Tootsie II

Best of luck from here in O/S! Been there, no how much that big "C" word terrorizes you when the doctor first says it. I was lucky, it was caught very early and even though I required major surgery and have a permanent colostomy, I did not require chemo or radiation. It been 7 years this month. Hang in there and keep a positive outlook.

I'll bet the guy in the tree stand is thankful that was a black bear. If it had been a grizzly or brown, when he said "What are you doin there" the answer probably would ahve been "I'm fixin to have lunch!

Unfortunately, and I'm not justifying lousy work, Canada Post has beat their mail contractors over the head so bad the last few years from the point of view of pay rates and working conditions, that many of the contractors who have stuck around just don't give a "poop" any more. I know one of them who still does care but he is about ready to tell them to "shove it". In our area in Ontario, many contractors who knew their routes and their clients really well aren't even allowed to deliver the mail to them anymore if it only has a R.R # on it. It must have a fire number or other identifier on it.

Some of the best fishing spots around Timmins used to be around the dams and generating stations in the area and most were easy to get to. Now thanks to a royal screw-up by Ontario Hydro a few years ago, you can't even get near them at any time. Another way that the dirty word "liability" mixed with lawyers, judges and insurance companies have taken some of life's simple pleasures away not just for us but for our kids.

When I lived up there Nighthawk was good but watch for thin ice if ice fishing. That lake can be abrute because of its many shallow areas even in its wider expanses. I understand that the guys from Mattagami First Nation also get them from the bridge over the Grassy River on the Grassy River Road about 85 Km South West of town. You go out Pine Street South to get there. I believe they do it in the fall but they may be using seines.

There was a story on CBC or CTV news channel this morning that reported that these players were not told in advance that Budweiser was setting this whole thing up. They let it build gradually during the first and second periods. That's why the players look so shocked.

There still are places in Northern Ontario where you can get away from it all if your not afraid to load your gear in a boat and cross a lake of go up or down a river and are willing to rough it a bit. I know I'm going to upset some people, but nothing represents the modern intrusion into the bush to me more than those "darn" ATV's. I have no problem with them being used to draw fire wood or water or pull out a moose, but when I see the number of people who let their 10 year olds rip around on them and tear up what were once good walking trails, I see red. There is one old logging road near Timmins where my Dad and I spent many long hours walking together with our dogs in the Fall and I'll bet Dad is spinning in his grave because of what the ATV's have done to it. One of the ironies about this area is that for the years we walked it, we were also wlaking on a gold mine. There is now an operating underground gold mine extracting ore from under that trail. I to am a type of loner, even if my remaining years are limited. Hopefully, Mr. Harper will let me start collecting my OAS this Fall. LOL!

Up til last year I always bought 3 yr Sport fishing and small game. Because I hit the magic 65 this year, I only bought 3 yr small game and 1 yr Sport last year. Now I have to go buy a one year Sport to get me to August. Why the "darn" government didn't stay with the sticker system is a real mystery. Some consultant probably made a gazillion dollars talking the gov't into this new system where you also have to carry another piece of paper. I'm being polite here so as not to get the moderator(s) angry at me!

Usually most of the lakes up there are ice free by first week of May. If the Spring is late and cold, often the fish just coming off the spawn are pretty lithargic and you may really have to work for them. Make sure you take your woolies. That area can still be darn cold at that time of year.

A word to the wise. When my daughter took her driver's ed course, her instructor told her if you ever hit a deer or any other large animal, you should always say that the it jumped or ran into the path of your car. Apparently some cops have been known to "split hairs" and if you say that you hit it, they say you therefore did not have proper care and control of your vehicle and they will try making a careless driving case out of it. Then also if he does that it could make any insurance claim for damage to your vehicle very difficult. Even if the case gets tossed, you've still had a hell of a headache to clear yourself.

My fishing partner has historically always cleaned the fish and the station is thoroughly washed down afterwards. The guts go into a pail and I go out about an eighth of a mile offshore from our campsite and dump them in deep water. They disappear quickly. Back at the landing where we leave our vehicles, people regularly throw them just into the water from the shore and don't clean up their cleaning station very well. Then they wonder why Yogi and his friends come calling. The skeletal remains stay visible in the water for quite a while. The only upside is that we get to see what species they're catching.

Over the lasy year or so my fishing partner have been having a problem getting our three burner Guide Series Coleman stove to burn properly. We get a tremendous amount of sooting and orange un-pressurized flame instead of the bright steady blue flame that we used to get. Last year I installed a new generator but we still have the same problem. My Stepson who is in the Canadian army says they have the same problem and attribute it to the pooling of unvapourized fuel in the piping ( ie: flooding). My question is: Does anyone else have the same problem and do you know if the naphtha manufacturers have also started adding "bloody" ethanol to their product. You probably get a feeling of what I think about ethanol-gas mix. Any comments or help would be most welcome. Also, these stoves are sold in the U.S. as being dual fuel, the second fuel being gasoline. I was wondering if using a high octane gas would make a difference and be safe.

