akaShag

back to bushart (as I still can't do a "QUOTE" here and no I am not going to Google Chrome...................) We could use my beard as the paint brush............. no, really................ Doug

Well................... ................MAYBE some people on here KNOW who the perpetrators might have been. And IF they KNOW, and IF they fail to act, they are pretty much in the same league as the poachers. My view of course. My reasonably educated guess is that nobody on this board actually KNOWS the identity of the spear-carrying fish killers, but lots of folks appear to enjoy playing the blame game, which does not advance fish conservation one iota. But here is an offer: I have a friend who is a well-placed senior Ontario conservation officer. If anybody here knows the ACTUAL IDENTITY of the perpetrator(s), send me a pm and I will absolutely ensure that the name(s) of the guilty person(s) will be passed by me to him. And furthermore, I will report back here what he tells me. Because, notwithstanding the certitude stated by our colleague Steve, I do NOT think the MNR "knows exactly" who might be responsible. But I acknowledge I have been wrong many times before and might be wrong again, but I am not afraid to admit that. Doug

back to GbayGiant........... I was not thinking this was a case of commercial poaching, and for sure I was NOT saying that the persons with the spears are from any first nation. My point is that "good old boys" think that poaching is OK, they grew up thinking poaching is OK, and they are not afraid of MNR enforcement. I thought some folks here might have been suggesting that the poachers were first nations, because that seems to be a default setting for some people when fish conservation is threatened. On the other hand, if you think (from personal knowledge?) this was first nations folks with spears, taking fish to sell, well then I am very sorry indeed to hear that. Doug

Well, I think some assumptions are being made, without anybody saying something that might be considered "politically incorrect." Many years ago I met a bunch of good old boys from North of Highway 7, who went spearing for "pickerel" every spring. They considered it their birthright, it had been done for years and by the generations before them, and they were not about to stop. Yes, on the Moira. Nope, no reference to treaty rights (which may or may not exist in relation to this fishery, I have no idea.) They were rural Ontario rednecks and saw nothing wrong with their poaching. Those men would be in their 50s and 60s now, with children and possibly grandchildren, and I am guessing the spears being used have been "in the family" for years. Education has not been successful, and fear of enforcement has probably diminished along with the MNR budget. VERY sad. Doug

Garnet I guess you just don't get it, so you can parse your sentence and I will parse mine. And I will fondle my line with my fingers and you can kiss yours "threw" your lips if you wish. I have been fishing for a very long time and I recognize operator error when I see it. This situation is not, PRIMARILY, operator error, it is equipment choice. I am not looking for advice about how I fish, I am looking for advice about a type of line. Thanks anyways. Doug

Back to Moosebunk......................many thanks! Back to Garnet............please re-read the first line of the second paragraph of my original post. Doug

A buddy of mine who worked in the Fishing Dept at Bass Pro in Vaughn, REALLY liked P-Line and it was him that gave me the spool of it as a gift. Maybe I have not given it a fair chance..................like when I first tried Berkley Vanish, it was like a King Coil Mattress! But after a few dozen casts, it settled down and I now use Vanish for jigging, pretty much exclusively. So many lines, so little time! Thanks for the advice! Doug

back to Misfish, do you have line memory issues with that P-Line? I had a reel of it maybe six years ago (6 pound fluoro) and had a lot of "KINKY" times with it........... Doug

Excellent, thanks folks! Doug

Back to Mike Borger............. I use a float set-up about half the time, and I "slow-roll" the jigs about half the time. Even with the float set-ups, because I am frequently changing depths with locations, etc, I sometimes drag bottom. So it sounds like braid is NOT the answer, and I should go to a heavier fluorocarbon leader, I will give that a whirl. What BRAND of fluoro leader is the best? I had the same issues last year with bass, since about 90% of my bass fishing is finesse presentations with small baits and light line, might have to up-gun to heavier fluoro......... Doug

