craigdritchie

I've spent a lot of time fishing up that way and always found the pike to be as dumb as a bag of hammers, regardless of size. Any brand of spinnerbait will work. So will buzzbaits, and weedless spoons. And Slug-Gos. And Mister Twisters. And just about anything else you want to throw at them. They're not exactly picky. Having said that, it's worth paying extra to buy spinnerbaits (and buzzbaits) made out of titanium wire instead of regular wire. They don't catch any more fish, but the titanium wire is springier, so it stands up better to hard-core chewing.

I never had to bother with live bait any time I fished in that neck of the woods. Walleye and pike are both pretty easy to catch. That's why you go to a place like that to begin with. For walleye, all you need are 1/4-ounce and 1/8-ounce jigs. If you bring plastic bodies (grubs, twisters, shad bodies or whatever) you better bring a bunch of them. Better yet, bring some bucktails - they stand up to a lot more chewing, and the fish seem to like them as much as anything else. You'll also catch pike on jigs, but you might want to bring along some weedless spoons (big Johnson Silver Minnows are good), some spinnerbaits and a few buzzbaits. That's honestly about all you need. Bug spray is a given, and perhaps a bug suit would be a good idea this year, with all the rain we've had.

I would venture a guess that single males traveling alone represent the vast majority of people crossing the border every single day.

Fair price really depends what else is out there at the time. Somewhere from $2,000 to $2,500 is probably fair based on your description. This is definitely the right time of year to move it.

Basically every drop of water out that way has pike, walleye and whitefish. Hard to go wrong.

Those F650 pickups have been around for a while. They're popular with guys who pull really massive boats and RVs (go to a Poker Run, with all the big 40-foot cigarette boats, and you'll see dozens of these things). Ford doesn't sell the F650 with a pickup box - you buy it as a chassis cab and have an aftermarket guy install a box from an F350. There are several companies that do these conversions. Chev makes something similar called a Top Kick (or Kodiak) ... basically a small dump truck that guys will order as a chassis cab and put a pickup box on. Definitely makes a statement.

I travel to the States frequently on business, mostly by air, but also by car, and have never had an issue. Only thing I can suggest is that either your name or your vehicle match to another person or vehicle that the US Customs guys have on a watch list. It's the only way to explain it. One of my new co-workers had an issue at the Toronto airport last year when he arrived to travel on business and found himself on the no-fly list! It turns out some other guy with the same name, same age and same ethnic background is on Homeland Security's no-fly list, so my colleague had to spend two hours answering questions in a little room before they concluded he wasn't the dude they were looking for. Of course he missed his flight, which was a major pain, and he went through the exact same ordeal on the return trip. He has since got a NEXUS card and had no further problems.

Those really are beautiful shots, Mike. Thanks for sharing them. That last brookie is now my desktop wallpaper!

It's not terribly unusual for jets to get hit by lightning. But pilots generally avoid thunderstorms at all costs .... lots of wild turbulence, convective air and wind shear .... makes for a rough ride at best.

Adult pike regularly eat baitfish the size of a shoe. Any size will work.

With all the rain we've had this spring (and will continue to get over the weekend) it's going to be a really bad year for the little vampires.

Nice fish, Chris. Not just big, but nicely proportioned too. Congrats!

Pretty cutts.

I'm not clear on how MNR would view the spring-loaded hooks either. If it's just a matter of springing them out from their little pockets, that's one thing. But if the mechanism actively drives the hook point into the fish, that's quite another. I've never held one of these things in my hand, so I have no idea how it actually works. I think Roy hit it on the head - we'll see a lot more people (like me) with one of these things stuck in their hand!

An American company called Bites Back Lures says it will introduce a new line of weedless crankbaits at the ICAST show, held this July in Las Vegas. From what I can gather, these baits use stainless steel spring hooks that remain hidden in a cavity in the body until a fish hits. The hooks then “self deploy in a rearward direction into the mouth of the fish.” The line apparently attaches directly to the hook and not to the body of the lure, sort of like it does on a J-Plug. I have no idea if these things catch fish or not, but I'm willing to take a look. Click here for more info and pics.

