JohnF

Me too. I got mine on a factory rebate deal for $100 net. I really like the external brake adjuster. Garry tells me though that if you go to a lesser model the external brake doesn't have as many stops. JF

It's always good in the Kawarthas. Haven't caught a musky yet but that day will come. At the risk of inviting a first ever case of mal de mer I'm pretty comfortable in small boats and rough water. I grew up playing with boats and then had a lot of years of sailing and diving the Great Lakes so I had pretty good training. Besides, what's the worst thing can happen? You yak over the side. I've been on dive boats where half the divers were chumming all around me. We made the best of it and watched the water to see what the chum attracted. We had a diver on a six pak in the Caribbean who was blowing chunks with gusto and all the time laffing & pointing to the turtle that was gobbling up the new fare. I learned that as long as I can see the horizon I'm good. Really looking forward to meeting you & seeing what your playground has to offer, Ryan. See you Sunday. Hopefully there'll be no half nekkid babes to distract me from the work at hand. JF

Many real estate salespeople are excellent golfers. I'm a notable exception. Our son got all the golf talent in the family. JF

We used to really like the Pinery way back when. Lots of stuff to do there now, trails to walk, even fishing in the river. JF

My BIL did that I believe. In fact I think he pranged up two cruisers in one year. Then they made him a desk sergeant. Seemed safer I guess. JF

Goby on a Stick for the kids, Goby Sweetbreads for the discerning palate, Goby Sushi for the adventuresome, Goby Wrapped in Bacon for the flavour mixers, Goby Haggis for folks with small appetites. Waste not, want not. JF

Would there be any mirrors in this imaginary world? And is alcohol involved? JF

That's me in about 40 years. I'm still thinking young. JF

So yer saying I shoulda been wearing a teeshirt with a few less fish marks on it????? I don't think it would have been quite enuf frankly. Perhaps if I coulda instantly shed about 40 pounds, grown some hair and not been with another old fart ...... JF

It's every parent's worst fear but when it does happen we eventually come to the realization that we've now experienced the worst life has to offer so there's really nothing to be afraid of any more. It doesn't lessen the pain but it makes life simpler I guess. Not a lesson I'd wish on my worst enemy though. As harsh as it sounds we all help the most by getting past it, easier for us than the family and close friends. I really believe it helps the bereaved to move on themselves. JF

Let us know how that works out for you. JF

I tried but Garry said I was embarrassing him. I think that was about the time she decided to stick her butt up in the air and I dropped my rod in the water, or mebbe it was the camera. I'm not sure. JF

You hogged all the big fish for yerself and left the babies for me. Mebbe it was the orange bikini that threw off my concentration. I could also blame the fact that I was fishing barbless both days. I sometimes forgot when the fishies were at boatside and let them off the hook, so to speak. There were lots of fish. Smallmouths and largemouths. The second day was all about WGSF though. The thing was some of those that Garry caught were freakin' trophy rock bass. Dunno why we didn't get pics of them. Must have been the old rock bass stigma. JF

