lew

It's funny Andy, I bought the new boat this year but did less fishing than usual. I actually spent ALOT of time just cruising around with my wife. We even spent a couple weeks on Nippissing in July & August but still I didn't fish that often, but rather cruised around with Diane. I think my total was 65 muskies for the season which is less than usual, but I'm starting to think I'd rather have my Mrs. in the new boat now rather than those old slimers anyways

But I don't NEED anymore fishing stuff, infact I've got enuff stuff for 10 people already

I'm one of those lucky guys that has just about everything I could possibly need and want very little else, but I could certainly use a new circular saw and a new Sawzall wouldn't be turned down either. Other than that, I can't think of a single other thing I need......life is good to me.

I was fishing a few years back and dropped an expensive outfit in the drink, Shimano V-rod and Curado , and definetely wanted them back. I tied a heavy spoon onto another rod and began dragging bottom in hopes of snagging it. Believe it or not I caught a 5 pound pickeral while dragging the spoon. Who ever heard of a pickeral taking a big red / white Daredevil off the bottom Never did get the rod back though.

Thanks John, will do.

John, it would be my utmost pleasure to have you in my boat anytime you want to join me. Infact, I'm buying a country home in the Kawarthas shortly so maybe I'll swap you some fishing lessons for Real Estate lessons.

You got that right Andy

Waynes story about them catching the 2 x 10 on GBay yesterday reminded me of a similar thing happening to me a few years back while musky fishing on the Upper Niagara River near the Peace Bridge. We had about 6 boats in our group and we trolled in behind the boat in front of us to get tighter to shore and just as we got in my rod doubled over and the fight was on. It felt like a big fish with plenty of head shakes and she was moving all over the place trying to break free while my rod tip bounced like crazy. During the fight I looked over at the boat beside us and he was also fighting a biggun and I figured this was great with 2 huge fish being fought only a couple hundred feet apart at the same time. After about a 5 minute fight my line starting coming up and my partner had the Frabil ready to scoop her, but instead of the big slimer I was expecting, all I saw was a large red lure hooked to my bait with the line running over towards the other boat. Yup, it wasn't a fish at all, but I'd snagged the line of buddy in the next boat when we cut in too close behind them and I tangled lines Anybody who's fished the river in that location knows what the huge current is like, and with us fighting each other & with the boats bouncing in the waves & current, you may be able to understand what we were experiencing. Disappointing to say the least, but it's provided plenty of laffs ever since So howz bout you, what'd you ever catch that turned out to be something other than what you thought it was ??

And your certainly entitled to your opinion Chris. I'm talking about about people who call themselves guides and charge clients $$$$ but can't put them onto big fish or even numbers because THEY DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE THEMSELVES. If you don't know yourself, how can you guide paying customers to the spots that hold them ?? Anybody can hang out a guide shingle and pretend to know what their doing, but in my opinion that's nothing more than a scam. Take out in-experienced folks and put on an act and you can look like a real pro, but a fisherman that knows his stuff would see right thru the act. It's one thing to offer a free seat in your boat to maybe help a newbie out, but to put on a guides hat & charge for your knowledge that you don't have it is nothing more than stealing to me. I'm not a hunter nor do I have a gun, although I used be, but I could easily pass the test, buy a gun and then hire myself out as a hunting guide to newbies and wander the woods with them and pretend to be an expert. Tell enuff tales and how would they know the difference ?? No different that fishing guides. All I'm saying is some guys pretend to be what their not and take $$$$ for things their not entitled to. I personally know of people that are charging $$$$ to be a guide when they couldn't catch a big fish in a rain barrel with a pitch fork, yet they talk like their a leading expert on the sport. As I said in my original post.......nuthin worse than a scammer.

