Old Ironmaker

Hey Chris, thanks for the quick reply. Reagan the lodge owner recommended a Musky guide. As I said here and told him I have never fished for them. I know I should and am thinking I will hire him and try to agree on a fair price. I have never hired a guide one on one. He is asking $450.00 for the day, his boat his tackle including lunch. Better be a nice lunch. I really don't know he going rates so as I always say if you don't know the price of potatoes don't go into the French fry business. What is a good rate for a full day, a half day is about all I can really be on the water at a time anyway with my old worn out body. If a half day is available I should book him, that's in the budget. I just read a thread from a few weeks back from someone asking about the West Armafter I posted this and everyone said the same thing, get a guide. I won't be fishing at night, that's for sure.

Last month I was planning a late September trip to the Kaladar area hwy. 7 and 41. Well I decided on the West Arm of Nipissing at Mashkinonje Lodge for a few nights, at least. Sure is a long way from Kaladar but that's too long of a story/ I am bringing my 19 foot deep V Starcraft 115 Merc and 15 kicker, elec troller, GPS combo, all the toys and oops almost forgot, my lady. I fished Calander Bay for years and the mouth of the French a few times. I have what I think gear I need. Any tips you folks can give me? I will be fishing for "Fish". I have a Tiger Musky hanging on my kitchen wall and would love my first real Musky but it won't spoil my trip if I don't get one. Heck I will be bummed if I get a skunk but still won't spoil my trip. Reagan has suggested a good guide for a day but it really isn't in the budjet. Tich says go for it, it's her present to me for my 60th, I don't know. That coin will buy me some nice rods and reels I don't need. A good lesson for all young and old business people out there, go out and get the business. The owner saw my post and PM'd me suggesting his place. I wasn't going to go anywhere near Nipissing, not on my bucket list, but if he hadn't suggested it I wouldn't have even thought of going to Nip. A good lesson. And he answered all my questions before I had to ask. Just wish it was easier to pronounce. Thanks all Johnny D

Congrats Sir. You must be as happy as a kid Christmas morning. Nice looking boat. My stand up top is a really nice thing to have. Keeps that cold wind and rain out spring and fall and mine can be used as a bimini to keep the Sun off the noggin perchin in the summer when there isn't a breath of air to help stay cool. When I got my first real boat after going 23 years boatless I would turn the light on outside in the middle of the night to make sure I wasn't dreaming to look at the new to me Lund, and would giggle like a little boy. I cam hear my lady still "Johnny come to bed no one stole your baby" LeXXington. The guy that owned my boat did the same thing to make that casting deck bigger. He even got carpeting from Starcraft to match perfectly. I store my anchor under it out of the way. When guys see mine they redo there bows to get that extra foot or so that really helps big time.

Well said Art. Some people think the internet provides total anonymity, it does not. What really amazes me is for whatever reason people get as upset or ever more when an animal or fish as in this case is killed for no other reason than it exists. Genocide exists in our world on a daily basis in more than one African nation by the 100's of thousands, ISIS has declared war on all non believers and other Muslims that don't believe what they believe. And hardly an eye is batted in the western world until 2 Americans are beheaded for all to see. I know this is a fishing forum not a political forum but we do have a thread about a Hockey team that is hundreds of pages long. Another point I wanted to make is that we have a family picture wall going back to the late 1800's. There is a picture of my wife's Great Grandmother standing on the porch at the cottage that was somewhere in The Thousand Islands. There is rope with about 20 fish strung on it. They are all Musky, large and small. It's all about perception. In 100 years someone may be dismayed about the 9 pound Walleye I took a picture of this summer, and ate. Many here may have seen the old black and white pics of barrels of Sturgeon speared at Sturgeon Falls in the 30's.

Thank you TJ so very much. And a special thank you to Roy and Aplumma for the hard work everyday. I do remember OntarioFishing.net years ago when I was member of OFHA. I was working on a protest ( when I had the energy) when The Feds posted signs on all the Fed run piers saying " NO FISHING ". It worked they took them all down. I really would be interested to know approximately how many members there are. I guess I could go down the list of members and count them if I really wanted to know couldn't I?

Yes many birds out there, where are the perch though? Inside the birds?

Couldn't agree more about a screwed up season. The spring and summer that never was. The Walleye fishery here on Erie has been stellar this year, on fire, best numbers and sizes since 93', coincidently 92' was the last bad winter here. But where are the Perch? All the regular hot spots here did produce a few times but here today gone tomorrow. The Perch normally feed on these spots spring to winter. The only spot that produced Perch daily, and still is, is off of the west side of Hastings Road west of Long Point. It's no big secret and very tough to get to. The closest launch is an 18 KM run Burwell to Hastings, it may be 18 miles. Dig Dave, a charter guy there limited nearly every outing. I think he hit 13,000 or 14,000 fish last week. Yes thousand, not hundreds!!

