JohnF

A couple of thoughts - 1. No one need be ashamed of claiming EI. You've paid into it just like I used to pay into an income protection plan "just in case'. The only difference is that mine was voluntary and yours isn't. 2. EI should not be confused with social assistance. The folks who receive that haven't contributed in advance, at least not in a structured plan. And there's no shame in needing to fall back on any kind of social assistance either. It's one of the benefits of living in a progressive society. The only folks who should be embarrassed, and of course they're the last ones who are, are those who think that it's okay to abuse the system and make no effort to be self supporting any longer than they really need to be. Society owes you nothing except the opportunity to live your life with pride. But you have to earn the right to be proud. If through no fault of your own your life is in financial disarray, then ask for help. That's what it's there for, and as quickly as you can fix your own problems. 3. There's probably no point in trying to give object lessons to the employer in question. He probably prides himself on being a jerk. Go figger. 4. If you're in a small community there's more to be considered than just having a job. If you're an up and coming tradesperson who expects to build a career in your chosen trade in that small community you need to think twice about who you associate yourself with and how the association will affect the impression you make. Will you be tarred by his brush? In a large impersonal community it's just about the pay cheque, the bad stuff won't get stuck to you, and who knows, you might even learn some things about how not to run your business in the future. 5. Finally, if the employer is that much of a jerk, do you trust him not to stiff you, or make you the scapegoat for his transgressions? That comes back to the small town dilemma. Good luck with your future. If you really want it, there are lots of routes that lead to success. Rolling in the mud with pigs is often not one of them unless you're chosen career is in the slaughterhouse business, and I can tell you from experience, the pigs don't care what kind of character you have. JF

Alien? JF

Be sure to check around rafts and docks, but you already know that. I've seen nice sized smb's hiding under virtually every raft I've ever been around in Muskoka. Of course I wasn't into fishing in those days. And I can remember a whole bunch of weedy little bays that just had to hold pike - or something. Between the aforementioned rocks and the rafts, ya oughta have fun. Wish my buddy coulda stayed married so we'd still have his cottage to go to. JF

I'm with you, bud. Rats are icky and belong in a trap. JF

That whole era was pretty interesting. I got interested in it while in university and did a lot of reading, too much of it when I should have been studying. Gauguin was out there on the edge too. They shared an abode before Gauguin took off for the south Pacific. There's a book about the impressionist artists that I wish I could find again. It was pretty interesting reading recounting the adversity of being an artist of that discipline (or lack thereof) in Paris and how they eventually found acceptance and led the way for the post-impressionists like Gauguin. They were a wild and crazy bunch. JF

Not sure how we got to this from the fishing sickness but - I think I'll stick with Famous Grouse straight up. JF

Why? Did ya lose an ear? JF

There was a time I thought drinking absinthe was the coolest, not that we could get it here in Canada, but then I learned what it was made from..... bleah! I figger van Gogh's ear just fell off from absinthe abuse. JF

Did Vincent hang out with Tyson? JF

Yer right. What does a man do after he buys something he absolutely doesn't need, but it's so damned purty he just had to have it? He gets to work on creating a need for it. We're pitiful. I sincerely have no interest in standing out in a cold creek at 5 am on a snowy spring morning but watch me right after I buy my first float rod. JF

The day we see you with an ear missing we'll know you've gone over the edge. JF

That's more like it. And I gotta admit that I underestimated my figures a tad. My three were closer to six than five too. I discovered playing golf that there are a lot of people who believe they can buy a great game. The problem is that their game stays the same while the price tag keeps rising. My son (a pro) for his everyday clubs has custom fitted Callaways that are 1/2" longer than normal with Xstiff shafts, but he can drive a ball 350 yards with any regular shafted brand name club. The difference is in the control and/or feel which most folks just don't have in their game. I wonder how many of us fisherfolk end up with gear that's way better than our ability. But I guess if the day ever comes that I feel like I'm better than my gear I'll probably want to spend some money on something better too. In the meantime I'll try to resist the temptation to "buy me a game". JF

So I guess by most standards here I'm a pretty cautious spender. My wife will be pleased to hear that, even if she doesn't believe it. Perhaps if I ever hook into a big muskie I'll start to appreciate the allure of really fine equipment. In the meantime my modest combos handle the bass real well. JF

Well, I've got a couple of other rods and reels around here somewhere, but not that I use for anything much. And there's still those mysterious flythingies that I have yet to get under control. I'm just trying to get a sense of what some of the less hardcore types have as everyday stuff. JF

