Ramble

Lots of choice in this country. If u have a choice to do a fly in...you wont regret it. 1st year can be rough but it gets better every year. -Dave

Thought I would share some of mine, in the hopes of maybe learning something new from you guys. Most of my perching gets done on Quinte, with relatively, low pressured fish. But I've had the same sort of stuff work on Simcoe and another small lake I go to occasionally. Colours Chartreuse and lime green are the 2 most productive colours I find. If you incorporate that with glow or silver and you’re set. Orange is a close second and gold is almost as good as the silver…almost. Lures Most people use small baits when targeting perch. I have found bigger is better, especially for the jumbos, although I usually start smaller at the beginning. One of my favourite “big” lures it the large buckshot rattle-spoon. The treble is too big for most perch, so I switch it out for one off a Forage Minnow. A little bigger split ring helps them “suck it in” but I don’t think it’s essential at all. I’ll tip it with a minnow head, or a tail. I prefer heads generally. Same hook strategy for other lures like the do-jigger, sidewinder and pimple have all seen action and landed fish. When they are being “finicky” I have found scaling up the lure size some days will out fish some of the fineness stuff. Which begs the question are they finicky at all? But that’s a different debate. When they get finicky, the traditional small pan fish gear like this little jig with a small minnow head can be dynamite. I haven’t had a whole lot of luck with maggots or other artificial products. I find the perch in chasing more often then not want meat. Set Line Those little jigs at the bottom of a set line rig have also iced fish on slow days. I use the head/jig rig as mentioned above then 5-8 inches above it I’ll stick a lively minnow on the line. I have had more success with fake maggots on this set up, then just jigging them. For the upper hooks on a set line I have tied marabou and a little crystal flash on a hook. I’ve tried it in orange, pink and chartreuse. The chartreuse out fishes the other colours I’ve tired. The perch love it. I’ve also seen some positive results from crappie and brookies on it. The other set up I like on a set line utilizes a floating jig head. I’ll stick two or three split shot on the line about 3 inches up the line from a floating jig head. Then 5-8 inches above the split shot, a single hook with marabou. It’s good if they are active and you need to get the line down fast, you can just add more weight. I’ve tried the weight, the floating jig, followed by the single hooks, but the floating head at the ends works better. Again, chartreuse or orange for the floating head. Rod Addition Probably the most important improvement I have ever come across is one of the most simple. Add some small gauge wire on to the rod tip. It’s A LOT more sensitive than even my ultra light rod and it registers anything that’s going on at the other end. It just bends when you fight the fish and has never caused a tangle yet. It also knocks the water off the line before the guides and I found that I ice up less frequently and when I do its easier to fix. The weight of pretty much any lure bends it to some degree. This allows you to see if a fish picks up the bait but doesn’t pull. It’s also pretty useful on the setlines because you can see the minnows flopping around. This applies to more then just perch. Often you will see the minnows get more frantic before a fish hits. It also lets you know when to jiggle the line and wake them up or if you get robbed and didn’t see the hit. You can go buy specific wire, but the 2nd last string (B string) on an acoustic guitar is pretty much perfect. Wrap it on with some Kevlar string with your bobbin if you’re a fly tier or some 4 or 6lb line works in a pinch. I suppose thread would work as well. Cover in epoxy and go fishing. A little paint is nice and a bead over the spot where you twisted the wire to make the loop will bring the ladies running. Anyway those are some of the tricks I’ve picked up over the last few years.

Ohhhhh im jelous.

There was a questionare on the MNR site in teh spring i think looking for feed back on Kawartha fisheries management. Not sure if you saw it or not....and i'm not sure if it is still around. most of the walleye questions were dealing with a reduction or change in the slot. -Dave

Chest banding, curved tail, size, banding on tail = Juv. Coopers.

