JohnF

I heard she was Grampa till she shot her own n.... never mind. I can't say that here, can I? JF

Okay, I'll prefish. JF

I'd start a game here "Guess Bly's real name" but the censors would make a travesty of it. I gues you can't even tell us what it is, can you? JF

That's why I'm glad I was christened John. It stands out. JF

Have fun, everyone. I sure wish I could join y'all. And John, thanks for the offer but I can't make it happen this weekend. I'll just have to stay home and settle for my little river run bass on Saturday and Sunday. JF

I could see programs on boating (fishing specific), travel (fishing again), MNR projects and operations (probably too geographically specific for an international audience but perhaps Ontario is a big enough destination to warrant it, Canoes & Kayaks for fishing, cottage management (in fishing country, of course), cooking (fish), DIY (lure making, boats, smoking fish, rod making), nifty innovations or even nifty DIY ideas, boat & trailer maintenance, reel maintenance and repair, and so on. If the focus was sufficiently fishy it would fly and give more variety. It's gotta be tough for all these fish shows to keep coming up with fresh material. How about a show that relates to a blog or forum and features the most interesting threads or topics raised. Regular folks get a huge kick out of seeing their name and face on tv once in a while. The universality is an ongoing problem but some of those ideas work across the spectrum of North American fishing and others might just be intersting enuf to get some viewership. It also opens the door to new sponsor involvement. If anybody decides to follow up on any of those ideas I've got a brother who can do the music for you. He's actually very good at it, a pro. I want him to get rich so he can take care of me in my dotage. I might need a minder to accompany me on my river excursions when I start forgetting where I am. He can pay them. JF

I have no problem with it either. Fact is my name is plastered all over the internet anyway because of my business so I see no harm in it. On the other hand most of the regulars here have pretty much figured out who's who by now. We even refer to each other by real names rather than nicks most of the time. And if someone is using the nick to hide behind so they can be dickheads they'll get modded soon enuf anyway. JF

I've gotta do an open house on Sat morning but I'm heading out by about 2 o'clock and will be moving around on the Thames until I'm fished out. Let me know if yer coming, and bring yer waders. JF

I've got my lure assortment picked out and am deciding on where on the Thames I'll start. From there it'll be just a case of moving from spot to spot until we have had enuf. Hopefully the weather cooperates. Wading in the rain sux. JF

I've tried a vest but it's kinda warm when worn with bib waders. I have two small double-sided boxes that fit in the big pockets and I attached a lanyard to each with the other end on the plastic clip in the pocket just in case it fell out. For hemostat, clipper and scissors I keep them around my neck on shock cord (bungee cord). I plan on taking the fly rod out more this summer so I was thinking of adding a very basic short backpack to my kit and carrying a telescoping rod with spinning reel for the days the flycasting gets too frustrating or the wind is prohibitive. The local store has a nice little rod by DAM that sounds decent by all accounts. I'm not thrilled about the extra luggage but I hate to miss any fishing when I've already wandered that far down the creek. One other thing that occurs to me. I was up near Calabogie a couple of summers back and we came across a whole bunch of beautifully skinned poplar staves (staffs?) provided by some friendly beaver. I grabbed a couple of straighter ones and took 'em home. I sanded off the ends and drilled a couple of holes near top and middlefor a cord (strap) so I could sling it over my shoulder for wading. Makes a great river stick for the deeper fast moving spots or where I can't see the rocky bottom. It sticks up a foot or so past my left shoulder so it doesn't interfere with my casting motion. Us old fogies aren't as nimble in the water as you youngsters, and I hate getting soaked. It would be handy (if I ever remembered to take it) for navigating some of the steep riverbanks we climb up and down. JF

Any time. You have to plan ahead so you're only carrying the minimum amount of gear. There's no way you want to be hauling a tackle box while you're wading for 3 hours or more. We often don't leave the water at all. I take a small selection of lures, plastics and hooks in a light shoulder bag, actually an old army bag. I've got a few extra bags if you don't have anything. And think shallow rocky water. Deep runners are a waste of time and money for this kind of fishing and dragging them along the bottom usually just results in getting snagged under rocks. Weedless tubes or weightless wacky worms are good. Floating minnows and other topwaters are good. Carry a leader (if you want) for the pike pools. I've just been using Seaguar leader fluoro. I can give you a bit of that. I prefer a short rod (5'6) because of the trees and bushes but a longer rod isn't a problem in most places. If you are planning on doing it soon the water is still a little chilly for an extended wade. I'd probably wear waders or hip boots if you have them, at least until the water warms up a bit more, which it should do with the heat we're enjoying right now. For the most part we don't go deeper than 3' and actually don't even have to go that deep if we travel around to specific holes by road instead of wading all the way. That's why I have leather seats and rubber floor mats in the car. I don't take off my gear between stops. There's your creekwading methodology in a nutshell. JF

I think it is. It's different than standing around on shore waiting for the fish. We usually stay in the water for 3 hours or more moving from place to place. None of it is very deep. If you've never tried it, c'mon down. I'll take you for a creekwalk. JF

My local fishing store guy, Byron, gave you rave reviews, so I'll be watching for your show. To be honest I haven't subscribed to WFN before and just see it when the free stuff is one, but I'm tempted to get it. Truth is I found that during the last Starchoice freeby period in May the shows were better than the last time. Unfortunately your show didn't come on when I was watching. I'll try harder next time. Byron's bigger and younger than me and anybody who does wheelies in 5th gear on a rice rocket is insane, so he has my attention. JF

