JohnF

Yeah. I got one of 'em a while back and have been trying to figger out what's so awful about it, other than being kinda heavy. Mebbe I'm just not a sensitive kinda guy but I can feel as much with it as I can with any of my supposed-to-be-better rods. I've set it up for my wife to get started in fishing (hadda use it fer sumthin). JF

Dayum! Wildwood is in my backyard but I really need to get out there and explore. JF

The students seem to like me to hang around at lunch so they can ask questions. I don't mind. It keeps things running better in class and let's me get away quicker at the end of the day. JF

I pick up 403 at Woodstock so I miss Kitchener traffic. JF

Maybe I'd be better taking my chances with the 403 then. I'll go via the 403 tomorrow and go home by #6 and see what's what then. Jeez. You guys are confusing me. JF

I'd want one with drop in sideracks like pickups used to have, and some kind of plug in seating, sort of like a bassboat only some would be benchs. That way I could strip it down for fishing (with an electric TM on the front end). It wouldn't be as fast as a real bassboat but it might just be a great multi-purpose boat for a cottager who liked casting. JF

Tell 'em to mount a MinnKota on the front end (Can you get 'em with a remote?) Seems to me that would address the handling issues in confined spaces and also may be useful for fishing. JF

I should be hitting the hill just before 8am. Other times I seem to just squeak in ahead of the worst traffic then. I'll check out the #6 route though. Thanks. JF

I'll be commuting from Stratford to Hamilton (York Blvd) every day for the next two weeks and don't want to be late. I'm doing a real estate license course there and it's awkward if the teacher is late. Any traffic problems (construction etc) I should know about coming in 403 from Brantford and down the hill to just past the golf course? Thanks in advance for any help. JF

Fer sure I didn't throw 'em away. One never knows when one might happen upon the next greatest lure. I'll be throwing some very odd coloured plastic this summer. JF

My driveway's at least 25 years old. Is it about time to start sealing it? I will more likely get it redone completely as I have tire depressions where one car has sat every night for those 25 years. Otherwise the driveway is great, although not a nice shiny black colour any longer. JF

Some dry plastics run. I have some multi-coloured tubes to prove it. JF

Hey! Kids are people too. And tell the kid that I'm jealous. His bass is better than any I've caught so far this year. JF

Here's something I found on the Canadian flag specifically. Admittedly nowhere does it say in so many words that it should not be used for silly hats etc, but the intent is clear. JF

I think we agree on this one. I'm all for celebrating our great country, but doesn't our flag, as one of, if not the greatest symbol we have, deserve to be treated with a modicum of respect. We deplore folks who deface our flag in any way, and it just seems that this is the thin end of the wedge when it comes to disrespecting the flag as a symbol. It's fairly obvious none of these folks mean any disrespect but given the breakdown of so many of our old traditions of showing respect I'd like to see at least a few of them saved. I wonder how those same folks would react if the Queen or the Governor General appeared in public in a clown hat with the Canadian flag as decoration? I'm sure there'd be some indignation expressed. All that being said I have a Bass Pro teeshirt with the Maple Leaf on it. Mea culpa? JF

That's why I don't mind looking like a total weenie when I'm trying to lip a fish. A single hook is no problem but with 5 or 8 points all just waiting to be driven into my poor unsuspecting body by a thrashing fishy I go slowly. It's not that I mind sticking my thumb in a fish's mouth. It's that I tend to get really really wimpy at the first sight of blood, particularly my own. I have a huge threshold of pain tolerance but zip for blood. I have to close my eyes to eat a rare steak. JF

Trade ya. I'm just doing home grown green salad and bbqed garlic sausage. JF

So I guess that would be a resounding pre-emptive "no" in case he was thinking of inviting you to be on the show as someone here suggested? JF

If you're down there again try back in the mangroves near the highway (bridge) at the Punta Nizuc end of the lagoon. You can probably also catch something at the open water end of the channel coming out of the lagoon. Watch for crocs when you're in the mangroves. JF

