Zubris21

I'd also like to try this. I was contemplating making a smoker (the one from Outdoor Canada) but it was only a cold smoker, which I found may have had less applications than I wanted, ie smoking ribs, duck, or whatever. Also when I priced the materials it would have been a bit too expensive for me. Let us know how this turns out, I am very curious!

great slabs, thanks for sharing!

wow those are some monster cats! sa-weet!

It's hard to bet against the wings with their veteran line-up, my only concern with them is goaltending. I think Osgood is good, but not great, and its a shame he always gets this type of criticism. He does tend to elevate his game for the playoffs, but this has been an off year for him, and given his age, I'm wondering if this is the beginning of the decline. I think Calgary has a good enough team to make a deep run in the west. No one is really talking about them much, but they could give det, and SJ a run for their money. In the east I like the devils to get to the finals. Great goaltending, several young talented players, but with just enough veteran leadership to keep this team on track. Watch-out, I'm calling them to win the cup in 7 over SJ.

I wish I had the time, money and resources you do to get away on all these trips. Looking forward to the full write up.

Excellent report! I can't wait to hook into my first steel in the next couple months. These kinda reports just make me more excited every time I see them.

I asked this same question when I first joined, and didn't get much of a response. I did however buy a spool of 8lb co-polymer. Seemed to work just fine. Certainly not a "super-line" but very similar to mono.

Nice steel!

I've been pretty good so far... Numerous $50 stops, but at one time the highest was about $250. I'd imagine once I get a boat those numbers will increase drastically.

Well, I wouldn't consider it summer, but I'm heading up to the Liard Hotsprings this weekend, and will hopefully get some hardwater action in. Still want to get up to another little lake about 4 hours North, just past the Yukon border before the ice melts it was stocked with Arctic Char in the past. I don't think there is much size (top out around 6lbs from what I've heard), but would like to add to the species list. May long weekend I'm planning on heading down to Terrace to fish the legendary Skeena, Kalum and Copper rivers for Steelhead, and maybe Chinooks if they're running. Also once the snow melts, I'll be doing numerous overnight trips along the Dease River, chasing giant Northerns, and some Grayling for the pan. End of June I will be heading back to Ontario for a solid 2 months of nothing but time to waste. The plan is to get as much fishing in as possible, and with anyluck hook up with some other members from the Belleville, Kingston, Brockville, Ottawa area for some outings.

wow, that is unreal! thanks for sharing!

Looks like a great day out there! Mind if I ask how far east you were fishing?

Interesting you should note this.... Out here in BC the licensing is completely different. Standard non-tidal fishing license cost $36, however this does not give you the privileged of fishing steelhead, for that you must also purchase a species tag for I believe an additional $25. Even with this additional species tag, you are still not permitted to fish all waters, the most productive waters are considered "classified waters" and are most important to the survival of the species and fisheries. In order to fish these waters you must purchase a classified waters license for an additional cost (again in the $20-25 range). Even with these licenses you are only allowed to retain 10 hatchery steelhead/year, all wild fish must be released. Sturgeon also works the same way, but I am less familiar with them as they are only found much farther south than I am. As for salmon your standard non-tidal license gives you permission to fish for them, however if you intend to keep any of your catch you must purchase a salmon tag for an additional $15, and even with this the regs dictate quota's for the rivers. Of the runs in our local river which include sockeye, pink, coho, chum, and chinook, I only have the priviledge to keep a couple adult chinnys. All total my license this year cost me $80, $36 for the standard, $25 for the steelies, and $15 for the salmon. Likely I will need to purchase classified waters as well, as I think I will head down to the Skeena/Kalum rivers to try for some world class steelies in may. TO be honest, I didn't have any problem paying this as I know the money is spent well. I have been working fairly closely with our local fisheries person, as I have set up a Sockeye raising project for one of my classes. I will post pictures at some point for everyone to see.

wow, all of those look incredible! I'd like to try my hand at that someday!

Beauty eye... I miss not having those around. I can't believe how deep blue her tail is.

great stuff! thanks for sharing.

I agree that possession rules, would overrule over wastage rules, but that's part of the equation. Lake trout up here has no season closures, no slot, a daily limit of 3 (combined with char/dolly's) and a possession limit of 6. The only thing that was out of whack was the method it was caught. The fish was entirely dead, in order to get it back down, I would likely have had to pop its air bladder to see it sink. The ice is still to thick than to just shove it down with my arm. If the fish had any life/fight in it at all, even if I knew it was doomed it would have gone back, no question. I am all for the regs, and I agree they are mostly there to protect our fisheries. I do however see a problem in this particular instance. Either the method (set lining) should be outlawed all together, or a wider variety of species should be permitted. There is no question there will be accidental hook ups using this practice, and I feel it is a shame, and almost counter productive to the regs. release dead/dying fish when you have not met your limit for that species. I don't mean to sound offended, or angry, I don't want to come off that way. Just raising more points, and continuing the debate. For the record, the fish did not come from my hole (skunked 2 days in a row) and while it was cleaned at my house, I was not the one to possess it. However the decision was a group effort.

