singingdog

Yep, great folks with great customer service and an impressive selection for such a small shop.

Be careful....some of the lakes in the Haliburton area have actually lost ice in the past few days.

In case some of the "southerners" were thinking that the mild temps were limited to the GTA: I drove from Haliburton to Huntsville yesterday. The only ice is on very small lakes, and you could throw a rock threw the thin ice that does exist. Large lakes are completely free of ice. I think that trout opener may be an open-water affair this year.

More expensive units offer greater accuracy in a few ways:

1. Being WAAS enabled, which allows the unit to read "extra" satellites that broadcast corrections to the regular satellite signals.

2. Better antennas that read lower quality signals (signals coming through cloud cover or tree cover), or reflected signals (signals bouncing off buildings or steep landscape features).

3. The ability to "average" (which 95% of GPS users don't use): averaging is when the GPS unit takes readings every few seconds for a certain time period and gradually "homes in" on the location. Averaging is one of the ways that super-accurate units (accurate within a few centimeters, and price tags in the several thousands) achieve the level of accuracy they do. BUT, it can take from several minutes up 15 minutes for those units to achieve that kind of accuracy.

If accuracy within a few meters is important to you, then look for a unit with the above features AND learn to use them.

I teach GPS use to a few groups every year. The students are typically using low-end units like the Garmin Etrex ($100). We consider accuracy withing 10 m to be acceptable with those units, but often have to settle for 15 m. Using a Garmin 62cs ($450), I usually get accuracy within 5 m under the same conditions.

I have never done it for personal property, but was part of a Land Trust that had it done for most of it's properties. It seems like a fairly straightforward process. Basically, you need to get a management plan done by a qualified professional, then follow the management plan to qualify for the tax incentive.

Like he said, if you are so good at catching huge bass, go make yourself a million on the bass circuit.

Personally, I don't get the draw of walleye fishing. I have hooked 24" eyes that have all the fight of an 8" bass. There's a reason that some folks call them "boots"; but they are tasty

MEC does not carry snake guards. Outdoor specialty shops (Hikers Haven, MEC, Ad Guide) are not going to carry them. My guess is that you will have to order them.....they are a specialty item even where poisonous snakes are prevalent. I know quite a few hard-core herp guys and none of them wear them.

ChrisK is right: aquaseal or marine goop (same stuff, comes in a bigger tube) should fix it. If it's fairly large, try putting tape on the inside, then gooping the outside. The tape will give it a base to set-up on.

It's a 100% reaction strike, no finesse whatsoever. I'm fairly confident I could get as many fish running straight braid. The 12lb fluoro tippet probably does nothing more than give me confidence.

That would be my guess. If they are that aggressive, the flouro is probably overkill....but it's hard to argue with 50 landed steelhead

I wouldn't have said anything at all....just called the hotline. I get the same thing on a local stocked rainbow stream. I used to say something, but used to get the "it's stocked, it's OK" from one couple that consistently took double their limit. Now, it's pics of their license plate and a quick call to the hotline.

There is a time (a water temperature really) where bass feed heavily and aggressively. On the lakes I fish, I find that happens down to about 60F. After that, I change my tactics completely. Big bass will still be feeding, but they will be very localised and not super-aggressive. Smaller baits and slower presentations seem to work best for me. I catch most of my big bass this time of year on black hair jigs, 4" senkos and other smaller plastics. More importantly, I am fishing sloooowly. There are still times that fast baits will trigger a bite, but not as consistently as when the water is warmer.

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Great advice above about looking for green plants and rocks. I often use a 3/4 oz spoon to search for green plants in 20 FOW: let it settle on the bottom and twitch it back. The treble will snag vegetation so you can tell if you have found greenery.

Something about this time of year, pike, and small lures. I had 3 pike the other day while smallie fishing with Nories tailspins. They are about the size of a #3 mepps. I finally switched lures because I couldn't keep the pike off of the tailspin.

Nice fish!!

I know a couple of hard-core pike guys that use them with good luck. I hope they work for the big-toothy critters. They certainly don't get good reviews as a bass lure.

At these water temps, I would fish them like brookies: cast to shoreline cover that has easy access to deep water. Steep dropoffs with large rocks are another spot to check out. If you have a FFinder, look for anyplace that has a slight rise in temps. With the sun in the forecast, the sun will heat up areas with dark bottom, logs, shallow rocks. I rarely fish deep for them this time of year, but I also get skunked occasionally.

Here you go: http://www.ontariostewardship.org/councils/bancroft/files/Stocking_List_2007_2010_final.pdf

Good luck. This is a great time of year for splake.

I picked up a couple of Suicks to round out my small musky arsenal. Threw them yesterday....they are nice and clean after a good rinsing all the paint is still intact!

I am curious to hear how folks work them. As a newb, and someone used to higher-action baits, I am perplexed as to why they work so well (yes, I know they do): the action is incredibly subtle. Are folks fishing them like a jerkbait? Reeling very slowly? Any advice is appreciated.

There isn't going to be much difference - in either accuracy or distance - between a 5' 9" rod and a 6' rod. Distance is more a function of matching the rods action to the lures you are throwing with it than length: IMHO. I would look at the new Shimano rods. They are putting an IM8 blank on a $75 rod now.

They are all over the place in the lakes that I have been fishing. I was spooking LM in 5 FOW, catching SM and LM off the bottom in 20 FOW. The fish that are going to bite will be where the food is. Be prepared to switch tactics. I always figure that figuring out depth this time of year is waaaay more important than figuring out other variables like colour and lure selection.

Water temps just below 60F. Bass are everywhere; from 5' to 20'. Southern shorelines with dark bottom or rocks seem to be holding them, as does any remaining green vegetation.

Tough call. The head certainly looks like a smallie, but I have never seen that pattern on a smallie before. Seems to me like a candidate for the hybrid category.

Got out for a very short fish the other morning with a couple of other yakfishers. Bass were all over the place: on the bottom, suspended 4' down over 20 FOW, and still hanging out on weebeds in 10-12 FOW. Weedbeds are dieing, but if there is green left, that is where the fish are. Gotta love it when you can throw topwater over 18' of water and get big smallies.

Here's a few for your viewing pleasure:

21"

19"

20"

big LM that a buddy caught

Nice fish. I hope you marked it, and come back for it later when it's got a belly on it. At that length, and with that head, that fish could go 7 lbs if it was well fed.

Don't be too discouraged. Chasing specks can be a frustrating past time. Even when you find them, they can turn on and off like a light switch. I have hiked kilometers through thick stuff to get to stocked speck lakes, done everything "right" and would have sworn that the lake was deserted. Other times I have done the same thing and had 20 good fish in a one hour period, with long stretches of nothing in between. Good on ya for getting out.

Ditto, ditto, and ditto....congratulations

Comes with the territory of using a free service to sell your goods. Don't take it personally....it's just folks trying to get a better deal. I deal with it on a daily basis at my studio....folks thinking that if they buy 4 plates I should sell it for less than the asking price, or lowballing me on stuff that I consider to be more than fairly priced. Usually it's just entertaining....sometimes it's irritating. One thing I will say.....nobody every gives you a discount if you don't ask.