bigugli

....will keep the fishing junky from his appointed task. It was wet, windy ,and not nice, but I was not staying indoors. Off to the stagnating town of Welland in search of perchies. Took a while, but found the perch and gills all schooled together in a feeding frenzy. Guess the weather front turned on the appetite. Kept me a decent number for dinner.

As usual, a lot of fun. Also indulged in another one of my bad habits; going for a flying leap Ground sure was hard this time.

Everybody hop on the bandwagon. You've slipped to 17

you talkin about the fish or the guy holdin it?

Only if the redneck angler was Mariko

My goodness! That is perty.

You've got mine for the next 6 days.

Nuthin like a nice cold dip after the sauna

100 lbs of lead on the keel...

Beat me to it.

Another 6 weeks (if I make it that far) and I should almost look like Santa, again.

Question.... What's a razor?

Keep that as a reminder on my e-mail list. My uncle sent it to me a year back, and it serves as a healthy reminder once in a while.

hmm... still gotta till my stuff up. my garden wasnt the greatest this year. the carrots which is mostly what i wanted got eatin up by wroms. got tons of big 'taters. watermelon didnt grow. neither did my honey dew melon. got lots of beans and beats. peas too. corn didnt grow all that well but still tasted fantastic. got some nice strawberries and raspberries. onions didnt take too well. got SOME ripe tomatoes and the rest just rotted away. and finally, got some great cucmbers, and so many of them the little ones were turned into pickles.

The wet summer and cool temps made for a tough year. Root crops and spring veggies loved it. We had fresh peas at market into the middle of July; a full month longer. Blight was a serious problem with tomatoes. Corn not as sweet and susceptible to smut. Too cool for melons this summer.

Any time night temps dip below 50 F., growth cycles stall. So many vegetables never got really eatblished until July or later. Making a very short growing season. I only till patches I sow before winter, ie, garlic.

We had a whole colony in the farmhouse decades back one winter. They started chewing through wires. Put out a live trap, baited with peanut butter, in the summer pantry. They'd get trapped at night and some wound up as squirrelsickles by morning. IT was down to -20 a couple of nights. By the time we were done we had trapped and released 15 or so plus the squirrelsickles.

I've still got lots of beets and carrots to pick. Even some peppers yet. Still selling field tomatoes at market.

Yes I love veggies. We had corn, chard and cauliflower with our goose breasts tonight.

I don't hunt any more, but I'm kept supplied with game.Neighbour and I swap my fish for his game.

Tomorrow it will be marinated goose breast.

Pic may be photoshopped? In life they do get that big. Helped drag one that big north of the Soo some 27 years back. The bull was dressed, out and quartered where he dropped, and dragged back in 5 pieces. It was a very long walk dragging our chunk back to camp.

wow those beasts are giant. can't believe some hunt these big creatures for fun.

any idea how old are they?

That there would be a year's supply of meat for some lucky family. Don't snigger, I've known a few families who have depended on game as the sole supply of meat over winter.

Does your uncle still have the cottage up there?? Is your uncles name Harry?? (long shot)

 

I spent the first 4 years of my life living in Pickle Lake (Northern Ontario) Fishing was necesary there. So I guess that's when I started fishing.

 

Once we move south, I began spending a few weeks of every summer at 6 Mile at my grandpas cottage. I also fished the Maitland River a few times a week growing up in Wingham.

 

Some great memories..

I have an Uncle Harry in N.S. . No , my great uncle Johnny had the place on 6 Mile. Cousin sold the old place Was just around the bend from Jerry Bye's and 4 docks down from Ronnie Allen's, right opposite Tolle's Island.

Born into it in our family. Fishing is a way of life, not just recreation. Apparently I've caught fish since I was 2. Did the same with my kids. The son won one of the big prizes at the St kitts Catfish Derby at 3.

Spending a good chunk of my childhood in the "Skokers" had its benefits. First thing in the morning checking the trot line for a pike, then check the bait traps. Bobber fish til breakfast was ready. When we moved to Toronto (YECHHHHH!), skipped a lot of school on Fridays to head up to the uncle's for another weekend on 6 Mile. Gram and Aunt Lily were as proficient as the men with a rod and reel, as is my Mother, and now, my daughter.

As Finns we feast on fish, hence the need to be fishing all the time. Fried, baked, stuffed, pickled. Pike was mainly for "fish head soup". Only my Gram and aunt would clean the fish. Apparently us men wasted too much flesh. Had a clothes line strung up where we hung gar skulls to dry over the summer months.

Right on Bruce

Looks like you've got a good feed of perch!!! What was the final tally if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks for sharing

Jacques

For the son and I, we kept 66 in the 9-12" size. Hate to think how many the three of us put back.

Good to see you got some ski. You folks had fun regardless. The fish were the bonus.

Finally, after a very long day, I get to post my report.

Was extended an invite for perchin by crappieperchhunter (aka Steve), and finally was able to take him up on the offer. Am I glad I did.

As is typical for fall, the morning started slow until the sun warmed things up. What followed was 5 steady hours of action with a lot of quality fish thrown into the mix.

One of 2 sinkfuls.

I am truly blessed by the good people and friends I have come to know over the years, and OFC has a disproportionate number of quality people within its ranks. It's something one should never take for granted.

Thank you for a great day on the water Steve.

3 1/2 FinS minnow or 3 1/2 Gulp minnow

LOL Bruce.

Those areas are off limits now.Ya know,MONEY TALKS,and fishermen WHO?

When did that happen. They were still OK in the spring?

I would get a place on a smaller K-lake to avoid the weekend crowd. Doesn't take much to travel down the road to fish the bigger systems. You will appreciate the added quiet.

one good place right in orillia is the government docks right in town or the narrows right off highway twelve right behind the narrows plaza stop in the baitshop and im sure he will be happy to point you in the right direction or stop in at trombleys bait and tackle

Pike = food... we fish for it for 3 hours. The rest of the time is spent hunting other creatures of the depths.

Need to find a lot of fish to feed that motley crew . Need a lot more if i show up this year.