bigbuck

Oh Yeah, the Spring Fleecing at Bass Pro!!! I walked out $250 lighter. A pair of pants and a shirt for under $40, a new tackle box to replace my old one that was falling apart, a good deal at another $40, a PFD for myself and one for my daughter, some Trilene in 4,6, and 8lb test, a couple of X-Raps, a Bionic Bucktail.........Jeez, I needed a shopping cart. It was great meeting The Next Bite crew, I spent a fair bit of time talking to Pete Maina and Gary Parsons. They're a great bunch of guys, easy to talk to and very willing to help with some tips and ideas on techniques. If only I could watch their show, the magazine is great.

That's great for us who don't get WFN!!! I loved your seminar at the fishing show and thoroughly enjoyed lunch at Subway on you. Now I have something to watch on Sunday mornings now!!!

Damn!!! I forgot about my old buddy Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High!

That's Cool!! If I had the dough ray me......... I'd get Mike to build a house for me. It won't be cheap because he builds it right but it will be standing long after I'm gone.

Not really dishonest, a little white lie maybe. They have a commitment to repair your motor/boat if you damage it minus their deductible. Who does the repair and what you do with the money they are willing to pay is up to you. That's your right.

Thanks TJ!!!

My in-laws are building in a new development off of Mountainview (I believe, just up the hill from the neighbourhood pizza joint, I haven't been to the site yet). It's a nice area that's for sure, I love the whole greater Niagara region and would have moved there if my business wasn't based in the GTA. I have a lot of friends and family down there. Property values are still halfway decent even more so the further south you get of the QEW.

What time you there Pete??? I'll head on up there for a poop chat!! (I can also show you a couple of places to go for a wobbly pop too)

I'll second that Pete's all of the above!!! I think I've seen him in some cameo appearances on "That 70's Show"!!!

GOOD ONE!!!!!

Quantum's Warranty location in the GTA is Aikman's in Mississauga. I would not worry about parts. It's a halfway decent reel at a great price point. If you are buying a baitcaster to learn on, I'd say go for it, I have 3 Quantum reels and love them, I heard that the older reels had problems but the new ones seem to be pretty good. The Cabela's baitcasters are made by Daiwa so you should be fine, however, the Bass Pro reels, I'm not sure who makes them and I have heard about problems with service. Mind you, I believe that they now have a service counter at the Vaughan store. Lots of info, lots of opinions, you have to decide. Good luck with your purchase!!

I'll second what Pete said, the Maina combo at Bass Pro is on for $149.99 as the regular price in Canada. I'm not sure if it includes the new low profile reel. I have been told by reliable sources that Pete fishes exclusively with his brand of rod/reel. If they work fine for him, seeing as he is one of THE muskie authorities, they should not be a problem for us lesser mortals.

Sorry about your loss. I put my dog down a few years back and it was very painful to say the least. I still look in the backyard at my parent's house to see if he's there. Hang in there.

You beat me to it, I was going to recommend Allstate, a buddy of mine has been one of their top 5 agents in Canada for the past 5+ years. If you have a clean and I mean clean record (no accidents or tickets), they are tough to beat in most areas.

Oh yeah, I forgot, you can pick up a Pete Maina combo at Bass Pro for $149.99!! That's a steal, it's like getting the rod for 20 bucks. You can't go wrong with that.

That's what warranties are for! For the dough, it's not bad, what about an Abu?? Did you look at them?? A nice 6500C3 is about the same money if I'm not mistaken, do your homework and it depends on how much you plan on using it. My next muskie reel will be the Daiwa Luna or the St Croix which is the same thing just re-badged, I saw it at the fishing show and reelly (ha ha) liked it but have to save a few pennies before I drop $300 on a reel.

I filled up last night for $1.056, I heard Dan McTeauge on the radio yesterday and having heard that oil broke through a hundred bucks, I knew we were in for $1.10. If you know your numbers, you can figure out roughly within a cent or two as to how much it will cost. If our loonie pops up a bit, it will relieve the price of gas but that isn't too likely, the Bank of Canada is leaning towards another interest rate cut next month so the loonie is not too attractive to foreign investors. Sucks to be us!!! I guess the price of fuel is going to force all the owners of old 2 strokes to retire them or not run them too much because of their lousy fuel economy.

Lew, you don't fish much for musky do ya??? LOL!!

Very very nice Laker!!! I saw a big honking 21 foot Baron at the show, HOLY FREAKIN' COW!!! It's HUGE!! I guess that's the Cadillac of Lunds. SUWHEET!!

It was great if you were looking for a boat that's for sure! As for fishing gear, the usual suspects were there and there were deals to be had, I picked up a Quantum Energy 30PTi spinning reel for $90 from JB's - the $15 rebate, I pretty much stole the reel that everyone else was trying to sell for $169.99. Add a 6'6" MH St. Croix spinning rod and I was out just over $200. It was good to see a few OFC'ers, I had a great conversation with Lew (I'm going to take you up on your offer this summer). Then to boot, I ran into an old friend's brother who I haven't seen in quite a few years (they saw the light and left Toronto to move up to Sundridge). Dave Mercer gave a good presentation that was very insightful, especially when it came to dropshotting - thanks for the $10 Subway card Dave. I missed Al Linder's presentation but I had to get home and spend a bit of time with my little fishing partners.

I'm hoping to be there Friday afternoon. See ya at the bar for a wobbly pop Lew!!

Cliff, 4.99/lb for strips, that's a pretty good price, they are in excess of 10 bucks/lb in the big chain stores. If you are happy with your butcher, AND his shop and cutting room are CLEAN, stick with him.

OOOOOOOOOOOO............ A topic close to my heart. I was a butcher working part time at Knob Hill Farms (remember the blue collar grocery chain??) going through high school and university. The biggest problem buying a bulk order of beef like that is whether or not you will use everything and how long it will take you to use it all. If you've got a big family, it might be worth it depending on whether or not they package everything exactly how you want it. The problem going directly to a farmer to get your beef is that it's not federally inspected (as opposed to provincially) when the butcher takes down the carcass? Is the butcher inspected??? I can tell you horror stories about provincially inspected packing plants. Federally inspected plants have to meet a much higher standard that provincially inspected plants. A lot can happen from the time your cow gets slaughtered till it gets packaged. My dad was the meat buyer for Knob Hill and part of his job was to inspect the packing plants the Knob used for suppliers. He was very picky on who he did business with. Too bad, since Knob Hill closed the doors, the price of beef has more than doubled in the grocery stores but on the production level (farmer's side), the price hasn't changed all that much. Knob Hill kept the big chains honest on their pricing.

Jeez, that's bigger than Husky the Musky in Kenora!!! But, the next record will come from Georgian Bay or the Larry according to Dr. Casselman, the fellow studying Muskies, the combination of the warmer water and more food leads to a bigger ultimate size.

Trilene XL, by a big honkin' spool and re-spool your line often. It works fine for me whether I'm down in the Kawartha's or up on Lake of the Woods. 8lb is a good general purpose line. All my spinning gear has mono (Trilene XL 4,6,8,and 10lb test) and my baitcasting gear has PowerPro in 50, 65, and 80lb test.