charlesn

First off, I would like to thank the OFNers that responded with possible places to stay with my family. We ended up considering those places but decided in the end to go to Forest Glen Resort on the Trent/Severn between Sparrow and Couchiching. A very clean resort and nice place to stay.

Anyways, my family and my wife's friend's family had a great time even though traveling with young ones can be VERY tiring and being in a new place can be very unsettling for young ones. There were definitely more tantrums and fits than there were fish caught, sorta like one of my usual tournament days. lol

I'm a tournament junkie. I live for the competition. The thrill of blast-off, the smell of burnt 2-stroke oil in the morning, the rumble of a hundred outboards, the hunt, the weigh-in, all of it. My vacations are usually reconnaissance missions trying to learn more about a lake for an upcoming or future tournament or to learn a new tournament technique. A never-ending quest so to speak. So a relaxing vacation with people that are novice anglers was something quite new to me. I discovered it was quite fun and very rewarding in its own way and I hope I have added at least 2 young anglers to the fishing addicts of the world.

My eldest daughter refused to wear a pfd, so she got left back at the cabin and I took two other children out. After the first exhilarating boat ride (at about 8 km/h) they were hooked. The lone young man of the group, Bryce, decided to test out the electronics and hydraulic steering.

It wouldn't be long before I hooked in to what turned out to be the biggest fish of weekend. About a 5 lb pike that was about as long as an 18 month old. It was the first pike they had seen.

The fish came on a medium diving fire tiger smithwick rattlin' rogue with a feathered treble. Fishing scattered cabbage with the occasional milf clump in 5-6' of water. Water temps were only 61 degrees and there wasn't any visual fish or bait activity. A small largie came a few casts later and then one of the guest got bit off by a pike with a 2" pearl senko. Shortly thereafter, I saw their line swimming up past the boat by the time I mentioned it, the fish had dropped the bait. It was agreed by all that it was probably a giant fish. lol

We went in for lunch and the dads got a chance to fish a little off the dock with their daughters.

Being a serious tournament angler obviously wasn't enough as I still got schooled! Candice caught the first of several WGSF to be landed on the weekend.

My little one decided that she was going to pick the colour bait to use.

She always picked red.

After hearing from Candice how fun it was to ride in the boat, Lauryn finally agreed to wear the pfd.

We drove out to the lake again, but the action was slow.

After dinner the kids conked out early and so did I.

The next morning I was in for a bit of an ordeal. First of all, I have a deep rooted fear of all creepy crawly things, but a special dread for rodents.

But in order to keep from embarrassing myself I put on a brave face and acted like I wasn't scared which was a big mistake! The next-door cabin lady put an Australian rat on my shoulder. My daughter obviously is less afraid of rodents than I am. It was weird, they look just like common rats, but apparently are very docile and domesticated. I don't know, I still feel creeped out.

After the rat episode, I took a shower and the twin terrors decided they didn't get enough fishing action and fished off the dock.

Later the next day I got to finally take my youngest on to my boat. She had been very VERY irritable up til late Saturday night with a virus or something, but Sunday she got her appetite back and was no longer in a rip your face off all the time mood. She sorta enjoyed the boat ride but did not want to wear a life jacket.

My eldest daughter Lauryn then put on her game-face, it was time to catch some fish!

We didn't actually get to wet a line, because 2/3rds of the way to the lake, Sierra decided she wanted off! lol

After dropping off Sierra and momma and picking up Candice and her dad, I decided to try staying in the river where I had seen some mid-river rocks. It turned out to be a good call. Caught a tiny smallie on my first cast and then let Lauryn fish. She caught one on the next cast! Albeit with some minor help.

As soon as I had thrown it back, Candice caught one.

As you can tell by Lauryn's attention, she was telling me to hurry up and catch her another one while Candice was still posing for a photo. Looks like she has my competitive genes! lol

After that they both got snags and broke off so we decided that was a good way to end the day before I ended up beaching my boat on the rocks in the strong current.

All in all it was a great time and just hearing my daughter ask to be allowed to go fishing is something I have been waiting for. Amazing.

Cheers.

Make sure your tach didn't go wonky. 6000 rpms for a 50 HP sounds high. Might be worth taking to a mechanic to verify the readings you are getting on the tach.

If they are correct, then you need a bigger prop like the guys above said. Before you spend money on props though, make sure the gauge is reading accurately.

Great fish, but more importantly awesome experience. Can tell you are a proud papa.

Good to see some young girls enjoying the outdoors. No better pasttime for the family.

Charles

No problem, unfortunately don't have a lot of details to share with you. Ted called me once he found out he was the winner (he had some boat issues after the conclusion of the event - so it wasn't until much later that they even knew they had won). They won by 1" over the nearest competitor is all I know. Him and Chonger have been close to winning in the past, so they were super happy to finally take it down. Sounds like it was a fun event.

