timmeh

When fishing in my local spots I release all of the fish I catch, with the exception of 1 or 2 fish a year that are hooked to deeply to survive. Most of my more local spots are in southern Ontario so I figure they already receive enough harvest pressure. On the occasional trips to more northern, or remote areas, where the populations are stronger I will take the odd fish here and there.

Fantastic report, looks like a small piece of paradise you've got there.

A couple years ago me and a buddy were checking out a river near my parents cottage looking for fishing spots. We stopped at a bridge and he went to one side to check it out and I went to the other. I had a quick look down and told my buddy it looked good, come check it out. So he looks over the bridge then just turns back to me shaking his head and laughing.... There was an older biker dude lying in the grass on the bank of the river with his hands relaxed behind his head. He looked pretty happy....His wife was pleasuring him We quietly took off to find another spot.

Of course you can just use the spool. I mean they sell full spools to fill your reel with. If it's good enough to use as your mainline it should be fine to use a leader too. I only use the actual leader material when fly fishing. When I'm out with the spinning or baitcasting gear I just bring a spool of regular fluoro line. I've been doing this for 3 years. I use the uni to uni knot and I don't have any problems with it. Or you can use a small barrel swivel if you prefer (but I don't like the idea of banging a swivel against the guides when I forget it's there). http://www.fish4fun.com/Joining2Lines.

Did alright today in a little rain on the river. When it rains I usually try to switch over to baits with more movement and/or noise than I may typically use. The rain may stir up the water a little, plus with the clouds reducing light I think it's important to get the fishes attention.

Awesome, so was mine. I used to duct tape them closed and then tape them to the table and tie away. Actually worked pretty well. And starting with buggers is a good idea. Really easy to tie and can catch just about anything. But for your question, most fishing shops will have beginners kits from $50 to $100. They will come with a vise, the common tools, and a good start of tying material. But a word of advice; don't go for the absolute cheapest vice you can find. I did that for my first real vice and I locked a hook in it and started tying, took a break and left the hook in the vice for 15min or so and one of the arms of the vice was broken off when I came back. So I ended up spending more $ on a second vice (which was $50 and has been great). I got that one in a kit from basspro for about $80 with all the other stuff included.

Yikes, can't wait for that.

I zapped one of those with an electrofisher once. That was interesting. Nothing to interesting while actually fishing. A couple of crayfish that hit a jig, a couple clams, that's about it.

Well the leafs now have to keep the best player on the team, one of the better defenceman in the league, and a guy who comes at a relatively bargain price ($4 mil) for someone of his production. Only leafs fans would think it's good to get rid of a player like this. And if you really want to move him why do it now? Wait till the trade deadline, def are golden at that time. They'll probably get more in return from some team looking to make a run.

I agree with fishburn, many times i've seen bass regurgitating food while fighting them. If you cut the hook off and remove the rest of the bait they may be able to get rid of it. I personally believe that pulling on the lure and twisting it around will only do more damage. I have gone to barbless hooks for most of my bass fishing this year, especially for soft plastics since they tend to get inhaled more that hard baits, and it's made unhooking fish a lot easier. For deeper hooked fish pushing the hook down as you tried usually works. It's also better for me too, less damage to the fingers when lipping a thrashing fish. It's an option if you're C & R. Beauty fish though. Those big buckets have such big mouths sometimes it's hard to prevent this.

It's kinda of annoying to listen to people complain about whats wrong with kids these days and how bad they are, etc. I realize that some apples fall a long way from the tree, but for the most part I believe people grow up, act and behave the way they are raised. So maybe it's time to start pointing the finger at the people who are raising kids these days.

You must have some patience setting the hook with those topwater frogs, that last one really gobbled it up. It can be tough when you see the water erupt. I need to learn to wait that extra second.

great show man, those are some beasts.

Yes, Terry you are right, I was a little mixed up by Billy B question. Fish given away only count against that days limit not overall possession. In the question about feeding fish to someone, or a cat, then going back out that day, that would be illegal.

