kemper

That's innovation at it's finest! I wonder if it would pick up the heavier stuff that I use for tying spey flies...

Too much for any guy Irish.

Very sad, and awful for the family. It would be great if people stopped playing with thin/unsafe ice. If he was a local kid, he probably knew it was a risky crossing with the weather and ice conditions.

4" of ice, on a river, with warm temps... these deaths are incredibly unfortunate for the families. They're also completely preventable. Stop driving heavy machines on thin ice.

40kph SW winds on Saturday...I wouldn't make the hike, but that's just me.

From now on I solemnly swear to let everything I catch die a slow death, preferably by drowning.

How do you keep yours clean? I'm buried in a blanket of feathers, thread, and flash. Any tricks?

Agreed. Batson also has some informative videos on their site, as does Flexcoat. The best way is to just start building, and make your first couple builds cheap because you are going to make some mistakes. I'm really getting the hang of it now, and I'm finding the detail and finish quality comes with experience. Comparing the rod I'm working on right now (# 12) to the first one I built is like night and day. If you want to learn really quick, I suggest badgering one of the gents on this site or others who have spent countless hours building hundreds (thousands?) of rods. Maybe you can convince someone to give you a personal lesson!

Looking great gents

How many hunters would hit a deer with a non lethal shot and let it lay there in the snow for an hour till it died? Dispatch it quickly and enjoy a fantastic fish fry!

Spiel is probably your man - I suspect he may even have the tip you need laying around... My spare parts box is growing, but I imagine Spiel has a spare parts warehouse!

I would think there is a much higher risk of going through crap ice on a warm rainy day then of flipping your boat... Of course people head out in 12' tinnys on the big lake in January, and I think that's pretty stupid as well (in most cases).

Most tackle shops can probably do it. I'm in Guelph, and can do it if you can't find anyone closer.

If you rely on the internet to tell you if the ice is safe or not, you're still an idiot for going swimming in that type of weather/ice conditions.

Thumbs up for the IPB iPhone app

No doubt about that, but I prefer to at least eliminate the risk of "died of pure stupidity" from my fishing mishap list. Of course I could step onto an inconsistent patch and drown even on good ice, but hopefully the chances are much lower.

Bill are you saying that 1" of black ice and 3 inches of slush doesn't hold up in +12 and rain?

I agree that no ice is safe and anything can happen, but to me there is a difference between a freak accident and plain old stupidity. Seems like anyone with half a brain should have been able to figure out that ice that already wasn't safe probably didn't get any better with this weather. I don't get it, continues to happen again and again.

Even if they haven't gone in it will be a serious task to get them off the ice after this rain and slush freezes up

Already shady ice, 12 degrees, rain.... How could it possibly surprise anyone that ice isn't safe?

Very rare that I keep fish, but when I do it's a quick whack and bleed out

If the seats fold its dead easy, passenger rides with rod tip beside them and you remind them every 3 or 4 minutes not to break it. I've fit my 7'6" along with 3 other guys and all their gear into my civic, you'll be fine.

Right on Mike, I guess I'll have to bring my signature book next time we share a drift...

My old man used to pick me up from school quite often to go fishing, I mean to an "appointment"...

For me as well would be great - my iPhone is working for now but prefer to browse the site on my computer