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******God created police officers so fire fighters would have heros!!!!!!!****** FishnNAutographs, I'm confused by your signature, above, please enlighten me ....

Don't know if it's so much knowledge Roy, but maybe just the fact I've been around so long and have had LOTS of years to experiment with stuff

Weeds, no reason at all Suicks can't be used from shore, infact muskies are caught in tight all the time and the baits are quite easy to cast, but you need to have the proper rod & reel to do it. A normal bass or pickeral rod would be too light for them. It actually works Rich, infact the same way you can dead stick a minnow bait for bass, specially when the water is calm. Toss it out and let it sit for awhile, then begin with some small twitches and if there's a hungry fish nearby he'll come up and smack it. Infact, I was fishing with Roger (BPS Bassman) a couple years ago and he had his Suick just sitting on top of the water doing nothing while we yakked and a musky came up and nailed it Try it over top of the weeds or a rock pile and you may be happy you did Depends on what you want the bait to do Andy, but even on the weighted ones I start with 1/4 oz and sometimes go more. Best thing to use is the stick-on wheel weights they use for balancing chrome wheels on a car. You can just stick them on to find the weight you want and the spot that gives the best balance, then if you want to make them permanent, it very easy. Once you find the spot you want, use a utility knife to cut a slot big enough to hold the weight and make it about 1/8" deeper than the weight. I like to use the 2 part, 5 minute epoxy to line the bottom and sides of hole, then drop in the weight and then totally cover it with the epoxy till it's flush with the bottom of the bait. Let it cure over night, then you can paint it whatever color you want. Don't be too concerned about matching any paint colors too precisely though because muskies just aren't that fussy about what they hit and they don't need anything fancy. The biggest bait in this picture, about 12" and 3rd from the right with the yellow & black stripes was made by aplumma from this board and is far superior to any of the Suicks I've got. ( I've told you before Art, you should bo into the business ) Anyways Andy, that's just a couple ideas for you to experiment with. Suicks are an excellent bait and will put ALOT of muskies in your boat for you....good luck with them.

Thanks for posting that Glen, it made for some very interesting, early morning reading. It's really amazing how many different things can influence the feeding moods of a fish, specially something like the pull of the moon, but it certainly does make a difference. Nice having the GPS on the boat, it gives the times for the sun/moon rise & set. My own personal choice for something that turns on fish, at least muskies anyways, is the approach of a huge thunderstorm. When the sky turns black and the wind begins to howl, get ready to set yer hook

Hey Matt, lemme know when your up my way next season and we'll hook up again for another great day chasing some slimers.

Matt, I use Suicks alot and do quite well with them and their the type of bait that don't really have a wrong way of working them, it's just a matter of trying different techniques till you find what works best for that particular situation. Being a wooden bait, each one will work a bit differentely than another. I find they work much better after you've used them for a couple hours and they become water logged. The metal fin at the rear is very flexible and you'll have to keep adjusting it till you find the action your looking for. Again, it's all a matter of trying different things. You can also adjust the eye in the nose of the bait but just do it a bit at a time cause it's just screwed in and you can actually ruin the bait if you work it too much. You can run them shallow across the top of the weeds, but personally, I like to add extra weights to the belly and get them down deeper into the weeds or bounce them off rocks and you'll find that really triggers the strikes. In the warm water, I work them very fast with short jerks and pauses, but as the water cools in the fall, slow the bait down accordingly, but increase the length of the pull and let them sit longer between pulls too. That's where the extra weights really shine, when the bait it neutrally buoyant and just hangs in the cold water. The fish will usually hit as soon as you begin your next pull. Their an excellent bait for muskies and are great for using different techniques for different situations. Try adding extra weight to a couple and you'll probably find they work even better for you. Good luck

The Sportsman Show went into a tailspin quite a few years ago when it became more of a flea market for chinzy T-shirts and "space age" cleaning products, then the Spring Fishing Show started to go downhill a couple years back when only 1/2 the vendors showed up, presumably because of high rental costs and who can really blame them ?? Seems like their trying to tweek both shows now to hopefully bring them both back to where they were a few years ago and that can only be a good thing. I passed on the Sportsman Show last year for the 1st time in decades simply because it wasn't worth the ridiculous $$$$ they were charging to get in and I planned on passing on the Spring Show this year too just because there just wasn't much to see anymore, but now that their giving them both a re-vamp this year, maybe they'll be worth another look......lets hope so anyways. Course this is just my opinion.

I figure if your in mixed company, specially around kids, or ladies that you don't know, then use the same language that you use in front of your own mother, and you should be OK. If you don't swear in front of your mother, then why would you swear in front of my wife ??

