bigbuck

That's great news for sure!! I haven't met you or pretty much anyone on the board BUT, your family and more importantly your little guy are in my thoughts every time I log in. There are some good people here. Kids are pretty resilient, I pray that Chris gets through this and your family can go on living a normal life. Good luck.

I'll be at the show probably around 3:00 or so. Anyone else going to be there?? B

A Sahara for under a hundred bucks is a pretty good reel. Or if you want to spend more, get a Stradic.

Better to not go and say you did. Send the wife if anything. "You should always know where you are going to land if you jump." If things are so acrimonious with your boss/supervisor, find another job THEN say bye-bye. A free trip worth a few grand is not worth losing a job that pays more than that.

Jeez, I didn't want to start a war on the board. Slowpoke, it depends on what kind of debt you are retiring. If it's a mortgage, put into your RRSP and use the income tax savings to pay down the mortgage. Over the long haul, you'll win with this strategy since you have equity in two forms, your house and your RRSP as opposed to only your house. If it's high interest consumer debt, my advice, take out a line of credit either secured or unsecured to pay off the cards and/or loans. Don't carry balances on credit cards, the interest will literally eat you alive. For Irish, what you are in for your RRSP makes sense for your situation, but it's not for everyone. My free advice is this, talk to a financial professional and make a plan and stick to it come hell or high water, it may hurt in the short run but come time for retirement, it's the difference between fly in fishing in a nice Northern resort or the creek behind the government assisted housing you'll be living in because with what the gov't pays in CPP and OAS, you'll barely be able to afford hooks and bait.

It's that time of year again and I wanted to conduct a bit of an informal poll. How many people plan on contributing to their RRSP this year and your reasons why or why not. I'm not trying to sell anyone, I'd just like a feel for what the sentiment is out there. Thanks, B

I use braid (PowerPro and TuffLine) on my Muskie setups and on one of my 2 bass setups. 50 lb for bass, 80 for the Muskies. For walleye, I just use Trilene XL in 4,6,and 8lbs. Pike, 12-14lb Trilene.

I feel for ya bud!!! My in-laws live up near Kenora, when they visit, it's for weeks at a time. The first few days are ok but after that, I'm sick of sharing my oxygen, couch and remote. Good luck, I'm pulling for you, mine just left on Monday (here since Dec.1st - shared b/n us and my sister-in-laws place). I think I deserve a medal.

Welcome Andrea. Hope you enjoy the board.

How much do you want to spend??? That's usually a pretty good starting point. A nice Calcutta and a Legend Elite will set you back 800 or so. Or a decent rod and reel for under 200?? (Abu C3 and a Shimano convergence).

B/C, sorry to hear about that. From your last update, it's sounds as if one of your old suppliers might end up being interested in your services. Sometimes when you help someone out, you get the long shaft. BUT it makes you feel good at the time. I haven't met you but if you are like most of the people on this board, you are probably a good guy and things will work out for you. They always seem to for good people over time. Good Luck and I'll second the 'no competition clauses'. Say NO!!!

Congrats!!! My two little future fishing buddies (2years and 9 1/2months old girls) are getting trained already. Daddy watches fishing shows on Saturday mornings with his two fave little'uns. Cheers and good luck!!!

Congrats!!! My two little future fishing buddies (2years and 9 1/2months old girls) are getting trained already. Daddy watches fishing shows on Saturday mornings with his two fave little'uns. Cheers and good luck!!!

Pop by LeBaron's, they've got a few that are a bit more than what you are looking to spend but are still in the ballpark, I think that for a$150 including taxes and batteries they should be able to hook you up.

Look around, there are deals to be had. JB's has boxes full of decent rods for pretty good prices. Your best bet would be to buy yourself 2 rods for around $100 as opposed to just one. That way, you can have 1 that's a medium action and one that's a medium/heavy or heavy action to haul out the big pike and big bass outta the weeds.

Best bet is go to LeBaron's, they have the 535 Portable unit for about $220 I think, it was $40 or so more than the regular 535. It beats buying a regular unit then spending 70-80 on the portable kit. Then you can go over to BPS and pick up the gel-cell and charger for about $26 (LeBaron's'll cost you about $60 for both). I read somewhere that you can use a dremel to modify the portable case for the gel-cell. I just bought the Eagle 320 Portable and so far after messing around with it in simulator mode, I like it. The true test will be when I'm able to get out on the water.

If cost is a factor, definitely go for a 65-6600 but a C4, a bit bigger and stronger. It'll last a long time and stand up to a lot of abuse as long as you give it some periodic TLC (all reels need it anyways). It'll run ya probably about $200 or so with some 80 lb PowerPro. Enjoy the rod, I have it in a 7ft 2piece and absolutely love it.

Welcome, you'll find that people around here are a pretty good bunch.

After trips to JB's, BassPro, LeBaron's, and several websites, I decided on an Eagle FishMark 320 Portable. It's a pretty decent unit and was much cheaper at LeBaron's for $268 and change, at BPS, it was $319.99. It takes 8 D-cell batteries or a 12 Gel-cell. I stuffed it with the D's and have played around with it. It's a nice unit that should meet my needs, whether they be a boat rental or HOPEFULLY, a fly-in trip this summer. For the money, it's great and on fish-finder-review.com, it's considered an absolute best buy in LCD fishfinders. So, I'll break it in hopefully on the Muskoka river on May 2-4 weekend fishing for Pike at my buddie's cottage. That is, if the wife and kiddies let me sneak out for a couple of days.

Nice shiny new ride. I hope you make it nice and dirty with tons of musky slime. Use it in good health.

nofrills, you work at Dickie's no frills store @ Golden Mile?? The Walmart superstore will probably hurt the local businesses for the first month or so until people have been there and go back to their normal place to shop.

Jeez, in the summer they stick it to ya in Dryden. When passing through last summer it was about 10 cents more than Toronto. In the winter, it's about the same. Go figure.

No ice fishing for this kid, too cold for my liking, besides, standing on a frozen lake is kind of an unnatural act to me. I figure up to about $300.

Well, I'm going to try to do more fishing this year and plan on hitting Rice Lake since I'm familiar with the area and have relatives who have a couple of cottages on the lake near Bewdley. To be a bit more serious, I figure since I'll be renting boats, I need to get myself a portable fish finder. Every well equipped fisherman needs one. So, the question is, which one?? What are the advantages/disadvantages. I have a pretty good idea of how they work but need some more expert/experienced advice. Thanks in advance. B

I'm green with envy. It doesn't look like we'll be making the annual pilgrammage to LOTW this summer. I've got too much on the go at work and a 20+hour drive with 2 rug rats would be a bit much.