suds

Exciting times! I grew up out on the Island and am counting the days until I can move back. The trouble is my wife loves her job and its 5 minutes from home, so patiently waiting lol. Not much to add on the river fishing; the others have covered a lot of it. Almost all rivers that lead to the ocean have steelhead potential, so you don't have to stick to the ones in the lower mainland. You can be the only person on a river having a great day if you do a little hunting Don't overlook Hemlock or Cypress..right after work for a few rides. Nighttime at Grouse can be spectacular when its clear and cold! I would advise you to spend the 200 bucks on a float tube and fins. I assume you have waders lol. Every lake has rainbows, cutties, or bass potential. Some have all of them! A short drive to the Cariboo and you are into BIG trout. You don't need to fly fish if you don't want to, spinning gear will work. The other bonus on trout fishing is it never closes. Lots of little lakes that are short hikes away where you can be alone too. Fishing licenses are a big difference; you need one for fresh, one for salt water. You need stamps for certain species. You need a certain stamp to fish for salmon in rivers, you need a special steelhead stamp. I think you get the idea lol. Buying all of them ( which I always did- nothing worse that getting the call and being unprepared was 100 bucks ten years ago) now you can get them online at least. But the thing I miss most is Dungeness crabbing, picking oysters and mussels, and digging for clams. All you need is a basic saltwater licence for that. Oh ya, and traffic really sucks in the lower mainland and the price of the ferries will shock you. Best of luck, suds

Thanks for sharing this great year of family and fishing. nice pics as always! cheers suds

Never do it. Its the same priciple as variable rate mortgages. If you can afford the fluctuations, you will save money over the long term. If you own an apartment building and someone else is covering your hydro costs; you may not care as much.

I am jealous; always a great trip. I second the 2 liter Wells IPA. You can then use the empty for a water bottle(add your purification drops if you arent going to boil) or juice/mixer jug. Another vote for the trolling tactic as you travel. Its relaxing and we caught some of our biggest fish on bead head wolly buggers-gold head and black marabou. Also don't assume the other folks are bringing the toilet paper!! Have a great time.

This thread was making me really hungry until the left turn at the yellow grubs... thanks...

I just when thru all this as I let my PAL lapse ( don't do this!). I would definetely recommend it for the hands on handling of different firearm types. One piece of advice I got was take both portions; un-restricted ( hunting stuff) and restricted ( handguns). The reason was that 5 years down the road the government can decide all firearms are restricted with a stroke of a pen and you are coughing up another $150 bucks and another weekend. The RCMP called everyone of my references, including my wife and asked about 20 questions of each of them- took about a month for the Ontario firearms officer to return my exams and then you forward them to the RCMP out east. That took 2 months. I thought the firearm courses were good. The hunter safety course is also worthwhile, although Ontario does not recognise that I have completed one in BC and AB. That is a total cash grab on their part. good luck suds

Well thanks again for all the feedback. It was valuable. We have the hotel and we have race tix, so it is ON! If anyone is heading down PM me and maybe we can hook up for a chat or beer. cheers all, suds

Guys, Thanks for the terrific feedback. We were looking at the Michigan race for geography and timing reasons mainly. I will share this with my buddy. He is not as "scottish" as I and was leaning for the full 3 day package with the trucks and the junior circuit race. Any thoughts on Pocono or Upstate NY? Man this site rocks, much appreciated cheers

Greetings Fish/Race Fans, A buddy and I are thinking of going to the Michigan race in June. We have never been to an event and I have noticed there are some race fans on here, so I was hoping to benefit from your experience. Couple questions; Is it better to book one of the packages or is it workable to get tickets and grab your own hotel? Is it possible to drive yourself to the track or is it a total gong show to do that? Any practical advice or experience gratefully accepted. Cheers suds

IN, We have an office team going. There will be some "lames" for sure lol. . MoStyleGuide.pdf

Sent you a PM

Original floating rapala, 4" long, perch coloured... Try it, you will like it! cheers

Congratulations! Still waiting for my first. Heading out this aft....maybe today????

I had a 94 4X4 4L V6, fuel pump crapped out in it at about 100KM, but it had the good sense to do it in my driveway. A little hard on brakes and the extended cab seats aren't really good for sitting in, but the extended cab is almost a must just for your stuff. Good on gas, great four wheeling and very reliable. I would buy another one I couldnt afford a full size truck cheers

Hey that's how i cook up my perch, then served on rice noodles. Don't forget the thai basil. I always add the basil and the cilantro right at the end. Stir it in for a sec or two and serve.... Great post, nice fish!! suds