kickingfrog

I always knew TJ was a reel sweetheart.

If you have to ask, you can't afford it. Good eats Marty, thanks.

Fish don't "move" because they feel like it, they move for some very basic reasons. Shelter, comfort, food, predators and spawning. If a section of their river, or an area of a lake for that matter, hold all the things a species of fish needs during its life, there is no reason for it to move to another. Some fish need a spawning area that is completely different than the conditions that they live in during the rest of the year (or their life). Think river run-fish like stealhead or pacific salmon. Other fish move because they are following prey fish that are moving because they are following baitfish and the bait fish are moving because the water temps, sunlight or current is moving the plankton. Think Walleye/perch/baitfish/plankton. Here in Canada most places have very distinct seasons, winter and summer with the transitions between. So it is more difficult for a species of fish to find an area that holds all of its lifetime requirements. Farther south the contrast is not as high and so more chance that a fish may not have to move as much during its life. That's part of the story.

In light of the resent salmon fraud I thought this article from today's Globe and Mail might be interest to some on this board. Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/ Cut and paste: Reeling in the cheats Gravel-stuffed bass. Frozen fish posed as fresh. Some fishermen do anything to win. But officials know how to net their prize. Hayley Mick reports HAYLEY MICK From Friday's Globe and Mail June 27, 2008 at 8:52 AM EDT As a veteran detective with the Winnipeg police polygraph unit, Lorne Huff measured the racing hearts of robbers, rapists and murderers. In his retirement, the polygrapher-for-hire is nabbing liars and cheats of a different ilk - with questions like: "Did you catch the fish you brought in today?" "Did you use live bait?" Enlarge Image This is the state of the modern fishing derby, in which some anglers are so inclined to poke a little lead in their bass that organizers are hiring professionals such as Mr. Huff - a regular at two annual Ontario bass tournaments - to hook the fish fraudsters. The problem reared its head this week at the Salmon Masters Derby on Lake Ontario, when news broke that an angler allegedly stuffed a one-pound (450-gram) steel weight into his chinook, entered it to win $500 for biggest catch of the day and landed a criminal charge of fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail. But derby organizers across Canada have their own fishy stories. Bass stuffed with gravel. Hidden underwater pens of walleye that are netted and handed in on derby day. Salmon imported from other lakes, where fish are bigger. "I've personally disqualified fish that were previously frozen," says Fred Geberdt, co-director of the Owen Sound Salmon Spectacular, a 10-day annual event on Georgian Bay in Ontario. But as the prize caches get larger - some derbies dish out up to $500,000 in prizes including boats, trailers, trucks and $30,000 cheques - officials are becoming increasingly sophisticated at netting the cheats. Some techniques belong in a CSI episode: species-specific calculations, polygraph tests and biologists on call to analyze gills and tissue - and decipher frozen from fresh, trout from chinook. Catch a cheater, officials say, and they'll ring the police. "This is not the fun weekend up at the cottage," says Walter Oster, chairman of the Great Ontario Salmon Derby, a 50-day event with more than $450,000 in prizes. Mr. Oster has sliced open salmon stuffed with rocks, ice and steel. One summer, he forced a Montreal woman to take a polygraph after other competitors swore she'd had children who hadn't paid an entry fee in her boat (which is against the rules) and reeled in a fish worth $30,000 in prizes. She flunked. But the biggest swindle attempt came a few years back, when a Toronto man tried to enter a salmon he'd stuffed with seven pounds (three kilograms) of lead pipe and rock. The man was slapped with two counts of "cheating at play" and two counts of attempted fraud over $5,000. To someone whose idea of fishing is casting off a dock, a criminal charge for fish tampering may sound extreme. But not to serious sports fishermen. "They deserve all they get," says Harry Joncas, a retired charter operator from Hamilton who has fished for more than 25 years. "It's no different than embezzling money from a bank." To be good, anglers say, their sport requires as much dedication as golf or hockey. Some practise every day, starting in spring and ending in the fall. Competitions can eat up weeks when you include travel time, a "prefish" to scope out the lake, and the derby itself. On top of that, thousands of dollars are invested in gas, hotels, fishing licences and entry fees. Canadian anglers, including sports fishermen, spent more than $1.6-billion on food, lodging, transportation and supplies in 2005, according to Statistics Canada's most recent data. When you take all that expense into account, plus the potential prizes, cheating at a derby is a serious offence, says Detective Constable Mark McNeil of the Niagara Regional Police Service's fraud unit. "It does play out like any other fraud." An avid fisherman who has won a few tournaments himself, Det. Constable McNeil happened to be working when Salmon Masters Derby organizers called to report the lead-stuffed salmon. Tournament organizers were shocked, Det. Const. McNeil said, since the man is well known in the competitive fishing circuit. Norval Boufford, who was charged with fraud under $5,000, runs a fishing tour company on Lake Erie, and has won previous competitions. In an interview, Mr. Boufford said he weighted his fish as a joke to impress his wife. The incident had anglers buzzing online. Some were angry. "No class," one wrote. Others sympathized because, whether he's convicted or not, Mr. Boufford's reputation has suffered. In a world as small as competitive fishing, damage to one's reputation can be worse than a day in court. "Never mind the money - just the embarrassment alone!" says Frank McClymont, a competitive fisherman and co-director of the Kenora Bass International tournament in northern Ontario. "You could just not go to the coffee shop any more. You wouldn't be seen on the water." So, with so much on the line, why do some people cheat? "They want to see their names in lights," Mr. Oster says. "They want to win a boat and trailer." Others say competitive fishing is like any other sport. In rare cases, even the best of them (Barry Bonds, anyone?) bend the rules. When they do, people such as Mr. Huff and his polygraph machine will be ready. "It's a lot of fun," the 70-year-old says of his summer gig, including major bass tournaments in Fort Frances, Ont., and Kenora, where he has a cottage. He's had no major busts since he started in 1992. "Most of them are professionals," he says of the anglers he grills. "They'll tell you anything you want to know."

