Northhunter

If they're developing eggs they are not sterile. As I understand it the eggs get re-absorbed if the fish doesn't spawn. How long that takes I have no idea. I've never caught brookies through the ice that had eggs?? Maybe our stocked fish release them??? I really don't know. Stocked fish normally don't reproduce, not because they can't but because with each generation that is reared in a hatchery they lose their ability to do what natural fish do so well. They get domesticated. Even stocked splake have been documented to reproduce, although it's rare. They can do funny things with fish inside. They can play with the photoperiod to condition rainbows to be either spring or fall spawners. The fish that truly can't reproduce because they don't produce milt or eggs get shocked with warm water when they are still fertilized eggs. It adds a 3rd set of chromosomes. "Triploids" are generally kept to fish farms. The record rainbow caught in the north channel (?) was an escaped triploid, as are the fish being caught by the two brothers out west (1 or more line class records - huge fish).

Been slow all year. Some decent numbers of perch (although not all that big), with a few herring and the odd pike and walleye thrown in. And that's a good trip, apparently

I hear bonghitts has a nice little place up north. I'd befriend him, then steal his identity and have it all for myself. I'd be set On the "survivor" type shows... Bear Grylls is a fraud. He himself may have skills, but the show's one big fake. Ray mears is awesome. "Survivorman" gets a lot of flack, but he's there to film a show more than he is to survive. Yes, he has a support crew that set up camp some distance away, but wouldn't you? I know I wouldn't want to die filming a freaking TV show... but I agree, the man can't hunt or fish! I've spent enough time outdoors that I think I'd cope pretty well. But getting out there and doing something and realizing just how hard it is, and watching somebody else on TV do it and going "Hey, I can do that!" are two very, very different things. Bring a shovel indeed. There's lots of people with OLN in the GTA

Thanks for the replies guys. I think I've got a pretty good starting point, although that could change with the first hole drilled. Drifter - I do, but would rather not post it. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but this place gets a lot of traffic. Even with names and roadways taken out I fear someone will recognize it and there goes our potential hot little secret. We're a couple guys trying to find lakes for ourselves. We don't tell anybody when we hit it good (or bad), and if we do... no names. We started doing this last year (packing into these places)... one of the reasons we're hitting so many (besides the fact we enjoy it) is to get a stockpile of places to go. If you hit up a lake once in a season it doesn't draw much attention to it, and it doesn't bother you much to leave it alone if you have a few others just as good (with a bunch more pegged to be scoped out). It's bad enough we leave tracks in the snow... we've had trouble with people following them in, etc. I was pretty well stalked by a vehicle as I walked out from an unseen lake last year. The people up where we do most of our "venturing" are... well, different. lol We found a good one last year (stocked). First ones to check'er out on ice. When we hit it a 2nd time about a month later we were still the only ones to try it. We pulled 60 fish in those two days, but they need a couple years. Someone got curious after the 2nd trip, broke a trail in with sleds. We don't think they hooked into much (time of year, where they fished). Problem with the lake is now it's going to be a covert operation to fish it. It'll get hit hard and cleaned out if anybody catches on. Happened to us before with a "lake" we stumbled upon moose hunting. It don't take much.

Been hitting new lakes all season. Started hitting the ice around christmas, going out about every weekend. So far we've fished one we "discovered" last year, and hit another new (found this year) a 2nd time. Everything else has been a new lake every time out. So far, so good. It's a lot of work, but we're not slowing down... it's been too much fun! We have another potential one picked out. A little bigger, a little harder to get to. If anyone fishes it once the ice hits, it's news to us. We're usually after splake or specs, but this one holds lakers... Northerns, whitefish, herring and ling as well (supposedly). It's about 3km long, averages maybe 300 yards wide. Never seen the lake in person. To those of you who have experience targeting lakers through the ice in new territory.. where would you start for location? What do you look for? We don't have any depth data for the lake.. usually just hike in, start drillin' holes and see for ourselves... but we're used to pothole lakes. Don't want to do that for 3 hours on this one. There looks to be a couple rock ledges that drop into the lake - try those? Try shallower on a lake this size? Looking for tips so we can maybe try and determine if this one's a keeper in a day or two... some of these smaller lakes just don't produce that well. Harder to tell through the ice sometimes. Note: I know I'll get "move if you set up and don't get results in 30mins, an hour", etc. But we'll be hiking in, and Simcoe this is not. We keep moving if we don't like what we see, but might try 2-3 spots in a full day on this one.

