craigdritchie

I used to fish a lot. I worked as a full-time outdoor writer for more than 25 years. Over the course of that time, I fished an average of three or four days each week. Every week. 52 weeks a year. Year after year after year. Some times I fished five or six days a week. There would be stretches where I would fish every single day for two or three weeks straight. I can't even begin to tell you how many frequent flier miles I racked up in that time, or how many miles I logged behind the wheel of various vehicles driving to and from fishing spots every year. Used to buy monofilament by the case (12 x 3,000 yard spools) and would always burn through a half-dozen cases each year. It's proably safe to say that for more than two decades, the vast majority of my meals were served through drive-through windows. Just ask my ex-wife. After a couple of decades at that crazy pace, I burned out and didn't touch a rod again for almost five years. But eventually, the interest in fishing comes back. I think fishing, like everything in life, is all about balance. Some times, a little break just makes you appreciate it all the more.

Doesn't troll worth beans, Roy. I drove the prototype at the Miami Boat Show three years ago when it was first announced (I drove two of them actually, both screwed to the back of a 39-foot Contender). But the sound ... OMG ... closest thing yet to a Corvette on the water. Photos from the 2010 Miami Boat Show:

"Northern" Ontario is a lot farther from Toronto than six hours.

Definitely beats what I caught for Thanksgiving. Looky: http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/10/15/marine-science-teacher-finds-carcass-of-giant-sea-creature-off-california-coast/

It's important to remember that every government has its "best before" date. And accordingly, media always hates the current government (whatever party it is) and feasts on presenting stories of scandal and crisis, because quite frankly, that's what sells newspapers and drives viewership. Go back through history and you will see clearly that no government has ever escaped this. The media has hated them all. While I discount a lot of what I read in the papers, I do accept information from credible, unbiased sources like the auditor general. And given that this is the third time the auditor general has identified major problems with the Ontario Liberals' accounting (the other two being e-health and Ornge, at about $1 billion apiece), this government has clearly reached its expiry date and needs to go out in the compost toute-de-suite.

That's a nice looking bucket. Sometimes the big ones get pretty nasty looking, but that one still has all its fins lol! Nice fish.

Garmin Nuvi for me too. Lifetime map updates, great screen, easy to use. I'm very happy with it.

Ted Takasaki?

That's not what I meant Terry. I don't care if someone wants to fish the dock. I fish docks too. But I do find it unacceptable when some guy comes roaring up to the dock, cuts the 225 hp about two boat lengths away, then proceeds to give me a dirty look for simply being there at all - as if my mere presence had somehow ruined his day. It isn't about who has rights to this or that or whatever. It's about common courtesy and consideration for others. Too many fishermen have neither. And often, the worst ones are plastered from head to toe with various tackle company logos. As I said, I like to fish docks too. But I won't fish one if the people are around. There are many other docks to fish, so I back off and respect their privacy. Am I wrong to expect the same in return?

You are a sick and twisted young man. No wonder we get along!

Wow, go fishing for a day and look at all I miss .... Mike, I couldn't agree more. My big beef with internet boards has always been their power to expose entire runs of fish to instant and concentrated pressure. I always hate it when someone posts a picture or a description that identifies specific spots (especially those "I went 18 for 26" posts) because you know the next day there will be 50 new vehicles parked at that very spot. If 100 guys read their post then each tell two or three friends ... and they tell two or three friends ... well, you know how it ends. I have no beef with magazines or TV shows ... yes, we all know the spots. But to Mike's point, we don't all descend on the place when the fish are heavily concentrated at that precise moment, and at their most vulnerable. By giving away the 'when' the internet has the power to seriously damage those fish populations, in a way that magazines or TV shows never could. There have always been attention hogs who would do just about anything for a couple of free jigs ... or just to feed their own egos. They seem to need attention at any cost. Maybe their moms didn't pick them up enough when they were infants. Yup, what he said. Trout and salmon populations are fairly fragile things. It looks like a lot of fish when they're crammed into a little stream, but when you start harvesting those fish, it cuts the number of breeders very quickly. It isn't just about angler harvest either. Three years ago a run of salmon came up the Credit really, really early. There were about a dozen of us who knew they were in, and we had a blast fishing for them. Then some idiot put a post and photo on a message board (not this one). The next day, there were no fish left in the pool I had been fishing, but probably 30 slit carcasses all along the bank. Goes to show, you cannot control who sees your post. It isn't always the people you necessarily want to share it with. So thanks, idiot. Hope feeding your ego was worth it. It's not just in rivers though Lew, it's a behavour problem that goes farher than that. Anyone who has ever owned a cottage will know what I mean. It's a summer Saturday morning, you're sitting on your dock with a coffee, and you watch a parade of idiots in bass boats pulling up to your dock one after the other, some of them even give you the death stare because you're out there interrupting their fishing. I mean, dude, it's my dock. Buzz off. There are countless stories of tournament guys (some of them probably PRO STAFF ... LOL) who blatantly cast around swimmers. The complete lack of courtesy and sense of entitlement isn't restricted to people in waders. Sorry to say. I love that photo. And that particular spot. I have a similar picture, in fact, taken more than 30 years ago. Except mine isn't as pretty as your picture. I don't really understand the whole pro staff thing. I totally get someone wanting to make a living in the fishing business. I did, and I put food on the table for more than 25 years by writing about fishing as a full-time job. I totally understand that to do that, you have to pay your dues when you start out, and do a lot of work that isn't exactly lucrative. Everyone in the industry has, at one time or another, worked their tail off for not very much reward - me, Bob and Wayne Izumi, Big Jim, Mark Kulik, Mark Krupa, Al Lindner, Dave Mercer, John Kerr, Bill Dance, Ang Viola, Pete Bowman ... I can name names all afternoon. But while we may have all worked hard for humble rewards, we never gave it away for free. There's a huge difference between paying your dues, and paying out-of-pocket to be a product shill. These pro staff guys just don't get it - they don't understand that by paying to work for nothing, that's all they'll ever make. There is no career at the end of that road. The only other reason to do it, then, is ego - pure and simple.