That boat in the pictures is the 97 with the bent hull, not my current boat. Don't know what the dealer ever did with that one. Paul, the Crestliners are an excellent boat, infact as good or better than any other aluminum boat on the water and I'd certainly reccomend them to anyone.

These Canadian grown bananas are pretty tough Dawg, they'll do OK

I was rummaging through some boxes in the basement last night and came across these pictures of a boat I bought back in 1999. I forgot I even had these photo's. I went out to buy a new Crestliner in '99 and the dealer told me about a new 1997 model that he still had in stock and offered it to me at an excellent price. I liked what I saw and bought the boat. I took it up to the lake and launched it and was off on the inaugural trip, but something just wasn't right. As soon as the boat got above 20 MPH it would list way over to the left, infact it was at about a 45 degree angle and no matter how I trimmed it, it wouldn't straighten out. I putzed around with it for 2 days then called the dealer. He said the motor may need to be lifted higher on the transom and to bring it back in. I was up north of Peterboro and the dealer was way down in Etobicoke, but I took it down to him where he lifted the engine and said that would fix the problem, so I headed back up to the lake for another try but sure enough it was just as bad as ever. There's a well respected boat dealer near my trailer so I hauled it over to him and as soon as he looked underneath he noticed that the hull had an actual hook to it back near the transom, as if it had been dropped on something. I took it back to Etobicoke and showed the dealer and when he saw it he agreed right away that the bend was there. I then bought a 99 model and have been extremely happy ever since. Too bad though cause that 97 model was a beautiful boat. Anyways, just thought I'd pass along that little unhappy tale that had a happy ending.

Started snowing here in Toronto about 5:00 this morning Charlie and is coming down very heavy right now, sposed to get around 10" before it's done. I've got nowhere to go today and that's a good thing

. Dang, double post

Sorry to hear of your misfortune Pete and hopefully your thumbs a bit better this morning. Stuck myself with small bass hooks a couple times but fortunately nothing in the /0 sizes yet. You'll be back to hoisting those bricksNblocks in no time

Best wishes to your son Lorissa and hopefully him and all the rest are home soon & safe.

My brother & I spent 4 days on Red Cedar in May '99, and the fishing was terrible, but for a very good reason......there was no water in the lake Evidentely they drain alot of the water out of that entire lake system up there in the fall to allow for the heavy snow melt in the springtime. They drained the lake down, but then there was very little snow that year to replenish them, and they stayed low well into the summer. You can see in these pictures how low the water was, the docks are sitting high and dry and evidentely the water normally is right up to where the grass is. As I said, the fishing was terrible because of the conditions, but it was still a gorgeous lake and I'm sure the fishing is excellent when the water is at normal levels. Sorry I can't offer anything better.....

I dunno, maybe it's just me, but when I'm buying fishing tackle, I'm looking for quality gear, something that's gonna stand up when the going gets tough, rather than looking for the cheapest, flimsiest knockoffs from the bargain bin of a dollar store. I'd sure hate to have the split rings open or the hooks pull loose from the bait and lock a fish's jaw closed and have him starve to death, or even lose a nice trophy fish because of lousy equipment. Not counting some pickeral stuff, I don't think I own a musky bait that cost less than $20 and I have some lures that are over $100 each, but at least I'm pretty well satisfied that for the most part, they'll do the job their intended to do. Maybe I'm wrong and nobody will agree with me, but that's the way I look at things.

Yup, it's working OK now Spiel. That was strange, the button that says "add reply" was saying CLOSED when I tried to reply before. Musta been one of them little gremlin fellas.

Happy Birthday Rich, all the best to you !!

I just tried to reply to Rich's birthday carp thread, but it says the thread is closed ?? Am I doin something wrong ??

WTG Mike, very purdy boat !! I'll get a better look at it on Quinte this May

We had the freezing rain here last night Paul, darned near landed on my butt in the driveway this morning Warm today, cold tomorrow and now their talkin 4-6 inches of that ugly white stuff for Friday Time to bring back Global Warming

Mornin folks, I've been out wandering the neighborhood this morning and found lots of very icy spots on the sidewalks and I nearly took a header on the driveway when I was going to the truck Just a warning for y'all, you don't want to end up here

You don't need a new boat Jamie, your spot is always reserved in mine. Congrats on the new addition to the family my friend, that's the best news you'll ever receive !! All the best to your whole family !!

If I had to narrow it down to one place, I think my choice would be the West Arm of Nippissing. Without a doubt, one of the most beautiful places anywhere in Ontario.