charlesn

Mike,

I have seen first hand that it takes as little as a couple hours. In the spring, we catch pale fish on Erie and if it goes in the livewell for a picture, it will come out all "coloured up" in a few hours. If you took a picture when you first caught it and then again after it was coloured up, you'd think it was two different fish.

Charles

Like most ambust predators, smallies will adapt to the colour of their surroundings in many instances. That would be my guess for a late october dark fish. In the spring when they are up doing their business, they can turn dark as well possibly due to hormonal changes, or maybe somewhat of a sun-tan. Not sure if they have pigmentation in their skin that would allow it to be affected by prolonged sun exposure in the shallows.

Nice fish!

It is also my favorite finned creature.

Charles

Thanks for the stories, I look forward to those types of things one day.

As a kid I did keep quite a few rock bass and perch and pumpkinseed that I caught out of Loafer's Lake as pets. Some pretty good sized creek chub minnows too. Unfortunately, I tried to keep them all alive at once in a pickle jar on the ride home and none of them made it.

I also kept crayfish as pets and learned the hard way that they can crawl out of a tank if you leave a wire dip net leaning to the top. The big ones made it to the basement. I assume we found them all, but after that, my parents wouldn't let me keep any more pets. Oh, and also, a crayfish will catch and kill any of the normal "goldfish" type fish as I guess they are not used to living with predators and the crayfish catch them when they sleep. We lost a bunch and blamed the rockies, but one early morning I got up early and caught a crayfish red-"clawed".

We also found a small snapping turtle on Heart Lake Rd (literally on the road) one time and took it home, but it wouldn't eat the minnows we caught for it, so we let it go cuz we were worried it was going to starve. We learned later that it was normal for a turtle not to eat for a while before becoming acclimitized to it's new surroundings. Better off free anyways.

Charles

P.S. BTW, for the rockies that did make it home alive, they were the best. They would eat chunks of hard boiled eggs, fish food, worms, pretty much anything you put in there and grew at a prodigious rate. Unfortunately they also pooped at a prodigious rate and no algae eater could keep up.

Beauty. The fish is nice too! lol

Taro was very proud of that one for sure, bet he wishes he caught it!

Karl, I will send you Taro's contact info, it is his girlfriend and she caught it on Cooch if I remember correctly. 7 lbs 1 oz I think.

Charles

Called the doc, closed til the new year. Thanks for all the precautionary tales, I admit I'm a little stupid at times when it comes to avoiding the doctor.

I've been sleeping ok, battling a 3.5 month old for an hour each night before bed time (for us both) tuckers me out so I sleep pretty good. lol

Thanks,

Charles

P.S. If you think Ex-lax is effective, you need to try some of the home remedies I ingested. nuff said about that!

Thanks!

Tried the ginger tea (with lemon), soothing and ya, not too tasty, but have drank about a gallon since it started.

Sambuca is the one that tastes like black licorice right? Bad memories from University with that... lol

I can't believe 30+ minutes of googling and I still haven't found my doc's phone number on-line!!!

Charles

Ya, will have to go see the doc I guess.

I tried the Buckley's and it does work a little bit (I actually don't mind the menthol and pine cone taste lol), but it doesn't seem to last. Tried a bunch of old asian home remedies that left me feeling nauseous from the smell and still coughing.

Went through 2 bottles of Benylin (1 night time, 1 day time), and afraid to go get more since they say on the bottle not to use it for more than 10 days.

Thanks,

Charles

Hello,

Was wondernig if you guys and gals had any remedies for a lingering cough? Been coughing for almost a month now with no sign of let up. Guess it's time to go see the doc again (3 weeks ago told me not to worry about it, it was almost done).

In terms of the cough drops, I found that the original strong Fishermen's Friends work the best, followed by Ricola then Halls.

Charles

I agree with Irish, no need to show any one show for 24 hours. Someone is bound to be disinterested. I'd no sooner watch 24 hours of the Next Bite for example than I would Hotlines.

The 16 hour FLW Tour marathon on New Year's Eve is awesome, but that's because I'm a tourney nut. I'm sure to some it's a turn off.

A nice mix of "Best of" shows might be a way to win some more fans for the coming season for several shows.

Charles

Rizzo,

It's the thought that counts.

lol

Charles

P.S. What does that mean anyways? So if the person buys you something that is inappropriate or somewhat useless, how much thought went in to the selection? What about re-gifting? Then the thought is kinda evil. I think I once re-gifted a re-gift back to the original re-gifter and they didn't notice. lol

No probs, merry belated Xmas!

Charlesn

Joey,

I believe you can go see your segment on-line at wfn.tv

http://www.wfn.tv/fishtales/

Hope this helps!

Charles

Don't worry Brian, the 2nd console will be going in sometime in the spring.

I'm nothing if not considerate towards my passengers. (IOW, sit down, shut up and hold on for dear life!). lol

BPSman, I met the gentleman in Tennessee. Took the boat out on Old Hickory Lake. The fishing was slow, but the boat was fantastic. You can read about our trip on JP DeRose's Blog on the WFN website.

Thanks for the kind words and happy birthday.

Charles

I'm sure my 105 day old will appreciate it more once she learns to roll over on her own shortly followed no doubt by tireless lessons on how to skip baits with a baitcaster.

Hope everyone has safe a happy holidays!

I still have two tournament reports left to write including the summary of the disaster that required me to need to buy a new bass boat. Will try to write it up over the holidays to provide some vicarious entertainment (at my expense) in the new year while you wait for the water to get hard!

Peace,

Charles

the show could just be a guy standing there lighting farts on fire and it would be better then the last cull or FNC fishing canada stuff.....

lol

I think they probably have a game show like that in Japan.

