Mike Pike

Yup, that's the building. I'm pretty sure Bushart painted it. If I remember correctly, it was done as he remembered it as a child. Or am I thinking of something else?

Seems we're all in agreement. A vest is an incorragement to stuff it full of stuff you won't use in all those pockets and then your neck and back gets sore after an hour of fishing. I actully put my vest down by the river bank any chance I get and fish without it on.

I too am looking for opinions on packs.

Hah hah hah! What a great journal Splashhopper and thanks for sharing that.

Quite an adventure and I really enjoyed reading every detail! Still don't know how you rolled the Sportspal, cuz I just thought they didn't roll but, oh well...

I love the pic of the rat inside the largie's mouth, very cool!

You proved all you need is a van and canoe for adventure.

Thanks very much for the pics Mike

 

Memory lane---I cut my fishin teeth in Calendonia.

I know you did Bushart. I remember your some of your posts. And didn't you do a painting of that old white building just down from the dam?

What a glorious summer morning!

Packed the waders, fishing vest, rod and tackle in the trunk last night so I could get away nice and early this morning. Made it to the Grand River in the Caledonia area right at sun up and started to drift the river for Smallmounth( or anything else that would take my bait ).

The river was still pretty murky from our recent rains with only a few inches of visibility. Looks way nicer in the picture. lol

Not a big fan of wading the river with so little vis and took it pretty easy. Don't like getting dunked even if it's such a warm day.

Finally got this pale little 14-incher to take my worm. A nice fight and then released.

And what would a morning fishing the Grand be without a visit from the World's Greatest Sportfish! Notice how pale it is too. It's amazing how quickly the fish get light coloured when the river gets stained with the rains.

Things quited down so I changed locations and the species changed too. My first Kitty this year and a nice surprise.

Nothing huge today but still a great way to spend a holiday morning.

A while ago, I posted about the very same experience with PowerPro, Jedi. The line just breaks on the hookset at random spots.

Checked my spool, rod guides with a q-tip, etc., and everything checked out ok.

I think it's what gbfisher says;

"Something about shock value with PP that you dont have with Stealth. Pull it slowly and you can pull a boat but whip it or shock the line and it snaps."

I'm casting repeatedly with large weights over long distances on the Niagara for trout, when my line snaps. Now, I know the carp guys use a 'shock leader' when casting long distances with huge weights to prevent that very same problem.

Goodluck Jewelbee. Now the pressure is on cuz ya went and said you were going and are gonna report!

Goodluck to you and Rick!

By the way, that turtle is a Red Eared Slider. Not native, likely an unwanted pet that someone released. Many people don't realize how big those little twonie sized turtles in the pet stores will get.

I'm thinking Red Eared Slider too Kyle. Thanks for that. It has a more pronounced red band higher on the head than a painted turtle.

Communting has it's advantages.

The best part about driving to work in Waterloo from my home in Hamilton is that I pass several rivers on the way. Yesterday, I decided to hit one on my way home and hopefully get the long weekend off to a good start.

With the heavy rains a few days ago, I thought the river would still be high and murky but it was pretty clear when I arrived so stealth would be the key.

I threw on the waders and wandered to my favorite trough and started casting. With the weeds up in mid-summer, floating a crawler is a pretty good way of getting bait down to the fish without picking up too much salad with every cast. Nice and natural too, with the clear water. It didn't take long for the first fish to hit.

A little guy about a foot long that gave a good account of himself in the current.

A short time later, another Smallie about the same size as the first came out to play.

A nice fight, quick photo, and off she went.

Then, looking down into the water, I was nicely surpise by a visit from this fellow. Not sure what kind of turtle it is( I'm gonna look it up )but it was pretty big, about 14-inches long. Neat to see.

The Smallmouth weren't the only fish in the hood. A few Sunnies came by to change things up yesterday.

I ended up catching about a dozen or so Smallies, however nothing of any bragging size, but that's fishing. A great couple of hours and a good start to the long weekend, though.

Have a great long weekend and good fishing to everyone!

I never entered because I never order one of those 'Fresh Value Meals' to qualify, althought I DO go to Subway so often I probably spent enough to BUY Dave's boat!!!

Goodluck to all!

Yup, as bdox says; in another few weeks, salmon will begin staging in the area. Followed by Rainbows and Browns after that. Spoons are the weapons of choice. If you're interested in night fishing, that's the most productive time to be out casting. Goodluck!

