lew

I realize that Dave, I was just throwing my little tale into the mix as some were discussing how dangerous the piers could be sometimes if folks weren't paying attention.

40 odd years ago a bunch of us were smelt fishing off the Whitby pier and my Dad tripped over a bollard and fell into the drink. Everyone rushed to help get him out and fortunately he was OK. He got dry clothes from the car, went back out and thanked everybody who helped him then went back to fishing. No lawsuits, no blame and he just put it down as an unfortunate accident with a happy ending just the way it should be. No idea if fishing from that pier today is legal or not.

You've been gone too long Bud, hope all is well and good to hear from you.

Saw it on the news where they both went through Sturgeon Lake in the Kawarthas last evening with one person rescued and one still missing so if your out on the lakes today boys just be careful where you go.

Just an FWI Art, but Adam wasn't giving anything away in his posts, that location is very accessible and well known to just about anyone in the area winter or summer.

Yeah, they're both great places and sorry to hear about your issues at the one place. My wife and I have stayed there several times and really enjoy it. A group of us from this board go to Mashkinonje every June and then my wife and I go back in August for a couple weeks.

I'd recommend either Mashkinonje Lodge or Memquisit Lodge, both on the West Arm of Nippissing. I'm not a walleye fisherman but there's good musky fishing there with plenty of fish over 50" and lots of good sized pike too.

So are you saying folks who live in big cities are riff raff ?? If so, that's a pretty ignorant comment, doncha think ??

Yeah, I remember you guys getting dinged Norm. I think that day was the 1st ever winter get-to-gether we ever had on this board.

Years ago a bunch of us from this board went to Quinte for a weekend in November and it was very windy with huge waves, infact I've been fishing Quinte since about 1952 and have never seen it as rough. There were 3 guys from a different group in a bass boat that took on a ton of water and sank to the gunnels near the ferry crossing but fortunately nobody was hurt and one of our group towed them to shore. Basically all you could see was the windshield and engine cowling sticking above the waves and the 3 guys up to their knees in water. Don't know if it was bad luck, bad driving or just too much waves for the boat but at least they all got out safely.

WOW, you dug back ALOT of years to find that one Norm hahaha

Happy New Year to you too Drew and everyone else as well.

Star Marine at the east end of the causeway in Bridgenorth used to rent boats but I don't know what kind or even if they still do.

No ice fishing for me Paul but looking forward to seeing you on our annual June trip to Nippissing as always.

If you've got natural gas or propane at your place Pete a permanent stand-by generator is the way to go. They hook-up to a separate panel in your home and when the power goes out they automatically fire up and when the power comes back on they go back into stand-by mode until the next time it's required & no need to keep filling them with gas either. Also remember that if your power is out the gas stations in your area my have no power either. I installed a Generac about 7 years back and it was some of the best money I ever spent and it sure is reassuring knowing when the power goes out at 20 below in the dead of winter everything continues to work normally. You can get smaller units to run a few items or you can get huge units to run your entire house. Just a thought for you.

Merry Christmas to you & yours Bruce and have a great day.

Great looking pup !!

Merry Christmas Kelvin and everyone else here too.

They haven't invented a bait yet that could entice me to spend a day staring into a frozen hole

You know the answer to that one Bud hahaha

Jeez Dave, the days 1/2 done by 5 AM LOL

I was something similar, between the Navy and then the Fire Dept. I seemed to work either Christmas or New Years for most of 35 years.. We were pretty flexible with our shifts though as far a switching with other guys so plenty of times the single guys would take a Christmas shift for the family guys then he'd he'd take New Years Eve off and the family guy would cover for him.

You should be very happy with that rig. I bought a new Crestliner with a 90 Merc 4 stroke back in '99 and drove it for 10 years without any issues with either the boat or motor. Other than regular maintenance that I did myself and a couple dealer installed impellers there wasn't a single problem with that motor. I sold it to a bud in 2009 and he did the 1st ever motor repair last year. We both put a ton of hours on that rig and 16 years trouble free is about as impressive as it comes. As for tires, I always ran either Carlisle or Marathons on my trailers and as with the boat and motor I never had a problem with them either. Just be sure to maintain the proper tire pressure and check it before every trip. I also put my trailers up on jacks for the winter but honestly don't know if that's necessary or not but to me it always made sense.

This place also depends alot on donations and as you say, i't's nice to help out.

We dropped off $75 worth of dog & cat food at the local shelter last week