Fishnwire

I've netted them in the open creeks but how do you catch them through the ice? One at a time with a rod and reel?

I'm an industrial electrician, I don't really do residential work, so I'm not 100% sure of the legalities...However, I thought as a home owner you can get a permit for work you intend on doing yourself. If you happen to have a "helper" there at the time with more experience than yourself, to give you tips, assist you...or just do the entire job while you watch TV and drink beer...you're in the clear.

A licensed tradesman (who isn't a friend or relative) is not going to lace up his boots, let alone come to your house, for less than $100. The cost of the materials is probably at least $50. It'll only take him an hour or two...but if the guy knows what he's doing it is worth every penny. Then again...guess what I do for a living? If I told you my Quad was stolen and asked whether I should report it or just try to track it down myself, what would you say?

I'm not a bigger fan of the trail plan organizations...but I think they have permission to put them up with the agreement that they are removed before ice-out. I could be wrong and it was not cool of the MNR to not respond to your question.

I could be wrong, but the way I read that...you can't have a fire on the shore either. - Isn't it basically saying you can't leave debris (from a fire) on land or ice? Does that mean every camp fire I've ever lit has been illegal?

Whatever the results are...you can kick back knowing that you DESERVED to win. Without a doubt your video is better. The main difference between your video and the other one is that yours is quite good and theirs sucks out loud.

I went there to check out your vid and was going to vote for you. Then I saw the tarpon video. It's so awesome I had to vote for that guy. - Just joking. 3224. Why would anyone vote for that stupid tarpon video? I'm surprised they even have it up there. It's garbage. It must be someone's idea of a joke or something.

There's nothing else to say...except "Rubicon".

Do you mean those whole neighbourhoods that were only built in the first place because of the existance of tens of thousands of people earning a good working-class wage who were all laid off because they wouldn't do their jobs as cheaply as starving people in other countries? Blaming workers for the problems facing their economy is like blaming soldiers for the bullets that are fired at them.

Do you think that's the case with most workers, or is it that you are fortunate enough to have something that most do not? I don't know what you do for a living, but I'm a tradesman and can tell you that working for a unionized company almost certainly involves receiving better compensation, higher safety standards, and greater job security, than working for a non-unionized one. As another poster asked, "What's wrong with that?" - Also...I wonder if because so many non-unionized employees had things like disability coverage, it become reasonable for unionized employees to start asking for it...or if it happened the other way around? - If you don't want to belong to a union...I could care less. Other than to wish you good fortune, I'm genuinely unconcerned with what agreements you have with your employer, or how you reached them. Why is it so hard for others to feel the same way?

Don't get me started either. Even though I have plenty of time to do so, because I'm off work due to an injury that occurred off the job…and I'm still getting nearly full pay. I happen to work for a company that is unionized, but I'm sure that has nothing to do with the short-term disability coverage I am currently making use of. Probably the folks at Walmart and the like have the same plan, as most employers would eagerly offer to cover such an expense out of the kindness of the hearts, and not because it's their obligation under some sort of collective bargaining agreement.

In response to...""most" who drink, drink and drive? Is that honestly how you see the world?" C'mon now. You must know that's not true. Surely you must know collegues who enjoy a drink or two...perhaps you do yourself. I know I do...but that doesn't mean that any of us drink and drive.

At least he can afford to pay the fines.

waki5...as far as the water temp goes, I'm really not sure but shortly after the river breaks up (a week or two) and generally coinciding with a full moon, the run will be strongest. You basically have to go out there (or get reports from those who have) over a one to three week period until they start coming in. It'll be a little different each year depending on when ice-out happens, the weather, the lunar cycle and whatever else. As far as where to fish, we always fished right in the current (not too strong) and just put the net out 8-12 feet from the shore (the length of the pole) and held it down so it touched the bottom of the river with the open part being perpendicular to the direction of current. Chances are if there are smelt around, there will be smelt fisherman...set up where they are, when they are there, and do what they are doing. I never had to look for them, I just went where the crowds were. They were there for a reason. Geez…Talking about this is really making me think I want to go smelting this spring for the first time in about 20 years.

I've had horrible luck ice fishing at night. My buddy has a shack that we've spent the night in from time to time and never caught fish after dark. This is in a spot were the crappie and pike fishing is pretty good during the day. It's still kind of fun though. Especially if you like drinking. Also, that way you have no excuse for not fishing first and last light.

