Old Ironmaker

^ that would have been very unsettling to say the least. Not everyday a city like TO is locked down with heavily armed Police on every corner downtown. I think Ottawa had Soldiers out on the streets too.

^ good one Mr. G.

I've been following Banshee since season 1. I have lost count after no less than 60 guys were killed in a single episode. And I never realized that the Amish were such tough criminals, La Cosa Nostra has nothing on those God fearing folk. As of now Ray Donavan is our Sunday guilty pleasure. Then I a few weeks the cliff hanger of the Walking Dead will be unfolded on Sunday Oct/24. Can't wait foe "All about Saul" another well done AMC production. No way to explain that comedy/drama/musical/Cineme Noir. I like to catch 60 Minutes Sports when I can find it.

Lew it sounds like you are having a great time, I'm jealous. Crossing the PEI bridge and getting back on the red sand beaches is on my to do list. I hear you about kind of loosing the passion, it happens. I am glad to hear your are healthy, without that what do we have? Poor health is something I never, ever even thought about. Bad knees but that was it until 8 years ago really. I always thought I would take after my father who is going to be 90. We bought him a new gel seat for his Mountain bike for his 80th. Nope took after my mother who has been dying of the same heart attack for 50 years. I'm feeling better though everyday. Enjoy big guy.

GBW, 20 GOOD years left you hope, only 20? To tell you the truth Mr. G I don't get that one. If you mean changed teams, please. Diabetes and Bladder Cancer kills the prostrate. I love listening to guys I know in their late 60's and 70's telling stories of recent conquests, they are full of Sh&^T. I'm not dead below the waist completely, not yet anyway. I just don't do it 7 times a day like I did 10 years ago. Lew, I apologize.

When the mind and soul wants to do what the body refuses to life changes. I understand 110%. I am sore after a day of fishing or sitting in a Golf cart for 18 holes and now need 3 days to start walking without a limp, sore head to toe. Pain has a way of curbing passion. To be blunt if you told me 10 years ago how I would feel about Sex now at 62 I would have called you insane.

Yea Dave if I lose 1 plug per year that's about it, usually a cast that wraps the tip and snap goes the plug.

I wonder how much tackle is on the bottom of those urban piers? If 2 guys lose 7 spoons and a few hundred yards of line in a few hours multiply that by a few thousand. How does that happen FH? A bad day or night fishing is better than many things more productive, like being at work. Good on you guys for toughing it out and enjoying it. Even after loosing close to a 100 bucks worth of tackle.

A trip that brings back some great memories. Thanks, and never leave the dock without good bolt cutters just in case. I had to laugh at the pics of the grey bearded gentleman with the Tilly hat. He didn't really look like he was very happy to show off his Walleye or happy to be there.

Disrespect for others property is nothing new. Every generation has it's good and bad. I have buddies in their 60's and 70's that think nothing of tossing anything they want out the window, especially country boys. From Hortons cups to MT beer bottles. They don't do it from my truck. I have turned around and made them get out and pick it up. I said "buddies"? More like Golf acquaintances. Look at some properties out there. They couldn't care less how their places look, usually renters but not always, how can they respect someone else's property if they don't respect their own. There are guys here that do the same when fishing, with this many members the odds are there must be a few, I hope not but I know there probably are. I have fished with guys that think nothing of using the lake as a garbage can. Good guys but they grew up believing the dilution theory of the lake environment. We used Hamilton Bay as a chemical sewer back in the 70's. And didn't believe we were doing any harm because we were told to believe it. Then things changed when Baby Boomers got into Government and positions of making decisions.

I understand what it's about now Brian. I couldn't read the sign on the post. There is a beautiful smaller quarry out here near the Steel Plant that the owner stocked with panfish and Largemouth and Smallies over 35 years ago. People used it for years fishing, swimming and family picnics with no issues whatsoever. He had to gate it off a few years ago and post it because of the mess people left including fires left unattended. All manner of rec vehicles of all hours of day and night ripping around the quarry. Now no one is allowed to fish there or do anything there now. If someone cripples themselves or dies falling off their quads he is going to be sued because he allowed access and the trails aren't kept up for the trespassers. It is the kids whos parents took them there 15 years ago that are to blame, simple as that. mukluk, sorry for your loss, she sure had a long life that's for sure. If I can put a smile on someone's face with some of my true stories that is having a bad time my day has been a good one.

Many of the Ironworkers from the Hamilton local (765?) that I know very well went down to ground zero and were put to work for as long as they could stay. They volunteered at zero wages. Hindsight is 20/20, the thousands of tons of drywall dust which is laden with Silica has and still is taking the lives of individuals that were part of the recovery and clean up. As well we remember the images of those covered in an inch of drywall and concrete dust running from and for the Cops and Firefighters running into ground zero. Those are the real heroes of our society including every volunteer from the Red Cross to our Ironworker, not ball players making 20 million a year or the celebrities that do nothing other than pretend they are someone else. I remember then seeing workers with only bandanas wrapped around their mouths for breathing protection and screaming at the TV to get those workers proper protection when my Health and Safety training kicked in. It came but for many too late. If you look at a individual specimen of Silica under a microscope it looks exactly like a miniature Skill Saw blade. Once in the lung it never leaves. As one breaths those saw blades cut into the soft tissue and cause irreparable damage. Silicosis is the disease. I cringe when I see young and old workers exposed to basic beach sand or stone dust etc. commonly referred to in the industry as "Free Airborne Silica" without the proper basic protective equipment. Don't get me going when I see babies playing in a sand box, same stuff if you stop and think about it really.

