bigbuck

Nice report but you are so mean!! Now I'm hungry for a fish fry. Igotta try to get out maybe on Thursday afternoon for some fishin'.

Very very nice trip. I'm green with envy. A trip like that is incredible especially since you are winging it for a week with regards to a lake and campsite. Nice gators.

Go with the PP in 20lb test with a fluorocarbon leader, it'll be a great combo. Those Quantum spinning reels are definitely SUHWEET! Good fishing.

Well, I used to fish when I was in school, once I started working, golf was my passion then I got me a girlfriend, bought a house got married so both golf and fishing were foregone conclusions then the kids came along. A couple of trips to LOTW to visit the in-laws re-kindled my love affair with fishing. Now I can't wait to get out, it's only been once so far this year but hopefully I'll get a line wet at Centre Island on father's day. A trip searching for toothy critters in the Kawartha's is in the works before the end of the month.

Try getting new plugs first, it could be a bad plug, you never know. 15 bucks is better than a couple of hundred. If it isn't the plugs, well, you will have a spare set in the boat (which you should anyways). Good luck and good fishing.

Nice!!! 2 and a half years old, you gotta love that. I think you will have a new fishing partner that you can groom over the next few years. I hope you guys enjoy a lifetime of fishing fun.

Cuba is hit and miss. Some resorts are pretty good but the thing you have to remember is if you are not paying 5 star prices, don't expect 5 stars. The beaches are gorgeous and the rum is great (viva Cuba Libres (free Cuba - rum and coke)). After my trip there 9 years ago, I'd have expected Che Guverra's pictures to have come down and mine to have gone up after all the Rum I partook in. The food isn't great but what do you expect for under $1500/week?? Shawn, at least you nailed some nice fish, I've heard some great stories about 'cudas and how they make a good muskie fight seem like pulling up a small log.

Nice little 'ski and some decent 'eyes for the pan. There is a nice 40 odd inch 'ski in Upper Buck with my name on it. He followed my lure 3 times and I stopped fishing figuring I'll get'im next time.

Everyone seems to forget that ESSO is the company that has these "fires and explosions" going on at their refineries. PetroCanada used to keep everyone honest when they were owned by us, the Canadian people until our friendly federal government decided to spin off their assets in the company to make the books look better and balance the budget. I kinda laugh about it because I grew up working at Knob Hill Farms (remember the grocery stores). A few years ago you could still get T-Bone Steaks for under $10/kilo. I was at Dominion over the weekend and saw that Striploin steaks were $30.84/kilo. Jeez, the independant guy closes the doors to focus on the business that was making boatloads of money for himself (the Leafs) and the big boys start hosing the consumers. Please remember that competition is good, monopolies and oligopolies are not. Look at the banks, Canada Trust used to keep everyone on their toes with regards to customer service, once they were bought out, things have steadily declined for the consumer, more user fees, less service and like.

That's my rant, I could go on and on and on

How true, how true. Before GPS and fishfinders, some oldtimers really slayed the fish whenever they went out. I guess they just knew where to look. That's a great sign. I guess after all the troubles you are going through, they are throwing you a bone. Keep at'em and you'll have one heck of a sweet ride.

Jeez Lew-eeze!!! Lew, that's a whole whack of stuff, how big did you say your boat was?? I guess you used to be a boy scout (be prepared). Good luck this season and I hope you absolutely slay the toothy critters.

WOW!!! NICE PIKE!!!!

That made the whole thing worth while!! Catching a few eyes for the frying pan is nice too but the big pike takes the cake! Nice pics and great report.

Lew, I've been busy for the past several days and when I saw your post I was shocked! My deepest condolences go to you and your family, the loss of a loved one, especially someone so young is devastating. You have suffered too much over the past few years. Be strong for yourself and your whole family. I never met Eddy, I only got to meet you at the Odessey and if your brother was anything like you, the world is a lesser place with his loss. My heart goes out to you.

Bruce

Somewhere along the shores of Rice Lake maybe. You should be able to get into some walleye there. At the very least a few crappie to grace your table.

You know, I hear stuff like this and I don't feel sorry for the manufacturing sector in North America. People are losing their jobs to places like China, Korea, Taiwan and the like because workers here have been spoiled for too long, great benefits good pay and NO QUALITY CONTROL!!! For God's sake, take pride in what you do! There is some underpriveleged person out there just waiting to scoop your job in a 3rd world country.

