Old Ironmaker

Fished Lake Vernon at least 10 years back and was very impressed with the quantity and size of both the Northerns and Smallmouth. We were on a small mountain (hill) north of Huntsville, north of big island. It was September and we parked our butts right at the opening of a marina on the east shore at the north side of the lake because the guy at the bait shop said to. I set the guys up with a slip float system and played with the depths until we hit both the Northern and large Smallmouth. We were lucky to find very large shiners that were hooked up on a small titanium leader. If I took the leader off I hit Smallmouth, or lost the rig, I did find it strange to have them both at the same location on the feed. We were in about 10 to 12 feet of water. I followed the fish right into the marina amongst the docks. We never left that spot even though the owner of the cottage wanted to troll the north shore. I think he said there was a waterfall there. I stayed and he was back in a few hours. We caught them 1 after another for 4 hours each day. Had a shore lunch where 2 fish fed 4 of us for dinner and breakfast. Great 2 days lazy fishing for 2 days. If I'm on fish I'm not moving to somewhere there might be some. Some guys go sightseeing. If that's what one is into, bless them. Sightsee away. Great lake If I didn't have live silver shinners I'd go with a Husky Jerk or one of those large jointed chrome Live ???? It's late and can't remember the jointed minnow bait that, it's Live Target! I bet those in chrome silver or chrome gold would hammer them. A Cotton Cordell Ripping Red fin on a 3 way swivel trolling would be a third choice. Good luck John D

Jig at the depth the fish is, catch one and bring it up, then you will be able to see what it is. Sorry I'm being an ass. I do have a question for you deep water jigging folks, do you use line counter reels this deep. How can you tell you are in the strike zone when fish suspended if you don't have a good HD sounder? I want to start jigging for suspended Walleye on Erie, something I never heard anyone try with success here.

I would not suggest eating anything you listed from Maitland at this time of year. Maybe sheepshead (farm animals) because they come in from deep water to feed, but they aren't on my choice of fish to eat. They however are becoming popular no matter how gross they look and sound. Then again I wouldn't be in the same room with some stuff I have seen people put in their mouths and swallow it. We just had a few Silver Bass, some call them white bass or white perch, and they are a firmer flesh fish that again don't spend their whole summer in the river and taste fantastic fresh, only fresh. The channel cats are best in the spring when the water is cold, they are very muddy this time of year, and the big boys are terrible table fare, release them, please. Check the regulations for suggested maximum number of meals you should eat from Erie. Never feed these fish to a pregnant woman, ever.

Dave it's been a banner year here on Erie at the Long Point Bay Elbow. A small local tourney 2 weeks ago hosted at the Fisherville Fire Station raising funds for the Schumacher family that suffered a tragedy due to a house fire saw some monsters caught. Not many boats entered and saw the 1 day 2 fish total over 20lbs with both fish a tad over 10 each. 2nd place saw a 12.3lb fish entered with the second fish from that team just under 8. Imagine boating a 12 plus and coming in second? We had a 8 and 9 entered and didn't place!!!!! I've seen many over 10 this year every week for the last month. Keep an eye open for the Fisherville Schumacher tourney next summer, a great day for a great cause.

You heard right. Use large minnow baits and spoons. Reef runners, Husky Jerks, Bomber Long A's and Orange crush or Blueberry Muffin spoons.

Crack heads and kids. I haven't had my vehicle broken into since moving out to the country from Hamilton. Police could care less about petty theft. Insurance companies are really cracking down on paying a second claim for comprehensive, especially from unsecured vehicles or garages etc. I am getting lazier and lazier when it comes to securing my stuff. I need to get a lock. It's scary once you add up all the stuff just in the shed. Thousands of dollars worth of a hundred here and a hundred there.

I have never used a snap swivel on a jig head. These must be very heavy jigs, I have never fished for lakers. The snap will change the action of the jig falling, especially a tube. I've snorkeled under water to watch. The tube doesn't spin as well on the fall. A jig is supposed to kick up the bottom when it hits, imitating a crab or foraging critter, it doesn't do that with a swivel attached as well. Also it will gather weeds where a smooth, bare jig head won't as easily. Imagine jigging for 20 minutes to bring it up and it has weeds on it.. You have spent thousands on boats and equipment, accommodation and all that goes with it, and you want to put on a swivel because it's easy. Where are you going?take the time and tie on a jig man. Or buy the screw head jigs from Lindy. Have you ever seen a jig with a snap on it when those guys do a show? How much time is wasted jigging with weeds on? We spend good money on tackle to imitate bait fish, I like to keep it as natural as possible. My opinion only.

