Ben_Daniels

I find it funny how in the first pic the guy's smiling and Bob's smiling too, but in the second pic the guys not smiling so neither is Bob. Way to Blend in Mr. Izumi!

I don't think there are any big lakes in the Venice area but I'm sure that there are tons of small ponds. I lived in Florida for most of my life and can tell you that there are huge bass in lots of those small ponds. I lived on the east coast of Florida and from the North to the South of the state there are tons of bass in small ponds. A rod in the trunk and your set to go. My biggest bass, a 10lber came out of a two acre Golf course water hazard. I always had success with unweighted Zoom Flukes and Senkos, 1/4oz buzz baits, and top water poppers. Use light line and don't be loud because the fish in these ponds don't get a lot of pressure and their very spooky. You can have allot of fun fishing the small ponds just be careful for water moccasins and Turtles. Don't forget a license... Good Luck! -Ben

Well I didn’t get to fish a whole lot this year but still had a great time. I only got out 10 or 12 times but caught some awesome fish. Fast tracking through college and doing summer semesters doesn't leave me much time for fishing anymore doh . This was my second year living and fishing in Ontario after moving here from Florida. Its awesome going fishing here and being able to catch so many different fish. I did most of my fishing in Toronto around the downtown area and in the Toronto Islands in the Spring and Summer... First Bowfin PB Pike 38 inches My big bass of the year First Brown Trout I did manage to get up north to the Land O Lakes region for two days and had a pretty good time. PB Smallie 3 lbs. Mmmm I got my fish fry for 2007…. So all in all even though I didn’t get out that much this year it was a really good year and I had a great time up here. I had a lot of first’s and personal bests and I can’t wait until the ice is out so I can do it again! -Ben

ummmmm hmmmmm.....

Hey...I'm a little lost and I figured some of you guys might be able to help me out..... well I'm almost done College and I'm looking for a place to do my Internship. I'm taking Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure at George Brown College. Id really like to do something related to fishing...dream job yea... I'm not quite sure what to do...My Internship is 7 weeks and is unpaid(free labor). Can you guys think of any fishing related places in my field that I could look into....it could be anywhere, not only Ontario. well thanks in advance -Ben

Thats a cool looking fish Rich...Whatever it is. Its always nice to catch something different. I heard some people talking down at the lake a couple days ago and I heard someone say that they are going to start stoking only Atlantic Salmon in Lake Ontario... didn't they already try that and it didn't work?Anybody know if theres any truth to this? That would be weird if those were the only salmon around... -Ben

I use 80lb PowePro with some Fluro leaders I bought already made up, not sure what lb test they are. Be sure to be careful when casting those big baits with PowerPro, if you get a small tangle in your line at the rod tip its reallly easy to snap the tip off when you try to cast....happened to me this summer...twice, not fun when I only had one pike/muskie rod -Ben

This is a touchy subject because there are bad guys out there that should be caught for poaching etc.,, but I'd have to say its mostly the good people that are suffering from having there things illegally searched at rented cabins. In my "Issues in Tourism" class in college they told us that its one thing if the person renting the cabin allows the search(which they don't have to), but the Lodge or Hotel should NEVER open a guests room or cabin without seeing a warrant, regardless of reasonable suspicion. It makes the hotel liable for anything that might happen during this search and it can ruin the credibility of the Hotel.

Kashawakamak is a beautiful lake and thats a beautiful boat Ive had a couple great trips up there in the past year or so. tons of that size smallies. Walleye are pretty hard to find. I was there this past weekend I got into a couple pretty nice smallies. Ive only been fishing for smallies for about a year or two and beat my PB twice this past wekeend, with a 2.5lb and a 3lb. I saw a picture of a 6.2lber some guy caught there about a month ago. I couldnt even beleive catching a smallmouth twice the size of the one I caught. So yea theres definately some decent fish in there. -Ben

i see this all the time its pretty sad , i read somehwere that a ciggartte butt will last something like 5 YEARS before it will disintergrate..

The best show of all is definatley "Fish O Mania'! lol jk, sorry to all you carp guys out there but that is one boring show..... My favorites are extreme angler and classic patterns

Well one of my friends sent me this joke and i found it very funny, so i figured I'd share.... One morning the husband returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap. Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors, and reads her book. Along comes a Game Warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, "Good morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?" "Reading a book," she replies, (thinking, Isn't that obvious?) "You're in a Restricted Fishing Area," he informs her. "I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading." "Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. "I'll have to take you in and write you up." "If you do that, I'll have to charge you with sexual assault," says the woman. "But I haven't even touched you," says the game warden. "That's true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment." "Have a nice day ma'am," and he left. MORAL: Never argue with a woman who reads. It's likely she can also think.