Another great report solo. Keep at it, i'm enjoying them. -Dave

Since I have been back at school fishing has essentially ended. I’ve been out experiencing the joys of waterfowling and LOVE it. My 1st geese came as a double and my 1st duck was a drake woodie. So that’s pretty much it. There has been a few other minor outings. But these have been the most notable. I CAN’T WAIT for ice fishing to get started. I think my auger is going through withdrawals. Till next time, tight lines. -Dave

I also managed an outing with my sister before we headed off to our different universities. I also got out for a couple of solo outings myself for musky. I have never caught one while fishing for them. I tied into a 37 inch fish alone, after dark in the canoe. After an airborne battle I landed it without a net and popped the hook out boatside with no trouble. Four seasons at Kesagami provided me with the necessary training. Sorry no photo. Before school started dad and I made a day trip up to Algonquin for a bit of an adventure. My grandmother isn’t in the best health and dad looks after her every day. So we couldn’t do the week long trip like usual.

Once I got home I had a few outings for largies on a couple of home body of water. My buddy Sweet Pea, who I work with at Kesagami came down for a week and gave me a hand on the fence. My girlfriend, who I also met at the lodge, made it out for a few outings herself. We had a great shore lunch one afternoon and finished off the last of the lakers from the spring.

I got out a few evenings shore fishing off the Belleville marina with my sister. Her 1st walleye. The day before I went north for another season at Kesagami I snuck off to the hunting camp with a couple buddies and we hit up a back lake for some lakers. We landed 4 in 4 hours and miss 3 hits and lost one boat side. Needless to say it was a hell of an outing. Don’t worry, they are all stocked fish. Then I was off to Kesagami. That report is in progress and will be up at some point in the future. But ill stick a few photos for your amusement. Step one was a visit to Bunk’s while he was still in the north. It was a good adventure and will be covered in the Kesagami report. But it was another great summer guiding.

Alright… I know it has been a long time since I last posted a report. So I thought I’d drop an update post. It’s going to be the abbreviated version of what was an excellent summer. So here we go.

Brag, Brag, Brag. LMAO

The Americans are the last group you want to listen to for matters of the Environment... unless it's independent research. Not that Canada is much better when the gov't gets involved. It's climate change DUE to an INCREASE in AVERAGE global temperatures. Here is some other sources. Hope someone will find some useful info on these sites. http://www.polarfoundation.org/www_science...amp;category=14 http://www.pewclimate.org/global-warming-basics http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/home_en.htm http://www.ccdcommission.org/ Climate change is as real as male patterns baldnes. -Dave

Sounds like a little phenotypic plasticity too me.

I've used them only for pike at the lodge. They can take a pretty good pounding but you will have to bend them back....not that that is a problem.....almost everything needs to be tuned sooner or later. The single prop buzz bait they make has more casts on it then any other buzz bait type i have owned. There stuff isn't the best on the market...but is definatly "good enough" in my books. I'm not totally sold on the "hook technology" they are marketing. The idea is great, but i feel like the middle-of-the-road quality they put into their products is not well suited this kind of technology. I had a buzzbait with cable to the hook a few years back and it worked wonders. Less fish threw the barbless hook...but i have a hard time trusting the quality of the manufacturing. The last thing i really want is to worry about the hook coming off. For spinnerbaits the standard solid hook is more then enough. When it comes to this sort of stuff i apply Guide Rule #3.... "Don't 'mess' with what works." -Dave

All this tripe about pink not being a MAN colour. If it catches the biggest fish of the day you are "the man". If you catch the most fish in a day you're "the man". We hammer walleye on pink grubs in teh summer and i get some people who refuse to use them untill i'm out fishing them 4 to 1. Don't hold back on a colour cause you're afraid of it. If you're afraid of a colour lol..... you're NOT "the man". Pink senko's work pretty good. I've only used them in clear water a couple of times and ran out both times lol. -Dave

the fish up to about 34 inches are the worst for unhooking. Especially the snakes. They are always flapping around. Grabbing them behind the head is a good start. i dont use jaw spreaders myself, but they might be useful for you. The lindy glove does work. BUT it takes FOREVER to dry out and takes a lot of slime off the fish. NOW.. i wouldnt want to get ahook through the glove into my hand. The gray material n teh palm is the only material on it that is "cut proof". I had a 42" fish latch onto my hand 2 years back with the glove. The bottom of my hand was fine, but the top of my hand was a lovely series of pin holes, and skratches. I would go without the golve. I find that the small pike especially kinda flair out their gills a bit when u grab then behind the head. Ypu can slide the hand up and your thumb and forfinger kind of, in behind the edge of the gill. That way the fish cant flap and slide down stiching the hooks into your hand. Another piece of advice is limit the # of trebles on the lure. A #3 or #4 blue fox (orange and gold or silver and yellow) will catch u snotrockets allllll day long. And you can put a single hook on them. They u dont have to worry about the extra trebles flapping aroud. -Dave

