adempsey

I have paid for other hobbyist sites in the past, so I don't see why not.

Somehow these guys got my information from the Spring Fishing and Boating Show held in Toronto, February of this year [i should have known better]. They called me and said "I won" blah blah.

Well, it's pretty much what you think it is. Do some research on the net and you will see.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g181754-d182829-r2602278-Georgian_Manor_Resort-Collingwood_Ontario.html

Just wanted to post something because I am sure I am not the only one.

Cheers.

I use both storage boxes and packages.

I have now moved toward just keeping them in the original bags within a large Ziploc freezer bag like most.

I just didn't like the idea of constantly exposing hundreds of dollars of plastics to the sun and air while fishing. Although, I haven't really seen any issues yet, I cannot imagine it being good.

You could work at a resort - most are kitchen help though

http://www.noto.net/bulletins/talk.cfm?I=2

http://sudbury.kijiji.ca/c-jobs-bar-food-hospitality-Chef-Assistant-Island-10-Fishing-Retreat-W0QQAdIdZ191939112

Apply to the manufacturers as John suggested.

http://www.ontariofishing.net/linkspages/Manufacturers/Tackle/

The Government also has positions all the time (although, not exactly what you want I don't think):

http://www.gojobs.gov.on.ca/Search.aspx

Could check out the places in Mitchell's Bay on Lake St.Clair: http://www.mitchellsbay.com/

I have never been but always wanted to go and I bet the fishing is good.

Temagami sounds good. Maybe Chandos or Baptiste.

They definitely looked nice to me. I almost bought one...you know, one of those put it in the basket and after 1 hour of shopping I had so much stuff I had to start putting some things back. The Savage lures didn't make it to the checkout. Of course, the sale is still on......

Looks like 1 ad per page?

Doesn't bother me. I find them very odd though. Just some wacky photo of something.

I assume you're in the GTA since you went to BPS. I suggest going to Radioworld and talking to the people there. They have good prices too.

Nice, I could feel the cold air fill my lungs looking at those photos! My ice fishing season was far too short and definitely not as serene (fishing on Simcoe always seems like a big tail gate party).

Thanks again for awesome reports!

That's pretty neat. Thanks for the info, looking forward to watching this progress.

Le Baron's has a $2 off coupon if you are able to hit there before you go to the show.

The one thing that makes me feel a little bit better about the entrance fee is that the show donated some booths to various organizations. Don't recall which ones or how many, but at least it makes me feel like my money actually contributed to something other than lining someones pocket. Hopefully my assumption is right.

Never caught a walleye that had blue slime, but it's supposedly not uncommon. The walleye secrete a blue protein into their slime coat, nobody knows why for certain but one hypothesis is UV protection: http://wayneschaefer.blogspot.com/.

Normally I don't pick up the cheaper "no-name" or house brand baits because I like the brands I use. However, I recently purchased some of the Le Baron house brand plastics - shad and grubs.

I grabbed some 3" Shad Minnows because I have been looking for some Mister Twister Sassy Shads but could only find one color; and I liked the hot pink color of their grubs.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with them? In particular the 3" Shad Minnow and the 3" Curl Tail Grubs. Couldn't find much information on them on the internet. I am sure the grubs will work fine, but the action of the various brands of paddle tail baits is all over the map.

Thanks.

Maybe it's just me, but most of the fishing tackle I looked at was pretty much the same price [or even more] as in the store. The exception being the no tax sales at some of the stores, but for me the prices were still close with the Le Baron discount card. Perhaps I just need to barter more or go on the last day of the show.

I think there are probably better deals for those who cannot easily get access to the local stores.

Still, I do enjoy looking through all the vendors wares, especially at stores I don't normally get to go to.

I did grab some flies from Reelflies to play around with in the summer for some pike and hopefully whitefish. Nice guy and good prices. Also picked up some spinner baits from Grimsby Tackle (I think?). I always seem to buy spinner baits at these type of events, it's like a rite of passage lol. I was close to buying a nice pike spinner from MacKinnon Tackle, they make the glass jigs/spinners. Pretty neat, but ended up buying flies instead.

Oh, I also grabbed some summer sausage from Carmichaels. THE BEST sausage I ever had, I actually spent a while looking for the shop (couldn't recall the name, but I bought some at the Feb show) and gave up, but stumbled across the booth later on anyhow.

