JohnF

A Minibrick. JF

How do you think I felt on body recoveries? I had my fingers crossed on one hand that we wouldn't find it, and on the other hand that we would. Caves were the worst if you were going in right after someone had disappeared, presumed dead. JF

You just reminded me. I found a Nitek-C computer once. Actually it was another guy who spotted it but he thought it was pooched because it was just flashing at him and he couldn't get it to do anything else. I took it, looked up the manual on the net, reset it and it's worked fine ever since. It had been laying in 75' of water for a few days. I guess the computer thought it's owner would be bent silly by now. JF

I suppose they woulda been eventually. JF

Man. I remember when those came out. A couple of my friends got 'em. They were in my NSHO one of the niftiest cars Detroit ever produced. There've been faster, fancier and prettier cars, but the Z28s were just plain cool. They could be drag raced or road raced almost decently right outa the box without spending an arm and a leg. Of course, I was 23 at the time. They may not make such an impression on me now in my doddering decrepit years. I loved those cars. Some of them came box stock with just about the prettiest sounding exhaust outside of a Ferrari. JF

Not my fault, and they were quite fresh, which pleased me to no end. It really sux hanging out with a body on a small boat. A falling apart body would be icky. JF

Two small boat anchors, assorted knives, fish hooks and lures, a few dive fins, a dive mask, assorted sun glasses, bathing suits(?), screwdriver, picnic cooler, cars, boats, two bodies, etc. The anchors were the toughest to bring back to the boat. JF

There used to be a guy in New hamburg (near K/W) who did custom sewing stuff like that reasonably. I'm not sure if he's still in business but I could check if you're interested. JF

I'm no minimalist when fishing. My buddy Rob, on the other hand, well, here's his list for creek wading: When I started fishing with him a few years ago - ultracheap ultralite rod and reel (1), Rapala floating minnow (one extra in case he loses one), a few wormhooks, homemade single strand taken from a length of picture hanging wire and bent to be a wire leader for pike (1), crappy old runners cut with drainage holes for wading (2) Since I've corrupted him, introduced him to the wonderful world of gearpiggery - all of the above plus a pair of hemostats and a cheap stringer. He used to simply break a supple branch off a riverside bush for a stringer and wedge it under a rock in the river to be recovered on the way out. He also upgraded to a better rod/reel combo that I purchased for $19.95 @ Dick's Sports. And he really catches fish. JF

Attaboy. And sometimes we have to be reminded to count our blessings. Seems it was yer turn to remind us. As for Georgian Bay, all I know is the water is too damned cold, for me at least. Dunno about the fish. JF

Kinda makes my rapids look pretty puny, huh? But I betcha Drew can't wade thru his. JF

They're just for show. No teeth marks on 'em. JF

I'm stubborn. I only use the grey Rapala when Rob's not around. No way I'm gonna concede that I can't buy a bigger fish. JF

Yeah. Closer than I've been to one. JF

I'm a gearpig. I'll probably try some. My wife's very happy I gave up diving. Dive toys were very expensive. Fishing stuff is perfect (in her mind). If I tell her a $15 spool of line will keep me amused for a while she's all for it. Used to be $2500 drysuits, $1000 regs and $200 tanks. Fishing is good. JF

He's the guy with the kayak I said I'd bring along if we went out in the canoe. It's really depressing how he catches fish with his Walmart tackle. You'll see what I mean. JF

My fishing buddy has been at it all his life (60 years plus) and he uses nothing but the original grey floating Rapalas in a few smaller sizes. He uses them wherever he's fishing, whatever he's fishing for. If they let him down his goto is real worms. He gets a big kick out of all the crap I haul around. His Raps work fine in our local river on bass and pike, for whatever he catches down in the Everglades from his kayak, and for the bass and pike he catches up near Calabogie. He's caught steelhead and other river trout/salmon types on them too. About the only thing I've tried that actually caught his attention were the plastic worms that often work when his Raps let him down. He likes the idea of keeping worms forever in his little tackle bag. I'm convinced from watching him that presentation is everything. What's tied on the end of the line is irrelevant, as long as there's a sharp hook involved. Danged if I can get the principle to work for me though. JF

There's at least part of my answer. I'm using 14# Fireline. Probably more than I need for 1 1/2# bass, huh? That's about all I use this rod for. Perhaps the odd hammerhandle that thinks it's a bass. But I wanted something to haul lures through the weeds. My 4# mono kinda limits where I can toss lures. I'll leave the fireline on for a while longer but will likely replace it with something lighter eventually. Thanks for all the advice folks. JF

