craigdritchie

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.

This just has to be shared with the world - click here to watch an 18 foot jet boat go ripping up a BC river, bouncing over rocks and logs, scraping through riffles that are barely ankle deep. It gives a whole new meaning to running a boat in shallow water! (Admin - sorry for the redirect, not sure how to show a video in a post).

The only problem with the boom box idea is that as soon as you shut the music off, the raccoons will come right back.

They're bad enough under a deck. I had one rip a hole in my shed over the winter and destroy a $400 solar blanket for the pool. Plus, I had to fix a hole in the wall big enough you could pass a toaster through it. If they get into your attic, the damage can run into the thousands.

Easy to get rid of them, and without risk of a fine. First, go to Rona or Home Depot and buy some animal-proof screening (sort of like heavy duty chicken wire). You'll need enough of it to go all the way around the deck. You will also need a one-way wire animal door. Dig a trench all around the perimiter of the deck, at least 8 inches deep and about 8 inches wide. The screening comes in either a roll, or in long rectangular sheets, and is usually about two feet high. Bend it length-wise at a right angle, so it's now about 18 inches high and it has a lip that sticks out by around 6 inches. Position this screening along the facing of the deck, in the trench you've dug, so the lip faces out from the deck, and screw it tightly into the edge of the deck all the way around. Also screw it to the brick, where the deck attaches to the house. Then bury the base of the screen and stomp the earth down so it's well compacted. That one-way door gets installed right where the beasts have dug their hole. Install it backwards, so they can get out, but they can't get back in. The lip that you buried prevents them from digging under the wire. Raccoons and skunks usually have a couple of back-up dens elsewhere in the neighborhood. If it's too much effort for them to get back under your deck, they will go elsewhere. And, you'll never have to worry about them ever coming back.

When I was a kid there was a guy a few houses down the street who decided to chop a number of big branches off his neighbor's maple tree, since they hung over his yard, right over his swimming pool. It was a huge tree and these were really big branches, so it was quite the ordeal to watch them come down. Problem was, removing all that weight from one side left the tree unbalanced, and it blew over in a windstorm a few months later. It took out some hydro lines and completely wiped out the guy's detached garage, along with the car that was in it. Not sure how that was resolved, but I bet the insurance companies got their lawyers involved pretty quickly.

Some excellent advice in this thread, particularly the tackle notes from Whitemikeca. If you're not quite ready to splurge on a pile of new gear, you can use a heavy bass outfit for muskie fishing provided you (1) stick with smaller baits, and (2) are willing to target smaller fish - "smaller fish" being up to about 40 inches, or around 16 - 17 pounds. With a heavy bass rod and 50 pound braid, you're confined to using lures like smaller inline spinners (Mepps Muskie Killer etc), spinnerbaits up to maybe 1 ounce, buzzbaits, twitchbaits (Slug-Go etc), jigs, spoons (big Johnson Silver Minnow) and small muskie crankbaits (Rapala Super Shad, small Depth Raider, etc). One of my all-time favourite muskie spots (and the place where my avatar pic was taken) is just loaded with these guys, and it's an absolute blast to go in there and catch a dozen (or more) muskies in a day on heavy bass gear. You don't always load the boat, but it's always fun (click for another pic). BIG TIP -> if this appeals to you, seriously consider fishing rivers instead of lakes. Smaller muskie usually hang shallower than larger ones do, and the cooler water and higher oxygen content in rivers (compared to lakes) gives the fish a much, much better chance of survival.

I love it!! That definitely blows away the Hulkster. Gotta hand it to you man ..... that's original! Definitely makes a statement!

So far as I understand it (and I may be wrong) the only "confirmed" address is the one that your credit card is associated with. The only way to have a confirmed address in the US is to have a credit card drawn on an American bank, with the home address recorded as being in the US. It can be done if you have relatives in the US or own property there ... it's just awkward.

Parts always cost more when you buy them separately - the higher cost reflects the additional, separate packaging, shipping and warehousing expense. Try buying a car sometime, one part at a time. A $20,000 Toyota will you you nearly 50 grand. edit - typo

Don't need to go to the Soo. There are still a few fishies hanging around down here, if you know where to look, for those willing to brave the heat and the mosquitoes.

Totally agree with Dr. Sal ..... whack the fish as soon as you bring it into the boat, gut it (gills included) and get it on ice immediately. The result is much better than something that has been stressed out marinating in soupy-warm live well water full of fish feces and urine while you roll on down the highway.

If you live in southwestern Ontario and want a fun job in the marine industry, Yamaha is looking for a new Dealer Service Support Coordinator. According to a job posting on Yamaha's website, the position includes "providing dealer support through telephone contact in areas of technical assistance, parts delivery, troubleshooting, and warranty authorizations. The candidate will be responsible for coordinating dealer administration with respect to warranty claims and part returns, advise dealers on service, warranty, and parts and accessories policies and procedures. This role may require periodic visits and inspections to dealerships to provide service support." They want applicants to have two to three years of customer service experience and be fluently bilingual (English/French). If that's you, then click here to go to Yamaha's website where you can find all the details.

Cardinals were awesome reels .... for the 1970s. I'm still amazed at the insane amounts of money some people paid for them in the 90s. I sold one of mine for around $250 .... not bad for a reel that's realistically worth $50 at best.

This situation is completely ridiculous. Email your MP with the links, and ask them to justify this kind of stupidity. BillyBob - thanks for posting this. (edit - typo)

Bingo. Another reason to always keep good spots under your hat.

Hi Bernie, Glad you like the layout, and thanks again for sharing your pics. I'm sure the readers will enjoy it. I only just saw the final product myself the other day, as I've been away at the Korea International Boat Show (click here for pics). Headhunter - it will show up online eventually, but for now we want people to go out and buy the actual paper magazine, rather than read it online for free. That's how we pay the bills, after all. Cheers

I'm not sure what a test would achieve. People are required to take driving tests, and look at the carnage on our roads every day. I can see a fishing license test becoming nothing more than another cash grab - nothing more.

it's not too girlie :-)

There are some really nice pontoon boats out there. There's a guy on Couch who has one with a 200 E-TEC on it. It almost keeps up to the bass boats!

You have to look carefully, but yeah, there is. It's one of those things where some people see it and some don't. Truth is, it was the wife who pointed it out to me. I didn't notice at first either.

Muskymatt ..... so what are you trying to say?