Rybren

I remember my Dad losing his glasses in an outhouse. Had to get his rod (fishing type) out to get them back. What a funny sight - a 70 plus year old man walking through the campground, rod in hand, heading for the crapper. Lots of people asking what species he was going after and what he was using for bait. Oops, wrong hole..... Nothing to report through the ice.

If it's what you want to do, go for it. I applied to SSFC's F&W program some 32 years ago. I didn't get accepted. I did, however get accepted into the U of Guelph F&W biology program. I stuck it out for 3 semesters, but it wasn't for me. I moved to Thunder Bay and did the aviation program at Confederation College. While in Thunder Bay and other spots in NW Ontario, I met and worked with a lot of SSF grads, all of whom had nothing but accolades for the school and F&W program. They all tried to convince me to reapply to SSF, but I never did. Despite the fact that I had great fun working as a bush pilot for a few years and then spending 27+ fantastic years in the Air Force, I still sometimes regret not following my dream and going after that F&W program at SSF. All this to say... If you really want it, go for it. If it doesn't work out for whatever reason, at least you tried. Cheers

Don't know about you, but I've always got the telescoping version of the rod handy (so to speak) Congrats on the wedding - may you have many happy years together (and no unhappy ones)

Hey, I could use one of those this fall on my full combat fishing trips to the Salmon River, NY.

Haven't fished there since the early 70's! Back in the day, it was 1. jump in the boat 2. cast out 3. reel in fish I'm sure that it has slowed down since then. Unfortunately, I don't remember much else.

Kuddos to the photographers. Great pics!

Nice pics. Thx

1st car was a '69 Buick Special (basically a Skylark). Got it off my Dad for free and drove the snot out of it. I had 300,000 MILES on it and it was still going strong when some donkey rear ended me and totalled it while I was stopped at a red light. Once I recovered from the whiplash, I went out and got a '71 Impala. I remember the shock when I left T.O. in that beast to go to college in Thunder Bay and had to pay 70 CENTS A GALLON for gas somewhere around Wawa. I think that the Toronto prices were somewhere around 40 cents.

I used to fish the pond back in the late 60's/early 70's. We'd rent one of the rowboats and have a blast. I remember catching lots of small bass, catfish, and panfish, but can't remember ever seeing a pike. I do recall that there was a pond just outside of the SW corner of the park. It was full of giant goldfish and we'd catch them, bring em home in a pail, then stick them in a wading pool. If they survived, we'd dump them back into the pond at the end of the summer. We'd also fish the Humber River below the Bloor St bridge. Tons of suckers, catfish, and carp. Ahhh, the memories of my youth.....

My wife always said that she didn't like pike - she thought that walleye was the best tasting fish. A couple of weeks ago I caught a few eyes and a 14lb pike (makes boneless filleting easy). I cleaned them up an cooked them identically. During dinner I asked her which was better - the pike or the eye (she didn't know which was which on her plate). She picked the pike! IMHO, if filleted just right (ie. no bones) pike can be just as good as an eye. Of course, if you don't get all of the bones out, they can be a real pain. Luckily, the bones don't affect the taste.

And... Fly v everything else

As always, a great, motivating report. Reminds me of my times up north and makes me yearn to go back. Back in my (much) younger days as a bush pilot, I came across an abandoned, fully finished 2-story log lodge north of Armstrong, Ontario. It had a fully equipped kitchen, bar, and lounge, and had enough out cabins to sleep about 30 people. There was row upon row of 14' boats with 20 horse Mercs and docks galore. The place was absolutely spectacular and had never seen a single guest. As the story goes, much like the place that you found, the local band got funding from the Feds to build the place and then couldn't be bothered to do anything with it. What a shame! Anyway, keep up the great posts. I'm living vicariously through you. Cheers, Rybren.

You can always try flies, wet or dry, on your spinning rig. I like bouncing wet flies about 3 feet behind a split shot. If the fish are really spooked, try tying on a leader of 4lb test. Another technique that I've used around small streams and beaver ponds is to use caddis fly larva. Pick up a few rocks in the shallows and look for little bundles of sticks (about 1-11/2 inches long) The larva will be inside the bundle. Peel of the sticks and thread the larva onto a small hook (it's not easy) and drift away. Again, light line is the way to go. Good luck. Wish I had one of those streams near Ottawa.....

Great news! Enjoy yourself. There's no life like it!