Landry, I have a Comfo 2 respirator with type2 cartridges that I am never going to use again, you can have it if you figure a way for me to get it to you. I am in Selkirk On that is on the north shore of Erie south of Caledonia and 50 minutes from the outskirts of Hamilton, I'll bring it to the post office and find out the weight for shipping, or if you know someone in the Hamilton area I can get it to. For what you're doing the cartridges will last you a lifetime. Let me know if you want it. Johnny D

All good tips. I like to minimize terminal tackle as much as possible. No snap swivels casting or jigging, long lining a swivel is a must to reduce line twist, the smaller the better so a treble can't get hung up in the snap. Do not cheap out on terminal tackle, I've seen many a trophy lost at the boat or hole when the snap pulled straight out. And swivels that don't swivel after a short time. Buy brand name tackle and the black snaps that lock over top and under the horizontal wire, not under a thin metal sleeve. They are crappola.

I was on my way into Hamilton to attend a retirement dinner when I noticed there weren't any stop lights. Went to my cousins bar where I was working a bit after retiring. We were the only bar around with power. I had just retired the year before and had been doing failure analysis before leaving, I talked him into getting a generator and we had just had it installed. The only bar downtown that I know of that had cold beer until it sold out. We saved many thousands of dollars in meat. And he sent my wife and I to México the next November as a bonus, gotta love it. Scary part was my wife was in the air and couldn't land in TO or Hamilton, and I didn't know what airline she was on. Seems like yesterday, 10 years, wow.

If you are from the Hamilton area and ever held a rod you would have heard of Denny, and his sons. He will missed by all that knew him.<br /><br />Condolences to the family.

I had no idea a mono backing was a must when I first spooled my braid on 4 years ago. I've had that line on so long I can't remember the brand, I think it might be Spyderwire, I'll check. I would have to change my mono at least once before Bass opening and maybe twice before the years end. Never mono again other than maybe an ultra light, and even then I always use a flouro leader for the clear water here on Erie. I do however tie on a 1oz weight to the lines the first time I put the boat in the water in the spring. I'll troll out until I can see the spool, then reel it in while still trolling with the drag tight. I will do that every few months or so. It is used probably 10 months a year and sees salt water down south. Thousands of casts and I haven't lost a yard of it. I have fluorocarbon on all my baitcasters, but haven't made a cast this year since I rigged my boat with downriggers and dipsy's for walleye and rainbow this summer. After hauling in these silly sized deep water fish for the last month plus here I may not make a cast for sometime. My fishing fund is in overdraft from running 25 plus miles a day, so I may be casting sooner than latter. Off topic, I love the big fish but don't love the big fuel bills. Have spent 8 times what I spent last year by now in fuel and oil.

I run braid on everything I own other than the ultralights for panfish and attach a leader of 17 pound Berkley Vanish with a micro chain leader. The flouro is a must here on Erie as it's virtually invisible in the crystal clear water. I started with Vanish and swear by it for me. I'm sure I'm going to be schooled on other superlines but my budget and preference is Vanish. The braid is great for deep water as it creates much less drag and really is a must for a hookset from any depth. Mono is great as a backer and shallow water panfishing, maybe the latter. It would be like using a level wind knuckle buster and glass rod today with all the superlines available today would seem just silly. But that is my opinion and mine alone. I stillfish with my brothers ex father in law and he uses his old knuckle buster with the original nylon braid for smallies on the Maitland river, watching him finger the line with a shinner on it is really neat, he has perfected it over the last 80years, yes 80, he's 85. What's not neat is watching him out fish me 3 to 1. So who knows, you can catch them or you can't. And oh Drifter was that pic taken this week? Sorry but I'll fish the Florida Keys in Florida on a bad day over any great ice fishing day anytime while I can still stand on this great planet of ours. Just not in the DNA, the first time I went Italy to see where my grand parents came from I saw palm trees in Rome, I'll take palm trees over no trees any day.

Pikeslayer, Looks like you can slay more than pike sir. My very first Lake Ontario fish was a 30 lb plus Tyee. I swore I was reeling in a refrigerator with a 200 HP Merc attached to it in full reverse, then full forward. Love the Sylvan, looks very similar to my Starcraft, even has the Motorguide hood ornament. Nothing like putting a smile on a kids face. Now I don't know you sir but I must comment, the white socks with the open toe saddles, is that a fashion statement or an accident because it was dark when you dressed? I'll assume the later. Spincast, Great looking kid, great fish and very nice pics. My only experience meeting a fellow OFC member was this past spring and I threw him overboard, or did he fall out of the boat? Can't recall, what was it HTHM a fall or a push? I see you weren't wet so the meeting went well. Johnny D

I know some guys cring thinking about taking a vehicle to a dealer. What I have learned you can spend twice or more a dealer charges because the local garage guy may work on a half dozen items trouble shooting for 1. The dealer see Toyotas all day, 6 days a week, new and old and they have all the Toyota specific diagnostic tools the local guy may not have. Sounds like an alternator, electrical systems are unique. Take it to Upper James Toyota or Parkside Toyota in Hamilton, note both dealerships are owned by the same person so each will match the others quote. For regular service, oil, brakes, all the standard stuff I go to my local guy and support the little guy trying to put food on the table, for diagnosing a problem, especially electrical off to the dealer it goes, sometimes like I said it's less money in the long run and done right the first time, most times.

