Zubris21

Well I don't know about any of you but I enjoy reading quite a bit. Usually just before bed. Although I enjoy reading just about anything, I sometimes find it hard to come across a really interesting book. My favorites are quite varied, but generally I enjoy outdoor and adventure theme books. The more real the better, and first hand experiences are the best. If anyone has any book suggestions I would love to hear them... here's a list of some of my most recent reads as well as some favorites. The RA Expedition - Thor Heyerdahl - Only about a chapter in so can't say much, but I've enjoyed all the other books by him. Merle's Door - Ted Kerasote - great book about man/dog companionship through travels in the grand teton mountains In search of Moby Dick - Tim Severn - The author travels the fabled route of the Pequod to see if such a white whale could ever exist (surprisingly there are a lot of native tales/fables that depict white sperm whale and manta rays that are exceptionally large. Also spends time with a native tribe who hunt whale by jumping off a boat onto the whales back with a grappling hook - insane) A Walk in The Woods - Bill Bryson - Recount of the authors travels along the Appalachian trail from Georgia to Main. The Kon-Tiki Expedition - Thor Heyerdahl - Author an others build a balsa log raft and sail from South America to the Polynesian Islands. Fatu Hiva - Thor Heyerdahl - After his wedding Him and his wife spend a year plus living on a random island in the polynesians, basically took a freighter till he found one he liked and said drop me off there. Its a recount of their existence there. The lord of the rings series + the hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkein - Way, way better than the movies! All Quiet on The Western Front - Erique Maria Remarque - Tale of a young soldiers struggle through WW1 and the horrors of war. The life of Pi - Yann Martel - Fable about a young boy marooned at sea on a small dingy with a few companions including a tiger - really really easy but great read! just a few of my favorites.. so if anyone has any suggestions that would be great... I think I might read the Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy soon as well, but haven't decided yet.

Sounds pretty scary! I'm glad you and your crew made it back in safely. Also great on you for going out of your way to tow in the other boat, even if you didn't end up helping, the right thought was there. Sounds like a pretty distressing situation he was in.

great report! nice lakers!

good job on taking the initiative to learn something new. I have no idea how to build a website at all, other than very limited experience with the program dreamweaver. I've been wanting to dabble into creating a website for some time, but never actually get the motivation for it. Sounds like the company you hosted through is very helpful. Great work!

The colour on some of those sunset shots is amazing! what kind of camera/lense were you using? any photoshoping involved?

It truly is a shame, when a fish gets slammed. Big or small, don't they all deserve a little respect? I'm mean its thanks to the fish (and TJ and admins) that this board exists. Whether its big or small, any fish can still be the story of a lifetime and bring mounds of enjoyment to the angler. Unfortunately I didn't see the picture, but 36', with a 23' girth coming in at around 15lbs doesn't seem that outlandish to me. Granted I'm not a terribly experienced pike angler. However the biggest pike I've seen landed was 40' long on the button, and weighed in at about 16lbs, give or take a few ounces. I know my digital scale is fairly accurate, because I've tested it with some dumbbells (5,10,15 and 20lbs) and the most it's been off is 2 ounces. Heres a pic of the 16lber. No girth measurement, but it was long and skinny, so I could certainly see a 4' shorter/fatter fish weighing in around the same. Walleydiver, I really hope this thread doesn't keep you from coming back. I love seeing reports with big pike!!

Thanks for sharing! great report!

great smallies! thanks for the report!

now I know why I'm not a hunter.... third tried yielded a respectable 74, but I think I had it memorized by then

I can't imagine catching a muskie like that out of a small kayak. Must have been quite the adrenaline rush!

great photos! those are some nice eyes you got there!

How much of the garbage did you pick up?

Great report! those brookies are beautiful!

Keep it simple and cheap until you know for sure you're going to be taking up the sport with more seriousness. I'd say try to spend under $60-75. You should be able to get a good set up. I use a 6'6 Shimano Sojourns rod which is bottom of the line for shimano. I also have an abu garcia cardinal 502 spinning reel. probably spent around $75 total, but I got the reel 1/2 price. Even though the rod is low end, it works great for everything I do, from pulling largies outta cover, casting for pike 3-8lb range, and trolling for walleye up to 10lbs. Keep an eye out for sales in the Canadian tire flyer, they always have some sort of deal during the summer.

I've made ton's of walleye before, but froot loops you can't be serious....

that dinner looks incredible.. I will most certainly try to copy that as best I can. It looks like you also cut the heads off before frying?

This summer was the first time I used a chatter bait. Had mixed results with it, much like you. I found the fish would smash them, when the bite was on, but if it slowed a little bit they wouldn't even look at it. Also most areas I was fishing had some pretty dense weeds so using the chatterbait was more of a nuisance than anything.

