craigdritchie

Minn Kota has been selling its Talon electric anchor pole for a while now. If you haven't seen one, it's a pole that descends vertically from the boat to hold it in position while you cast, sort of like a high-tech version of shoving the paddle down to bottom. They're mainly for keeping the boat from moving in the breeze while fishing shallow water, and they work really well. Anyway, Minn Kota has launched a new website to show how tough this thing is, with movies of it being "torture tested" by being subjected to flamethrowers, shotgun blasts, being dragged behind a truck, beat on by a cage fighter and tossed around by a Scottish highlander. If nothing else, it's pretty entertaining stuff. Click here to have a peek.

Gotta agree with Henry, buy the boat here. For a boat in that size/price range, whatever money you might save will be eaten up by the currency exchange, and your time/gas/hassle of going down there to see boats, arrange a mechanic to go with you, etc etc. Just not worth it, especially when you'll have zero post-sale service cross a border. At least here, if you buy it from a dealer, you have that.

The handful of rivers that are fishable are still really, really cold from snow melt. And most of the fish are half-thawed holdovers from the fall. Still, anything beats standing on a frozen lake.

Abasolutely! The restaurant is located near a canal, where there were a bunch of people set up with rod stands, catapaults, the whole works. They take carp fishing seriously there. And nope, the restaurant doesn't likely get its fish that way. It's almost 100% C&R from what I gather.

Looking for a place to eat in Brugges, Belgium, and found this place, Den Gouden Karpel ("the good carp"). I didn't order carp (at least not on purpose), but the rest of the menu was really good. Excellent fish and lobster chowder. I skipped the calamari though ... it looked too much like deep fried carp lips. MJL, you would love this place!

Bill, if you want to try some new stouts ..... http://www.burlingtonbeerfest.com

Lockdown in 3 .... 2 ..... 1 ......

Loophole in the law that lets you fish C&R even after you've bonked your limit. No different than guys on GB streams who continue to fish for steelhead after bonking their daily limit.

Ouch http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/27/highway-400-closed-between-highway-89-and-mapleview-drive-after-massive-96-car-pileup-near-barrie/

Nice, coming from the guy who was in the ditch. I hope you pointed that out to him!

When the guy basically admitted in a radio interview that he broke the law by killing two fish when the limit is only one, he painted MNR into a corner and they now have no choice - they have to respond to it, whether they have better things to do or not. I have mixed feelings about it. If his second fish was just another four pounder, and he still whacked it, then would I still be willing to cut him some slack? Probably not so much.

Is this better? Man it's been a long winter.

Hit a deer at any speed and Lew is correct, you can't help but do major damage to your vehicle. At highway speed, you may write it off altogether (depends on the value of the vehicle, of course). I hit a small doe a few years ago on Hwy 6 just outside of Guelph ... over $8,000 damage to the front of my pickup (fender, hood, windshield, grille, radiator, battery, alternator, etc). The deer whistles are absolutely useless IMHO ... I had two mounted on the front bumper of the pickup when I hit Bambi. Best you can do is slow down and drive defensively.

Classic story Mike, thanks for that laugh. Now I can't get back to work. I can still picture the little guy leaping through the air Chuck Norris style. LOL!

40/40. That was really easy. It would have been fun to include more juveniles and parr.

+1 If you tow a trailer with a vehicle that has a zero rating for towing, and your insurance company wants to be sticky about it, they could void your insurance coverage saying you used the vehicle for a purpose it was not designed for. Check first and get written confirmation that towing a boat with the Mazda won't affect your collision or liability coverage. It's a good idea to let the insurance company know you're towing anyway, since your vehicle's policy will usually also cover the trailer if you're in an accudent (though it won't cover the boat itself). If you car is still under warranty, that could also be a potential consideration. Adding the hitch could void the warranty. Check first. CAA has some general towing info here that you may find helpful. You can ignore the BC and Alberta stuff at the bottom of the page. There are additional considerations when you tow in the mountains, but they most likely won't apply to your situation. Assuming no problems with insurance or warranty coverage, I still wouldn't go above 1,000 pounds on a car the size of a Mazda 3. The car may be able to pull more weight, but comments about stopping and maintaining control in emergency situations are spot-on. Consider a good 14-foot or possibly 16-foot tinny, perhaps one like this or like this, with a flat floor, livewell and some storage. Even with a 20hp four-stroke, a full tank of gas, a couple of batteries and some gear, you'll still be well under 1,000 pounds. You could possibly go up to a small side console like this but by the time you rig it up you'll be approaching a safe weight limit (especially if you have to tow it home on a rainy day, when it's going to be even heavier). I'd personally go with the tiller boat and enjoy a bit more interior space.

According to Environment Canada, this winter has brought the most expansive Great Lakes ice coverage in two decades. It should drastically reduce overwinter evaporation and preserve water levels for spring. Add in all the snow melt and I can see the potential for a lot of flooding in some areas. Click here to read all about it.