Charles

P.S. Totally agree with ya though!

Professional Angler Dave Mercer to Host “Celebrity Bassmasters” Show

Toronto, Ontario (December 19, 2006) - Professional angler and Toronto native Dave Mercer has been tabbed to host an upcoming reality-based “Celebrity Bassmasters” television show that will feature professional anglers paired with celebrities in a fishing competition unlike anything on television.

The show, led by the always comical and entertaining Mercer, will couple a dream team of six professional anglers with six celebrities as the pairs venture out onto the lake for an old fashion fish off. The duo with the heaviest catch, revealed in front of a studio audience, will win a cash prize for the charity of their choice. The show will be produced by Hollywood-based Syd Vinnedge Productions and Greg Heller, whose reality show credentials include “Tommy Lee Goes to College” and “Celebrity Fit Club” among others.

“I am thrilled with the opportunity to host this show,” said Mercer. “The idea of getting some of Hollywood’s top names out on the lake for a day of fishing with the sport’s top anglers will certainly make for entertaining television.”

Dave Mercer Outdoors Inc. is the originator and the world's largest producer of one minute fishing interstitials, “Dave Mercer's Facts of Fishing.” Mercer’s company also produces radio programming and a series of highly acclaimed DVDs and his unique and original blend of humor, entertainment and education has made him one of Canada's most recognized and revered anglers. For further information please visit www.factsoffishing.com.

*************************

Congrats Dave!

Lorissa,

The granddaddy in Sprinngfield is our Mecca. No other Bass Pro compares. The next best one I've been to was in Grapevine (DFW Texas), has a restaurant and the Big Buck Brewery attached to it and a couple o' mid to high teenagers living in the tank. Truly astounding. The next best one I've seen was just a few weeks ago in Nashville. Tremendous stock and selection in a space comparable to the Toronto one. The one near Detroit I recall being impressed with, but not overly impressed. Not sure why, maybe it was too recently after the visit to Grapevine. The Toronto one is okay, but after the recent visit to Nashiville, I'm once again reminded what a Bass Pro SHOULD look like in terms of having gear and popular items in stock. The biggest weakness of the Toronto store is the people who are ordering the inventory "might" not be anglers so there is often a lot of stuff that needs to be "clearanced" and never what you are looking for.

For anyone looking for a vacation, the grand daddy in Missouri even has a clearance center beside it.

I'm a little afraid to go, I don't think my credit cards could handle it!

Charles

Bass. From May to late June (Lake Erue). My fishing season ends on Nov 30th most years. Now that NY is open 365, I will be able to start bassin probably in late March/early April. Have fished for steelhead and lakers in the Winter on the Niagara, fun but just too darn cold. Perch in the early spring is fun - once or twice when the winds on the big lake force you inland.

But there is just something about bass that makes it occupy 99.999% of brain real estate.

The competitive aspect is probably what drives me to improve.

Charles

kemper, if they were holding on to the vine, in order to applaud they would have to let go.

Just out of curiosity, it there any regulations against using a boat during typical ice fishing season? That is, if it was open enough for boating of course.

The guys on the lower niagara use their boats all winter long.

Charles

I'd love to see the forearms on a person that could drive a tiller powered 225 or more hp bass boat to 70 plus mph.

lol

Console for me, but I'm getting softer in my old age.

Charles

Could have been a repaired aluminum prop?

I have had repaired aluminum props have the paint come off before.

I think if you run long distances over shallow sand flats, you can also get the sandblasting effect but more noticeable on the tips.

If performance is good with an aluminum prop, might want to consider SS Lew, I think you'll see gains in every aspect, holeshot, acceleration and top end.

Charles

I can't say I'm surprised, the WFN team is top notch and Dave is a phenomenally funny and personable guy.

I've never heard an amateur ever have anything but extreme positives about fishing with Mr. Mercer and the Cast for a Cure thing was a really great thing to do.

Congrats Joey, look forward to seeing the segment on the tube!

Charles

I'm a competitive angler, so that definitely plays in to my fishing tv watching. My favorite shows are:

Canadian Fishing Tour - Bass tournaments in Ontario, shows off our lakes and local talent.

FLW Tour - Bass and Walleye tournaments throughout the US, some of the best bass/walleye fishermen in the world

AFC - Australian bass and bream tournaments. Interesting team format and familiar fishing techniques and tactics for fish species that I never have and likely never will get a chance to fish for.

Skeeter Basschamps - Bass tournaments in Texas.

Scott Martin Challenge - one on one friendly bass fishing contests between Roland Martin's son and some other top bass angler.

Fish O'Mania - 16 guys sitting around a pond catching carp and bream, doesn't sound interesting, but it is pretty neat to see some of the techniques adopted by anglers in the UK.

Pro Tarpon Tour - Very exciting because I keep expecting a competitor to get his or her arm bitten off by a large hammerhead shark. Tightly packed boats creates some mass confusion and the fish (tarpon) are usually pretty giant.

Beat Charlie Moore - Humourous one on one bass fishing challenge between the host and some viewer that can win $5000 if they beat Charlie Moore.

Classic Patterns - Bass fishing instruction from some of the top anglers in the world.

Other shows I enjoy watching include:

Real Fishing, Extreme Angler, Bass Tech (explores the technology side of things).

I will even admit to having watched episodes of Totally Hooked and the New Fly Fisher even though I am heterosexual. lol

As you can tell, I have WFN and watch it a lot. Maybe even too much. lol

Charles

Just checking my avatar also! Paul.

 

Just checking my avatar also! Paul.

ditto