BillsTheBassMan

Sounds like a busy, but amazing weekend. Nice Fish Steve! Hopefully I get into some like that in the Cooch this weekend.

This forum's stance on not telling specific spots is most definitely needed. Ever notice the spots that everyone fishes never have any fish? Makes sense right. It's sad to hear what has happened to Whiteman's. I can speak from my few personal experiences there and say that the fishing was only average and that there were LOTS of worm containers kicking around the river bank.

There's a good chance that some people who work there aren't too happy with selling minnows I guess. Regardless, if that's the case, take it up with management and not with your customers.

Nice Fish! Note the blue spot on the gill plate. This came up in a topic on these boards earlier today. The author was wondering if they were exclusive to his stream. I think you've answered his question. Fishing Browns is my favourite fishing. To me, it is the most strategic fishing there is and it takes lots of patience. A great test of every aspect of your angling skills! Cheers Ryan

Natural Sports is the store I won't walk into anymore. They are far far far worse than Troutfitters was the other day. They're rude and don't want to give you the time of day unless you're looking to drop SERIOUS cash. The owner was extremely rude to his younger employees the first time I was in there. The second time I bought some stuff and was literally grunted at as I was buying it (perhaps Ken passed that down to the new management - where can I learn to speak Gruntlish so I can understand these people?) I went in a third time and was underimpressed with the service again. Three strikes, they're out. Better prices and service elsewhere. I also just can't agree with their Grand River Bass Tournament. They're clearly exploiting the watershed for profit. I suspect this is a trend around there as well. Just my three cents based on my three experiences. I'm sure I'll give Troutfitters another chance one of these days. I won't be too hasty in dismissing them completely BUT I'm certainly not rushing back.

Sounds like they're unorganized as well haha. A bucket of minnows and a guided tour are clearly in two different brackets, but each and every customer should be treated well . . . that's just my point. I'm not asking these people to wash my feet: a pleasant hello, offered assistance, and dropping the inquisition would be a good start. I don't expect them to discuss conditions with people they don't see more often than once. I wouldn't do that either. It was apparent they have invented a pedestal and placed themselves directly on top of it.

Except Upper Grand River Browns. I'll be sure to check out those articles, always like a good read, no matter what the date on the article is.

I should add something about my Troutfitters trip . . . . how I discovered that they carried Minnows in the first place! I was calling around, looking for Minnows on a Sunday afternoon and I called Fishing Fanatics, one of the stores I frequent in Kitchener-Waterloo. I knew they kept good Sunday hours, but not being a minnow-buyer often, I wasn't sure if they had any. I spoke to Eric and he had a few ideas of how to get some minnows in a pinch, but didn't carry any himself. 10-15 minutes passed and it looked like I was going to have to make alternate plans for the day and the phone rang. It was Eric calling me back. He found out in the 10-15 minutes that passed that Troutfitters now carried minnows and told me how to get there. This is the type of customer service and above-and-beyond decency that we should expect from the places that we spend our money at.

Hehehe. Rainbow in Waterloo has a canine greeter as well. Always there to make sure you can find what you're looking for, or at the very least come over and give you a gentle nudge and wag of the tail.

I'll play Devil's advocate. If you are concerned exclusively with selection and price, why not just shop for EVERYTHING online (save hardware). Online (Ebay, BPS, Cabelas, Reelflies, etc) have FAR better prices than most tackle shops and have infinite selection due to no storage limitations. I'll add selection to the poll. Ryan

There is also a fish sanctuary in the area that you should keep your eyes open for. There was also a recent post about the dam-deconstruction on Whiteman's

Funny enough you use that as your example. I was shopping around Kitchener Waterloo for a Citica a few months ago before I decided to get into Fly-Fishing. There is one store I won't even walk into, but the other two had it at 180.00 and 165.00. They hadn't accounted for the CDN dollar going way up and were still charging with the exchange rate. Both stores were willing to go down to about $140 and were great about the transaction (that never happened, but as I said, I did buy a fly setup). Regardless, small tackle shop owners needs to wake up and realize that the consumers can go online and get just about anything cheaper & shipped. They can't compete on prices, so at least they should have the decency to be friendly, or at the very least respect, their customer base.

