singingdog

If you are fishing shallow water, don't discount topwaters at any time. Tiny torpedos are a great river topwater, as is a 1/8 oz buzzbait (Booyah is making a nice one). I would think about a small Xrap or a LC Pointer 78 in a natural color (olive/silver or black/silver seem to work on most waters) because of the increased casting distance and the ability to suspend.

I will vouch for him...great guy to deal with and a definite lure junkie. A2F: Evergreen and Jackall are like LuckyCraft, only more so. Expect to pay 25+ for hardbaits from either company.

Moosebunk, Thanks for the reply. I respect the tone and content.

Good post, but I don't see the evidence for this statement. Bass tournament fishing - arguably the most publicised and most visible aspect of fishing - is all about C&R and it seems to be doing just fine. As well, some of the best salmon and trout stream fishing on the east coast is on strict C&R streams, and they support a thriving guiding and fishing industry with no apparent outcry from nonfisherman.

It's not a great tripping area: the portages are not well established and access is not great. For a short trip in the area, I would reccomend Kawartha Highlands, Poker Lakes, Big East (no portages, great campsites), or somewhere in the Haliburton Highlands water trails system.

Definitly a Barn Swallow. They are the easiest of the swallows to ID, by the long, forked tail. Should be fun to watch them raise their young.

Yep. The spring is not strong enough, and Shimano will replace it for you. IMHO, both of these issues are inexcusable for such a highly priced reel, and reason to go with another company. Plenty of $50 spinning reels that work just fine and don't have the issues that Shimanos do.

Shorten it: cut some off Lengthen it: tie a longer one on. (this applies to shortening or lengthening almost anything )

This time of year, on Kennisis or other area lakes, there is no need for a downrigger or copper line (actually, there never is, but that's another discussion ). Lakers and specks are shallow right now and can be caught in as little as 5' of water. If you need to troll deeper than that, a diving crank or some weight on your line will get you plenty deep enough for this time of year. I had a 3 trout day on Kennisis about 10 days ago. All were caught casting close to shore in less than 10' of water.

Eagle is primarily a lake trout and smallie lake. I don't think you are going to find musky in it. Several lakes downstream of there have good sized musky.

Cranks can be very productive, especially fished "combat style": bouncing them off the bottom, structure, rocks, trees. Don't be afraid to fish them in shallower water than they are rated for: a Rap DT 10 is great in 4-5' of water because it will be in contact with the bottom most of the time. Most folks see them as a "cast and crank" bait, but they require a lot of attention to fish hard and not snag. Once you get them down, slow down a bit and wait for it to hit something. As soon as you feel the log/rock STOP and drop your rod tip. The bait will float up and slight backwards, avoiding snags. This is also where you will get lots of hits. Get a good plug knocker: it will save you some $ while you are learning to fish them.

We paddled Kennisis on Sunday. Most of the lake still had 1-2" of slush on top. We could get through it in kayaks, and it was breaking up fast. My guess is that Kennisis and most other good-sized lakes will be open by this weekend. Little Kennisis has gone from all-white ice to broken-up dark ice: it will probably be 4-5 days behind Kennisis.

I love ice-out splake and speck fishing: some of the best fishing of the year. I have great luck with little Cleos, mostly in a 5 of diamonds pattern. If I were tieing something on before hitting the water, that would be it. BUT, I make sure I have a selection of spoons: not just colours, but shape and size as well. Some days, size is more important than colour. Last spring we were on a small splake lake that produces good-sized fish. It didn't matter what colour spoon you threw, as long as it was a 1/3 oz Cleo. I tried downsizing with no luck. I threw every colour of that size I had and caught fish on it. Small countdown raps are my other favourite. I don't troll a lot for splake, but fish them more like brookies: lots of casting to shoreline structure, downed trees, steep dropoffs and across points.

That's Head Lake, right in the village of Haliburton: closed until Walleye opener (fish sanctuary). It opens up fairly early because of strong current at both ends. Just to give you an idea of the speed of the melt, it was still mostly ice covered (80%) this time last week.

You will find that most of the materials - no matter where you are buying them - come from the same suppliers. Definitly check out craft stores: coloured wire for ribbing, chenille, beads, sometimes marabou are all cheaper at craft stores than at fishing stores. If they sell it, craft hair is a great substitute for marabou.

I was on Kinnesis yesterday. There is a small - 3 acre - area of open water where it flows in from Little Kinnesis. The wind was breaking the ice up fairly quickly, but the rest of the lake still has about 3" of very rotten ice on it. Little Kinnesis - and other area lakes with no flow through them - are still bank-to-bank, but getting dark.

Kinnesis still has a fair bit of ice cover. I am heading up that way today or tomorrow and will check it for you. I doubt it will completly up by this weekend, but it's a good chance it will by the the 24th.

Anywhere there is current, the lakes are open> Mountain lake, the bay above the dam on 12 mile, both the inflow and outflow of Horseshoe, most of Minden lake: this is all open water. Lakes with no strong current still have near bank-to-bank ice, but it is getting thin and dark. My guesstimate is that most decent sized lakes will open-up this week. Smaller, tighter lakes may still be another 10 days.

NOT. My experience is that both prices AND attitude are high, service is incredibly low. I will still go in to check for deals, but I don't expect any kind of service or knowledgable staff.

$20 is not that much for a bass-catching bait. What's that....3 bags of plastics? Per fish, senkos are way more expensive than most higher-end hard baits. If you're not fishing around muskie, and can cast well enough to not throw it in a tree, there is no reason you should lose it a lure like this...your not banging stumps and laydowns with it. I like the lure myself. It is a good waker and tends to catch larger fish. The adjustable weight system is pretty useless on the water: too finicky for me.

Yea, the swimbait thing is getting a little tired. I believe in swimbaits, although I haven't had near the luck with them on walleye that he claims, but you are right: write an article about them and move on. One of my beefs is the obvious Berkley slant to the entire mag: according to them Gulp will catch anything that swims, outfish all other presentations, and make you better looking in the process.

I have never been micro-chip diving, but I find the fact that you need a license for it at all deplorable and undemocratic!

When the topwater bite is on, they will work if you put them in front of fish. If you are spinning deer hair, tie some divers as well. They will often get hit when poppers won't.

They are very popular amongst cross country skiers...especially at races. You can pull them over your racing boots and have warm comfy feet in between. Great piece of gear.

Not sure where you're getting that info. Mountain Lake is at typical spring levels. That lake can't go down 4': it has a natural rock dam at the outflow that prevents that much fluctuation. They are definitly not drawing the system down right now: they aren't doing anything with the dam at Horseshoe (which controls Mountain Lake).