crappieperchhunter

I am a 4 season angler Brian....still itching for hardwater though.

Just went and dumped wood ashes from the woodstove on my veggie garden. It is so warm and dry I almost fired up my tiller to work them in. Never had a chance to do that in December before. While out there I noticed yellow dandelions in my yard and my clematis vines are budding which probably isn't a good thing for them. I'm getting real itchy for some ice fishing but I'm not minding no snow to shovel.

Don't know how you guys with real water problems deal with it. I got my foundation cracked this summer when my neighbour installed a pool in his backyard. Just afterward when we got a good downpour I would have water running down the wall at the crack. Thankfully my basement is unfinished so the water just ran down the wall and across my basement floor to the drain. Spent $100 and injected the crack from the inside and the water coming in has stopped. We will see how well it holds up before I have to do it right from the outside. But that feeling of dread every time the clouds open up...like I said I don't know how you live with that. My brother has sumps that run pretty much all the time. They have failed twice in 20 plus years on him. 2 times in 20 years is pretty good odds if you ask me but the grief he has had to go through both times it has happened...well I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Like others have mentioned I'd be selling and running away. I would go mad if I didn't.

Dec 31 2016. I'm good for another year....but thx for the heads up.

It's not an age thing Lew. He died at 48 so he was 4 years younger then myself and I never heard of him before yesterday. Just goes to show how much music there is out there and how we all can find something we like and get comfortable with it and not really give anything else a good listen. Regardless, sorry to hear the news. 48 is way to early.

X2. My must visit thread when I get home from work at midnight. A photo of the group hugs when you all kiss and make up would probably make me cry.

Heavy handed....absolutely. Did it get the point of the law across? Don't know...but I'm willing to bet for this one individual it did. Leave the darn thing alone when you are behind the wheel. Really how hard can that be?

I started fishing the bog through the ice in the 80's. Back then if you where in an area holding walleye and you had half a clue you could get your limit pretty much every trip out. And all you had to fish was 30-40 minutes as the sun was going down in the evening. It was that good. 10 plus fish at dusk was pretty common. Some of my best fishing memories are from the evening walleye bites through the ice out from Goreski's. By my observations, 4 things have changed drastically since then. First thing was way more people started coming out. Within a 3-5 year span I would say winter fishing pressure doubled...at least. I blame this on 2 things. The internet and the invention of portable huts. Second thing crappie started to show up. I have read several things published about how crappie are a very heavy predator on walleye fry. Take from that what you will. But when word got out that the Bog was producing some awesome crappie catches that also increased the fishing pressure again .....a whole bunch. And many of these new arrivals targeting crappie where not really fishermen at all IMHO...just meat hunters...plain and simple. Third thing I noticed was weeds. Way way more weeds. Some areas I fished became unfishable. You could cut 8-10 holes before you found an open area where your bait could actually get to the bottom instead of being hung up in weeds. Fourth thing I noticed and this happened pretty much at the same time as the increased weed growth was a huge increase in dink perch. They became a big nuisance. I would suspect the huge number of perch has to have an impact on the walleye in terms of competition and predation. These are my observation's and I believe these things all combined are a big part of the problem. Others have talked about loss of spawning habitat and poor recruitment. Not being a biologist I can't form an opinion about these issues. But I have seen how much Trent Severn has messed up the spring water level fluctuations so I'm sure there is very good and justified reasons for concern. Through all this the walleye have suffered to the point that the decision was made to close the winter season. A decision I agree with and support. A decision that should have been made 20 years ago IMHO. Is it too little to late? I think so...but boy do I hope I'm wrong.

Finally took the time to go through your entire post Bunk. Thx so much for your effort.

Congrats Grandpa

I swear on the bible she asked for it. The funny part is Kennedi my 3 year old grand daughter loves hanging off the pole when we are hanging laundry. So proud of my 3 year old pole dancer. Debbe..my wife... thinks it's cute/hilarious so I am forgiven.