Fantastic boys, just fantastic. I have never been to Nippigon and haven't ventured north of Long Lac for years. Now that I see that you can trailer a good size boat into Nip I'm seriously considering a trip there, especially after reading your journal. After a few hours in a tin can I need an orthopedic surgeon to meet me on the dock. The first pic of the top of the dock immediately brought back old memories of the adventure of hitting a new lake and the anticipation that goes with it! Good going I'm jealous.

Excellent, I'm cooking up some of those big Erie Walleye this afternoon for the crew after we get back from an outing today out of Nanticoke and bought some rice flour yesterday at Fortino's. I'm guaranteed to have fish after our trip today because they are from Wednesday. I do shake everything else like chicken and cutters in a zip lock bag. I like the nitro analogy, I now use a zip lock bag since I deep fried a grocery receipt once or twice!!!!

Rich I know this is a fishing forum, at least it used to be, but I think if a fellow member thinks it's an important issue to discuss I'll play. Need to check out that Movie. Entropy, I really don't have a strong opinion about foreign ownership of land, my grand father became a foreign owner as soon as he bought his first home here. . The premise is if someone buys and developes the land, it will employ Canadians, and those employed Canadians pay taxes, as do the owners of the development.

Fish Farmer simple is usually the best when it comes to cooking, as Canuck said always dredge in flour before the egg as you do as well as myself. Always,dry then wet then dry mixtures. The beauty of Japanese Panko, which is bread crumbs that are double baked, is even when cold crispy. Many restaurants cheat and precook with Panko and will reheat in microwave, especially shrimp. Canuck2Fan wrote, 1 cup brown rice flour 1 cup white rice flour 1/2 cup corn meal 2 tbsps Lemon Pepper 1 tbsp Garlic Powder 2 tbsp Lawry's Seasoning salt (Like Porche there is no substitute) 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (less if you don't like heat) Have never tried the rice flour, I believe simple works best for perch as it is such a delicate fish and I believe can't handle complex preparation, my opinion only', but I need to try it. The spice medley you list above is basically Montréal Steak Spice, excellent. I do, however would not shake in a bag anything as delicate as the fine strands of protein perch consists of and can't handle the violence of shaking in a bag, especially those smaller then 8". Also the coating is more apt to not be evenly distributed and would likely create what is referred to as bread balls amongst the exterior coating. Very interesting recipes, thanks for sharing.

Entropy, There are entire departments in government that use your tax dollars to do exactly what you describe, and that is to encourage foreign investment, from small counties, large cities and both sitting parties provincially and federally. This a major goal of all G 10 countries. With an influx of foreign investment a stagnant economy is averted as without it the same loonie passes back and forth until the dollar isn't worth it's weight in sand. It is in the millions our federal government spends to encourage off shore influx of foreign cash. Do really don't think our ambassadors abroad are there to eat the food at all these functions they attend. I respect your opinion and suggest you contact your member of Parliament and voice your concerns.

Mike congrats on 2 super fish. The likelihood of them being landed next to each other on the same hardware must be very rare. By the way I thought your beautiful boat looks familiar. Oh wait I see a 95 Starcraft Superfisherman 190 with a 115 Mariner parked in my driveway. Nice fish and rig Mike. Love your boat. The fish took a while to recover I see, or where they trying to get a good look at you as to remember to give you both some payback. As a Musky guy any tips on methods to ensure a good recovery?

Those are wholly owned US companies. As are the big 3 auto makers as well as most of all the consumer goods we buy here in Canada from your corn flakes to the boat you put your butt in after eating the Corn Flakes.

Lightly dust with flour Dip in egg beaten together with a splash of milk pre seasoned with Montréal Steak Spice Then into Panko Japanese bread crumbs, do not stack on plate Fry Dry on paper towels and lightly salt and pepper

Nothing new there. What amazes me that certain areas seem to have investors from the same countries. Back in the late 80's,and early 90's it seemed everyone buying property in the Ottawa valley were from Germany. Might be word of mouth. This had been going on forever, just coincidence most ownership in our county farms are second and third generation Dutch Canadian farmers?

Rich, Do they allow gas motors in the ponds outside the Conservation Area? I was just under the impression these small ponds were paddle or electric only. I do know they rent a few canoes at the Conservation Area. I saw some folks ice fishing last year, and actually I can't remember if it was Izzumi or Labignon doing a winter ice fishing show for panfish a few years ago. It is a really nice little fishery and great little town, a few old Stelco guys there. But everyone has to remember a few good sportfishermen with good electronics could fish those ponds clean if they wanted to, please catch and release, want some fish to eat buy some in Dover or catch some on the big water. Someone mentioned it's not the safest place as far as theft goes, what place is? Lock your car with the alarm on. Best Chinese food in Haldimand Norfolk!!!!!! Can't wait for Pumpkinfest.