kickingfrog

Not invasive. They numbers were down significantly due to DDT use like many upper food-chain birds (osprey, eagle, hawks). With the virtual elimination of DDT use in North America the numbers of most of these birds has been increasing for the last 20-30 years. Not sure if the numbers of double crested cormorants are higher now than in the 40's and 50's but the large flocks and the amount of damage they do on their nesting areas is a concern for many. Many of our lakes (the Great lakes and the large ones near big cities) are cleaner now than they were in the 50's and 60's and I wonder what role that might be playing in the large numbers. The lakes are also clearer in part to being cleaner but also due to zebra mussels and that might also just make it easier for the birds to see and chase/catch their prey.

Damaging property is wrong and can/should be dealt with. Wronging claiming to own water that you don't isn't the way to do it.

So the bylaw might not be legal and they pick and choose when they want to enforce it? I should have at least asked the marina attendant to cite the bylaw number or show it in writing.

Another thing to consider is that some lakes.waterbodies may be closed to any fishing until a certain time regardless of what is in the lake or what the fisheries unit's seasons are.

Phoned the clerk's office. Someone else had already called today as she asked if I was the one who had called earlier this morning. For what it's worth she was only aware of no fishing from the docks. When I asked about fishing from a boat she wasn't as sure but thought that it was ok. I asked about a written form of the bylaw and then she referred me to someone higher up. They were not at their desk and a message was left. If anyone else is interested in this the phone number I was given is 705 739 4241 which is a shorter route from the phone number listed on the city's bylaw page.

It still runs great. First turn of the key.

Forgot to mention that the surface temps were 8.5 to 10.5 in the bay.

A few factors contributed to that. My 7 year old son was with me. I'm not positive of what the law is, these were summer students who were just following what some desk jockey had told them to say and we weren't catching anything. The part that almost set me off was after I had clearly said I would leave and had started to turn the boat, attendant #2 (who heard the first conversation) felt the need to parrot what the first one had said. My suspicion is the City knows it can't prohibit fishing from a boat and that's why there are no signs. They hope that by just telling people they can't fish they will leave.

This is the Barrie Marina. We were on the inside of the outer breakwall in 25ft of water. Given that a few hundred metres of lake/wetland has been filled in to make the shoreline in the last hundred plus years the true shoreline for the lake is 2 blocks from the current one. If in the unlikely case that the city owned the water I'd think they'd do a better job of signing the area from the water and not bother to dredge down 25 ft for the personal water crafts that use the slips. City's photo of the Marina: http://www.barrie.ca/Living/RecreationFacilities/Documents/BarrieMarinaAerial.pdf

On top of all the awful things these people have to, and are going through, I couldn't imagine having to leave a dog behind.

Apparently Westjet is also letting people to bring their pets onboard with them.

Put the boat in today for the first time this season today. Launched from Tiffin and searched a bit for some perch with zero results. K-bay was flat so I had more fun just cruising a bit and enjoying being on the soft water again. As we came back down the other side of the bay I was marking the occasional cloud of fish (which appeared to be smelt as that's all we caught). As I worked down the breakaway for the marina a young attendant called out and said we couldn't fish there. I asked if the city owned that water? The answer, of course, was "Yes, there is no fishing in the marina". I said "We will leave, but that it was very unlikely that the city owned that water and prohibiting fishing from a boat was unlikely to hold up in court". As I'm turning the boat with the electric another attended called out and said it was a bylaw and there was no fishing in the marina. I said the exact same thing as before but with a little more tone and much louder, my son was in the boat. It was too nice a day to bother trying to discuss this with summer students following someone else's info. I don't fish Simcoe much, and K-bay even less, from a boat but figured I'd pass it along. There are no signs visible from the water except for 2 giant SPEED DEAD SLOW signs. My brother says there are signs posted along the breakwall that say there is no fishing but they're not visible from a boat. There were a whack of people fishing from that breakwall so take that for what it's worth. I tried to check Barrie's website but couldn't find the bylaw (I should have asked Thing1 or Thing2 for it in writing or at least the number. The site does mention that "this is not a complete list, this is for information only, for a full list blah, blah, blah". I'll call next week to see if they have it on the books. Boat ran great, got some sun and fresh air. Better than any day of work.

Tone deaf or just stupid?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ice-fishing-hut-ottawa-river-1.3568036 Transport Canada says it will inspect a sunken trailer in the Ottawa River to determine whether it qualifies under law as an "obstacle," but the question of who will remove it remains open. The abandoned camper trailer was used as an ice fishing hut last winter, but became mostly submerged when the ice melted. The top of the trailer can be seen from the end of Chemin Terry Fox, which separates Gatineau from the Municipality of Pontiac. It sits about 100 metres from shore, roughly on the border between the two jurisdictions. Frustrated residents living nearby told CBC the two municipalities have been squabbling over which is responsible for removing the trailer from the water. Link has more details.

Ya, we're skipping the park (and the yard) for the next little bit.

I would be checking some knots if i was breaking off getting bit off with heavy fluoro.

I started with heavier fluoro leaders and stated working down in strength. I figured I'd stop when I got bit off. It never happened so I stopped at 20lb fluoro. Maybe my small pike can't get the big baits in their mouths and the big pike have teeth that are too dull.

Good to hear. I hope to get out on Friday for my first trip. P.A. day perchin' with my son.

I use a few different strengths depending on the set-up. The spoon/spinner set up the stiffer/heavier line doesn't really impact the presentation so I'll use 40lb test and I think I also have 80lb that really is over kill but I had it from some musky leaders. For casting jerkbaits and whatnot that have a more subtle action I usually have 20lb fluoro. I also have some no-kink wire leader material that I use as well, but that's more when I'm fishing walleye and pike are likely.

Franken-flat-fish

The videos on the net are nuts. Can't imagine what that's like.

I've never seen one like that.

I had a vision of someone trying to pull-start an electric motor.

A couple more weeks? By then pike and walleye will be open. Hockey finishes tomorrow morning at 8am and then I'll start stringing up rods.

Bigugli's plain nasty salsa on Dragon's Den. Now, that's a fire!