MJL

Great Pics everybody Only wish I didn't have to work Saturday...The weather looked awesome for such an event

It's trips like these that are the most memorable. Adventure indeed! Nick, that last picture with the auger might be one of my favourite ice fishing pictures of all time

Winter - It's a love or hate affair for most. There's not many people who enjoy fishing outside in negative 20 degrees, or braving 60km/hr winds on the open ice. You can tell non-anglers or fair weather anglers you walk kilometres out onto a frozen lake, pulling a heavy sled full of gear and they won't understand why. You drill holes through ice a couple feet thick and continue till you find the promise land. At work, my co-workers think I'm crazy for ice fishing without a hut in -25 degrees (even though I own a portable flip over). My fishing buddies think I'm crazy for lugging all my camera gear with me. When you do what you love, you'll love what you do even when the conditions suck - Especially when you gotta work 6 days a week during winter For those in the know, "chasing lakers" has 2 meanings...It's what I do in winter. And it's what I search for in winter... Seek & ye shall find... Breaking the ice (notice the 1ft auger extension) Breaking the ice by MJLeung, on Flickr First one of the season Ready for the grab Ready for the grab by MJLeung, on Flickr Some fine denistry Thrusters Thrusters by MJLeung, on Flickr Grey Ghost below the ice Grey Ghost by MJLeung, on Flickr Get in the hole! Get into the hole! by MJLeung, on Flickr Get in the hole again! Icy Laker by MJLeung, on Flickr Soul Therapy Below the ice by MJLeung, on Flickr Still a few more weeks left to chase the grey ghosts of the lake. Tightlines & Happy Fishing Mike

Nicely done Congrats to your daughter on catching her first walleye

40/40 yay! I still haven't caught a lake whitefish or arctic grayling though

Happy Birthday Jen

I wish I had a dog to pull my ice fishing sled.LOL Nice report

Nicely done Pete! After taking up ice fishing 5yrs ago, it's hard not to think about chasing lakers all winter - I enjoy it more than winter/spring steelhead now. Eyes glued to the sonar waiting for that rocket to appear

Nicely done Bill & Dave Hopefully this weekend will be full of tanks like those

I know the feeling. Both Frozen-Fire and I started ice fishing in Jan 2010. Together we skunked 10 times in a row on lakers/whities on Simcoe (often fishing both Saturday and Sunday). Numerous chases, tons of fish on the sonar, we even chummed salted minnows on 1 trip and yet we didn't bring one through the hole during those trips. I finally managed 2 fish on the 2nd last trip of the season. Once you figure out what gets lakers to tick, they become fairly easy to catch - I guess they are naturally curious and agressive...Whities on the other hand...I have yet to catch a whitie from Simcoe Best word of advice that I learned for lakers is to cover the entire water column. I've caught them jigging 12ft below the ice in 130ft of water.

3yrs ago while fishing out of Lefroy, I was reeling up a perch and a laker took a swipe at it 10ft below the hole. I saw a line on the sonar rocketing up off bottom, I looked down the hole and saw an 8lb laker miss my perch by inches.LOL

I have the Navionics gold chip for my Humminbird 597ci. I only used it twice so far (both times on Simcoe) and I'm not too sure if I'm using it to its maximum potential. In terms of detail, I haven't been able to get more detail than the charts in the link below (click various parts of the lake in the link to see the different charts): http://www.lakesimcoeoutdoors.com/lakemapscharts.php Maybe I need to scroll through the menu system for a different setting In my case, I don't have a smartphone or hand held GPS so it's the only way for me to see where I am on the lake (in terms of relative depth).

Hopefully it wasn't too major and no serious injuries. 2 weeks ago with just a small dusting of snow, I was stuck just north of 89 when there was only a 3 car accident - All 3 lanes blocked. I ended up chatting to family next to me for an hour and a half while we were parked. They gave me a breakfast wrap from Timmies . I was only 300m away from my off-ramp Can't imagine how long it's going to take to clear 40 cars.

I saw a bit of ice on Tuesday while I was out steelheading...Fortunately, it was only found in the top 3 guides on my float rod I still would like a few more weeks of steelheading on the rivers before they freeze over.

I can see it now: lawyer: "Mr. Ford, have you ever solicited the services of an escort?" Ford: "No" lawyer: "Let me rephrase that. Mr. Ford, have you ever solicited the services of an escort while in a drunken stupor?" I’m sure Rob Ford wishes he could change the past…There’s probably a lot of it he can’t remember…

The ice transducer is not essential...I used the standard transducer mounted on a stick for my first season on the ice. The ice transducer is way more convenient when you're hopping from hole to hole...Drop it in and you're done.

