craigdritchie

That "someone over the phone" will inevitably be located in the Philippines or India, since these 'virtual banks' need to do everything possible keep their labour costs down. With so much fraud and identity theft problems these days, I prefer to at least have an actual branch I can walk into and have a problem corrected in just a few minutes. That's especially comforting when you travel out of town.

Not exactly - coho and chinook fly over the dam in high water. You see them as far upstream as Hwy 7 pretty well every fall.

Spitfire propeller was introduced last August (click here for announcement, more info, and a video link. Sorry, you'll have to scroll down to August 8 ..... direct link won't work for some reason). Whether it's "worth the difference" or not depends on what it is you're trying to achieve. What's your current prop? Are you happy with it? If not, then why not?

Not a biggie. Closed it off earlier today when the sample size target was met. Thanks to everyone who participated. Craig

Terrific. I spend 25 years writing for fishing magazines across North America, I write a fishing book, I win a bunch of awards for my work, I set two IGFA line class records, I appear on several nationally-syndicated fishing programs .... and I'm remembered as the guy who took a header off the bank and nearly drowned a $6,000 wireless microphone. LMAO!!!!!! Yes, the fame and glory of life as an outdoor writer! Or is it "outhouse writer?" I can never really tell.

Rattletrap - there are a whole bunch of other good shows I didn't list (Kim's included). As I've mentioned, those ones are there for a specific reason. Sharkbait22 - the Lee Wulff video is awesome, thanks for that. FishingBill - I hear you, but the idea with this is to force you to pick one of the options. I did take the test too, and there were some instances where I would have liked an opt-out answer too. For what it's worth, I've created this little survey on behalf of someone else who is trying to gain some insight into Canadian fishing shows, primarily serving the Ontario market. I didn't come up with the questions, I just built the survey and am trying to get as many people as possible to complete it. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to do so. If you haven't yet done so, please do. And, please pass the URL along to other anglers you now. Cheers

I - thankfully - can't picture Dave in a bikini. Nor do I ever want to. (Sorry big guy!) Last time I saw Mariko she was about 12 or 13 years old. Yet even then, as I recall, she was a pretty good angler.

Nope, but if there's enough interest I guess we could do a draw to see who gets my Visa bill this month. Anyone else want in?

Thanks, everyone. Please pass the URL along ... the more responses, the better.

Yes, seeing my sorry carcass on your screen is certainly enough to make anyone look at things through different eyes! Sorry man!

Fair observation. These were the ones identified for me .... not my own personal picks.

You bet! That's only fair.

Bill, liverelease: again, the ones that are listed are there for specific reasons.

Bushart - thanks! I like Karl's show too, but there are specific reasons for listing the ones I did and omitting others ... and that's about all I can say since I don't want to skew any results. Frankie65 - thanks! As someone taking the survey, I would also like a "none of the above" or "all of the above" option. But as someone who has to analyze the data after, sorry, I need you to pick one. Thanks, gents, for your input.

Hi gang, Everyone has an opinion, and I'd like to hear yours! Please do me a favour and take three or four minutes out of your day to complete a short survey on Canadian TV fishing shows. I'm doing a little market research and value your input. Click here to begin the survey. The questions are all multiple choice, and are structured to accept one answer only, so pick your best from the choices available. What's it for? Can't really say at the moment, since it is work-related ..... but the information is quite important to me so I'm grateful for your input. Thanks!

Best time to buy a boat is right now. The majority of manufacturers have some sort of deals or incentives between January and the end of March, coincident with all the boat shows and sports shows across Canada. These can take the form of rebates, discounts, special packages, extended warranties - or all of the above. You can get good deals in the fall too, though that's normally a dealer giving a discount on leftover inventory they need to pay for and don't want to carry through the winter. Perfect world - find a dealer who still has a 2010 model in stock now, and really wants to get rid of it. Then take the extended warranty on you new (i.e. still unregistered) engine. Best of both worlds. Don't leave it too late. Every year guys see the boat they want at some show, then go back to buy it in June and find it's gone and the dealer isn't ordering in any more till the following winter.

Fishing Apps More fishing apps Boating Apps

Sorry, but yes - totally sucked in. Can't trust any "news report" that ends with "click here to order now" .... as this page does.

Mike Lazarus has been pretty highly respected in the muskie community for at least 20 - 25 years. He doesn't need Photoshop to make his fish look big, nor does he need to prove anything to anyone. The guy knows how to catch big muskie, and he's very, very good at it.

Hard to answer that since I have no idea what deals you might find at another show that won't happen for another month. But I would expect most of the deals to be similar, as they have been in the past. I walked through the Toronto Boat Show Friday Nnight during the charity preview evening. I didn't look at the accessories so much as aluminum fishing boats .... there are a LOT of nice aluminums to drool over. Since it's not exactly an expensive day, I'd say it's worth going, especially if you're a serious buyer.

I gotta hire that kid next time I paint a boat for duck hunting.

Some ideas here here and here

Very nice boat, and very well made (click here for a factory tour). The dual console will eat up some amount of room in any 17 foot boat, but the bow area is a bit bigger than the picture suggests. Go see it at a boat show and ask if you can climb aboard to scope it out properly. The engine pairing depends on the dealership, and you can get that boat with any brand outboard you like (if you want it with a Merc or a Yamaha, go buy it from a dealer that also sells Merc or Yamaha). Suzuki makes a very nice engine though, and I would have no hesitation recommending one. I know or quite a few in commercial use, especially on the west coast.

I expect _________ might have been good today. But I went to ............. and it was outstanding. It should be even better tomorrow.

Nice ideas, but I think y'all would be better off approaching an existing internet or mail-order retailer and seeing about working out some sort of group discount - call it an OFC loyalty program of some sort. I think most here would choke upon seeing the real, actual costs of setting this sort of business operation.