CrowMan

I saw David Byrne at the Sony Centre in 2018. Great show, and somewhat political given what was going on south of the border then....similar to now. My wife and I went to a concert this Saturday at the exact same venue...now called Meridian Hall. We saw the "Life is a Carnival/Last Waltz" tour... a tribute to Robbie Robertson by a "super group" of musicians, including a couple of the Heart Breakers. Fantastic show ! However, when we booked the tickets, we didn't realize it was the same night that Tay Tay was doing her thing at Rogers Centre. The GO train ride in and out of Union from Oakville was entertaining in itself...quite the mix...Swifties decked out in their glittery regalia, Leafs and Oilers fans in Matthews and McDavid jerseys, and graying hippies still trying to squeeze into their old black t-shirts with "The Band" across the front.. Yep, Simcoe Smelt are now just a fond memory. Fortunately out in eastern Ontario come April you can still fill buckets up by Eganville 😉

Great track ! I can still remember hearing "Talking Heads: 77" for the first time as an 18 year old...listened to it 3 times in a row in my buddy's Steve smoke filled basement..

Not sure about the French, but there's definitely a Smelt run nearby in Chikanshing Creek at Killarney to the north, and at Britt on the Magnetawan to the south.

I was rummaging around in the depths of the freezer yesterday, looking for something to use for tonight's meal. I found a chunk of Bison rump that I had from last winter...it was the last piece of a care package of Bison meat that I got from a buddy in the restaurant supply business. Scrounged around the fridge, freezer and pantry, and came up with.. ..leeks, celery and parsley in the crisper drawer leftover from a previous meal ..last of the carrots from the garden ..some wild Bolete (Porcini) mushrooms that I had foraged and dried earlier in the autumn ..frozen peas and green beans from this summer's garden ..a half bag of pearl barley ..beef stock, olive oil and red wine Chop, saute, braise and simmer the above and came up with Bison, Mushroom, Vegetable and Barley soup (actually more like a stew). Definitely a free form recipe...but it turned out darn delicious !

You can use the Ontario Crown Land Atlas to locate lakes that are adjacent to Crown Land: https://search.app?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ontario.ca%2Fpage%2Fcrown-land-use-policy-atlas&utm_campaign=aga&utm_source=agsadl1%2Cagsadl4%2Csh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm2%2F4 You can then use Fish ON-Line to find out what species are present in those lakes, along with stocking info and the regulations: https://search.app?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lioapplications.lrc.gov.on.ca%2Ffishonline%2FIndex.html%3Fviewer%3DFishONLine.FishONLine%26locale%3Den-CA&utm_campaign=aga&utm_source=agsadl1%2Cagsadl4%2Csh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm2%2F4

My Grandfather at Arnhem, and my Uncle at Monte Cassino both lost their lives so we could live in freedom. I'll be at the Cenotaph here in town this morning to honour them and all the others that made the ultimate sacrifice.

Those look awesome...would make a great Christmas/hostess gift ! However, in my house when we open a bottle of wine, there's rarely anything left to put a stopper in it for later..🤪

Not sure if someone was attempting to scam you or not....but some of the largest fly tying factories in the world are in Kenya. Their products are found in fly fishing shops across North America.

Best time of year is yet to come...water's still warm. The big girls start coming in from Lake O at the end of this month. Book now, everyone's usually filled up right through to mid December.

I can personally attest to Doug's canned Salmon. His Pacific Chinook was absolutely delicious !! I have to say Pacific Chinook is my favourite fish to smoke...there's more than one reason it's called "King Salmon". My son regularly goes up to Iqualuit on business (he's a mining engineer) and brings back Arctic Char. It's awesome smoked or on the grill, but I still have to put Pacific Chinook at the top of my list. Has to be wild Pacific though...the Chinook from the Great Lakes is like a completely different species when it comes taste and texture.

Hopefully, we'll be restocking in June !

Look awesome ! Just a heads up... Wild Fork sells frozen wild Pacific Sockeye fillets for $13.98 a pound. A little more money (sometimes cheaper) than the farmed Atlantic Salmon and "Steelhead Trout" that you usually see in the supermarket, but a huge difference in taste. I personally find the farmed stuff flabby in texture, and not as rich in those delicious natural oils, compared to wild Salmon...especially Sockeye. The nearest Wild Fork retail store to you would be Whitby (if you're ever down that way), also stores in Oakville and Ancaster, but with a minimum $35 order they will ship free to your door.

Sounds very interesting and educational ! Even though you are releasing the fish, you still require a fishing license to capture fish using angling or non-angling methods. I know a number of anglers that never keep anything...they are strictly catch and release. That doesn't exclude them from having to purchase a license. In the regulations, there is a specific list of the species of minnows that can be legally retained to use as bait. I also do believe that once you catch a fish and put it in some type of "container" (even temporarily) that it is considered "retention" under the regulations. You certainly wouldn't legally be able to temporarily retain and photograph a species that was out of season, or out of the slot size. My advice would be to contact the OMNR and speak to an Enforcement Officer for clarification on the legalities of the activity you wish to pursue.

