Old Ironmaker

I don't want to be teased about a meat that is not within my budget. I noticed the last few weeks our local Food Town has the cooler socked with guts. Always had liver in the display but now, beef hearts, tongue, kidney, tripe. Eat and enjoy what you wish, but they never stocked guts before. $6.99 for ground beef, man oh man, time to do a drive by on a crew of cows. Enuff said.

I heard all the talk about 2 guys that had a fishing show out of Ontario as well as all the reasons one was dropped from the corporate banner and not the other. I had a conversation with an insider that changed my perception of the " FACTS". There is always his story her story and the real story. Also neither were " convicted", there were pleas agreed to. There is a difference. Another example of " if I read it on the internet it has to be true".

Irish Aviator, I knew that there may have been a way to dodge the tax collector but didn't want to get too involved in that deal. It's very nice for my parents to bequeath their hard earned money to the grand kids but a 25K vehicle because she needs a car to get to university and home. I suggested they get her a $5000.00 car and put 20K in a secret account for when she is in a position to buy property. |That 25 K car 4 years ago is worth what 7 or 8 thousand now.

A few years ago Future Shop in the Ancaster location was closed on a Monday AM without warning. Best Buy popped up a few sign changes latter. More than a few customers had their PC's and other electronics in there for repair and it was a nightmare to get their stuff back. I never purchased another big ticket item from them after that. I just don't understand the workings of big retailers. There seems to be a Shopper Drug Mart and Tim Hortons on every corner. Competing against one self is something I don't understand. The parent company gets it's franchise fee every month and cuts it's nose to spite it's face. So maybe I do understand the business model.

Thanks Bruce, I showed my wife the picture and she agrees we have plenty here. I need to give it a try, can't hurt, thanks again.

We were talking today while working on one of the boats. She is ready to be put in for a water road test. Might as well drag a line behind it while she's in the water. We were talking Grimsby, Jordan or Port Dalhousie launch. We really don't want to make the tow and find 4 feet of snow on the ramp. This is a great time to find fish shallow and a simple long line troll may do it. Has anyone been out yet? Any launch recommendations? Any general fishing recommendations? I will call around i.e. Forans and 50 point, but at this time of the year I expect a voice greeting at the Marinas if there is even a phone number to call. We will be taking a second boat in case of the worse case scenario. Might as well wet some lines. Thanks all, PM me if you wish. Johnny D

Rick and Bruce, how do you prepare nettle to aid one medically. PM me if you wish as no one needs a lawsuit because they had a bad reaction. Thanks Johnny D

Hey M2B2 where's the jar of Hemp? I had a patch of mint next to the cottage and wild garlic. Someone else that lives here took care of it as she thought it was weeds one spring, gasp. Great idea to have a pot luck OFC. I'm offering my place on the lake. You folks bring the food and pop and I'll supply the chairs and view. No problem. After the first week in June works. Speil, Check out Punjab market, you will love it. Pick up some Chevap when there. My favorite id Beef and Pork, I'm not sure if they carry Lamb mix anymore. They are small Croatian or Serb sausages without casings, BBQ'd is the best. You won't be disappointed if you have not already had them. I may have walked right by you on Saturday, Dave said you were there. OFC name tags on lanyards are a good idea for days like Saturday. I'm the same Johnny D but the 52" chest and 34" waist is different. Reverse the numbers!!! edit: dip then in Tzaziki and traditionally they are eaten with raw green onions, I do both. Most if not all of todays medical drugs come from natural sources. I'm going to hunt around for stinging nettle. It looks familiar, I don't want to be rubbing poison Oak all over my knees and hips.

Simon, I hear you about the species stereotype. Land Shark!!!! She was constantly called a Pit Bull, I got tired of correcting people. She was the biggest suck in the world. She was beyond smart. That puppy would run and sit herself in front of the TV at exactly 5PM Monday to Friday, never Saturdays or Sundays. She would start crying until the 5PM episode of Wild Kingdom was on. She would watch the wildlife until a commercial was on then ask for a treat. If I put her outside when that show was on she would lose it until I let her in to watch her show. Man I miss her undying love. I never got another to replace her because she was unreplaceable, I have tried to do it but always backed down when push came to shove. She had a brindle coat and one black eye patch. Easy to replace a wife, a dog not so much.

Great memories eh Cliff. My neighbor Mr. Hummason trained retrievers right up until he passed. He had a number of champion pups over the years. He would fly them all over North America for hunting. What an interesting man Fred was. He had some stories.

If I don't have any Hungarian smoked paprika in the cupboard I can't sleep at night. I like the spicy, actually it's hot not spicy, be careful. For anyone that gets to Hamilton or lives there the best and cheapest spices with the best selection is Punjabi Market at Centennial and Queenston Rd. It is on the south east side of the intersection just east of the gas station. I find it has a better selection of spices than Starsky's. If anyone has not been to Starsky's I recommend you check that place out too. Punjabi Market is easy to miss, it has parking for only a few cars but you can park next to it in the plaza. The packaged stews for Paprikash and Goulashes are killer. I wouldn't even begin to know what would be needed to make from scratch as many of them don't have English written on them but the staff is happy to help. Talk about smoked meat? They have a great selection in the meat counter, from smoked prosciutto to Lamb sausage. My goodness gracious it's all good. For a great selection of specialty meats Starsky's is the place to go too with a much bigger selection than Punjab. It's a flew klics west of Punjabi. edit, Punjab sells most spices out of bins, I can get a pound of smoked paprika for the price of 1 small bottle of Mc Cormack at the grocery stores.

