cram

I used to use farecast (www.farecast.com) to predict flights in the US....not sure if it works for Canada or not, but worth a try.

allergies are weird. I have had poison ivy so many times that i now have an allergic reaction to mangos....not kidding. The point is - see a doctor. There are lots of unique situations. Also - may want to make sure you didn't get a tick.

the cop should've handled that bear like a man... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUx3fZNoskQ

I'm pretty sure 99% of us southerners don't know or care either way (not that we don't "care", but most people here have no idea TO care. I am outdoorsy compared to 90% of the people i know, and even I didn't know that you have bears walking through the schoolyards).. You guys are blaming the wrong people. Plus, just guessing...does your city gov't decide how to deal with bears inside the city, or is it the MNR?

Yes. There was one that obviously learned some bad habits somewhere and was trying to bust into our shed for the garbage inside it. I was trying to scare it away. Your point??? That i shouldn't have bothered it, or that you don't believe it happened? My friend had one come to his cottage and false charge (or charge and stop) his window - many times. The dog was on the other side going bananas. They called the ministry who i believe removed or shot the bear. So, what's your point again...?

Lots of them near our cottage, and while i would say that they are totally harmless i have seen them (or one many times?) stomp its feet a bunch of times when bothered. And my experience with bears is pretty limited (probably seen <25 in my life, aside from the garbage dump)

If the local MNR was unequipped to deal with the bear, then.....?????

I totally agree with you that its Bull....but, should the cops who aren't prepared for bears (and maybe had never seen one) have not err'd on the side of caution? Wouldn't they have looked more idiotic if someone got hurt? And i don't care waht anyone says.....a bear walking down the street in london is weird.

Salvelinus...we get it, all of us citiots are morons. btw - have you honestly never seen a black bear stomp or bluff charge?

i don't know if its even legal to do this, but i bet using a little mackerel or something would be great for dead-baiting. They give off a lot of oil.

Interestingly there's a lawyer in town who has gone to court several times with the argument that parking tickets in toronto are illegal....that you have the legal right to park your car on ontario roads, and the municipality is illegally collecting revenue from you. I don't think he's been very successful, but it is an interesting argument. As for your question about the park....look at it another way. Imagine that the park is 1000 acres, but instead of finding an open spot somewhere in the park, people often park right behind your fence....for whatever reason. You're sitting there in your backyard, looking out at the people who are sitting on the other side of hte fence looking in at you....and behind them is 1000 acres of parkland to enjoy. They're legally entitled...but doesn't it make you kind of go "why?".

Pretty sure you don't need approval if the dock fits under the standard guidelines in their regs, which are admittedly hard to find. In short, the gov't enables landowners to extend docks from their properties (as long as they fit those guidelines, which i think have both standard size restrictions and overall restrictions on obstructing navigable waterways), but that is not ownership of the land beneath the water or the water itself. It is within your legal rights to troll alongside or cast to any dock that you wish, whether there are people on it or not. It is also within your legal rights to pull your boat up alongside another fisherman and drop a line. Or, within your legal rights to cast your line towards another boat as long as you're not endangering anyone. I guess it all comes down to common sense, right? We all have different values on what we feel is fair/right....but i see it being pretty unanimous that the cottage/dock owners are irritated by fishermen infringing on their space when they're out on their own dock. So, even if you're legally entitled...why be a nuisance? Like Cliff said, its no different from you being on your boat and another pulling up alongside or casting to the shade under your boat. Kind of tastes the same to me.

third that.

The day our moral fabric comes from what happens in fishing tournaments is a sad day. I have been sitting on my dock, fishing, and a boat comes along the shore and starts casting to my dock while i'm on it casting out. My cottage is on a lake that's 10 miles long and 3/4 of the shoreline is uninhabited....no need to cast to my dock while i'm using it. And, no need to leave lures and hooks in my swimming ladder just because there's good fishing beneath it. Just because they do it on tv, or in tournaments....doesn't make it polite.

Many of us are pretty good fishermen (and fisherwomen) who can likely cast to and around a dock and not leave a mess behind....but i bet we're the exception more than the rule. I bet 3/4 of my friends couldn't cast near a dock or boat without hitting it. While land and dock owners don't own the water, and its in our legal right to fish wherever we want....do we REALLY need to go fishing around someone's dock? I *get* that they hold bass....but so do a million other types of structure. Fishing for me is larely about being out in nature...the last thing i want to do after driving 3 hrs north is park myself in front of someone's dock when there's miles and miles of relatively pristine wilderness to take advantage of.

Pretty sure he's referring to his own personal dock. I know i swim off of mine all the time. And, have taken more than one fugitive lure off the swimming ladder.

Wanted to add.....i don't think this applies to crappie fishing off of an absent marina. Moreso around inhabited docks.

I completely agree about fishing off docks. To me it is rude. Legally in the right, but a bit rude nonetheless. The exception is on rivers and constrained waterways where you're fishing off of docks regardless of where you are. Also agree that its no excuse for the guy to fly off the handle, especially with a young kid in the boat. That is ridiculous.

Why not post it? If he's in the right, he's right and someone from here is likely to know about the special rights they have.. If he's in the wrong, he's being a jerk and posting on here is a good way to get a bit of revenge (much better than having a confrontation in front of your 3 yr old).

Cliff - I said the asian-kawarthas "situation". You can say what you want, but you guys have a situation there. The "situation" includes poaching (and lots of it), but it also includes a mess load of racism. I had never heard of "nipper tipping" until i went fishing there. I also wasn't *that* surprised when hearing about the poor kid that was paralyzed in that accident last year. The racism in that area is racism, because of the actions of a (very small) few people. Quite frankly, i told my chinese buddy (who is NOT a poacher) to NOT go out in the boat by himself when at the cottage with us. It seems a little unsafe there if you're a chinese guy. Its the fault of the ministry/COs for not putting their foots down on the select few poachers who are creating the reputation, and the police for not squashing the local vigilantes who step over the line. And, to be clear - i am not calling you a vigilante. I'm referring to the idiots tipping boats, pushign people off piers, and running people down in their cars.

The asian-kawarthas thing is really sad and embarrassing (by the poaching of SOME asians, and the response of SOME locals). The COs and police really need to step it up.

:sleeping_02: :sleeping_02:

i have to ask == are you sure its nto a muskrat or an otter? I find it weird that a beaver is under your dock....they generally don't do that (i don't think), but muskrats and otters do all the time.

Rodents have good noses. I'd try putting a batch of cayenne pepper on the wood under your dock. Will cost you $3-4.

Years ago I used to break berkley rods all the time. Sent them to portage le prairie (called outdoor technologies or somethign then), and they were always replaced no questions asked. Great service.