Dave Bailey

My pants don't go down that far.

Um... yeah. Have to admit I have no idea what you mean, although I probably should. Let's just say that they start at the very tip of the ferrule, where the male part begins to slide in. (Damn, now I need another cold shower... )

That pic with her fishing rod contacting the rainbow is worth a large print!

Oops, female (if fishing rod anatomy is analogous to human )

While we were up at Killarney one of the rods developed a couple of cracks at the ferrule, maybe 1/4" long, parallel to the shaft. If I dragged some CA glue along them and let the capillary action suck it in, would that hold it?

Well thanks for THAT info. I just did a Google image search for "sweet beaver" and forgot to set the filters. Lucky the wife and kids weren't in the room.

Yep, got an anchor, used it quite a bit but also drifted at times just to cover more water. I also had success casting the drop-shot rig, either casting away from shore and bumping it upslope or casting in and bumping down. My anchor rope is about 28 feet, but that's a double rope so if I need to go deeper I can undo the knot at the top end, tie a big knot at one end that won't fit through the anchor hole, drag it all the way until it stops, and tie-off again. PRESTO! - 56ft anchor rope! Haven't ever bothered doing that yet, but there were times I felt like it because it wouldn't reach bottom. Those were the times I drifted. Forgot to mention that I also had a couple of escapees who took the line down into the rocks and broke off. They did it almost immediately so I had no chance to guess weights, but they felt BIG. I know they get a lot larger than any of mine shown, here's one my son got last year:

Anyone else here a veteran of Hurricane Hazel? I was 1 1/2 at the time, living in a basement apartment with my parents. They tell me that I was as mad as hell because they wouldn't let me get out of my high-chair and play in the couple of inches of water on the floor!

Just had a week up in that sylvan paradise nestled in the La Cloche mountains, and took the opportunity to apply something I learned from this happy band of anglers - drop shotting. As I've said before the fact that I run a tournament each year does NOT mean that I am an expert fisherman, in fact I'm only just getting back into it after languishing for many a year. I'm still more casual than serious (don't want it to get too much like work!), but I do want a bit more success. I decided to work in a light and versatile style since canoeing is the only way to do George Lake other than standing on shore. I palomared a worm hook about a foot up the line, reasoning that if I got into any cover it would be easier to rehook the Slammer to snagless mode than put on a different hook. A moderate size (I'm lousy with remembering weights) bismuth split shot went on the bottom, and the hunt began. I cruised around looking for area where there had been lots of rocks tumbling from the cliffs, causing lots of good smallmouth structure below the water. The tactic seemed to work, and I have now fallen in love with George Lake as a great bronzeback hole. Things started off on the small side: But it was all uphill from there: Excuse the blurriness of some of these, but when you're alone in a canoe you take a quick pic and release: All told it was a great week, topped off by a sighting of a peregrine falcon just as I was releasing one of those fish. I had seen a notice in the office that they wanted reports of them, so some quick pics were taken and shown to the park naturalist. He was ecstatic, as it was the first report they had received all year: Detail:

Interesting fact about blue jays; they aren't blue. In fact no bird is, even bluebirds. For some reason unbeknownst to me no feathers contain blue pigment, it is actually a type of iridescence that appears blue to our eyes. Plenty of birds of unrelated species have evolved it independently, so I'm guessing it's something in the chemistry of feathers that prevents blue pigment. Might be the case for some other colours too, but don't quote me on that.

The Gals 'n' Pals tournaments I run don't have huge turnouts, but most of the females participating are more than just along for the ride, they are regulars each year who seem to genuinely enjoy what they're doing. So I say go for it.

Nominated for post of the year!

Excellent news. Always nice to resolve issues without confrontation.

Nope, almost fell off my chair when I saw that!

What I find equally disturbing is the apparently increasing use by tournament organizers of those pseudoscientific pieces of garbage known as polygraphs. It shows a complete lack of scientific understanding and will lead to lawsuits when the inevitable happens and an innocent person is publicly pilloried for no reason.

Oooooookay... Until I saw the link I thought this was one of the weirder combinations I had ever seen - St. John Fish Sandwiches and Antiques

13 years ago, little place called Springtown in the Ottawa Valley. Nice stretch of water beside the road, decided to do some fishing with my almost 5 year-old daughter. Getting on toward evening, flat water, lots of weed and a clear channel, I figured you put a Jitterbug on and you can't go wrong. Made a nice cast, one of the longest I can ever remember making. Gave it the customary wait, then a little wobble, and was about to turn the rod over to her for a guaranteed fish. Just as I was about to turn to her I saw the water burst, and a bass jumped clear from the water right at the lure. Funny thing was, the splash was out of all proportion to the size of the fish. Felt a good tug, the line started stripping off the reel, and the fight was on, too much for her I thought so I hung on to the rod. I couldn't believe that what looked like a 1 or 2 pounder could pull so much, when suddenly a monster launched out of the water at the end of my line. What I eventually reeled in was a 42 1/2 inch musky! I don't know to this day if the bass was going for the lure and missed, or it was escaping the musky which was going for the lure, or the musky accidentally hit the Jitterbug as it was attacking the bass, or any combination thereof. I just know that if it had hit a few seconds later, after the rod was in my daughter's hands, she would have been water-skiing down the Madawaska River!

One place I have occasionally gone is Bruce Road, east off County Road 2 just south of Seagrave. It is actually on the Nonquon River, not Lake Scogog, but the fishing in the river can be pretty good. You will usually have it to yourself, and you can easily launch a canoe from there if you have one. Unfortunately it is also a place where 'bad' shore fishermen go, the sort who leave garbage all over the place. Please take some bags and try to take out more than you took in. Haven't been there in years myself so if you try it let me know how it goes.

I could make a comment about the politicians in power at the time, possible Swiss bank accounts and/or vacation villas, etc. But then the lawyers would descend, and I admit my suspicions are based on sheer cynicism.

I've heard of some people getting cheap revenge by sending in a payment that is a few cents over the amount owing. This then goes into the 407 computer as a credit, and they keep sending you a bill every month showing it. It costs postage to tell you that you are credited with a few cents, and you get a chuckle at their expense.

You're more than welcome. Now have fun and don't forget to post pics!

There are parks, but they are run by a separate entity known as the St. Lawrence Parks Commission, you can find info on their facilities at this link. I haven't stayed at one myself so I can't give recommendations, but since you were looking forward to being in that area you should be able to find someplace you like.

Fat Raps have, but this is also the first I have heard of a Flat Rap. But then, I don't get out much.

Oh it worked, eventually, but it took a while. I'm guessing the video card needs to be upgraded.

Well, it almost worked. It took literally hours to load the new files into Moviemaker, but when I inserted them they played fine for the first few seconds and then started acting funny, stopping for intervals and looking as if the horizontal lines were out of synch. I'm guessing that the video card on this computer is just not up to the task.