The Urban Fisherman

Hey Guys!! Thanks so much for everything - I have SO much updating to take care of in the morning!!! haha it's been a wildly crazy week for me! Thanks for the support and look for an update in the morning!

A few more prize photos here for you guys!!! My parents put together top prize awards, 49 tropies for hte kids division, 30+ mugs, some camo gear and more! A nice great combo from a great dude, Steve Plaskett @ Lambeth Rod and Tackle!!! Just a small sample of the wicked prize pack in transit courtesy of Handlebarz Musky Lures!!! Thanks to Humminbird for jumping on board this year and donating this graph as a prize!

THANKS buddy - looking forward to seeing you this weekend!!!

Wow - Pretty amazing stuff Frank - One of these summers Ginny and I will have to follow you guys up... We'll book cabin #3 for us, and my kids can stay with you guys! haha Thanks for the report buddy, well written and thanks to Juli the pics were awesome to! Some big fat small jaws there to! Cheers, Ryan

Laurie from Dixie Tackle talked to TD and managed to wrangle up a few prizes from them as well!!! More prizes to come soon!

And how about a little Lucky Strike gear - another long time supporter of the Fish-A-Thon!

BIG THANKS to our boy TJ & Due North Tackle for this stacked prize pack!

bah - fish or not it's alwasy good to get out on the water!

Glad you're able to make it Chris!!!! Looking forward to seeing you buddy!

Thanks 'Bunk - one of these years we'll wrangle you up and get you down for it... I'd like to see what kind of damage you can do on our little lake! You are the man TJ! Can't wait to get it - I still have some Ontario Fishing Network stuff left from last year... I will post up a pic when the package arrives... thank you so much for the support as usual!

Hey guys! CHECK it out! As stated earlier we have some of the most amazing sponsors of any fishing charity event! One such sponsor is Laurie from Dixie Dairy Bar and Tackle in St. Thomas! She doesn't just donate prizes directly from her store but every year she approaches each of her suppliers for prizes and has gotten some great stuff donated already this year! I managed to nab a few photos of some of the prizes, which are just the tip of the ice burg! First off, Laurie doesn't just run Dixie, she's a part of St. Thomas Tire and has gotten TOYO TIRES involved!!!! They're donating $500 towards a new set of Toyo Tires which is a HUUUUGE prize and St. Thomas Tire has stepped up to the plate to offer a free install! Laurie always tries to keep the prizes a secret but I managed to get a few photos to show off! haha She hooked us up with a couple of awesome chains/pendants for top kid prizes... Awesome bed set worth over $175.00!!! A handfull of Bug Zappers she got from KTL! A backpack filled with ONE HUNDRED Chocolate Bars from Mars! She's got Coke involved and donating ALL of the drinks we need for the event!!! She's also got some stuff that she won't tell me about! More prizes to come from some of our other fantastic sponsors.... THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!!!!

hard to smile when reading updates about Jen here but Mike that 17 cases line sure worked! Wayne, you know we're thinking about you guys and sending out as much love as we can to Jen!

Sounds good! Looking forward to seein' ya and thanks again! Sup Homie! That'd be awesome if you did an AA episode for the event dude! Grab a campsite and hit the water before daybreak with me for a little bit! Thanks for everything you guys do Mike! Looking forward to seeing you again buddy! what he said... Looking forward to camping out with you guys this year Frank!! Thanks again to Juli, yourself and the boys!

Hey guys - I just wanted to drop a quick FYI... Laurie from Dixie Dairy Bar and Tackle Shop in St. Thomas, ON has once again offered to sponsor anybody who walks into the store looking for a pledge!!! She's an amazing supporter of the Fish-a-Thon and goes way over above and beyond to help us out every year. Please pop by the shop to check out all the gear she has and grab a pledge while you're there! Dixie Dairy Bar & Tackle Shop 51 St. Catharine Street St. Thomas, Ontario Canada N5P 2V9 (519)631-1220

Your rods are always a hightlight and coveted prize at the Fish-A-thon Spiel - we can't thank you enough! Glad to hear you're coming again this year brother - we look forward to seeing you guys each summer! Glad to hear you booked a site to - we have at least 11 sites booked this year so friday night should be a good time as well! Get ahold of me on my cell or come looking for us when you get into town!

I think we can get you some new ones Wayne! Sorry they aren't fire proof! lol Thanks HT - looking forward to having you again this year!!

I've posted each of these photos year after year but they are a solid group of pictures that some of you may not have seen, of some quality fish are are available in the reservoir! If you guys have any special Fish-A-Thon photos from past years please feel free to post them! Species Available:

Happy Canada Day Weekend Folks! I hope everybody is away for the weekend, enjoying family, friends, a little fishing and maybe even a few cold ones... We usually try to wait until 1 month prior to the Fish-A-Thon to really start the big push as we want to keep everybody excited and the train rolling right up until the event! So here we are to bug you guys for the next 4 weeks! I really should hire one of the great writers of OFC to put these threads together for me as I never seem to be able to get the words out properly. Here's a little background info for some of our new members. We started this event as a way to raise funds and awareness for a cause that I think has touched each and every one of us in some way - that is the fight against Cancer. It seems like just yesterday there was a dozen of us on the dock, pledges in hand that were collected from family, friends and co-workers - ready to pitch lures for a full day on the water. We aren't walkers, joggers or bike ridding kind of people... we love to fish and wanted to do our part.... So the Fish-A-Thon for a cure was born! We put that first event together in just a couple of weeks and with the help of so many good people here on OFC and elsewhere we pulled off an awesome day and raised way more then we had anticipated. Fast forward to Fish-A-Thon 2013 and we're celebrating our 5TH ANNIVERSARY already! We've had hundreds of participants young and old, thousands of dollars worth of prizes and food donations given to us from businesses and individuals all over, have raised over $35,000 towards the fight against cancer, raised awareness online, on radio and in print, shown time and time again just how solid of a group we are as anglers, and have a new generation of fish-a-thoner's aged 2 and up who are excited to take part every year and find new ways to help others. As stated in the title, this years event is on July 27th 2013 and located once again at the Deer Creek Conservation Area in Norfolk County. We have participants come from all over Ontario and have already collectively booked more then 10 sites at the park! Right now our participant numbers are on par with last years with 70+ people signed up, however we do have more children then usual at this point so we're hoping to push more people to get involved as participants!! We have what I consider to be the greatest sponsors at any fishing charity event. They step up year after year and donate an unbelievable amount of prizes for our participants!!!! That being said, we're always looking to partner with new companies and individuals that share the same passion and values as we do at Fish-A-Thon for a cure. If you think you can help our event in any way please do not hesitate to contact us! Our participants work selflessly to gain pledges, going door to door, asking friends, family, co-workers and employers for pledges which are donated to fight this cause, and we want to show them as much appreciation as we can. More importantly, the larger we grow as a team of individuals and companies, the more strength we have to make a difference! Please feel free to take a second to poke around our website at www.fish-a-thon.com - Dan Bouck did a great job putting the site together for us and has all the information you need to get involved. Coming up soon with be some DCCA fish pictures to get you guys stoked about the fishing and some sponsor thank-you's for those who have already stepped up for 2013! A big FAT ( Fish-A-Thon) thank you goes out to our amazing team of people who donate their time behind the scenes every year to make this happen. You guys know who you are and I can't thank you enough! This honestly just straight up wouldn't happen without you! More to come! THANKS! Ryan

I wouldn't even try to say it any better. As usual - thanks for the report 'Bunk - I tend to read yours and Mike's reports to my kids but I'll have to sugar coat the beginning a little on this one... Thanks for doing what you do! Cheers, Ryan

huh lots of good ideas guys! I grew up trapping minnows and we got stale bread from the local bakery that they were going to throw away.. about $1 for a bag that was up to my chest at the time..Obviously it didn't work for you rizzo.. guess your minnows just don't like bread, but we trap them by the dozens in our local creek with bread no problem... ( no boddleneck or anything just a deep pool ). Good luck!

Awesome - we want to see some pics man! Good luck sounds sweeeet!

Hey Guys! WE ARE INSANELY BUSY! BUT I wanted to take two seconds to post a quick picture as I said I would..... a bunch has happened to our house in the past couple of weeks. Roof is on and shingled, doors and windows are in, wiring is roughed in and so is the duct work... I'm going to get some interior photos for you guys at some point, but here's a quick shot I took at sunset last night! Thanks again for the interest. Cheers, Ryan

LOL some funny replies here guys! Thank you all so much for the kind words and for taking the time to read and respond to our report! We're in the middle of moving and have had some minor issues with my office and internet and so on so I haven't been able to get on here - just wanted to drop you guys a quick note to say thanks! Cheers, Ryan

Just like everything else we look forward to in life, Bass Opener has come and gone once again in what now seems like the blink of an eye! Yeah, it's just another fish season opening up, but it has become a tradition for myself and my old man to go out a the crack of dawn and brave the thousands of boats that descend on Long Point Bay the last Saturday of June. My parents live 7 hours away so spending time on the water with my dad is something I really look foward to. This year meant even more to me as I was taking Averie out for her first ever Bass Opener. The excitement really was just like the night before Christmas and I coudln't convince her that she had better get to sleep because 4 a.m. comes fast. As most of you know, Averie is my little girl and my fishing partner. She's quite the little angler, but for hte past six years she's fished exclusively for largemouth like this one on our local reservoir... Opener on Longpoint is all about smallies for us, and the bulldogging and jumping that comes along with them.. I couldn't wait for Averie to finally experience smallmouth bass fishing! It was fairly windy and a bit of a rough ride out, and even though we were pretty well soaked by the time we got started, the kid was all smiles! We got set up and it didn't take long to start cracking off fish... but they sure as heck weren't fighting and jumping like the smallies I was telling her about... First fish of the day... First double header for Averie and Gramps... lol Next up Averie hooks into what would have easily been our biggest fish of the day and loses it boatside... She was pretty upset for a short while but as soon as she caught this little guy she was all smiles again... Her first ever smallmouth bass.. We actually struggled a little bit at first, but after moving around a few times and trying a few different things, we figured out a game plan and laid a pretty solid beat-down on the fish. We certainly didn't catch any true giants but we caught a TON of fish and had a great time doing it! I mostly took pictures of Averie because she kept asking me to! lol She's mastered the long-arm pose and is shameless with her missing teeth! haha Dad and gramps actually caught their fare share of fish to! ) They ate everything from tube jigs to spinnerbaits and jerkbaits! They got into a few doubles with the smallies to.... But the fish of the day came on an old school white twister tail rigged on a drop-shot and boy did Averie every take up the family tradition that is to remind everybody who caught the biggest fish... lol She held a top ten place in the 17 & Under division until shortly after 1 pm with her PB smallie... It was another great Longpoint bass opener and a day that Averie, my Dad and I will always remember! Can't wait until next year! Enjoy you week folks! Cheers, Ryan

Those are some big old carp buddy - good job!