4thgen

I tried to resist but well, I just can't help myself so I'll keep it brief... Firstly, "climate change" is the preferred name at this point as it is more accurate. Secondly, anybody who has bothered to look at the evidence -- particularly those studies taking place in the north, will no doubt draw the same conclusions that I have. The level of CO2 entering the atmosphere due to humans is huge and to think that there are no consequences is ridiculous. Wonder why Canada is so interested in claiming possession of the Northwest Passage lately?

Why not? It's not like all of our groundwater is becoming contaminated or anything... I have read that at the current rate of salt usage in Toronto, the groundwater in the area will be completely ruined in about 20 years.

Freezing rain + oncoming traffic at night made for an unpleasant surprise. I was blinded by oncoming and then there was a deer 2 feet in front. Had to drive the car for three months lke that until I found one in the wreckers. At that point it was a days work and $100 to fix. New rad, headlight, corner, grill, hood and a badly bent rad support. There is still deer hair around the engine. Never found the deer.

I still think Cooper's. Here is a picture of a sharpie from when I was volunteering at Thunder Cape earlier in the month. It really gives you an idea of how small they are.

I would say the original pictures are of a hatch year Cooper's hawk. It's hard to say with MJL's new pictures but the size definately points toward Cooper's as well.

I've heard of a few 50" fish coming from Stoney and obviously Pigeon. My biggest fish are out of Stoney including a 50" that was skinny and a couple of fat 47"s. And yes, the fish was mostly in the water.

You thought right, my friend. They are all great -- ice fishing with Willem Dafoe, Thailand with Dennis Hopper, etc. etc.

Not only this year, but all the same day. I've found the average here to blow away the lake O fish. I caught a 42" each of the last two years and I'm about due this year. I have seen some fish in the harbour that I would legitimately call mid forties, and a friend got a 44" out of a float tube at one point. One thing I never saw for sure though was a muskie. I would kill for a picture of a musky caught in Toronto.

Nice. I used to fish down there all the time about a decade ago. It still blows my mind how many fish you can get that close to downtown. I remember one day on opener just after they imposed the season when we stopped counting at 50 fish two hours before we left. It was literally a pike every other cast. It isn't nearly so consistent up here. I find they're either there or they aren't. I did manage 18 in about 4 hours a while ago, including 10 that were 34" or better. I couldn't break the magic 40" mark though despite three that went 38".

You're comparing the Niagara to Wilmot creek... Lures and skein at the mouth of rivers is both fair and alot of fun. Standing in knee deep water lining fish that are attempting to spawn is not.

Stopped fishing chinook in the rivers 6 years ago due to stuff like this. Snaggers can have the creeks, I'll stick to the piers.

Amanita muscaria has many sub-species based on colour variation. Regardless of what variety it is, it is still A. muscaria. The majority of ours up here are white, yellow and pale orange. I've heard you can make tea out of them but you will feel pretty rough before the muscimol and ibotenic acid do their job. If you want the Psilocybes, you would have better luck out on the east coast.

This is correct. They are coming up all over the place around here right now. The boletes are coming up as well -- it's always nice to find a big porcini.

Nice fish -- sometimes it can be hard to find a 40" in the Kawarthas. BTW, you should hold them by the gill plate and not the actual gills. If you try it without the glove, you will learn right from wrong in a hurry!

A couple years ago I was dragging a Senko back to the boat when I had a solid hit. I set the hook and almost simultaneously a ~35" musky launched out of the water about ten feet away. He spit it pretty quick (light line = weak hook set) but it was nice to break up the bass monotony.

You can stick the point back in if you want it to be completely weedless, but in my experience the rig shown is about 95% weedless and has an excellent hooking percentage.

Usually trout from hatcheries will have fins like that if they've spend much time in the concrete tanks. I think the small area leads to regular rubbing of the tank walls/bottoms, etc. and causes the fins to look like that.

I lost mine a couple of years ago, called the provider and they had no record of me! Luckily I've found the card since then. In my opinion there should be a registry of all card holders regardless of the provider. Imagine losing your drivers license and having to take another drivers test to get a new one.. What a stupid system...

I've seen two episodes so far and both have been so full of failure, it's laughable. I will watch it again because it's pretty entertaining but they really come off as a bunch of brainless hippies, aside from the captain. Arrested Development I can't believe this show hasn't been mentioned yet. Prison break was alright if you stick to only the first season.

I agree. I remember someone caught a chinook ice fishing a few years ago. That picture is of a small male chinook. Having seen both species many times, I would say that it is possible to confuse the two out on the lake if you're inexperienced, but in the river it is nearly impossible. They might sound similar in description but they both fight and look quite different in my opinion.

I was catching panfish in a back bay once and had one land on the back of my 12ft boat. It was a bit of a surprise to say the least. He was obviously used to handouts as he was quick to eat a few perch that I threw to him.

Your problem birds are likely Northern Mockingbirds. They have been becoming more common in the Toronto area recently and more or less fit your description -- especially the singing throughout the night and doing other bird songs. They are one of the best mimics in the bird world -- learn to love them, most will overwinter here. Magpies are found west of us and don't really occur in Ontario except near the Manitoba border.

I agree completely. A friend of mine caught a 55lb carp at the Islands in the late 90s, it made it into the Toronto Star. I've seen Lake O. carp that have to have been bigger.

I would too. That would be like throwing away fireworks!

I think the only option on these boards is to limit them to "members only". If that's the case, it is pretty easy to just register and continue lurking. It sucks that sharing info increases traffic at fishing areas, but that's just how it is. I have watched the decline of the Toronto Islands as the internet/message boards have increased in popularity. I used to see a couple other fisherman occasionally throughout the summer and now you can't walk 100 feet without seeing one. The fishing sucks now as well, to the point where I've only been back twice in the last five years.