Aaron Shirley

Good topic. I used to take notes of every day on the water for about 10 years, many of them while guiding the Niagara area. I made a template and printed them off and filled them out after every trip when I got home. I had a sharp memory back then I found it too difficult to take notes while on the water unless I was trolling for musky. It was all pen and paper, so compiling stats and graphs were cumbersome at the end of each year, but very rewarding. I learned a lot from my notes and was able to get dialed in to the fish a lot quicker after the knowledge I had attained. I don't take notes after fishing anymore, I don't have the time after each trip that I did when I was single. I really had "holy crap" moments when reviewing the data though, and it helped me realize a lot about the fish I targeted, their movements, conditions etc. I think this was most effective due to fishing the same watersheds all the time as well.

Wow, great pike. Must have been a riot through a hole

I guess I just got one from Radio World before the back order. Josh is a great guy, and really knows his electronics! Good move going to him. Get the best battery available for that unit that will last longer if you are building one with Josh. I believe you can run a 9amp, but you should ask Josh to confirm. From what I hear, Lowrance has just totally revamped the soft portable case. The new ones are now blue, have a float system rather than that slide-out contraption, better fit the units and have tackle trays. A soft case for Lowrance that is really built for the ice I got the older grey one though and had to modify it with my own float. I spent .99 cents on 3/4 inch pipe insulation, doubled it and tie strapped it on the transducer cable. The HDS units are the best electronics I have ever used bar none. I can't wait to get my HDS5 out on the ice now along with my new Clam Base Camp Thermal (got the last one at Fishing World a couple weeks ago) Enjoy building a case and good ice fishing!

I plan to be there as always. Looking forward to another great event

Great report Tyler. Love the multi-species reports. That is a wild looking coho, kind of has colouring like a chum. That pike is insane, that chick is smiling from ear to ear!

You and Rob had a great day out there! Very nice, and good pics

Great fish! Congrats

No prob Steve, glad to have you and your dad out. It's been years since we've been out, but I'm sure the next trip we share a boat will not be that far off It's always fun to fish with ya Steve. Oh, and it would have been an Ontario record drum if I kept it, not a world record. The world record is 54lbs

Very sorry to hear about this Rick. If you would like to get out fishing with me for a little relaxing therapy, you are welcome any time. You know how to get a hold of me. All the best, Aaron

Thanks guys, it was a fun day out Oh, and I use Rapala rods, big bucks Steve was using the NRX lol. Blair, that fish was caught in the lake. A fresh steelie that will more than likely spawn in the early spring. Steelies you get in the tribs colour up and may be winter spawners, or just starting to colour up while getting ready for the spawn early spring. They don't all run the rivers and spawn at the same time. They are all different shapes, sizes and colours in a heavily stocked fishery like Niagara, Port D., and I'm sure have many strains.

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. It wasn't an easy decision, but my family is very happy. I actually have more time to go fishing now as well

It's been a while since Steve and I have fished together, and this would be a memorable day for both of us and his father Glen who joined us. I invited Steve and his father out to fish the Niagara River with me on Saturday, and we hatched a game plan. I heard the upper Niagara was clear, so we were all excited! I stayed up late tying fresh goopy roe bags and watched the Leafs crush Atlanta! I don't get too see many games this year that are so lopsided (at least for the Leafs ), so it was a treat. A good omen for Saturday We arrived at Queenton eager on Saturday morning, but to a muddy river choked with heavy ice flows This was confusing, as nothing warranted a muddy river in my mind. I believe it was coming from Buffalo, as above the dams was choked with ice and just as muddy. The upper river was clear on the ON side, muddy on the NY side. We decided to try Port Dalhousie, and it was the right choice. We fished in the channel all the way out to the lake, and even drifted out in Lake Ontario itself hitting steelies and browns. This would be a different trip for Steve though, as we were not trolling Steve and his dad were excited to try something new. We got pounded by two seperate snow storms which we kept fishing through It was a great day, and we got lots of strange looks from people walking the pier while we fished Lake O in a snow storm lol. We got lots of browns and steelies drifting fresh roe bags in pink, white and peach. On to the photos. And yes, I did catch more than one fish lol, but my guests put most of the fish into the Lund when they caught on to the style of fishing Enjoy the photos, mixed shots from my cam and Steve's. Snow squalls coming in on the horizon! Glen almost got a shot of his nice steelhead lol, camera shy fish made a quick exit Good fishing! Aaron

