Pete Maina

Yup, even with Roy ... Quite seriously: OFC is a neat place.

Hey, Thanks for the kind words on the muskie dance Exciting stuff for me - as it's my "first ever" compliment on my dancing (my wife seems to have little-good to say about it). Roy just likes the hats Good stuff on the border agent Roy. This one was a gal though ... just doing her job really, but certainly far from a welcoming committee

Hi, Hey thanks a bunch Buster. Good to hear. (Especially that I'm welcome back ... please notify the border ) And thanks GBW; was great to speak with all of you, and glad enjoyed the show. (Yeah, those poor bass ... they really weren't very active at all- and I kept banging those big lures into them ... I had that one snagged in the back for a bit, after demonstrating the the twitch [guess the lure bobbed when the bass expected a weave] ... fortunately it wiggled off ) Hard to imagine TJ looking any better than he did in that pink hat. I thought Andy and Vita did a great job with the show itself. Again, great to meet many of you - and I look forward to getting back up there.

Great to spend some time with you Dave You look darn good in that pink furry hat dude!

Hi, Pete here this time ... Esther and I made it back late last night. Sure is quite a drive from Toronto. We stopped briefly at the Detroit Boat show on the way home. After lots of cold and snow at home, was kinda weird to see "brown" pretty much all the way home. We have a bit of snow cover here in the northern reaches of WI yet though. Was great to see a bunch of you OFNer's there. Got to see Lew and Buck and others (I'm horrible with names ... I apologize ) on Friday - and then many of you on Sat. with the pink hat display. After dealing with a grumpy border agent, my bride's first trip to Canada seemed like it would be her last initially, but as I told her, Canadians are great folks and that things would get better. We really enjoyed the trip. (though I missed you Roy) Monique was nice enuf to show us Americans how to drink wine ... we appreciated the lesson.

Hello!! This is not Pete replying (it's his wife , I have a profile on this site but Pete had his up so I decided to jump on his and say "hey there"!) This was my very first visit to Canada (which makes it my very first fishing show in Canada as well ) You were all very nice, I enjoyed speaking with each of you and hope to see you all again next year! And yep...Pink T-shirts with "bling" on the way...they look great with the Pink Hats... "Big Fish Dig Pink" Hee hee

Jealousy is a viscious thing my friend You'll be wishing you were there, with a pink furry hat. Oh come on dude, don't cancel on Sat. (Sound advice from John there ) ... show up and be certain to bring your camera. Heading out in the morning ... looking forward to seeing you all. Pete

Whadduya mean you can't make it Roy? No excuses (you just want to sneak in quietly for your pink hat eh ) Gotta admit, "Mainarella" is pretty good stuff ... you sawed-off, kilt-wearing weirdo. You recognize it so well 'cuz that's your kilt Terry put on me. Can't wait to go to the ball ... sounding more like a costume party all the time.

Yikes!!!! Did anyone tell show management that guy was showin' up?

Hats?

Lookin' forward to it TJ. Sounds like a blast. Look forward to seeing lots of OFNER's and meeting Dave Pete

Salmon it is Great avatars TJ & GB.

Be great to see you again Lew! (Gee Geoff, I just don't understand this resistance to pinks hats. They're cool! ) You should have a great time if it's your first trip to the show. Be sure to say hi if around Fri. or Sat. Pete

Great thread! Love to hear it TJ. That's so awesome. Congrats to Jaden! (And yeah, careful of hairy, smelly beasties.)

So I'm supposed to be there at 10 am on Sat? Com'on GBW, you gotta be certain you get one of those pink hats dude (I can see I'm gonna have to bring extra - besides the one for Roy ) ... you can glue a Rapala patch on. Be great to see you all there!!!! And be good to see you Dave on Saturday ... looking forward to it! Pete

Hey Thanks Joey! Hope to see you in Toronto

Thankyou so much Jessy (Again), gonna be great to see many of you in Toronto in a few weeks.

Hey Dano, Oh no worries man ... didn't really think you meant John any ills. John is actually fairly consistent providing funnies (which he sure did at the wedding, as his wife Trish would routinely shower him with warnings ) ... I've been lucky enuf to have tons of laughs in the boat and on ice over the years ... possibly the most infamous was his falling down in the boat while setting the hook ... ending up with an armload of baits, still smiling, laughing ... and we got the fish

Hey Dale, Awesome to see the video. I was just checking in here and saw the thread. Neato deal. Looks like a tremendous job on the replica ... such a tremendous example set - and proof that there is no need to harvest a fish of any size - in order to have a tremendous replication to hand on the wall to bring back memories. Not to take anything away, at all, from the Williamson and Obrien fish. Both were monsters ... my opinion is nothing other than speculation based on quite a bit of experience & study. It is certain your release was in the same class at these fish; it is my opinion that if you'd chosen to harvest it, I'd have bet heavily on it weighing more than any other muskie ever legitimately weighed. I'm completely certain you did the right thing leaving it to speculation, and applaud the preservation of an exceptional genetic specimen.

Thanks a bunch folks. It sure was a great time and a memorable experience with some great friends. (Ah comon' Dano ... you know we'd all miss the Gillesp's soft voice) You know, that raking pic sure looks good about now ... ready for spring already here.

Good afternoon. Too darn cold to - today ... my favorite: below zero and windy. Yikes! I'm good with the pink hat and all - but goodness, please, please ... no merging with Marc and that silly kilt. I'll be good, I promise.

HI, Seems like that would work GBW. Thanks a bunch Stan, and yeah Carole's words were nice. That's a great story about the launch ramp Gazebo wedding ... no fish eh? Thanks for the kind words. Pete

Hey Thanks all of you! That's great to see that many of you will be making the show in Toronto. Be great to see you all! SMB, I'm still not certain on the Bass Pro store. I may be spending the Sunday there, while I'm up in Toronto. As far as the spring classics, it appears unlikely at this point. There are so many new stores ... it appears I will be at both the Cincinnati & Rossford stores in OH, and the Detroit store on classic weekend. Good idea GBW ... say Roy or TJ ... whadduya got for an avatar, EH? (FYI that I checked out the samples Jen, and for some reason the "skunked" song plays The Next Bite song ... others seem fine.)

Great. Look forward to seeing you there Buster! You folks are great ... you're right about GCD's comment DouG ... funny. Thanks Guys.

Hey OFNers, Happy New Year & Happy Winter Jen let me know she posted this up here. Thanks, or at least I think. Thanks for the kind words all. Love your post specifically Bly. Thankyou! Here is a link from blog of lady (great friends; her husband Jim one of the best ice anglers I know), Hannah Hudson, who did photography (scroll down for some wedding pics). Many of you Canadians can appreciate the Polar Bear plunge pics too http://www.stonehousephoto.blogspot.com/ Possibly some of you here will be able to see Gillespie's show ... I did watch a preview of full show John sent across last night ... funny stuff. Yeah Roy, John G. usually is with me pretty much everywhere I go. (You're just glad he's not at your place drinking your beer ) Thanks for the thoughts though man. And hey Roy, and all you OFC'ers - am I gonna see you at the show in Toronto in February?? I'll be there the 13th & 14th ... and would be great to see you!!! (And Roy, I've got a pink hat for you buddy.) Pete