discophish

In my own perspective, getting out and fishing the hard water is bliss on its own, and catching fish is the sunshine and few more degrees of warmth as a bonus to your experience. Don't let the skunk discourage you because the smell ain't all that bad. The air will clear soon, and patience is the key to many successes. There is something in the water that attracts me to it like a magnet. If you come to realize what that means for you (if you haven't already), and it's purpose and importance relevant to your desires and passion to fish, then a weekend trip ending up scratched is more meaningful outside narrow focuses. I'm sure I don't have to explain that. We all know here. Of course there are disappointments, and there is nothing that you could have done on a bad day because science is set in its own ways and typically cannot be manipulated or influenced any differently than what it was designed to do. I doubt primitive technology like a rod with line tied to a shiny lure that BPS fished you for $7.99 will alter the behaviour of fish sitting depressed on the bottom in need of an aquatic shrink and medicinal plankton to help them get through the day. Be it the dynamic climatization, the pressure and lunar phases, your methods, techniques and presentations, or just plain bad luck that keeps the fish off your line, keep your chin up and learn from every experience. But more importantly, learn how you are enjoying and having fun with it too, because that makes all the difference in the world. I voted as this season being average, although we also scratched on Skugog. A few more trips ahead ... crossing my fingers this time. Gbay and Simcoe are on schedule for this coming weekend. Best of luck, Disco Phish

If you want to get into some bigger fish, I would suggest that you concentrate your time on Elephant. Elephant is nice because there are not many cottages populating the shores. If you are in the right place at the right time, the Muskie fishing is great. I have invested my share of time in search of the Pickerel in there, day and night. There are only a couple of bowls that hold a small population in that lake. Unfortunately I can't help you out with the bass fishing in there, because I don't spend much time bass fishing. But at least you know you have alternatives. The people at Elephant Lake Lodge seem really nice. I don't think I will be returning to Baptiste. Best of luck and enjoy your trip!

I think I would be too busy blowing my nose, and having to de-ice/detach the Kleenex from my face afterwards from the stick-freeze. The ring from my headache would set off false alarms at my bells, causing my legs to work overtime from the squats while rising off the chair and to the rods. The warming and cooling of muscles during this event will cause my body to cramp, and accelerate my bladder to pee every 5 minutes. My zipper will break on the survival suit from overuse, and I will freeze. I will trying picking my pants up from around my ankles, then fall into my hole head first like an ostrich in sand because I sneezed and slipped. At that moment, the largest laker in Joe will be yanking at my line. Chomp Chomp Chomp ... and I will have an "Aqua Vu" vision with my head in the water to support the fact that I'm on the wrong side of the ice to do anything about it. I don't want this trip to become another edition of my many incidentals "The big one that got away". And If I drink scotch as you suggest ... the fish that got away would indisputably be 10 times larger than it actually was. <Nudging> I don't want my standards set too high Have an awesome trip ... and tell all the fish from the south to start swimming north. I have treats to offer.

I'm with Solopaddler on this one. It's like adding training wheels to a motorcycle/bicycle. Superman wouldn't be Superman if he wore a Disney backpack stuffed with a parachute every time he is "up up and away!". It takes away the true passion and the authenticity of thrill, freedom, sport, and finesse art. I paddle white water in a 6 foot playboat (freestyle kayak designed to surf waves and throw tricks in holes), and I could only image the danger if I strapped these things to the side of my boat, let alone the hindrance to performance. While considering the tradition flat water kayak, an inflated sponson would increase the bottom surface area of the boat, and if capsized, would make it too difficult to roll back upright. The sponsons will dramatically affect body position on the roll, and introduce dangerous paddle positioning during the initiation of the roll. I will agree it should work on flat water, but when white water is factored in, you need to rely on your brain to survive. No pontoons are going to save your life when your caught in a hydraulic hole. Who would paddle white water to only rely on these sponsons to get them down the river. Foam forms and float bags are installed in whitewater boats to decrease the inside volume in case water starts to fill. Not on the outside. But interesting read, and thanks for sharing! Definitely a good measure and practice for the kids ... but if they're too young to know any difference, and your not watching ... they shouldn't be doing what they are doing.

That's an awesome catch for a Joe Laker! It is unfortunate that I am breaking my 5th annual Joe weekend opener this year because of a miserable cold from the Simcoe chill last weekend. The weekend of the 24th/25th I will be on the northern tip of Joe. I am envious of your upcoming trip this weekend, and I wish you the best of luck! It goes without saying that you are eager to try out the new gear. I will offer you precaution about the cube we commonly own. Be careful of the corners. The stitching that mends the material around poles are poorly manufactured, and it's not reinforced. We have torn 2 ends already. It's an awesome design, and we love its portability ... just be careful when the winds are up. Have a great weekend, and enjoy! Let us know how you did ... and how much I missed out!