Surely Fishing TV Show Cancelled Press Release January 7th, 2011, Burlington Ontario The Surely Fishing TV show will not be airing on television. The host and executive producer Aaron Shirley has recently made this difficult decision despite the high level of interest from anglers in the show. Surely Fishing was set to air on OLN this January, but the show has been sidelined with Aaron's decision. The main reason for the cancelation of the show is the limited time Aaron has now to get a brand new business off the ground and running. Aaron currently works up to 48 hours a week in the automotive sector, and has worked at this job for over 16 years now. Now that Aaron has a young boy at home and his wife is expecting their second child in July of this year, it will be next to impossible to keep working at a full-time job and continue to operate a full-time business. Aaron has been working full-time in the auto sector and operating the Getting Hooked business full-time for approximately six years. "Although it has been very difficult working up to 18 hours a day to help Getting Hooked become successful, I managed with the sleep deprivation and was really driven to succeed in living my dream" Aaron stated. "I was single for the beginning of the Getting Hooked business, and the auto sector was shaky at the time with limited hours, enabling me to put all of my spare time into the business" exclaimed Shirley. Aaron went on to say "I was willing to sacrifice my social life and time in order for Getting Hooked to become a success and realize my life-long dream. That isn't the case now working long hours on an assembly line with a young family at home". A sombre Aaron explained "It is not easy starting a business from the ground up in any industry, and I believe that it is much more difficult for a fishing TV show. I was sad that the Getting Hooked TV show had to come to an end with all my hard work and the continuing success of the show". Aaron really enjoyed co-hosting and producing a fishing TV show, and he met a lot of great people along the way. At his current crossroad, he was forced to make a decision on his future in TV. Aaron is a very family oriented person that loves spending time with his wife and son, and he is very excited that his wife will be delivering their second child soon. "I will finally have the time to spend a good deal of my spare time with my family, which is very important to me" explained Aaron. During the first year of his son's life, Aaron didn't get to spend much time with him due to working so many hours for Getting Hooked. This was difficult for Aaron as he missed a lot of milestones in the life of his first born. "Spending time with my kids and watching them grow up is much more important to me than hosting a TV show" remarked Shirley. The Future for Aaron Shirley Aaron is looking forward to having free time again to spend with his family. He is also looking forward to having the time to just go fishing for fun with friends and people he meets. Aaron will always make time for his passion of fishing in his life, and plans to balance time with family like so many other working parents with an addiction to fishing. Although Aaron spent long hard hours on the business side of the Getting Hooked TV show, he really did enjoy the hosting and producing part of the show. Aaron intends to keep his www.surelyfishing.ca website up and running with weekly blogs from his fishing adventures and on-line video episodes as a hobby. "This is going to be a fun website for me that I can work on after my kids go to bed. I will still be able to share my passion of fishing and my life with people through this website" explained Shirley. Aaron plans to continue to Facebook and tweet live fishing updates from his Blackberry while out fishing and maintain his website in his spare time. The first on-line episode will be available on his website and his SurelyFishingTV YouTube channel mid-January. Aaron Shirley invites you to watch him and his guest Dustin Boczek shore fishing for Georgian Bay gar in the first episode.

LOL The Russians played their hearts out when the Canadians seemed to go to sleep in the 3rd thinking they had the game. It was a crappy outcome for us, but the most exciting comeback in junior history. Congrats Russia, you deserved it!

They deserved it! The Canadians would have done the same, especially coming back from 3-0! It will be a big boost for Russian junior hockey for sure, congrats to them.

