El Daveo

Sounds exactly like the annual carnage down at Red Bridge in Vineland/Jordan. Every fall during the run, scores of snaggers go down there and massacre hundreds of fish for their eggs. The shore gets littered with the gutted corpses of so many salmon that never had the chance to spawn the next generation. In my 20 odd years of fishing I have seen the numbers of fish in the fall run plummet in this area and I have to believe that the primary reason for this fall in numbers must be this activity. Where the hell are the authorities? Sickening indeed.

Oddly enough the line was that cheap, crappy 6 or 8 lb test that came prespooled on the kids fishing reel when I bought it a couple of years ago. It just came up from the bottom ever so slowly, then just surfaced like a submarine. Once it saw us it got angry and fought a bit but old crappy line did the job.

Okay…so you’re fishing with your son one day. Just a simple little kid’s rod with a cheesy little closed-face reel. Throw a worm on a little hook and presto; you have everything you need for a fun filled afternoon catching dozens of little smallmouth bass and sunfish. You share the rod with him because there ‘s no use using your own what with all the constant fish you’re catching on his. He casts it out…catches a fish within about a minute…reels it in…has you take it off…plays with the fish while you re-bait his hook for him…throw the fish back…repeat… After a while your son tires of the ‘casting & waiting for a bite’ part and makes you do that with instructions to just give him the rod once there’s a fish on there to reel in. So you go ahead and follow his instructions…what the hell…its all good. You feel a nibble…pull to set the hook…nothing…feel a nibble again… pull to set the hook…nothing…(bloody sunfish!)…again a nibble…pull to set the… “damn”! snagged! So you pull on the snag and notice that there is something strange about it…the snag is coming up…it’s heavy as hell but at least it’s moving up…bloody log no doubt…well at least you’ll be able to salvage the hook and you won’t have to re-tie the line… Pull… Pull… Pull... Waaaaaait a minute….that ain’t no log!!! This was the biggest snapping turtle I have ever seen in my life! I caught it on the dock of Lake Opeongo in Algonquin Park a few weeks back. It surfaced and hissed at us…literally scared my boys a bit who said it looked more like a sea monster than a turtle. The thing had hands the size of mine! Look at the claws on it! My best guess is 50 lbs or so. Believe it or not my wife reached down and cut the line near its mouth to let it go. Best fishing memory in a long time for me!

It's a simple, pre-rigged, scented platic worm made by this a little company in Ft. Wayne Indianna. You can get them in a few tackle shops up in Canada (Grimby Tackle for one) but the best colours sell out very quickly. I can't explain why, but this platic worm outperforms any other I have even seen or heard of. It falls better, crwals better, smells better, etc. And although the company promotes them for for bass, I have found that any fish that would ever contemplate biting a real worm will bite this one.

Thanks for those. Holinhead looks very nice but we are coming from Niagara and it's a little far. I think we would go up to a couple of hours north of Sudbury but no further. Lakair looks alright. has anyone already been there?

Kelly's Pier Boy Special - natural. Everything bites it. Everything stays on. Can use them almost anywhere. I've caught so many bass on these that it's almost unfair to them. Great for the kids too since little sunfish, bass, and perch around the docks go absolutely nuts for them.

Hello all. I am just wondering if anyone knows a website or forum that has a good number of reviews for Ontario fishing lodges. I'm looking for a new spot for my annual trip up north but I would much rather go somewhere that comes highly recommended by those who have been there rather than taking my chances on what their brochure or website has to say. But I am not having any luck finding such a place online. I would also be interested in opinions from anyone here if you know of a good place. It is deeply important to me that I pick a good spot where a group of 6 guys can relax & have a good time in a clean respectable cabin, have some great walleye fishing that isn’t hard work, be made to feel welcome by hospitable owners, and fish from boats that are safe and which have reliable motors. When we find these things that we are looking for at a place that can accommodate our availability, we plan to return every year for many, many years. But where? Anyone?