Fang

One question first, what are you pushing for a boat? talked to alot of boat owners over the years staying at my nephews old place on temagami. I'd say I've driven most models over the last 20 years up there but except for a 20HP evinrude on my first boat I and any of my folks have only every owned Mercs. Very reliable parts and service anywhere you go. We try and forget the experiences we had with 1 Yamaha 115 and only chalk that up to poor service from the marina that failed to diagnose a simple electrical problem after being in the shop 6 times. All I can add to this is that for the most part 4 stokes are great on gas and no oil needed. But if I had any money to spend on any motor it would be a Merc Optimax now. Fast on the top end and they idel down to do most trolling. Do yourself if your looking at at higher HP motor purchase. Buy a seperate trolling motor. Who are we fooling outboards have only 2 speeds. Idle and wide open!!!!! There's never enough HP under you. Spend the money and get one suited for your boat. DO NOT UNDERPOWER!!

2 cats and a possum are clawing at my back gate trying to get as far away as possible she's just plain awful, and I like wierd music but as I always said love is blind and there must be some talent hidden there (just not singing)

Lots of buzz about this reel from industry people. Was told by the guys at Lebarons to watch out for this soon. Again I'd be very interested in where you saw it and what the retail $ was. For those that clicked the link to the Rapala site, the R-Reels are available in both spinning and baitcasting. Click the spinning reel icon top right hand corner of the screen.

When the rivers are low and clear it's a tough bite. Gotta be there first light or scale the line and baits down to really small. Any kind of traffic on the river tends to push fish up into cover. When it's tough fishing and you know the fish are in the river look for wood. Fish that hang up in cover tend to not be as spooky as those resting in pools with lines going by all day. Make sure you're using 4 lb flouro leaders and small roe bags until the water gets some color and flow. To fish wood be prepared to get snagged up and retie every 5 minutes. It's worth it though.

pending on other outcomes the leafs have gone from 2nd worst to 5th worst. Looks like they will jump 3 teams with another win. Fire up the ticker tape boys I feel a turnanround on the season coming!!! What a nice night to sit out around the fire pit, drink a few beers and listen to the game. I'll be right there next Saturday again when calgary comes to town> might even get the jersey back out! Oh!!!! to be a blue and white fan

That cop was most likely looking at a "confiscation" that would end up on his BBQ> I ask an MNR officer about road claim deer and he winked and told me he gets 4-5 a year just following up on road kills

last ones I cashed in through web shopping was 500 point equals $10 gift card. You do get double points or something like that for BPS brand name items

Was up at BPS this week and picked up a larger Clam hut for upcoming season. The Nanook Clam was on sale at a really good price and I need a second hut after my son claimed my Frabill single man last year. Paid at cash and picked up the hut at the back door. Got home and had a look at the bill and there is now a line showing BPS Rewards Points after each item. I have 30 days to go back to the store to either set up an account or add it to my total Never saw anything in store or cashier never asked if I had an account or I would have given them my card at the cash. I got my cards years ago for online and catalogue purchases but was disappointed when the Vaughan store opened and all this time I could not collect points on my purchases.

Gander Mountain is defintely worth the stop. Fishing section was OK and I found some very nice and well priced Gander brand plastics. Cleaned them out of the little 3" senko style bait they had. I think in total I has 22 packs going back over the border. The hunting section is very nice, great cloting section.

different sort of suggestion. Take a wander up here in Feb or March and attend one of the 2 Fishing /Sportsman shows. There a whack of lodges that set up booths, You can talk to the owners/guides flip through their photo albums and compare pricing all in the same day. Arnsteins just a skip and a jump east of the French or Moon river areas - good bass, walleye. From Toronto the Rideau system is about the same distance as Arnstein Other suggestions to check out Lake Nosbonsing Kashe Lake

Bright full moon during deer hunt is always bad. Like salmon the deer get used to moving around at night. I had the dog out at a little past 11pm last night and boy was it ever bright. Anyone notice the size of the moon still above the horizon this morning on the drive to work. It was ernormous. Any signs of the rut. I saw 6 deer on Sunday morning fishing for trout. Nice big buck crossed the river below me followed by a doe and then another doe and 2 fawns. Too bad there's no hunting there - inside city limits. Might have to start rattling and see if any young bucks get excited

Very cool, We've been seeing a pretty big increase in the beaver and marten population on Temagami. Nice critters but a real pain when they decide to build under a boathouse or dam the creek leading up to the portage. Had a marten take an interest in me when moose hunting. He spotted me in my stand and thought he was gonna climb right in. Hope the pricing stays good for you. You do anything with the beaver meat?

