Rizzo

Oh man the world we live in right now. Let's look at this quote from the article: . "It's basically the same idea here. We don't want people going out for non-essential travel, period. The point is, you go out, you get your exercise, you enjoy nature, you enjoy fishing, but then you come back at the end of the night." Uhhh....don't they realize they are causing MORE travel? The guy who stays the night travels THE EXACT SAME amount as the guy who just goes for the day! Once there and once back! Now, since they are not permitting you to stay, you have to travel more if you had planned to fish a couple days...drive there, drive home because not permitted to stay, so drive back out in the morning, then drive home again.

sounds amazing congrats on the move!

Yes lots of good times and unfortunately some bad times since that day

ya its a classic. That pic was taken probably around 22 years ago when a bunch of us from this board got together on simcoe for some ice fishing. Since I didn't want to carry the auger out and I couldn't find my own sled...I snuck into the neighbour's garage and took their daughter's barbie sled for the day! As far as the picture being blurry? Well back in those days we may have enjoyed a few brown pops out on the ice.

haha yes that would not go over well with those you work with. Having said that, if it were true, it would take a bold person to say it. You would have to REALLY believe you are right, because you know the backlash would be severe.

No the death rate is basically the same as past years...each year it goes up a little bit as the boomers age. However, because of government restrictions people can't have the type of funeral they would want. So instead of having visitations, funerals, receptions etc we are quite often simply just cremating people or burying them. This type of service requires far less "man hours" and also generates less revenue. So...less work to be done, less revenue available...something has to give. And that something is the job of the common guy.

I think you may have missed the point with your first statement. My claim is that depending on your opinion, you can use those statistics to prove it. People have a starting point (hypothesis) and then use that data to support it. So whether you want to be a fear monger, or whether you want to say it really isn't that bad, you can find a way using the same set of numbers. With respect to the survival rate - I also don't get where this 99.98% comes from. Like you said, pretty simple math gets you to somewhere around 97.5 to 98% survival rate. Having said that, this is based on reported cases. I personally know around 15 people who have gotten covid...only 3 of them ever went in to get tested. So in this small sample size (people I know) the cases were actually 80% higher than what the statistics show! All the others immediately figured they had it and right away isolated from friends, family and co-workers. The point here, is that the number of cases is significantly higher than what is reported. As soon as you raise that denominator in the equation, guess what, your percentage changes...and possibly by a lot! So is the survival rate 97.5% like the government shows? Or is it 99.98% like the others say? As I mentioned earlier...it is probably somewhere in between. p.s...if anyone is worried about those 15...they are all fine.

When I was in university taking statistics our profs made it very clear that you can prove basically any point (often opposite points!) by looking at the same set of statistics. For instance...you might say "there are 300 people on ventilators in Ontario due to covid, isn't that terrible"? Someone else might say "there are 450 hospitals in Ontario, with only 300 people on ventilators. Isn't that great? Not even 1 person per hospital (on average) needing a ventilator". The key is, you have to look at information with a critical mind. Don't just say someone has "spewed misinformation" and used "false statistics" simply because you prefer the message the other side says. Do you really know that their information is accurate? Have you been present at all the testing? Of course not. We just tend to "agree" with the information that suits are belief. But does that make your opinion correct and the other person wrong? We can't discount something as false if we don't really know so. Many prominent doctors agree with Baber. Shoot, even the previous Chief Medical Officer of Health in Ontario, Dr. Richard Schabas, who served for over 10 years in that capacity, has publicly stated that Baber is correct. Who are we to say "one guy is lying" when you have real professionals on both side of the argument? Like most situations, the truth generally lies somewhere between the 2 opinions. But let's put it this way...real life, not depending on "information" that neither of us can prove. I am a funeral director and I have been partially laid off for almost a year. Every single funeral director I know has also been partially (or fully) laid off in the past year. 25 years I have been doing this, and NEVER in my career have I ever seen a single director laid off. Now everyone I know has? You don't think that is a bit ironic? Funeral directors laid off in a pandemic? That is real life...not a statistic. All I am saying is don't be so quick to discount an opinion simply because you disagree with it. Laid off funeral directors are living proof Baber and Dr. Schabas may have a point.

yes he is open but the number no longer works. If you go at a prime time I assume you will find him there. Non prime time (ie weekdays) he is hit and miss

thanks Norpiker there was some interesting info on that fact sheet. Sounds like it is quite a shallow lake with poor clarity. There is some interesting details about the fishery too. I guess time will tell if we have nice clean swimming or swimming with weeds grabbing at your legs (if we can even go!)

ya not too worried about the fishing...we will figure that out. It was more the characteristics of the lake (ie lots of weeds so no swimming, overrun with jet skiers etc) that I was hoping to figure out. Sounds like there is minimal knowledge of this place!

See and I was thinking these viewpoints are probably being expressed privately already. But if they are continually suppressed, never given the light of day, that leads to an "open letter"

that treble should help. Any frog lure I have ever used has had a very poor hooking percentage, maybe this one would do better

Haven't been up that way but with the way the weather has been I imagine not much has changed in the last month

hope the fishing was good before they got busted. Nothing worse than lousy fishing followed by a big 'ol fine.

wow gorgeous fish!

Ya my bad for posting something political. I generally don't post this kind of stuff so not up to speed on forum policies. I do remember agreeing to them at one point...but the memory isn't what it used to be. Not offended if this needs to be removed now or at some point

So I guess this is the question. Is Ford his boss? Or are the people his boss? I know many people feel the points Baber made are bang on. If many people feel this way why can that viewpoint not be expressed?

I was surprised to see Roman Baber get ousted for his public letter. Are people not permitted to share their beliefs anymore? Wouldn't the better thing be to prove Baber wrong than to turf him? Figured Ford would reprimand the guy for not following the 'company line' but to boot him over a contrary opinion?

don't be that way...It'll happen. No way are they going to lock it down that long...they better not!

Extended family have decided to rent a number of cottages this summer on Jack's Lake near Burks Falls. As the lone fisherman in the group they paid no heed to my opinion. To my chagrin, there are no muskies here, or anywhere near here. Can anyone tell me about the lake though? Is it busy? Quiet? Nasty for swimming due to weeds? Any fishing info also appreciated and can be pm'ed if preferred. Thanks

not that it is "re-tying" but when I am musky fishing I will for sure have 3 rods nearby ready to go....sometimes that number is 4 or 5!

Pete good to hear from you! We have gone to Cadigans Camp on Pigeon Lake a number of times. Kids catch a million panfish off the docks and there is a nice beach. The cottages aren't the greatest, but if you are low maintenance should be fine with them.

as always some amazing fish and pictures. Thanks for putting that together!

ouch. Not the most pleasant responses.