4thgen

I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet but another huge advantage to baitcasters is that you don't get line twist. Anyone who has fished salmon from the piers with a spinning reel can attest to the ridiculous line twist you get after a couple fish. The Shimano calcutta is my reel of choice - I usually run 10lb P-line which is enough for most fish that I catch (including pike up to 42", etc. they rarely even pull drag). If I was fishing slop or something similar it would be a different story, but if you can only afford one go-to good quality reel, 10lb is a good compromise between strength and invisibility in my opinion.

Have you checked to make sure that your heater switch is fully opening the valve that allows coolant into the heater core? In civics(my car) the cable has been known to stretch over time and cause that problem. Have you ever used that "radiator leak sealer"? It has been known to plug up heater cores pretty good. I havent tried any of the commercial products (but they do exist), hopefully someone else can give a review.

I have a Shimano Calcutta that has seen 90% of my casting/fishing over the last ten years and has performed flawlessly with only a cleaning/re-oiling once a year. On the other hand I have a Corsair that hasn't worked right since the day I bought it -- the handle will spin backwards with any good tug on the line. I guess it just comes down to buying quality the first time -- I haven't tried any Okuma products and reading this makes me think better of it.

If you are new to ice fishing, it will probably make for a more enjoyable trip if you rent an ice hut. Most of the rentals are on reasonable fishing areas (havent been in 8 years so it could be different) and they supply you with bait. When I was up there, emerald shiners off of 3 way swivels at one and three feet off bottom worked well. I think I was using size 8 hooks (fairly small). We usually caught around 40 fish in a day, mostly perch but the odd walleye, herring and pike to keep things interesting. Although we didn't use artificials, swedish pimples with one side of lime green have been a killer walleye bait at other lakes tipped and untipped.

I use Nokian Hakkapelittas - they are "expensive directional snows" but they are awesome. They are by far the best snows that I've used and despite 30000kms and 4 winters, the tread is still 80% of the original depth. Very smooth at speed (rated to 180km/h - obviously you aren't going to do this I hope) and relatively quiet. If I had bought the Canadian Tire specials, I would be on my second set and well over the price of the Nokians.

Opener 08' -- I look a little messed up because I had been fishing since midnight.

Pike - forgot to measure but was a fair bit bigger than the 39" (measured)that I caught two casts later. I also measured a 41.5" from the Toronto Islands. I also got one out of Bluffers Park that was better than 20lbs -- it was probably around 40" but the girth was rediculous. Smallmouth - 20", nothing special - need to get out on Simcoe in the summer for once. Walleye - 28", also got a 27.5" and 26.5" during that year at Young's Point. Can't wait to get out on Quinte and top that. Steelhead - Weighed a 16.2" caught downrigging but that doesn't really count and this one is probably bigger anyway.

Get a Kia or Hyundai if you only want to get 100000kms out of it. Toyotas are good cars. I have a Tercel for a winter car and it won't die (305000km, burns no oil and it sat in a field for three years), unfortunantly the body is slowly rotting off. If you're going to get a Camry, make sure the body and frame are good and you'll probably want to do a compression and leakdown before the purchase. Don't buy an old car unless you are mechanically inclined is my advice. The timing belt shouldn't be a big concern -- Toyota builds non-interference motors so if it breaks, just put a new one on and you're good to go. A new one is good for 160000km so you can always just replace it when you buy the car. Edit: jediangler beat me to the punch - I agree with him but interference vs non-interference refers to the valves being able to contact the pistons. If the belt breaks in a honda, you will probably need a new head.

Smelt are an introduced species and do alot of damage to native species. I would imagine that the bans are to completely remove the risk of viable eggs being brought into a new system. It's good advice to try and trap bait in the lake that you are fishing, or at least use a species that is present.

I have been to court numerous times for traffic infractions and have yet to have any points dropped. Going to court will almost always get you a fine reduction but according to the crown in Peterborough, points cannot be lowered unless the charge is lessened. Your best bet is to show up for court and if the cop is there, ask for remand, if not, plead not guilty. You can do this a couple times and occasionally you get lucky.

If you weed through enough smaller Kawartha fish, you will get big fish. I find the best time for big musky is in June, on Stony at least.

Pretty much every salmon that you catch in the rivers that has been up there for more than a couple days has been "lined". There might be the odd one that will bite out of aggression but that is not the rule. It doesn't matter if you float or bottom bounce -- in fact you are more likely to line them float fishing as your line typically is not vertical in the water column. When I started fishing, I spent alot of time after fall salmon and very rarely caught one that I was sure bit (aside from numerous small jacks). I only fish the piers now (for the last 5 years)-- more fun and a great fight -- how many times have you been spooled in the river?

Alot of the time "Zander", a close European relative of the Walleye, is sold as "Pickerel" in North America. I doubt you can tell the difference by taste though. Just thought I would share.

Alot of people don't realize that black widows are found at least as far north as the Kawarthas in Ontario. I found a big female at the Warsaw caves a few years ago and had it in a tank for the summer (until it laid an eggsac that proceeded to hatch thousands of young that apparently could fit through the mesh of the lid...).

Looks like a Great Egret Ardea alba to me. They occur fairly regularly in Southern Ontario but cool to see.

As I said earlier, the water moccasin or cottonmouth is native to the south eastern states which is still North America (last time I checked). There's no sense in correcting someone with more misinformation...

Yep, northern watersnake. A water moccasin is also known as a cottonmouth and definately is not found in Ontario, more the southern States. Northern watersnakes are typically really agressive and will bite alot if you catch them. It hurts but other than that they're harmless. I'm pretty sure they can get up to around 4ft (rarely though).

Nice fish! I noticed that their tails are all split pretty badly though -- maybe time to invest in one of those rubber nets or just lip them at the side of the boat.?

Nice fish! What lake in Algonquin did you catch that pike in? I hope to get up there before the end of the summer and am trying to decide on a pike lake to head into. Was it a nice lake as well?

That is a five-lined skink, our only species of lizard in Ontario. You were lucky to see it, not many people do. Salamanders, being amphibians, don't really venture out unless it is really wet and spring (breeding season). Sounds like you had a good trip, those are some nice bass!

I ran 50lb Power Pro on my musky rig last year and it never broke (fish up to 47"). Just remember that you have to use the palomar knot because knots pull out really easy with this line. Even if a clinch knot feels tight and you give it a good tug, it will probably slip on any hookset.

That sounds like the exact response that I got when I showed up in my 1990 civic si! Just try it again, hopefully you'll get a different instructer they all test differently.... BTW I passed. You don't really have to worry until you're on your third try or at the end of your five years like a number of my friends.

It was 40" and I always figured it was close to 40lbs. I caught one other that was longer but not as fat. I used to almost always sight fish carp with 1/64th jigs with 1" grubs on a 5'6" St. Croix ultralight spooled with 4lb. Around 1 in 10 well placed casts drew a hit.

Nice fish, sound like you had a productive trip but aren't those Colorado blades on that spinnerbait?

There is a free government launch at McCrackens Landing which is about 15min from Youngs Point and about 30 seconds from clear lake. The only problem is that it is a bit shallow if you're launching something big. There is a deeper one there owned by the marina beside there but it is something like 8 in and 8 out which sucks. I've launched at Young's Point before at about 6am and there was nobody around so free! I suspect they have made it less accessable since though.