JohnF

The Do Not Call legislation works. Our calls at home have dropped significantly, even without putting our number on the list. I'm in a business that has depended on the cold call technique in the past. Many of us have realized that we might as well forget that method of finding business as the red tape we should go through isn't worth the results. If you have done any kind of business with a company in the past 18 months they are legally entitled to call you again. That's why the ballots seem to be a good trick, although I suspect that if tested in law the ballot idea wouldn't pass the acid test unless it spells out the intended use of the information on the ballot you filled out. But what it does do is blow enough smoke up yer butt to get you to agree to talk on the phone. As for any reputable company selling their mailing list today - I doubt it. Read any agreement (all the fine print - I know - it's really boring) that you've signed with that company and find some spot where it says they are authorized to sell or share your personal information with other companies. It might be under a Use and Distribution heading like it is on real estate agreements. In any event, it's required under the Privacy Act in Canada to protect the confidentiality of any personal information supplied to a company with whom you do any business. They must disclose to you what info they will collect and use, and how they will use it. If any of you have signed a real estate listing agreement or a buyer representation agreement lately look in the fine print under Use and Distribution and you'll see what I mean. There might be some tricksy wording in there that says they can share your personal information with other companies under their corporate umbrella or somesuch but if it's too vague the regulator will probably slap 'em down if it was ever tested. Our own legal counsel advises against vague language as a way to pull stunts like that. I happen to be involved with a group that reviews and amends all the forms used for organized real estate in Ontario and I can assure you that all wording is vetted carefully by counsel, and that's after our own group member/lawyer has cleared it. I'm no expert but we've looked long and hard at this issue in the real estate industry and for what it's worth our people are being told to take it seriously. My company pays a lot of money to run a screening phone line that filters out calls (we try to make) if they're on the list. The business world is taking Do Not Call seriously. I suppose some businesses will be looking just as seriously at ways to fool the system though. JF

Something that long should have tail planes to keep it level. JF

Nickel huh? Guess that means I'm still trying for the Tupenny bass this year. Bleahhhh!!!! JF

I was thinking more about him greeting every avid young suitor at the door with a huge blowup and the question "Do you really want to share these lips with a fish?" JF

Save that name fer yer first musky lure. JF

The map is fun. Turns out the camping/fishing spot we thought was crown land is actually private and we've been squatting. Oh well. No one seems to mind. Guess we should track down the owner and get permission before we go again, huh? JF

I haven't been out on the upper Thames much this year due to weather and work but I noticed a couple of things yesterday. 1. More green slime on the rocks than usual. Perhaps due to more field runoff raising phosphate levels? 2. More little minnows than last year, way more. My first thought was that this indicated fewer predators (bass) in the area but when we cleaned a couple of smb's I caught (my buddy likes them so I let him have mine if he isn't catching) he found them full of crayfish and very few minnows. I'm going to stock up on crayfish imitators now. 3. Fish sizes are up. The rock bass and smb's I'm getting are much bigger than last year's average. This may be partly to do with the fact that I've gone to somewhat larger lures but when I use the #1 sized Worden Red Rooster (or whatever it's called) I get little teeny critters 3" - 8" for the most part. In any case I'm not seeing the 10 -12" smb's that are the norm here. Does that mean that the last few year's hatch hasn't survived? 4. Bass are fussy this year, perhaps because of the increased forage. The old standby lures aren't working well for us. Rob's getting nothing on his tried and true Rapala floating minnow and plastic has done nothing for me. Well, that's not quite true. I got a pleasant surprise when I tied on a Storm Kickin' Minnow that I'd bought on a recommendation but forgot about until I was about ready to give up yesterday and thought "Why not?". First cast I hauled in a pretty little 16 incher, then promptly lost a couple right at my feet but close enuf to see that they bigger than the first. That's way bigger than our usual catch in the these pools. Then I caught a few more after the misses but all decent-sized compared to what we usually catch. Even got one of my biggest ever rock bass on it. The only other lure that caught anything for me was a chartreuse buzzbait burned right on the surface. I switched to a black buzzbait because of the dirty water but got nothing. That was the same pool that gave up the smallies to the Storm a few minutes later. Anyway. Those are my observations from the Thames above St.Marys. Any of the rest of you noticed anything different this year. JF

In slow moving water it might be some kind of algae bloom, or carp stirring it up. You'd be surprised at what fish can see in cloudy water. JF

