The Urban Fisherman

awesome report buddy! It's been to long... Ryan

awesome report buddy! Great pix and a great read to boot....nothing beats a trip out with old budds... cheers

So it's 5 a.m. - I haven't been on the water without a video camera in my hand for over a month and a half and I'm slated to pick up Rich in Simcoe just after 6 a.m. I just can't wait to load my rods into the truck, scrape the frost off the winds.....THE FROST?!?!?!?!? what the heck man......well, it could be worse I suppose.....so I go to the back of my truck and...... the damn trunk lock is frozen....so I load my 1 piece rods into the truck through the back door, in the dar, and hop on it. At this point I'm a few minutes behind from all this screwing around, but it's ok, I had planned to leave early in order to pick up a timmies, a luxury to anybody who lives in "Frogmore, Ontario".... It's only then that I pop the key into the ignition to find out that.....I've got NOT FREAKING GAS!!!!! I'm talking bone dry, the light even turns on. This is when I have my flashback to tuesday morning when my mother-in-law comes into my office during work and asks, "Ryan, can borrow you're truck to do some shopping with Averie (my daughter), because I don't have a car seat. Sure I said without hesitation, not thinking that she might leave me high and dry without gas....AGAIN. This wouldn't be a big deal if I didn't live 35 minutes away from the nearest gas station that opens before 7 a.m. Anyways, long story short, I toughed out the ride to Rich's house, practically sweating beads the whole way, worrying that I might run out of gas at any moment, thus ruining our trip. I not only made it to his place, but then to a gas station and eventually to the boat launch in Port Rowan where we met up with Slowpoke for a day on the bay. Unfortunately, I had to bounce early because my wife's got some SERIOUS "all day sickness" going on from being 2.5 months preggo, but it was still a great time on the water with budds. Thanks again guys! Until next time, UF ps. when I was getting off the boat at 11 a.m. Rich goes "ok Brian, now I can take you to my good water"..... so moral of the story is that Rich can't be trusted. Rich's bass before brian even show's up.... Brians Rig. Captain SlowPoke Rich Eagerly anticipating the first strike of the morning.... Rich and Brian not so eager anymore! haha Rich waited until we were on the water to say "so you guys brought musky baits for pike fishing right?" http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/uploads...3_237_57986.jpg

Hey dude, I had a boat just like "Mike the bass fishers" boat when I was 14 for a couple years and it worked great. I added a 2 section piece of plywood on the bottom and a 30lb thrust electric motor to the back and was very happy with it. BUT - I did highly prefer fishing out of my modified personal pontoon boat. More stable, less chance of getting a leak as the pontoons are much more durable, it has more storage, battery box, motor mount, cup holder, rod holders, depth finder mount, it's more comfortable etc. etc. etc. The only down-side is you can't bring a friend along with you. Now I've got a new boat on order so my pontoon is up for grabs in the clasifieds section. I'm practically giving it away for $300, but if you don't have room for something like this, or a kayak/canoe, getting a small inflatable will WITHOUT A DOUBT, beat being stuck on shore! On a side note, my pontoon does about 4MPH on the GPS with a 30lb thrust minnkota, so I'm thinking an inflatable boat, which weighs less would easily do 6 or so MPH Good luck with your boat search, UF

You're threads are like reading a really good magazine article that I don't have to pay for...only they're better than any articles I ever read..... I feel like I'm stealing.... thanks Bunk, UF

BillM - Well said. Reefrunner - Sweet catch buddy, I'm jealous.....stinkin' lake erie tribs.... To the "complainers" of the board - give me a break, my 2 year old daughter knows that if you can't say nothin' nice, don't say nothin' at all! Peace

holy crap what an outing! Thanks for the report guys!!!

congrats buddy! nice lookin salmonoid!

