CLofchik

Is Dokis Is. part of French R. PP now or no, I can't quite figure that one out? If it's not I'm going to second that one. Keep a compass & topo and lots of gas handy, it is a maze with tons of sunken rocks but it would definitely be a good trip. Bringing a spare prop might not be a bad idea too.

There's always something biting in the Grand R. by Dunnville. Slow troll small white crankbaits like a Big O this time of year and you'll pick up pickeral, smaller cats and the odd sheepshead.

Lol you'd think TJ would know this board doesn't support embedding

They used to decently priced, but UPS is just the king of gougers for US-Canada shipping. I've had motorcycle tires shipped to a UPS store over the border and the handling fee was $10. But now because of all the border crossers they're starting to loose some of their ridiculous brokerage fees so all the UPS Stores close to the border have jacked their "handling fees" to match. UPS sucks donkey bollocks, absolutely refuse to use them anymore. The USAddressinc.com is the best way to go, used them a few times with no complaints. Remember to declare coming back though, it's not unheard of for Canada Customs to have people in the parking lot making note of Ontario plates pulling in!

Actually the thing I noted most about the pike last year, was although they weren't giants they were all thick with good colour. They were definitely in good shape. Aaaargh I've been getting the sheepshead, and every decent one I tangle with I think is a pike at first. Fun for a few minutes but a whistletrout ain't no 40" northern. And I know there's a few decent ones around........just not where I'm at!

You don't need to go to the library to look up topo maps, they're available free to view on Toporama or download and print on Geogratis. Very helpful for wistful evening trip planning. Also bring some smaller cranks with you too, I've found small Kwikfish or baby Salmo's are deadly on trout bounced infront of wood or undercuts. It's a little bit like playing chicken, you don't want that $7 plug getting tooooo close to that wood......especially with steel around

Never cared for Oakley's, more fashion accessory than optics. There are better lenses out there for the money. I always preferred frameless or half frames with polycarbonate lenses, they'll scratch if you're not careful but glass lenses weigh a ton and if you wear glasses for hours on end they really bother me. Just get a hard case and they'll last for years. I've got a dozen pairs kicking around but the only ones I ever really wear are H2Optix, with the amber lenses they are awesome glasses. Clarity is great, on the water for ten hours with no eye strain and so light I forget I'm wearing them. Only problem is Bolle sold/traded the line to Serengeti and they don't seem to be the same quality lenses anymore. If you can find Bolle H2Optix in amber they've been the best glasses I've worn.

Last year I did pretty good on pike in Hamilton Bay, three or four every time I go out. This year......I've lost my mojo. Nothing, nada, zip. Been hitting it a few times every week since opener and NOTHING. No strikes, not even a follow, I suck. High water, so they should be shallow right? Wrong. A few whistletrout but the toothy critters have eluded me. Tried everything, confidence baits, no confidence baits, baits I've never taken out of the package in five years after I've bought them, hard baits, soft baits, even soaked bloody smelt without a take (except for the damn sheepshead.....aaargh). Anybody catch a pike in the 'Bay this season? Have the cormorants eaten them all? Heh, atleast the pre-spawn carp are biting, only thing I can get on my line this year.

Well your first problem is that you bought a Shimano...............but hey, the Izumi's need another house right? Went through three 1st gen Stradics in a year (remember the old knuckle busting, cigar crunching, dumb paddle handles?), last Shimano's I'll ever own. Overpriced garbage that broke in a variety of interesting ways. Hell I have a $60 Okuma that worked better, but it's falling apart now. Daiwa Emblem-X that's been flawless.....until now. Like a Chrysler that just came off warranty it just suddenly started falling to pieces, it's doing the "bail closing when you cast" maneuver. Very fun chucking 3/4oz. spoons when that happens. Screw it.....I'm just going to pick up another Daiwa SS and call it a day, best reel I ever owned.

Y'know I always enjoyed interior camping for bass in July alot more than trout opener, but these last few TR's have me questioning the wisdom of that descision. Great sites, great fish, great trip. Awesome!

