johnnyb

Absolutely gorgeous...thanks for that pic

Going to Nosbonsing....got a room booked and bringing the wife and baby girl I'll go out for the morning bite, come back for lunch, then we'll all head out and give it a go...going with a bunch of friends so there will be heated shelters, and plenty of helping hands. CAN'T WAIT!!!!

This is getting excessive!! Bordering on cruel and unusual!!! The only thing keeping me sane while watching....is that I'm hitting the ice this weekend!!! I'm working on my Limey accent...figure I gotta put as many odds in my favour for the ice-eyes

Wow...those rock!

UhhhhMAZING!!! Yet another reason to live in the frozen north....if you drop anything, it will just stay put

Absolutely possible...so many different ways of doing it...the most important thing is getting the transducer to hang straight. A simple way is to bolt it to a thin piece of wood, then attach another piece of wood at a 90 deg. angle, making a "T". This way the t-bar spans your hole, and the 'ducer hangs down below. I used to do this, and would have it so I could swivel the t-bar inline with the other piece of wood, making transport more convenient. The transducer I now have hangs pretty straight, so I just have a chunk of foam around the cable, and let it float around the hole. I put the sonar unit itself along with the battery and cable in a portable cooler...nice little package...and not hard to make. Trust me...I'm not that handy!

That is absolutely hilarious....nicely done

My buddy cleaned it up...said it had brutally tough meat....had it frozen for a few months before we got together to try it...not sure if that helped. But we cubed it up and deep fried it in wontons....blew me away! The closest thing I could relate it to was a smoked pork roast...firm and meaty, but not rubbery at all.

Very cool story...I was trying to guess before I got to the bottom...was thinking Muskie or Carp...certainly didn't expect 'bow. NICE!!!

Unreal...way to go!

I'm very interested in this....thanks for the info Garry and Aaron! I'm a big fan of braid all year round....I put up with it's high maintenance issues through the ice...this 832 sounds like it might be a nice option for cold weather too. (For those who like braid)

Ok...now I gotta go hit the ice in bowfin territory!! Just to see them poppin' out of the holes...and catching them would be fun too...those things fight like mad! I actually ate one a couple years ago...deeeeeeelicious! Honest!

The balance of jealousy has been restored!!! :D Very nice report....arrrroooooooo!!!!

Nicely done...is that really the BOQ?!?!? I walked around BPS with that live forage minnow...but put it back after a while. If the paint job was on both sides I might've kept it....oh well. Waiting to find the minnow trap blade baits Very impressive, Stoty...keep it comin....but beware of letter bombs from NWOntario...Limey gets pretttttyyyyyy jealous of people catching fish while he's landlocked

What a great read....thanks for posting that!

Awesome stuff, vette! Fish like that help you stay warm

I know...not really sure what was going on there....I was happy...really.... Thanks buddy....you know I always think of how I can hit you the hardest. I figure the best way I can manage to make up for a gazillion walleye is with a couple of fat browns Thanks everybody for the kind words

HMmmmmmm....I'm off from the 23rd to the 5th.....early eyes on the big T???? HMMMMmmmmm indeed.... :D

Awesome pics, top-notch info....great report as always!

Saw one big hive like that stuck to the side of a tree once....got to close as I was admiring it, and a couple "warning bees" just zipped right out and pelted me....didn't seem like they were trying to sting....just back me up a bit. Came at me like they were shot out of a gun and literally bounced off of me. I heeded the warning and backed up, and that was good enough for them. The one you saw is pretty cool though, in the branches like that. Nice find!

Are you kiddin me?!?! Those are some seriously nice fish....well done!

Wayne > LOL No, this was yesterday...I wasn't supposed to be at work. But it WAS her rod, reel and spoon that I was using!

I was able to get down to the Whirlpool yesterday with a few fishing buds, in search of some fall bows. I brought with me my new centerpin setup, which I've never used, along with an 11' spinning combo as backup, and, despite some healthy ribbing from my companions, a baitcasting outfit for chucking spoons. At 6am there were already 10 cars parked at the top of the stairs, and I was hoping that the wind whipping across the parkway would be diminished once I got to the bottom. Didn't matter....the walk down had me warmed up plenty! Since it was dark, and neither of my long rods were rigged up, I grabbed the baitcaster and clipped on a Cleo. As day slowly broke, I started to see the odd hook-up around me....and it seemed that the other anglers down there were also chucking hardware, so I figured I'd wait a bit longer before attempting the pin....despite the heckling I was being subjected to. Around 8:30 the sun actually started to make an appearance, but I still hadn't had a sniff. One of my companions was talking to someone who had already had a couple fish on...I heard the guy talking about getting down deep...at least 10 feet. I figured a few more casts with a different spoon were justifiable before sidelining myself with rigging and figuring out how the heck to cast with the float reel. Tied on a nice heavy lucky strike...at least a 1/2 oz if not 3/4...longer narrower profile than the Cleo. Bombed it up-current....and didn't retrieve an inch of line....just let it sink as it went past me. Felt bottom tick-tick-ticking along....started to reel....and BAM!! Fish on!!! Not too shabby....downside was she absolutely inhaled the spoon, and was bleeding pretty badly...so she made the trip home with me. This definitely warranted another cast with the spoon...so out it went....and in came another brown!!! Hmmm....maybe I've figured out a bit of a pattern here....a couple casts later...and whammo! Brown #3!!! And then....everything settled down. A couple bumps here and there in our group...still saw a few guys hooking up now and then....but the action definitely seemed to have died down. Fluttering the spoon along bottom definitely seemed to work, but I know that the timing was just as crucial....those fish clearly moved in with breakfast on their minds...it's not like the pattern held up for me once they decided feeding time was over. By the time I was ready to relinquish my "bass tackle", we decided we'd had our fun and it was time to head up the 207 stairs to the car. Not a bad way to spend the morning at all...too bad I didn't touch my new centerpin....but there's always next time

3rd place....gotta keep this post at the top if you're gonna beat out that Sturgeon....nice fish!

Awesome stuff there Terry....keep plugging away Lloyd....ice should be just about ready for your return