Florida. He gets to eat Minnie Mouse every day

Thx for sharing. Love hearing this stuff. There are still plenty of good folks out there. Great story about the eggs too OI. In sweet corn season there is a stand on the way to the cottage. Usually a kid there during the day but when we are coming up Friday after work it is unattended and they have a box to put your cash in. Some idiot once tore his box of the wagon and I thought that would be the end of it....but by the end of the season a new box was there and I think you would have to blow up the whole wagon to get it off. Generally we only get 4 cobs for the 2 of us and I never seem to have correct change so at the start of the season I just throw a 10 dollar bill in and keep track until I use it up and then throw in more if they still have corn. I always make sure they get more money from me then I actually take in corn because I really appreciate them doing this. Fresh corn with a baked yukon gold potato from my own garden and a good steak is hard to beat Friday night at the cottage.

Funny Chris I said pretty much exactly the same thing ..word for word...an hour ago while discussing this in the car with Debbe Wait a minute....50 bucks...thats almost 4 bottles of the bosses favourite red wine.

Enjoyed the video Roy. Straight forward and easy to follow. I think I see myself getting a good wet stone. Nothing frustrates me more then dull kitchen knives. I have a steel that I use to keep my knives in good shape and I have been pretty happy with that. Until I saw the video and him slicing up the wet sponge. I just gotta be able to do that now Mind sharing where you got your whetstone?

Your pictures never disappoint. Thx for sharing Mike.

I have a veggie garden here in Courtice that I try to get into as early as possible. I could have tilled it this weekend if I wasn't so busy. Most years I have stuff planted in March. Where I'm going with this is almost every year we seem to get one last substantial dumping of snow towards the end of March. It used to drive me crazy because I'd be all worried if my early planted stuff would survive....but it always has so I don't worry anymore. But for this reason alone I will leave my snows on until April.

I was wondering the same thing a few years back and I happened upon one at a garage sale for a couple of bucks so I took it home and gave it a go. I can't remember the name brand now, but at the time I looked into it and it was actually supposed to be of pretty good quality. For me it was a piece of junk. Never did what I would call a good job on any of my knives. Completely turned me off even considering using another electric sharpener.

I remember that day. Still one of my all time best days for crappie...both numbers and size. I was the same as you about electric knives Cliff. Just thought they where toys for the "must have people" to spend there $$$ on. Then my son got me one for Xmas, so I used it because it was a gift. This was probably 10 years ago and I have only manually filleted fish once in that time. I had a bunch of bluegills to clean at the cottage and my electric knife was at home It was almost like torture after getting used to the electric and that's saying something because I used to love sitting down and filleting fish up with my manual knives. The next day the first thing I did was drive to Marks in Bobcaygeon and get another electric to leave at the cottage. I have 3 manual fillet knives. They never get out of the cupboard anymore.

Never tried them fresh Brian. However my old bosses wive did them up in mason jars. Supplied her with suckers every spring and got a few jars of the finished product. It was awesome. Better then any canned tuna I have ever had.

Not sure what you would be looking to gain moving to Sudbury from Fergus? I grew up in Fergus. My whole family still lives there. My wives sister lives on Lake Ramsey in Sudbury. So I know Sudbury very well also. Both places have lots of rural fishing close at hand. Different country I'll admit. Sudbury more rocky and rugged. Fergus more farmland but lots of unspoiled area close by. If at any point you are at all serious do yourself a favour and go spent some time in Sudbury. It is a city in every way and very comparable to anything in the GTA. So if you are looking to get away from the city you would have to live outside Sudbury to do that....maybe 30minutes to an hour outside the city....which is where you already are in Fergus...30 minutes to an hour outside the GTA. I'm not trying to rain on anyones parade. Just pointing out the similarities and urging you to do your due diligence before you make a decision.

We had a Doberman/Sheppard cross years ago that would eat any kind of food. We used to give her stuff just to see what she wouldn't eat. Never happened, she ate it all. I have a large vegetable garden and when I pull my onions in the fall I spread them out on my picnic table to let them dry for 3-7 days for better storage. One day I let her out in the backyard to do her business and when I went to let her back in she was on the picnic table devouring my onions. No idea how many she gobbled up. However the next couple of days she had the runs and the most putrid farts you could ever imagine. We had to leave most of the windows in the house cracked open it was that bad.

Yep. And that's the plan. Used to want to live in the boonies away from it all. Not anymore. Now the best fit for us is a small town an hour or so out of the GTA in the Kawartha's. Able to walk to everything we need with a nice small town atmosphere and only an hour or so from anything we might need in the city. Best of both worlds. To the original OP. Enjoy your move and the new environment. We only get to do this dance once so we might as well enjoy it the best we can.

LOL thx for the laugh

Getting on the ice this winter has been a complete bust for me. It's just been stupid busy at work and it looks to continue right through March. Funny how the economy works. We are printing stuff for standardized school testing for a southern US state. I don't know how it can be cheaper to print stuff in Ontario and ship it way down south then them print it locally....but that's the way it is. I'm just hoping the crazy workload is done before my spring perching starts. Anyway enough about that. Thx for sharing Cliff. A family helping each other out and a day on the hardwater. Sounds like a perfect weekend to me.

All the best with the sale for you and Sue Cliff. You have a beautiful place there and I'm sure it won't be on the market long. Debbe and I have enjoyed all our visits. You two are the most gracious of hosts.

I used to get up and go ice fishing no matter the weather...especially after I got my portable. But over the years I began to realize I really have never had what I would call a good day when it is windy as hell out there or cold as hell. So when the weatherman is calling for either or both I usually just stay home and sleep in. Not saying you still won't get bit. You will always be able to get a few perch if you give in an honest effort. I just find the rewards for tolerating a sub par day not worth with. Maybe I'm just getting soft in my old age

I'd sell my cottage in Bobcaygeon and buy or build one on the water there...in town or within walking distance of town. Get a bigger fishing boat and have it in a covered slip ready to go whenever I had the urge to get out. Then I'd look for a winter home down south. Maybe the Ocean Reef Club in FLA. The sister-in-law has a place there and it is an incredible community. Also like Cliff I'd set up my family. 60 million is way more then Deb and I could ever spend on ourselves. Still be lots left over. Not sure which way I would go with all that. It would be a nice problem to have though.

I can bake my own cookies at home. No need too get anyone else involved. Good analogy though. Pretty much the way it is......and always will be.