Dave Bailey

I'm not so sure. Our two main insect PITAs, the mosquito and the blackfly, may be lower in numbers. Mosquitoes depend on standing pools of water to breed, but with very little snow there won't be many patches of that. And blackflies depend upon swift flowing clear water from snowmelt runoff, seems to me that there won't be a lot of that either. I may be wrong, but I guess only time will tell.

My wife drinks to make me look that good.

Thanks gents. I was raised on the old phrase "a bad workman always blames his tools", maybe I shouldn't stick to that so rigorously.

Went down to the bay today with my new Pflueger President combo, had Tightline put some PowerPro 20lb on it last week so I thought I would try it on some pike. No Pike. BUT... Also NO birdnests on the reel (even after dozens of casts), and I even had my Zara Spook 'walking the dog', although admittedly looking a bit drunk. Maybe it WAS the equipment?

That one is still going around?! I heard that over 40 years ago!

I'm not talking about jokes here, I mean things that just make you wonder how some people get through life alive, let alone fish while doing it. I suspect this list could be long. A couple of years ago I was down at Frenchmans Bay, and witnessed some bonehead throwing stuff at one of the resident beavers as it swam by. I yelled at him to stop, and his reply stunned me; "What do you want to protect them for? They'll eat all the fish!" Natural history FAIL.

I've heard some people saying that the birds are coming back early because of the warmth. Nope. Most birds migrate based on photoperiod, not temperature. Some make a mistake and come back too early, happens every year. But this year people are noticing it and assuming the warm weather is doing it.

Sheesh, blur that background please, I recognise those waves! Nice fish porn!

Thank you gentlemen, sounds like the Palomar is in the lead so far.

Trying braided line for the first time (actually the second, but we don't want to revisit that thread again...) and I've read that it works a bit differently from mono as far as knots go. According to a piece in the latest Just Fishing strength can drop to 50% So now I'm looking for help from you experts. Up to now I've palomared just about everything, it's easy on my arthritic fingers and ageing eyes. Occasionally a clinch knot or a trilene knot. I would imagine that the rough surface of braid might create havoc trying to snug up a knot, it won't slide as easily as mono that's for sure. Anyway, are these knots okay with braid, or are there better? And as far as strength goes, call me nuts (it's been done before) but I'm wondering if a drop of Krazy Glue might hold it together. I know it might make for some frustrating time getting the terminal tackle off, but I could just cut above it, put a new swivel on, and later spend an evening with nail clippers getting line off old ones. You can tell I have no life By the way, the line currently installed is 20lb Berkely PowerPro.

Where is that? can't find it on the net. I want to catch chub! Do you have a grid reference? GPS co-ordinates? Have any pictures with backgrounds?

I would do it in a heartbeat. Dad was a Catalina and Sunderland pilot, flying boats are in my blood!

Went to Gagnon Sports about 3 weeks ago and got the floppy piece of yellow plastic. Haven't received my card yet, or do I even get one?

Haven't been there myself, but I've heard good things about Frontenac Provincial Park, north of Kingston.

I wear clip-ons, and there's a floating strap on my glasses so that even if they get knocked into the water I don't lose them.

Well done!

And we thank you for that. But trust me, you're in the minority. On a few trips south I've run into people who give me a blank stare when I say I'm from Canada, and that's happened in a place as far north as Cape Cod, where Quebec license plates abound. I did meet one guy at a campsite near North Truro who had heard of us, because he replied "Uh, yeah, that's up near Montreal, isn't it?" Yep, Canada's near Montreal, yep yep yep...

Agreed, but as I said, most American fishermen live in areas that are either already affected, or wouldn't be affected by an invasion of the Great Lakes. Take a look at this map of the Mississippi drainage area: Nobody west of that area would be affected, and very few people east of it. Anywhere in Ontario south of the Hudson Bay drainage would be devastated, but why would any American politician give a rat's butt? Unless they own a fishing lodge up here it isn't even occupying one brain cell.

Spinning reel, NOT a baitcaster.

Why should America care? Take a look at a map of the Mississippi watershed, if they're all through that then letting them into the Great Lakes wouldn't have much of an impact on Americans, except those who fish in them. There are very few American rivers entering any of the Great Lakes, the height of land is just south of them, anything below that drains into the Mississippi/Missouri/Ohio system. It would mess up our fisheries tremendously, but hey, how many Americans could even find Canada on a map if it was the only country with a name?

Couples Resort in Whitney

Do what I do, target bass and catch pike instead. Happened to me on opening day last year. One thing I've sometimes found successful is a stop and go retrieve with a spoon, maybe the old red and white Daredevle or a Five of Diamonds. Reel in fast, then stop and let it flutter down for a second before reeling again, pike will sometimes take it 'on the drop'.

You might want to try the Prince Edward County area, there are a number of places. Some of the wineries in the county have accommodations and restaurants. The county tourism web site seems to be down at the moment, I couldn't get it to open.

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