I am a member of a few Ontario based fishing forums. OFC has to have the largest membership by far of those that I'm involved in and spread across Canada and the USA. For any of the administrators and or long time members what is the history of the site? How many members are there here on OFC? When and why was it created, forums just don't miraculously appear out of nowhere, who created it? It always comes up as the #1 site on both Google and Bing search engines. I've always wondered about the history here and now I ask. Thanks Johnny D

Riden hard and put away wet, horses, women and boats.

Raf, Mine bunk rails had lag screws from below and I replaced with lag bolts from above because they worked themselves out, bolt and won't work themselves out, ever. The side bunks I used lag screws. Drill pilot holes regardless. For screws predrill about 1/3 diameter of screw then glue and screw, straight. I went with bolts as the lag screws worked their way out of the rotted wood. I filled the countersunk holes with silicone then bolted then carpeted. Cheap indoor outdoor will rot and tear away, Get commercial quality nylon carpet with a tight pile. Glued carpet with quality construction adhesive like PL2000, then stapled below. My staples were not stainless, no issues after 5 years. Bring along a socket wrench and drive and tighten after drilling pilot holes. 18V driver will do it but you want to drive straight in and you will have more control with socket drive vs, drill at higher speed. Use lock washers too. Glue and screw. You didn't mention the side steps, can change them with boat on trailer. I replaced the rusted steel with 2X8 PT after cutting out the old steel with a side cutter. Used roof shingles cut in strips as non slip. Glued and stapled too.

Quote button not working Dave, a guy a few weeks ago cried like an infant when he dumped his boat onto the concrete at Richards very steep ramp. He put the same ice like bunks that you have on his trailer. Their first time at that ramp and buddy took off the safety chain and strap way too early and whoosh the boat slid right off onto the concrete, 5 feet from the creek. Skeg gone, prop gone, bottom end held on by 1 bolt, bottom of glass boat, gone, transom smashed. Gear oil everywhere. Here's a guy that just lost well more than who knows how many grand due to a simple mistake and Richard is freaking because there is oil on the ramp and he can't get anymore boats in until they figure how to get this poor guys broken boat and motor back onto the trailer. Be careful all taking that safety chain off too early, for any trailer.

Is hunting season open? I'm not being a wise ass I just don't hear any gunshots here along the lake until fall and then it sounds like a Saturday night in Bagdad. If it is open please come to my place E, they keep us awake at night, do they ever sleep? edit, Just answered my own question, Google is good. You must be waaaay up north sir, but still feel free to hammer them down here when it is open. There has to be a herd of 100 out back right now.

I saw this video more than a few hours ago and have been seething over it since. I have a saying, stupidity is a DNA thing, lack of intellect is passed down from a shallow gene pool, being stupid isn't their fault, ignorance however is someone with some semblance of intellect that acts stupid. I think we have both at work here. I printed the pic of this knucklehead and his registration number on the boat. I will find out next week who this boat is registered to hopefully, it's probably stolen. 55E, where is that area? I think it might be Brantford area. Lets find this idiot. I hope social media kicks in here, it is a powerful investigative tool. Wait, I know this person. He is the fisherman that guts a Salmon for it's eggs to let rot on the bank so he can catch another fish to do the same thing to. He is the guy that leaves his buck a beer 6 pack empties and plastic ring thrown in the bush after he's belched from empting them in 10 minutes. He throws the worm container on the ground along with the empty Horton's cup he needs to get sober a bit before he drives home too drunk. He's the guy that all the useless signs reminding us of proper social conduct are posted for, except he reads at a grade 1 level. You know him too. He's your father, son, brother, cousin, neighbor or co worker. And he doesn't have a fishing or boaters license. The worth of different species of fish, mammal, insect etc. are for another thread I believe.

I'll tell you how bad it can be, this past spring a bicycle cop had his ride stolen from a parking meter when she and another constable sat inside the restaurant and had lunch. \they were never nabbed. I guess they don't lock them if they need to ride at a moments notice. Try and explain that one to the Sarg. at shifts end.

The sad reality is that a petty theft charge is nothing to these crack head low lifes. I was born, bred and worked in Hamilton until we moved to the cottage in 2000. These vacation places were and still are targets because they are isolated and the owners didn't even know they were broken into for months sometimes. They used to target the odd beer and bottle of hooch now it's high end electronics and land and water toys from these "cottages". It has gotten better but I have seen and heard of as many thefts rurally than when I lived right in downtown Hamilton. Low life's care nothing about geography, opportunity is all they care about, and their next puff of stupid stick or crack. Many lucrative thefts out this way are for the crops that are coming soon and we aren't talking about cow corn. They go to great lengths to raid the grow ops. Night vision goggle that show a heat signature for mature buds, GPS, even renting airplanes to do fly overs looking for patches mimicking law enforcement agencies that do the same exact thing to pinpoint a grow op. These aren't your petty theft lowlifes, these are big time organized crime low life thieves. I am a member of a social club on James St. N. in Hamilton. We get these cracked out lowlifes coming in everyday with bag loads of swag to sell. The easiest score lately is Beef from grocery stores, bag loads. As son as we call the police on these guys they catch on and high tail it out of the place. The police tell us they can lock them up everyday only to see them on the streets the very next day doing the very same thing. At least they are stealing from Fortino's rather than breaking into residences for trinkets. Just because they are thieves and druggies doesn't mean they are stupid. They bring in a large grocery bag and fill it and walk out. If I had a choice of where they steal I vote for the corporate retailers rather than a helpless Senior in the neighborhood.

