bigbuck

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.

I'm sorry for your loss. You have my sincerest condolences.

God Speed to your son and his comrades.

Tom C, I wish it were so easy. Afganistan is a crazy piece of real estate, the vast majority of the people there appreciate what we have done for them, the minority however are doing everything in their power to get us to leave, they know they can't win a stand up fight so they have become experts at designing and building IEDs which is how most of our troops have been killed and wounded. They are trying to fight using a remote control.

The Canadian contingent there has seen much more fighting and casualties because our troops are actually leaving their bases and going out into the field keeping the Taliban at bay - that's why we have such a high casualty rate, unfortunately, some of the other members of NATO that have troops there don't want their kids going out into harm's way.

It burns my butt but at the same time it fills my heart with pride to know that our sons and daughters are there helping the Afgani people, most soldiers who have been there would not hesitate to return, they know they are making a difference.

Congrats on the new ride!!! 380k out of a car, it definitely doesn't owe you a thing. Anything past 300k is a bonus with a car. When my old Bonneville SSEi hit 320k (ONLY routine maintenance, electrical gremlins at the end), I put her out to pasture. It was the greatest car I ever owned. I didn't want to put any money into repairs at that point because it probably wouldn't end. This new one should last you quite a long time, the Koreans have really pulled up their socks and have come a long way from the Hyundai Pony and Stellar. Your CRV should easily hit 350k without probs.

Congrats!!! Great News!!!

Just think, in 3 years you'll be going to Crappy Tire and picking up a nice Dora the Explorer or SpiderMan fishing rod for your new fishing partner.

Having fished the Muskokas, the Kawartha's and shore fished Lake O, nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing compares to Lake of The Woods. You could quite literally fish every day for the rest of your life there and still not cover all of the little bays, around all the islands, the open water etc... Awesome fishing for walleye, pike, smallmouth bass, lake trout, perch, crappie, whitefish, and did I mention MUSKIE (please remember that all of the aforementioned fish are just bait for the mighty muskie that reside there). It is gorgeous and there are sheltered bays you can fish without even hearing another boat or seeing another person.

I'll definitely agree with the benefits of fish oil capsules (Omega 3 fatty acids).

A couple of weeks ago, I was ready to go to the doc to get some heavier anti inflammatories for my left knee which has been giving me grief for the past couple of years. Advil stopped helping to give you an idea of how my knee felt. I had read about fish oil and figured I'd give it a shot, I didn't have anything to lose. I picked up some Life Brand Salmon and Fish oils (salmon, anchovy and mackeral). I started taking one a day and no word of a lie, after 2 days, I was pain free. Now, I did burp up some nasty stuff but I beat that by popping a couple of the mini fish oil capsules my kids take that are flavoured with strawberry. I'm going to try a couple of different brands to see which is the least 'fishy' after I finish this bottle.

As for not liking the fishy flavour of fish, I would use plenty of lemon and garlic - between the two of them, they work great, I am not a big fan of the 'fishy' taste and after having a couple of buddies who worked for a fish market/distributor in Toronto, I'm not a big fan of fish I didn't catch myself.