Awesome report! I've been on a few trips like that Took (well, tried to take) a buddy into a secluded beaver pond for an early goose hunt one year. It was supposed to be a 10-15 minute walk. We weaved, broke, thrashed through and cursed at the bush for over an hour. At one point we even had geese flying over us above the trees in an ash swamp, so we knew we at least got close. We never found the pond. Myself and two buddies picked out a secluded pothole lake using stocking lists and maps a few years ago. It was supposedly stocked with brookies and rainbows. We drove in as far as we could, then broke in on foot. Waist deep snow. We finally get to the lake and it looks awesome. The sun isn't quite up yet but the sky is clear and it's calm. It was the perfect morning until we started punching holes. In every hole we drill we got coffee-stained water and bits of the mud bottom, which smelled like $#!!. It wasn't much of a lake. We packed up, hiked out (through the same waist deep snow - not 20mins later) and hit another new lake we had been looking at. The "lake" was so small I had a line on the opposite shore. We sat there all day. Nothing. Then as the sun started to dip and we were thinking about picking up, the flag on my farthest tip-up shot up. I never adjusted the rig. It had the same minnow on it for about 5 hours and counting, and he was still kicking strong on a drop-shot rig until a 3 1/2lb speck ate'em up

The populations are not hurting, and the slot is odd as there wasn't really a need for it. The "6 fish, any size" deal was working. Don't fix it if it ain't broken. Pike are probably the most abundant and widespread sportfish in the north, and most people release them. You can fish for them year round, even while they are stacked up like cordwood in the spawning bays... kinda odd, if a slot system is needed, no? Same deal on Nipissing. The musky fishery flourished under the old regs. It was mostly C&R, self regulated. Now in order to keep one it pretty well has to be a trophy class fish. It doesn't make a whole lotta sense. Why the change? Again, I dunno... I wasn't in the meetings. You could call the MNR and ask... but you'll likely get their PR response.

There's the "white moose" (near Chapleau?) as well. A few people got together (I guess you could call that a special interest group) and started lobbying to protect them. There's nothing special about the moose except their colour. They are part of the normal population and gene pool and are not a distinct species or anything like that. The ones that are white just have a recessive gene, but now you cannot shoot a "white" moose in 2 WMU's in the north because they are of "spiritual significance" - no biology needed. Someone mentioned the lake trout and Irishfield's neck of the woods. Temagami is it's own fishery, a large secular lake. At one point their lake trout regs were to be changed to be the same as the "provincial standard" (I dunno if that's the case now or not). Their walleye regs were changed to "harmonize with FMZ 11 - North Bay". North Bay is 80km away and lies on one of the heaviest pressured walleye fisheries in the province! There was opposition to such drastic changes, but they went through. Now what went on in the meetings and who went to them... I dunno. I wasn't there.

Try google Greencoach. I'm on holidays. Off the top of my head... the Aurora trout season was closed because of a new species at risk act a few years ago. With the exception of 2 places where they reproduce naturally, they are stocked, and these stocked lakes are open on a rotation. 2 of 9 lakes for a short season every year. The season still got closed. I did catch the last part of your post. Did you read mine? I'd prefer to keep fewer walleye. Limit your catch. The problem (and need for the slot) is there will be 800 huts on Nip Jan 1st full of guys who are mostly from out of town and don't because they are here once a year. A good number of the fish they keep would have spawned for the first time this spring.

Just an update - we lost most of our snow (and we had a lot) last night with the rain . Dunno what the lakes are like... wet, I suppose . Supposed to be cold Tues, Wed, Thurs. - should tighten things back up for the end of the week.

I hear where pike slayer's coming from as I'm going through it on Nipissing with walleye. The fish in the slot are prime eating. I would prefer to keep 1 or 2 larger fish but can't unless I land something over 60cm (something I would probably prefer to release anyway - just me). Now if I want to eat walleye I have to keep fish under 40cm. There's exceptions, but generally fish just under the slot are less than a year from reproducing for the first time. Keep 4 fish that are immature but have beat all the odds and are one step away from contributing to the the health of the population. OR Keep 1 or 2 fish that have already made a couple trips to the spawning grounds. You're getting roughly the same amount of meat from either option, now which would you rather choose? One removes an awful lot of reproductive potential from the population (both do - but 3 or 4 fish that haven't spawned vs. 1 or 2 that have?) The other will get you a nice fine. I know why the regs are the way they are. Is it a problem that I have issues with the above scenario? Re; special interest groups, etc. Believe it, GCD. That kinda stuff does go on up here. We live here. We work here. We play here (us Canucks) - a few of us even know a thing or two about what goes on around us. The ministry recently amalgamated/revised all the divisions. Their reasoning was to make everything simpler, easy to follow. But they are also broke and trying to cost cut. Changes were made in areas where the regs had been the same for years and worked, didn't need revision. But we got stuck with larger and fewer divisions. A lot of the fisheries within these larger division got painted with the same brush in terms of regs - it doesn't really make sense to a lot of guys like pike slayer, or myself for that matter. He's just voicing what he thinks. "Marine Biologist" or not.

Was on a small lake north of the city yesterday. About 10" where we were - half white, half black. Pouring rain right now though.

I've always done well with either perch or the silver/blue with the orange belly. Gold/black too - but looks like you've got it. It's supposed to be a decent pattern, but I've got a husky jerk in clown that's been in my box for about 5 years. I make a conscious effort to get it wet every once in a while, because I'm pretty sure it has yet to catch anything lol. I have one in bright orange (x-rap) that's been in there for 2 years as well. It has one OOS smallie and one northern to it's credit. That's it. The freakin' rock bass won't even eat it.

