MJL

They had a Valentines No Tax sale weekend from Feb 11-14 I think. Not sure when the next one will be.

If you're referring to the D&M one, they were heavy and not exactly the smoothest running reels (at least the 2 I played with seemed). I remember seeing D&M ads for them in OOD magazines and wanting one of them so bad when I was 11yrs old Bought one of them for $16US to use as a loaner reel...Friend was convinced it was a JW Young Great Lakes Steelheader prototype Offered me $175 for it despite telling him otherwise (a few times). Told him you don't get reels with bullet proof anodization like this and he bumped it up to $200

Congrats Joey on the de-skunking. Looks like an awesome time for all. Great post and pics

Trail cam idea is neat. One thing to consider is to ensure that whatever pictures the cam takes involves your property and your property only if you plan on using it for photo evidence. You may violate constitutional privacy rights otherwise. I’m certainly no lawyer but I remember a case last year of a mother and daughter who set up a surveillance camera in their backyard – I believe it was somewhere in St. Catherines. Their neighbour (a peeping tom) ended up being captured on video on the mother and daughter's property doing some unpleasant things to himself. Case got dropped due to violations of privacy because the neighbour’s yard (belonging to the perpetrator and his family) and back of the house was captured in the video. As for interfering with hunters and anglers, doesn’t the Ontario fish and wildlife conservation act covers that? Obstruction of hunting, trapping or fishing 13(1) A person shall not interfere with lawful hunting, trapping or fishing by, © engaging in an activity, for the purpose of interfering, that disturbs or is likely to disturb wildlife or fish. Wouldn’t banging pots and pans be a likely cause to disturb wildlife and interfere with hunting? Surely after a number of complaints, the ministry or the cops would key in on the pattern. I've seen some real nut jobs while out fishing. Can't imagine the weirdos you meet when you're out hunting cute animals like deer or rabbits.LOL

You can try calling any one of these places in your neighbourhood to see if they have it in stock. http://www.anglersinternational.com/dealer_list.html

7 seasons ago I switched over to 10lb Raven in smoke grey or green (whatever the tackle shop has in stock) - Haven't looked back. Prior to that my mainline of choice was 8lb Maxima. The local tackle shops around my house (including CT) bumped up the prices quite a bit or dropped carrying spools of it all together. Never had a problem with the line and it handles the way I want it to. At $12 per 1000yard spool, it offers great value. Tried Siglon V a number of times in 6-12lb but kept breaking above the float using 4-6lb leaders Siglon F (whatever the hi vis one was) didn't fare any better. Both Siglon V and Siglon F were a little too limp for what I normally like. Tried P-Line CX Premium in 8lb but found it sank slightly on drifts (which wasn't all that bad when it was really windy) but made float control and setting the hook at distance more difficult. Also a fair bit of stretch and dug in after fighting fish. Tried PowerPro on the pin when it first came out years ago. Iced up insanely bad in winter and dug into the spool with 15lb breaking strain or less (thinner diameter). 50lb Powerpro worked OK later on in the season. Also made hook setting at distance a dream but made me slightly nervous I was overloading the rod to the max! Tried 30lb Fireline. Also iced up in winter and got stiff. Just didn't seem to have the abrasion resistance. Lost a good number of fish to snags and noticed it frayed a lot. Super Silver Thread Excalibur in 10-12lb actually worked nicely. Super abrasion resistant and never had a problem with it snapping. One of the few lines I actually liked. Found it had the right amount of stiffness that was perfect for me. Local tackle shops no longer carry it. Haven't seen it for a few years. As for spooling...Pencil through the spool and reel with some tension

Not sick myself but sounds like it could be Norovirus (Norwalk virus). Saw on the news a couple weeks ago it was making rounds across southern Ontario. My sister is a pharmacist at the hospital and she tells me she sees a few cases each year...Definitely no picnic for the next few days. Highly contagious. Drink plenty...Hope you and your family get better soon

Sick movie with some awesome footage! Vids like that really made me think about doing fishing photography and videography in my spare time. That clip is only one of many submitted for the DrakeMag awards which can be found here: http://www.drakemag.com/videos/2009-films Scroll through past years movies and be amazed. By far the most mind blasting 5min vids created about fly fishing. Other notable vids (also my favourites) also include: - "Running down the man" (2006) - "Poppy's red shed" (2007), "red gold" (2007) - "Metalhead" (2008) Great vid too Drifter. Hard not to like a vid with ginormous Alaskan bows