My Pointer, Zoe, and my granddaughter, Charlotte, grew up together. They were born 9 days apart. They're the best of buddies...and sometimes I worry more about Charlotte nipping Zoe than the other way around...lol..

Agree. The ice fishing season on my lake was 2 weeks long last winter. I have a good buddy of almost 40 years who lives in Philadelphia. We now have the winters he used to have. They used to have a brief ice fishing season down there, now none at all. The only bright side is...I don't put away the boat until almost Christmas, and Steelhead season is now much longer. Even as a skier, the season is now so short, and the conditions often terrible, that I don't get out much the last few years. We have a couple of trips planned down south this winter. It used to feel like I was missing something when we went away...not anymore.

Born there, done that..

Perfect ! Just missing the eye patch..lol

My wife and I have tickets to see Bruce next Sunday....courtesy of a birthday gift from my kids (wow...ticket prices are getting ridiculous). I first saw the Boss in 1977 at MLG (half bowl)...he put on a 3 and 1/2 hour non stop show with nobody ever sitting down from beginning to end. Those shows early in his career were electric with energy..I have seen him 11 times since, and he never disappoints. Him still doing it at 75 years old, gives me hope.. This is a great performance of one of my favourite tracks..Bruce and Clarence at their best. Miss you Big Man...

The media always overblows the actual risk. I personally don't consider a Coyote following you at a distance very newsworthy. But creating "fear" keeps the eyeballs tuned to the channel. Jeez...I'd be on the news a dozen times already. Like all Canines, from my experience they seem naturally curious...and often they're being fed by misguided "animal lovers", so they start associating humans with a free handout. However, actual attacks on humans are extremely rare. The most dangerous animal in Canada is the Moose...kills more people than any other critter. .

Definitely mange going around in a lot of them I see in town. Might be nature's way of keeping the population density under control. I agree with you about "rural" Coyotes. Up here at my cottage in Frontenac, they're like ghosts. We hear them howling at night, but if you do see one it's always at a distance...usually further than the lethal range of a .223. Perhaps that's why...

Same in Oakville. A pair come strutting down the sidewalk in front of my house every day at 7 am like clockwork, for over a year now. Must be making/marking the rounds of their territory. They have occasionly followed me at a distance (50 to 100ft) when I'm walking my dog. I don't think they want to eat my Pointer, it just seems like they're curious about a fellow canine. If my dog gives them a little growl or I turn around and say "boo" they bolt away with their tail tucked between their legs. My understanding is when there have been interactions with domestic (pet) dogs, it's more of an aggressive/dominance behavior...like two alpha dogs fighting...rather than the Coyote looking for a meal. Just part of the local urban wildlife scene now. They apparently do a good job of keeping the local rodent population controlled. My buddy that owns a restaurant up the street, says he no longer sees many rats in the dumpsters behind his strip mall. They're just like Raccoons without the mask...they've also taken over the cleaning up the curbside garbage role. There's little old ladies with their Yorkies and Chihuahuas in the neighborhood who get freaked out when they see them...but in my opinion, they're harmless. There was only one instance of a person being bit by a Coyote last year in Ontario...someone was regularly feeding it, so it lost its fear of humans. Meanwhile, there were over 5000 dog bites that required a visit to Emergency last year in the Province. I assess my risk accordingly.

My buddy came up to visit me at my cottage today, with the plan to fish a neighboring lake. Unfortunately,he got held up and we didn't get out on the water until 1030am. He wanted to take home a couple of Walleye, but with the late start and bluebird skies, I wasn't very confident that was going to happen, as he had to leave by 4pm. However, the combination of a south wind, chop on the water, a falling barometer and an approaching cold front had the Walleye on a mid-day bite today...even though this is a clear water lake. This is in Frontenac which is zone 18, so the restrictive slot size often makes it difficult to put together a fish fry. We caught several others (larger than 20") outside the slot that went back to swim. Drop shot Jerk Minnows in 25 to 30 fow got almost all the bites. As usual, my Vizsla had to photo bomb any shot I took of my buddy.. A beautiful few hours to be out on the water for this time of year.

In the same musical vein...and I also include Blood Sweat & Tears...Toronto's own Lighthouse had that same big multi-instrument (brass and strings) sound and vibe. Played at our high school twice, and we'd go across town to see them Friday nights at the Knob Hill Hotel. Great memories...although somewhat fuzzy due to alcohol and illicit substances..

Very nice fish ! However, those vertical holds aren't the best to ensure a healthy release. That's a lot of unsupported weight pulling down on the spine.

Some beauties ! Scary news on the Pike...that only ends one way ☹️