adempsey

It's called the "scanning code of practice"

If you dont have the "Flipp" app on your phone, you should. Best way to price match items from all over. We save so much money on our trips.

This^^^^

 

Are you referring to Amazon.ca or Amazon.com?

Both.

What Amazon invoices you is what you will pay. At least, that's been my experience for years of ordering. However, they do have that whole third party reseller component that's more like eBay. WIth eBay, I think I was charged duty/taxes once out of at least 50 purchases. I don't even remember what it was. Probably from an eBay retail store that did not put "Gift" on the package. They aren't really supposed to indicate "Gift", but most do. Other places like Bass Pro and Cabelas charge you the duty, taxes and brokerage upfront. So, you know what your order cost will be and there will be no surprise fees. Places like Tackle Warehouse use UPS and FedEx and along with your order you get a nice bill for brokerage, duty and taxes before you get your package.

Don't discount ordering from the UK either. I've found great prices there and the shipping is fairly cheap through Royal Mail. Longest delivery time was 8 days, shortest 5 days. No extra duties or taxes charged so far either.

Walleye will most likely be concentrated at that time of year as they are likely finishing up spawning and starting to move. Where they will be largely depends on how far north you go and how early spring comes. This will happen March to April if you are south enough, such as in the Detroit River. A few years ago I was on a lake north of NIpigon the first week of July and the walleye were late and just starting to migrate into the lake from spawning grounds. So, we had to travel across the lake to the in-flowing rivers from which they were migrating to get on the fish. My point is, if you just go to some random lake in May/June and the fish haven't migrated, you better know where they are spawning or you'll probably have a bad time. A camp that's a reasonable distance from an in-flowing river might be a good choice. Evelyn would be good, but I would guess a lot of the fish are coming from Sucker Gut which is at the very west end of the lake. Far from Ellen Island. Not that that's the only area where they migrate, but it's a big one.

I'd imagine the big lakes like Nipissing, Temagami and Evelyn might be great if you know where to concentrate your fishing efforts. The French River might be really hot in places. Lac Kipawa might be worth a look too.

Best of luck!

Thanks to all for posting information about traveling too and attending The Sportsman show!

We had a quick border crossing both ways and an easy 3 1/2 hour trip to and from. The show was great and beyond my expectations, very friendly, both the crowd and exhibiters. I inquired at the Canada map sales booth about an obscure lake in Quebec, the lady rep. couldn't find it in their indexes, she left her booth and went to the outfitter who flew into this lake and got co-ordinates, came back found the lake on her computer. She said they have a show special, 12.00 shipped to my home, WOW talk about great service .

Made contact with 2 outfitters on Kabinakagami Lake who fly in from White River, had long and informative conversations with both and will soon book a trip.

Visited several lure makers and sellers, bought a few, looked at many boat and motor combinations and went to the food court for several snacks.

I had a fantastic day at the Sport'sman show, totally enjoyed it and will be back next year.

 

Seanik

Erie Pa USA

Headed to Kaby Lake in July with Pine Portage Lodge. Will let you know how the fishing was.

Maybe this article will be of some use to you. Hopefully not too overwhelming, lol.

http://www.lineonfishing.com/index.php/component/content/article/18-feature-articles/30-how-to-pack

I am the opposite. I have no superstitions whatsoever.

As for spring cleaning my tackle. I am far too lazy. Although, I am currently practicing bending and twisting 1mm stainless steel wire to make rigs for my pike plastics. I am not very good at it, lol.

You should be fine just taking the 403 to QEW to 427 to Dixon. The 407 is great, but a the time you're going, the QEW and 427 should be fine and out of rush hour. However, I don't know if there is any construction or anything atm though.

July and August are usually only week long bookings, but always depends on how busy the places are.

Lac Kipawa has a lot of camps. Beautiful lake, fishing can be poor to great. Might be worth a look.

Otherwise, I would just hit a Kawartha Lake. Rice lake being my preference for nice cottages, Pigeon for fishing (well, walleye and musky - Rice has great bass and panfish).

I just run mine on demo mode and pretend I know what I am doing.

You're allowed 150lbs each. That's 50lbs more than most fly-ins. MLO operates their own air service and most places that don't have to charter are quite forgiving when it comes to weight. So, I wouldn't worry about weight too much, but you still have to be somewhat smart about it.

 

 

I didnt see any where I was fishing today. Walking was great. Ice was 6-8". 2 big shifts happened though. Making ice again.

Lol, I really did see that yesterday. I am in London though. I am sure the ice is fine in many places still.

I'd recommend checking out Raymarine units too. That's probably what I'd buy if I was looking for a new sonar. Definitely a GPS/Chartplotter with that budget. Make sure you can get the maps you want.

Radioworld is a great shop. Prices always seemed competitive, but I haven't been up there in a quite a few years now.

All I know is that I saw Robins eating worms today and the Daffodils are starting to push up out of the soil.

I am heading up to the Minden area for some ice fishing over the weekend. Not too sure what to expect at this point. Rain in the forecast all of tonight and tomorrow. Usually it's -40C when we go, so we chose a later date. Can't win! Not even sure we will get out onto the "ice".

Prices seem to be ever increasing too

 

I haven't found many Canadian whiskies that Ive enjoyed neat. Bourbons on the other hand are excellent. Woodford Reserve double oaked, blantons, four roses single barrel are fantastic.

I will admit that I may not have a refined palette, but I did enjoy Collingwood Whiskey. I am drinking some cheap Evan Williams right now and I think it's pretty good for what I paid for it. I normally drink them neat. I liked the Four Roses I had (i don't know which one it was, but it was a more premium batch), but honestly, I preferred the Jim Beam Black Label more.