Just got back from two great days in the Kawarthas with our friend Garry2rs. In stead of boring y'all with my usual novel I'll do it in point form, more as observations. The Lakes: - Kash & Chandos The Target: - Smallmouth, largemouth & pike The Observations: - 1. Bubblegum (pink) worms are best 2. There is no point in trying to use finesse techniques when there is a pretty young lady in an orange bikini sunning herself on a nearby raft. 3. Chandos has some pretty cool looking boats, especially the big honking wakeboard haulers 4. As much as we've panned Tracker boats here, they have a really tidy looking bassboat/jonboat hybrid that might just be a great solution for the guy on a tight budget who wants the convenience of the big platform for small lake fishing. 5. Black magic marker ink does a good job of covering up the high viz lines where they attach to the terminal tackle. I used it on Stren yellow braid. It works great. 6. Chandos has very clear water 7. The smallmouths have gone a little deeper on the rock walls. We had to stand farther off shore and work in the darker water. Water surface was 80 degrees. 8. Who knew Thursday was WGSF Day on Chandos? If we worked in anything less than 5' of water we had them swarming around. I caught a lot more of them than Garry although the total weight was probably the same. Mine were 5 inchers. His were 10 inchers and bigger. Who knew the damned things used steroids? 9. A cabretta leather golf glove is a very handy thing when the Rock Bass bite is on. They are such pointy squirmy little creatures the glove just makes life simpler and does nothing to interfere with casting. I forgot that I didn't have the glove on at one point and grabbed one. Nice wakeup call. 10. Why is it that when beer is not involved in the evening I am nowhere near as smart and entertaining, yet the next morning I'm much smarter and enthusiastic? I suppose that's a tradeoff. One just has to decide if they're a morning or evening person. 11. Calcutta reels aren't all that complicated to take apart and lube etc. As with most things all one needs is an experienced guide to get you through the first fumbling attempts, then it seems easy. Without some advice I'd probably have never got it back together right. There's a little trick with getting the release button in the right position for reassembly. I guess I got it right as it worked flawlessly on the water. Thanks Garry. 12. Dropshotting is cool. I almost get it. I was playing around in about 5' of water where I could see the working end and the fishies playing with it. I was using very shiny weights and I'm not sure if they're good or not as they seemed to get as much attention as my plastic minnows. The rockbass I was practicing on went straight for the eyes and tail of my minnows. 13. Some folks have special permits to be ignorant if they're property owners on the lake. We both had line out on a shoal and watched a la-di-da looking couple cruise right over our lines between us and the shore in their big seagoing Lincoln Town Car as if they had every right to be there. I looked at Garry and he was just laughing. I was all for going over to them and venting but discretion took the day. 14. Did I mention the futility of trying to finesse fish when there's a pretty lady sunning on a raft off to one side. The last thing on my mind for a few moments there was the sensitivity of my rod tip. And stop smirking. You know perfectly well what I meant. 15. The new Cumara behaved impeccably. It is hands down the nicest rod I've ever used. 16. The Stradic CI4 was nice too. I understand now why Shimano gets so much support on the forum. 17. Yellow line is nice to use. The visibility on the water is awesome and the Stren braid was very well behaved, even at only 14#. As already said I just blacked out the business end of the line with magic marker ink. I just pulled the black/grey Spiderwire braid (dunno the catchy name) off my little Quantum reel and will get the same yellow Stren on it today. 18. There are an awful lot of cottages on Chandos. In some places they're as jammed together as houses in our city subdivisions. Kinda defeats the purpose of a getaway cottage to me, but hey, I don't have a cottage of any kind so what do I know. 19. Seemed like we were the only boat fishing the lakes. I imagine it's different tomorrow and Sunday. 20. One can go for two long days fishing nothing but plastics and still have fun. I dropshotted lifelike minnows, wacky rigged worms on both open and weedless hooks, pulled weighted tubes over weedbeds, and fired toads way back in the weeds. Conclusion: - Anyone lucky enuf to have easy access to the Kawartha region is blessed. I'm sure there are great lakes in the north but to have a gem of an area like this within 1 1/2 hours of one of the greatest cities in North America is pretty nifty. Thanks for putting me up and schooling me, Garry. Ya done good as usual. For a relative newby like me being out on the boat with Garry is like having an automated fishing instruction tape that automatically skips to the exact chapter that deals with the current conditions. I'm sure there are others here with knowledge to share so for those who have a lot to learn (like me) take these guys up on offers to join them in their own fishing backyards. It's not just entertaining, it's really informative. I've learned much about gear, techniques and reading the fishing terrain but there's still a long way to go. JF

I was on my way home from Kawartha and got hit at 7:45 just east of Stratford. Loads of rain, great lightning show. Lots of radio signal interference for a while. I had to slow down for a few minutes on a paved road because of the rain. Still some lightning and a bit of rain at 9:25. Really not anything to get too excited about unless you're out in the middle of a lake. JF

What Joey said. It's a great feature but the price is way too high for the chance you'll have an accident on a lonely road, have your car stolen or lock yourself out of your car. They give you a trial period to get you hooked. The telephone is cool but is just a prepaid phone in fact. I didn't even bother registering the last couple of cars we bought. JF

We used to make our own using dive weight belt material. Get the lightest gauge available, fold in half and form a belt loop on the back side. Then cut an end piece and fit it onto the opposite side of the belt loop so it can be used as a keeper strap. Use a little bit of the two sided velcro to make a fastener and sew the whole mess together . Works great and costs peanuts to have sewn. I've even used seat belt material although it's kinda slippery. If anyone's interested I can post some pics of examples. JF

200 mph JF

I grew a vegetable once. All the rest died. JF

She needs a pink bobber. JF

I was even thinking as basic as a piece of pvc tubing over some kind of stronger pipe that just fits inside. Between the slippery surface and the free wheeling centre it would probably work for you.

I was thinking some kind of wide roller on the back. Doesn't have to be state of the art slick since there's no speed or heat buildup involved. Lift the bow onto it then lift and push from the transom. One pushup at the end and it's in place. The bow weight will actually lift most if not all the stern weight for you. JF

That's the sense I get too, and it's odd because there are generally a lot of out of area tourists running that stretch of road. JF

Message sent. JF

Can you schedule some nice weather so I can come for a visit? I really want to try dropshotting with that new spinning rod and my Calcutta needs setting up. I don't think my arms are as long as Albert's so I'll never match his catch but I'll settle for little 'uns like those other guys caught. JF