Dunno if you like getting wet but we have miles and miles of shallow smb water around here. We wet wade in the summer, just an old pair of basketball shoes and a pair of tight sox to keep the leeches out from between yer toes. (I hate leeches). Even when the bite isn't on it's a pretty walk, and you can always dry off and drive 15 minutes to the tail end of Wildwood for some nice pike. If you bring a little maize you can hunt big carp and Redhorse or White suckers in the creek. There are also a few pools where the pike hang out. For a treat you'll occasionally come around a bend in the river and find yerself face to face with a deer and fawn, or a monster snapping turtle, or just a farmer on his tractor. It's all good. There's nothing like a 3 hour prowl in the water, followed by a few ounces of good scotch by the pool with a cedar fire in the pit, and then a bbq. Well, that's not quite true. I'd have to say 6 hours on a bassboat in the Kawarthas ranks pretty high too, especially if garry2r's is cooking afterwards. If you want a guided tour of the Thames around Stratford and St.Marys, give me a call. It's about 90 minutes to drive from Brampton and we have lots of spots to try. I can't guarantee fish but I can promise you'll see some pretty scenery up close and personal and have a shot at a variety of fishies. JF

I just went over to the pet store across the parking lot from my office and they sell maize for about $.80/lb. It's more expensive than going to a co-op and getting 25# or something like that, but I only need so much and it's handy. I'll boil it up tonight. JF

and rock bass. JF

Mebbe we could sell Ryan on the idea, and he in turn would twist Dave's arm and so on .... JF

I saw the difference between boiled maize and canned corn on Sunday. Now I understand why the carpers recommend maize. Marko said he bought 25# for the price of a few cans of corn and it stays on the hook so much better. The ducks are a bit of a pain though. JF

Seems to me that trying to fill those hours with new and fascinating content is a pretty big chore, probably impossible. There just aren't enuf Daves, JPs et al around to fill the prime time hours for our amusement and edification. So the schedulers are playing around with different products to fill the void in hopes of finding a mix that satisfies everyone. It's a tough job. I'm only an occasional viewer but it seems to me they should take a page from some of the other sport-specific channels and do more in studio shows instead of on the water programming. I'd be all over a show with one of our home grown pro's doing demos or comparing gear, showing how to properly load mono on a spinning reel, tying the best knots, casting techniques, retrieval and presentation techniques, and so on. Shows about specific species and methods fishing - walleye, bass, panfish, pike, muskie, carp, deepwater lake fish, spring & fall trout and salmon, off-shore, fly, trolling, jigging, casting, whatever. I have no idea what the viewer demographic is. That may be the problem. The demographic is so varied that they have to be all over the map (literally) to offer something for everyone and subsequently they lose the interest of the specific markets like Ontario. It's a great idea with a load of difficulty attached. JF

Mergers and amalgamations aren't necessarily always a bad thing. Often it means access to operating capital previously unavailable to the smaller companies for r&d, distribution cost reductions, economies of scale in production, etc. There can be lots of benefits, and a merger of several fishing gear companies in the big picture is still gonna be pretty small potatoes in the multinational conglomerate picture - GM it ain't gonna be. So I don't think any fear of outgrowing our love too soon is likely. The downside possibilities include some of the perceived benefits. 1. A dilution of the personal contact that we all love (warranty access for example) 2. Sharing of designs across brands (every company's minnow will look like a fake Rapala) 3. Outsourcing of production parts and finished goods to foreign soil (even more than already happens) 4. Often the originator took a whole bunch of pride in his brand new toy and it showed in the product we received. With the loss of the personal touch to the bean-counters and production analysts we are bound to be dissatisfied with the results, if only because we're conditioned to expect less from more. In any case there's no point bemoaning it. It's gonna happen whether we like it or not. Successful small companies are going to be gobbled up by the bigger ones to buy the credibility and image for themselves. And some smaller companies will be begging for the big buyout as it may be the only time they'll truly realize a profit from their investment of time, energy and invention. JF

Glad you asked. I was trying to decide between a little bit of salad or a big lure. Didn't occur to me I was looking at a minnow. That's a minnow with some serious attitude. I've had little bitty bass take on some pretty durned big lures but never anything like that. JF

I remember a definition I was taught in school. "A weed is a plant out of place." Same philosophy works for fish. JF

That's great. Thanks. I do remember the name Irondale coming up as well way back when. I've been searching for it for a while now but always as Devil's Lake. Wikipedia missed catfish in it's list of fish, of course it was back in the 50's we caught them there, but there were loads of them at our end of the lake. We'd harvest a bunch and then motor up the lake to meet some Americans mid-lake and trade their catch for our catfish one for one. None of us wanted to eat the catfish. They were little browny black monsters about 12" long. I would be happier handling a snake than one of those things back then. I haven't actually caught any myself since my comeback so I'm not sure if seeing pics of all these OFC hemen (-persons??) handling them so casually has strengthened my resolve or not. There's every probability that the first time I catch one by myself I may well have to go to "the glove". JF

Does anyone know this lake. My dad used to take me there every summer as a kid and just for old time's sake it would be fun to locate it again. We stayed at a rustic camp there but I can't remember the name of the place or the people that owned it. Dad passed away years ago so I can't ask him about it. JF

You sound like my wife. JF