Fishnwire

I have a few pouches of power bait and some jars of little grubs that are several years old. While I'm sure its possible they begin to lose their effectiveness over time and become weaker, do you think there's any chance they can actually "go bad" and begin to emit an odour that is a fish de-tractant? Does anyone think its possible they eventually take on a foul taste/smell? They've been properly sealed in their bags or jars.

When I think about my ideal fishing scenario, it's throwing top-waters for SMB...no doubt about that. But the guy who mentioned walleye makes a good point. You can catch them all year (closed season aside) and there are an endless number of ways to go after them..you could spend a lifeime doing it and not get bored.

I was thinking about buying a trail cam this spring and putting it in the yard of camp, pointed at the building and trail. I'm interested to see what wildlife comes into the yard but also I want to use it for security purposes. I haven't had any problems but my closest neighbor has had issues with theft and even vandalism. If anyone comes on the property I'd like to have a picture of them and their quads in the act. I know nothing about those trail cams. Do they make noise or emit a flash when they take pictures? I need something that won't draw any attention to itself, or I risk losing the camera as well as whatever else is laying around.

My buddy who guided said he hated it. He told me the pressure to put his clients on fish was tremendous and took a lot of the fun out of the whole process. If you go fishing with your buddies and don't get fish it's no big deal...If you accept money to take guys out and they do poorly, that's a different story. He would often spend his evenings pre-fishing just so that he would have something for shore lunch. I guess it depends on your clientele and their expectations. After he gave up guiding for walleye he still would take occasional bookings for muskie. He told me muskie fisherman didn't get bent out of shape and ask for refunds when the fishing was not very good whereas walleye fisherman sometimes did.

Thanks guys...I think I might try getting in there this winter and try through the ice. If I don't do that I'll go some spring evening and just watch for them surfacing. If I find trout back there it will open up a whole new world of fishing to me.

There's a little back lake near camp that I have heard was stocked with rainbow and or speckled trout a few years back. The rumour is a guy dumped a couple hundred six inchers in there that he he got from God knows where. This was a completely unsanctioned action, and may not have even taken place. The effort to do so must have been tremendous, but it is possible, and my information source is predictably reliable. The guy who supposedly did it stopped coming around the area for reasons that are too involved and delicate to get into here (he's the kind of guy to illegally stock a lake...use your imagination.) so I can't comfirm the story, nor has anyone fished the lake in the time since, as far as I know. I'm a SMB/pike/walleye guy. I know nothing about trout. How would you guys determine whtether or not there are even any lake-locked trout in there. If there are I would lug a boat in and leave it there but don't want to if there's nothing but suckers there. I was thinking about walking in next year with a rod and slip-float and trying off shore. I don't know the legal season, so I will look that up and adhere to whatever regs apply, but what time of year would be the best for me to posssibly confirm the presence of fish? What should I use as bait and what depths and structure/cover should I try? Maybe little spinners or spoons are better? Any tips would help. I'm not asking about how to consistantly catch trout, I just want to give it a reasonable shot so I can hope to comfirm or deny their very presence. Thanks.

I am fairly certain Dave is not Brittney's "type".

You like that guy?

Because they needed the room in jail for much more serious crimes like marijauna law infractions.

That's funny. But I doubt it's true. The suit in question is a quality item...since it isn't crap they almost certainly don't stock it. Fair price? Interesting choice of words. "Fair for whom?" one might ask. Now THAT's funny.

I could just as easily say if the company was serious about my safety then they would provide all the equipment needed to ensure that I am working as safely as possible. Having the option to use whatever safety equipment you yourself choose to pay for and having whatever you require provided for you are obviously not the same thing, and the latter is clearly preferable to most if not all individuals. You're right that "a lot of companies require you to supply your own safety gear." Most non-union shops I've worked for do just that, while every unionized outfit I'm familiar with provides all necessary equipment at no cost to the employee, so thanks for proving my point. You and I must be two very different people, because I would consider the thousands of dollars of safety gear I need to to my job a very "big deal." The fact is that unlimited free access to the newest and best safety equipment available, as apposed to having to scrounge up whatever you can on your own dime, is a clear example of how (in my experience) working for a unionized company is safer than working for most non unionized ones. You guys can try to ignore the obvious with illogical arguments all you want but from my experiences, in at least this one example, I happen to know that it is true.

I have been considering buying one for two years now. In that time I've run into 3 or 4 guys wearing them (the regular Ice Armor, not the Extreme) and I always ask them how they like it. Every guy has raved about the thing and I haven't heard one negative comment. It's made by icefisherman for icefisherman. I've been waiting for my old suit to fall apart enough to justify getting a new one but when it does I'm getting the regular Ice Armor suit for sure. It seems to me $249 is as good a price as I have seen. I'm hestitant to order one online though because I'd like to try on both the large and extra large before I decide.

Are you for real? Do you actually think you're making an intelligent argument there? You're clearly trying desperately hard to find some part of what I've said to pick apart, and if that's the best you can come up with, it should be obvious to you to stop trying. Why rely on the company to supply it? Because they're worth several hundred dollars for one. Did you think they were free? Why would I feel better about my safety if I pay out of my pocket? I see the harnesses that these contractors wear...some of them are a decade old and ready to fall apart...that's because they keep using whatever they have because they don't want to spend the money. If I was being paid as little as them, I wouldn't want to either. Secondly, if two companies have workers doing the same job, and one expects its workers to supply their own harness or do without while the other company (in part due to union demands) makes harnesses mandatory and supplies them at no cost to it's employees....it's not hard to assume which company is serious about safety and which one must of us would prefer working for. Are you really trying to tell me you needed to have that explained to you?

