Aaron Shirley

As most others have stated, my favourite line is 80-pound braid to cast with. I use different lines to troll with depending on the situation. Braid in most cases, but I also use mono (St.Clair with planer boards), and leadcore and wire in the fall. I like 6-foot fluoro leaders for trolling. Aaron

Sorry it has taken so long to get the pics up here, I know many of you were waiting to see them. Tony was over yesterday and figured out the problems I was having after reformatting my computer. Thanks Tony! So, here are the few pics we took, enjoy. Pics go with Speedtroll's report: Speedtroll's Thread Aaron

OK, I finally have my programs working thanks to Tonyb, thanks again Tony! I'll post the pics in a new thread. Sorry to hear about Chris.. hopefully he recovers quickly. Our thoughts are with him and your family. All the best, Aaron

Is anyone doing this one-day salmon tourney at Fisherman's Pier at the Hamilton lift bridge this Sunday? It is only $10. a head and should be a fun time. Aaron

Hi Mike, I sent Rob all the pictures, but I am not sure if he received all of them because I am still having issues sending attachments and uploading after reformatting my computer recently. Dang computers! Sorry it has taken so long to post the pics. As for having kids of my own... hoping to start next year. I already warned Kristi I cannot fish any less than I do, and she will have to do most of the work. She said she is ok with that I give it a few weeks with a crying baby before she changes her mind lol. I sure hope they like fishing, because they will know how to tie a roe sack by the time they are five lol I'll see what I can do to post the pics tonight when I get home. Cheers, Aaron

Irishfield has a great thread to help us all remember how things can turn ugly very quickly on the water, and fortunately his experience turned out well. Hopefully his thread will help save a few lives of OFC members that read it. I want to share a scary experience I had on the water once without hijacking Irishfield's thread. Here is another example of how things can turn ugly very quickly out there (Tonyb will remember this one).. I have always felt confident in my ProV, perhaps a little too confident. I have gone 30mph tacking in 10-footers before safely without a problem on the Great Lakes. Since I have owned my ProV, I have been fearless on the big water, but that changed about 2 years ago when I learned a whole new respect for mother nature and the water. Tony, Kristi and I were fishing Lake Ontario during a salmon tournament, and it was moderately rough out with an average 6-foot chop. No big deal in a big Lund ProV eh? We were cautiously heading back to the weigh-in at about 15mph with the waves, when all of a sudden a rogue 9- to 10-footer quickly came out of nowhere. I slowed the boat down right away, but it was exactly at the wrong time and we speared the base of the wave at 15mph. I didn't panic and kept the boat idling in gear. When we surfaced again, I quickly made sure everyone was still in the boat before I pinned the throttle to get rid of the water that filled my boat (to the top of the gunnels!). After the majority of the water was dumped out the back of the boat in short order, the Lund floated like a cork, and the bilge ran for an hour to get rid of the rest of the water under the floor boards. We were all lucky that we were wearing floater suits because it was April, the passengers were gripping the holy s*** handles and I didn't panic and knew what to do. It could have easily turned into a tragedy if someone had not been wearing a PFD and got blown out of the boat and hit their head on the way out. The water was so powerful when we hit the wave, that it blew off both widshields and one rigger! I consider myself a good driver, and cautious as well. Things just happen that quickly in unpredictable conditions. Since that incident, I have always made sure everyone wears a PFD in rough conditions, and although I am still confident with my ProV, I have a lot more respect for mother nature and the water now. Sometimes it takes experiencing a close call to start wearing a PFD when we know we should, don't let that happen to you. In about 25 years of boating, that is the first and last time that ever happened to me. We were all shocked when it happened because I have been in those same conditions hundreds of times over the years without incident. All it took was one very quick rogue wave to open my eyes. Always wear your PFD's in rough water and always wear one if you are fishing alone! Be safe out there! Aaron

I am glad to hear everything turned out well Wayne. Thank you for sharing your experience, it is a good reminder for everyone how mother nature can turn ugly very quickly. I bet you kissed your big Lund when you made it back to the dock safely! Be safe out there! Aaron

Is that with or without your bass gear lol Now, I am a bit of a speed freak, but that is crazy fast! As Tim the Tool Man's wife would say "how fast is a bass anyway?". Nice boat. Aaron

Very nice musky your dad got Pete, WTG! It's always nice to have a family member out and get a big 'lunge Aaron

Wow, that is one heck of a first muskie! Congrats on a GB hawg... guess you have the official muskie bug now Good fishing! Aaron