Up until this year it would have been white, but black has pushed it to 2nd place If the brand you buy does bleed when colors are mixed throw a couple white in a bag of smoke. That's my other fav colour. Ends up coming out like a smelt colour

Saw one of these in the kawarthas one time. Had to wander over and check it out. I remember getting about 10 ft from it and almost gagging from the smell. It was located outside and someone had unplugged the power chord

Before I built my smoker I did a ton of quick smokes on the BBQ. For brine my recipe is pretty simple 500mls of Soy, 1L of water, 1 heaping tsp of fav BBQ or seasoning spice and 100 mls of Thai sweet chili sauce (available in most Grocery stores) Make enough brine to cover fillets. Place fillets meat side down in brine and place in fridge for 24 hours Get a cheap metal pie plate (not thin aluminum) and place your chips in that. There is a bit of a trick needed to use your bbq as a low temp smoker and keep it from build up heat and just acting like an oven Take the cooking grill off one side of the bbq and remove the ceramic stones so you can place the chips just above your burner. The lower the heat on the burner the longer you can smoke the fish rather than cook it in an oven. The lower the heat the closer your pan needs to be to the flame to get the chips burning. Put the burner on low and place fish on the other "cold" side. It's better if you have a bun rack up high and place the fish on it. let the smoke build up and check it every 20 mins or so to start.

Just a quick fyi for anyone looking for a ice fishing shelter this year. I've never used one of these but seen the single man retail at $100 ea. Several over the last 2-3 weeks on ebay 1 man selling for around $30-35 USD plus $30 shippng and the 3 man has been going for $75USD with same shipping. I'd imagine you'd need some bricks to hold it down but not bad deal to get out of the wind. There's lot of room in the single to fish and have a heater inside.

Been using the same Fenwick Eagle Flippin stick and 50 lb braid since mid nineties. The old rod really creaks and cracks now when you set the hook but she's still going Length is key. I prefer the longer rods after trying a 7 footer a few times last few years. A softer slower action is best to. The hardest thing to ever learn is to wait thast 1-2 seconds before setting the hook. the slow action rod helps with that Watched JPD's show the other night. Didn't see the all time best frog though. Scum Frogs are No 1 in my book. Love the Bigfoot model but you have to glue in the legs as they get ripped out to easily

never head to temagami for moose hunting without them now. By the looks of the weather report it's gonna be colder than normal next week. Might have to get another couple pairs to wear as mitts

This area tends to yeild up mostly all aquatic fossils as it was under water for a few million years. Try the McMaster Paleontological site. It has some interesting reading and list several open quarry sites. I haven't been in years so I wouldn't want to presume any are still open to the public. I'm in Oakville and any time we head down to Coronation Park for anything I'm always amazed at the fossils I find right along the shore. I've picked up a few nice Nautoloid samples. Pretty much snails and corals is what you'll find. Trilobites are neat finds and pretty common. Loads on Google under Southern Ontario fossils and Niagara Escarpment fossils A good starting site that has some local sites around niagara way. http://www.fossilsites.com/STATES/ON.HTM The Halton Hills conservation arae has some great caves and exposed rock structure but they don't like excavating

hydrogen peroxide will break down the skunk oil. Buy it at the drug store, i think it's 4% - don't use anything more concentrated as it will burn skin.

In the next few weeks or so Petro Park gates will be closed for the winter. In the last couple of years it's always happened around Moose hunting time. There's still fishing to be had around the rivermouth but it's been slow for the past few weeks

10 more sleeps for me. Already packed and waiting. Neighbours get to know that this time of year a lot of strange noises come out of my garage as I got out and practice calling after dinner

Great post Dave, I would love to see a few Dave + a fan shows. Love the Lunkerville concept but I think it could be taken to another level with the show host guiding someone for a day. Not to steal from JP's show but as an industry the ICAST show is so poorly covered. Would love to see Facts of Fishing do an in depth product, and interveiw show from ICAST on what's coming out in retail A show on the tournament scene in Canada and what it takes to get involved as an amatuer angler. Great lead in the spring as a one stop reference for getting ready. Love to see a day in the life,..... CO's, biologists, MNR staff, even more on independent organizations like ringwood hatchery the bizarre alternate species are always enjoyable. Last few years great shows have been done on sturgeon, sharks and of course alligator gar. Cudo's on getting out of your comfort range too Dave. Enjoyed the fly fishing show. Like the centerpin idea. what about some more ice fishing stuff. There's only so many bass I can see being caught.

Yep Gortex all the way. I've blown out 5-6 regular ones of all sorts of price points. One of the most important tips i could provide is to make sure you buy one that has a double baffle over the front zipper.

Gotta love those Fujifilm cameras!!! OK maybe it's because I've worked there for 22 years and they haven't booted me out the door after all those years Congrats TC, just remember to make a few prints every now and then. you'll be helping a fellow OFNer out