craigdritchie

Correct. The Winnipeg store on Ellice Ave. used to be a S.I.R. store. The two new stores (Edmonton and Saskatoon) are brand new builds, and will look like the US stores.

I'd like them to open a store here, but as long as they're willing to ship stuff to my door, I'm a happy boy.

I don't know about your part solo, but it's definitely sour grapes on mine!!!! When I was doing a ton of fly-ins I was always amazed at how many guys would show up without even basic stuff like line and steel leaders. They would arrive in town and spend the afternoon shopping for tackle (and booze). Then, fly out first thing the following morning. It was nuts. I can see the profitability in the western locations even without the fly-in business though. Both Edmonton and Saskatoon are absolutely flush with oil money these days, and most guys there fish and hunt (probably a higher proportion than in southern Ontario). The Edmonton boat show was two weeks ago - you would not believe how many high-end boats they sold there, and by high-end, I mean $50k Pro-Vs and $60k Rangers. Waaaaay more than at Toronto. (Belive it or not, the Edmonton boat show is LARGER than Toronto's). Guys out west have money to spend. Figure that with the comparatively low land values, and yeah, I can see profit in having stores there. That said - I still want a store in Ontario!!!!

Last summer I posted that Cabela's was looking to open retail stores here in Canada. They did open a store in Winnipeg (the former S.I.R. mail order location on Ellice Avenue), then announced a new 70,000 square foot store for Edmonton. Today they announced a third store, this one being built in Saskatoon and set to open in spring 2012. These three locations make a lot of sense for Cabela's, given these cities are the launching off spots for most of the northern fly-in fishing lodges. No "official" word yet of a store in Ontario, but I am told privately it is coming. More info here.

Or Johnny Bass?

Go Canucks. Loafs were never even in the hunt. I said as much last September.

Achilles is a good boat, and $3,000 would be about right for a 13-foot model of circa-2002 vintage (the present model SGX132 sells for about $4,000). Most Achilles boats are made of a hypalon construction, so they're MUCH tougher than a PVC boat. Hypalon is what they use on commercial whale watching boats, that run out into the open ocean all day, every day, year round. It's pretty tough stuff. The downside is that it is also heavier than a PVC boat. That 13-footer might weigh close to 200 pounds. If that's a concern, then a small tinny might be a better option. The company website is http://www.achillesinflatables.com Check the proper model of the boat, and you should be able to find the correct specs and probably get an owner's manual. The Honda is a great motor.

Uh huh. Should be stellar for a few weeks.

Simple question, and simple answer. How much do you want to spend on boat gas?

There are all kinds of portable barbecues available for use on a boat. Some of them clamp on railings, others mount into rod holders or plug into the pedestal seat base plate (as you mentioned you want to do). Go rummage around a couple of boating stores and you'll find all kinds of BBQs. Splurge for a stainless steel model to avoid corrosion issues. Nothing beats having hot food on the water. Just be ready when other guys fishing nearby stare at you like you just shot their dog.

Nice website, Justin. Looks great.

Here are two of my favourite steelhead pools. I've never seen many other anglers on either one, because I don't think very many people are willing to walk as far as I do or burn as much gas as I do searching for fishing spots. Usually, I have these two gems pretty much to myself. This first one is absolutely murder to get to, but worth the approx. two kilometre walk. It's perfect because .... well, look at it! What's not to like? There's a spring creek that flows into this gem (on the right), and that influx of colder water means it usually has dropbacks much later than other pools around it. Depth down the middle is about 12 feet, and the bottom is rocks of various sizes. It continues to the left by maybe the same distance again before it shallows out. This one is also a rough hike to reach - not far, but the trail back up to the car is murder. And, it's a long drive from home ... definitely a weekend trip. It's always dependable for steelhead, and it has big resident brookies too. If you stand on that little point of land on the left, where the rapids enter from upstream, you can drift the whole thing with your float reel. It's major fun when you drift from there and hook a big steelie in the tailout! The pool empties into a couple hundred metres of insane white water rapids. The pool immediately upstream of here is pretty good too.

Chessy - OMNR stocked the Ganaraska River with rainbow trout very heavily throughout the 1970s, prior to and especially after the Corbett Dam fishway was completed in 1974. MNR poured in excess of 100,000 rainbow trout smolts into the river each and every year until 1979. I know this because I was there to write about it, and in fact I helped stock some of those fish. These rainbows came from domestic brood stock at the Normandale Hatchery. With growing levels of natural reproduction, MNR stopped stocking rainbows into the Ganaraska after 1979. The runs peaked in the early 1980s, with something like 18,000 adults passing through the fishway in 1983 or 1984, I believe. Steelhead runs have declined ever since, and now hold at around 4,000 to 5,000 adults through the ladder every spring. The main reason the run declined so abruptly is because of insane fishing pressure and too many people killing too many fish. Most go on stringers, but many thousands of smolts are also killed each year by accident, when they're hooked by people fishing for adult steelhead. Even more eggs are killed by idiots who wade through the redds. You see this every spring. Reducing the bag limit from five fish to two fish will help. It isn't the final answer, but it definitely will help and should be encouraged by all anglers.

It's very much a work in progress .... and can only improve! Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Not sure what I'm getting myself into, but I decided to start a blog. Click here to have a peek. I have no idea what this thing will evolve into, or even if I will stick with it, but let's find out. It's a good way for me to scratch my writing bug, if nothing else, and that's always been fun. Hope you enjoy.

That is absolute nonsense - at one time the Ganaraska was one of the most heavily stocked rivers in all of Ontario, receiving in excess of 100,000 steelhead per year. Chessy, where do you think the fish came from in the first place? You do realize that rainbows are not native to the Great Lakes, right? It was many years of stocking huge numbers of fish, plus building the fishway on Corbett Dam in the late 70s, that resulted in the steelhead population developing into what it is today.

I would agree with that if we were still living in 1986. But as has been noted, you can buy a new Mac for about $750. A comparable PC is about $600. That's not much of a price difference, especially when I see how much time PC guys spend doing system updates and virus scans and all sorts of other nonsense. I open my Mac and it just works. That's all I want.

Mark on the pike could be scar tissue, but more likely some type of cyst. The fish may not even see it.

If he didn't say it first, I would have. Just get a Mac and say buh-bye to Bull problems forever.

Mexico Bay, on the NY side, is usually dependable.

Yup, close to shore in shallow water is where it's at. As water temps begin to warm up, fish move out and deeper. Right now, they're pretty much right on the beach.

Misfish - the big issue is with who leaked the pricing info to the website in the first place. Pricing info is considered to be confidential business information. When the company provides the pricing info to a dealer, or a sales rep, there is an expectation of confidentiality. If they pass the info along to a third party (like a website), then that's a breach of contract, and we're potentially talking jail time. If the boat company gets an injunction against the website, they can find out where they got the info.

Interesting update - J&D Acquisitions, the company that owns Larson, SeaSwirl, Fincraft and Triumph boats, has apparently filed a lawsuit against this new website today, exactly one day after it went live. They're seeking a court injunction that would shut the website down. Stay tuned!!

I know - bummer! I was looking forward to seeing The Eyebrows in action! Soon, man. I did get out Tuesday, and it was unbelievable.

Yeah, sorry about that Mark. Everyone has their cross to bear in life! Steelies are on fire right now. I'm off to Calgary next week, but we should definitely get out there asap after I get back.