Ben_Daniels

That first pic is awesome!!! Nice report man! -Ben

Thanks for the replies guys. Yea my drag was pretty tight...but common 14 lb test, never had that problem with the Bass Pro line. Nah I'm not offended Dawg! I hate using fluorocarbon as a mainline sooo many tangles! Don't think it was Pike biting me off...I saw most of the fish that I lost and they were all bass. -Ben

Spent a couple days up at Lake Kashwakamak this week. Had a good time, but lost TONS of fish. I was using Zoom Super Flukes and Spinnerbaits for most of the time around weed beds. I caught a bunch of smaller Largemouth, Smallmouth and Pike. I lost 5-6 fish in two days because my line kept snapping when I was setting the hook or while I was fighting the fish....DON'T BUY BERKLEY VANISH. I usually use BPS XPS Fluorocarbon and its great, but I ran out and could only get to Canadian Tire so I figured I'd try the Vanish because it was the only Fluorocarbon they had... it is HORRIBLE. I was using 14 lb test as a leader, I was wetting all my knots to make sure the friction didn't weaken the line and still this line was breaking...at my knots, in the middle of the leader and everywhere else. It really hurt losing 4 or 5 3-5 pound bass. It could have been an amazing trip if I had landed every fish that I hooked up with.. well you live and you learn, here's some pics of the fish I did land. Note the kitchen towel under my hat covering my neck...works great with your neck is sunburned and hurtin. This was the biggest fish I landed. 3.5 pounds...sucks losing so many fish that were bigger than this one. -Ben

I've got to agree. I don't think that the perfect perch color or any perfect "looking" lure makes that much of a difference..... I think the vibration or the way the lure wiggles is way more important than the color of the lure, But then again I didn't profile these lures on my TV show... -Ben

Who 1. Mike Iaaconelli 2. Kevin Van Dam 3. Mike Miller 4. Pete Bowman (I picked 4 so shoot me ) Where 1. Toronto Islands 2. St Lawrence Seaway 3. Lake El Salto 4. Lake Powell What 1. Largies 2. Smallies 3. Largies 4. Both -Ben

Here's my PB, the picture doesn't do it justice, note the 6'6 bass rod It was 38 inches and 13 pounds Caught it last summer, in probably 20-25 feet of water slow rolling a big spinnerbait I also caught this "Silver Pike" this spring, I thought it was really cool. -Ben

I don't really like fish ....I think I've kept 3 fish in the past 5 years, all smaller fish that were just barely legal to keep, the flesh always tastes better on the smaller ones! -Ben

Zoom Super Fluke in the Glitter Blue or Green Pumpkin color, sometimes with a dyed chartreuse tail. -Ben

1. "THE WIRE" Best TV show of all time in my opinion. 2. "Eastbound and Down" Really funny, its only had one season but theres gunna be a second season soon, its written by Will Ferrel so you know its funny -Ben

Japango!!!!! that place is awesome! -Ben

I'm in Toronto, in a basement...and its really wet, not fun! -Ben

...only a year or so late -Ben

indeed....

I'm actually really surprised that GCD didn't post the "hobo" pic, you know...since its been so long since you've been on the board.

Very Interesting post, some good reading. Thanks guys. I figured a stream/river Smallmouth thats 20 inches would be a lot older than a Smallmouth from a lake that is 20 inches. I also am thinking that a stream/river Smallmouth would be longer and thinner in general than a lake fish. Fighting that current sure aint fun lol. I'm guessing also that the Smallmouth are younger the further south you go. Maybe they're "stupider" and easier to catch. -Ben

Thanks! lol thats what I was going for. I caught all fish on Husky Jerk's in size 14 Tennessee shad, and Northland Magnum Reed Runner Spinnerbiats in Firetiger. -Ben

Wow!!! that first TO Pike is a Hog In the past 2-3 years i still haven't gotten a 40 in Toronto from shore. Thanks for sharing! -Ben

I just got back from a couple days fishing in the Land O lakes Area. With bass season closed I targeted Pike and Walleye. No luck with the walleye, maybe because of a HUGE mayfly hatch? A ton of fish, I'm assuming bass and pike were grabbing these mayflies off the top of the water everywhere, could have been an amazing time with a fly rod and a mayfly fly. Would the walleye be grabbing these mayflies off the top too? If only bass season was open Not easy fishing by any means, Only ended up with a couple smaller pike. Got my first silver/blue pike which was very cool. Well here's some pics. -Ben

I go up there once or twice a year, I'm actually going up on Monday. Lots of smallies and largies in there with the occasional pike; walleyes have gotten a LOT harder to catch in the past couple years, not quite sure why. Try going to Fernleigh lodge, the owner, Kevin is a really nice guy, my first time going up there he gave me a map with a bunch of good spots circled that produced some nice fish. Try fishing spinnebaits around any weed beds you can find, for the open water use a leach or minnow on a small hook behind a couple split shots, just drag it as slow and your can, always works for me. Its a beautiful lake with some pretty good fishing. There's also a bunch of back lakes in the area that have walleye, bass, pike, even some specks. Almost forgot, one of our members, Justin Hoffman, wrote and article on Kashawakamak, here it is http://www.ontariofishing.net/news2008/dec2008-2.html His info did me well. -Ben

Just got back from Canadian Tire saw these Matzuo minnows and couldn't resist, picked up a couple for the bass opener. Anyone tried these yet? how did they fair? -Ben

O Hockey...if only you weren't going on at the same time as the NBA we would be perfect (this is my unbiased American opinion) -Ben

Zoom Super Fluke, you can drift it, fish it fast and pretty much anything else

What makes me laugh is that I can see a couple hundred dollars worth of rods and reels lol , your like me...skimp on the boat/motor but put thousands of dollars into rods, reels and tackle. too funny P.S. I see the ducktape on the tiller -Ben

It's hard to tell people not to do something we think is wrong, but that they'll never get caught/in trouble for. I DO NOT fish for OOS Bass but I see why some people do, 99.9% of the time there is no repercussion, as far as CO's. Its like saying don't jay walk because you'll get a ticket. I've been living and fishing in Ontario for 4 years and I have never seen a single CO in person, yet I pay a lot more for a liscence than I did when I lived in Florida. Give us some more CO's and just maybe people will have the fear of conservation put into them enough to stop poaching, just my two cents. -Ben

I cast with my right and it just doesn't feel right with a left hand reel. No lefties and lots of switchin hands for me RJ lol, how ya been? Haven't seen you out since the opener last year? -Ben