JohnF

We fishermen complain about various species invading our favourite water systems and decimating the native populations. Do we ever stop to think that man is the ultimate invasive species? Everywhere man has moved on this planet he has altered habitats and eradicated indigenous critters with cavalier disregard for the long term effects. A small part of me can't help but chuckle at our righteous indignation when we see zebra mussels, pike, carp, crappie, gobies and all the others moving into our hallowed grounds. Some of them remain evil while others are ultimately accepted, sometimes with relish. I'm not saying we're wrong to be unhappy about the changes, but we really need to keep it in perspective, and perhaps think about our own invasive tendencies. I for one sure hope the critters don't go into some kind of superevolution and gang up on us as invasive. We'd be in deep doodoo. We may only be the alpha critter temporarily. Think Planet of the Apes. JF

I'll bet you've got quite a collection of drivers and putters lurking in yer basement too. And mebbe a few 1 irons, 2 irons and a couple of 64 degree wedges, huh? JF

Just use a rake then. JF

Evidently. Whoda thunk it? JF

Waytago Ace. My son has been a pro since he was 18 and has yet to get one. He's lacerated the rim of the cup but never sunk one. Good job. JF

It's kinda like that "If a tree falls in the forest, and no one hears it.." things. I've occasionally wondered where the money really is when I pay my bills over the internet from an account to which I made a deposit of a piece of paper purported to have a particular value but never did I actually see any of this currency. It adds new meaning to "The buck stops here." JF

Sometimes ya just gotta toot yer own horn, even if it goes against yer nature. We're too damned polite and self-effacing as a nation. JF

With all due respect to my American friends, but this was sent to me by one of my non-fishing American friends. Normally I don't pass these on, but this one is interesting, and applies equally to our Canadian gov't too. So here goes - Dawg, sorry for the long read sans pics. JF It is a slow day in the East Texas town of Madisonville. It is raining, and the little town looks totally deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt and everybody lives on credit. On this particular day a rich tourist from the East is driving through town. He enters the only hotel in the sleepy town and lays a hundred dollar billon the desk stating he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night. As soon as the man walks up the stairs, the hotel proprietor takes the hundred dollar bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to pay his debt to the pig farmer. The pig farmer then takes the $100 and heads off to pay his debt to the supplier of feed and fuel. The guy at the Farmer's Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has lately had to offer her "services" on credit. The hooker runs to the hotel and pays off her debt with the $100 to the hotel proprietor, paying for the rooms that she had rented when she brought clients to that establishment. The hotel proprietor then lays the $100 bill back on the counter so the rich traveler will not suspect anything. At that moment the traveler from the East walks back down the stairs, after inspecting the rooms. He picks up the $100 bill and states that the rooms are not satisfactory...... Pockets the money and walks out the door and leaves town. No one earned anything. However the whole town is now out of debt, and looks to the future with a lot of optimism. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how the United States Government is conducting business today. If that doesn't scare the hell out of you, then I don't know what will.

Mebbe that's all drivers are doing. JF

Why do boaters wave as they pass on the waterways? JF

There's lots of evidence that small brained critters like fish can be conditioned. What is a response to a matched hatch but exactly that? So if the fish in a certain have become attuned to a certain colour or style of lure why not go with the flow. And if the aggravation of something new invading their space works, then go with that too. There's a book that I was forced to read in university, The Territorial Imperative by Robert Ardrey, that deals with territoriality, instinct and conditioning in animals. I haven't read it for years but I think I might dig it out again just to see what he had to say about this sort of behaviour. Even if you don't care about fish conditioning this is an interesting read for hunters, animal owners, etc. JF

Back in the day I had some pretty nifty (read fast) sleds, but I haven't even been on one in close to 30 years. It would be fun to try some of the new stuff. JF

Well, that explains how my Subaru driving single buddy scores all the women he does. I guess I should tell him they're all lesbians, d'ya think? That might spoil his day. JF

Then you should be sharing with him. Mebbe then he wouldn't get shown up on the water by his wimmen all the time. The poor little feller's gonna develop a complex. Soon you'll be finding him standing in the garage in the dark whispering to his outboard. That's not a healthy thing for a man. JF

