Zubris21

thanks for sharing. She looks nice and healthy!

I wonder if word has gotten back to the owner/operator about this thread?? I've never fished Nippissing, and I've never booked with an outfitter, but based on this post and this post alone, I will steer clear for this business. Like others have said, usually there is a heated battle when customer service is disputed on this board. The simple fact that there has been no controversy up until now leads me to believe my money would be spent better else where. by the way will the outfitters still be operating out there in mid-late March?

Awesome report! I love checking out the fish's stomach to see what they've been munching on. Gotta say Im pretty surprised by that fish's content. Hard to believe it was hungry for your lure too. When I was in Quebec fishing for lakers last spring the bite was really slow. When we opened the stomachs of the ones we caught, they were absolutely jammed with fly larvae. I think they were black fly, from what I understand black fly larva hatch on bottom then float to the surface in a small air bubble? can anyone confirm or deny this?

I agree, being out in the boat is great. Although I don't have a boat so every opportunity is extra special. Species doesn't matter so much, as long as your out there.

I should have mentioned that as well, although I think you need to take a left at university, or to avoid and confusing drive right down to the water (another 500M) and take a left. Small store, but great knowledgeable staff and he and has some pretty good deals on everything. I was looking at buying a landing net last year and prices there were about $20 cheaper. Also picked up a couple huskey Jerk for around $4 from his discount bins.

Im pretty sure there are a couple people on here who work as guides out of Halleys, they should have info for you.

Nope, not cross country skis. They are big fat alpine touring ski's (basically downhill ski's on steroids) they are 10cm wide at their most narrow part. The wide ski's help you stay on the top crust of snow while climbing, and prevent you from sinking too deep on the descent. We do however place a "skin" along the bottom of the skis, basically a synthetic fabric on one side and a sticky surface on the other. The fibers in the fabric are oriented so it glides easily on the forstep, but grips to the snow and will not slide backward when you push off. I will post as many reports as I can. Hopefully next weekend I can get up to something, but after that February is pretty filled with weekend hockey trips, so doesn't look like too much fishing then.

wow, good of you to brave those conditions and get a nice report for us! thanks!

Awesome report! thanks for taking the time to share. I sure wish we had some panfish up here to target!

I'd have to say coffee for the early mornings, black coffee of course, the only way to take it. Then move on to water or iced tea later on in the afternoon. Back on shore its onto the brews and maybe a couple Caesars.

Bass pro is at great lakes crossing. It is a bit of a drive, maybe 30-45mins from the bridge. The mall is huge though with lots of outlet stores. I went fairly often while living in Windsor last year. It is easy to get to just head up I-75 North, then follow the signs from the exit (only about 2 mins off the highway. I never made it to Birch run, but I've heard it is a pretty great spot for shopping, if you are into that sorta thing.

I've never tried one, but I have friends who say they are delicious. Our family used to get Hickens (ham stuffed chicken if no one could figure it out) and they were excellent. a Turducken is definitely on my list of "to try".

I would tend to say leave them in their original packaging and squeeze all the air out before you seal it. I'm also hesitant to put a used soft plastic back into a bag of new ones. Usually what I'll do is keep one of the old empty bags to fill with a random assortment of "2nd hand" ones. If you are just trying to become more organized, head over to a princess auto and try to pick up one of those worm binders that was posted on here a few months ago. I think it was $4.99. Most PA's are sold out, but they can easily get one (or two) sent to your local store, or directly to you. My brother is in charge of orders at PA in Kingston and I went in and asked him about it and he was going to order me a few from one of the stores in the states.