I believe that organizations like OFAH is very important and do a good job of lobbying, as well as the smaller clubs. I'm not trying to take anything away from them. Getting involved with OFAH and/or local groups help. I think it would only help our cause to add additional lobbying from anglers here, as the unique visitors on this site is substantial and mostly from Ontario.

Now that is awesome!!! Congrats, I can feel the excitement in your post My son is now 23 months old, and I can't wait to experience what you just did!

We live in the wealthiest Province in Canada, our government has the money. They just need to spend it wisely and adjust their budget to the voters' best interest.

Well, I figured this topic may become controvercial and have some negative feedback. I can understand why many people feel that no matter what we do it will not make a difference. The government does not have the best track record at times. The bottom line is, we are a special interest group, and not a small one. I feel that we are a large enough special interest group that lobbying the government can make a difference. Other special interest groups lobby the government successfully all the time. Even a bunch of small improvements for anglers annually can be a victory for us. We shouldn't expect everything to be solved overnight and be all better with a few letters. We are not asking the government to do the impossible, just continue to make improvements for anglers and let them hear our voice. We live in a democratic society that allows free speech and lobbying our government. Why not utilize the tools we were given to try and help make our passion in life even better. What do we really have to loose? A small amount of our time to send a few letters may put our sport in the spotlight in Ottawa a little more, create more awareness and add political pressure to make improvements. Remember the old saying "the squeeky wheel gets the greese"? I believe that we can help make a difference if we all work together. There is another old saying "united we stand tall, divided we fall". I don't want to just sit and watch further degradation of our great sport. I really love fishing in Ontario and would like to see improvements. Don't we all? Who knows, if there are improvements to fishing in Ontario and more public awareness, it just may get more people into our great pastime and grow. Growth for our sport would be a good thing. I can spend the time to draft a letter and post it here, but we need real support from anglers in order to make this work. One squeeky wheel 100 miles from Ottawa will not be heard. Aaron

Unfortunately, I don't believe that our Ontario Liberal government realizes or cares enough about the economic benefits that fishing brings to this Province. Many of the States have always been light years ahead of Ontario catering to anglers, and even many other Provinces cater to angling a lot more IMO. In the States and other Provinces, they add many good launch ramp facilities to popular lakes and rivers, fish cleaning stations and access points with parking to rivers and creeks. In Ontario, good launch ramp facilities and fish cleaning stations are rare, and access points to rivers and creeks seem to be dissapearing quickly with all the building. Fish rearing for Great Lakes tributaries in NY is tremendous compared to Ontario. This is very evident when you see rivers full of fish and anglers in NY compared to our tributaries in Ontario (this year was one of few good years). Some tribs in Ontario have good natural reproduction which is great, but the tribs that don't should be heavily stocked IMO. It's a shame, because Ontario is a great place with so many angling opportunities. I would like to see improvements, wouldn't you? My wife purchased a fishing licence at CTC early last year and didn't get her card until about November. Stuff like this shouldn't happen. Don't take this post the wrong way, I am not bashing our OMNR. I think they are doing a good job considering the lack of funding and manpower they have. I believe that change will only happen if political candidates hear from a good number of anglers from Ontario. We need to let the politicians hear our voice in the next Ontario Provincial election. The more voices that political candidates hear from anglers will help. Municipal elections should be treated the same way. Whenever I got a knock at the door during my last municipal election from political candidates, I took the time to speak to them about adding more access points to Bronte Creek and launch ramp facilities on Lake Ontario in Burlington. I am only one voice that can easily be brushed off though. I believe that I can still do more and plan to, by drafting a letter and sending it to all future political candidates in the next election. Change for the better can happen with enough political pressure, and there is enough anglers here on OFC alone to make a difference. Remember these points during the next political election campaign. I realize that most of us lead busy lives, but it will not take that much time to send a few letters and speak to political candadites that knock on our doors. Every bit helps. - inject more funding into the OMNR (i.e. more Conservation Officers) - More public education/awareness (i.e. regulation changes or public awareness on differentiating species etc.) - Protect our watersheds - More/better launch ramp facilities - Fish cleaning stations at popular launch ramps - More/better access points to rivers and streams with parking and garbage cans Sorry if this topic has been on here recently and I missed it. Aaron

It's about time Ontario got out of the stone age with fishing licence purchasing. They are definitely behind the times. I don't blame the OMNR with a severe lack of manpower and proper funding. My wife purchased a fishing licence at CTC early last year and didn't get her card until about November. Brutal. Hopefully things will continue to improve with the new system.