Don and Ruth were very generous and offered me a spot in their boat during the pike Derby. I had a great time, even if I did lose a solid second place fish due to my own foolishness. The free board difference between my canoe and that beauty are significant to say the least. Thanks guys.

Neither do you.

Funny, most of my photos of you came out blurry too.

Something along those lines was uttered by TJ this weekend.... numerous times I believe.

That's another one of my favourites, it's not hard to tell who understands that either.

It might be a line of existing lures that are customized. Special colours/patterns and higher quality hooks. I'll be looking.

Here's another one, page three in the Globe and Mail with a big picture of him holding the evidence. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...Story/National/ Big fish story nets fraud charge Putting one-pound weight into salmon at derby was 'joke,' fisherman says DAKSHANA BASCARAMURTY From Tuesday's Globe and Mail June 24, 2008 at 4:50 AM EDT Norval Boufford was just trying to impress a girl, but putting a one-pound weight into a salmon and entering it in a fishing derby has instead netted the award-winning angler humiliation and a criminal charge of fraud. The Port Dover, Ont., man said he artificially weighted a salmon - his specialty - as a "joke" to impress his wife, who was with him on a fishing trip. The joke fell flat when he entered the fish in the Salmon Masters Derby - a 61-day competition with a payout of $500 for the biggest catch of each day on and around Lake Ontario - two to three weeks ago. When officials noticed that the length and girth of the chinook salmon didn't seem to suit its approximately 20-pound weight, they explored the inside with a rod and found the steel weight. They not only disqualified him, they contacted police who charged Mr. Boufford with fraud under $5,000, said Detective Constable Mark McNeil of the Niagara Regional Police fraud unit. Mr. Boufford, who runs a boating and fishing tour company on Lake Erie, said he has been miserable as news of the scandal spreads throughout the angling community. "What have I been doing since then?" he asked yesterday. "Besides throwing up daily and getting very little sleep?" Andrew Pallotta of Salmon Masters said he was shocked. "It's no different than going and stealing from a bank or stealing from a business or company. At the end of the day, you've done something illegal that you're going to pay for." Police have received a flood of e-mails from irate anglers who say the integrity of competitive fishing has been marred by the incident, said Det. Constable McNeil. "Generally, the fishing world is pretty supportive of [the fraud charge]. They go into these fishing tournaments to play fair. I don't think they have a whole lot of sympathy for anyone who tries to cut a corner," he said. Mr. Pallotta said many of Mr. Boufford's fellow anglers are in disbelief, since the man is well known in the competitive fishing circuit. In 2007, he accepted the title of Angler of the Year and a first-place prize for his nearly 30-pound salmon from the Stelco Fishing Club. Mr. Boufford said he knew there was a fish that had already beaten the weight of his earlier that day and didn't think his submission would lead to any controversy. "It's very upsetting to me. It wasn't in the context to try and win something there and the guys involved know that," he said. "I should know better to even fool around even inside a derby. It was a lack of judgment on my part," he said.

More of an observation but with his passing this one from George Carlin makes you wonder. Think about how stupid the average person is... half the population is stupider then them.

Thanks Joe, the "fit right in" kinda hurts though.

Sounds like she was all bark with no (legal) bite (easy to say now I know). Remember some people in the big smoke wanted to prevent kids from playing road hockey. Now someone didn't want a father and son to spend an afternoon fishin' . Some people just like to spoil other people's fun.

You can not give or receive with a clenched fist. Martin L. King

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRole TIDE! for Dog Nice to meet you guys. Cool boats by the way.

First time for me at Lakair and with the exception of one, I had not met anybody else there in person. Board names, given names, avatar photos its a bit of a blur. Loaded up and ready to go Almost there Went out for a paddle as soon as I got there Think this guy knows the other place around the bend has a bigger one on his boat house??? I even had time to fish Lots of people, many like me, with a board name and a given name Night time at the dock Bedtime after the campfire. (the campfire photos will be up for auction soon) 5 am and it's time to fish (after a couple of photos) Lakair from the water A nice little spot with deep water and a little current... and some fish From the cast of characters. GCD kept his shirt on the whole weekend.(Roy too) Gearing-up for the pike tourney Group shot (and a testament to the dock's strength) The big fish of the day... the pike not the angler TJ fish jugglin' One of our southern friends and his jet boat Irishfeild thought I needed a shower??? Beans' shirt. There was not much of the former but a lot of the latter. The prize table with the King and Queen presiding over their court. First Canadian fishing trip for the Spawn of the Spawn of ED Betcha he comes back Ed, Spawn of, and Spawn of Spawn of The winner Series of sun set shots (that little dot of light is Bly and Cliff) Bly and Cliff comin' in Sitin' around the fire Great time. Great people. Thanks to all.

I had rumors about Cliff's guitar, I guess I went to bed too early.

Had a great time. I my even go back. Thanks TJ, and everybody else involved. I'm working on my photos.

%^$# you!

There was an article in the last couple of months in either Ontario Out of Doors or Outdoor Canada. The author challenged himself to fish for a whole year with only a white grub, including icefishing.

That $5 was OOS. OOS! OSS! I'm always amazed at what some people will throw away. Nice find.

Great stuff, that's one more rod (or two) in the boat!