EC1

Pro J in Scarborough has them, if not Fishing World in Hamilton. Very limited dealers in Canada as far as I know. If you really want a Dobyns I'd say save up for a Champion, maybe even a Champion Extreme Otherwise I guess it's a coin flip between a crucial and a savvy.

Did the same thing once last year and once this year. In a group of 3 last year I think we only got 1 or 2 very small perch? I believe they were caught in the weeds shallow. This year I only got a few dink perch too. 24-32FOW in an I think featureless bottom. It's a tough lake through the ice.

This might be the first time I've seen a report from you Crappie, Thanks for sharing! BillM, I have thought about starting a thread called 'Unorthodox Crappie Patterns' before. My idea was looking into where and why these fish stay at certain times of the year, especially winter. For example, I'm familiar with them hanging out in the shallow weeds until they die, and then moving off. But sometimes you hear of people catching them on mud flats, rocks, in deep water, even at first ice. There just seems to be some lakes where I don't understand what the crappies are doing.

That walleye is so damn dark! Its eye looks pretty awesome too! All black with just that yellow dot. I suspect that's just the camera playing tricks on us? Very cool!

On a brighter note, ended off this year's ice fishing with a BANG. Went for both lakers and perch today! Woke up with 2 hours of sleep to get to Simcoe, started fishing just before 7. After telling my ice mentor about how I've been sucking lately, he gave me some pointers and it sure helped! Went 4 for 6 lakers (Maybe 1 was a whitie) today, and the two that I lost I still cannot explain. I set the hook square into the fish, but my reel all of a sudden explodes with line flying everywhere, and causing messes that I couldn't fix without cutting line. I even got my PB today, I didn't weigh her, but she looked to be just around the 10lb mark! Didn't have anyone close to me, so I didn't even get a good photo with her. You can call it whatever weight you want, I'll stick with my 10. (I kept one that was about 7-8 today and it was definitely a noticeable difference in size between the two.) Released 3 of my 4 fish and I am glad to say they got back in before their eyes started to freeze on such a chilly day. Here's a picture without any size reference.. Here's a picture of the smallest fish of the day, and the only fish where I had a photographer. Waved down a gentleman on an ATV. Big Thank You! My release shots were even worse, as I used my iphone which was so slow that the fish swam off each time before the phone took the picture. Note the air bubbles that the camera was able to capture just a second late. Was done with lakers by 10am, and moved on to the shallow water for a feed of perch. The perch were extremely sluggish with the cold front today, but was able to catch 13 dinky keepers in the next 3 hours. Kept the few for a fry and cannot wait to have them tonight! Really hoping that I don't itch and head back out sometime next week. I know for sure it can't get better than this trip!

Switching hands...Well if KVD does it, I'm sure there's not a problem with it. I'm actually really proud to be able to cast and pitch with my left and use RH reels. Find a few friends with both LH and RH reels and try it first. No point in dishing out money to find that you need to switch the handle side. Here's a couple of articles that I think might help others in learning to cast with your left. Part1 Part2

Nice. You need a higher ratio type of reel to have the experience a bit easier, but glad to see you caught fish anyways!

Pflueger would match a dobyns champion well. Legend tournament would match nicely as well. I guess a shimano rod or any all black rod would look good with the stradic. Phenix recon would be my pick.

So is no one really looking forward to softwater yet? And when asked whether people liked Ice fishing or softwater fishing, I thought the general consensus was that the majority liked softwater more! Good luck on the ice guys! I'm still thinking about going out this weekend for lakers in Muskoka...But this weather's really turning me off it.

The last week or so's fishing must have been the most brutal I've had in a while. Went out 5 of the last 14 days for ice fishing, twice for crappie - caught ONE. and three times on Simcoe .... skunk. Even was on Scugog last night, and there was a huge pressure crack that ran across the east and west of the entire lake. Thinking that it doesn't even look as bad as the pressure cracks on Simcoe, I decided to try to cross anyways.. BAD DECISION. Put one foot through the ice and was wet for the rest of the night. Luckily it wasn't too cold, so I was able to last a few hours out there even when I was wet. The trip wasn't worth it in the end, as I ended up skunking again. After hearing from Michaelangelo and tonka-toy, decided to go off and cast for some pike today for some revenge. Unfortunately no one was available to take my canoe out, so I just casted from the bridge. There was quite a few people out there already, and lucked myself into a little dinky one. One more ice fishing trip and I think I'm ready to say bye to the ice season until this coming winter. Let the softwater begin!

