akaShag

Bear is delicious, as long as the animal was properly cared for by the hunter after the kill - far more important than what the butcher did. (and that includes the hunter that butchers their own bear). I would not smoke a bear roast, unless I marinated it overnight first (apple juice, garlic, maple syrup) Remove any fat, if present, season like a beef or pork roast, and into the oven at 325, covered, with a bit of broth or vino in the roasting pan. take it out at maybe 130F and serve it rare, like 140. Forget about the old wives tales about having to cook it to well done shoe leather to kill trichynosis. When was the last time anybody in this country heard of anybody getting sick from eating black bear meat? If it is a nice looking piece of meat, then I would slice it up and fondue it. The best fondue I ever had was bear loin. The meat should not have a "gamey" taste unless the bear was not well cared for in the field after the kill. Enjoy! Doug

Make you a deal - you take me out on Erie in your boat I pay the gas, I fillet all the catch, I cut all the fries, I buy the vino and we have a big fish fry at your house. Grappa is on you. Got room in your driveway for my F-250 and camper? Doug

Come on over! But I am not doing hand-cut fries tonight. I was out on Tuesday and got into some lovely jumbo perch. So Valentine's Day supper was fresh-caught perch and hand-cut fries. Nothing tells your gal she's special like DEEP-FRIED food!!!! So the crappies will go for a dip in some Fish Crisp and then pan-fried, with rice on the side. Doug

There you go, OIM! I will be whistling and humming "Sweet Molly Malone" for the next three days, you know: In Dublin's fair city Where the girls are so pretty I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone She wheeled her wheelbarrow Through streets broad and narrow Singing "Cockles, and mussels, all alive alive oh............" Fresh crappies are on tonight's menu. Youngest son came home last night well after I was in bed, woke me up. "Dad what should I do with all these crappies I caught?" "How many, son?" "Lots, they're in a feed bag." Got out of bed, saw there was a goodly number of very nice crappies there, and told my son I was going back to bed and he had better get some sleep so he could get up and go to work this morning. So it had not been my plan to fillet crappies this morning, but by golly I don't mind putting the steel to some slabs in anticipation of my first feed of crappies for 2017! YUM YUM Doug

Ling is delicious out of cold water. I just take the "quarter-round"above the ribs, and then all of the meat behind the ribs. I leave the rib/belly meat on the fish as I don't prefer it (and it is pretty thin anyways). Yes lots of folks cube the meat and boil it in salted water until it is JUST cooked (not very long) and then dip it in melted garlic butter. It is good breaded and pan-fried, battered and deep-fried, and it makes an excellent chowder. I did smoke a ling once and it was OK, but definitely not the best use of that fish. Must be coming on for supper time, I am getting hungry.......... And well done on the PB, Big Cliff! Doug

I HEAR ya! I used to visit a physiotherapist for chronic epicondylitis (tennis elbow). I was the only patient she ever heard of who got it from filleting so many fish........... But the rest of them are not so bad compared to the agony your back can give you! Hence the back brace.............. Doug

I believe that Nipissing's glory days are in the rear view mirror. But yes, a fishing trip with buddies does not need a lot of fish to be successful. In fact, the BEST ice fishing trip I ever did was four or maybe five days and I did not wet a line! OIM do you wear a back brace when you are out? I find that the brace makes a huge difference when I am riding my ATV and when doing any lifting at all, even light stuff, and when ice fishing, sitting on my chair looking down the hole. In all cases, it saves a bunch of Robaxacets. Doug

Interesting read. I have owned a pile of boats and motors, never anything bigger than the old (1966 model IIRC) Starcraft Holiday 18' which today would I believe be classed as a twenty foot, since they seem to measure from the extreme edges instead of the waterline these days. And no motor bigger than a 120 Mercruiser. Having said that, when I was in the market the last time I was looking, I had a VERY PRECISE idea of what I wanted, what I needed, and what I liked. And I asked the Head of Mechanical Engineering from an Engineering school about the difference between fiberglass and aluminum hulls. He asked me, did I ever pull the boat up on sand or a rocky beach. hell, yes of course I do, I am a FISHERMAN!!!!! He said, "Doug, buy aluminum." (And I don't run fifty miles an hour in heavy seas, so the ride is less important for me) I bought a new Sylvan 16 footer, and a new Honda 40 HP, put them on a top-quality trailer, and never looked back. I did put the high side bunks on the trailer for recovering the boat by myself in strong side winds (that was the best money I ever spent on a boat accessory). I would never buy an outboard that is not a Honda. These things are quiet, don't stink, run forever on a tank of gas, and none of them ever gave me a problem. Oh, except the one time I dropped my 7.5 hp kicker on the garage floor, that was a problem...............but my fault. Lots of great advice here and mostly from people that have very clearly been there, done that, got the t-shirt. The folks that are emphasizing that the OP needs to do his homework have absolutely got it right. And that goes double for the folks that advise you to make sure you can TRAILER it with your vehicle, and STORE it wherever that will be. I had to put a swing tongue on my trailer to fit in the garage of this house when we moved here - but I knew that before I bought this house! Good luck! Doug