Nice idea, but if you bring the vendors in at no charge, how do you cover the cost of renting the Direct Energy Centre for a week? Do you any idea what that costs? How do you cover the cost of temporary event insurance, temporary event staffing (including all the parking lot attendants, cleaners, people in ticket booths ... they may work for the CNE but for that week, you're paying their salaries) ... not to mention electricty, carpet rentals for the aisles, facilities charges, security, advertising/marketing ... none of that stuff is free you know. It doesn't take long till that five day show costs well over a half-million bucks before you've even opened the doors. And when you do open up, you better hope attendance is good because you have exactly five days to make enough money to pay all of your company's bills and all of your staff salaries for the rest of the year. Still think it's a "cash grab from top to bottom?" Shows are expensive business. But they're good entertainment.

Beyond tracking codes in the photos, there are several agencies that exist specifically to verify the copyright of photos used on websites and publications. They all work on commission, so they're fairly aggressive in chasing stuff down. I use one of them, and get a couple of cheques each year from people I have never even heard of.

Cliff, The value of a photo depends on a lot of things, but the short story is it comes down to seven main considerations: 1. Where it will be used (i.e. a publication distributed to public, or something used internally) 2. The size the image will appear (bigger pictures cost more) 3. The number of copies that will be distributed (the more they print, the higher the price for the picture) 4. Who's doing the buying, and what their budget is. Obviously large corporations can (and do) spend more than governments, who in turn spend more than mom-and-pop businesses. 5. Will the photo be reproduced anywhere online (i.e. website, or on a downloadable PDF). 6. How badly the customer needs the picture. 7. Photographer's reputation and therefore how much they can get away with. Rough pay scales in Canada: For a smaller photo, up to about one-third of a page ..... Mom-and-pop business, using the picture for a brochure or catalogue: $25 to $100 Government: Small circulation (under 50k) publication: $50 - $200 Medium circ (60k - 250k) publication: $100 - $400 Large circ (anything more than 250k copies) publication: $300+ Major Corporation: Small circulation (under 50k) publication: $100 - $200 Medium circ (60k - 250k) publication: $150 - $600 Large circ (anything more than 250k copies) publication: $500+ Surcharges..... If they want to use the photo in a larger size, say one-half page: increase above rates by 20 percent. Full page: increase above rates by 50 percent. Front cover: double the rates. Important - if the photo also appears online: increase again by 50% and insist it appear in low resolution only (i.e. less than 150 DPI) to protect against someone copying and re-using it. Note these rates are all based on one-time use. Your friend continues to own the photo and all rights to its future use. If they want to have full ownership of the photo, then negotiate using these values as a starting point. Personally, I have never sold full ownership of a photo (known as "all rights") for less than $2,500 per shot. Bottom line is, there is no hard and fast guide to this. Throw them a figure and see how they respond. Your friend might feel it's better to take a lower amount and at least get some cash, or they might feel inclined to say no thanks. That's an individual decision. Feel free to PM if you want further info.

Bill - Starcraft is very much in the fishing boat business. A lot of the US walleye tournament guys run their big boats (Fishmaster, STX, Viper, etc). You might be thinking of Sylvan, which quit making fishing boats two years ago so they could concentrate on pontoons. Roy - I spent the better part of a week down there testing boats last August, and certainly did fish out of the 176. For a 17 footer it's nice and stable, which is the result of the bottom plates running full-width for most of the boat's length. You can put two big guys up front and it doesn't budge. The other benefit is that it doesn't draw much water, so you can get right into the lilypads no problem. I also like that when you're up front by yourself, it's still low enough you can reach over the side and lip a bass without really having to reach for it. For the Kawarthas, Muskokas, Ottawa River/Larry, Quinte, etc. it's a really nice boat that will fit in the garage and tow easily behind a small SUV like a Highlander or an Escape. The 176 is a semi-V hull, so even with that wide bottom it will still eat up Kawartha-sized waves no problem. But someone who fishes mostly on big water like Erie or Georgian Bay would honestly be better off with something built for that, like an STX. One thing I should add ... that 135 E-TEC is an absolute rocket. Gorgeous motor!

Boatguide magazine just published my boat test on Starcraft's new Starfish 176 SC - a nice 17-foot side console model that was powered by an E-TEC 135 HO. You can click here to read a copy of the boat test online. Or better yet, go buy a magazine and see even more.

Mark Romanack posted a new video on YouTube today, on trolling rivers for walleyes. Interesting stuff. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE5fnrkSPiE&feature=youtu.be

In that size range there isn't a bad engine out there. Yamaha, Suzuki, Tohatsu/Mercury (Tohatsu makes Mercury's small OBs), Honda, BRP, all make excellent, reliable small outboards. Each one has its fans and detractors, but all work well. What matters more is the dealership you buy from. Remember, post-sale service counts for a lot, and the lowest price isn't always the best deal.

Because bass are not the only things living down there!