When I get stuff like that from my kids is makes me somewhat regret how horribly I have abused and neglected them over the years. Just joking...I don't even have kids. All kidding aside...that's totally awesome. It makes me wish I had someone to draw pictures of me.

Nothing would make me happier than to see my Dad blow all the money he was planning on spending on me on himself. He deserves it and your kids probably feel the same way. Ideally he should spend the last dollar of my potential inheritance on the day he dies.

I could just as easily speculate that GM could have continued to pay its employees excellent wages if their execs hadn't choked the company to death with so many bad decisions. Which one of us is right would be purely a matter of opinion. You want to compare the "$$$$" the execs are paid and what the workers do? The top execs often make 2000 times or greater what their average unionized worker makes. I wouldn't say that is "nothing compared to what is doled out to the workers." Also, I don't know what you do for a living, but I'm sure you don't have your pay "doled out" to you, that kind of suggests you didn't earn it. These guys earn a paycheck the same as me and presumably you.

I'm sorry, but you are absolutely incorrect. If you had worked as a tradesman in an inherently unsafe environment for both union and non-union companies as I have, you would know that to be a certainty just as I do. Non-union contractors are often able to do jobs cheaper because of their loser adherence to those standards. When I didn't have papers and was attempting to gain experience in the field, I often did things on the job that I was uncomfortable with, because I knew that there were dozens of equally unskilled guys ready to do it if I didn't want to. If you have never been employed by someone who would think nothing of firing you if you made any trouble for him, while not being in a position to risk being fired, consider yourself lucky, but understand that not everyone has it as good as you do. A lot of guys know that their boss would think nothing of replacing them and simply lying about the reasons for doing so if faced with having to provide the appropriate level of health and safety adherence. When I worked for a non-union contractor I was expected to buy my own fall-arrest safety harness and lanyard or do without. At Inco I am given the best money can buy and instructed to throw it away and get a new one if any part of it shows any sign of wear or distress. Regardless of its condition it is replaced yearly. I could go on and on with similar examples. Trust me, I've feel safer every day on the job since I got on with a union company. There's absolutely no doubt about that. The other thing is that the "Health and Safety Act" merely sets out minimum standards. Often they don't come close to going far enough and in most cases, could be improved. I don't know about you, but when it comes to my safety, I'm not always satisfied just doing the minimum. Often they represent a compromise between maximum worker safety and maximum production. Unionized employees are able to hold the company to higher standards more effectively than a single unrepresented worker. Worker represented joint health and safety committees are the norm in every unionized shop I'm familiar with, and I never even heard the term health and safety committee until I joined a union. It's not "propaganda"...its a fact.

Of course GM is in the shape it is because of the unions. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the people who gave themselves millions and millions in bonuses while mismanaging the company and making the decisions to bring to the marketplace vehicles that few people wanted to buy. No no...it must have been the fault of the rank and file who worked the line. Is that what you honestly believe? How was the local economy in Oshawa when there were lots of auto workers making "ridiculous benefits"? How is the same economy now that jobs and wages have been slashed?

That's exactly right. A lot of times non-unionized workers can get compensation close to or as good as their unionized counterparts simply by threatening to go union. The smart employer realizes that he is better off to give the employees what they're asking for and keep the union out, than allow it in and be forced to make those changes anyway. A lot of people point to this phenomenon as proof that unions are unnecessary but the opposite is true. If the non-unionized employees didn't have the choice of becoming unionized, they wouldn't have the leverage to demand the higher standard, not to mention the higher standard wouldn't exist in the first place.

How does what I said sound in any way like what you said? I don't think it does. Where did that even come from? I don't remember complaining about "the bed I'm in", so I not sure where that's coming from either. I'm happy with my job and present level of compensation. I'd simply like to maintain it. I know...how greedy of me, right? I have also worked on both sides. And either our experiences are greatly disimular, and/or we work in different vocations, because I'll take 30% more money and better/safer working conditions over the alternative. I'm pretty sure most people would. You were right when you implied its unlikely we'll ever see eye to eye on this subject though. That's all good. it takes all kinds, right?

Pictures of kids crying on Santa's lap always make me laugh. The idea that the parents are trying to do something fun for the little kid but he/she is just hating it is hillarious. If I saw a picture of a kid in legitimate distress I'm sure I wouldn't find it funny, but being screamingly afraid of Santa is a whole other story. Thanks for that.

So if a Walmart sized business which competes with the company you work for (assuming one exists) came to your town you'd be eager to see your boss put out of business and you out of a job so your customers could get a better deal? I am fairly certain your tune would change pretty quick.

I don't know who was the first person to come up with this line of thinking...you hear it over and over again. If I had a dime for every time someone (who doesn't belong to one) has uttered the phrase "unions have outlived their usefulness" I wouldn't care about working for a living because I'd have all the money I'd ever need. The simple and obvious fact is that unions are still needed (perhaps now more than ever) simply to maintain those gains have been fought for and earned by working people over the years. This notion that companies would continue to pay union wages and maintain the kind of health and safety standards that don't exist outside of union shops should they not be forced to through collective bargaining is beyond naive. If their feet weren't being held to the fire they'd like nothing more than for things to go back to being more like they were before unions existed.

I have to go work on my broken trailer so I can get my quad in the bush. I hope to finish today. Just waiting for my Father-in-law to finish his chores around his place and I'm going to meet him at my buddy's where the trailer is parked. Don't worry...I got PLENTY of fishing in this summer. Best season ever.

You are exactly right, sir. That's why I stated I was only saying "what this stricking member thinks".