I had the same guy as a next door neighbour before the Lord punched his ticket. We had a common breakwall of armour rock and dear old Bob painted a line down the centre of a rock in case I decided to sit on his side of the property line. Here we own to the waters edge, RIP Bob posted NO TRESSPASSING signs at each end of his 80 foot of beach. He would sit in his chair and remind beach combers that they had to walk in the water to get passed his piece of Earth. Some folks are just lonely and need a hug. There were many times I wanted to give Bob a big hug, right around his throat. Man I miss Bob.

Fishing is like being a member of La Cosa Nostra, you can't just up and quit.

"A date that will live on in infamy". That's what FDR said when addressing the nation after the Pearl Harbor attack. My wife called me about 8:30 or so on her brick Motorola shoe phone as she drove to her job in Hamilton. She told me to turn on CNN because Q 107 broke in programming with news that a small plane accidently crashed into the World Trade Center. The first thing I did was look outside and saw Blue Bird skies. Maybe in NY it was fogged in. What I saw on TV for the next 3 days was what everyone else saw. In the next few hours I tried to call my 1st cousin in New Jersey as well as relatives in NY state only to hear the nert, nert, nert of a busy signal. My family was under attack. My US born Mother answered in Hamilton just after 9 AM when the first tower collapsed. She said it was the same feeling she had as a 10 year old listening to the radio after Pearl Harbor on the radio. I shared her feeling. A feeling I never thought I would have. She was in a panic as she couldn't reach any of my Uncles and Aunts. About 1 PM I went into town to return a DVD still in a surreal mental fog. The town is sleepy on any day but it was empty that afternoon. The lady at the "In and Out" store in Selkirk had no idea what had happened 4 hours latter as she was doing what she does at the store with her Mom. When I told her what had happened she broke into tears. Her husband had just gone to NY city the day before and she wondered why she didn't hear from him that morning. Bruce was fine but she waited a day to hear from him, she didn't know if he was in Manhattan or not, he was. I think we might all have that 6 degrees of separation from someone that was there. I have a distant cousin I never met that was in Tower 2 and broke his leg escaping. He was originally from Stoney Creek moved to NYC and did all the morning shows in Ontario some weeks latter. No way to get notoriety. Prayers still go out to those souls that died and those still dying of complications from being exposed to all those cancer causing building materials as well as the trauma of those that survived as well as those that mourn loved ones lost that dreadful day in our history. Where were you? Can history repeat itself?

Oh Shloim that's sickening. I could hardly watch the report. How can this happen in what is supposed to be a world leading health care country. Not some 4th world place not on the map. Ontario, Now I can say that my mother has CCAC visiting her 3 times a week at my parents 89 and 85 respectively for the last 5 years and we have no complaints. She is convalescing at Dundurn Place in Hamilton after falling and breaking her arm the first of July and I can say she is getting "fair" care. They are in no hurry to get her home as they are getting their $1800.00 a month from the province. I hope someone gets a reaming, not just the CCAC worker that was doing squat for Dad but the management that sits in an office all day long counting money. The management needs to get out in the community and supervise and "manage" as well. I have many relatives and friends in the US. They talk about our "free" health care system. Free, yea right. Just some general info. If you have an elderly parent or relative you must get Power of Attorney for Health care. If not. the Ministry of Health can ship them off to Thunder Bay if they live in Niagara Falls for converlessant care if there isn't anyone to say different. Simplifying here, it is very complicated. Good on you to get this story out, it's not easily done. I hope that foot of Dad's gets better. Keep us abreast of his progress. I can now put a face to the name, I pictured you taller and younger. More Tom Selleck than Danny DeVito. I know you can take a joke Bro. Chin up.