redhorse suckers lol What stretch are we talking about...Corbyville? -Dave

Where to start? Where to start? I had an awesome season at Kesagami again. The big report will be along at some point. Right now, I’m just waiting on some more photos. In the mean time I’ll leave you with a few photos from my season. I’ve only been out fishing once since I have been home. I headed out to a spot learned to fly fish, with my fly rod. The change of pace was welcome and it was great to be on home water. I didn’t land any fish of size, but I did manage a few good photos. Today I was digging through some old photos. My grand father had collected these over his life and have been passed on. He was an avid outdoors man to put it mildly. So I thought I would share a few of the photos with you. He was one of 4 children and had a twin brother. This was the primary room of his school. This one is from the 1920’s. Barely a teenager. We actually have a copy of one of his report cards which is good a laugh. He told me once that the report card was as it was because he was building this. His friend that he built the cabin with turned a photo of it into a Christmas card for him once. His father ran a creamery and did not approve of his school attendance. (My great grandfather as a young man.) The Wooler Creamery Creamery Picnic Once out of high school he spent as much time as he could in the bush. I have a map of his from 1939 of Temagami where he spent about 3 weeks with some friends. The boat he used for checking his trap lines. A friend from one of their trips. Some of those photos are from before he joined up for the Second World War in 1942 and some are from after. I was digging around and found his dog tags, which I haven’t seen in about 10 years. Anyway. I could carry on here for ever and a day. If I come across the album with his war photos I might post a few more. I thought I’d just give you guys an update on my return to the board as well as a few photos from another generation. Tightlines. -Dave

Well it's the 1st time i've been on OFC since i have come back from the lodge and this is the 1st report i have read. You did not dissapoint. Looks like you guys had a blast.

Speaking of drunk talk "Read" doesnt usually have a 3 in it LMAO. Every 10 years or so a new flu strain makes the jump from critters to people. In a few years it'll just be another strain added to the list. Ther has be others which have jumped from pigs to people before. The spanish flu was from birds they think and if i remember correctly there was one that jumped from horses. Only reason it is any concern is because it's different enough from the other that it catches the immune system off guard and infection occurs more rapidly and extensivly then most of the others. When the immune system does kick in it "over reacts" for what the body can handle. You end up with a lot of fluid in teh lungs and the damage to the lung tissue and fluid can result in death, or set you up for a secondary infection such an pneumonia which inturn can be fatal. Most of us think "Well i am not eldery or a child and i'm in good health." When it comes to sever respiratory infections that is the recipe for for the most lung damage. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how this thing plays out. -Dave

I've been through a few cameras in teh last couple years. Spending time outdoors seems to be hard on them. My latest is an Olympus Stylus 1030SW. 10.1 mega pixels 3.6 optical zoom Digital image stabalization water proof to 33 feet shock proof from 2 meters (that is key) good to -10 and is crush resistant to 100kg. Costs 350-400 i think. Images are pretty good but the zoom kinda sucks. When you by a rugged camera you have to sacrafice picture quality a little. Still once you learn to use it you can still get good photos. -Dave

I just got a new-to-me 12 guage and need a place to pattern her before turkey season. If anyone knows of a place i can put a few shells through her plz let me know. It will only be me and my house mate. I don't care where as long as i'm not any laws. Here's a few pic's of it. Winchester 1300 XTR Price was right for my budget and it came with 3 chokes. It has very little wear. Tight Lines. -Dave

This mouse is on teh frtiz....srry for the double post.

That's not a bad price at all. Wish i had the money for it. but i just spent my allowance on a 12 guage. -Dave