Depends on who you talk to. This discussion was on another board and various posters had differing opinions on this which they based on their on experience and/or what they heard first hand from COs or police officers. Guys went to the trouble of asking this specific question and the "authorities" gave different guys different answers. Some people were told that open liquior is allowed inside the hut and within its immediate vicinity. They were also told the hut doesn't require sleeping or cooking facilities, nor does it require a bathroom. Another guy (who had all those things and was charged anyway) was told by the cop that none of that applied to a hut...only a boat. There were various stories of cops and COs displaying a wide range of leaniance (or lack there of) so it would seem that sadly, the only way you can be sure of not having problems it to leave the high-test at home. One guy posted this... "Thank you for your enquiry. MNR Conservation Officers are appointed under the Liquor Licence Act (LLA) and can enforce its provisions and regulations. Similar to the Off-Road Vehicles Act and The Motorized Snow Vehicles Act the LLA is not necessarily considered to be a mandated piece of MNR legislation however they all can be and are from time to time enforced by Conservation Officers, particularly in instances where public safety is at issue. Ice huts and tents located on Crown land, at this point in time are accepted by MNR as being a "private place" as defined in LLA Regulation 718. Therefore it is MNR's interpretation that alcohol may be legally consumed within them. While there remain some grey areas in respect to portable ice huts meeting the definition of a "private place", once again the primary decision of a Conservation Officer to enforce the LLA in any situation will be related to the safety of the individuals involved and to the public in general. If you have any further questions, please contact the Natural Resources Information Centre at 1-800-667-1940. Regards, nric web reader - gh ******************************************* Natural Resources Information Centre" But another guy posted this... "Reference: Liquor Licence Act. Section 31, 32 Criminal Code of Canada Section 253 The law enforcement agencies in Ontario that enforce the legislation that governs the consumption of alcohol (Liquor Licence Act, Criminal Code of Canada) consider an ice shack to be a residence only when it is equipped with cooking, sleeping and washroom facilities. Alcohol may be consumed inside the shack and in the area immediately adjacent to the building. Most importantly however, the persons consuming alcohol must plan on staying and actually stay overnight. If the ice shack is not being used as a residence but merely as a temporary day shelter, or if it doesn’t meet the criteria of a residence then charges could be laid." --- A poster eventually said he just got off the phone with the OPP and was told it would basically depend on the officer and what kind of mood he was in that day. How do you like that? I guess it could also depend on whether you were dealing with a CO or actual cop.

They already played the entire first season of Swamp People on the American Discovery Channel. You can download them all. I have a torn ligament in my knee and watched them all one day while recoperating. Good show. I can think of at least one organization that must really, REALLY, not like it.

They are delicious. We'd use scissors to clean them. One guy would snip of the head, another would slit open the belly and a third would pull out the guts and wash the smelt. We'd coat them in a dry batter and deep fry them. Once cooked, you could either grab the tail and pull out the spine or just eat it whole caveman-style. On the small ones you barely notice the bones. I did my smelting on the Magnetawhan river in the town of Britt in the late 80's. The hauls weren't bad but even then my Dad would look at my evening's catch and say that back in the day he get that much in a half dozen scoops of the net. The scene on the shore of the Mag when the smelt were running was something else. TONS of fisherman...most of them hillariously drunk. There'd be a bon-fire every 50 feet and an empty beer bottle under just about every step you took. Usually every night there'd be a fight over territory or whatever, and often some drunken bush-whacker from Noelville would fall in and nearly drown. Good times.

Don't sweat it...I think that's the case for most people. There are not a lot of employers that offer their employees unlimited OT to be worked at their discriction. Having to ask, or more often...waiting to be asked, is the norm.

I rarely turn down OT myself; however, I have the freedom to do so whenever I choose. So do you. Another option is to ask your boss about banking your OT hours. For every hour of OT you work you get 1.5 hours paid time off at a later time. If you put in about 26 hours of OT you are owed a week off with pay. You have to be compensated for OT hours worked at a minimum of 1.5 times your regular rate. Your boss doesn't have to give you the option of banking hours or paying them out, but he has to do at least one. I bet there aren't too many Walmart employees who would list "too much over time" as a big problem they have.

Good question. I'm not really sure what the answer is. However it stands to reason that you would need some kind of VIN number to register the machine. Also, your insurance company is going to want a VIN as well as a better description of the bike than "no named quad"...to give you a policy they're going to need to know the year, make, model and size. Maybe I'm wrong.

What kind of shape is your hand auger in? Maybe you’re working a lot harder than you need to. I bought a gas Jiffy last year but have been leaving it at home in favour of the 5 inch Swede-Bore I bought this year. It cuts like a laser...less work than operating (let alone transporting) the Jiffy. The trade-off is the dinky little five inch hole of course, but unless you're after big lakers or pike you should have no problems. The "Finn-bore" model is supposed to cut even better, but it's around $100. I do like the Jiffy 3500...but I kind of wish I'd bought the 4 stroke StrikeMaster lite instead. I was nervous because it was a new model and there was little info available on it, and none about how it would hold up. I've subsequently heard nothing but good things about them and they are super light.

The marcum LX-5 is the most powerful fish finder I've ever seen. You can set it up on your dining room table, point the transducer at the floor, wave your hand under it and it will register on the display. I'm almost a little worried it will make me sterile or give me a tumour. I picked one up on my brother's recommendation. He's a banker so instead of working in his office, he obsessively researched every flasher on the market for weeks. He says its fetures and performance are unmatched. I was going to get the Showdown 5.6 dualbeam but after I talked to him and checked out his unit I changed my mind. I tore a ligament in my knee two days after I got it and haven't had a chance to get it on the ice yet. My brother has and was blown away.

My Dad has several holes to adjust his balance too. He also drilled a few shallow holes in the butt section that accomadate 1/4 oz split shots held in by friction fit. He pushes them in and takes them out to minutely adjust the angle of the free arm depending on things like the size/activety of his minnow and wind. What kind and brand of line do you use?

Leechman...if everyone had your fabrication abilities then there would be no market for a lot of the things at Crappy Tire. They'd sell a lot more of things like drill bits, sand paper and fasteners...but a lot less things like tip ups and crank baits. - I can't tell from your pics...do your units free spool after a fish picks up the bait? To me that is an essential feature of a tip up. - My Dad uses tip ups that look very simular to yours. He outfished me with my ice rods something like 8 to 2 last time we were out for crappie.