Here's one interpretation about the issue from the MNR (From the Ask A CO MNR web-site) http://www.outdoorontario.net/AskMNR/mnrfaqfish.html Question 186: Hi, if an angler has incidental catches of any species (out of season) & has a posed picture taken with the fish out of the water prior to being released, is it unethical, against the regulations etc, or perfectly fine, providing care was given to the fish? Asked August 25, 2003 Answer from the MNR This is very technically a violation because the fish is not immediately released to the water. Of course, the actions of the angler in their handling of the fish will determine whether a charge is warranted and would be laid by a Conservation Officer. Think of it this way. The speed limit on the 401 is 100km/hr. Very few drivers will be charged with driving 101km/hr, but given the right set of circumstances, there may be perfectly legitimate reasons why an officer might write a ticket for doing 101km/hr in a 100km/hr zone. The only way to be 100% sure that you will not be charged is to immediately return any incidentally caught fish to the water and to release it in a manner that causes the least harm to the fish. I personally don't take pics of OOS fish but that's just me. Get them in quick, pop the hook (usually while they're still in the water), revive if necessary and let 'em swim.

5-6yrs ago I emailed Berkley about the differences between their Vanish mainline and their Vanish leader material spools...Same line, you're paying more for convenience and something more pocket-able in a fishing vest. Originally I was complaining about the bad experiences I've been having with the mainline which I had been using for leader material Got the same reply when I shot Seaguar an email (at least for Seaguar Grand Max which I inquired about).

Great report Ryan...Love it! That's what fishing's all about. Averie is and a goby catching phenom! Next she'll be wanting to stalk the rivers for steelhead with a custom float rod and a centrepin

Awesome report and pics douG - Congrats on beating the skunk. Nicely done Bill and Dave on the guiding. Tempted to try for some whities before the season ends soon...They just look so tasty! Thanks for sharing

Cool picture Roy. The last couple years I've been seeing more and more hawks in my neighbourhood. Looks like it could be a Coopers hawk. Here's a thread I started about IDing a similar looking hawk I found in my neighbour's yard (front yard instead ) . Hawk in the yard thread

Great pictures Trevy. I'm surprised his talons didn't tear some new holes in your arm Absolutely beautiful birds. Thanks for sharing

Started building rods when I was 16 or so. After class, I used to hop onto the bus and head over to Angling Specialties in Scarborough to get free lessons from George. That was 10yrs ago. Built lots of rods only for myself and really close friends. Didn’t charge them much as they used to drive my butt to the river and back for free and buy me lunch when I forgot mine at home. They still let me bum some of their skein when I fish with them I get most of my components from Angling Specialties. The store is down the street from me. I used to buy a bunch of components from one of the G. Loomis reps when he did trips out to the eastern tribs. He’d sell blanks, guides, cork rings and reel seats from the trunk of his car – His name was Dennis. Haven’t seen him for years though. Also stocked up on a good number of components like solid wood reel seats and smaller match guides when D&M went out of business. If I can’t get stuff locally I order online from: - Mudhole.com - Mark Crouse (Formally known as Munich Rod Man Rods) - Guides N’ Blanks.com (UK site – ex girlfriend brings me my carp rod components when she comes to visit from England) I buy Canadian if I can…Shipping and brokerage from the US suck – Do not ship with UPS. 95% of the rods I built were 11-15’ float rods or 8’6” – 11’ fly rods – Mostly Sage, Lamiglas, Loomis and occasional St. Croix blanks. I also enjoy getting scrap blanks, chopping and hacking them down to size and turning them into float or fly rods. You can play around with different tapers and materials for cheap. One of my most memorable chop rods I built was a 13’ 3pc float rod that had a Fenwick boron butt and mid section and a Loomis IM6 tip. A bit heavy overall but it felt balanced and I loved the action – So did a bunch of my friends and I auctioned it off to the highest bidder

Any tackle will do…Literally. Over the years I’ve targeted carp using: 7’ Medium action spinning rods, 8’6” & 10’6” salmon/steelhead baitcasting outfits, 10-11ft salmon/steelhead rods, 10’6”-12ft noodle rods, 13’6” steelhead float rods, 11-13ft European match type float rods, 11-12’6” carp rods and 9ft 8wt fly rods. The only rods I haven’t tried are musky outfits. A few things are constant when it comes to gear: You gotta have a smooth drag on your reel and you gotta play the angles right with the rod. Currently writing an article on carp fishing for TJ which will go deeper into tackle selection…Just waiting till spring so I can take a few more pics for the article (hopefully I can convince my friend to loan me his waterproof digi-cam for some cool underwater shots). As for bait, a can of corn and a few slices of white bread go a long way in winter. In the UK, maggots are also a staple bait for their winter carp fishing. Water temperature plays a huge role in how active they are. Chumming heavily in cold water can be the kiss of death in winter. Hamilton harbour offers a year round fishery for carp. Some places stay warm enough not to ice over and from what I gather, there are some spots where warm water discharges into the bay. Find an area which discharges warm water (like the outflow from a nuclear, coal powered plant or an industrial manufacturing plant) and you can have an insanely good day of fishing in -30 degree C temps.