Im not a big fan of Canadian beer, soo budweiser... but when im in the states i really like Michelob AmberBock.

Those are some awesome pics. I saw the same thing about a month ago... a bowfin swimming with a huge ball of small bowfins, pretty cool, I also couldnt catch it. lol. I guess there really cautious while guarding the little ones. Id count it as another species...but Id still go after a big guy! I caught my first one earlier this year and I couldnt beleive the fight it put up. -Ben

ya you definately opened a can of worms...LOL...I have to agree with Rick, both systems have their strong points... If you dont get terminally Ill here in Canada then its like you've wasted a large chunk of your tax money, but I guess thats better than getting sick in the states and posibly having no money to take care of yourself.... just my opinion _Ben

When im fishing tubes or other slow baits i usually use an 8lb fluro leader. But its all relative to how your going to be fishing. I went on a guided trip on Lake Powell in Utah. The guide had us using 20 fluro leaders dropshotting in brushpiles. So i guess it just depends on the cover and water clarity and whatever else you can think of

If its backlashing at the beginning of the cast adjust the centrifical brakes, if its backlashing at the end of the cast adjust the knob on the outside. For getting started I'd put 2 or 3 of the centrefical brakes on, I find that you rarely need all of them on, or all of them off. Well this is what i've noticed with my shimano baicasters. Use a 3/8 oz jig and practice practice practice. -Ben

Me and my Dad got up to Lake Kashwakamak in the Land o Lakes region this past week for a couple days. We got some rain but did manage to get some time in on the water. we had a real mixed bag of fish, largemouth, smallmouth, walleye and pike. Not a whole lot of fish, but alot of different species. We had an awesome time and heres some pictures. -Ben

Got out to the Islands again today for about 5 hours, seeing as Im on reading week from school I'm gunna do all the fishing I can(got skunked yesturday). Had another amazing day like on the opener. The usual spots were looking pretty dead so I decided to try some new ones. Looking around I found allot of bass in places where I have never caught any in the past. They werent hitting the baits that had been working, so I tried allot of different things. I found one spawning bed that had 5 bass on it in a very small area, they were so close to each other they were touching!. Ended up with 6 bass, the biggest was around 4 lbs I guestimate. Other than the bass I didn't see many catfish or other fish. I brougth along my camerman, oops I mean my brother (He didnt catch anything). So for once I have pictures of me with the fish. I had to photoshop them becasue they really gave away exact locations. -Ben

Nice Musky!!!!!I caught a big toothie critter on that same spinnerbait on bass opener too.

yea the ones i caught in my report were both still on beds, they ignored like four different baits, it was like i was playing a chess match with this fish for two hours.

it is a bowfin isnt it? well there both slimy

Well I got out to the Islands today. It was an awesome time out there. Probobly the best urban fishing I've had. It didnt start off so good, I spent prolly 4 hours throwing a spinnerbait without a hit or anything. So i decided to start pitching a black and blue creature type bait. 5 minutes after starting to fish it i saw my line go to the side, i set the hook really hard and was hoping for my first bass of the year.... but no a brown bullhead. I proceeded to catch 3 more catfish. Id see a perfect hole in the weed then throw in and be so excited hoping that it was gunna be a bass...but no. I was starting to think there were no bass over there. Then i set the hook on what felt like a huge bass... Then I pulled up my first bowfin. Very cool coloring on this guy. Those bowfin sure do fight! I'm thinking to my self why are these fish eating bass lures!!!! Continued to fish for another 2 or 3 hours and finally got my first bass of the season. A nice 2 pounder. Got one more bass that was probobly 2 or 3 pounds. So I was extremly happy with my bass opener even though they werent really cooperating. So I decided to pack it in and go home, I figured Id throw a pike spinnerbait while I walked to the fairy. Im pulling my spinnerbait over a weed clump and this huge pike comes up and takes my spinnerbait. This Pike put up a huge fight and to my amasement it didnt break the line , i wasn't using a leader, just my power pro. I had no net and no one to help me land the fish so i got in the water and cradled it onto shore with my arms. By this time my arms and legs are trembling! I had no net and no scale. but Im guessing it went 12-14 lbs, and comparing it to my rod its somewhere between 37-39 inches. My PB Pike, and I didnt even have to go up north to get it! No Leader, No Net, No Help, on a bass rod. This is one Bass Opener I will not forget. -Ben

Never caught a smallmouth in the isalnds but saw one on a bed while I was pike fishing last month. Surpised me. There were largemouth beds close around too. It was pretty cool to see them next to each other

Finally got out to the islands for the first time this spring. Spent 3 hours over there. Caught one small pike. I saw a dozen or so carp in 6 inches to foot of water, with their tails out of the water, just like redfish. Which I thought was really cool. I cant wait to get back out there. Well heres what i caught... -Ben