Hmmmm, I thought braid might be LESS susceptible to nicks. I am getting break-offs in the bottom couple feet of line, not at the knot (of that I am certain). I do not use a main line of "X" lb test" and a leader below that, for this type of fishing, I use one line on the spool. I have also checked my rod guides to ensure there are no nicks in them that might be causing this problem. The issue, I am fairly certain, is line fraying on zebra mussels. Doug

OK folks, I have been fishing crappies the last couple weeks on some of my usual lakes, all of which have zebra mussels. My normal choice for crappies is 2 or 4 lb test mono, but I occasionally use 6 lb fluorocarbon if I think the line is going to get some abuse. Even the 6 lb fluorocarbon was getting pretty badly nicked and I was stripping off three or four feet fairly often to re-tie. I still lost a number of slab crappies to break-offs on the 4 lb mono and 6 lb fluorocarbon. I did not use my (NORMAL) 2 lb mono at all. What line do I need to switch to? I am thinking I may have to go to a braid, but I really want to keep line diameter as small as possible as my fishing is pretty much all "finesse" fishing. I do not mind paying big bucks for quality products. BTW the hot colours last week were chartreuse with fire tiger, and white. Two inch grubs out-fished everything else, and 1/16 oz jigs did the same. Thanks for any advice. Doug

I was southbound on Highway 400 south of Alliston one day and the truck in front of me lost a load of full sheets of plywood, all of a sudden there was a very large deck of cards in the air, some going upwards rather spectacularly. I am still not sure how I missed them all, I did go around the truck on the left and just got the heck out of there. Pretty much had to change my underwear afterwards............ And have seen a few rig tires bouncing down the road, but thankfully none as close as that one! That kind of excitement I can live without......... Doug

Well................it can be a fairly SPIRITUAL experience fishing up there because of the challenging navigation. But I had my boat there at least three times and only ever pranged the prop once, and that was my own fault, started the motor without looking over the transom. I wrote up the Georgian Bay Fishing Camp at least twice for the Ontario Fisherman Magazine and the pieces were not light fiction! I caught my PB walleye up there (12 pounds, early June as I recall) and had one bass trip there that was fabulous for good numbers of smallmouth. It is like everywhere else, there are good times and bad times for catching. That one trip to which "Fisherman" refers (and which I was a co-conspirator) was still a blast, and I am just now having a chuckle thinking about the seagull he caught on a fishing rig!!!! The camp yes indeed was a pretty rustic one as fishing camps go, but I still visited (and paid full price) five or six times back in the 80s. GREAT memories! Doug

I do not know enough about that particular hull and motor, but almost certainly you will not be able to go slow enough in all situations (think wind straight off the stern) to troll properly. I had several HONDA four-stroke kickers and loved them, when I was doing the Lake Ontario thing a lot. Trolling plates on your main motor "ALLEGEDLY" work, but I bent two of them and found they were finicky to deploy/redeploy even before I bent them all to hell. And as others have mentioned, a kicker is also insurance for your big mill kicking the bucket. Doug

That steak on the hoof is lookin' to get tenderized in a hurry! Doug

They are ALL good, that's why they call them PANfish! The smaller bluegills are certainly worth filleting to make a fish chowder, yum yum! Doug

There we go..............and attaboy bushart!!! Doug

ARGGGGHHHHH..OK how about this:

http://landofblogging.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/far-side-cow-eating-burger.gif?w=735&h=575 OK does this work? (Yeah, I STILL have not figured out how some stuff works on this site and NO I WILL NOT GO GOOGLE CHROME, my machine hates it............. Doug

How deep was the ice? Doug

Congratulations! Turkey season opens 25 April, but you will also need a turkey course to hunt them. Keep an eye on the cut-off dates for deer tags and all of that. And if you need advice about buying a firearm please send me a note. I do have significant expertise in that regard. Doug

Google Maps suggests that Charleston Lake is somewhat further than you want to drive, but it is a great park, has lots of shaded campsites, has outdoor privies all over the place but also flush toilets and showers not that far a walk from anywhere, and a launch ramp inside the park. The lake is a multi-species fishery and summertime is bass time. Doug

I sense some spring fever here, and not all of it is Billy and his Beau................ FABULOUS fish! Doug

Make it province-wide, why not? Doug