About 10 years ago when my handle the "Tootsie II" needed repairing, ( 16 ft cedar strip), the Geisler's from Powassan did send me an order of oak and cedar that I needed to do the repairs. Don't know if they'd still do it though.

I've used the Amsoil "Interceptor" and pardon me for seeming old-fashioned, but I mix my own oil and gas. I have never liked the idea on being 75 km back in the North- Ontario bush and relying on some injection system to insert the correct amount of oil into my motors. I've heard too many horror stories about burnt out engines in the early years of those systems and still don't trust them. I know it's probably hard to find larger 2 stroke engines that don't have these systems on them but I've heard of mechanics telling people to remove their injection system and mix the gas "the old-fashioned" way.

I also feel that the shooting in London and the riots are a sign of a much deeper malaise that will come to the forefront more and more. While I do not think we will see much of it in Canada because of our sparse population, I think we will riots in the States similar to the 60's race riots. The root cause will be the ever widening gap between the rich and the poor. The poor see the rich getting richer all the time while they languish in poverty, often unable to provide at lot of the basic necessities for their children and that often is the trigger. History has a way of repeating itself and while I hope we never see the likes of it again, we must remember the French and Russian revolutions, the cause of which, IMO , was poverty and starvation. By the time the lids blew off those powder kegs, the resentment was so deep that the revenge taken on the rich was horrendous.

When I worked there, the ones at Wal-Mart were in Automotive.

Even my old 1971- 20hp Johnson ran better, smoother and did not smoke as much using Amsoil 2 stroke. I will never go back to anything else for 2 strokes.

Chessy is correct. There are such things as "water lots" on some Ontario lakes. I once had to survey one ( install the on-shore monumentation ie: iron bars ) for one on Lake Minisinakwa in Gogama when I worked for an OLS in Timmins in the late 60's. I believe that one also extended about 300 ft into the lake. I believe they are meant primarily to permit tourist type development such as fishing camps and the like. I also believe you have to have a heck of a lot of political pull to ever get one.

I sent you a PM.

Darn things seem absolutely useless unless you have a near perfect line of sight or a signal line not broken by trees, structures or hills. Even the the so called 40 km ones are useless in dense bush a 2 km.

I use the synthetic all the time. My understanding is that a modest amount of mixing with regular 2 cycle oils is Ok, occasionally but not recommended to be done as a matter of practice. I guess you didn't notice the price when you bought it cause synthetic is about twice the price of regular oil. I will never go back to regular 2 cycle oil. My weedeater, chainsaw and outboards run smoother and cleaner with the synthetic. Just wish I had friends who regularly travel to USA. Apparently, it's a lot cheaper there. The info on the co-mixing came from the Amsoil website under the Interceptor brand name of oil.

Send in the Marines with lots of C-4

Well, I guess I'll date myself, but yup, Terry, boy wasn't that old gravel highway 560 a treat to drive. You never knew what was over the next hill or around the next bend. Also, when I first used the old GRR, it was two ruts in sand, not much wider than one vehicle, pretty well the way the Feldman Timber Company from Timmins left it when they sold their timber limits to Malette Lumber which I believe also became the Waferboard Corp. It was they who abandoned the dam at the end of Peterlong and thus Ont. Hydro, yep, you and I, who had to pay to repair it. Nobody drove logs down the Grassy and Mattagami any more, so they didn't want it. Also, in those days many of the roads were gated and you had to have a pass to get through. Getting those amounted to " who you knew" at the various lumber companies, depending on where you wanted to fish or hunt.

I and my fishing partner were also there the first week of June. As far as were concerned it's been fixed up too well. The grader was on it that week. We and a lot of the "oldtimers" who have been going into some of the lakes off that road for many years long for the days when it took an hour and a half to get to our lake from 560. Now it takes 45 min. tops. Only logging trucks were on 560. There are now scads of people coming in from Timmins and Sudbury every weekend and at some lakes it's party central on Fri and Sat nites. Lakes are now getting fished pretty heavy. If you want to see bears, they are there. There also seems to be a lot of mining activity/exploration going on that area.

Been thinking of buying a manual/auto inflating life jacket/vest. When looking at prices on BPS web site ( American) and comparing prices in Canada, it seems that prices in Canada are 1.5 times to twice the price of those quoted in the U.S. With the Can $ the way it is, one would think they should almost be the same. One lady at PBS says it's because the DOT requirements in Canada are so much more stringent than those of the U.S. Coast Guard who do the certification in the States. Does anyone know if this is true or are we being shafted in the pocket book like so many times in the past.