I have only had 1 dog in my life and it's been 25 years since I had her, I think about all the great times we had all the time. One of her favorite things to do was when I would tune up all my reels in the winter I would clip my line on her collar and I would reel her in and then let her run pulling line. We would do it in the basement, I tried it outside once and she spooled me. No way I could stop 45 pounds of Staffordshire Terrier, no way.

Most all members here are all very passionate when it comes being an outdoors man or woman and are very protective of our fishery and natural resources. Having said that in the grand scheme of things most of the non-sportsman average tax paying Joe Ontario does not see something like what transpired 2 years ago or 2 hours ago as relevant to their lives. I was told today when discussing this exact topic by my neighbour who is in her 80's that she believes all the taxes spent in relationship to hunting and fishing is a complete waste of her contribution of taxes. It was an interesting talk we had.

That silver minnow may not be a functional lure. I recall having one very similar given to me by a hearing impaired individual as a gift for a donation. That would be the early 80's. It was really a keychain. If you look at the belly there are 5 eyes to hold hooks. That's strange. It is neat though.

Reminds me of the Biker rag that comes out free monthly, Iron Horse I think. The authors write exactly how they speak, including all the slang and cursing. After I would read it there is a part of my brain that would hurt. After a while I found I liked it and found it refreshing as no one writes like that. No one else until now that is, my brain hurts after reading that as well.

I scored a Daiwa deep spool line counter reel and a Shimano 7'6" downrigger rod for 40 beans. Buddy bought 50 some odd spoons in a roll up tackle pack for $120.00. Many deals there Rick. How about 12 new assorted Rappala's for $35.00 Ted scored? Can't beat the deals.

Again a great show. If the OFC folks had name lanyards I would have met more members. And it is good for the site. Just a thought. Easily done as a common printable template could be provided here. If someone is selling a boat that would be a great place to park it, great idea Dave. The show will be bigger next year I bet. The only thing that was not positive was there was not enough space. Some vendors had customers 3 deep at their tables. Carmen's or Michael Angelo's would be good rooms for the meet. Good highway access as well.

I looked at antique lures yesterday at the tackle swap meet in Hamilton. I was interested in pricing as I bought a cardboard box full to the brim last year. Some of those look like original Heddon. I was surprised they didn't bring more money than they were asking. From 5 bucks to 10 or 15 for older and larger spoons, spinners and wooden baits, and those in original boxes up to $75.00.

Great show. I really enjoyed the day and got a great deal on the line counter reel and Shimano Down Rigger rod I was in the market for. There were deals there for everyone. I did recognize a few fellow members and did get a chance to briefly say hello to Fish Farmer. He couldn't walk 5 feet without stopping to talk to someone, it was more like he was holding court with some of his subjects. I did finally get to see Christopher K and watched his fly tying skills. I think he was doing more teaching than selling. He actually looks younger in real life, didn't think that was possible, sorry I didn;t introduce myself, you were too busy at the time. Old tired jealous guy.

A restaurant in Hamilton, The Aquarium, did the best salt crusted Rainbow. Did the de crusting table side.

A few weeks back there was open water about 5 miles out here in Erie where the icebreaker (Griffon maybe?) made it's way from Nanticoke to the mouth of the Grand River. The only sign of spring around here is the Grand is 100% open. That cut 5 miles out has frozen over not long afterwards. I don't remember ice out here so late. Even with last years crazy amount of snow Erie was breaking up by now. According to my calendar it says Spring has been here for a few weeks. Here's a good one. My next door neighbour is a snowbird. I picked her up at the Hamilton airport on the 15th of this month, she went down on the 15th of December. I talked to her the day before her return flight and suggested she might think about staying for a few more weeks at least. I got a call today from her asking if I might be able to drive her to the airport next Tuesday. She is going back to Fla until spring actually arrives. Why not, I sure would? M2B2 is saying they have had plus temps for a while now. As far as I know he lives within the Arctic watershed. When we left to go to the BassMasters fishing swap meet in Hamilton this AM the truck said it was -12C at 07:30, when will it ever end?

When the pins were fully functional we river and stream fished from opening until closing and some times in the summer, and loved it. When we could afford a charter every few years, was the only way we could ever get out on the lake because of costs. Once in a blue Moon a supplier would take us out on Erie or Ontario for a day otherwise it was tough $$ wise. From the Niagara to the St. Mary's river, from the Quebec border to where the Maitland River ends. Great exercise, met great people and was able to get out of the plant and the city. for a few hours or a few days. Fortunately it's now it's from the boat. It kills me to hear people that love the same sport argue as to what is the best way to enjoy it. Sportsmen can't agree on something as simple as boat vs. river, how in Heavens sake are people ever going to stop killing each other over politics and, and, and. Some fishermen want to punch each other out because of differences. Man.

That story warms the heart. Good looking kid Rick, must take after his mother. And what's with these plus temps. Up early this AM, early for me, to hit the Bassmasters swap and tackle meet in Hamilton, -12C at 07:00 at the lake. Something isn't right here. Great show by the way.

My father "gifted" my niece a very nice vehicle. She paid taxes on MOT blue book value which was less than the appraised value. Apparently she could have shown the appraised value on her income taxes but I don't have the specifics on how that works. In my experience you are at the mercy of the person at the Ministry behind the counter. I was told by a ministry clerk who dated a pal, never do business with them on a Monday morning or Friday afternoon. She said the best time is just before lunch, they want to keep it simple and whatever is easiest for them.

Last September we were at Muskenonje Lodge the same time Italo L. was there to shoot a show. He had the same fenders and they looked mighty fine. What I like is they would take up less space to store than the traditional bumpers as they will lay flat as Bondar said above.