Live in the GTA and looking for a job? Yamaha is hiring a Dealer Service Support Coordinator. Click here for the details.

Buddy of mine loves his Xterra. He tows a big boat with it and has no qualms about driving off-road. I'm not sure what year his is, bit it's about the right vintage. This guy isn't exactly gentle with his stuff, yet the truck's never let him down. I also have a co-worker who beats the tar out of his 4Runner at every opportunity. And, he just loves it. Interestingly, the 4Runner was the only Toyota model not involved in their recall troubles last year. Both the Xterra and 4Runner are known to be reliable, dependable trucks with decent towing capacities and good 4x4 capability. Not so sure about the Acura since I don't know anyone who has one.

This past weekend marked the 24th anniversary for the Dofasco Angling Club's annual fishing event in Hamilton. Each year these guys stock a swimming pool in Hamilton with trout and invite hundreds of challenged kids and people with special needs to come out and catch a fish. The Hamilton Rotary Sunshine Club funds the whole works. This is a really, really nice thing that these volunteers do every year, and they should be applauded for it. Next year is the 25th anniversary. Wouldn't it be nice if this kind of program could extend into other communities across Ontario? Perhaps its a project some OFC types might be interested in piking up ...... just thinking out loud. Click here to watch a video of this year's event.

That really is some awesome flying. Good show!

I like the tooth chips. To me, they're sort of like beauty marks.

Most effective bait? Re-read what Roy said. Most fun is another matter. For me, that's anything on the surface. For smallmouth, that would be a Heddon Tiny Torpedo. For buckets, probably a buzzbait.

It's best to get a wheel kit from whoever sold you the lift, but there are a few aftermarket ones out there. These guys are in Minnesota, but they make a good product. The dealer locator on their website shows a dealer in Belleville. I met these guys at the Winnipeg Boat Show back in March. They sell inflatable air bags that mount to the base of your existing lift, so you can roll it and float it into position, then deflate the bags and set it in place. Watch the video on the website to see what I mean. It's really slick, and lets you fine-tune the positioning really easily. Hope that helps.

I've heard of Bluefin - it is a discount brand of light to medium-duty salt-water tackle, made in China and/or Indonesia, mainly sold at discount places in the southern US (solo, you hit it right on the head). You sometimes see this stuff in bait shops along Florida's Gulf Coast, for example, and I recently saw a whole display of it in a grocery store in Texas (no joke!). The company in Asia that manufactures this stuff makes rods and reels for dozens of different brands that are sold all over the world. Some of it is reasonably decent quality, most of it is private label stuff no one has ever heard of. Frankly, I would not buy this. First off, the reel weighs over 14 ounces!! That's a BIG reel. By comparison, a standard 2500 series Shimano Stradic is only around 9 ounces, or 50 percent less. Second, when the reel breaks you will never get parts for it - it's a total throwaway. Finally, based on the ones I've seen, that rod is going to be serious overkill for bass and walleye. It will be stiff enough you'll never be able to cast lighter baits and lures, and the foam rubber grips will guarantee you won't feel a whole lot of bites. (I've always wondered why anyone would take a graphite blank and insulate all that sensitivity with a chunk of foam rubber. Why????) For the same scratch you can buy name brand gear locally, with warranty, so why take a risk buying something sight-unseen?? Pass, if I were you.

I just love the logic in this. Pike are sight feeders. In spite of that, we take something that basically stinks (i.e. a dead fish) and spray with with WD-40 so it smells. Mmmmmkay .....

Well said bigbuck, and I could not agree with you more. But buying the gear isn't the end of it - there also has to be money for ongoing training and maintaining personnel. Our men and women in the CF do such an amazing job with the equipment they have because of the training they receive. That funding needs to be protected, and following Monday's vote, I'm more confident it will be.