LOL. Thx for that

Haven't done real gifts since grandkids started coming 7 years ago. Just a stocking to open Christmas morning. The rest of our Christmas $$$$ gets spent on the kids and grandkids. Nothing either of us really needs or wants. I did get her a portable clothesline one year. It wasn't the hit I expected

I know what needs addressed my friend. However now that it is mortgage free our winter tenants cover all our expenses....taxes...everything. So the place is literally free for us to use so I'm not in any kind of a hurry to throw $$$$ at it. If we decide to move in up there full time when we retire things will change and $$$ will be spent. However the plan now is to keep using it for "free" and keep winter tenants every year and maybe go south for awhile each winter if we feel like getting away...or more accurately if the boss can convince me to give ice fishing a rest once in a while

LOL...3 adults and 3 dogs in 640 sq ft Cliff...Don't know where the heck they would have room for any "tomato" plants

I don't know what any of you has to complain about. We have a 640 sq. foot one floor cottage in Bobcaygeon that is all electric. We have winter tennants and some monthly hydro bills in the winter get close to $700

Thought provoking however I'm 52 with no military training whatsoever. Having said that I'm pretty sure I would last less then 1 Minute in any kind of assault....unless I turtled and went and hid somewhere until all the serious crap subsided. Gotta hope it never comes to that. Because if it does us everyday people are going to be the 1st in body bags.

Stumbled on it about 4-5 years ago. Turns out excellent every time and everyone loves it. If you like Olives add sliced Kalamati olives to it. OMG is it good.

Brian If you wanna make an awesome loaf of bread, google no knead bread and give it a whirl. 4 ingredients dead easy and turns out awesome. You just have to get yourself a cast iron pot with a lid.

LOL. Needed that on this thread. Thank you.

Checked the specs Brian...same weight as my Fish Trap Pro....so no advantage there. I always set up my hut so the wind is at my back...then I go out the front door of my trap and nothing gets blown around. I think the side door entry on the crossover could be a PITA on a windy day. The fish trap pro has the opening on the long side of the base...which gives you the option of having stuff beside you instead of having to always reach behind yourself or having all your crap out on the ice in front of you which means you have to pack it all back up when you move. I also think setting out the pop out front part looks like a PITA as well compared to just flip over and go whenever you want to move. The video shows a guy drilling a hold down pin through a grommet in the grounds flaps to secure things down. Nice idea if you wanna unscrew things every time you move. I just pile up with snow and move whenever I want. However that would be a good feature if you are out and there is no snow cover on the ice. The only thing I see that I like is the extra headroom for hook sets....but that isn't enough for me to give it a good score. Much heavier and more $$$ then a pop up...which are the pop ups selling features IMHO. More cumbersome then a flip...which is a flips best selling feature. Looks like a swing and a miss to me. No offence to you or anyone who might like what they see in it Brian. Just my take on it based on my fishing habits. Thx for posting though. I'm just starting to get organized for the hardwater and this has got me even more anxious for some ice.

If you can find Lew's spinning reels give them a go. I have 2 now and love them both and they are inexpensive. However the only place I have seen them is Canadian Tire in Lindsay. My first one was purchased because I was up in Bobcaygeon for the week and forgot my reel at home. So I did a quick trip into Lindsay to grab something to get me through the week. $29.99 and it is a great reel for crappie/perch fishing. I use it every weekend all summer. There $59 and $89 reels would cover a lot more fishing applications and still be at your price point.

It all sounds good to me. Like Bill I hope they make a killing on the fines.

Great story. After that you would absolutely have to call him Jack I have a crow at the cottage that I share my mornings with. I do a few sudoku puzzles on the porch with my morning coffee and I have a bag of peanuts to share with him. Started out he wouldn't come within 30 feet of me to grab a peanut. By the end of the summer he was within 5 feet. I'm hoping he is around next summer and I can eventually feed him by hand.

Someone trained could have that whole tree down to a stump in less then 20 minutes. I know cause I've seen it done. My sons friend Jesse did 2 trees for me at the cottage and all he had was 2 chainsaws his harnesses ropes and his tree climbing boots. Cut off limbs with the small chainsaw as he went up the tree. When he got to the top he switched to the bigger chainsaw and worked his way back down cutting in about 4-6 foot lengths. It was awesome just watching him work. I cleaned up the mess and gave all the body wood to another board member here for his outdoor fire pit. Jesse is now working for a tree cutting service out in BC or I would be suggesting you give him a call. You should see some of the job pictures he shares on Facebook. I swear if I was 18 again I would take that career path.