craigdritchie

When the ICAST show opens tomorrow in Las Vegas one of the big news announcements will be that South Bend is launching a whole new line of entry-level fishing tackle kits that are co-branded with Animal Planet's "River Monsters" TV show. You could fly all the way down there to learn this, or just click here to read it now and save yourself the cost of the flight. It's actually a pretty good idea, and I expect these will sell like crazy at Walmarts all across the US. If it gets people to go fishing, then why not? No word on whether or not the stuff will be promoted on the TV show, but somehow I doubt it.

Pretty fishies. And right enough - now you're hooked.

LMAO - We have a winner!!!!

It's Scugog. There's nothing in there a bass rod won't handle.

Lots of big smallmouth in Lake Ontario.

Sportspal is a great canoe, and way better than any inflatable you can buy for under $500. It's pretty stable (provided you don't try anything stupid, like standing up to cast) and the foam blocks will work just fine on the car roof. At one point in life I owned a Zodiac. Great boat, but having to set it up and take it apart all the time became a pain in the butt. It sat in the basement (unused) for years before I finally got rid of it.

Doel Fin works best on boats that are underpowered, or otherwise badly set up. As Terry said, they help you plane but eat a bit of top-end speed due to increased drag. You said the engine is a MerCruiser 305 - what's the boat?

First bass is definitely a largemouth, not a smallie. Bass fishing has been pretty awesome everywhere so far. Lots of water in the spring, and now warm stable weather .... can't ask for better.

No blue cats anywhere in Canada

Agree with BillM - there are a ton of places to fish in Quebec where he can catch pike and walleyes till his arms fall off. Pourvoirie du Balbuzard Sauvage (Literal translation - "Domain of the savage bald buzzard," ..... lots of ospreys there) is in Abitibi region on Lac Trevet. It's not far from Seneterre, and a good drive north of Ottawa (you want a 4x4). There's a very nice lodge with decent boats and absolutely incredible food, since the owner, Anik, is a certified gourmet chef). The main lake has some mongo pike and walleye, but if he wants numbers then it's best to ATV into the back lakes, which are seldom touched. I had a pretty good time when I went (pike to 45 inches, walleyes to about 8 pounds). Click here for the lodge website.

The whole flap over E15 fuel gets better by the day. The latest news - Jeff Wasil, emissions certification engineer for Evinrude, just testified at a US congressional hearing and absolutely slammed the EPA’s proposal to increase the amount of ethanol in pump gasoline from 10 percent to 15 percent. Speaking to the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, he presented all sorts of technical reasons why ethanol is “completely incompatible” with boat engines. If you’re really into this stuff (and you would enjoy picking through 54 pages of techno-babble), you can click here to download a transcript of his full presentation. At the end of the day, it's important to remember that the push to increase the amount of ethanol in pump gas from 10 percent to 15 percent comes from ethanol producers who want to sell more ethanol. It has absolutely nothing to do with decreasing emissions or lowering the price of fuel. The soft parts in an engine (gaskets, seals, fuel lines, etc) are built to handle 10 percent ethanol in the fuel. Increasing that amount to 15 percent is a big enough deal that it will cause damage that will not be covered under warranty. A dozen car companies said as much earlier this week, and boat engine manufacturers have been saying it since day one. This is scary stuff, folks. Gotta keep on top of it.

A "good day" has nothing to do with numbers. Having said that, I would agree with Steve ... in the real world, 2 or 3 good bass per hour is definitely good fishing.

Anyone who tows big boats or big RVs will tell you the same thing - stainless snap hooks, chains crossed and hooks attached underhand is the way to go. Totally agree with lookinforwalleye - the rubber snubbers on bass boat trailers like the Stratos asre cheesy. Swap them out for a proper snap hook - it's less fuss (especially in cold weather) and it won't stretch or break.

Depends where you live. Call any flying club - most offer cheap introductory flights, with the hope people will become hooked and sign up for flying lessons.

Nothing wrong with the Rapala knife you already have. But it is important to keep it razor sharp. Go to a kitchen supply store and buy a very good quality knife sharpener (I like the Henckels) and use it to put a fine hone on the blade prior to each use. You don't need to be "pretty dam strong" to fillet a fish - the knife should do all the cutting for you. If it's a sharp knife, your hand will just follow along for the ride, giving it a bit of guidance on where to go. Sharp knives do not cut fingers, but dull knives do. If the knife is dull, you have to push and that's where the trouble starts. You don't need to spend $50 on a new knife. Spend half that amount on a quality sharpening rod and you'll notice a HUGE difference. ALL KNIVES go dull at some point, and that's when they become (1) ineffective, and (2) dangerous. And I'm not kidding when I say all knives go dull. My son is a professional chef, and he has knives that cost $400. They all need to be sharpened on a regular basis. Know how to tell if your knife is truly sharp? Lay a magazine flat on the kitchen counter, then take the knife and try to shave a chunk off the paper without breaking through and actually puncturing it (easiest to see if you try this on a picture or ad with lots of dark ink, which contrasts against the white paper). If you can do that consistently, then your knife is in good condition. If not ..... then it's dull, simple as that.

Gotta love those low maintenance guzzlers, Roy. I have no problem spending more on fluids if it means fewer headaches :-)

Thanks - been following it very closely for some time now (among other jobs, I sit on NMMA Canada's board of directors, so it's very much on my personal radar). And, I do write about it. Situation changes on a daily basis though, so it's always a challenge to stay on top of it. Long story short - this won't go away any time soon. And, there's a whole raft of all-new fuel tank legislation coming down the pipe that's indirectly connected. If and when it happens, it will raise the cost of a new boat by $500 to $1,000 right from the get-go. Boat manufacturers are going nuts, and rightly so. Politicians are delighted to hop on the environmental bandwagon right now because they think it's what everyone wants. But there's so much misinformation and just plain bull being spread right now (sorry, mods no problem I fixed it for you ) that some of these politicos are making decisions based on sketchy science and half-truths. E15 gas is just the tip of the iceberg.

More on auto makers and boat builders fighting ethanol E15 by clicking here. Ethanol is a solvent, so over time it will damage soft parts like gaskets, seals, fuel lines and such. The association representing boat and engine manufacturers (National Marine Manufacturer's Association) has even taken the EPA to court over this issue. If it's possible to avoid it by using Shell's premium gas, then it might be best to do so.

The boat industry has been fighting ethanol for years, especially with the US Environmental Protection Agency proposing increasing the amount of ethanol in pump gas to 15 percent. This issue should become a bit more interesting now that Ford, Chrysler and GM have announced it could void vehicle warranties. Click here to see a story on this in today's Toronto Star.

I caught one at Elora Gorge while fishing for browns last summer.

The McKenzie Delta - from November till June??? Not even for $5,500 a week!

Been there, done that ... always lots of fun. Charlie is a great guy, though it looks like the gray hairs have begin to catch up to him. Must be all those fish dinners!

Sheepies will whack crankbaits at this time of year. That's always fun to hit the water after work and catch a few of them on Shad Raps or Wally Divers. They fight pretty well.

I prefer casting to trolling, so when conditions are good my go-to is usually a big inline spinner of some sort, normally black bucktail with a chrome willowleaf blade. It's easy to throw all day, easy to fish, has a good hook-up percentage and doesn't generally do too much damage to the fish afterwards. If conditions are tough, I'll go to a jig - black bucktail tipped with an eight-inch black Reaper worm, anywhere from 5/8 ounce up to 2 ounces depending on depth, weed growth and how fast I want to fish it.

Uh huh ... first contact would rip the bottom off it. That's why this boat is so unique.