mooseroo

I managed to grab some Swim Senkos on my last trip to Dick's Sporting down in Buffalo. I haven't had a chance to try them out yet but wondering if anyone has any tips on using them? Weighted or weightless? Fast or slow retrieve? Other ideas?

I tried a few dollar stores in Ajax and Pickering today... nothing so far.

That's a very nice thing for you to do for a friend.

You shine it on glow-in-the-dark lures like the popular Little Cleo spoons. For fishing at night, the glowing lures are great for grabbing the attention of finicky fish. You can use a flashlight or disposable camera flash, but apparently the black lights work better. The hunt is on. If I find them I'll buy a couple for friends and then post the location here.

Nobody is suggesting that taking panfish at incredible rates will crash the population. I'm just suggesting that if those small panfish, tiny perch, young bass, and other species are left in the lakes/rivers, we might get a better crop of larger (and tastier ) fish in future seasons. The trophy species rely on the smaller species for food. Roughly, more food equals more big fish. I'm aware of the science behind this debate. I was one of those scientists for several years. The MNR takes guidance from my former employer. If you are interested in this and other related subjects, read through some of the publications found there. They have some fascinating reports. We could argue the fine points until the carp come home. I think the point to take away is to act responsibly and with some though when taking fish for consumption. Wasting hundreds of small inedible fish is not of benefit to the aquatic ecosystem and not benefiting the person taking them home. I like Terry's suggestion about an educational sign that could be placed near common ramps/locks to inform people of the connection between bait/panfish and the growth and population size of the larger species.

Agreed and I don't "hate" the people fishing within the law. I just hate the thoughtlessness of those that don't release. They don't know any better but they also don't take the time to learn about what they are doing. It's unfortunate.

Well I guess I'll have to give them another shot this weekend maybe. I'll give them a shot of scent and vary the presentation. I'm glad to hear others have had some luck with them. Thanks for the advice and stories! I'll update if I get a chance to throw them this weekend.

Terry, that's pretty short sighted. Do you drive your car everyday, never listening for bumps and rattles, saying that it's not your job to take care of the car, it's your mechanic's job? I'm pretty sure we won't upset the environmental balance by being selective of the fish we keep for consumption. Nature is pretty self-regulating. Extra bait fish in a lake typically means extra large fish in a year. I've worked on both the US and Canadian side of this debate and been on both the government and private citizen sides as well. I know the science behind it and the emotion. By your definition it's the "everyday fisherman's" duty to be ignorant of the world around. Give anglers more credit. You are right... It's not the job of the everyday fisherman to look at the bigger picture. It's their responsibility. The rules only get changed if we are all vigilant, aware of our surroundings, and voice our opinions and concerns. The MNR only changes the rules when opinions are made public; their most important resource is the observations made by anglers. I complain to the MNR about this whenever I see them out and about. I mentioned wanting to use a slingshot to chase away bucketeers. I didn't do it because I know they are within the law. I did comment to them that the small fish they were mindlessly keeping would probably be a much better meal if they threw them back and caught them again next year. Double your fishing fun and double your food! It's not my intention to start a flame war. I'd just like to find a way to reduce the number of people that give our sport a bad name and protect the wonderful resources we have in the province.

I bought a few packs of these but never had much luck with them. I've seen a few bass swimming after them but never a taker... Anybody else disappointed with these to date or am I missing something?

Certainly not meant as an insulting name. It's just a classification... someone that sits by the shore with a white bucket and releases nothing they catch. I don't see anything offensive in the term but I do see something offensive in their practice. Lookinforwalleye is right and I take equal offense to the boat owner that live-wells every fish they catch, but being a shore-fisherman myself, I don't see that happen very often. I often see 5-10 people in a long line keeping every little fish they hook for hours on end. Being within the law is fine and dandy... but when you keep every fish that bites your hook without considering it's role in the larger system, you are abusing a resource and not thinking. If you are going to eat what you catch be selective and eat the fish that are worth eating. Taking home a three inch perch and cleaning it is a waste a fish because there is no meat on that fish worth the effort of cleaning it. If you leave that three inch bait fish in the lake, it might turn into a decent meal in a year or two or feed a larger fish for you to catch next month. People always complain that there are no big fish in the lakes close to Toronto. Think raking out the bait fish might have some impact? Every time I've seen people sitting on white buckets catching fish, nothing has ever been returned to the river or lake. They will be known as 'white-bucketeers" to me and many others. I'm all for angling fun for live-well owners and bucket owners alike. I own a number of buckets myself. Enjoying a day on/near the water and reeling in fish after fish is a real joy, but I know which fish are worth cleaning and eating and which fish are worth letting go to catch another day.

I've seen far more advertising for Canadian Lodges in the states than I ever have in Canada. I've never actually seen an ad around home besides a few that they try to sell at BPS in T.O. The only way I hear about lodges is through the shows on WFN. M

We should post "white-bucketeer alerts" whenever we come across a clutch of "catch and what?!" anglers sitting on a bucket of future trophy fish. I rented a houseboat up on Pigeon lake at the end of August and was tempted to buy a slingshot to drive the white-bucketeers away from the locks at night. Nothing more irritating!