OK. So some of us have come to terms with the fact that we suffer from an addiction. It may well be a minor and even relatively healthy one, but addiction it is - for some. You know what I'm talking about - Fishing! Those of you who continue to delude yerselves into thinking it's okay to pore over catalogues and websites of fishing stuff, and to find yerselves fantasizing about beautiful fish instead of beautiful women (or hunky men in some cases), can just skip to the next thread right now cuz this one goes nowhere but downhill from here. You still here? Then you've accepted the truth, AND THAT TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE BRETHREN - oops, sorry. A little fishy evangelism is normal, ain't it? My brethren (and sistren), this question is for those among us who, although we concede to being corrupted by this pastime, we're still sufficiently in control of our impulses and our faculties to resist the lure of multi-digit priced rods and even more expensive reels, like the chosen few amongst us who have been touched by the spirit of long whippy rods and ridiculously large reels that resemble something our cave dwelling predecessors might have used had they had the technology we have today, and still chose to ignore it's benefits. For those still with me, what are your 3 most favoured rod/reel combos? I won't suggest an upper end price limit, only leave it to yer common sense and good judgement to stay reasonable. If you think carp are a worthy target then by all means tell us about yer carping gear. If you think bass aren't a complete waste of time, tell us how you take them on. If you squander all yer time motoring out to blue water to run out football fields of line then tell us what yer favoured weapons are. If you think it's normal to tie little bitty fake bugs on an inordinately huge piece of plastic rope then by all means try to justify yer expenditures. Hopefully this will ultimately get us a nice overview of what normal (dare I say that?) fisherpersons favour when it comes to gear for their respective fishy pursuits. I'll kick it off with a list of my three, in order of usage - 1. Quantum Energy E10PT1 spinning reel with (at the moment) red Power Pro 15# braid on board. It's on a Quantum Encore 5'6" one-piece medium rod (under $150 without line) 2. Shimano Solstace 1000RH rear drag spinning reel with Stren braid (about 35# I think). On a Quantum Catalyst 5'3" one-piece medium rod (about $100 without line) 3. Quantum Energy PT baitcaster with the same line as the Shimano, whatever that is). On a Quantum Tour Edition PT 7' MH (about $225 without line) The first one is my everyday creek rod cuz it's light and easy to carry for a few hours in the creek hunting smallmouths. I can sidearm most baits about as far as I want and still stay under the tree branches. The middle one is probably just a jerkbait rod, but I can also carry it on the creek if I'm tossing big enuf lures. It's very very stiff. The baitcaster is - well, a baitcaster for when I'm lucky enough to get out on a boat with guys who are willing to chuck baits instead of just trolling. It'll troll too but casting is way more fun. So there's my offering for under $500. What's yers? JF

1. Water and equipment safety basics 2. Basic casting safety & skills 3. Fish identification 4. Handling the fish properly and humanely for your safety and the fish's wellbeing (different fish can be handled differently) Good idea. I sometimes walk down along the river on a Sunday afternoon and I'm appalled at the way kids flail hooks around and the way the fish get abused all because no one has taken any time to give the kids any instruction. Their parents just give 'em a rod and reel with some hooks and bobbers, tell 'em to dig some worms and go catch a fish. JF

My regular fishing buddy is a kayaker and has been nagging me to get one for a while. He has a canoe and refuses to use it for fishing. He figures our odds are better if we spread out on the water instead of doubling up in one small area all the time. We're often a few hundred feet apart when we're wading. Besides, my wife seems to like kayaks and if that'll add to her interest then it's good by me. JF

I think I read in National Geographic that it's properly called a Threat of Women. JF