Current plan is to punch holes for the first time this season tomorrow. Gonna try to hit a lake "X" that we "discovered" a year ago. Hit it 3 times with two 20-30 fish days on it last season but they were on the small side... hoping they've grown up a bit! Have another lake that looks to be gold for brookies... can't get to it just yet, unless we want to hike about 12k. Was looking through my pics from the last year.. here's a few for those that haven't been out yet but are looking to scratch the itch! Getting a "feel" for a new lake.. that's a partner in crime setting up shop in the distance. A freshly rigged splake trap set in virgin snow... Not too many fish pics, but yes... we did get a few of these.

A Finn-bore will cut ice like butter with little to no downward pressure. I've had 30 hole days in March with mine, and that ain't southern Ontario ice! The double offset handles are key - you can strain the muscles in one arm ala the swede-bore or you can use both plus some of your upper body with something like the finn. I shake my head when people talk about using 2 guys to cut holes. Get the 6" unless you really need the 8, as an 8" is cutting almost twice as much ice with every rotation.

Nature does keep itself in check... too bad there's not much of it left that doesn't have some human influence messing that balance up (that's not a reference to hunting). Coyotes are very intelligent and opportunistic. In an area like southern Ontario a bad winter will not kill them off. They can do very well on on things like carrion and deer, but when that resource isn't easy pickin's they can simply fall back on things like livestock, if such things are not the staple already. The fluctuation you see from year to year is more likely due to disease (stuff like mange takes its toll) or simply animals moving on to a different food source.

How old were the spools you tested? Mono will rot over time. I've gotten bad spools right off the shelf more than once. The rods I rig with mono I spool with Stren original or clear blue. Low diameter and limp (in comparison to other mono's of the same lb. test) and strong as hell.

I've owned a Jiffy, Swede bore and the Finn Bore. Also used a Mora. The Swede bore, Mora, etc. will get the job done if they are in good shape but have shorter lives. The Finn Bore and others are in a league all their own. Any auger that requires much downward pressure to cut just wears both you and the auger out. The upward pressure of the ice on the blades will slowly warp the steel until your cutting angle gets worse and worse. It's less noticeable with soft ice (late season) but can kill an auger in no time. I ice fish a lot. Love to backpack and check out new lakes. Never used a gas auger but I will burn 25+ holes in a day through northern Ontario March ice trying to find fish or just get a "feel" for a lake. The Finn Bore is all I use.

I'm not too worried. That said, the team that gets the goaltending and the lucky breaks usually wins the tournament. From what I've seen, they just can't play as physical as they would like to be able to. They got called on a couple good clean hits yesterday - when it's called that way in international competition you have to hold back or you end up playing with 4 skaters most of the time and you're done.

Be weary of used 870 Express models. Many people own them and have no complaints (as is apparent in this thread) but there are a lot of lemons out there, too. The Express is the same design as the Wingmaster, but the "econo" version if you can call it that. If you come across an older Wingmaster for a good price (or a BPS as I mentioned earlier), snatch it up if you like it and everything checks out. We have one that's 35 years+. Never seen a gunsmith and all original parts. I shoot an 11-87 Premier. It's pretty well just a hunting gun (no sporting clays or anything) but it still has 5-6000 rounds through it. I would buy another one in a heartbeat, but I would go for an older model (something made prior to 2000) to replace the current one. They don't make'em like they used to.

Good luck! You can't go wrong with a 12. Not only will it take anything in the province, but it is the most widely used gauge - shells, parts, etc. are cheaper and more common as a result. A 20 would work too, but isn't as well suited for waterfowl (if that's something you might want to get into). I'm not a fan of the Express, but the price is a good deal. A Remington will do the job, but if you're looking for quality look for a Browning BPS, and go used to keep the price down. They are definitely well built. Don't worry about being under-gunned for big game with a 12ga. With slugs you're good to 100 yards on deer and black bears. A lot of the guides/outfitters in grizzly country have a 12 strapped to their back loaded with slugs or buckshot for when they really need it - there's a lot of stopping power there.

Most of the smaller lakes north of the city (towards Gogama) are running 8-12". Those are the only ones I've hit (no fish - 1 pike and two flags in 3 trips). About half of that is "white" ice because of the storm that blew through right after the first good freeze. The rain actually helped some lakes, as it melted any snow that was left on top and that is freezing with the colder temps. Our lake was "booming" last night as everything was tightening back up. Have fun finding out what "Lake X" is like...

I wouldn't eat that either. Could be wrong, but I don't think that's "yellow grub". I've seen it many times. They've always been small and have never crawled around like that! On an unrelated note: "Black Spot" is actually given its appearance by the fish. The black is a pigment that the fish produces and encysts the tiny parasite.

One theory is that if they acknowledge these things exists, then they would be forced to allocate money/resources to protect the population. Given the current state of the MNR and the issues it would effect (logging, hunting, etc.) it would be a big can of worms.

There was a similar sighting in the Gogama area (Westree) a couple weeks ago by my buddies dad. From a distance he first thought it was a bear, then saw the tail and other features. Camera was stashed away because of rain.