Nifty setup GBW. Funny you should mention that, the majority of the dace in my tank are hiding underneath the filter and facing north too...But that could be due to where the filter outflow is pumping water out So far I've tried feeding the minnows crushed algae wafers that are normally used to feed plecos...They seem to like them OK...I want to try growing them from 2.5" to 3" for Saturday

I was told this as well by Jos at Angling Outfitters when I was shopping around for a new finder. He recommended the Eagle FishEasy 350c over the Lowrance x67c. What I don’t get is a lot of places online list the specs for the x67c as having a maximum sonar output as 800 watts whereas the x67c 'Ice Machine' has a maximum sonar output of 1500 watts. Radioworld, Lowrance and a few other websites I googled up had the 800w/1500w difference Lowrance x67c And x67c Ice Machine Lowrance x67c ice machine Is it a typo? Is there a software/hardware upgrade that comes with the ‘ice machine’ package? My friend is in the same boat and looking for a new colour fish finder as well which he can mount onto my old portable Eagle cuda base when he fishes with me.

Great report Simon...Really diggin the vids you take. Well done!

It's the Troll N' Bob Stop having boring tuna. Stop having a boring life...Fettucini, linguini, martini, bikini...You're going to love my nuts...

Well done Bill My last 4 trips to Simcoe (Pretty much the last 4 weekends), the lakers have been eluding my friends and I. Good to see at least somebody catching to give us the hope we need to continue on We've been getting pwnd the last 5 weeks by a fish with a brain the side of a pea

Thanks a lot guys for the tips and ID info on the minnows I have. Really appreciate it. I may try feeding them some fish flakes as some of you suggested - I want them to be at their prime when I use them and have that chewing gum squirm - Very wrigley . So far I haven't had any significant die offs and they just seem to be chillin' in the tank. Usually I just find 1 or 2 dead ones per day or every other day (mostly just the shiners) stuck to the filter. One other question I have is, do lakers and whities really care what species of minnow I use on my hook? I'm mostly fishing Simcoe and from what I can tell, they prefer the dead ones I throw down the hole over the most lively ones I can find to stick on the hook Might not be feasible after the incident(S) involving bait ...I've been banned from using the fridge for my bait storing needs You've sullied my innocent virgin mind forever Pretty much...Most of the tackle shops in my neighbourhood sell them just by size rather than species...It's usually $4.50 per scoop though I find most of the shops near me give me 2-3 scoops for that price. The opposite might be true if if you formed a conga line and chanted it out Thanks for the thorough (and quite nerdy but super cool to the max reply)

Just wondering if there’s anyone here who keeps or raises minnows. 3 weeks ago I set up an old, unused 17 gallon aquarium in my basement to house the left-over minnows from past ice fishing trips (almost all of which the Simcoe lakers eluded us ). A couple questions I have: - Does anybody feed them? If so, with what? - Can anybody ID or list some of the minnow species I have in my tank…I think the long silvery, torpedo ones are emerald shiners (Some of them I’ve had for 3weeks or so). Not sure what some of the chunky brown ones are, or the ones with a red stripe along their sides are. I’ve tried googling up the various minnow species but not 100% certain. If it helps, the chunky brown ones lasted hours on the hook as well as getting re-hooked more than twice. Here’s my basic minnow tank set-up: 1 AquaClear Quick Filter pumping water into an 8watt UV sterilizer. 1 air pump for added oxygenation. UV sterilizer (more for disease prevention and control) Dual air pump Some fish pics Is this a Northern red-belly dace? All it does most of the time is chase its own reflection in the glass.LOL The ones that don’t make it end up in the white salty bucket of death The minnows will be in the tank till my next trip out…In the meantime they’re quite entertaining to watch. Quite cool to see how they school up and hide amongst the cover and structure.

I believe LeBaron (Markham location) had them in stock a few weeks ago when I went in. Try giving them a call to see if they still do.

Very neat Jacques...Can't wait to see the report of it in action. Well done!