Vince joined me for a short morning fish on the Niagara on Sunday.. very short. After seeing the water was just fishable, I launched and we headed down river. We saw the Police working half-way down a steep bank to remove a car on our first drift! Niagara Car Accident After snapping a pic of the car we set up and made a few drifts. We tried shiners, roe and Kwikfish as the water quickly turned muddy with the high winds After several drifts without a fish and less than a foot of vis with brown water conditions, we pulled out and headed to Port Dalhousie hoping for clearer water. We were greated with heavily stained water, but it was better than the Niagara. I think the water was slowly starting to lose vis there as well, but it was fishable. I got one steelie on a pink roe bag as the wind was making it unbearable to fish in comfort and have good boat control. We left shortly after frozen and battered from the wind and headed to Timmies for a coffee. I needed to get out, but man, what brutal conditions. I really hope Lake erie freezes up soon so we can have clear water to fish!

I've used the CTC version Sub Zero often for a few years now and really enjoyed it. Although I like the hut, it is a light material with a lot of pin holes through it. The advantage is the light weight, but on a really cold windy day it is hard to keep warm, even with a Mr.Buddy heater on full. Also, condensation drips down on the really cold days with the light fabric. For most of my trips, it worked great. I just upgraded to the Clam Base Camp Thermal, and I'm hoping it stops condensation from dripping down and it stays a lot warmer on the really cold windy days. I'll find out how well it performs this winter. I hope it's worth the bigger price tag. The only disadvantage is the extra 10-pounds with the thicker material. Hope this helps you find the right pop-up shelter for ya. BTW: whichever pop-up brand you purchase, it's good practice to take it out of the bag, unfold it and dry it out after every use. I also spray all the zippers often with silicone spray to keep the zippers working well in the cold. These tips will help the shelter last longer and keep it working well for ya. Enjoy your 2011 ice season! Aaron

Here is a pic from my Kodak. I zoomed in close, but it didn't turn out that well due to low light conditions and drifting by quickly in the boat. I lightened it up some. The car was about a little more than half way down the steep bank to the river. It's a good thing the trees stopped the car from landing in the icy cold river, or none of occupants of the car would have lived. I spoke briefly with the accident investigator at Queenston. He informed me the car had young adults and alcohol was the suspected cause of the accident. He also said everyone wasn't in that bad of shape except for one passenger in serious condition that may not make it. A pointless accident that could have been easily avoided for the cost of a cab.

I have the CTC version of the Eastman Cube (Sub Zero). I like it, but there are a million pin holes in it and the wind does go right through it on a cold windy day. Even with my Mr.Buddy heater it can be a bit cool with the wind blowing through it. I sprayed mine at the end of last season, so hopefully it helps with the wind a bit. Other than it starting to come apart in the corners and strap pockets, it has been a good shelter for me. I use it a lot and it has gone through 3 years of heavy use, so I am happy. I do like the design and it is great for 2 people to fish in. Lots of room and comfortable for 2 guys with all their gear. It is a good option for guys that walk like me, or have an ATV and pack light. It is very stable in the wind with all the straps secured to the ice, but the drawback is set-up time, and anchoring the ice anchors are labour intensive unless you have a cordless drill. I find moving often is a chore with set-up and tear-down times. Having said that, I believe the pop-up style hut is the best option for guys that walk that enjoy spending time in the same hut and socialize. I imagine that most of the pop-up style shelters are similar. I am interested in the Clam pop-up with the thermal, as that should solve the wind problem and condensation dripping down. Also, the Clam pop-up has 2 doors in opposite corners which is brilliant. Good fishing! Aaron