bigbuck

If it's at the Firehall, I'll try to make it out this time. It seems that every time there was one, one of the kids decided not to feel well so dear old dad had to stay home. I'd love to put some more faces to all the handles.

Nice pics, you have a good eye for framing pics. You should try to sell a couple to a post card company, you might actually get paid a few bucks for doing something you love to do.

You guys see some of the other vids, jeez, a 55 incher on LOTW, that's legal to keep (54" minimum length). Mind you, if a fish lives that long, toss it back in. Now I'm getting worked up to spend a couple of weeks with the in laws, jeez, I was hoping to avoid that bullet this year but now I want to take a 20 hour drive to see them. Maybe August at some point.

Sounds like there was a chainsaw convention going on up at Lakair last month!!

Sweet!!! Gotta love catching an incidental muskie like that. 8lb test, must have been a fairly long fight to bring in that 47 incher, she musta weighed about 20-25 lbs easy. Good work!!!

If you're targeting toothy critters, USE A LEADER. They can saw their way through mono like butter and can hack their way through braid although it's a lot tougher. Mind you, for bass, 65lb PP is plenty and should take a heck of a lot of abuse before having to retie. Congrats on the surprise.

Nice, I'll have to remember to hit Lower Buck next time I'm in Buckhorn.

You've got his name, number and address Lew, I think you'll be back up there at some point and will nail him.

I'll second straightening out the connector link. You'll probably have to take it off to straighten it out a bit (don't do it too much or it won't engage reverse).

You can bet on about $150 or so for a nice pair of Nikon polarized lenses which are considered the best. Your frames will be on top of that so $300+ sounds about right.

Get your butt to the doctor right away!!! They could just be cysts or boils or they could be something a lot more sinister. Don't mess around with this.

Summer in Ontario!! What else is new, that last storm a couple of weeks back was pretty crazy, let's see what happens today.

Yeah, I kinda figured that I'll have to take her to places that she can slay the panfish and NOT push too hard. The next thing I want to put in her hand is a golf club but that can wait a while. It's a good thing my wife loves to fish (she's the LOTW jigging for walleye specialist) and my baby girl has to wait till next year. Thanks for the good wishes. B

I'd go with the GM over the FORD. I like the Envoys and almost bought one last year but picked up a minivan instead cuz it made more sense. The Explorer really looked pretty much the same for 10+ years and I heard the 6 cylinder engine had problems with the timing chain breaking, needing a complete engine rebuild (happened twice to a friends '98, once under warranty, once not, with 180k on it).

So, Saturday morning sitting in bed with my 3 favorite girls, my wife asks 'what do you want to do today honey??', my reply 'whatever Sophia wants to do (my oldest daughter at 2 1/2), Sophia, what do you want to do??' 'Go fishing daddy!!' Now, we were totally unprepared for this one and blown out of the water. I guess watching fishing shows on Saturday mornings all winter paid off. A call to my buddy up in Buckhorn and a couple of hours later after packing half the house (29 month old and a 15 month old), a trip to Canadian Tire to pick up a Dora the Explorer fishing rod and we were off to Upper Buckhorn. Later that day fishing off of the dock, Sophia caught a small perch, a rock bass and a nice sized bluegill, all in about 15 minutes, she even touched her worm and the fish that she caught. Hopefully, the bug has bitten and I'll have a fishing partner for life. All in all she caught 5 fish, not bad for a couple of hours of lounging on the dock. Daddy only managed a half dozen rock bass and a small smallie. We didn't get a chance to go for the muskie that has my name on him but that will be next time and another story. In our haste to get out of the house, we forgot our camera and my buddy's wife took a few shots that I'm waiting for.

One of my colleagues here at the office has a 6 year old Outback and has spent next to no money on repairs, I think she said she had about 150k on it. She loves it and would not hesitate to get another one.

I'll second theringlord.com, they were quick and there was no cross border duties and such. As for the hooks, I know that JBs Fishing Depot carries all of the big Mustad hooks for muskie lures. I'd check there.

A heavy action baitcasting rod (Shimano Compre) and a decent baitcaster (low profile and one that's on special) spooled with 50lb Power Pro should do the trick). That way, you can fish for bass, pike and the occasional muskie. Now if all you want to target is the big toothy critters, get a Pete Maina combo from BassPro. I know that they have some pretty good baitcasters on clearance for a hundred bucks or less.

I'd second the old gas. Try to run the tank dry then put in some fresh fuel along with some sea-foam. That might fix the problem, otherwise, start looking from the tank to the carb for any obvious problems. If it comes down to messing with the carb, get a marine mechanic to look at it or at least a buddy who is REALLY good at this sort of thing. Good luck.

It'll all work out in the end. I'm sorry that your realtor was a thief (good on him that he won't get paid-the dumb bugger-I'm being nice). It really bugs me when I hear things like this. Thankfully, you found another house quickly. A lot of people who don't have a clue of how to properly put together a real estate deal have jumped in and are now agents so they can take advantage of the red hot market. Most don't know their arse from their underwear and that's sad. I saw the same thing in my industry in the late 90's with the tech bubble and dot bombs. A lot of people jumped in who were totally unqualified and clueless and lost a lot of money for their unfortunate clientele. Honesty may not get you rich quick, but I'd rather be the tortoise than the hare.

I think BassPro still has the Shimano Stradics on for about $125 (the 2500 size). Otherwise, a Quantum, Daiwa, Shimano Sahara (I've got 2) are all good. Once you get to that price point, most of the reels are reely (pardon the pun) good. You should get many years of faithful service out of it.

Congrats on losing your cherry!!! I guess that the local tackle shops will be seeing more of you over the next while as you have been bitten by the BUG!!! I hope you catch tons more.

Nice peck'o perch!!

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I hope your aunt beats this nasty disease and that one day we won't have to worry about it.

Ouch Cliff!! My father in law dealt with that last summer when we went up to Kenora to visit. However, they did not operate on him for 2 weeks and he had a couple of very painful attacks along with a couple of hours each time in the emergency for us and a couple of overnight stays. The surgeon was so booked that even with something that serious, dad had to wait for the surgery. Be thankful that we live in Southern Ontario where there are quite a few hospitals and doctors around. In Northern Ontario, it's a different story. I hope you have a speedy recovery.