I probably would have bought more tackle, but I recently stocked up at the BPS sale. I am very fond of Storm Hot'n'Tots and Thinfins and they were $3 a piece. I picked up more than I will ever use to add to the huge collection that I already had.

I was really hoping for a good price on Reef Runners (like $5 each), but nope. I also looked for some Paddle tail plastic shad but never really found what I was looking for (ended up going to the Le Baron store and bought some).

I liked fishing Jack Lake, but only went once and will be back this year. I think there is only 1 place that rents cottages on this lake, but I could be mistaken.

I find Pigeon Lake has some good fishing. I mainly fish for walleye and musky here though, but I am pretty sure there is good bass fishing as well. Somewhat busy lake, but mostly houseboats.

Rice Lake has great smallie and largie bass fishing. Occasional Jet skiis, but not that bad and depends on what time of year you go.

French River is really nice as well, especially once you enter the park. Only fished for pike/musky here in Autumn.

I went to Paudash once and I got circled by water skiers, but that will happen on most lakes near the cities mid-summer.

Bill Rivers site (http://www.ontariofisherman.com/bass-specialists.htm) recommended Elephant Lake Lodge (http://www3.sympatico.ca/elephant.lake/info.html) and Stanton Air (http://www.stantonair.com/) for bass fishing.

In 2005 Outdoor Canada recommended Rice, Pigeon, Gull, Balsam, Sturgeon Lakes as Smallmouth bass HotSpots (http://www.outdoorcanada.ca/fish/hot_spots05j.shtml).

Cam Brownson (The Angler & Hunter) and Ray Carignan (Outdoor Passion) picked Rice Lake as a Largemouth hotspot (http://articles.outdoorcanada.ca/Homepage/...-n258334p3.html; http://articles.outdoorcanada.ca/Homepage/...n258334p4.html).

Ron James & Leo Stakos (Fish TV) picked Pigeon Lake as a Largemouth and Crappie hotspot and Rice Lake as a Walleye Hotspot (http://articles.outdoorcanada.ca/Homepage/...-n258443p5.html).

Barry Pringle & Aaron Shirley (Getting Hooked with Aaron & Barry) picked Rice Lake as a Walleye Hotspot (http://articles.outdoorcanada.ca/Homepage/...-n258451p5.html).

Anyway, if you are focused on bass I'd take a good look into Rice Lake and Pigeon Lake. Also, I have learned that everything on Bill Rivers site seems to be echoed by many other anglers.

Good luck!

Really need a budget to work with. Also if you want a 1 or 2 piece, casting/spinning etc.. Combo or separate purchases.

In my opinion, the good names don't necessarily give the best bang for the buck in the lower price bracket, especially in reels.

I typically spend $100-$150 on a rod made by St.Croix or Shimano. These are the lower to mid-range of the "upper" spectrum of rods.

If you want to spend less than that you have a lot of options. Probably best to see whats on sale and read some online reviews. A lot of sales on now and the Sports show is coming up. You could probably find a decent combo somewhere.

Some of the BPS line of rods are ok (Browning), Fenwick, Berkley Lightning Rod, Shakespeare Ugly Stick. The lower end Shimanos (Convergence, Clarus) have a rebate offer on right now as well.

Don't forget about the warranty as well, this is probably the most important when buying a less expensive rod or combo.

They must have advertised it in the US for the US sale, because people were lined up the night before to get one. I was actually at the store today before it opened and had no clue. I saw about 30 people lined up, but hadn't realized it was for that reason. Wish I had known, I would have grabbed one myself.

So those Storm Thundersticks aren't all that great? Hmm, never used one but they were only $3 each (regularly $15) so I also picked a few up. Ah well, more crap in my collection lol.

Don't bother with CT if you're trying to save money.

Lebaron has better prices for sure. The Blue Fox spoons are $2-3 each in the 1oz+ sizes. Never used them, but they look good to me and I picked a few of the Orange/Gold ones recently to try. They also have some cheap ($2) bass sized spinner/buzz baits that may be ok. Not sure if they would last more than 1 or 2 pike though. They even have some really cheap Daredevle knockoffs for 55 cents.

Good time to go to BPS as well since the sale is now on. Some nice Storm lures for $3 each, including some of the large 10" Thundersticks as well as some smaller 6-7" ones. Johnson's silver minnows are also on sale.

Dang! I was wondering what the long line up was for. I thought it was only $100 dollars off from $799. I heard someone say they shipped in the HDS5 by mistake. Dunno though.

