BillsTheBassMan

She's got my vote Chris - a very good essay from a very smart girl. I'll be glad to vote early and often. Fingers Crossed! Edit - I've laid down the maximum votes from all my various email accounts! Let's get 'em OFC

Hmmmmm, lures were $2.50 at the St. Jacobs Market. The waders were $25. It was a little disheartening seeing the Canadian flag all over imported goods, but the guys were nice and they seemed to know what they were talking about.

Great pictures Joey!

Gorgeous Chinook Man - tough to find 'em like that in the sound now.

So last weekend the lady convinces me to go to the market, keeping me away from the river in the process. I find a tackle stand within five minutes of being there (she gives me the "only you could find tackle at a food market" look). They are called the "Great Canadian Tournament Tackle Company" and the gentleman says they are based out of Hamilton. I ask him if the goods are made in Canada and he says "nothing is made in North America anymore." A bad first impression, but we continue talking, and he is a really nice guy. His lures are priced to sell at $2.50 a pop and he features 4/5 different topwater frogs, some triple jointed swim baits, single jointed crankbaits, and some good looking jerkbaits. I buy the 4 for $10 and have yet to fish the lures. I am wondering if anyone knows anything about these guys or if anyone has fished their lures? They seem solid and it may be a way that some of you OFC'ers can put some decent lures in your collection for cheap. Ryan

Everytime I break a rod, or a friend of mine breaks a rod, we take it in to the store we bought it at. The tackle shop owner generally will send it away for you and keep the costs minimal. This generally is limited to smaller tackle shops - not places like Canadian Tire or Bass Pro (you're probably outta luck if that's where you got it). This is one of the bonuses of dealing with average joe tackle guys, as opposed to the big corporates. Where did you get the rod? Ryan

I love the picture - nice job! Birds add a lot to fishing for me being a river guy. I generally see a pretty sweet bird every night I'm out fishing, but have yet to see a green heron. Thanks for sharing.

Anytime you want to meet up let me know, provided you're still young enough to wade You probably know the one spot just be the picture anyways! We'll manage to arrange something before the end of the seasons, if it's not bass, perhaps some September Browns - I'm itching for some trout before the season ends.

God I love River Bass - They peel line and they look great - Nice fish Drock! I trust you went and bought a new license before going out tonight AND, be sure to check your regs before fishing the Grand - there are many fish sanctuaries at varying times of the year, and many areas that are strictly single-barbless, no live bait, catch and release. If it was up to me, I'd leave the whole river Catch & Release, save for around the bridges for the white-bucket brigade.

That fish lives in the weeds

Gee . . . I wonder why?

Hey Dave, Yeah, I'm kind of torn there - I have caught two smallies on the fly, but I just don't want to "waste" the rest of the dwindling season fly-fishing and not having as good results. With that said, I do take the fly rod often and put in some practice to get the muscle memory down.