Ted Filippou and Chonger won it.

I went to the buy the Spirex. But when I went to BPS I found that i didn't have constant anti-reverse. Thought that was odd for a reel in this day & age.

Banger, the reason the Spirex doesn't have continuous anti-reverse is the whole trigger cast thing. It needs to re-set to the point where the trigger thing can pick up the line. I had an old Spirex that I abused like a gov't mule and it never failed me. Really an awesome specimen. Eventually gave it to Jos as I "outgrew" the trigger (see below). lol

The only spinning reel I can remember with a trigger *and* continuous anti-reverse was the Quantum Hypercast. Bought 3 as soon as they came out. They sorta worked as advertised for a little bit. All three seized up and died within a season though. 2 are on the bottom of a lake in Quetico National Park. Yes, I was a little frustrated at that point.

Because of the Hypercast fiasco, I have never bought another Quantum reel. I use their rods almost exclusively due to the warranty. Can't say Shimano has been perfect or Daiwa either as I had 2 Solstaces that failed right out of the box. Literally on the first cast on the lake FOR BOTH. I was fishing with the person I bought them off of and the look on his face was priceless. Those were the last trigger reels I bought. Bought a beautiful Daiwa reel for 50% off at a going out of business sale. Still over a $100 at 50% off. I took it out and it was like I was an organ grinder with a dancing monkey. Ridiculous. That one I think I donated to a kawartha lake.

I shouldn't be littering, I know, but when I was younger I didn't deal with frustration as well as I do now.

ditto on the braid with a fluoro leader. Another advantage of the fluoro leader is that on snags, the leader will break before the main line (or the knot connecting the two will break). Definitely be careful though with thin braid, I have cut myself so many times I don't want to think about it due to boneheaded mistakes of grabbing the line and yanking. I think it would cut you right to the bone and make damn effective garrote material.

laszlo, from what I have seen, smallmouth do prefer cooler temperatures in general than largemouth. They probably can spawn in cooler water too as I've seen beds in 24' of water on Lake Erie for example. Largemouth on the other hand generally spawn in the shallow muck and the shallow muck (perhaps because it's a darker bottom) seems to warm up quicker, so even though the largemouth might need warmer temperatures to spawn (I think they are pretty close as I've seen a largemouth on a bed 10 feet from a smallmouth on a bed this spring), the type of spawning habitat dictates that the largemouth are done with their spawn first.

I'm no biologist or rocket scientist, just my observations over the years that it seems like the largies are always done their thing well before opener and the smallies are done their thing closer to opener and sometimes on in to the season on deeper cooler lakes.

Also, I think light penetration, moon phase and hours of sunlight have a big impact on the spawn cycle as well, so it's not like as soon as the water hits X degrees the fish are suddenly all doing the nasty or that they will necessarily start dropping eggs in April if the there is super mild weather for a while.

I've also seen "confused" fish doing a false spawn well in to August.

I don't know if this answers your question or confuses you further.

Billy!!! I was wondering if someone would bring up that point. I guess all the pros who compete in distance casting competions are doing it all wrong eh?

It's the astronaut suit and the sponsor logos tattoed on their first borned chilluns that help them get the extra distance (tortured soul-push) with inferior products all supplied gratis by the manufacturers all in an effort to make JohnF and other gearpigs wallow in the money lined pit of baitcast brainwashed bubbas.

Duh.

Easy fix become a Mennonite.

Save on fishing license costs too.

lol

Would a SS make a difference on a 25 hp for performance???? How much flex can you have from a 25hp. I was told that my 75 wouldn't see that much of a difference. I would say stick with the alum. and save your gears.

For performance (speed, even holeshot), I simply can't see it being appreciable on a 25 HP motor. For bouncing off of wood, definitely more durable.

Does no one else find the title of this post ironic.

Life is too short to get wound up over stuff like that. Seen families yelling at each other and such at the ramp, sheesh, what's the point of trying to "get away" from the rat race if you're going to bring that attitude to the lake. Seen folks run down from their cottage to stomp up and down on their dock as if that is going to make me stop fishing "their" bay or shoreline or send their dog to bark. Just gotta laugh and don't let it ruin your day. It's a time to relax, not get bent out of shape. Save that for the cottage country traffic on the drive home!

You can cut your hair with a lawn mower

If it ain't on Youtube, it didn't happen.

First of all, if you can catch at least 5 3.5 lb largies every day, then you're doing awesome and better than most of the top pros. Quinte is in my opinion the top fishery in the province right now for numbers of solid 3 lb largies. But to catch large numbers of 4 lbers consistently? Very very very tough. I mean if you're actually going to put them on a scale that is. Not everyone's 4 lber is the same.

If you figure out the key, please let me know and we'll keep it a secret just between me and you!