Same deal with diving from one of the lagoon marinas. It takes forever to get out to the big water. The lagoon is so shallow they can't really hump it until they get under the bridge. Did you try any shorefishing in the lagoon mangroves? There are lots of fish in there, along with the crocs. We've seen locals spearfishing in there. JF

I don't recognize the docks in your picture. Were you up on the north side facing Isla Mujeres? JF

Of course it may also screw him up totally for his tv show. What if he goes away thinking all downhome Canuck fisherpersons are like us. Sheesh! We're about as normal as Canucks eating grits. This weekend, fer instance, he learned that bass actually suck and that bluegills are just toothless piranha. I've only seen one show, and that one had Mariko on it. So, Mike, what do you look like? I think I may have in fact seen two episodes. The other was with a woman and her daughter showing him their fave fishin' hole. It was kinda fun seeing folks catching fish without wearing Nascar shirts, or rippin' around in/on a go-faster bassboat. It was during the free month of May thingy. I've actually just paid for WFN this weekend so I'll watch it again soon. JF

That was my first thought too. JF

I like to compare drinking to the internet. It brings out the best in some, and in others the worst. That's why some of us avoid these G2G's. As long as we don't meet the rest of the folks we can kid ourselves that we might be intellectually superior. One night around the campfire disabuses everyone of that notion in most cases, except, of course, yerself. Actually, I really wish I coulda made it. I like meeting friendly folks with a common interest. The best part is that most of us can leave the pretentions at home and just be reg'lar folks, no disguise. Around home I have to pretend to be a responsible grownup when all I really wanna do is let it all hang out, and damn the torpedoes (i.e. the hangover). My wife is the best cure for over-indulgence in alcohol. One stern look from her that no one else even notices, and my beer dries up on the spot, and my hand can no longer grip to twist those nasty little lids off. She's the reason I'm the man I am today - boring, straight-laced, pedestrian, whitebread, milk 'n cookies - bleeehhhhh! I miss the good old days when a 12 pack was just to get the evening going. Now a 6-pack nearly puts me to sleep. Wish I'd been there. JF

When I finally cleared the work decks I found out my usual fishing buddy had bailed on me, so I twisted my wife's arm to come out and try her new fishing licence bought yesterday. She agreed and then fuissed for a while about what to wear. I guess she thought there'd be a lot of other folks around. I tried to explain that we want to avoid the corwds. But finally she got her stuff together and out we went - at 3:30 in the afternoon. We hit one easy to get to spot and got bupkis. No surprise as it's a well known and easily accessed hole so I figured it would be spooked but it was a good chance to terach her some casting and retrieval basics. She got onto the casting quickly and only impaled herself once. When I first saw it I thought she'd gone deep, but fortunately it was nothing. In any case I showed her my razor blade that I carry for hook emergencies. She saw the merit in being very very careful around hooks after that. We moved on to another spot but it was occupied so we went on to yet another. I was trying to find a place that was easy to get into and should produce even some WGSF if nothing else. My third choice was already occupied but I figgered we could cut through the bush and hit the river upstream at what I knew to be an even better spot. She wasn't thrilled with the walk through the bush and the long grass but we finally hit the water. I was downstream from her when I spotted a nice smb cruising by so I pointed it out. She nailed a cast with her yellow AC Shiner and all of a sudden she was "Hey! What do I do now?" I was coaching from the cheap seats "Keep the rod tip high and the line tight." That was apparently one instruction too many in too short a time. She did pretty much everything wrong but eventually landed it. As I grabbed it's pouty little lip I saw the treble pull out of the lip leaving the other caught in his gill plate, which let go immediately so he slithered out of my grasp before I could even grab the lip, but she got to see him up close and personal, all 12" of rompin' stompin' smallmouth glory. She started bragging immediately because of course I had caught nada. That's okay. This is just the first phase of a long and convoluted plan to get JohnF a boat. She kinda liked it. She'll go out again. I see a Ranger in our future. I may be using a walker by then but I definitely see it happening. JF