lew

Willie came out of his hole last week and declared that we were gonna have an early spring this year.

Well, this afternoon, me & ole Marv were hiking down in the woods when I heard a very familiar chirping sound, looked up on a branch just 10" above me and spotted my 1st robin of the year, just sitting there and enjoying the sunshine

yeah, yeah, I know, some robins do spend the winters up here in the frozen barrens, but I'm still gonna take it as a sign that were on the downhill side of winter and springtime and warm weather is just around the corner

snag, why not just call Toronto Police, Marine Unit, and ask them.

Their job is patrolling those waters and they should have an answer, or at least tell you who to call.

I'd use whatever bait Lew told me to use

Do that, and you'll get skunked alot, just like me

kennyman, it's great to see you taking such a keen interest in muskies, their a fish that become very addictive once you catch a few.

Alot of the advice you've received has been excellent, but it's extremely hard to narrow your bait choice down to one lure, when your gonna have so many different conditions to contend with. Trouble is, musky lures are very expensive, compared to other baits, but you can get off to a decent start without breaking the bank.

Depending on many different things, your gonna find the fish all over the water column, so try and get yourself a couple baits for each depth, with a couple different color combos for each one.

For top water fishing, I personally like a Bucher Top Raider. It's a prop bait that's easy to use and their pretty good at calling the fish in.

Crank baits are good for different depths. The 10" Believer that Raf mentioned is an excellent bait that will do alot of different tricks, it can be worked very slowly on the surface and is great for night time fishing, it can be twitched, and can also be cranked just under the surface, or made to run deep just by changing the place you clip it on. It's also an excellent trolling bait, even at high speed.

Jakes or Grandmas are another very versatile bait than will do many different things, including twitching, diving or trolling.

Bucktails are one of the best baits around and will always catch you a fish or two. Black with orange is good and so is yellow with brass, but there's 100 other colors that work well, depending on different conditions.

Spinnerbaits were mentioned several times and for a very good reason.....their one of the best casting baits around and will always get you a fish. You can burn them fast just under the surface, or you can slow roll them way down deep in the thickest of weeds where the fish often like to hang out.

Go BIG on the spinner baits though, you want lots of flash and vibration and again color will depend on different things.

Just don't buy cheap baits, cause they won't take the beating from a decent fish. You can figure on spending at least $20 - 25 for a 1/2 decent body bait, and upwards of $100 for a good one......or even more for very good.

Same as bucktails and spinnerbaits....buy good ones and they'll work much better and last a whole lot longer. If you cheap out, the bait will be destroyed after the 2nd fish.

Take $100 to the show and buy 4 baits......a topwater, a big crank, a GOOD bucktail, and a BIG spinnerbait. That'll get you started and then buy a new bait each payday.

Like was said earlier, TEP & Robin are both making some of the best baits you'll find anywhere and they'll have a booth at the Odysee in April.

There's nuthin better than musky fish'n, but it's also one of the most expensive fish to target, so start small and work your way up.

Sorry for rambling on like that, but like I said, it's impossible to narrow it down to just one bait.

Congrats on the new boat kennyman, sounds like you and your family are all set now for the summer.

Nuthin better than building memories for your kids

I used to have a Jeep Cherokee and I blew the water pump. The mechanic replaced the pump, but then I had a similar problem to what your describing, when I was ideling, the temp was OK, but as soon as I accelerated, the temp gauge would head into the red zone.

He said it was an air bubble that had gotten into the system and was restricting the water flow, so he "burped it" and everything worked fine after that.

Pretty sure he said it was "burped" by removing the top heater hose and that allowed the air bubble out and the water to move freely.

Just a thought ??

Sam, it's good of you to keep the boyz updated on what's happening on Quinte

On a separate "Lew" note....

I think I might have been at Lew`s last ice fishing trip???

I saw Lew icefishing a couple of years ago at an OFC G2G...

I brought a friend and we built a windbreak similar to what Clampet is using...

I cant remember who organized the G2G but it was cold as heck and I don`t remember anyone catching anything noteworthy.

We had a fun time anyway and met a few OFC`rs.. I know someone remembers this G2G??? When was that??? Lew ???

Doug

Doug, the last organized OFC g2g on the ice that I was at was about 3 years ago.

Here's a picture of the group, is this the one your thinking of ??

Aww come on Lew, you don't even have to go on the ice this time, you can just come and hang out with Big Cliff, Beans and a couple of others at the BBQ

 

Maureen

Thanks for the invite MO, but I'm so far removed from ice fishing now, I even sold off all my gear a couple weeks back, so now it's official

Yup, JB's will have a booth at the Spring Show as well as the Odyssee in April, and usually is at the Sportsman Show too.

Best place around for buying musky tackle.

Some more great prizes for your table Mo, but sorry, it still won't do it, my ice fish'n days are getting further behind me as we speak

Sure hope your day turns out as good as always though

eskimo

Yup, same thing happened to me too, infact, I even had poor ole Roy blocked out

Married 14 years ??........dang, I can't even remember that far back !!

Happy Anniversary to youz two, and all the best in the future !!

Let's be realistic here folks, we all know these punks will receive as light a sentence as our terrible excuse for a justice system will be allowed to get away with, and chances are, that stupid, ineffectual community service crap is about all their gonna get.

Until this country starts giving out some serious punishment, the crooks and punks will continue to prey on whoever they want and know that very little punishment will come if their caught.

Brian, your bill for repairing, storing and towing your vehicle will probably be far worse than any punishment these thieves receive, but that's just the way this country operates.

It wouldn't bother me in the least to see these punks put away for 20 years with NO parole.

Nice haul Brian, you've got some good baits there.

Awesome pike, definetely the best I've seen thru the ice this year !!

Wayne, perhaps you shoulda went north 2 weeks ago when Global Warming was being such a nuisance

Wayne, I heard the weather and driving conditions were so nasty up your way this morning they even had to pull the snowplows off the road.

We've got absolutely no snow down this way at all, other than a couple inches of hard packed stuff that's been here for 2 weeks.

Hope it clears for you soon and you and the Mrs still get a chance to head to the cottage for a few days .

Yeah Paul, I always figured the guys who designed those old convertible trucks was probably doing it from a nice warm office in Arizona or something, rather than having to actually drive them in frigid temperatures.

Lots different today though, I understand our new aerials are well over a million $$$$ apiece.

I think I joined up about 40 years too soon

Ya Lew! I can`t imagine trying to fight a fire in weather like this, I have seen some pictures though. It was cold on the truck docks, but at least dry!

Paul, back in the day, some of our trucks had no roofs, heaters or defrosters on them.

Makes driving kinda tough when your trying to change gears and have no feeling in your feet or hands and you've got 8" of snow in your lap and on top of your helmet.

The good ole days weren't always that good

Windchill of 22 below is very cold and it doesn't really matter how cold it is anywhere else.

Thanks for posting those pictures knotaclue, VERY VERY nice indeed, and your definetely married to an extremely talented lady

Pretty snazzy Clampet, and should lighten your load alot while hiking across the ice !!

Prolbably

Perhaps it's time for me to install the new spell checker ??

Prolbably just a little bit of ice in the key slot Rick.

Try heating the key with a match, or giver a shot of lock de-icer.