lew

That covers most of the angles TJ

Export "A" smokes for me also, and like so many others, I told myself for 30 years how much I enjoyed smoking them ....... ya right........ but it's been 16 years since I had one and have never given them a second thought. Used to drink Export beer too, but it been about 14 years since I packed that stuff in also, and like the smokes, I didn't miss the beer either, so if my name is drawn TG, you can give my beer to the same vet that GaryV is giving his to. Somehow though, I've got a feelin that your gonna tell us you NEVER smoked the filthy things so it's gonna be pretty tough to beat ya

I wasn't there this year Kevin, but it's good of you to come aboard and answer some of the questions that have been posted..

And I hear he works for free, too

Hey Brian, I was in your neighborhood a couple weeks back when those few inches of snow fell during the morning rush hour, and believe me, all the cars in the SOUTHBOUND lanes that were slipping, sliding & spinning all over the road weren't coming from Toronto We unfortunately have lousy drivers everywhere My 4 winter tires were installed this morning, the shovel is in the back with the salt, and the windshield washer fluid was topped up.....bring it on

Don't know if either is still guiding this time of year or not, but if you want to travel to Montreal, Marc Thorpe is an excellent choice. I can't get the link for him to work but you can contact him thru this board. Richard Collins is in the Ottawa area and is also a great choice www.trophymuskiecharters.com I've fished with both of them, would recommend them both, and either one can put you on monster fish.

Lotsa hilarious stuff there Dan, good to hear you enjoyed the trip so much !!

Nice machine Spiel and I think your timing was perfect, were sposed to get a bunch of that ugly white stuff tonight My winter tires are going on the truck today.

You'll like those Double D's Mike, their an excellent twitch bait and will definetely put a few extra muskies in your boat next year.

Sounds like you had an incredible weekend Mike and congrats to you on your 1st ever pickeral and the same to Brian for his Personal Best There weren't alot of fish caught last weekend from the sounds of the reports, but a few folks set new benchmarks for themselves and that's always a good thing !!

Shelley, what a fabulous weekend you 2 had, with a PB for each of you and then winning the tourney on top of everything else.......can't get much better than that Lookin forward to seeing both of you again at Lakair in June. Always good having someone to yak with before the sun comes up Good to hear Sam is still one of the most generous folks around too, a great member of OFC !!

Thanks for the great read Wayne, you have a definite flair for writing fish'n stories Good to see you boyz put a few decent fish in the boat too !!

I ask this question here every year when the soft water season is coming to an end, and we usually get some good answers, and it may even help anyone looking to purchase some new equipment but isn't sure how well it works. Tell us about the new fishing or boating gear you bought this season, did it work as well as you'd hoped it would, or was it no good at all. Would you recommend it, or would you advise others not to buy that product ?? Myself, the only major purchase I made this year was a Lowrance Globalmap 7200 GPS I've fished with friends for a long time who had GPS units but never figured I really needed one, but boy, was I ever mistaken. I always thought I knew my way around the lakes I frequent, but this unit really opened my eyes and showed me stuff I never knew existed before. The large 7" screen is excellent, the colors are brilliant and the detail is amazing I bought the Navonics XL-9 chip for the waters I fish most often in Southern Ontario, plus it worked well on the Ottawa River too, and then I bought the Hotmap chart for Nippissing. That made a HUGE difference for navigating around all the sunken rocks in that lake. Just a personal preference, but I much prefer the stand alone units rather than GPS / sonar combos with a split screen, and will be getting a Lowrance X510c sonar to work along side the GPS for next season. This is the unit I bought this year and would highly recommend it. So, tell us what YOU bought this year, was it any good, or was it a waste of money. Rods, reels, tackle, electronics, whatever........

Thanks for all the well-wishes folks, their very much appreciated !!

Thanks everyone !! The family bought me a nice compound mitre saw for my B-Day, so I guess I'll go build sumthin And Paul, it's good to share the day with you also bud, although I think the birth years may have been just a few apart

Thanks Roy, yer a good friend !!

Mornin Hooked Newborns can be a challenge in the middle of the night, but it's all worth it in the long run

Much better Terry WTG Fang, always good to be recognized for your achievements !!

I quit smoking way back in 91 and in 96 I bought a brand new truck and told my wife that nobody was EVER allowed to smoke in it, and her reply was "OK, I'll only smoke in the half I payed for" ......Tough to argue with that logic She also quit smoking in 97

Thanks Mike, that made for an excellent read !! Good to hear you & your bud had such a great time and congrats to him on his PB

It's a shame to see all the bad reports coming in from Merlin's this week but I'm sure it's gonna cost them big time down the road. When we were all there a couple years back for the 1st OFC fall get-to-gether, we were treated very well as far as I was concerned, infact 4 of us had booked a cottage for the weekend, and when I arrived 1st and saw it was way too small for us, I went to the office and told them, and without question she moved us into that big green cottage opposite the boat ramp ( # 10 I think ?? ) and gave it to us for the same price of the little cabin. Makes you wonder sometimes why folks who have a great thing going for them, with a regular clientelle, let it slip out from under them Good to see everyone made the most of it though and still had a great time.

Great stuff Joey and good to hear your weekend turned out so well !! Your having a great month so far with a couple nice musky last week and now a good Quinte pickeral....maybe you should take up guiding for a living Thanks for the excellent read !!

Thanks for that Kevin, reading your story was an excellent way to start my day. Sounds like the trip went well for everyone and congrats on a couple nice fish and good to hear you enjoyed your 1st Quinte g2g

Sounds like things weren't as good there as in past years, but I hafta admit I'm surprised none of the OFNers brought their own salt or sand with them for the ramps. We fish right up till mid December and always carry salt for the boat ramps wherever we go, infact I've had a bag of salt and a shovel in the back of my truck for a month aready. Once we get into November up here, you can be pretty sure some of the ramps will be icy. Not saying maybe Merlands shouldn't have had some too, but I also think folks need to be prepared to help themselves out also, rather than counting on others to do it for them. Other than that, sorry to hear all the other things didn't work out well either.