What?

If I'm brown/brookie hunting exclusively the tackle bag is left in the car and the vest is loaded up and that is by far the most comfortable. When the situation calls for a wider range of tackle (Bass primarily, but often pike as well) I carry an old Military backpack that I found years ago in my dad's hunting stuff. It is super comfortable, holds more than you should ever need it to (blanket for GF, Vest, extra Jeans, Shirt, socks, 3-4 Plano Boxes, Line, STL, bug spray, hardware, Extra Spool, Water Bottles, Lunch, and my other tackle like bagged soft plastics etc). I can't really ever see myself strapping on that rig that your picture shows. It just seems excessive and over-complicated. If you're just carrying everything you own, it might be a good way to start, but I would suggest going to anywhere that carry old military backpacks and picking one up. I doubt I'll go back.

Well Folks, I hate to sound like the Grinch here, but it always ruffles me up a little bit when I walk into a tackle shop and have a bad experience. I'll keep the vent to a minimum and try to keep the discussion unbiased. It's frustrating that some of these smaller tackle shops can't seem to understand that a) they can't compete on prices with online stores or bigger shops and that because of a) they need to elevate in other areas (such as customer service). So, Sunday afternoon, My girlfriend and I are on our way back from a weekend BBQ and I convince her to do a little fishing. Generally, I'm bushwhacking and pounding through remote areas and looking for Browns. Sunday, I know I need to switch things up and do something a little more girlfriend-friendly or these impromptu fishing trips will be a thing of the past. I decide we'll go to Belwood lake in Fergus for a few hours, take in some sun, and ride the wall with minnows and hope the get a pike or two (I haven't done this kind of fishing in 2+ years now). I hear that the family that sold minnows there had a death in the family and no longer sell minnows out of their garage, and I hear troutfitters (somewhere I've been meaning to go since I bought my first fly rod earlier this year) is now selling minnows. I go into Troutfitters and am impressed immediately about the appearance of the store - a true fly shack with a clean and classy look. Sadly, I'm greeted (by presumably the owner) with some kind of a grunt that more resembles ogre than English and nothing more. I ask for minnows, they say they have them, and I grab a $7 minnow bucket (I'm unprepared). I make an odd inquiry if they have any rope or string I can buy because I'd like to tie my minnows off at the wall. The owner rudely exclaims "Rope?". The young guy working found some and gave it to me but the damage was done again. I browse around for awhile as the minnows are being prepared as I am interested in new, expensive waders, and bulk flies that match the hatch on the grand. I ask for assistance and receive none, and by this point I'm ready to take my fish and leave. As I am waiting to pay, some friends of the staff and a member of the staff itself start grilling me on what I am fishing for. They ask me what is open (like they don't know) and they try to make it sound like I'm bass-hunting because there "aren't many pike" in Belwood. (http://www.grandriver.ca/index/document.cfm?Sec=27&Sub1=119&sub2=0#fishing) At that point they try to tell me that it is a pickeral lake primarily and that bass don't open until June 25th. I've reached just about my boiling point, so I grab my crap and leave. I get to the lake and the overpriced, under-quality minnow bucket doesn't close properly and is close to a write off for Sunday afternoon at least. They probably thought I was just some fishing scrub, who fishes once or twice a year, and just tries to catch "whatever." They probably weren't aware that I was someone just starting out my fly stock, who is almost addicted to tackle shops, and spends an unhealthy amount of money at said tackle shops. They had an opportunity to win my fly-fishing based business (I am still pretty loyal to 2/3 shops in KW for general purchases) and they completely blew it. Rude, Ignorant, Righteous, Bad-Business Minded. Even if I was just the once or twice a year fisher, them of all people, should know how infectious fishing is, and they should be doing whatever they can to lock up long term customers. Now all they got was bad word of mouth and this post here on an internet forum. Feel free to share your experience. Ryan

Great Report Man, I haven't looked for the blue mark here in the grand river watershed but I suspect that it isn't there. When I get me a few browns later today I will check it out for sure (or when I get my disposable camera developed, whatever comes first). Those fish you are catching are probably not very heavily pressured as they are hitting worms so hard. Finding browns on worms around here is like finding a smiling face at natural sports - not very likely.