Thanks for the replies guys - unfortunately she sold in a hurry, as do most good deals. I'm on the look-out for a 12 - 14 footer like this or aluminum with a trailer for $600 or so. I know I'm asking alot but with everything that's going on right now that's all I can squeak into the budget. Hopefully I can find something nice and maybe 6 months or so down the road find an older 9.9 to 20 HP johnson/evinrude for a good price. Cheers, Ryan

awesome day on the water dude - I didn't know mooneye were readily available! cheers, UF

oh man that's a bummer for sure man - he was a solid guy and will be missed by many including myself - he gave me some sound advice on more than one occasion. My condolences to his family and friends!

Quick update and some thank-you's from our dog rescue this weekend. First off I have to thank OFC member RICKSED for donating a rockin' CEDAR dog house to Sheba, which she has taken a serious liking to, and also members Bly/CCMT and Dappluma for making PM offers to help out!! Short and sweet - She's clean and happy, her vet check's are up-to-date, as it turns out she already had a micro-chip inplant from when she was a pup, and she made herself right at home. Bath Time The first thing she did when she got to our house was jump into our pond and swim in circles for a while - no doubt scaring the crap out of the fish! Then she dried off by the fire pit. Thanks again guys! Also - I hit the lake for a couple hours saturday morning, managed a few small largemouth carolina rigging in 17 FOW but nothing to brag about, so I switched over to pan fish and managed a few crappie and gills. Then all of a sudden my graph gets all but blanked out from a HUGE bait ball, eventually it moved up to the surface following my tube jig up and it turned out to be the hugest school of baby largemouth I had ever seen - I'm talkin' hundreds of them. The photos doesn't show just how many there were - my boat was surrounded. So I tossed on a mini 1/8 ounce jigging spoon which they promptly attacked and I managed this monster! haha Anyways that's that - hope you enjoyed killin a couple minutes! Cheers, UF

LOL thanks for the tips Cliff - It's a 12 footer in pretty well mint condition....I never even thought to ask how wide the beam is, I'll find out today - thanks for that one. As for being to busy and broke to work on it, the plan is to get'er done this winter BEFORE the baby comes - Averie Loves bubbles so that's a great tip, and I have an underwater video system so I could set that up and she could watch the little tv of the fishes underwater - just thought of that one now.... Does anybody have experience with this boat though - VS. getting a 12 foot aluminum? THanks again, UF

Right on Will - nothing beats a day out on the water with your old man - even if you weren't able to put him on some fish! Just kiddin' dude - wish I was able to get out with my pops more often - fish or not, just spending time out on the water is what matters. As for the largie, I don't know man, he's got a serious under-bite! lol thanks for the report..... Ryan

Well it's still early in the season, but fall is fast approaching and I'm already lurking for a winter project. My daughter Averie going to be 2 years old at the end of October and Ginny just found out she's pregnant so when the new Bonin baby is born next spring Averie will most likely be taggin' along for most of my adventures on the reservoir. This means my personal pontoon boat has to take a hit in order to make room for some fishin' partners. I'm looking at this little boat right now, but haven't been in one before so I'm not sure of the stability and comfort. Also you know me and that I don't know well enough to leave something alone so I need to be able to Mod the hell out of it! haha I'm working on a tight budget, hoping to get $400.00 for the modified Tooner and another $200 tossed into the mix leaves me a measly $600.00 for a boat and trailer! EEESSSHHH....but hey I'm havin' another kiddo so it's aaalllllllll good! Thanks for any tips or advice guys! Cheers, Ryan

Sheba lives in the exact same conditions man, it's so sad. I'm amazed at how great she is with my daughter considering she's been living in a cage all alone for so long. We're all excited to bring her home tomorrow - especially Averie. First things first, a GOOD BATH haha, she needs it - then in the truck she goes. It's going to be like love overload at first. She won't even know what hit her! I'm going to take her carping monday morning - can't wait. As for Tamias, as I said, he was tagged and registered and all that jazz, we posted in stores, online and made numerous phone calls to no avail. Sheba isn't a replacement to him, just a new family member, and who know's - me might just show up on the doorstep someday. Thanks for the tips and kind words guys, it's our pleasure to take her home. We've purchased a few things already but as I said if anybody has any gear we could use it and are obviously willing to pay for it! Cheers, UF