I wouldn't say I'm a connoisseur, I'm simply too poor for that. But I really enjoy a good single malt when I can afford it.

 

Lagavulin 16yrs is fantastic, a bit pricey but worth it.

Just got a bottle as a gift. Haven't opened it yet.

I really like the Aberlour as well. Not fond of the 10 year, but the others were nice.

Buying more Bourbons and Canadian Whiskey now though, cheaper and I enjoy them just as much.

This is my recollection. When they first hit the market they were a big deal. Very light and sensitive. Then they started blowing up or something, lol. Maybe not literally blowing up, but breaking. I never heard a thing about them ever again. I thought they may have gone out of business. Anyway, it's all anecdotal, but that's what is in my head. For what it's worth.

Very cool! Likely I'll be in Antigua in December. Never go fishing though, lol. Probably should.

I can give you a few well known Lake Trout Lakes.

Bernard, Lake of Bays, Rosseau, Boshkung, Mountain, 12 Mile, Halls, Gull, Maple, Paudash

You should be able to just search the net and get that info pretty easily though.

The MNR stocking lists are better sources of information for Brookies. Try some Splake lakes too. I've ice fished some Splake stocked lakes and caught them. Was never gangbusters, but they were in there.

Brook Trout, well, good luck with getting that info from someone. Especially on a forum. Those lakes would get smashed and devasted in no time flat.

Personally I'd hit Simcoe, Lake Of Bays, Rosseau, Gull, Boshkung, Mountain, 12 Mile.....heck even some panfish on Jack or another Kawartha Lake. You might have a hard time even booking anything this late, especially for a day. If you're flexible though, I am sure you'll find something.

http://buttermilkfallsresort.com/rates.shtml

http://www.loraleacountryinnresort.com/ratesicefish.html

http://www.ogopogoresort.com/rates.php

http://www.gulllakehutrentals.4t.com/

http://www.commandalakeresort.com/

http://www.algonquinmotel.ca/icefishing.php

http://www.icefishingbungalows.com/

http://muskokarecreation.com/ice-fishing/

http://www.muskokashorescottages.com/Fishing/Ice-Fishing/

http://www.bondi-cottage-resort.com/ice-fishing-and-snowmobiling.htm

http://www.loggingchainlodge.com/Winter.html

http://www.redumbrellainn.com/activities.html

plenty more...just keep calling around until you find an opening. Not saying the fishing will be spectacular at any of these places, but I think that goes without saying for most places. No surprise, but the best fishing I think will be on Simcoe or Nipissing though.

Ideally, I think you want to be able to walk to the huts? Not sure if most huts on Nip are "walkable". A lot on Simcoe are the same.

Good luck! My long weekender ice fishing trip is at Ogopogo on Mountain Lake in two weeks.

 

Just reread my post and judging by my enthusiasm I need to go fishing lol.

 

I rig the flipping jig generally just with a swimbait. I don't have a pic unfortunately but look up the ERC jib a beast lure, same concept. I don't use it often but it can be good bait when you need a bit faster presentation or something different. I throw more standard jigs with big grubs or tubes with really light heads so you can swim and hop them slowly.

 

Just found this pic of a few lures I had on deck. You'll see 3 x F-18 floating rapala's in this pic, this old school bait has been getting a lot of water time last few years. I fish it like a jerkbait, it gets down to around 5-6ft and has a bit bigger profile at 7" then other jerkbaits. I've been waiting for that 8" huskyjerk or rogue forever and doesn't look like they are making it lol. The grubs in the pic are 8" on a 1/4oz head. Sometimes on pressured fish the black grub can't be beat.

 

 

Can't wait to launch the boat and go looking for some 40"ers! Fingers crossed for a late spring.

I see. I am familiar with those jigs. Thanks.

Was thinking you were rigging something more like this:

What a tragic loss. Sincere condolences to you and your family.

The Ontario topo map website usually has more detailed aerial photo's than Google. To view them, go under "Map Layers", "Select Map Layers", "Ontario's Topographic Data and Imagery" and you can unselect the Topographic Data otherwise you need to zoom down to the 40m scale to view the Ontario Imagery data if you leave it selected.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/topographic-maps

Also, always check Bing as well because they use different map data and often they have aerial photos not found on Google maps. I find their GPS coordinates seem to be more accurate as well.

https://www.bing.com/maps/

I kinda do what Craig and msp say above. If it's early spring and fish are shallow -jerkbaits and lighter jig's are best. If they are a bit deeper - jerkbaits or swimbaits or jigs. When they are transitioning to summer - big swimbaits are my favourite. Regarding jigs, I like primarily 6-8" jig n grubs, larger tubes, or flipping jigs with plastic such as a swimbait. Regarding swimbaits, I've been rigging them on jigs as light as 1/4oz but I find 3/8 to 1/2 is what I use most spring depending on the swimbait and depth you're targeting or how fast the fish want it. Larger swimbaits are heavier and have the rig built in. I love spring pike, it's generally the christening of the boating soft water season for me.

 

I like them on all patterns - early, mid and late spring - each are fun in their own way. Early you can sight fish and play on the fishes reactions more. Mid spring can be crazy numbers targeting ravenous post spawn weed edge fish. Late spring is fun tossing big swimbaits in deeper transition areas covering water for a big cruisers outside spawning areas.

 

I don't throw a lot of spoons or spinners, they do work, but I have more success on other baits on the southern ON waters I fish.

 

The best all round bait IMO is a jerkbait such as the husky jerk. Jerkbaits usually take the most fish every spring and every size fish will eat one from 25" to 40+.

I'd be interested in seeing how you're rigging up flipping jigs for pike.