Just got back from checking the lines again, no lakers this time luckily, but we did pull up a burbot around the same size as what is posted. Gerritt, The regs. don't specify that you need to tend your set lines. The regs do however specify that your set line must have your name, address and telephone number attached to them in some way. This leads me to believe they can be left unattended for reasonable lengths of time. Thus far we have been checking them every 24 hours, if not sooner. As for the law stating "you are not allowed to let the meat spoil"... I have not come across any notation in the BC regs that state that. Ontario's regs certainly do, and that is what I'm used to abiding by, and personally believe is ethically correct. Thats what makes this situation difficult.

I agree, legally it should have. But , ethically, We took this animals life (accidentally mind you) and I feel as though it would have been disrespectful to waste it. Law's and ethics do not always run parallel and that's where the debate begins... Like the old adage asks, would you steal a loaf of bread to feed your family if they were starving?

Great report. I love the pattern on those Browns. IMO they do not get enough attention for such a beautiful fish. I would love to get one some day!

Thursday night a couple buddies and I headed out to the North end of Dease Lake to place some set lines for burbot. We went back Friday night with low expectations. There are plenty of burbot in the lake, just seems most people have to let their lines soak a long time before they get anything. I was pretty confident we had a good spot, after reading the in-fisherman article about them a while back. Anyways we lucked out and pulled up 1 smallish burbot and 1 small Laker. We brought them both home and made a beer batter for the Burbot, it was pretty tasty. here are some pics. The ethical question is... Although set lining for Burbot is permitted, The regs state any other game fish caught must be released. Well I have no problem with that, however teh Laker we caught was dead as a doorknob when we pulled it out of ice, no gasping for air, no burping, nothing. After a few minutes of serious contemplation we decided not to let the meat go to waste and brought it home. The possession limit for lakers is 3 , so we were well under that, just the method it was caught, was not legal. What would you have done?

Rick, I was wondering if you would be able to post a weblink to the Act(s) you are referring to so we can have a glance at them. I'm on your side, and even from the mnr publications I can't find anything that states any different than what you just said.

Last year I was a tag along on a trip to Lac Nilgaut in Que. It was about a 4 hour drive and was very reasonably priced. We went the may long weekend and I think all expenses the trip was about $500 per person, including licensing and boat/motor for 3 days and a full tank first thing every morning. The lake contains some huge gators, which we caught a few and saw some even bigger at some of the other cabins. Lake trout is the main forage however, and can exceed 30lbs. Last year was tough because the black fly hatch was on and the lakers were gorging themselves on the emerging fly's but we still had a decent time. Apparently the previous years this group has gone has been consistent 50+ fish days. I don't know how much you will find on the internet about the place, but definitely worth investigating. Also there is a lot of hype over the thousand islands around gannanoque since that muskie was caught, very close to home, but a lot of the season may still be closed.

I don't think it is un-ethical at all to keep fishing once you have hit (and kept) your limit. Sure there may be problems with catching subsequent bleeders, and it is a sad situation, but certainly no angler with a mind for conservation would feel good about this. In my opinion once you purchase your license whether it be sport or conservation, your are purchasing your right to fish any species (with possibly a few exceptions I can't say I've completely examined the regs 100%). I don't think it is unethical to fish for a zero possesion limit, ie sturgeon, or muskie on a conservation license, as long as it's C&R, as these are the terms of the agreement you signed when you bought your license. Poaching comes in the effect when you are fishing out of bounds (in sanctuaries), out of season, or retaining fish in the slot or above and beyond your limit. I have not had many encounters with CO's but I believe them to be reasonable people. I.E. I would be shocked if I was charged for taking a picture of a giant muskie, in no possesion lakes, or even fishing with only my conservation license. I would have no intention on keeping the fish at all, and would know that going in, sure the CO might, but if the stuck around 2 mins, they would see the fish put back in the water, and should ease any concerns they may have.

I made the trip back home to Ontario for March break. Decided to meet up with some friends and hit a small lake North of Kingston for some crappy, and set some tip up's for pike. My friend had his FishTV with him and it was the first time I've used one. Pretty incredible watching the schools of crappy move in. Also had one pike swim right up nose to nose with the camera and bump it. The bit was tough, the schools of panfish were moving in and out of the area regularily, we must have had about 30 holes spread out over a lare portion of the lake that we were trying to following the schools with but it was tough. Still managed a nice mixed bag of 27 fish between 4 of us, over about 5 hours unfortunately no pike though. Of course my girlfriend did manage to catch the lunker of the day, as usual. and just for note, one of my roommates up here showed me a picture of some of the halibut he catches out of stewart, his dad has a boat down there and I'm trying to get him to take me out for a weekend. take a look...