Dave Bailey

18 teams did their best to avoid sunburn on a lovely day to be on the water. Some were more successful at that than others. Oh, and some managed to catch some fish. Before I go any further, my apologies, once again, for not having any help with the proceedings. Monica had some family business to take care of, so I was once again doing my headless chicken routine. Erin Kennedy was helped/hindered, take your pick, by dad Pat, and came oh so close to prize money, weighing in a basket of 12.1 lbs. In 5th place, with 12.75, were Jenn and Barry McCrackin, not a bad haul for that position. 4th was taken by Audrey and Chris Little, with 13.5 lbs, and they just got nipped by 3rd place finishers Nicole and Craig Lanegger, who landed a total of 13.7. 2nd place was taken by newcomers Jennifer Button and partner Chris Iles, who weighed a basket of 15.4 lbs, but even if my thumb had been on the scales they wouldn't have beaten... TADA! Megan Meharrie, ably assisted by Patrick Good, with a total of 16.6, no doubt helped by the biggest fish for the day, a smallmouth that bent the springs at 5.35 lbs, truly a whopper. Only two teams declined to weigh in, but nobody was totally skunked, and fully half the teams had weights over 10 pounds. My thanks to Alan and the folks at RPM Marine, a first-class facility. If you need a launch, maintenance, or just something for the boat, do yourself a favour and stop in.

Looks nasty: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/severe-toxic-algae-bloom-predicted-for-lake-erie-1.3145164

Dave Hadfield took my father up for a flight a few years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yMrWOv3l44

Thanks. Getting tired of people saying it can't be done.

Got out to a favourite honey hole the day after the FMZ 18 opener, and again six days later on my way back from Montreal (thanks boss!). Includes a tip for some who seem to have trouble with a simple little thing. Watch at 1080p. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEWy7qC3BDU

Sounds like the requisite blast was had! 30" walleye would be a dream for me. Probably made the same post on another board, then did a 'cut and paste' to put it here. For some weird reason, that's what happens.

Caspians are beautiful birds with one of the ugliest calls you'll ever hear. Sounds like someone being strangled while vomiting. You can tell them a mile away.

Filtered cigarettes should be banned. The health benefits of them are dubious, but the environmental consequences are proven.

I have this urge to eat poutine, while in a canoe. Must be July !st!

Thought this might be of interest to some of you: http://store.algonquinpark.on.ca/cgi/algonquinpark/00309.html

Summer storm outside, lots of thunder, only one thing comes to mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2VY33VXnrQ

If you want to try something a bit different, get a canoe and head for Hazel Lake.

Wanna bet? But will certainly answer a question that most of us in the GTA ask at least once every day: Can Toronto area traffic get any worse?

The animal we call 'elk' has a very close relative in Eurasia, the red deer. The most recent research indicates, as far as I know, that they are separate species, but some bright spark could be writing a PhD thesis as I speak that says they're the same.

My license is in my fishing vest, and that is always with me. Keep it in your wallet, or car, or something that doesn't get left a 4 hour drive away.

If you're in Europe, it's an elk. But they weren't. So they're zoologically challenged.

Yeah, 1964! My uncle was a meathead at the Bomarc base, took us kids there, and that's where I caught my first pike.

I would do it. The only lake trout I ever caught was while drop-shotting for smallmouth, can't see why that wouldn't work either.

Hard to beat a compass. Sit on the flight deck of the most high-tech airliner in the world, surrounded by wizardry that NASA would have been jealous of just a few years ago. And what will you always see affixed to the centre post of the windshield? A compass. If all those gadgets go kablooey, you still have that simple magnet to guide you.

Apparently a 'compromise' was reached, but I don't think it's satisfactory. One pool will have fish, so people can see them, and another will have toy fish for catching. Here's a report from Global News, which presents the animal rights position with no critical analysis whatsoever. http://globalnews.ca/video/2052314/let-them-fish-compromise-reached-between-animal-rights-activists-and-indoor-fishing-program

Last night's game was unbelievable. If there is any team out there that is actually looking forward to meeting the Jays right now, MLB should require that they first change their team name to 'Masochists'.

Higher magnification means that any shaking is also magnified, but 10x50 binos are usually okay. Another thing to keep in mind is the diameter of the image at the eyepiece. To get that, divide the magnification, in this case 10x, into the diameter of the objective lens, in this case 50mm. That gives you a figure of 5mm, which is good. 4mm is also okay, but 3mm or less means that even the slightest movement of your face and you are seeing black, and it's hard to keep the image centred on your eyeball. With 7x50 you get 7mm, which is great.

Nice! Not sure about their present status, but at one time they were considered the most abundant bird in the eastern North American woodlands. That was based on their calls, but they weren't observed as often due to being hard to spot high up in the trees.

No, they object to the entire idea of fishing, period.