And if you send in the question again another "authority" might give you a different answer. The trouble with this stuff is that you're at the temporary mercy of whoever is in yer face at the moment. JF

One of our boys had some very minor issues compared to yours, but was referred to Sick Kids. The docs were awesome. Anyone who thinks the docs don't have a heart didn't meet the guys we did. Hopefully your experience will be as rewarding. Little kids are resilient. It's the parents who have the biggest problem with this stuff. All the best to all of you. As for the heart stuff - I have friends who elected to have PFO's fixed surgically just so they could scuba dive safer. Don't worry about it. JF

Zoom can work wonders. JF

From a business point of view they have to be careful about returning the defective item. If they kept it you would have been within your rights to complain that they had taken away your evidence of a problem. They could have sent you a new replacement for about the same cost to them as returning yours but then they'd be setting a precedent for every return they ever get. You'd have been on here telling everyone what a great company they are and everyone who reads it would be packing up all their old scratched raps to send in for shiny new replacements. JF

I've only been out for lakers once there with my bro-in-law who spends the summer there each year and knows his way around. He uses riggers. We got our lakers at about 90' at this time of the year on a sunny day if that matters. We weren't even marking much on the screen that day, just a few isolated fish. Based on the time we spent trolling I'd say that without some really solid local knowledge jigging would be a waste of time. Better to go for bass in the back bays. And watch for rock shoals in the middle of the lake. JF

I know it's a little farther but not that much. Is the Pinery booked? It's a nice getaway with lots of organized stuff for the kids, trails to hike, and spots to fish in the creek. It's got a sandy beach and some nice secluded campsites. We used to go there all the time but somehow got away from camping once the boys arrived. Now we go back just for day trips to hike the trails etc. JF

Did they tell you to be there in line at 6am. If you're near there the night before park the car in line and then you don't have to worry about getting on the first boat. You can make reservations for some of the boats but I'm not sure about the first one each morning. JF

Aren't there some that are purpose built for kayakers? Seems to me I saw some pics of someone here who wore one whilst fishing from the 'yak. Nice tidy little unit that didn't interfere with the armswing or the boat. JF

Yeah. The maintenance factor increases geometrically. That's why we stopped at two. I was afraid of the double jeopardy factor kickin' in - a third one to maintain (which is about 4 times as tuff as 2, which is about 3 times as tuff as one - plus the fact that we mighta had a girl, and then I'd have had to kill too many horny little teenagers as the girl sprouted. Two boys is perfect - ya just sit back and proudly smile and say "Atsa my boy". With girls you say "Atsa my girl" but the intonation and underlying intent are diametrically opposed. Those of you who survived raising girls have my undying respect. Don't get me wrong. I love girls. But that's really the problem. So do all those horny little Lotharios who hang around them. And I still remember what I was like in my teens. I shoulda been named Woody. JF

We do the walkon thing and get my brother-in-law to pick us up at the terminal. That's peanuts. Fortunately his place is only a few miles from the terminal (Watson's Camp) With a herd of people and a trailer it can get pricey, but I've done the trip up and around and the ferry will have to get a whole bunch pricier before I start doing that drive. JF

According to the d-------d bass around here I don't have any good lures. JF

Thanks. I'll bring that site up in class on Monday. We like to show them practical applications whenever possible. JF

Coincidentally there's a small section in the surveys chapter of the course I'm currently teaching in Hamilton and the students are asking me what the actual practical applications of GIS might be today. I can give them a hypothetical kind of answer but since you've outed yerselves, what are the most common applications of your work? Thanks for the help. JF

Anyone wading the Thames between Mitchell & St.Marys watch for this stuff. We've been watching what we think is hogweed sprouting in different places along the riverbank. It never seems to reach quite the size described in the video but it sure ain't Queen Anne's Lace either. JF

Original floating Rapala minnow in grey colour. Just twitch it a bit on the surface. It's all my buddy will use. If you're in pike water be careful. You'll attract snotrockets too. JF

Give them money and cellphones. They'll leave you alone. JF

Sounds like about double what I would expect tp pay for a bathroom reno unless there's a whole bunch of plumbing to change all the way down to the basement. A couple of yars back we did two full baths over completely with a ceramic tile surround in the one and a wall relocated in the other. We changed flooring, vanities, fixtures, everything, and were right around $12k total. JF