As the rest of Canada bunkers down for this cold spell, Northern B.C. has had tremendous weather for the past couple of weeks. With such a beautiful weekend I just had to take advantage of it. Saturday my house-mate Matt and I headed down to Gnat Pass to try to get some skiing in. We were a little uncertain about what we would encounter after the terrible snow up in Cassiar the last weekend. The drive down brought us little optimism as the North side of the pass had seen some rain earlier in the week and the snow looked heavy and rock hard. Not ideal for backcountry skiing unless you are looking to break a leg. Fortunately the South side where we planned to ski was unaffected, things started to look up. On the way down we saw about 10 Caribou and ended up chasing this guy a couple hundred meters down the highway. When we got to our destination we parked on the side of the road and quickly geared up. The weather was great, blue bird skies and about 0 degrees C. We started to skin up through the trees and quickly had to start shedding layers. Since I’m new to this, it was pretty slow going, it took us about and hour and a half to get to tree line. Matt was being very patient with me as he can usually make it in 45 mins. Just below tree line we stopped to do a little avalanche beacon practice, you can never be too cautious! We continued our push onwards to the summit, the wind started to pick up once we got into the alpine, but when you’re working that hard it’s almost a blessing. I couldn’t believe how quickly Matt could make the ascent. Seemed like every time I looked up he was turned around snapping photo’s of me. Finally after about 3 hours total, we made it to the summit at about 1800 meters. Like I said it was windy up there but the scenery was spectacular. Had a quick snack and it was time for the descent. I was much more confident skiing this week as opposed to last. The snow in the alpine was much firmer, and there were far fewer trees to avoid. It was a great ski down to tree line, I then started to get a little more nervous. This is after all only the second time I’ve been on skis in the past 6 years, (the first was last weekend). Skiing in the trees is fun; I just wish I had a little more confidence in my skiing ability. After a short ride through the trees it was back to the van and a short drive back home. On the way we saw 5 moose, but none of the pictures really turned out to well. Today (Sunday) was another beautiful day, a little cooler at around -5 degrees C, but blue skies and no wind to speak of. Matt headed back to Gnat Pass to ski again, while I headed out to Allen Lake with a couple of the other teachers. We got onto the ice around 11am and quickly had our gear set up. For such a gorgeous day I couldn’t believe there was no one else on the lake. Well except these 2 who passed by within 25 meters of us (Unfortunately I had to run to the sled for the camera). The bite was slow; we had the odd nibble but nothing too serious. About an hour went by with nothing more than a few missed hook sets, when Kalvin pulled this beauty out. It was his first time ice fishing and I was glad to put him on his PB trout (of any species) measuring in at 21”. Hopes of the bite turning on did not amount to anything. It took about another hour for anything interesting to happen. I had a nice bite and went for the hook set, but my line snapped at the reel. I wasn’t spooled or anything and the line was brand new. I attribute it to the poor quality of the Berkley Cherrywood rod/reel combo (DO NOT BUY THIS). The anti-reverse mechanism does not kick in for about a quarter of a turn of the reel. The only way to avoid it is to hold the spool while you set the hook or your line will snap with the sudden stop. Luckily I missed the fish and was able to hand bomb up my brand new Swedish Pimple. Shortly after retying I manage to get a nice sized square tail up to the hole but it shook the hook before I could get it on the ice. This wasn’t going to be my day. Shortly afterward Kalvin hooked into his second fish and upped his PB to 22”. This fish had beautiful colouring and put up a great fight. We ended the day spending 4 hours on the ice with 2 beauty fish caught and 1 broken reel. The handle of that Cherrywood broke on the sled ride out as well. Hope you enjoyed. With any luck next weekend I’ll be heading to Gnat Pass again, but this time to target some rainbows through the ice. -Andre

Thanks for taking the time to post! Its nice to see some open water once again!

the pictures are gone???

6 fish like that sounds like a good day to me. That first white is a beaut!

nice! Thanks for taking the time to post this!

I sure hope there is an emergency back-up system for that fence in case the power fails some how. The thing that kind of frightens me, is the MNR has those little invasive species signs at most launches that show the Round Goby, Rusty Crawfish, Spiny Water Flea, Rudd, and Eurasian Ruffe, but I have yet to see one with the Asian Carp. I would like to see postings/warnings about the destructiveness of this species before it actually ends up here. It seems as though a lot of the public information/awareness is more reactive with this issue as opposed to proactive. No offense to MNR and its staff I know there are lots of field studies and research being done, but I believe the public (and average joe fisherman) can be real allies for this cause.

If your targeting bass I would certainly pick up some yum dingers, They have worked excellent for me. My preferred colours are the watermelon, bumblebee and I always have pink in the boat too.

Sounds like a great day on the ice! Glad to hear the sled is running well!

pretty amazing isn't it. TJ posted these about a week ago, but I still like looking at it!

I second the stainless steel. just rub your hands on the faucet or sink. Another fav when Im camping is the grab a bunch of pine needles and rub them through my hands to mask/get rid of the smell.

beauty fish!

Thanks again! We appreciate you taking this on! Let the entries begin!