OK, a couple more points. Everyone seems to discount spinning tackle for heavy duty slop and stuff but consider this, a lot of giant bass have been caught on a 14-15' cane pole with NO reel. Just dippin' into the pockets with a line and a big arse pole. And for the spinning purists, consider the walleye pros that use handlining in lieu of a spinning reel. Are they just trying to prove a point? I think this proves that the reel is just a part of the equation and everybody has their favourite based on the technique.

Holdfast, I know you're probably just stirring the pot to agitate suckers like me, but well, I just can't resist. You're saying that professionals fishing for hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes up to a million dollars at an event will use inferior equipment because it was given to them? Really?!? So these professionals are not like in any other profession where they try to use the best (within reason) equipment for the job? They risk losing a million dollars to save a couple thousand dollars on reel purchases? All just to get suckers like me to buy these fancy shmancy shiny bait cast reels? Well, it worked as I own a bunch! lol

Jocko, there is a tremendous and underutilized largemouth fishery on Nipissing from what I've heard. I was really looking forward to going up there but the tournament series folded and it's far enough of a drive to dissuade me from trying a day trip. The last major tournament up there was won on largemouth and not from a lack of smallmouth experts as all the top guns were there. I think the simple fact is that they are overlooked. Even the last time I was on Nipissing maybe 10 years ago, there was a decent population of largies in South Bay in the pads and reeds. If Lakair was a weekend later I'd even try to come up and prove it as when given the choice, I'll always target largies first.

The brakes adjusted on the outside are usually magnetic brakes, the brakes adjusted by opening the side plate (they attach them to the reel now - they didn't used to - and believe me - it sucks to not have it attached) are centrifugal brakes and are adjusted using an on/off system with different sized weights. The knob is the spool tension. Most recommend setting it at a point where the lure you are using will free fall but not cause an overrun when the lure hits the ground. Sounds like your reel has the magnet system. For max distance, you are going to have to train your thumb to the point where the magnets are 100% off. I recommend taking an 1/8th ounce plug and casting as hard as you can in to strong headwind. After spending the next 2 days trying to pick out the backlash, set the reel up to a more reasonable level and work on casting accurately as opposed to "as far as I can".

Trying to cast far is what all of us do when first starting. After all, it's the measure of your manlihood right? After a while you start to realize that casting with a purpose (an intended target or swim path so to speak) gets you a lot more bites. Most people cannot see objects or targets under the water as far as they can cast so they are casting blind. In productivity terms, do you want to have a 100 foot cast in unproductive water or a 10 foot cast where the bait is in a strike zone for 5 of those feet.

I think the "I gotta cast it a mile" syndrome starts for most of us because we start off fishing the bank and of course if you're on the bank you gotta cast as far away from the bank as possible. Funny thing is, you go buy a boat and next thing you know, you're complaining that you need a push pole to get shallow enough to pitch to the bank. Maybe it's a grass is greener thing.

Keep playing with it and I'll bet you'll get the hang of it and better and better at it.

Saying one is better than the other for all things is probably an over generalization. If one was better for everything, do you think pros fishing for upwards of a MILLION dollars would not just always use the "better" reel. Certain conditions and techniques can have an equipment preference, but it is certainly not a limiting factor.

Baitcasting affords a few technique specific advantages related to the entry of the bait in to the water. Pitching is a technique integral to largemouth bass fishing. A soft, subtle entry of the bait in to the water is a key element of the technique. You can do it with a spinning rod, but it is very difficult to master the splashless entry compared to a baitcaster. Even a novice can master a splashless entry with a baitcaster with some practice. Feathering the spool on a spinning rod is a lot harder to master with the heavier baits used predominantly for bass. On the other hand, skipping a bait like a senko under a dock or tree with a spinning reel is a lot easier for a novice than with a baitcaster. Can it be done, yes, I have seen guys skip a big fat flippin' jig with a baitcaster with uncanny accuracy for a remarkable distance, but that takes a lot of practice. But just about anyone can pick up a spinning rod and begin skipping baits. And maybe it's just me but for side-arm casting spinnerbaits around and under targets (flooded timber for example) a baitcaster is just a lot more comfortable and getting that silent entry even on longer casts is a lot easier with baitcasting. For dropping a bait down in deep water on a fish you see on the graph, the spinning rod does a better job for the applications I have tried (tube, drop-shot & spoon) because it allows for a freer truer fall.

Another thing to consider is line twist. Line twist is inherent in a spinning reel's design and can be a very frustrating thing, more frustrating than a backlash in a baitcaster because a backlash once it is picked out is done with. Line twist even if you can "save it" the first time or two, just gets worse and worse and you have to respool to totally get rid of it.

For me I'd say I fish about 50/50 of each. Smallies are fished primarily with spinning and Largies primarily with baitcasting. But I always have both. I have used a screwdriver as a hammer in the past, but if I can, I'd prefer to carry both.