Yeah. I noticed that with mine too. Lays on the water in small loops. I hoped that was just due to newness and that a few fish would straighten it out. I was casting very light lures in a lot of breeze so I was getting a pretty good belly in the line on casts, even sidearm. Fair bit of takeup before I could even twitch the lure. I was told to tape my line when I put it on the spool. No slippage probs that way. JF

Fuji guides. I wasn't as worried about them as about the line guide on the bail. It's replaceable though so even some wear there shouldn't be a big issue. But the noise bugs me. It sounds like grinding bearings. Might be more pronounced because I'm usually standing knee to hip deep in water with the reel barely above the water so the sound's being bounced back at me there too. Mebbe now that I've determined that it's not bearings I won't notice it so much. JF

I've already noticed that it frays quickly. And the hooks get stuck in it if one isn't careful. Don't ask how I managed that. JF

I haven't had any trouble with slippage using a Palomar knot. I put Superbraid on my new baitcaster and I like it so far. This Fireline was just sitting in a box here at home. I'm not even sure when I bought it, or why I bought it, but I figgered I might as well try it since I had it. JF

I just put some Fireline Crystal on my Quantum PT (Titanium Whatsit Something or Other) spinning reel and it sure is noisy. I thought I had bad bearings but when I'm not winding in line it cranks whisper quiet. Apparently the noise is from the line passing over the line guide on the bail. Some of it may also be from the large eye. My question is how long before it chews right through that guide. It sure sounds vicious. Anyone else had this experience? Is it just the Fireline that does this or is it all braid type lines? Thanks JF

I'm gonna be in Collingwood for most of the last week of July, boatless and in the company of non-fisherpersons, but I'd like to get in a little fishing while I'm there. I was hoping to maybe find some trout streams to play with the flyrod but hey, bass are okay too. Is that causeway down at the south end of the lake and is it worth the drive from Collingwood? JF

When you provide a forum for this many strangers to share a common love of fishing, perhaps the only thing they have in common, it just naturally leads to talk of other things - family, personal issues, disappointments, highs and lows in their lives. The internet is an interesting phenomenon in that it encourages a kind of intimacy between folks heretofore strangers, something that would almost certainly never have come about without the 'net. This "intimacy" encourages, perhaps emboldens the participants, at least those who warm to it, to start OT threads that they think might interest others. Sometimes a thread totally unrelated to fishing gets a life of it's own and goes wild. With some of these the mods step in and shut it down before too many feelings are hurt or gantlets thrown down. Most often though the OT discussions are interesting, showing something of the various personalities involved and this sort of familiarity leads to these in-the-flesh G2G's that we read about. It's not unique to OFC either. I've been through the same thing in a Usenet group called rec.scuba. The regulars there describe it as a biker bar, where everyone kicks back with a drink in the evening and gabs about everything under the sun. Many of the regulars have become real life friends as well and arrange dive togethers or just social affairs at varied locations. Newcomers are welcome to join in. Critics are given short shrift and told to check the archives before they ask questions. Most questions have been hashed out long before and the answers are in the archives already. If the question is in fact new and refreshing, then it's given plenty of attention, by some very knowledgeable dive types. I for one learned far more about scuba diving safely there than I ever did from instructors and dive tour leaders. When a dive thread has run it's course they all return to the talk of guns and politics or whatever. I think even the hardest core fishermen here would admit there's more to life than fishing, despite the sig lines on some posts. We're a social animal and this forum is a great place to be sociable within a loose context of fishing talk. I get good answers to whatever I ask, and I've learned a lot from the threads started by others. I only signed on here a year or so back, along with a number of other such forums and boards, and this is the one I've stuck with. I'm not a hard core fisherman. I only started back at it a few years ago, and most of my fishing since then has been wading the local creek for midget smallmouths. But following the different threads here has broadened my interest and expanded my small store of knowledge. I've met some great folks and intend to meet many more because of this board. I have my own life and friends here at home but there's something to be said for this opportunity to enjoy fishing adventures vicariously, to learn from those more experienced than me and make new friends at the same time. If I can give something back, be it a fishing experience or some sound advice with a non-fishing problem, then that just makes it better. There are plenty of hard core nothin'-but-fishin' sites out there on the 'net for those who don't like the broader experience of a place like this. Frankly, you can have 'em. I like this place just the way it is. Respectfully JF