Congrats dude! beauty largemouth for sure! Cheers, UF

Hey all, I'm sure most of you remember my thread about my beagle going missing just over a month ago, well he hasn't come back and all our efforts haven't found him. We miss him very much but on a brighter note, my wife (Ginny) and I have been talking about sort of "rescuing" a 6 year old Black Lab. Her name is Sheba and she's been living in a 10x10 kennel in the far back end of her grandmothers yard for nearly 4 years. She literally doesn't leave it unless we go over, doesn't get fed on a regular basis, has to tip-toe around her own feces and stays out in that cage year round, rain, snow you name it. Long story short is that somebody in Ginny's family abandoned her there and Ginny's grandmother is to old to take care of her. So we've been asking around to see if we could take her and last week we got the "OK" from Ginny's uncle who lives near by there and is the only other person who helps take care of her. She's a VERY sweet and gentle dog who just needs a good home and some TLC. We're more than capable and willing to take her in as our own, but all off our puppy gear is beagle sized, WAY to small for her, so I'm just wondering if anybody out there has some stuff they'd like to sell for a decent price. Here's a couple of pix we took last weekend. (I couldn't get any pictures of her outside the cage because she wouldn't stand still....she doesn't even have a collar or leash) Cheers, UF

Saturday: Rescue a Black Lab named Sheba from the 10x10 cage she's been living in for the past 4 years and take her home with us... It's been in the works for a while...she's a sweetheart and deserves a good home! Sunday: Fishing, some yard work and Bayfest in Port Rowan. Monday: Fishing with my daughter and Reno's to the house. Happy Labour day weekend everybody! Cheers, UF

Awesome NF post boss! My beagle went galavanting when I was away just over a month ago and never found his way home, and I can only hope that wherever he is now, he's being taken care of with the same TLC that he got in my home. Cheers, UF

yepp - what they said....awesome dude! I've got to get out with my old man more often. Cheers, UF

Awesome trip dude! Not many logde/cabin owners would have gone out of their way to pay their pilots wage and gas to fly back up and drop off a gun for you - good for them. And congrats on the marriage once again, although I think it's totally unfair that you've taken 3 WEEKS OFF!?!?! Thanks for the report, UF

A little research and some SERIOUS time Bill! I only really fished the piers one season, as last year I fished from a boat instead. I used all the regular baits, Glow Spoons, Rapala J-13's, fished in the evening, all night and before sunrise. I probably went out 10 times and didn't get a bite. Finally, I go one morning well after the early crew was gone, and nailed a beauty who nearly spooled me...on guess what...some NO-Name orange rapala immitation lure that had been sitting on the bottom of my tackle box for years.....anyways, she straitens the hook on me and get's off.... that night I got some new hooks for my old lure and wouldn't you know it, the next morning at around 9 a.m. I hook into another within' 10 casts. This one I landed, but at the expense of my lure. It was cracked in half, never to be fished again. Anyways, you just never know what they want....it might be that old lure sittin' in the bottom of your tackle box.... BUT, if I had to make a list it'd be this: 1) a hat with the built-in lights (doubles as a spoon charger) 2) Multiple different kinds of glow in the dark spoons 3) Some Rapala j-13's (blue/firetiger/chartreuse) 4) J-Plugs and Lymans (these are lighter and would probably be hard to cast very far) Spool up with some 30lb braid as it's strong enough to fight the fish and has a thin enough diameter to cast really far out. If the water is clear, add a fluoro leader. Good luck, UF

I just upgraded from a 141c to the 597c Combo and LOVE IT...I don't have the coin for a nav. chip right now but it's on my wish list. The GPS is probably overkill for my overly-rigged personal pontoon, but aside from marking deep structure and saving the waypoints, I also use it to fine tune my trolling speed. The only down-side this unit would probably be the fact that it doesn't have dual beam, but it hasn't been an issue as of yet. good luck with your graph hunt! Cheers, UF

right on man! Gotta love 2 weeks with the family! To bad your little guy lost that big one, but on the bright side he'll be pursuing it for the rest of his life, spending time in the boat with his "old man". Thanks for the report, UF