I am constantly getting mold on the carpet in the battery compartment, why any manufacturer would line a battery compartment in carpet is beyond me!! It's too tight to get a brush or vacuum to the carpet and I would have to remove the battery to get to the bottom as well. I try and remember to open that hatch and let air dry but if I do forget I spray the beejeezus out of it with Febreeze. Water in the hold is a recent problem as my new kicker puts up a small Rooster tail and splashes onto the cover a bit.

We have all sorts of rights and freedoms that is law. No one said that right doesn't come with a service fee. We have the right to drive on all public roadways regardless if we have paid personal income taxes or not, that right comes with a myriad of user fees from drivers license's to disposal of old tires. If those signs didn't exist how would John Q. Public know there is a user fee to rent the park to go along with his Fishing license to allow him to take advantage of his government given right to fish.

Mike, 3 cans of Scotch Guard on my clean dry canvas mooring cover has done it for me once a season for my 19 footer. I do 2 foot square sections at a time and mark it off with blackboard chalk as it doesn't show a wet edge. Cover is 19 years old. Paint on sealer has been suggested to me but the Scotch Guard has worked and if it ain't broke I don't mess with something. If and when she won't bead any longer I will get a travel cover for her and save on the shrinkwrap.

It's easy to say don't swerve to avoid an animal, the natural thing your brain tells your body is "don't hit it." We all have a story I'm sure. No Moose in Hamilton, just falling rocks from the " Mountain" of course you swerve. Deepest condolences to the families and loved ones.

Thanks for the heads up Moosebunk. Talk about a small world, I show my wife the pics from Ausable this morning and tell her I would love to go next month, she tells me the sisters and herself stopped there on the way to Burlington 3 years ago on their annual getaway. Now I have a guide too!

Always a first aid kit in the boat, it takes up very little space. And a Mickey of disinfectant.

I don't recall seeing some of your pics, you have a great eye my man, very impressed here. Fantastic report. You have a beautiful family. Those kids are as cute as a bugs ear. Be proud sir. Can you adopt me? I need to put Ausable Chasm on my bucket list. Is it doable for someone waiting for 2 new knees? I'm not exactly I a wheelchair yet, I can walk 9 holes if I need to.

" Bare naked family" Tender52!! Other than Dad and the yungins might have been a favorite spot eh? We've surprised more than one bare naked dolly taking in the sun. Have to love those whisper quiet electrics. Funny how a few never minded at all. In fact one dated a pal for months, that was 25 years and 25 pounds of muscle ago. Should call that Beaver Bay.

Guys I have a motto I try and live by, " Never date an ex wife and never fish with a future ex wife". Personal best this year 12 pound 3 oz Walleye, from Erie of course. Cheeks the size of a Fillet O Fish. Usually wouldn't keep a fish that size but its Erie and it's swim bladder was full coming up from 80 feet. If I would have released that fish the guys that have fished here for eons would have sent me over the side.

Cliff, I'm surprised, what happened to " never leave a man behind" ? Insert laugh out load here. Sounds like a fantastic evening, not counting the hook to the bone, ouch for sure. I didn't even know there are Salmon in the Kawartha's. What were you using big guy, and how deep etc? We have been trying to get to Lake O for a few weeks because it has been blowing here on Erie for a few months, more like the past 12 months, and the banging around in 5' and more chop is killing us. Wind predictions on Ontario haven't been good either. We left here last week one day and by the time we got to Grimsby there were 1.5 meter whitecaps!!!! The Pics are on fire here and my 19' er won't cut it and that makes it frustrating. The 25' cuddy of a buddy here is being worked on, should be ready for Saturday if we work on it rather than talk about working on it. Good trip for you that's for sure, you deserve it. A short story about hooks in the arse. Packed up after fishing the upper Niagara around Grand Island. Uncle Angelo sits on a triple hook Rappala. They are buried and I mean buried in his arse. We get the boat on the trailer and I have to drive him to DeGraff Hospital in North Tonawanda to emergency, so I thought. I pull off the 290 towards the hospital and he asks where am I going? Not the hospital Canuck he says, turn left at the next block, here he says. I pull into the Twin City Veternarian's parking lot. He walks in and the receptionist says " Hello Ang, where's the hook this time?" He tells me afterwards the Vet only charges half of the money the hospital wants!!!!!!!!