I think that's the guy Ian James told me about. I'd forgotten about him. JF

He told me you just had a lousy sense of balance. JF

What is it about fishing that we love? One day recently I met a feller working in a Dick's Sports fishing section who said "Hey, when you've got as many kids as me you are a meat fisherman." Okay. I buy that. He also said "And I've got 2 1/2 ex-wives to support. I looked askance at that one. I asked “What’s a half wife?” He explained "The third one doesn't know she's an ex yet." That has nothing to do with my question but I got a kick out of it. So why do we all fish? For me it's more about the fun of figuring out how to outsmart these pea-brained creatures. So far they're outsmarting me, and it’s humiliating frankly. But I'm getting better at it. I'll continue to throw money and time at them until I get it right. But I also enjoy the thrill of the hunt. Tracking them down, analyzing their habit and habitat and trying to toss tempting tidbits for them to take. Then the real thrill is when I get one on and have to bring him in. At first I was convinced that UL was the way to go. 4 # test on a really flimsy rig was the true test of one's skill as a fisherman, at least the landing part. Then the subtleties of it came into play. Use a bigger hook so he doesn't inhale it and hurt hisself. Use barbless hooks so he can be released with the least angst and damage. Then I learned that playing him is traumatizing so I concede that stronger lines are better so I can get him to hand faster, and back to the water sooner. And so on, and so on, and so on. I have no problem with fishing for meat. We’re hunter/gatherers by nature so we’re inclined to hunt, and sometimes it’s even economical if we can overcome the impulse to buy the very latest in gear and have redundant everythings for our fishing adventures. It’s the natural way of things. Hook him, haul him in, whack his little head and put him on ice. Throw the guts back for the crayfish to gobble so they'll grow bigger as bait for a later day, provided the seagulls let them sink. But for me it's all about the fun of the hunt. Matching wits with the tiny brained critters. I have to be able to beat someone in this life or my ego will be reduced to the size of a bass brain. I want to find that happy medium between damage and conservation where I can just have fun. It’s me against the bass, and we’re in his element, at least when I’m wading. If either of us gets gored in the process so be it. Hopefully it's the bass with his teeny brain and unfeeling mouth skin. And hopefully I can return him intact to play another day. Here’s where I’m gonna get in trouble. I don't get trolling unless it's strictly for meat. Odds are yer gonna induce serious barotrauma in the little (big) guys you haul up from the deeps so they're only good for meat either way. But I don't get the fun in trolling deep. I caught a few lakers last summer and knowing they were coming up fast from 100' I knew they were toast the minute they chomped the spoon. They were at that moment of biting nothing but food. But they weren't much fun to haul in. I was reeling them in with a rod/reel/line combo that could have lifted me from the bottom of the lake. It was pure mechanics at that point, not fun - unless of course it's just the thrill of the hunt. And that's not wrong to enjoy if yer after the meat. We're hunter/gatherers by nature and a successful hunt is good for the soul, and the tummy. I'll take casting or jigging in shallow water every time over trolling deep, or trolling of any kind. Casting is more personal and leaves a few options for the little fishy critters. If I'm careful and considerate they'll be safely back in their element before too long and I'll have the thrill of succeeding in my quest. To each his own. For me the most fun is casting for shallow fish, be they bass, pike or (heaven forfend) muskies. When I grow up I'll get more sophisticated and learn to outsmart trout with a fake bug. Any thoughts on that, pro or con? JF

Woodstock's not far for you. Get up there and talk to Jos. Somebody there will set you on the right course. It's really great having a serious fishing store to ask your questions. I don't have to go to Woodstock cuz one of his proteges is right here in Stratford and the prices are always better than CTC for those things they both carry. As much as I depend on CTC for a lot of stuff, fishing gear is no longer part of that. JF

Okay. That's it. Load that braid on the Calcutta. I'm comin' up. Hopefully I'll have the spare spinning reel (and a few other toys) by that time so I can do a 2rr's and have one rod for every lure laying on the deck. I realize it's the sign of a man possessed but what the hey, we only pass this way once, and I plan to leave a trail of discarded toys that will be the envy of every man. JF

I'm thinking I'll crawl afore I run. That means I suspect it would be easier to talk her into a pair of fishing yaks before a real boat. And I don't mind the idea at all. We've done a bit of sea kayaking in Florida and Hilton Head and she really likes it. Of course she thinks dragon boat racing is fun. And she thinks green veggies are better than burgers and beer. Bleah! I've been debating about getting a kayak for myself for fishing and if she gets the bug, even a little bit, then the yak sale will be pretty easy. And we've got an experienced kayaker (ist?) in our midst, my fishing buddy Rob, the artist. He's been pestering me to get one for a while now. I think if I suggest a summer of weekends spent exploring the Grand by kayak she'll be in favour. And then there are lots of other rivers to check out. Rob says the Thames is great for yak fishing. I'm getting excited about this now. Rob says he's really impressed with the hull profile on that green fishing kayak at CTC, and it's only $500. I figure I can't go wrong. If it doesn't pan out I can get most of my money back from them but I think if we start exploring Wendy will get right into it. I'm thinking I can hook a line from her yak to mine and let her propel us down the Grand or wherever while I check the waters for fishies. And if I really have to paddle then there's a nifty pole holder thingy comes with the kayak. We'll see what the next few weeks bring. JF

Thanks. I'm sold. JF