BIG JIM

We had some in the hawg trough at the Ottawa Show last weekend but I couldn't get a bite...stupid fish!!! I have caught them in some areas of the Great Lakes, a few in the St. Lawrence River and in some portions of the Ottawa River also...never really hit em' really good in these areas with the exception of the upper portion of the Ottawa River and even then it was just a fluke, wasn't really looking for them. Fun to catch, decent eating, try using crappie sized lures or maybe just a bit bigger. I actually have them in a little lake near my house...not supposed to be there but they are and can be a hoot. As for ther season???check with your local MNR office to be sure about your area. BIG JIM

Years ago during an O.V. PRO BASS event on Tri Lakes I had the unfortunate event to bump a stump with the electric go over the front just as a fish hit my Moss Boss(wonder if they still make em')...I landed in the pads and never missed a stroke of the reel handle...2 3/4 pounder rounded out the limit...only thing that would have made the whole thing better is it would have been a five or six. BIG JIM>>>>>>>>>

No doubt I was pissed man...probably 75 walleye's in the boat over two days before Dave arrived and not one got off...that rod works and I only had one there...my only memory of the trip is the 34 inch behemoth, at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I was more upset at losing the Shad Rap #9...every once in a while you get a hard bait that just works better than the rest...that was one of them for sure. Take Care BIG JIM~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~out'

Hey Guy's, what you saw is exactly the way it happened...I am still having nightmares over the whole event...had just caught a 34 inch walleye on that outfit with a Shad Rap #9 the day before and I was tearing em' up, in fact a picture on the cover of Just Fishing's new issue is of that fish. It was either a musky or pike that snatched MY PEANUT WALLEYE it as it went out of the boat like a missile...as we all saw. We did spend about an hour with musky outfits spooled with 100lb. Power Pro and open fish stringers which we had to buy in town...caught all sorts of good STUFF...but no freakin LOOMIS RODS WITH CHRONARCH'S on them...well at least I know where there is more LOOMIS RODS AND SHIMANO REELS. I was on a tear up there, but Dave kicked my ass that day...as soon as he left my tear continued???? Was a great week up there which we dubbed "WALLEYE PALLOOZA 2010"...MERCER, IZUMI, ME, HOCKLEY, MAHONEY, MACMURRY, ALLARD, JACKSON, MAZUCCA, and more... The price of youtube??? OBVIOUS!!!! Going out to the garage to cry some more... ENJOY!!!! BIG JIM...

Wow, was I ever good looking when I was young... Bill is an awesome guy and a never ending stream of pranks. Got to spend a few days with him years ago when I was down getting involved with Strike King...15 years ago if my memory serves me right. It was just before they released the Pork-O. Here is the good part...I'm fishing with Bill and he says "get whatever you need out of the rod locker"...so I open it up and here is this fandango chunk of pork on a big weedless hook all neatly wrapped in a ZIP-LOCK bag...way before Bob Izumi had heard of them . So I pull it out and say "hey this looks cool" and Bill freaks since nobody was supposed to see it and he didn't know if he could trust me...they did and I am happy ...remember this is not far from where they filmed the movie Deliverance, so I am sure they could have had a different ending. In the boat beside us was Chad Spence...son of Charles who owned Strike King at the time, and he to is not sure what to do as he says to Bill..."my Daddy is gonna kill you Bill"....then I piped up and said "you should call this a Pork-O"...not knowing they didn't have a name yet and it was right when the Slug-O was king. Also while with Bill I saw a flock of Pileated Woodpeckers and I said to Bill "wow is that ever cool, we get them at home but not in bunches" to which he replied "Big Jim they are really good to eat...but not near as tasty as an owl kidding of course...like I said he was a never ending prank. Anyway that is how the name came to be and I narrowly missed spending the rest of my life as a hillbilly. Have a great Holiday Season and MERRY CHRISTMAS...See ya at BPS this weekend on Saturday afternoon and till early Sunday afternoon ...lets talk ice fishing. BIG JIM...happy today as the lake behind the house is ofishally frozen, ev en with the wind.

Hey Guy's and Gal's, there are some really nice small panfish reels that Shimano has now ...true micro models for very light lines that will fit very well in the Kawartha's new fishery. There is the ever popular AX-ULS along with four other 500 series sized reels at different price points that should suit almost any budget. I really like the Symetre 500FJ, but there are models in the Sahara, Sedonna, and Sienna families. Be sure if you are new to ice fishing that you use grease that will not freeze if you service your own reels. I had an experience years ago where I had a reel that I thought was broken everytime I went out ...but when I checked it in the morning after the heat of the house got to it over night ...presto!! it was fine again...

I invented that by accident three winters back when I got lazy near the end of the day and tried to use a 2500 Symetre on a 27" HT ice fishing rod on Lake of the Woods while fishing with Gord Pyzer...who incidently should have landed at Great Bear Lake right about...... NOW...no guff, he left this morning from Winterpeg... Anyway...If the reel is to big for the rod it does exactly the same thing as it changes the angle from the bail to the stripper guide on the rod and creates the most aggrivating bouncing sensation ever!!! . BIG JIM...hangin' in

Hey Guy's and Gal's, just wanted to take a moment here to offer a pile of thanks to Matt and Jim, MC, and everyone else who helped out or bought tickets. You never think you will need help along the way and as RJ said on one of the boards "this is very humbling for me" and for the reason that it was offered not asked for...means even more!!! and makes it very special forever. This is the first time in over 20 years that I was confused about my future and what would really happen. An event like this is helping to secure the future so I can get this poop out of my body. I just spent the most horrible five days of my life by far with this experimental chemo, but it seems to have let up just a bit here in the last half day. Hopefully I will get out on the St. Lawrence for a boat ride this Sunday with Mr. Robert Izumi who offered to pick me up for a couple hours as he practises for the FLW STREN event on the big river...what a guy!!! ( nearly four months since I was in a boat) Thank-you Thank-you Thank-you to all BIG JIM

SWEET!!! Anytime you get the family involved at that level and get bit on top of the time together... it has to be all good... Congrats BIG JIM

Great fish man...but with giants like that you have to get a new shirt printed before the next outing if it is Somcoe!!! Enjoy the weekend. BIG JIM

Hey Guys, just wanted to take a few moments to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for the auction with Marc, and all the kind things that were said about me by a lot of anglers... it really has helped me along the way here. I have always been the guy who carried the fridge or pushed the stuck car, it is just what I am and I nerver realized how many people I had touched in my life because of fishing. Today isn't the best day, but as I have told many people I have a head like a cement block and don't intend to waiver to much throughout this event. My Dr's have told me never to lose my attitude and that it is among the best they have ever witnessed in their careers... I just have to keep the arrow on top of my coconut pointing forward. Thank-you again...right from the bottom of my heart...BIG TIME... Warmest Regards BIG JIM