johnnyb

I think my eyes got bigger than the fish's when I saw those pics -- nicely done!

Happy wife, happy life -- way to go man And nice fish too!!

Nicely done --- you've proved there is hope for all of us

Thanks, Sinker I can certainly handle that....it's the kind of encouraging news I need to hear! I will let you know if I'm going to try it....if you're free you should come along

Holy smokes those are some nice wallies! So much good water to cover in Ontario....BOQ is another one that is on "the list". And it looks like HH will be the go-to guy -- nice work!

All right, now you don't have to give away any of your hotspots.....but...without a sled do I have a shot at getting some Simcoe lakers? Just started fishing the lake this year, and am enjoying the perch fishing, but I'd love to get out to some deeper waters. Am I dreaming, or should I start looking?

My good buddy uses the Cardiff for Musky -- I believe it replaced my model, the Corsair, and well...I think I like the Cardiff just a tad better! Go for it!

Ice cubes are a great and easy solution too! I wonder what the longest someone has kept minnows alive without an aerator is....

Wow...beautiful pics of Winterlude....those are great memories to have...thanks for sharing!

We've got a few pics to upload from Jessy's camera....just for posterity I think I've figured it out...here goes! This should be one of Jessy's lakers An OOS smallie I pulled out of nearby Cassels lake on Monday The release shot of said smallie And it appears we have another shot of "Scoutmaster" Terry's controversial yet effective firestarting techniques....

I think you covered all the bases on that report Wayne -- thanks again(!) for the hospitality -- Jessy and I can't wait to explore more of Temagami. We actually dropped in on Jim Monday morning and he pointed us down the road to Cassels lake. Public parking, walked out 100 meters or so, and, well, since Jessy still wanted to fish, you know the rest She pulled up a decent trout, and all I could do was keep pace with a smallmouth bass, of all things! Anyway...glad that everyone got home safe....good luck to your daughter at the hospital. JB

A friend of mine who lives close enough to a decent laker fishery to be able to fish it daily right after ice out finds success every year with spinners -- he uses Panther Martens in 10-30 feet of water right after the ice is gone. If you were jigging, I'd be going with a nice 2.5-3" tube jig, in white. Tipped with a minnow. Good luck!

I love how you moved the fish a little closer to the 24" mark in that close-up shot....very clever...just kidding!!! Nice fish man!

Okay...I'm getting the picture.... see you guys out there....

Wow...thanks for all the feedback! Irishfield, you have been PM'd!

Hey all...I am kicking around the idea of hitting Temagami for lake trout this winter. Without a snow machine, should I even bother heading up there? Are there smaller lakes in the area worth hitting? Any help is welcome...thanks!

Have to agree with Suds on the light jigging.....I've done best when I leave it right on bottom, and just nudge it up slowly. I have been having a hard time beating tube jigs the last couple seasons....off to a good start this year too. Camillj, I'm very interested in the Lake Joe spots you mentioned, as I've heard them reputed to be pretty good. Appian Way: I've been out there, but there's a fair bit of open space, and I have no idea where to go, exactly. Straight out from the parking area? LEft, right? CNIB: How far out? I see a couple islands off shore that look promising, but have no clue. Sorry for all the questions...I only fish Rosseau and a couple smaller lakes through the ice, so I'm totally lost on Joe, but would really like to give it a good shot.

That is really good to know...thanks for posting! 2 questions: Will they be open any later on Friday/Saturday nights? (it seemed to me that Pete's was always open a bit later than Epps) and, more importantly, will Harold still be up on the wall?

best ice rod I own is a nice little steel one that I picked up from LeBaron a few years ago...looks like a car antenna with 3 guides on it...nice and stiff and perfect for Lakers. Probably a touch heavy for walleye/perch though.....

Okay, so the next question is....what's the best recipe for whitefish?

The flight is cancelled and so is my white knuckle trip to Hamilton Airport -- woooohooo! Phase one of shovelling is complete and now it's time to take the rugrat tobogganing

I love this can of minnows idea....forgive me for what may be stupid question, but, do you just send the minnows down the hole, or is the coffeecan/mason jar tied to something so you can lower the whole works? Now that I've asked that out loud, I'm pretty sure you just send the minnows down....

I have caught 3 rocks through the ice (and got 'em out of the hole) on one particular lake....but if we're strictly talking fish, then the oddest one was a smallmouth bass...very unexpected, but released unharmed.

Of all the days to pick my brother up at the airport, it has to be today. And of all the airports it has to be Hamilton! Ahhh well....I've got the flight status page bookmarked, and he's not supposed to land until 5:00pm, so maybe we'll get lucky and have a clear stretch of highway to get there and back.