Congrats on your big Tamagami laker and a great trip with the kids! Aaron

Rob, Chris and Nicole, I am really glad that you were able to get out on the water for a fun day of fishing with me. It was my pleasure to have you out, and I am glad everyone got into fish and had fun. I really enjoyed taking you out and seeing the smiles on your faces, it really made my day as well I am not having second thoughts at all.. not even close! I love kids, and your kids are great. They are naturally inquisitive, that's a good thing... besides, I am used to getting asked a lot of questions from kids, as one of my neighbours have 4 little ones that bombard me after I park my boat at times. "what does this do?" "what do you do with that?" "what is that surf board thingy?" are all familiar to me LOL Chris and Nicole are both terrific well mannered kids with a great attitude, just like their father. It's great you could make it out after a few schedule conflicts. I am really happy that you Chris and Nicole were able to share some laughs and excitement during difficult times. Kodak Canada is going to provide 8 x 11 prints of the photos for you. I will send them to you soon with a small package that I think you and the kids will enjoy. I e-mailed you the pics a couple of days ago, did you receive them? You have a great family Rob, and I wish you all the very best, Aaron Shirley

Awesome canoe trip! That's a great report. I love exploring new lakes and rivers myself, very cool. Thanks for the report, and congrats on the big smallie, it's a hawg! Aaron

Welcome to the fishaholics club! Actually, I think OFC is really just a cover for real fishaholics to get help when they need it. And the "OFC Swills"... you guessed it, fishaholics meetings! lol Sorry TJ, I couldn't resist I remember skipping classes in high school when the steelhead were on. I will never forget the day I walked into school just after skipping math... I was wearing waders and a vest with rod in hand leaving mud and water on the floor behind me in the main hallway as I tried to sneak to my locker. Well, wouldn't ya know it, my math teacher walked around the corner and caught me red handed just before I got to my locker! He was a big guy with a bad temper, and I witnessed him give a back hander to a students head once, but lucky for me he was in so much shock, that he never said a word. Your education is very important. Don't make the same mistake I made. I was accepted into Sheridan College for a 4 year program in graphics design when computers for graphics design were new (yes, I'm getting old ). I chose not to go to school and fish more, then spent many years working my tail off, and still am. Not going to school for what I really enjoyed was the biggest mistake I ever made. You will have lots of time for fishing, don't worry. Go to school and study! If you are creative, you may be able to combine your work in graphics design with fishing, like working for a fishing publication Good fishing! Aaron

Rick, check your PM's and call me. Aaron

Sweeeeet fish! Man, you guys make Simcoe smallie fishing look easy. Congrats on your PB smallie, that is a toad of a fish! WTG Aaron

Very nice. Gotta love silver fish WTG Aaron

Good to hear the Tightline Shootout was a great success. It looks like a fun day. Very nice touch with the Kodak team photos Mitch! Nice work. I hope to be able to fish it next year. Good fishing! Aaron

Barry spent Friday fishing largies flipping and pitching to weeds and had a good day with about 20 fish up to 4lbs. I fished with him Saturday, but it was a really tough day of fishing, and Barry told me what no angler ever wants to hear "You should have been here yesterday". Doh! We still enjoyed a beautiful day on the water with about 10 largies up to 3lbs on Terminator Pro flipping jigs in black\red and black\blue tipped with black\blue chunk trailers. Barry even got two walleye on flipping jigs! We also got a few hits from gar We targeted 4' to 9' on the edge of coontail, and also open pockets in shallower sparser coontail. There was a bad algae bloom in some areas, and dying weeds in a lot of the shoreline. The fish were located in the healthy weeds. Only got one pic, but it's on Barry's camera. Will post the pic when I get it from him... if I ever get it Good fishing! Aaron

TonyB and I have enjoyed our Humminbird portable units... actually, mine is a nice colour unit that lives on the bow of my big ProV most of the time. It easily snaps off and snaps into the portable case to use with my 12' boat or on the ice to serve 3 purposes, and it works great. I agree with the Tite Lok... this is the best option... any sonar brand suction cup will fall off unless the boat is new or has a perfect surface. They have them at LeBarons: Tite Lok High Speed Transducer Mount Cheers, Aaron

Very nice Marc. Those are some nice 'skies! Aaron

Great muskie report Lew! Sounds like you boys had ome fun, and even got the wife out too I agree about the figure 8, it is the absolute best to get them hitting at the boat on a figure 8, oval or L-turn Good fishing! Aaron

Great muskies Roy, WTG! 2 great fish in a few hours doesn't surprize me fishing with Marc. He is the muskie man! Aaron

That's a great GB 'lunge, WTG! Aaron

We all feel your pain Lew. Most of us have had bad encounters from the 'moron factor'. Launching a Suick or lead weight may seem like a good idea at the time, but if you ever hit anyone, you will be the one charged. I almost bit the big one years ago going through the Peace bridge area on the upper Niagara River when a 40' cigarette boat loaded with young people drinking beer came 2' from my starboard side on purpose at full throttle coming way to close to flipping my boat at one of the most dangerous areas on the river. The worst part was that the occupants in the boat cheered when they almost flipped my boat and killed me. I can't even begin to describe how mad I was. A proper test to attain a boaters licence similar to a vehicle complete with a boat ride to pass is a great idea... much better than the tax grab joke of a boaters card we have now. All boaters are legally responsible for their own wake. Cheers, Aaron