Thanks for all the great info guys! I am still leaning towards Lake Muskoka, because of its distance, and it's the only water that I've really seen during the softwater. Will have to check, and will let you guys know how I do if I make it out there this weekend!

Guess there's no fish in Muskoka? Thanks Camillj. Will look into that if I don't find any info about Muskoka.

Believe it or not, I usually have positive experiences with kijiji / craigslist. Yes, you have your lowballers and what not. I did come across a couple times where they sold something that was malfunctioning though. Even though some 'deals' are not scams, there is a reason why they're selling it for the low prices. Lesson learned. So far, my Meetings are usually on time and at public locations. I find that getting there the next possible moment you have to go get it is the best. I bet the people that send the email the next morning is because another buyer called and was told it was sold but the reply will be something along the lines of "I'll pay X amount more and I'll pick them up right away from you." -Guess that's to blame our capitalist society..

In 80 - 90 FOW I ran into a couple of schools that made my finder read 22FOW. The school was so thick they were about 50% snagged and 50% hooked. When I snagged one on its side, I was so excited thinking that I had caught the laker that came across the school to eat them. LOL. I cannot wait until we can keep them from simcoe. They look kind of tasty, and these fish don't get very old do they, since they're a baitfish?

Thanks for the quick update! We're really early this year! I don't think ice out is usually until early - mid march.

At least someone's having a great time on the ice lately! I've had 4 bad trips (3 skunks and 1 crappie) in the last week!

How's everyone doing? Just wanted to post this up because I've really been wanting to ice fish Muskoka sometime this year, but I've only been a few spots during the summer and was looking for a few pointers to maybe help me out a little. The next weekend or two will probably be my only opportunity to try out new water. Specifically, I was looking at walking out somewhere near Bala. Is the ice ever safe there with the dam going to the moon river? I've seen some of the monster pike, walleye and smallies that come out of there, but would love to maybe see a laker or ling too! No need to point me to spots, but any kinds of water should I be looking for? Deep? Shallow? Rocks or what? You can always PM me if you want to take me out to show me how it's done out there! I offer hot food on the ice...Just sayin' Thanks!

I'm hoping that ice will be off the bay sometime next week. Will want to go out on the weekdays!

Techniques that I want to master: Jigs, jigs, jigs, & walking the dog. Jerkbaits year round is something that I'm hoping for. I hope smallies will be nice to me this year. A first 5+ LMB would be nice too. Hooking and finally landing a Simcoe 6+ will be another goal. Would really love it if I found myself a spot in the fishing industry, whether with my graphic design or with my fishing skills.

Thanks a bunch for the update! Will be going out for pike there soon enough! Only 32 days until the pike closes up there!

Very nice fish!

Nice ling! Driving on the ice is so much fun! AND it saves so much walking time too! Good luck to you for the rest of the week Chad!

You're in for a treat. I just read an article about these last night. Micro Guides In a nutshell, it should feel better while casting, but don't be expecting to tie uni to uni knots to have a fluorocarbon leader. You almost have to exclusively use an albright knot just so you can cast past the knot. I don't own a rod with micro guides, hopefully someone else can help you out.

I'm not sure if getting a core would make your fishing any more efficient vs a curado, Own the MGFV, and it's good, but I don't think that it's worth 400 bucks. If you can get it for say, 250 and under, take it right away. The core I'd say is another workhorse reel, nothing amazingly fancy, but does the job well. I have zero input about cranking though...It's one of the last things you'll see me throwing except for when I am fishing walleye at dams.

Reminds me of my day on the weekend, minus the fish! NICE!