jwl

that's some of the best times to go coach....I grew up fishing the Niagara, and love it!!!, I know the river very well and have my most fun in the winter I would have to say.

great going, nothing like putting in a few hard days and coming up with number of hogs like that

right on man!!! congrats on the PB, bet that got the blood pumpin

the old fashioned way...just go out there and scout around and fish and see what I come up with and devlope patterns from there, heck I have only had a fish finder/depth finder in any boats my familly has had for the last say7-8 years and still caught lots of fish in lots places before that

when we got our new dock a couple years ago we where thinking on a floating dock, at the time the "dock place" advised us it would cost about 3 grand to get a decent set up this was about 4 years ago. and that you have to have a cement base in the water to anchor it too at the front. being as we where not in the price range to spend over 3 grand on a decent dock we found a pretty good deal on the kind with the aluminum framework where the 4X4 sections of dock slip right into the frame..it's 24 feet long, in 2 sections, one is 16X4 the other is 8X4 for the ramp part from shore that attaches to the main section...easy as pie to put in and out of the water...I can take mine out of the water myself without even having to get in the water. It was actually right around the same price as building something simular all out of wood when I drew up a plan and costed it out, and the frame will virtually last forever. just a thought, I realize you where looking for something that doesn't really have to come out, but IMO even a floating dock with a cement anchoring point if the ice was bad enough it would probably shove around your cement.

this poses other questions as well...what if you borrowed the boat and the owner of the boat did not give you a copy of the registration???, and the question on the 14 footer is also pretty good, like I stated before, I have no "ownership" for my 14 footer, and don't even know if I can find the bill of sale for it, never been asked to produce it....the bigger boat..yes I have a photocopy in my tackle bag

nice mixed bag..gotta love the mighty Niagara. Paul from Cast Adventures is a pretty solid guy to get out with for the day, he has a good knack for showing his clients an A1 time.

looks like a pretty good start to your season there Steve, that one is a freekin hog

hey it happens This time of year you have a couple other options, if you use a swivel/keel sinker set up you can run harnesses and body baits down pretty good, right now you should be able to catch fish anywhere in the 45-60fow range fishing between 20-25 feet down. Long lining works pretty good to get down to that depth with line on the lighter side. Also have you ever tried a 3 way "cheater rig" (what we call it)...if you run a deep diver, Hot-N Tot's work great for this....run the Hot-N-Tot on the bottom of the 3 way rig with a pretty long lead on it, say 8-10 feet then run a shorter lead off the top say 3-4 feet and hook a harness up to that one., you can't cast this set up out or drop it fast though or it gets all tangled to crap on ya. You have to slowly lower it in the water...get the diver to start to work and dig in, then slowly "back reel" your line off the spool until the diver is down and the harness starts working, then keep doing this until you have the desired amount of line out to be down a good distance.

sounds like a great time spent out there with your son..the Dunville A&H guys area pretty good bunch, I have met a few in the last couple years as they are part of the "tri-club's" volunteer efforts for the walleye tagging and hatchery project I volunteer with in the spring.

wow smbhunter, that sounds like a real run around. you should have gotten all that stuff from the dealer when you purchased the boat, before it left the dealership I would think. When we got our boat package brand new in 2003, it was all done when we rolled off the lot...all the upgrades that where purchased on top of the original package price, registration/numbers/paperwork from the Department of Oceans and Fisheries, as well as the registration and plate for the trailer. We just had to go to the dealership the day the boat came in, meet one of the guys at the dock for a test drive...dot a couple I's, cross a couple T's and we where on our way with everything we needed.

I personally don't blame them...too many senseless accidents every season..as for the ownership thing is that really manditory???? although I have a copy of mine for the Viper in a ziplock in my tackle bag. AS for my 14 footer..there is no ownership...no numbers as I run a 9.9 on it, you don't get an "ownership" when ya just go buy a small boat like my 14, bought just the boat, no mototr, no trailer...no ownership...have a receipt for it some where that's about it, if I can even find it

hey I am new to this board too and find it to be pretty good. From reports and posts I have read back on, I see a great sense of community here and alot of great examples of people stepping up to the plate and helping fellow members, some great reports ect that get people's family involved in the great world of fishing, many well wishes and condolences in the not so good times. There is always someone willing to have some sort of input to people's questions ect, and alot of freindships you can see forged along the way. There is always going to be some sort of bickering amoungst a big group like this..heck can you go through a week and not bicker a bit with your own family...wife,husband, kids, siblings, best freinds ect. Alot of stuff can easily get taken out of context when reading a post....sure there are emotocons..but hard to tell at time what people are really trying to say with out being face to face. There's tonnes of great fishing info and reporst if you take the time to read them and don't expect the forum board to tell you every little aspect of where to go, whast to use ect. As far as alot of open info goes..everyone has come to realize over time that something fun like a fishing board is also in a round about way..ruining alot of fishing spots ect..because then all "the wrong people" are gettign all the "right info" so perhaps you will not see very many spot specific posts ect..think about it..try it out....make a fake post about a local fishing hole then wait a day or 2 ..go down to the spot and check it out...bet it's over run with idiots many people do things to give back to our rescources, preserve our fisheries and have spend many years and countless hours finding the fishing holes, and patterns that throw it all together for a successful day, trip, year ect. that's 95% of the fun..getting out there and learning these things and the adventure along the way. In this day and age people who come on a fishing board and introduce themselves like"hey, I'm new to the board ..where's all the good fishing spots??" aren't gonna get many answers. Different respects for one another are built over time with many different people in many walks of life all together on a board because of a common interest in fishing and the outdoors...that's pretty much what brought 3000 members to a fishing forum right??? I checked this board out because I am always interested in fishing tales from all over the place...not to try and score fishing holes or have the rest of the group do all the leg work for me...I like the adventure of getting out there and doing it myself, I like the variety of this board, and different tales from all over the place that some boards lack for me..for example, I am a pretty productive member of NFN, I have over 4000 posts on that board, have met lots of great people, participated in many different events with members ect,have helped out countless people with advice ect, I grew up fishing the Niagara region and have vast knowledge of the area, but I also like alot more adventure than that and sometimes not all that satisified with only hearing fishing reports from 2 places or constanly being hounded for fishing advice...I pick and choose who I give it to..and that's amoungst "active" members of the board, I am also an Admin for another site that caters to steelheading on the mighty Niagara, this for example is a board where it's pretty much "private" so to speak, great info is openly shared because there are no "lurkers" so to speak and non active members are weeded out...this is not to be snobbish or anyhting, it is to share info with solid anglers who put alot of time on the water over many years in a venue where everyone feels comfortable to do so..that's what it's for...not for the whole world to scoop up everyones good advice on tips and locations...there is no Bull, fighting ect, not allowed on the site or you are off..but that's different than a board like this. Community is the key work here...look around your neighbourhood...is everyone the same, with the same opinion...I doubt it..many may share common interests, and ideals together but in the long run..being different, and diverse is what makes the world go around