The actual law - if you give fish away they count in your possession limit until they are consumed. If you have a limit in your freezer and go out fishing and keep any more you are poaching. The reality - the law is very hard to enforce. Enforcement relies mostly on people have enough respect for the fishery and having the responsibility to follow the law. Many people do but unfortunately some people think they can do whatever they want and don't give a crap.

I've heard a few tales about big fish in the area. I'm not sure what I would have done with a fish much bigger than the one I got.

Ya I went for a little bit ride, that's the best part. But fortunately for myself and the fish I had my shimano 3000 loaded with 20lb braid so I didn't need to play him too long.

This past weekend me and a few friends headed out to our traditional civic weekend destination. I think we've made the trip 6 of the past 7 years or close to it and it's always a trip I look forward to. This year we grabbed a couple sites close to the river so I was really looking forward to it. Previous heavy rains had the river up and dirty but it didn't stop me from trying. The fishing was a little slow on Saturday but me and my buddy managed to pick up about 15 smallies between us. Nothing picture worthy but a couple decent fish in the mix. Considering the conditions I thought we did okay. Sunday we floated a different stretch of the river and just after launching we came across a good looking pool that warranted a little effort. First cast produced a strong strike, a good fight, and what I assumed was a nice bass. But when it came to surface I got a little excited. It wasn't a big fish but I knew right away what it was. I would have been quite happy to end the day there but we carried on. About an hour later, and after picking up a few smaller bass, I cast into a side pocket just off the main current and was hit with a massive strike. Line started going out and the fight was on. After an energetic, but short battle, I got the fish to the yak and called the other canoe over for a look. Definitely 2 great, unexpected fish and to catch them out of the yak was a blast. Can't wait to get back. Cheers Tim

The Grand can be tough since it's a big river, but once you get to know it a little...... Rerigging is often part of river fishing. Depth is not constant so you'll find bottom here and there. If you're interested in going for a bit of a drive with the kids, the ponds in Waterford are not too far away. Lots of opportunities to get into fish there and it may be a little easier than fishing the big river.

That is a very decent sized bass for any inland body of water, lake or river. Most smallies will not get that big. If you're on Simcoe or Erie then you may find a few more that size. For me personally, mostly fishing the rivers and smaller lakes, I consider anything over 20" a real beauty, and anything over 17" is a nice smallie. And I'm talking about actual measured fish, not best guesses.

Are you positive that all the fish you are marking are bass? I've had times out when I thought I was marking one type of fish but visual observation quickly told me I was wrong.

Well one other thing to think about. If the average age of anglers is infact increasing then that must mean more of them are retiring. So maybe people just have more time to fish...... But mostly I think it's knowledge. Someone already mentioned it but nowadays you can buy an electronic chip to get amazing maps, search the net prior to fishing. Essentially a large portion of the scouting that used to be done on the water can now be done before you even leave home. Also the speed at which info travels is much quicker due to forums like this. Essentially it must take a newbie a lot less time to learn the ropes than years ago.

Look into the costa del mars. I've got a pair of the 580 and they are great. The store price is about $250 but you can find them for much lower if you look around. Check out ebay for one and there are websites like steep and cheap that offer them once and a while (I got mine for $70 on that site). But you can't chose the frame styles they offer so you'll need to be a little flexible on that if you want a good deal. I'd highly recommend what raf said about going into basspro and trying on a few styles so you know what fits. Especially if you're buying costa I would do this, as some of their styles fit very different sized faces. That's exactly what I did.

First thing is that conservation authority employees are not able to enforce fishing regulations and therefor cannot lay fines. However letting someone leave with an out of season fish is pretty bad, they should have at least called the MNR about that one. Doesn't really matter if he can't id fish or speak english, ignorance is no excuse, the MNR should have been called. Or at the very least the CA employee should have educated this guy. By letting that go it sets a bad precedent. What do you think that "fisherman" will do next time he catches something there? Many conservation lakes have gone C&R only to prevent this kind of poaching and over harvest. While it's technically not within the regs, if the CA owns the land around the lake they can deny access or remove people for not following park rules.

Roy's probably got it right. They're somewhat common in areas I fish. Last year I saw quite a few but this year none so far.