your surf and my turf would be a mighty fine combo! I took the roast out of the oven with an internal temperature of 125 and tented it in tin foil for five or six minutes. The very centre is quite rare, but the rest of it was just a lovely rare, and quite toothsome. I do enjoy my venison................ Doug

Venison sirloin tip roast in the oven for supper tonight. It smells FABULOUS!

Nope that was something else. I am sure OIM used that same name putanesca, because it is named (in Italian) for the whores. Unless my memory is completely gone, which is highly possible. CALLING OLD IRONMAKER, COME IN PLEASE? Doug

didn't OIM write about his putanesca sauce here a while back? Quick and hot like the ladies for whom the dish is named.............. Or am I just dreaming this? Doug

back to Ron...............any hints as to where a person might find those first two? Doug

I was SUPPOSED to fish with a guy from Emo, but then he had to work so I booked time at a lodge........... and then that guy's work schedule got changed AGAIN and I could have been fishing with him!!!! "Work is the curse of the drinking class." Doug

well.........................Dog Lake up there did not cough up 150 walleye for a lodge full of anglers, over several days this past summer..................my share of that was three or four, I forget which.......

So that must be the new Ontario record? Doug

Back to m2b2, sorry your wife got her finger caught on a hook, there were a few hundred of them in that box! And you should re-post your notice about that derby so that other folks here might contribute also! And finally, be careful what offers you make! Looking at that cheap air fare, a LOTW winter trip might well be on my radar. Last winter when we had crappy ice down here, I flew to the Yukon for ice fishing. This year it might be NWO............... Doug

<<<<<AHEM>>>> a little ditty from memory, which at this stage of my life, may not be accurate.................... "In Canada's North, where the moose go forth and there's little but frozen sod, all the people stink, and are given to drink, and make mock of the southern folks' God" or something like that. yes it is a beautiful part of the world and Lord knows I have been there more than once. Did not know it was as cheap to fly as that example from m2b2, I might have to fly up for the LOTW kids derby!!! And BTW, m2b2, have you put that ad about the kid's derby back up here lately? You should have received a goodies box from me by now for the kiddies prizes! But to answer the OP, I think most of us from the south (Ontario, that is) shudder at the VERY freakin' long drive up there, and most of us have very good fishing within a much shorter drive. Doug

aka "sebaste" au Quebec And if I recall correctly, this was called a redfish in English, not an ocean perch. But those may both be (English) names for the same fish. Yes they are tasty, and back to Fisherman, surely you have had some back up in the Saguenay region? Doug

I just read in Ontario Out of Doors that the Lanark County Stewardship Council is hosting a "wild cats of Eastern Ontario workshop." Here is a link from their website: http://lanarkstewardshipcouncil.ca/#!/wildcats This is co-sponsored by OFAH Zone F. OFAH, out in front of the MNRF, as usual................ Doug

Back when I did not KNOW that there are no cougars here in Ontario, I saw one cross the road ahead of me near Algonquin Park. Must have been a vision, since the MNR keep on stating that they don't exist here. And a fellow I know who has property along the River Clyde near Lanark saw a cougar there multiple times in one season back a few years ago....... I will be interested to hear the results of the MNR analysis. Doug

Last night it was home-cut french fries, fresh green beans, and BBQ Pork Chops with Iron Arse BBQ Sauce (thanks for that steer, smitty!) That is the BBQ sauce they sell to support the Ride for Dad charity, and it sure is good! Doug

WARNING! Old and grey sneaks up fast when you're not looking..................... so carpe diem guys! Seize the day!

Just awesome Bunk, as usual! For a "haphazard" year it turned out amazingly well. And there is almost a solid quarter inch of ice now on the shore of Loughborough!!! Doug

Absolutely, positively, freakin' INCREDIBLE. I did three double takes when I saw the boat and open water. Unbelievable. and AWESOME. Well done!!!! Doug (wishing I still lived down that way reading this report...............)