The workers at LUND should be ashamed of themselves. Wayne, you bought a $75k boat + options and taxes and it looks like it was put together by a blind monkey (no offence to our furry cousins)........that is freakin' emabarrasing. LUND had definitely better bend over backwards to address all of THEIR issues i)at no cost to you, and ii)give you a loaner boat in the meantime. Your marina should not be on the hook for this FOR THE MOST PART. They should have noticed some of the problems when they did their PDI. Come on, crooked guages!!!

Wayne, I feel for you. You must have had just an awesome trip, glasses, camera in the drink.......at least you caught some fish. Good luck with getting the boat fixed up to spec.

Yup, it was a beautiful evening, my folks were over to see the girls and my dad saw that I bought a bunch of stuff for my vegetable garden and took it upon himself to plant it for me in that heat (God love him for that, but I like to play in the garden myself). After we put the kids to bed, we ordered in a pizza and had a nice dinner out on the deck, it was gorgeous last night. I love this time of year because in Oakville, there are not any bugs just yet. You can sit out in peace. Now, it's not being out on the deck at the cottage but I'll take it and we didn't have any fresh crappie either but I'll try to remedy that in a couple of weeks.

Supposedly there are some pike as well as bass in the lake. Try some live bait with a float, I don't think you'd want to be casting for hours on end since you are recovering from a heart attack. Good luck, a buddy of mine bought a house up there and is looking forward to carrying his rod a couple of blocks to fish.

Jeez, I remember when the Testarossa was the one of the hottest things going, along with the Lambo Countach and Porsche 959. Never mind the 'Camino which was a bit before my time however, they were kinda cool.

Take a bath in Muskol and you should be golden. Good fishing!

I'd use the Seaguar knot to tie to the main line if you don't want to use a swivel. They make the stuff and know what knot works best. It's like the folks at PowerPro who say to use a Palomar knot. Like mrjr said, go check out JB's, they've pretty much got everything you need.

I'd go with at least 50lb test Fluorocarbon leader for pike, 10 or 12lb is fine for walleye but if you are afraid of being bitten off, you need the thicker stuff that the toothy critter will have a tough time biting through.

I'd go by the local marina up there and pick up a proper map. 20-30 bucks won't kill ya esp. with a new Merc hanging off the back. Go slow with someone on the bow of the boat and learn the waters before you rip around. Props are relatively cheap, a lower end however isn't and neither are repairs to the hull of your boat. Good luck and good fishing.

Jeez, I tried to post my Buckhorn report on Monday and I guessed I screwed it up somewhere cuz it is not here.

Anyways, we went out on Friday evening to see if there were any crappie or perch that wanted to visit our frying pan and we didn't get anything. Saturday morning we were out about 7:30 or so and hit several spots for walleye. I only saw one come up and decide he did not want my lure. Other than that, we caught a few perch, 1 crappie, and a half dozen OOS smallies. When we were getting ready to pack it in, what do I see coming up behind my Canadian Wiggler, a nice big FAT Kawartha muskie. 2 further casts and 2 more follows. I decided that was it, I did not want to take a chance at foul hooking him or hurting him. I figure I've got his number and I'll be back up there to catch him on or shortly after the opener. We did not bother to take any pics because what we caught wasn't worth it. I think that the cold front that came through shut the bite down. Hopefully we have better luck next time.

BTW, fishing off of a 24ft pontoon boat is a very civilized way to fish. Lots of room to walk around, no getting in each other's way when casting and the like.

I'm guilty of buying stuff at BPS, BUT, I have spent a small fortune at JB's, Tightlines and LeBaron's as well over the past year and a bit. I'm a believer in spreading it around, it's not always about price. I tend to be an impulse shopper and if I'm in the area of a tackle shop, chances are whoever it is will make some sort of a sale. Service is very important, I know that if I buy something at the small guy, he'll take care of any problems without a question. On some items, it's about price. A fishfinder is a fishfinder, if you know which one you want, you go to whoever gives you the best price. It's a big ticket item and price is very important. Help out the small guy, but if he is trying to hose you, he loses. I know that in retail the margins can be quite slim on certain items and on others it is pretty big. You have to be paid for your time, I'm a very firm believer in that. I'll stop now.

Wayne, give'em heck!! I hope you nail a few nice 'eyes for the pan. Have fun!!!