MJL

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.

The mayor says he will sue people for testimony they gave to the police.

 

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…

 

How essential is an ice transducer? I was out on Simcoe at 100 ft last year with a friend. He had a fairly basic Humminbird with a reg transducer.

He could see his jig/lure.

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 (4^th Saturday in April to December 31) = South side of CPR bridge to Lake Ontario

General trout/salmon season (4^th 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

I've been told by a CO , that there are talks about taking photos , say you stumble upon a game animal , it's fine to take a picture ... but .. If you intentionally stalk the game to take it's photo it could be considered hunting and a stiff fine could be laid on the photographer .

 

That's a nice Bull , 1250 lbs .. dunno how that would be a record .

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?

Terry, don't all long standing members have to start with post #1...........??????

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

night crawlers = dirty hands

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.

 

I just followed the link provided. As a newbie for Steelhead of which I caught my first ever on Erie longlining this past summer that link told me nada about fall runs in Ontario. W5, who, what, when, where, why? The big question for JBlair7 I don't believe was answered by the general Wikipedia article. I don't want to frighten away a new member asking a simple question. I'm surprised at M and S.

 

You sure are a bit cantankerous today, that's not like you sir.

 

Welcome aboard JBlair7. You have gotten some good info to get you starter. I appreciate it as well all.

From my understanding, Brad was referring to this thread where he posted the online tool for looking at water levels last month.

http://ontariofishingcommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=71605&hl=

I can understand where Brad is coming from. In the past, I’ve replied to PM’s in great detail (particularly from 1 former member) only to have it ignored and have the identical question posted on the board multiple times because the member was too lazy to do the rest of the footwork.

For the OP. if you don’t really have a clue on how to catch steelhead, I’d recommend picking the closest river with steelhead you have and stick to it for a season. Fish it as often as you can. Record the weather conditions, the river conditions, depth, the time, how well (or poor) you did, what baits you used, what baits other people used, which part of the pool, run, riffle you hit fish, etc in a journal. You will not catch fish every time you get out but you will learn way more about fishing for steelhead than if you try and chase the numbers on multiple rivers. The numbers will eventually come but only if you really know what to look for and IMO you can't get that knowledge from being told on a forum or elsewhere on the internet. Once you master your home river, you can apply what you know to other rivers big or small all over North America.

If you're really desperate for fish, hire a guide for the day and that will speed up the learning curve considerably.

If it's at the Firehall again on a Friday, you can flip a coin at the end of the night and see if your fish n' chip dinner is free.LOL

*should've picked tails

Eagerly awaiting my return to steelhead heaven

last time i checked it was to the cn bridge but whatever, is it still open or is just south of the cn bridge now, i do know that river very well i always fish the mouth

Year round sanctuary = HWY 401 to Jocelyn st (It's been like that forever)

Year round open fishing = South side of CN bridge down to the mouth

Extended season fishing (4th Saturday in April to Dec 31) = South side of CPR bridge down to the mouth

General season (4th Saturday in April to Sept 30) - Applies to the river upstream of the CPR bridge

As outlined here:

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@letsfish/documents/document/mnr_e001336.pdf

Put a Zip-lock baggie under that fish in the 4th pic! LOL

Nice to see you had a great time

you do realise its illegal to fish there right, from the highway to the cn tracks is closed all year cuz its a fish sanctuary

Not sure what river you are thinking of, but for the river as seen in this report, the sanctuary is from HWY 401 down to the south side of Jocelyn St.