Hello folks, I'm hoping to go for pike tomorrow afternoon/evening, but I'm at a BBQ and party tonight in Acton. I would like to find some Minnows in the Acton, Rockwood or Guelph area tomorrow. I've tried most Guelph tackle shops and they seem to be closed. First Choice Tackle MIGHT be open. Does anyone know of any other places that I can get minnows at in the area? Thanks in advance! Ryan

I will gladly sign up. I missed the boat on signing up myself and have been looking forward to joining. Please message me with what I need to do to join. I have read the picture rules etc. Ryan

My girlfriend and I were there again today and took a beautiful 1 year old Lab/Sheppard mix out for a walk for about an hour. It was another good experience. Anyone can go and take a dog out for a walk on the premises. They have trails out back and it backs onto the grand river. Their property is gorgeous and perfect for dog-walking. I asked them if we could come often and take dogs out and the staff member said "you can come everyday if you want, that would be great!" We plan on volunteering and lending whatever time we have to help out around the society. I think next time I go that I'll be going with some bags of pet food and some dollar store toys. It is truly great to see so many people on here with such good stories of success from various animal shelter organizations. Keep it up and keep the good stories coming! I see a trend developing for me here - bad weather = blown rivers = trip to the humane society. Not a bad equation either way.

Was the neutering something done upon adoption or was it done before you ever even met the dog and then you had to pay for it on adoption? I wasn't aware of fees, though I was aware of a questionarre. The form at the KW Humane Society is just a single-sided page and it mentioned nothing about fees/finances. Upon a free adoption I would most certainly donate at least $100 for the service I would imagine. I wonder if you have to pay for all previous vaccine shots while in their care upon adoption as well. I wouldn't imagine you'd have to, but I guess Humane societies can't make ends meet on caring hearts alone.

My buddy has a dog that looks similar to your "Bear." The dog, Wiley, is huge and he's just mixed with Shepard and Border Collie. He has the same white patch of hair on his chest that your dog does. By Huge, I mean as wide as a smart car, and about 125 pounds. Bear seems to have the features of a lab in his head shape and ears though. My money would be Shepard bred with Lab mix. It's good to hear that you've enjoyed the system and will use it again. I'm really really really looking forward to the time that I adopt a dog there. Cheers

Great story bigugli . . . how old was she when you got her? It's good to hear that people on these boards have only had good experiences with the Humane Societies.

Great Report! Looks like a fun morning out. Nice Steelhead and some nice little trout - great colours on some for sure. Just out of curiosity (this is slightly against posting etiquette), did you keep any of the small trout? If so, are they good table fare? I've caught my share before but never kept any, and I'm just wondering if people actually do keep them Cheers, Ryan

Great Fish and Welcome Aboard . . . or to the boards! And no worries . . . That fish would make me lose my drawers too.

Hey Blue, thanks for the post! I wasn't implying that people should only want labs, huskies etc. Those just tend to be the most popular breeds and I have a feeling that many people think that these dogs aren't abused/available at places like Humane Societies. Most dogs are good-spirited and great companions by nature. I'm very happy to hear that you and your girlfriend actively take part in dog adoption. It sounds like they had a tough go before you got them. Perhaps you should write the shelter and they can post your testimonial for others to read. For curiosity sake, what is the difference between a humane society, an animal shelter, and a rescue north? Or are they generally all the same concept? Ryan