Hilarious story Wayne, thanks for a great start to my day Don't feel too bad about catching the board Glen, I once hooked a monster musky on the Niagara that turned out to be a fisherman in the next boat.......but that's a story for another day

I've never personally had much of an interest in river fishing, but if I ever did want to learn about it, Mike would definetely be the guy I'd want to teach me. He's excellent at what he does and has obviously spent a huge amount of time learning the techniques that work. But on the other hand, what about guys who hire themselves out as guides who infact aren't really that good at fishing, but can put on a huge front and pretend to be experts with many years of experience under their belts. It's easy to take relatively in-experienced fishermen on your boat and spin huge yarns about how good you are, when they really don't know the difference, and make yourself look like some sort of pro in front of them. The way I look at it, folks hire a guide to learn new lakes and the spots that produce the fish, or else their out for a trophy or at least to fill their stringers. Now, what happens when you hire a guide who, even though he tells big stories and pretends to be an expert at everything related to fishing, when infact he doesn't really have that much experience and hasn't even caught any big fish himself. If you don't have the knowledge or experience to catch them yourself, how can you possibly charge someone else to take them out. Fishing websites are interesting to read and it's very easy to pick out the folks that are truly good at fishing, compared to the folks who AREN'T really that good, yet who pretend to be experts. It's really quite easy to collect information from books, the internet, or from talking to other fishermen, then turn that info into your own words and come off as the actual expert. Folks who are inexperienced or new to fishing are easily fooled by these shams and put these people on pedestals, where they certainly don't belong. I guess I got off topic a bit, but reading this very interesting post about people becoming guides really made me mad when I think of those who hire themselves out as guides or experts, when they themselves aren't nearly as good as they pretend to be. My point is, if you've only ever caught dink muskies or average size bass, or any other species for that matter, because you really don't know where the big girls live yourself, or how to catch them, how can you possibly call yourself a guide and charge folks $$$$ for your services. Remember folks, just because a person pretends to be an expert or a fishing guide, doesn't neccesarily means it's true. It's easy to collect information from others and turn it into your own words to make yourself look like the experts, but good fishermen can easily pick you out of the crowd. Nuthin worse than a scammer.

Not the least bit surprised John and I don't blame the town or the residents at all. Somebody has to pay to clean up after the filthy pigs we have to share the lakes with and it's not just ice fishermen cause those pigs leave their garbage in the summer too. I've used the free boat ramp at the Chemong causeway for years and it's like launching the boat in the town dump and I just know that one of these days I'm gonna pull up there and see somebody collecting $$$$ to use it. When I read about the K-Lakes opening for ice fishing this year, the 1st thing I thought of was those lakes will start looking like Simcoe during the winter now too. So sad......

OK, it's still early in the morning but I seem to be missing something here..... what does being into home repairs have to do with taking pictures of the inside of a boat

Some very impressive muskies there, well done boyz.

I was never in there, but man did that place ever have a crazy reputaion

That's good stuff Tony, the In-Fisherman crew put on about the best fishing show on the tube.

When I was in the navy and stationed in Halifax in the 60's the local pub had nickle night on Fridays and for $2 you could party all night long........Ah yes, so many fond memories

Your 100% right Bushy, the good ole days are long gone.

I guess things have changed over the years Sinker, and that's a good thing. I've had both hips totally replaced, one in '94 and the other in 2000, and your boss is right, the pain is gone within days but I was on crutches for a full 5 weeks after each surgery and that was the worst part of the whole deal.

Your right Brian, he was a great man and treated those who were down on their luck very well over the years. His son doles out the turkeys & Christmas cakes now. About 40 years ago my cousin & I owned & ran the Honest Ed's Santa booth taking pictures of the kids and Old St. Nick at Christmas. Ed Mirvish was a great guy to work for.

Another excellent day for you guys Dave, thanks for taking us along. Always enjoy your Quinte tales !!

Brian, tell your pop that hip replacement is a breeze. You've got a PM too.

Happy to hear it worked out for you, their a good outfit to deal with.

Quinte always produces hawgs, & that's another excellent example !! Great fish indeed !!

Probably Tiger Woods house right about now