that's a pretty good example right there, sure some may think the fish was trashing around, but anyone who had caught one in the 30lber plus range knows they are in for a fight once it is "landed". I have had a couple people look at me like before when I have released big muskies without even taking them out of the water while shore fishing. Good example was a couple springs ago while fishing pike on the upper Niagara, was ata spot and there was 5-6 of us fishing and a few on lookers just parked checking out the river and what was going on. I was just using a jig fishing for pike, just my regular everyday med action spinning set up...8lb test and I latched onto a musky in the 48-50 incher range about 30lbs....about 10 people watched me fight it to shore, I grabbed my plyers, knelt down, had the fish's head toward shore near some rocks...reached down with the plyers gave it a shake and off the fish went. There was about 10 people watching this by now and they all looked like when I did that. I just laughed, and said "wow that was some unexpected fun"..didn't take a pic,didn't take it out of the water, didn't try lifting it out to check it out, I have caught and seen a few big muskies before..lol, sat down and had a smoke and just kinda said "well wasn't gonna do nothing with that one anyways, besides the fact it was OOS,I was letting it go" funny the reaction I got from so many people who couldn't believe I just let it go like that...same as my trailer, got one of my dock about 56 inches(guessing from a 52 I kept for a mount years ago and this one was lots bigger in general)...got it beside the dock, noone had a net big enough anyways , was usuing a big chub for bait with a single hook, just had the fish by the mouth...reached down with the cutters, cut the hook and off she went...and again got the stunned look from about a dozen people who came over to check it out after they saw it jump about 4 feet out of the water . Thnaks for sharing the video, that could be a great learning tool for some of the people in the last while who have been shwoing interest in musky fishing and asking questions about gear ect...that vid is a great example of why to have a big net, cutters ect, and a good heavy rod so you don't totally wear down the fish on the way in.

I saw the same thing this past week at my trailer, but the Osprey was too far away to get a good pic..the bird was cathcing bigger bass than us

I know....there is no "S" in watermelon

gee thanks man, now I have to clean up all the beer you made me just spit out all over my computer screen (Canajun Beer that is...yella gold.....hops and barley tea) Hmm I wonder if the same boat cleaning supplies work on computers and furniture too????

that's ok, the other 2 models I have became defective over time too, right about when they got 12-13-14 And you would be surprized, it was pretty cheap to rent actually, only cost me a popsicle

Was sitting around after dinner and decided to do some puttering around since my boat was still filthy from my many winter steelie missions. I thought I would try out this new power washer out,it actually worked pretty good, i barely had to lift a finger to get it to work These thing work great!!!! inside and out!!!!! what ya think???? did she do a good job???? , I highly recommend this product and it should keep working just fine until it's starts to get around 12-13 years old anyone ever try simular cleaning equipment and found it worked just great???

anyone from the Niagara area plan on trying to make this trip if it happens???

try a good slip sinker rig, cuz sometimes the big cats will drop your bait as soon as they feel any tension on the line. If you use big dewies, instead of putting the whole thing on the hook, load up a hook with a couple worms but break them all up into little pieces and put on the hook making a scent trail. Also, big channel cats can be preditorial as well and big chubs work great for catching them too, or try some cut bait out. Chicken livers can work well too, but not so well if you have to castfar for the fish cuz they come off, you gotta sorta "lob cast" them..also try adding some garlic powder to you baits as well

Beer and shots?????

nice going, try that out at night time and I bet you can get some real hogs

that's cuz American beer doesn't have any alcohol in it reminds me of many years ago, I worked as a kitchen supervisor/sous chef at a Yuk- Yuks night club, and at the time there was no such thing as all the different beers with 6-7 % alcohol in them, I think there was only one brand at the time and it was Molson Brador or somehting, and it had 6% alcohol which atthe time was the strogest beer you could buy. Being in Niagara Falls at the time and a border town alot of American tourists would come over and some of the comedians there would poke little jokes at them about being able to have 3 beers and getting hammed On a side note though, when me and some of my party friends where teenagers, if we got someones older brother or something to go over the border and get booze we had a few good days of drinking 151 proof rum which you couldn't buy here and still can't...and also the 90 proof JD as opposed to our 80 proof. But I still say we Canajun's can out drink ya's in beer no prob

Cheers folks, I am having a beer for ya as we speak ...umm it's Canadian beer though..you know the kind with actual booze in it