We just last Saturday had out "John and Fay Beird 11th Annual Labour Day Fundraiser Invitational Lakeshore Golf Classic". Try putting that on a trophy. Every year rather than choosing a faceless corporation that raises millions a year and maybe, and that's a maybe 10 cents of every dollar raised gets to that person that is in need due to illness. We have a close knit community here on the lakeshore of Erie, Selkirk to be exact and for the last 9 years unfortunately we always seem to have someone we know that needs some help. So every penny we raise goes to that person. This year we raised $4000.00 for Ronnie. If anyone is familiar with the old Hamilton bar bands he is Ronnie of "Ronnie and the Rockets". One of the most famous horn players in Canada, Sonny Del Rio of Crowbar fame plays sax in the band. Ronnie is fighting to keep his feet due to complications due to Diabetes. He picked up an electric wheelchair with some of the funds we raised this week and had a smile on his face that has been missing for a while. For the 3rd year we has "Detour" perform for us. Ronnie played for us for years before he became ill. Detour is a great 4 piece rock band that sounds more like 7 musicians up there. Book them, a great price cheaper than a DJ I bet. I do a song with then every year as I'm on stage anyway making a fool of myself as MC. Mustang Sally is the traditional song I butcher it more and more every year. I actually took the time to learn all the lyrics for "Born in the Bayou" this year but forgot to ask the guys if they knew it. Probably the only ditty they don't know. I'm always asked to sing " Far, far away". Sing along with me, " When I was a little boy, standin' to my Daddy's knee,,,,,,,,,,,," Not bad, not bad. Ronnie is at St. Peters in Hamilton and would love to see some old friends and new ones too. He would love a visit.

Pump, yes we did get some Kings casting a Cleo at night. A few fish amongst the 3 or 4 of us was a big success. It was more about getting some cool fresh air and talking advantage of the soon to be gone good weather after casting a few thousand tons of Hot Metal. Bright orange jointed Rappala's were the hot lure but they are hard to get out a long way without overloading them with weight. Those Acme spoons sure look familiar. And the casting spoons are in the exact patterns of the light trolling spoons we use here on Erie for Bows and Walleye. Exactly but different names. The "Hulks" are the classic "Greasy Chicken" patterns and "Monkey Puke" except for some colours. Same as "Wonder Bread" those are the " Evil Clown". There are more than a few companies that make the same patterns and have some crazy names for them. S/ S is one company. I think it stands for Silver Streak Lures. Thanks Pump. I can't access Face Book, too old to register besides I don't know 100 people any longer let alone have that many "friends". I did actually join Face Book for a few hours once to look up all my High School flames I still carried a burning torch for. Those torches went out fast. Man what 50 years of aging will do to a cute young girl can be scary. I include myself in the scary category too when I look at old faded Polaroid's.

Only 14 posts and one of the best how to's? in a long time, thanks Jay. It has been over 25 years since I chucked spoons and plugs off piers from Niagara to Oakville for fall Salmon. We would hit the piers after 3 to 11 PM shift and stay most of the night, go for the 24 hour breakfast at the Bright Spot in Hamilton and sleep in before going back to work. Please forgive my recent (25 years) of inexperience. Glow spoons? We almost only used Little Cleos, usually blue or lime green and J-8 orange Rappalas with split shot. That was what everyone was using, Heddon Wiggle Warts or Canadian Wiggler too if I can remember that far back. Can you send me to a site that shows what a Glow Spoon looks like. One last question if casting from the boat I imagine we would be at the river mouths but how many feet of water are we looking for? Thanks again for the magnificent report Jay. You sure hit all the W's in W-5.

I'd rather have a flying car. Especially when I hit Toronto traffic that actually goes from Hamilton to Orillia. Besides you would need a big reel to troll 400' in the air.

I found that if I left the removable faceplate for the stereo hooked up she would draw power. If I leave the GPS combo and the other sonar in the boat I unplug them too. One of the best investments in the last 3 years was a portable booster. Good because the boats in the water and has an auto bilge as well to have in the wife's older car in winter and never I leave the dock without it. Less then 100 bucks CTC. Of course since I bought it I never needed it.

I have never caught a Pic on a Spinner Bait but would love to. Spinner Bait is in my opinion the most versatile Bass presentation, I usually tip it with a twister or a live worm if working it slow. Fish it fast on the surface or deeper letting it fall slowly and give it a jig once and a while. Both Big Mouth and I caught my largest ever Erie Smallie on a Spinner Bait. I would tell you how big but then you would say "yea right, sure you did!".

This past spring I shopped for new tires for my 2011 1/2 ton Silverado at 80,000 KM. I wanted something aggressive without road noise and good value. I shopped hard for a few weeks. I settled on Cooper Discoverer AT/3. All 4 installed and balanced for $800.00 at Caledonia Tire. So far so good. They are not winter rated but I will have no problems with the aggressive tread on them other than catching the odd stone in the tread. I am surprised that there is virtually no humming at high speeds. I highly recommend them. edit: I bought them even though I hate the 1/2 hour Cooper Tire commercial called " Fishin' Canada".

Forget about rush hour traffic bumper to bumper on the 401 doing 125 the most perilous roads are from 2AM to 5AM on country roads, either they are all bombed out of their minds or dead tired at that time. I hardly ever drive at dark now unless absolutely necessary. Be careful and extra careful in the wee hours of the morning.

Back in the late 70's and for the next 10 years we always hit the South Bay since the former in laws had a cottage on Bear Creek. All 4 seasons we would head up there. The Walleye fishing was phenomenal winter and spring into late summer and for a change we would cast the weed beds in South Bay. I'm happy to hear someone else is enjoying it now. ( By the way I still have family in Youngstown and went to Youngstown State for a year.)