timmeh

As mentioned Kelso would work. Also Mountsberg is not too far of a drive, and there are some shore options there.

You know for a long time I thought this idea that asian carp would destroy the Great Lakes was overblown somewhat. I'm not suggesting it's not an important issue. We should be doing everything possible to prevent them from colonizing the lakes, as it's not worth taking any chances. Of course it won't be good if they got in, but will it destroy the lakes? Absolutely not. Natural systems have a way of adapting to new species. What about the zebra mussels and round gobies? Both were originally predicted to devastate the lakes. Did they? Would it be good, of course not, will it destroy the lakes? Absolutely not. Natural systems have a way of adapting to new species. What about the zebra mussels and round gobies? Both were originally predicted to devastate the lakes. Did they? Now there have been some changes no doubt but the fish are still there. Part of the reason I don't believe there impact will be a destructive as most is in fact due to the zebras and gobies. What they've done is sort of re-engineered the ecosystems away from a pelagic to a more benthic dominated food web. Phytoplankton growing in the open water is being replaced with benthic forms of vegetation, evident in the much clearer water in many areas. And these carp are pelagic fish and there simply isn't enough of a food web there to support a huge population of fish in most areas of the lake. Plus I believe I read somewhere the fish need flowing water to reproduce. River inlets would suffice but not the entire lakes. The lake ecosystem is different from the Mississippi. And finally I believe they're already here. They've found DNA past the barrier into L Michigan already, plus a few random fish have been recorded throughout the lakes. And if a few are recorded you can be sure others are around.

Looks like you guys have had a great season so far. That wally is a true beast.

You're right and i think this is a big problem. Bears up north are in a natural environment and for the most part they try to avoid people. But these bears coming into southern Ontario are a different story. They're not coming into town by choice, they're being forced to look for new territory, and they're often young male bears. And they're hungry. And the real problem is that they are, or will, learn to associate people with food. They're out of their element and may not react the same way northern bears do.

If you're really interested in helping keep the fishery healthy you should let the big ones go. Your theory is not correct as most small fish will not grow to be that size. It's just like people, not everyone can grow to be 6 foot 4. Genetics play a key role in determining how large a fish can grow. And it's in the best interest of the fishery to keep those big fish and their genetics in the lake. Think of it this way; next time you spend your time and money to go fishing do you want to catch 3 lb bass or 1 lb bass. Also as Terry mentioned larger fish have more toxins built up in their meat, so it's better for your health the eat a smaller fish as well.

Never fished that particular pier, but gulp shrimp or crabs can work. I'm sure tubes would probably work. There are baits called DOA shrimp which are popular down there. It all depends on what species happen to be around this time of year. Best bet is to find a local fishing shop and get some advice.

While I'm a firm believer in climate change and don't think it should be ignored at all, I can't help but think the information age we live in accounts for what you're seeing. Pre-internet times would you have heard about a wildfire or flooding on the other side of the world?

Many reservoirs have higher nutrient concentrations than natural lakes due to their flooding. Certainly not uncommon to see blue green blooms in many places, and fish survive, so not the kiss of death. But decaying algae can reduced oxygen levels specifically in the bottom layer of water. So it can be a problem and has be related to fish kills but usually doesn't result in mass dieoffs in normal cases. Does seem a little early in the year though, usually a late summer, early fall problem.

Sounds like Cladophora. Major nuisance algae in the great lakes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladophora

I heard he just broke his hand signing the contract

Nice fish, couple nice browns there. Maybe it's just the photo but that steelie looks pretty fresh.

Should have been $900 per fish over the limit, then they'd think twice. Good work MNR. Great to know the tips line is being followed through on. Also very good to hear that we've got some good OFNers looking out for our waters. The MNR can't be everywhere so we need to keep helping them out.

I don't find it to be very durable. Sometimes 1 fish and it's torn apart and time for a new one. So you can go through it rather quickly. It's worked for me, but for bass I've done just aa well with other plastics.

Awesome stuff. Some beautiful fish ya got there. Like the shots of the bugs too. Interesting that you've noticed a drop in brookies. In one of the creeks I fish a couple years ago I caught nothing but brookies, but in the last 2 they've been noticeably fewer though I've found a few browns including a couple nice ones. I was wondering about water temps but haven't been measuring them long enough to really know. Have you notice anything like this in some of the streams you fish?

Thanks for taking the time to let the rest of us feel like we were there too, if only for 10 minutes. Great report as usual. The pic of the pike under the shallow weeds is an amazing shot.

I agree there should be a test. But i think it should be an open book test. If it's not open book you can only ask basic questions, and people would only need to review the first few pages. The point of the test would not be to fail people, but rather to make sure they're aware the regs exist in the first place and to understand what type of info they contain and how to look it up. That way you can ask specific questions as to the slot size for fish X in lake X. With an open copy of the regs anyone should be able to find this, and it would ensure new anglers would not only learn the basic regs but learn how to look up the more complex regs correctly. Plus with a test no one would have any excuse for not knowing the regs, so I would like to see increased fines for those caught breaking them. With the push to create a better website and get people to purchase/renew online, they could easily insert a multiple choice test the first time you purchase a license. The fee would be very small and a one time thing. However all this being said i'm not sure how many problems it would solve. The real problem is that similar presentations catch many different species, and in many cases you can't prove the angler was targeting the out of season fish and not the in season one. It all comes down to intent and that's impossible to prove sometimes.

As mentioned really look into the bylaws. I know that in recent weeks there have been changes to the renting bylaws in Waterloo. They were proposing a bylaw requiring a yearly inspection and fees depending on the number of renters. I don't know the exact details of what was passed by the city but you'll want to look into that. Also that's a fairly cheap price for a house in Waterloo. Either the location is bad or more likely the house will require some serious upkeep and/or repairs that you'll need to budget for as well. Finally remember interest rates are very low, but won't stay there forever.

Where's the guy from River Monsters? Maybe he's just the craziest angler.

Island lake has C & R for bass.

Geez, I thought on a fishing board we might be happy they're giving money to potentially improve our fisheries. They could be padding the pockets of a few execs instead.

I have a 9.6 that i use mostly for casting hardware and occasionally bottom bouncing around the river mouths in the fall and it works well. Good rod for the money.

Done, good idea.

Those guys who take 300 fish from the kawartha lakes have to sell them somewhere.

Always great to see gas prices drop and I hate to rain on the parade but this drop is ridiculous. Oil prices drop $10 and gas only goes down 3 cents? Put another way oil dropped over 8% and oil cost supposedly represents about 75% of the cost of gas. So then we should have seen a 6% decrease in the price of gas. Where the hell did the other 4% go? Of course that's a rhetorical question, we all know the answer.

Def illegal to target oos fish. The problem is proving they're targeting them. Throw a worm on a line and you can claim to be fishing for carp or sucker all year long. Anyhow all you can do is call the mnr tip line if someone's keeping. This seems to be an ongoing problem at many dams on the grand...