You 'fessed up to way too many sticks there. And we all know you sneak Cliff's stuff when he ain't lookin'. You therefore do not qualify as one who has resisted the gear allure. You are a lady gearpig. JF

St.Marys is a pretty little town. The rivers there were my playground as a kid. Let me know when you're coming this way again and perhaps we can meet for lunch, dinner or a drink. JF

And there had to be dense whitish smoke leaking out of every opening. JF

Mebbe I should start a Flex club. Instead of waving we might just pop a bicep or something. In my case it'll be a very subtle acknowledgement. JF

I wish I'd known you were going to be here. My office is just a few minutes walk from there and my house about 15 minutes away. My Mom was raised in Stratford and my Dad in St.Marys, 12 miles away. Between them they had 6 brothers who all served in Europe, as did my Dad. In fact, he was there when I was born and saw me for the first time months after I was born. Virtually every man I can remember from St.Marys did a stint. I'm not sure if the women ran the town during the war or what happened. Of course I realized in later years that all of Canada really did it's share and have always been frustrated by the lack of recognition internationally accorded the Canadian military contribution through the years. It would be interesting to see a prorated comparison of all the major military contributions to the Allied side. I wonder how Canada would stand on a per capita measurement. We have generally remained about 1/10 the size of the US population-wise over the years. Much of the Dutch emmigration to our part of the province came about because of the war. One meat packing plant in particular recruited a lot of workers from Holland after the owner made contacts while serving there. JF

Jeez. That looks raunchier than any of my racing sleds ever did back in the early 70's. JF

Good job. Thanks for taking the time to get that together. For years I was confused by the obvious disconnect between historical accounts of the many world military actions and my understanding of Canadian involvement. If one went only by the historical accounts produced by non-Canadians it would be easy to assume we contributed nothing as a nation. But I was always aware that a proportionally high number of folks from my home town were in the military in the two wars in Europe, so for years I had the impression that my town must have been particularly heroic, like it was just St.Marys and Stratford with the Americans and the Brits against the Huns. Thanks again JF

I just thought they were protecting their eyes from the blast of snow and ice as I passed. JF

Back in the day all us sports car drivers would acknowledge the others as we passed, usually the v-sign (in the 60's and early 70's, what else?) and then I remember bikers all doing it, except for the too cool chopper leathervests who didn't deign to acknowledge anyone else unless they flew the colours. The bike salute was a little under the bars finger flick. JF

Better yet, have we the national budget to fund it? JF

I'm with you. Not that I served any time in the military save for my high school cadet days but from what I've seen there's a lot of young people who'd benefit hugely from a little structure and discipline in their lives. Heaven knows they aren't getting much of it at home. And it's not a socio-economic thang either. Some of the worst raised kids are from affluent homes. What they really need is the mother of all spankings, except for too many it's too late. The spanking should have been administered to their loving parents years ago. Remember "spare the rod and spoil the child"? I believe that. Sparing the rod is figurative though. Parents don't have to actually beat their kids to discipline them, just be firm and consistent, with a good set of rules and expectations and a very good role model presentation. I've met guys who went the military route who came away with nothing but an attitude and some arcane knowledge of hand to hand combat and an idea of how to use a gun (probably one not acceptable in our society at that). I have some good friends in the States who are products of the military system. They are special people. One in particular is the guy I most want to be with in a life threatening emergency while scuba diving. He would literally die for his buddy. But in social situations he's a disaster. There's no fight or flight with this guy - only fight. His idea of coping is to pull a K-bar and deal with the problem. I have been embarrassed in bars too many times by him when he was defending someone's honour when the someone just really wanted to getthehelloutadodge. He and I haven't been on speaking terms for a few years now cuz of his all or nothing attitude. If he's what ya get when you put a kid into the marines at age 17 I'll take the civilian life. I can do with a little less "OORAH!" in my life. Hope that doesn't offend any ex-marines here. I really have no issue with commitment, just overdoing it. And I still proudly call that guy my friend. He thinks I suck. JF