singingdog

Rogues don't have that kind of detail at the nose: they have that old-school pointy nose similar to rapalas.

Some days, a few degrees warmer makes all the difference. Not just warm-water species. I have been on trout lakes where a 1 or 2 degree rise in temps is the difference between getting bit and casting. People still believe that?

I was too quick on the trigger last night. I think you're right: it looks like an alpha minnow in Strike Pro's baby bass pattern. The Matzuo only has 2 hooks, this one has 3.

Yep. It's definitly not Flashminnow or a Husky Jerk. It sure looks like the Matzuo, but they get knocked off (or sold under other names) a lot.

Thanks guys.

I'm going to be in the Mansfield area on Saturday morning, looking to get on the water. I am thinking of the Nottawasaga. Anybody fishing there lately? Any other possibilities in the area? Any info would be appreciated: PM me if you prefer.

Nice fish!

The last couple of outings on area lakes have been great for lake trout: 58 degrees on the surface, lots of fish.....no trolling! I don't know how many folks I have talked to that are out over 40-80' of water, slow trolling 20-40' down for trout. Meanwhile, I am casting spoons and bucktail jigs into 5-10' of water, right against the bank, and hammering the fish. I sat in a bay on Saturday and watched 2 boats out on the main lake go fishless for 2 hours while the shallow-water bite was amazing. It seems like lots of folks have one mindset for lake trout: slow trolling. When the water temps are below 60 degrees, you may catch way more fish - and definitly cover way more water - casting for them.

Beauty shot of that male. Nicely done.

Still sounds to me like border guards doing their job. Imagine that; you told them you were harmless and they didn't just enter that into the computer and wave you through with a smile every subsequent time that you showed up. I'm sure that the folks that they are trying to catch never thought to try that same tactic; "Hey, let's pretend that we are going down for 'training' then they won't hassle us at the border." I imagine this thread would have a very different tone if we were talking about the smuggler or terrorist that got through the border using exactly the same story that you are describing: letter from employer, story about frequent training in the states, harmless looking middle-aged guy with no visible ties to a criminal group. Folks would be ranting about how stupid the border guards were for falling for such a transparent ploy.

Sounds to me like border guards doing their job .

Nice looking jigs and chatterbaits. I use zonker jigs for everything from trout to musky with good results. These are tied on 7/0 hooks: musky like 'em.

If you have access to big black zonker strips, try tying a magnum leech pattern on some of those jigheads: it can be a killer pattern on pike. The zonker strips are, IMHO, the best leech imitation going: much more action at slower speeds than plastics. Have a great trip.

I'm really curious as to how the information got to the police, or to the owners of TomTom. Most GPS units don't send information at all: just recieve it. A GPS unit is just a radio receiver, reading radio signals from satellites, then interpreting the signal to tell you where you are. The GPS unit doesn't send information out unless it is specifically designed to transmit that information to some service like OnStar.

A good friend of mine is the manager of a private reserve encompassing about 70,000 acres, with over 50 lakes. None of the lakes is actually private and all fishing regs, including slot limits, are enforced by the MNR. It is extremely rare in Ontario for a lake to be private. Owning the land around a lake does not make it private. Occasionally, land will get surveyed in such a way that the landowner ends up paying tax on the actual surface area of the lake. In that case, the lake itself may be considered private. Otherwise, lakes are public property. In the case of of Cranberry, it looks like you could paddle into it from the Prov Park to the west. If someone were to paddle into it through navigable waterways, they would be well within their rights to do so.

There is a small bait shop in Carnarvon. I believe the next closest one is in Minden.

Wind and rain have really done a number on the ice the last couple of days. Most lakes right in the Haliburton area are open now, or should be open by tomorrow. Just north of here it's going fast.

It's going out fast. 3 days ago; hardly any open water. Yesterday (it's still dark) several lakes had opened up completly and the remaining ice is very dark. I was out on Horseshoe yesterday, and it's mostly ice free. Mountain still has lots, but it is very dark.

If you really want to try something different, look for some of these One of the best speck days I had last year was on those tiny swimbaits. They would rush out and absolutly crush them after ignoring everything else in my tackle box.

Ice is going out as fast as I have ever seen it here in Haliburton: from white and walkable to open water in 24 hrs. With the weather forecast this week, the ice is going to go pretty quickly north of here.

I agree with the "treat them like smallies" comment....one of the reasons I love fishing for brookies. My 2 most productive lures are not typical trout lures: countdown rapalas and bucktail jigs. My favorite bucktail pattern is a sparsely tied minnow pattern: brown/green back on a white belly.

Yea, I think that it was a false alarm. I checked with my local tackle shop and they can still get them.

That is a shame. The countdown minnow must not be sexy enough for todays market. I am going to stock up....the small countdown in a certain color is the best speck/laker lure I have found to date.

Solo is right, no swivel will help get them started....that works with all spinners. Last year, I canned the roostertails I had because I was sick of jerking on them to get them to start spinning.

Don't limit yourself to stick baits and worms. The Yum speed craw is killer on a shakey head.