I look forward to the first report of someone blowing 0.05 in the boat after one or two drinks at a tie-up lunch spot and have their boat, trailer & car impounded for three days and leave you stuck on shoreline 400km from home. $500ish on impound fees alone, then you find out the scumbag tow truck driver & impound lot had a field day cherry picking through your gear (whatcha talkin' about, there ain't no fishfinder on it when it got here.....) Congrats people, you've got the Big Brother gov't you wanted. Lol atleast with the crappy weather you won't have your car towed because you were drifting down the river on an inner tube with a beer......what a friggin' joke.

If you do alot of trolling with cheap Crappy Tire rods the braid rubbing in one place will start to chew through the tip. Casting isn't that much of a problem, only if the braid is constantly rubbing one spot.

Promenade coughed up some decent pike for me, but the last time I fished it the Four Sisters was still operating. No idea how good it is now without the warm water outflow. I've seen more than a few pike caught at the mouth of the Credit during salmon season too, but shore access is really limited to get to the decent spots. The rock breakwall was the best spot in the mouth but now is fenced off for liability reasons. Some numbnut managed to kill himself scrabbling over the rocks at Port Dover and his family won $2.5mil in a lottery lawsuit, that's when every unmaintained pier in S.Ontario became off limits. The Mimeola/Stavebank access is tiny, one hole and maybe 50' of shoreline with fenced yards on either side.

A few nights bored on a pier at night with no salmon I did a few comparisons. 1) Braid far outcasts similar lb/test mono, it's not even close. 2) Mono outcasts braid of similiar diameter. Again not even close, but you need to drop to 8lb mono against 20lb PowerPro. I'll take the 200m of 20lb Tuf-Line with all the advantages of braid instead of 8lb Silver Thread thank you (Silver Thread was a better caster than Ande and smokes anything made by Trilene/Stren).

There've been two pickeral (they're not walleye until they cross the US border!) caught in Hamilton Harbour in the last week, nice to see them making a better comeback then the Atlantics Pike are officially late this year with the water temps......or it will be just a crappy year for them. Every harbour west of TO I caught pike in this time last year I haven't gotten a sniff. Live Target's Smelt sure looks purdy in the water though

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/LetsF...L02_163615.html

+1 on that. Pike are crazy for having eyes bigger than their stomach, years ago up around Kenora we were doing well cutting the heads off mackerel and using 1lb. baits 10" long.....and we were STILL getting 5lb fish hitting them. Trebles are considered a single hook unless they are specifically banned in the exceptions.

Ford F-150 For Sale -- Just cleaned inside & out! Mint! Priced to move quick, don't miss the boat! Heh, how would you like to explain this one?

You do know your next job is to paint the boat to match the aircraft right? I don't know if I'd trust my rods to a $10 Berkley holder @ 100 knots......I have visions of canoeing into a back lake, then getting rained on by fishing rods from the sky

Evolution........the only steelies that survive in G'Bay are the ones that can dodge the gillnets. Wow that is a HUGE kittie for Ontario, good shooting. What were you guys using, the prevailing wisdom on the Grand is that the kitty's don't start hitting the hardware until the end of May?

Plan A nixed by g/f.......she won't let me fish until the afternoon, I suck. Plan B nixed by the fish......after a week of blanks I don't believe there are any pike in Hamilton Bay. Or sheepshead. Or catfish. Again......I suck. Plan C is one of desperation, total lack of faith in my abilities to catch any form of gamefish, too much of a procrastinator to have actually bought a boat when there wasn't a million other things to do, so my shorebound arse is stuck soaking baits in a last feeble attempt to hook anything that will pull..................

From a boat? The shore bite at Fishmasters was nonexistent today, the whole area is full of carp and every other shore spot I've found is pretty soggy with the high water.

I've got two little Salmo cranks I picked up for trout awhile ago. The trout like them, the finish on them is tougher than any Rapala, and I've ground about 1/16" off the lip bumping wood & river rocks and it still works. Definitely a notch above Cordell's & Rapala's.

This is what real morels look like. Sometimes there are smaller false ones that look similiar, but the way I was shown was that a real morel has a hollow stem, where a false, possibly poisonous, morel has a solid stem.

The undead have been rising in Texas long before this Novel Swine Flu histeria............gov't bio-weapons coverup I say. I hope everyone has their Zombie Plan in place & ready to go!