I use a Humminbird 345C...I love it and can't imagine ice fishing without it. I always use it in graph mode but it also has a flasher type screen with the circular set-up.

Hey Edwin. I haven't forgot about swinging by to test drive one. I just haven't been able to make it to your neighbourhood yet. If all things are a go with my friend, I may pop into the shop this week for a look-see. The reels look great

Year round fishing = CNR rail down to Lake Ontario Extended season fishing (4th Saturday in April to December 31) = South side of CPR bridge to Lake Ontario General trout/salmon season (4th Saturday in April to Sept 30) = Whole river is open except from 401 to Jocelyn st bridge. Year round Sanctuary = 401 to Jocelyn st bridge The regulations for the Ganny can be seen online here: http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@letsfish/documents/document/mnr_e001336.pdf The general regulations as well as the ones for each zone can be seen here: http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/business/LetsFish/Publication/STEL02_163615.html

Sweet Chris...Glad you had a great time

According to the 2013/2014 Ontario Hunting Summary, the definition of hunting as written on page 86 states: "includes lying in wait for, searching for, being on the trail of, pursuing, chasing or shooting at wildlife, whether or not the wildlife is killed, injured, captured, or harassed. You need a hunting licence to do any of these things, except where the Fish and Wildlife Conservation act, 1997, states otherwise." On that note, the Fish and wildlife conservation act, 1997 (Part 1) states: "except that “hunting” does not include: (d) lying in wait for, searching for, being on the trail of or pursuing wildlife for a purpose other than attempting to kill, injure, capture or harass it, unless the wildlife is killed, injured, captured or harassed as a result." So by that token, stalking game so long as you don't shoot it with a gun/arrow, kill it, injure it, capture it or harass it, you should be perfectly fine taking pictures of it. The only way I could see you harrassing the animal was if you tried to chase it down with your camera in an ATV or a 4x4 truck. If the animal doesn't even know you're there while you take pictures, what harm has been done?

Yes, all members have to start with post #1. Usually post #1 is an introduction about yourself (the person), not the business (or how innovative or great you think your lures are). Leave the self-touting promotions & slogans off the board - In the future, they may actually turn into a running joke (seriously). anyone remember Backwoods custom rods from back in the day? From the board rules: "Spam will get you banned faster than anything else. Spam is any unsolicited business ad or offer. If someone happens to ask about a product or service you may offer, then you are of course free to mention it. If you come in here and spam, you will be given a pretty rude welcome by the population and it will only hurt your business! We have very reasonable ad rates and can set you up very quickly. Contact TJQ for ad rates." Your first post might not have broken the board rules under the pure definition, but it definitely leaves a strong spammy taste in a lot of people's mouths (mine included). Perhaps if you were a regular contributor to the board (aside from the 2 posts both about your business) or even offered an OFC discount, people might warm up to the idea of purchasing your products. Mike

Or pick them yourself at night after a rain on the street or sidewalk. Alternatively you can look on your lawn for the ones right on top of the grass - especially the ones that are 'getting kinky' with one another. You'll get twice as many in half the time with only 1/8th the effort.LOL After put them in a small container with shredded wet newspapers. A lot less messy than worms packed in dirt

If you're stuck shipping through UPS and live within a driving distance from the border, try shipping to a place like CBI in Niagara falls, NY. Josh, this might be a reasonable way for you to do it and you can hit the big river nearby afterwards. My dad saved a significant amount of money when he ordered rims for our car and had it shipped to CBI. http://www.cbiusa.com/ Another option would be to contact the retailer and ask them to ship the item as "repair" and list the package at a lower value. A couple months ago, I purchased around $750USD worth of camera gear. Shipping charge for FedEx was $41 and the company agreed to list the package as "repair" with a $100 value. Ended up paying only $16 in brokerage/customs. It could've been much, much, much worse .

Hey Josh Here's the UPS brokerage chart http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html TBH, I'm not exactly sure how UPS does it. On most products I've had shipped UPS, UPS took the value of the product (say $100 for example), then took the shipping price ($21 as an example), charged HST tax on it (13% of product + shpping cost: 13% of $121) = $15.73. Then charged me brokerage based on a total of $136.73 (so according to that chart, brokerage alone is $29). That's just for brokerage. Then you gotta pay HST on top of that along with "duty". I wouldn't be surprised if your total shipping charges to get the product to your door is 45-50% of the original price (that's what it's like for me when I have to ship UPS). If given the choice between UPS and USPS, I'd choose USPS every time. At least I know what I'm paying when I click the "checkout" button.