So now that I'm in a completely different part of the country, with (for the most part) completely different species of fish, I had a question. I see many of you pan frying whole brook trout. The question is, whats the best way to do this? Seems like fried in butter is a top choice... I would also imagine that the prep work is simply field dressing them (removing guts/gills). Do you use a light coating of batter? Also does anyone have any good home made batter recipe's they'd be willing to share, I've been using PC seasoned bread crumbs, which is amazing, but can't get them up here unfortunately. I looked in the recipe section but all I could find was Gerrits wet-batter recipe, and I tend to prefer dry. any help would be appreciated, I can't wait to try my first brook trout.

congratulations on the union! great report, and excellent photos!

Great report. Some nice lakers you got there, and looks like good times had by all. That last photo of your boat in the setting sun would be up as my desktop background pronto! great photo!

Great report and pictures. Looks like you sure got into them. Congrats to Bly on her first Muskie.

Beauties, there's not much that can compete with a good perch fry!

wow, great post. Congratulations on the marriage. That is pretty unbelievable of Dave to hand off his truck like that. A true testament to his character. Sounds like you've been busy, but in a good way. Congrats again.

Well as some of you may know I recently accepted a teaching job in Northern B.C. I decided to drive out here, and this is basically a chronicle of my adventure. I left aug 7th and got here on the 18th, put just under 7000km's on the car. The first day we left Kingston around 11am, made a quick stop in Toronto at the girlfriends parents, then started the real driving. We made it to Sudbury that night, but the driving was pretty intense. We hit a pretty big storm around Honey Harbour and drove for about an hour in Driving rain. The next day was again full of driving with few stops. We made it to Thunder Bay and spent the night there. I wanted to bring my girlfriend to Ouimet Canyon but unfortunately the rain deterred us again. (she's never driven west before). On our way out of Thunder Bay we made a quick stop at the Niagara of the North an snapped a couple photos.... Kakbeka Falls Then we continued on. We pulled into Brandon, Man. around 8pm feeling really tired, hungry and road weary with the plan on spending the night. Stopped at Huskey for some dinner then went to find a hotel. After checking a couple places we found out there was a big baseball tournament and a big music festival, and there wasn't a single hotel room available in Brandon. On top of that, the campground was the location for the music festival, So back on the road to Verdin, Man where we had a comfortable night. The next day we wanted to take it easy and decided to just drive without a plan for how long. We made it through Sask. My girlfriend thought that as soon as we got to the Alberta border we'd be in the mountains, haha boy was she wrong. Spent the night in Brooks, Alta. Then headed to Nordegg, in the foothills of the rockies for a few days of relaxation at Goldeye resort (her brother works there so we got hooked up nicely). On the way we saw 4 Pronghorn Antelop in a field but weren't able to take a picture. The following are pictures from in and around Banff/Jasper National Park.... The Chariot that brought me.... View from hwy 93 This mountain is called sleeping Indian This guy was just hanging out on the side of the road. We saw about 15 of them in total, but this was the only Ram Athabasca Glacier Tourists like to get close to bears... this guy was sitting about 15ft off the side of the road, and everyone was standing out of their cars taking pictures of him... a little silly if you ask me. A small trout of some sort (likely brookie) swimming in a stream. Small elk on the golf course Even came across some wild horses crossing the road... I dropped my Girlfriend off in Calgary with some friends to fly back home, and I continued the rest of the way solo. Got to the juntion of hwy 37 and 37a and decided to take a detour towards Stewart B.C. to get some gas. Boy am I glad I did. Probably the most beautiful 60km stretch I've ever driven, and lots of bears as well. Here are a few pics from that small stretch of highway. Mountains in the clouds... Another glacier, I just happened upon, this ones called Bear Glacier and I later found out why.... My first ever grizzly sighting. There were 2 of them walking down the road towards me. They weren't too big, maybe yearlings, or 2 year olds, and I thought a momma might be around but never saw her. And finally a little camera work to make this Black Bear look a lot bigger than he actually was... Unfortunately I haven't done any fishing up here, because its been raining for the most part, and I'm a little nervous heading out solo, with all the bears I've seen. There is a little brookie lake about 5 mins away that I might try if it clears up, and if I catch anything I'll be sure to make a report! -fwf

I've never fished for carp, but I know the long Sault parkway is a great place to go. I have family that lives in Long Sault and we would often take drives along the parkway and see tons of people fishing carp. I've also seen some pretty big ones come out of there. I don't know what time of year is good, but I doubt you'll be disappointed if you go.