Only 1 hour of fishing? Sorry to hear that you had a hard time getting on the ice. So, I guess it is a small world after all ... that was you and your friend behind us! One minute you were on ice, the next minute you had disappeared in the bush to thaw out. Just before you arrived, we watched some guy next to your location fighting with his hole for at least 6 minutes, something huge was on, you could see his excitement and "once in a lifetime" opportunity escalating. The drag screamed from time to time, and when he picked up line the tip would end deep in the hole, it was fighting like a log! ... and it was, literally, a gigantic Stickerel! We felt bad for his embarrassment, but we had to laugh. You didn't miss much when you left. The darkening night cleaned the ice quickly like a Zamboni on a rampage. Final results ... no fish all around coming from the water cooler conversations at the trucks. We definitely would have enjoyed and welcomed your company on the big rink. We were getting tired of trying to impress each other with fancy snow angels. They all look the same anyway. Joe is calling us in the distance! Disco Phish

Thanks for all compliments! It is exciting to share our experiences with everyone in this community. as well as to learn and absorb the many experiences that others are offering as well. Both of us have a well rounded history of angling between us, and it has evolved into a passion during our "boy/girl time for supper, no, I wanna go fishing" ages. We look forward to sharing our experiences with you! Ahh, she "Look-a-like-a-man"! (Swany from MadTV). That's a men's size small Nautilus float suit. It fits her perfect, and with enough room to layer clothing underneath. She's 5'5". It was either the suit or duct-taped garbage bags with bubble wrap insulation and integrated deflated water-wings for xmas. The later wouldn't have gone over so well. <wink>. Actually, she liked her suit so much that it became her pajamas for week after she got it! Jk. Her expression is curious for sure ... Did a starving Samsquantch just emerge out of the woods for this fish? Thanks for the tip Solopaddler. I will remember Armstrong point for the next time we visit. Port Carling is beautiful place, both summer and winter.

Sleepy heads summoned a late morning start to Rosseau on Saturday. With much anticipation, H2whoa! and I checked in early at the Crestwood in Port Carling before we put ourselves on ice. We were please to receive a few suggestions for ice-hole locations from the bait shop in Glen Orchard, and we followed their directions to Ferndale that put us on the trout grounds. We fished until dark in 75fow with huts around us, but to our dismay, the fish would rather bite themselves than bite us. We used spoons and rat raps to attract them in, and only a few fish flashed on the Vex. After a foot+ of snow dropped in the area Fri/Sat for Port Carling's annual Winterfest, we headed out again Sunday morning towards recommended trout grounds given by another friendly local to get us on the fish (South of Portage Bay). If it wasn't for the locals, we would have walked out too far on 2 inches of ice which was literally a hop and 2 skips past the last hut. We contained ourselves amongst the huts, and popped the IceCube on 8-9 inches of ice in 72 fow. All huts at random intervals seemed to have its occupants yelling "I got one! I got one!", including ours. At the time when we packed up at last light, we landed 2 small Lakers on jack jigs tipped with minnows, and packed one on ice from a bad hooking. Many Lakers were swimming between 50-65 fow under the holes, and beyond that were the minnow-thieves (Ling) down on the bottom at 72 fow. The weather was furious when we headed south on 11, but the TJ kept us from ending up in the bear dens. Minnows - $20 Forgotten minnow bucket - $18 Overnight stay - $90 Jeep gas - $70 Auger gas - 7 cents Propane heater - $90 New Boots - $100 Food - $70 Watching H2Whoa! catch her first laker ... Priceless! Disco Phish

Hey Dave! Sorry that we didn't make it out. I guess it goes without saying that you had a blast! These seminars are a hit! Russell T.

Spent my lifetime in EY, but P3Y bought house in College's Litle Italy. We fished the Island for the first time 2 weekends ago while interested to get in with their residential lease agreements. No fish, no property. Perhaps one day I will give it another shot. Disco Phish

I will also add that Esnagami Lodge was an awesome trip experience. The owners, Sue and Eric, are terrific people. They will ensure that your time spent fishing and at the lodge are memorable ones. Gigantic pike are found in those waters, so large and aggressive that the fact of catching pickerel every cast has their guides bored. Our guide explained to us that they don't even fish for pickerel, which was hard to hear since the majority of my time is angling for pickerel. The only suggestion I can think of to make that trip better would be for them to add more horses behind their boats, but I realize the cost will be heavily weighted for them to do so, insur. etc. The big and heavy (yet perfect) wooden boats were underpowered for such a huge lake. It took a while to get from spot to the next, let alone shore lunch locations. Good Luck! Disco Phish