Welcome! It's that willingness to help that hooked me on this community! Keep an eye on the hook-ups section and you might get a chance to meet up with others from the community in real life for some fishing.

I credit the catch to your advice on technique!

So after a failed trip to the the Ganny and Credit Rivers last year, I decided to try my luck on the Rouge. Always heard there were salmon there, but never tried it out. Last night, after reading about TorontoAngler's luck last week, I decided to meet him down there for a few hours of spoon chucking. We met up around 8:30 and after about 2 hours of steady casting, I felt a definite tug on my line. I set the hook and WHAMMO we were off. He ran right taking line and then darted back and I was able to get back a lot of my line. He kept running and took a fair bit more line. I was using a 10'6" Medium Shimano Convergence with a Shimano Sedona 4000FB spooled up with 10 lb P-Line CXX mono and a Little Cleo glow-in-the-dark 3/4oz spoon (orange dot) tied directly using a Rapala knot. Many thanks to the folks on OFC for advice on gear. The rod and reel were recent purchases based on advice from these boards. After a few good runs and a lot of patience (seemed like and hour but probably only a few minutes) TorontoAngler reached down with the net to scoop out the guy in the pics below. My first ever salmon catch! After getting the treble out of both his upper and lower jaws, and a few quick snaps with the camera, I revived and released him back to the river mouth. Nice clean fish with lots of fight... he held in the water for a few minutes before giving my hand the shake and took off swimming. <table style="width:194px;"><tr><td align="center" style="height:194px;background:url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat left"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/greenjcs/SalmonOnTheRouge?authkey=divp5A7RKpQ"><img'>http://picasaweb.google.com/greenjcs/SalmonOnTheRouge?authkey=divp5A7RKpQ"><img src="http://lh5.google.com/greenjcs/RvIGVwowdiE/AAAAAAAABEQ/Vwf-ICAuIZM/s160-c/SalmonOnTheRouge.jpg" width="160" height="160" style="margin:1px 0 0 4px;"></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/greenjcs/SalmonOnTheRouge?authkey=divp5A7RKpQ" style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">Salmon on the Rouge</a></td></tr></table>

You took all the orange spotted 3/4 oz ones didn't you! I was there Tuesday and all were gone. I had to settle for another pattern. Luckily I had one from last year. Back to the main topic, the glowing spoons seem to be the way to go for Salmon on Lake Ontario. I caught my first last night on one.

Anything in the Canon Powershot SD line would be my suggestion. They are small enough that you can fit them in a breast pocket (fishing vest) or slip into a small compartment in your tackle box. They take great picks, have great battery life, and are at a nice price point.<br><br> Here are some samples from a recent houseboat trip in the Kawarthas. You can download the originals to see full resolution. <br><br> <table style="width:194px;"><tr><td align="center" style="height:194px;background:url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat left"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/greenjcs/Houseboat17?authkey=QKS25fBcIjg"><img'>http://picasaweb.google.com/greenjcs/Houseboat17?authkey=QKS25fBcIjg"><img src="http://lh4.google.com/greenjcs/Rti9YkSmjVE/AAAAAAAABBc/-78-lQYOQjE/s160-c/Houseboat17.jpg" width="160" height="160" style="margin:1px 0 0 4px;"></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/greenjcs/Houseboat17?authkey=QKS25fBcIjg" style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">Houseboat 17</a></td></tr></table>

We'll still try it out... you never know what you might find if you are lucky!

That's quite an odd night! I'm surprised your presence/handling of them didn't break their concentration! Determined little...

I live a few kilometers from Tighlines! Thanks for the reminder. I forget they are there sometimes. Wilsons looks like a great place too... http://www.wilsonstoronto.com/home.html I've got options now. Many thanks gentlemen!

Planning on taking a small boat out on Scugog in the next few weeks with a couple of other OFC members and wondering if anyone had any advice, tips, spots, tactics for this time of year?! Going in at Island Marina on the North East side of the lake. We've never fished here before (aside from some shore fishing in Port Perry) and I'm wondering what to expect. Thanks! M

Excellent report! The more I hear about carping, the more I want to try it out. So much fishing, so little time!

Thanks MJL! I'll keep an eye open for those as well. I figure if I'm getting a pair, they might as well last me a few seasons; your recommendations are great. Like Paulus mentioned, there are a lot of choices and ultimately, two pairs of the same wader might perform very differently from each other. There's no silver bullet, but the experience of others goes a long way in avoiding obvious problems. I'll definitely look for that UV wader repair "goop" while I'm out shopping. Where did you buy your waders, MJL? M

That's great advice Paulus! Thanks for taking the time to elaborate! I'm looking at the options available from Bass Pro right now online. Not sure if they carry the same at the Toronto store but maybe I'll make the trip over there this week now that I have some advice and know what to look for. Anyplace else in Toronto/East that carries a selection of waders before I make the longer trip to Buffalo?

I've seen a few of CDN mail-order places that have much better pricing (in Canada) than the local/larger shops. i think I'll start looking to them for tackle over the winter. I'll post experiences with them.