I'm absolutely speechless. Wow. Just ... wow.

Safe spawn indeed. Gives a whole new meaning to "soft plastics." Wow.

Went for a walk down a local creek to see how the salmon snagfest has been progressing. Now at this time of year, I'm accustomed to seeing dead fish that are slit from their butts to their chins. And I'm used to seeing a lot of garbage. After all, we're talking about the salmon run, and all the riff-raff that attracts. But this was just too much ... Dead chinny, with an empty whiskey bottle and a condom. What on earth goes on down there at night ???????

Bulk mono or (more often) dacron for me too. All you're trying to do is bulk the spool a bit. You're right to worry for your credit card, since it's pretty easy to get carried away when buying floats. I should be a shareholder at Drennan by now. Thill, too. As for hooks, match the size of the bait. For the places I fish, 8's and 10's work fine. The only time I ever use the tiny stuff is when fishing single eggs or crickets, and you need the fine wire. Otherwise, they're too hard to tie on the line LOL.

I used Abu 6500C / 7000C reels for years and they worked just fine. Presently, I use Calcutta 400s ... they're a bit smoother and perhaps a bit more durable. Curados work well too for throwing smaller, lighter stuff, mainly jigs and buzzbaits.

Kesagami is definitely fun. But dude, you really need to get to the prairies. Same numbers of fish, but they all have that much more meat on them.

Nice idea, but banning roe won't do anything to stop this kind of stuff. Snagging fish is already illegal, yet hundreds of people still do it every weekend. Same thing for fishing in the sanctuary, or for slitting fish for eggs then leaving the carcass to rot. Happens all the time, in spite of being blatantly illegal. Whoever chopped and hacked that brown has already broken one, and likely two provincial fishing laws. Do you really think they're worried about breaking a third one by fishing with roe if it's ever banned? Not a chance. It is pretty rare to see a C.O. on the river in the fall, when they're already busy with hunting season. Even if you do get caught doing something wrong, what's the fine? $100? It's not exactly a strong deterrent. Guys will be right back out there the next day, doing the same stuff all over again. I'm not defending this, I'm just pointing out the reality. It's already illegal to snag fish, to fish in sanctuaries, to fish for species that are out of season, or to parade up and down the river at night with nothing but a big landing net, but it all happens on an a daily basis. So why would people who are already flaunting the law care about a ban on roe? Guys who slit fish for eggs will continue to do so, because they know the odds of being caught are basically zero. Banning roe is not the answer. Increasing enforcement, and laying heavier fines that really would act as a deterrent, is.

Why can you clearly see shadows of the guy's legs ... but no shadow of the fish he's holding out in front of them?

Alex, I'll take "Helped by Photoshop" for $400

Absolutely agree. Starcraft makes a great boat that is well known for its ability to handle rough water. Sylvan, Starcraft, SmokerCraft and at least some Legend models are all built in the same factory in New Paris, Indiana. I've taken the tour of the production lines, and seen all four brands in various stages of production. Although these different brands are all built at the same factory, it's important to note that manufacturing techniques are quite different for each. Starcraft boats, for example, use an internal framework that is partially assembled before it is installed into the empty hull, where SmokerCrafts have the framing constructed inside the hull from the start. There are different advantages to each method, and the result is that each brand rides a bit differently in the water. You can click here to read an article I wrote for Boatguide magazine in 2012 that shows exactly how they're made. Josh is correct ... Sylvan no longer sells aluminum fishing boats. Their pontoons are very popular - to the point they seriously can't build them fast enough and simply needed more manufacturing space, so the fishing boats (which were a small part of Sylvan's business) got the boot.

There probably are only two or three Evinrude dealers in the GTA. The dealer locator on their website would be the best source of info.

Nice fish!

Rock bass, some smallmouth and weiner walleyes, lots of chub. Not as good as it looks.