Some more river bass for you folks! I've started finding my niche and my "home" in fishing and it's wading rivers and fishing for Bass and Trout. In my mind nothing beats it and it presents challenges that other kinds of fishing seem to lack - dealing with currents, bringing big bass across currents from 60 yards away and managing a proper hook set, and dealing with the ever-inconsistent-depths are all different aspects of river-fishing. Add in the invariables like water levels and water clarity and you've often got yourself a worthy challenge. It takes awhile to adapt to, but is well worth it when you start consistently landing fish in areas that are "less-traveled" than others. The Report - this is an "average" day. Date: 5pm - 8pm August 10th Conditions: 27 degrees, humid, sunny, perfect water levels. Lure Selection: Varying Location: One of my fishing holes I'll start with the bitter-sweet: The big one that got away! This is something that happens in river fishing, but this one was particularly frustrating. I had been catching bass consistently for the first hour and it had started to slow. I cast all the way across the river and hooked into a LUNKER. As soon as I set the hook, the fish jumps - ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE RIVER, making a huge splash. (This is what us river fisherman dream of - catching a big bass, 50 yards away, across heavy current.) I think to myself "there is absolutely no way I'm going to land this fish." I keep the rod down, trying to keep him under (which is considerably tougher when you're waist deep in a river, as opposed to on a raised boat deck) and I get him into the main current. I wade fast down stream to try and get a one-up on the current. The fish comes across the main current with no jumps. I get him to my side of the river and just outside of the main current he starts jumping despite my best efforts. One splash! Two Splashes. I get him to my feet. 4 pounds - not that long but very fat. I switch the rod to my left hand and start bringing him up for the lip grab - SPLASH. He jumps two feet away from me, loses the hook, and soaks me in the process. I fought the fish all the way across the current, ran the river, controlled the jumps, and lost him at my feet. It was the best fight I've had this season and I'm not really sure if it could have ended any better (but I would have loved a picture)! Here's the water I was dealing with: In comparison, the rest of these guys didn't seem that great, and many were released without photographs, but every fish is a good one in it's own way. Healthy, Strong, River Bass - Mixed with the current, a fish this size can feel like a monster and take line: The only other fisherman I ever see (he brings his girlfriend sometimes): A couple of smaller guys that were eager to attack (note the black spots on the second fish - these are indicative of a fish living on the bottom, amongst the rocks) A Very Healthy, Gorgeous River Bass: In closing, I also had a chance to stop by a fishing hole this morning, and noticed a few things that are worth mentioning. 1) 2/4 fish I caught in the hour I was there had fresh marks from being previously caught. This is great to see people protecting the fishery and releasing their catch. Kudos to that angler. 2) For one of the first times in my life, I witnessed bass jumping CLEAR of the water. They were SMB, and they were doing it consistently. They would clear the water by two feet, and some were doing it right in front of me (within 2 feet). If someone can offer an explanation of what they're doing here, I'd be grateful! Hope you enjoyed! If any of you ever want to hit the rivers and are looking for a fellow wader to join you, send me a PM (but there's a few things I'm a stickler about ).

BRUISERS - awesome Steve - always awesome!

Thanks for the heads up EHG! Last year I was driving and saw a crazy meteor shower in Kitchener-Waterloo - it was spectacular. At first we thought it was a plane crashing as everything that was falling was on fire - very intense. Hope to see something like it again. Cheers, Ryan

Just keep in mind that when you find drop-offs and structure, you find fish. If the fishfinder doesn't show you fish that well, it really makes no difference - you're looking for structure and drop-offs. As far as I have seen, most portable fish-finders do that - so yes, they're useful.

You can't. It's illegal.

Some absolutely gorgeous smallies man - congrats on your PB.

We should arrange it so that these guys put their minds together with the lady who ate that "snakefish" without knowing what kind of fish it was. I'll pitch the reality TV show ideas to 5 or 6 networks and take the highest bidder. I wouldn't bank on a second season.

You really have to wonder about someone who just eats something without having any idea of what it is . . . . I guess this is where Charles Darwin would chime in

Yep, lots of food choices for those guys in that spot - I see hoppers, frogs, crayfish, and piles of baitfish. It must be like the Mandarin for them

Tell your buddy to "borrow" some shopping carts from a local grocery store and place them around his dock and harvest the lures come October. He could retire from the Ebay proceeds alone

Call me crazy, but they don't get that big from not eating.

Really . . . already! Cliff is asking for clarification, he's not looking for instigation (of any kind). GBW - yep, they could have been any colour, but in this specific case they're Asian. I agree though, there are igornamuses among all races and demographics and even species (I had a run in with a jerk turtle the other day). Now to all of you, on a brighter note, go check out my Poll Bass thread that I posted today - it's giving me fits trying to decide whether it's the same fish or not! ( )

Hmmmmm, Seems kind of awkward for sure. There's a good chance they had NO IDEA what you said, but you'd still figure they would notice that you were being pleasant. The fact they drift fished right around you is pretty rude. I suspect they were doing what my good old yellow lab loved to do - marking "their" territory. They could have been trying to check what you were using as well. I had a similar experience today when I went for some afternoon carping. I went to a resevoir for a few hours, sat on an empty rock wall that runs about 300 yards. Nobody was on it. An Asian couple comes along about 5 minutes later. The woman sits 10 feet to my left and the man walks behind me and starts taking pictures of my rig. Since I was just using corn, I didn't care. They were smiling and being pleasant despite not minding their own business and the situation was amicable - weird nonetheless. I am also sure they did not speak English, so communication is difficult.