I know! We can create an over-seas market for them and allow commercial fishing with NO LIMITS. That way, they'll be overfished to extinction in no time.

Problem. Problem solved.

Wow, nice yeild Leechamn. Your garlic is HUGE. Nice green peppers too, I never have nice ones like that myself. Bet your salads at your place are awesome!

Actually, it was JUST Bosh that went on a self promotional tour via Twitter. LeBron didn't say a word about his free agency until a day or two ago. As far as Wade goes, not a SINGLE word from him, throughout the free agency period, pure class.

And yes, Gretzky did orchestrate that publicity stunt. LeBron was just announcing his " hello " .

Bosh not only went on a promotional tour via Twitter, he hosted morning radio shows in Miami and New York. He did SQUAT on the FAN 590 while he was in Toronto. Lebron goes national with a show about himself on ESPN for an hour! Wade was quiet, I'll give you that.

A gong show from 2 out of the 3 then.

Didn't he donate like 5 Million to charity from the advertising $$ from last night's interview?

He didn't donate. He asked those who chose to advertise on the program to donate.

You guys have it all wrong. It's not LeBron, it's David Stern and the NBA that wanted this, marketing their biggest star.

 

So? when Gretzky was traded and gave his "emotional" speech, did that turn you off of hockey ??

Gretzky didn't orchestrate that. Even if he did, it was to say 'goodbye.' Lebron and Wade and Bosch went on a "Look At Me" tour. I hope Miami doesn't sign any other players because these 3 can obviously do it all themselves.

That show last night was the reslut of a 25 year old kid with a bad idea. Sorry, but that whole thing was disgusting. Tried to get into the NBA for a few years now and last night did it.

I'm checking out.

I decided to hit a small conservation area lake this morning about an hour or so from the Hammer. The rain was really coming down at dawn so I had to wait it out for a bit before I could venture out of my vehicle.

Once the rain slowed, I threw on the waders and started crawling around the shoreline in search of largemouth. Casting a rat through the lilly pads brought up nothing.

The weeds had really grown quickly with our early summer so I reached for my trusty floating Rapala, which I could work slowly over top of the weeds and through the weed troughs. Bang! This ol' girl hits.

She measured 17-inches and just about swallowed my lure, but it was easy to remove the hooks and send her on her way.

After dodging more rain and emptying my tackle vest, I couldn't coax another bass to come out and play. Sure beats working though!

I'll bet those five guys will remember that day forever! Nice post and some good info there Steve. Congratz on gettin the guys on fish.

I love that show! Caught it on-line and enjoyed nearly every episode. My favourte one would have been the one where he caught that huge bass in New York's Central Park!

His fishing trips remind me of mine. I love the fact that he shoots right from loading his gear in the trunk of his beat up vehicle to gulping down a sandwich on the drive to buddies showing up late, etc.

So congratulations to you aniceguy. That would be a thrill to do a fishing show and I look forward to catching it!

Cheers.

Had one of those carpenter bees working on a hole in my deck. When it's quite, you can actually hear 'em scrapping away! Anyhoo, just a little blast of standard bug spray into the hole seemed to work.

I was in a fishing tourney a few years back and the rule was you had to have a life-jacket on while under way. Once we stopped, the jackets came off and we'd start casting. I honestly didn't think it was that big a deal.

Nice job Jedi. I guess when your on fish, you don't notice the rain. Until you start packing up and notice how soaked everything is, eh.

Thanks for the report.

are there brooke trout in there or just rainbows and browns? and is there more rainbows or browns?

Yes there are brook trout but they are pretty rare now. Those little resident rainbow trout and the browns have really hurt the brookies, which are the only trout( char )native to the creek.

Mountsberg is a great place for people from Hamilton to get out of the city for a few hours and fish. I used to go there years ago when I first started fishing as a teen. Caught my first bass there. Even remember seeing my first shooting star there( a big deal for a city kid ).

Anyhoo, I recall there not being as many weeds back then because you could cast crank baits during bass season and never get hung up. Now, it's usually pretty weedy by the time bass season rolls in.

It's still a great get-away for someone just starting out fishing with all that shore access, and even better if you have a canoe or kayak.

I hope the fishing improves there because it's a spot that introduced a lot of us to fishing and can for years to come.