I think there are 7 wal-marts in Canada.

There are 244 Walmarts and 76 Walmart Superstores in Canada as of Jan 2010.

I shop at many different stores within an hour drive of my home. I can't imagine buying all the things I want at a single shop.

I go to local stores because they carry items I cannot find anywhere else. Prices can be better too. I worked next to JB's and went there all the time. Best prices on St.Croix rods, Yamamoto baits and has a great selection of musky tackle. I don't do any downrigger fishing but if I did, that is where I would go as well.

I go to CT for something to do. Generally overpriced, but they can have items I cannot find anywhere else. For example, I looked everywhere for spin bubbles but only found them at CT. I also picked up some really old Len Thompsons that looked like they were there for 20 years. Just thought they were cool. Sometimes they will have a lure in a color that I was looking for that I couldn't find anywhere else.

I go to Walmart to look at the clearance items. Sometimes you can get great deals, not so much lately. I recently discovered some Yum grubs in a lime green color that I had never seen anywhere, not even on the Yum website. All the Walmarts in my general area (about 10 of them) looked to have really scaled back on the fishing section lately. It's very unlikely I will go there specifically for fishing gear though.

BPS is great for me. I can go to the mall with my family and not be bored to death shopping for clothes. I just got back from the big sale they have on and got some good deals as well. The Vaughan store also carries Canadian made lures (e.g., Lucky Strike, Len Thompson) that I don't think they sell at the US stores [at least they don't show up on the website], so it shows that they at least have some flexibility and are not forced to carry all the same items.

I also visit Lebaron regularly. They have good prices on some of their items. I often buy bigger ticket items there due to the discount card and their prices are often cheaper anyway (not as much as they used to be though). Their tackle selection also differs from the other stores. Even the two Lebaron stores in the GTA differ in what they carry.

Stores like Radioworld are also great. I wouldn't go anywhere else for my electronics.

I also order online. Many times from Cabelas and from some smaller retailers like Jammin Jigs.

Whenever I go away I try to visit the local tackle/bait shops as well. I often pick up something, most often a locally made spinnerbait or something. Sometimes I get lucky and find a lure or a color that has been discontinued.

Bottom line, BPS doesn't always have the best prices nor do they have a huge selection (at least as far as fishing tackle goes); a lot of their stuff is their own brand, which I don't particular like. So for me, it is not a one stop shop and I doubt it ever will be.

I don't recall what it was like last year but it's pretty much what I expected. Mostly BPS brand stuff on sale with a few other things tossed in. I suppose it really depends on what you're after. Still a good time to stock up on some items like Zoom plastics and some Rapalas if you're into those brands. I am sure we all have way too much stuff we don't need anyway, so maybe it's a good thing!

I own all of their books for Ontario, Backroads and Fishing. I think they are amazing. However, I have never used them for actual navigation in the wilderness. They also have folding maps that might be better suited for your needs. I don't think I have seen any other companies that provide a similar product at the local sporting/outdoors stores in the GTA. I'd imagine with GPS's being so popular there is a limited market.

I think if you're going off the beaten path you might consider a GPS in addition to a map. They are very much worth it and the batteries do last a long time (at least in my Garmin).

I'd also suggest Rice Lake. It has amazing fishing for pan fish and great bass/walleye for dad! I've been up there numerous times. It's an easy drive, within 2 hours and you still get that secluded northern Ontario experience. While all the Kawartha lakes are great for fishing, I found Rice Lake to have the best family oriented accommodations so far. Unfortunately, there isn't much in the way of beaches on the lake since it's so weedy and muddy, but most places will have a pool (or two). However, many do have a small beach area with sand and a three year old won't really care. I'd highly recommend that your son always has a PFD on whenever near the water (probably don't need to say this, but it's important enough to do so anyway).

You can easily fish off the dock for panfish, but if you do plan on getting a boat I'd highly recommend a pontoon boat. They are very comfortable with lots of room to move around and if your child gets bored they have a nice place to sit and play with mom while you fish.

This site has great info on resorts on the lake: http://www.ricelakecanada.com/resort_finder.htm. There are many family oriented places to stay.

I find Musky Bay Resort to be a very well looked after resort with great boats and good prices. I rent boats from them quite often for a day of fishing and have stayed there several times as well. It is true that in the summer most places only rent for a week, but I always managed to get a weekend rental from somewhere on the lake.