As far as switching hands when casting (but not pitching), this is an often over exaggerated thing. I have done it since I first picked up a baitcaster and can tell you that by the time the bait has entered the strike zone (water) my hands are in a position to set the hook and I have never once missed a fish from switching hands. I don't cast one-handed though, all of my actual casting (spinning or baitcasting) is of the two-handed variety as perhaps I am a weakling. lol

The Baitcaster vs Spinning wars pre-date the internet, but the truth remains that there will be advantages for one or the other in some techniques and they will be a matter of preference for some techniques, but there is not a single technique out there that you simply could not do with one or the other. Fish what you enjoy fishing with. The fish really don't care!

I used to be a front drag purist. A front drag snob might be an even more apt description. Then one day I needed 6 new reels and Jos only had 3 front drags left in the model I wanted and he swore up and down that I would prefer the rear drags due to the fighting drag so I took 3. I have fished the 6 reels interchangeably for 3 years now and can honestly say I don't even pay attention to which kind of reel it is - I care about the tube colour or jighead weight, or whatever is tied on the line, but everything else is the same - same main braided line same size fluoro leader. Front or rear drag never enters the thought process when selecting a stick. I don't adjust the drag while fighting a fish, usually I'm just too shocked that I got a bite! I honestly can't remember the last time I adjusted the drag while fighting a fish except for those times on your first time out and you realize after your first bite that you had backed the drag all the way off in the winter. That's about the only time I play with the drag during a battle.

My reels are the Symmetre in 1500/2500 sizes and I'd say go for it. It probably won't be a huge difference to the front drag and from my experience the Symmetres have been worth every penny and then some.

Good luck,

Charles

sudbury <> northern ontario fishnwire. i was thinking more along the lines of nw ontario, thunder bay, timmins etc.

Raf, there is a flourishing bass fishery up there and 2 of the largest (and longest tenured) bass tournaments in Canada are in that region. The KBI (Kenora Bass Invitational on Lake of the Woods) and the one out of Fort Frances (Rainy Lake something I think). The communities really get involved and it's apparently a really big deal for up there. If it wasn't so darn far, I'd love to drive my boat up there and test myself against those guys/gals. However, from here it's a closer drive to Guntersville than Kenora...

Charles

Wondering if any of you have knowledge of a clean family oriented cottage for rent within say 2 hours of the GTA. If the cottage has access to a sand beach nearby, that would be great. There will be 4 children between the ages of 11 months and 4 years, so some safe interesting things to do for toddlers would be great. If they have a ramp and dock for my boat great, if not, as long as there is a ramp nearby that is fine.

I guess I am emphasizing clean because last year I rented a private place on Six Mile, and the place wasn't totally disgusting, but there was a big mouse living under the main couch and it was unhealthy looking enough that I ended up bringing my daughter back home and driving back up myself - the person I was with camped in a tent as they were in it for the Survivor aspect. As far as fishing cabins go, I've definitely stayed in much worse and I would stay there again myself, but I guess I should've been more selective knowing I was bringing a 1.5 year old with me.

Don't really have any lake preference or species preference. If there's some rock bass near the docks, perfect.

Thanks.

nancur, we're usually there from 7ish until, well sometimes until they kick out the last stragglers.

It's the driveway with the Telus sign. You won't miss the fact that the parking lot is mostly filled with pick up trucks.

See you there,

Charles

It's intermittently available. I've been able to get in about 1/3rd of the times I've tried. Looking at the time stamps of the posts, pretty obvious everyone is in the same boat. Usually a lot more activity going on here.

Awesome Cliff. Just awesome. Can't wait for the day I can experience that.

I enjoy the movies. Perfect Storm was on a while back, I enjoyed it. Reminds me of Erie on a calm November day.

On Golden Pond is a classic I could watch over and over.

Compared to some of the tripe that's on there, the movies are a nice break. It does sorta outline the severe dearth of fishing related movies though. Was Hemingway's old man and the sea ever made for the big screen, that book is one of the few that I was ever forced to read in school that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I guess this just shows that nomatter what they do they can't please everyone all of the time. Even removing the informercials would only please all of us viewers, it wouldn't please their bosses and beancounters.

If you're going to use multiple hooks on a drop shot rig, be careful as a palomar knot (generally the knot used to tie on the hook of a drop shot rig) is not intended to be stressed from the tag end of the line. That's why weights are often clipped on the end so that in a snag situation, you lose the weight and not the whole rig. I have tried double rigs for small fish like perch, but I really did not find any more effectiveness compared to a single hook. For smallmouth, I wouldn't try it because if you hook up a fish of a lifetime on the bottom hook, you're trusting a knot partway up the line that was not intended for that purpose.

Just my experience with it.

Charles