Northhunter

Welcome to the wacko world of animal rights activists. They might be native, but they are definitely wiping things out. An interesting note is that in nearly 100 years of records of bird sightings and data for Algonquin Park, the birds had never been sighted there until they appeared a few years ago. They've already wiped out islands on Opeongo and possibly elsewhere within the park. They (MNR) just completed a 5 year study last year. It showed they do infact harm fish stocks and throw the food chain out of whack where colonies are established. Only thing I can figure is the government is afraid of the backlash if they take action, so they're going with "another study"

The ministry in its current state wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. They've cut all their public relations staff, with the exception of the "Bear Wise" hotlines. The fish and wildlife program is broke. The extra funding would be nice, provided it went to where it was needed and not something like this billion dollar "museum of humanity" or whatever it is the Liberals want built... but you need to spend money to make money. They don't have the resources.

Fishing Shows!! I don't watch them anymore.. but from what I've seen of Italo lately, Canadian Sportfishing is pretty close to fitting the bill. And it doesn't cost anything.

Dead against the idea. It would be a convenient cash grab and that would be about it. We are talking about fishing. Fishing! The grey areas in the regs aside, its one of the simpler pastimes we have left. A lot of the licensing in other areas is safety related. Driving.. pretty self explanatory. The hunter's safety course is less about management and game ID than it is proper use of firearms, outdoor awareness, code of conduct, etc. Kids get tested too damn much now anyway. Making them pay to write an exam they must pass before they can wet a line is probably one of the best ways to hurt recruitment to the sport. Everyone's always preaching "take a kid fishing" - why make it that much harder. Not to mention all the complications - the free fishing weekends seem to be a hit. What would happen to them? Youths and seniors don't need a license. Are they exempt? If not, what happens to the kid who would like to go fishing and may have opportunities to but doesn't have a licensed "guardian"? You think a 75yr old man who's been fishing for almost as many years is going to rush out and write the test? Please. Take the costs it would take to set up something like this and put it into enforcement. As I write this there are fewer than 200 CO's for all of Ontario. A license does nothing if there is no one to check for it. A lot of the individuals who need the test would probably smarten up pretty quick and change their ways if they actually got caught doing what they do... but they don't and they won't.

Anyone know what the division boundary is? Hwy 64 used to be the boundary between 27 and 15. On the new map on the MNR site it looks like it is now 535, but I thought I had read that they were going with all "navigable water" or something of that extent to include all of the west arm ???

That first pic is too cool. Not that I'd feel that way if I walked into my kitchen to see that lookin' back at me!

Red breasted merganser. That's all I can ID in the pics you posted. There's a couple gull-type birds in the 3rd pic. Not sure what those are. They pretty well live off fish. That's why they dive a lot in large flocks. They are definitely headed north, where to is hard to say. Their range goes coast to coast. Last fall's migration was a little weird for a lot of waterfowl. Different species were showing up where they normally don't go or aren't common. If that's carried over to the trip back north, could explain why you've never seen them before.

It's 33 now. They're saying 29 injured. I can't come anywhere close to imagining what the people there are going through now.

A lot of the stocked lakes I've fished were very small. Really the only way they would support a fishery is by stocking. Our best splake lake we can walk around the perimeter in a short while. When the fish are on lets just say it's really good... when they're off it's frustrating. You can cover the entire lake and you know the fish are there as they have nowhere to go, but go without a fish in a days fishing if they're "off". When you happen to look down your hole and see one give your minnow the old bump'n'sniff only to keep going, you're pretty well out there for the fresh air

Yer killin' me! Your posts bring be back to warm days, clear nights and trout lakes in the Gogama region in March. Nothing like hitting a pothole lake that gets forgotton when the snow hits the ground and pulling specks through 3ft of ice and snow in a t-shirt. I haven't been up there in a couple winters We fished a little rainbow lake a couple times that had water so clear you could see bottom in what looked like 20ft. Fish were pulled out of there in the 5-7lb range, but not by us. We always got skunked.

Sure do! We probably keep more smallies than any other fish during the summer. I have kept largies as well, but they are less common where we fish. The populations are very healthy, they're easy to catch, and they taste good. I will never base my conservation practices on the "image" or social status of a species.

I wish they'd do the same thing (dates on the box). Superlines it doesn't matter, but I've gotten bad spools of mono off the shelf before. The stuff I have at home I keep out of the sun and extreme temps and it's good as new.

Funny. I've been picking up more pickeral in the mid-late summer bass spots in recent years. I think it has something to do with the habits the fish that are being stocked at this end develop, but who knows for sure... I believe the same thing with the ice fishing. The reduced limit and the slot were needed with the added pressure and have really helped, although the 3-4yr fish really get hammered and a lot get taken out the year before they would first spawn. I was involved in some work near the South River about a year and a half ago and the majority of the 'eyes we netted were in the slot. I think the walleye fishery should peak in 3-5 years.

I hear ya. The west end can seem like bronzeback central. Reproduction is through the roof - hasn't been a year in recent memory in which it didn't seem there were tons of little guys. Not uncommon to sit on a small shoal or off a rock bed and hook into 20 or more 1-3yr fish. The 1lb'ers make for good eats but I don't know how many keep them or know how to get into them. You've likely been fishing the lake quite a bit longer than me, Nip. Were there always as many smallies?

They are spreading their range and increasing in numbers due to a warming trend. A friend has a camp up towards Timmins - one lake never had smallies. 8-9 years ago you would catch the odd one, if any. The last time I fished it was a few years ago and there were quite a few. Some people suspect they were illegally introduced and it spread from there, but no one really knows. I know there's a couple reports out there showing the trend the Kawarthas are following favours warmer water species like bass, bluegill over walleye (but everyone's hell bent on blaming crappie for the walleye decline). It's also something they are looking at in Algonquin. Rockbass have become an unwelcome guest in some parts of the park and smallie numbers appear to be spiking. Both species will really hammer baitfish numbers and diversity, which will effect trout stocks.

I was surprised they called it back, too. Before the series started I woulda said Pittsburgh to take it. But I dunno... Ottawa looked pretty sharp last night. Anyone see the 'Nucks - Stars game? 2 minutes away from the 5th overtime before it finally ended! (yes, I watched it).

Thanks for the read!! I was in the local Chapters a while ago and looked at a book that was likely about that... but I had no idea what it was about and never picked it up (bought it). I had no idea Somalia happened either, until I saw a documentary on tv a few years ago. I was 11-12 when those things took place.

That's odd, Grizz. We're in the southern part of the province, but my roommates went out to a bar/pub to watch a fight just a few weeks ago. It might be a local thing (municipal) ?? Things are a little "rough" up in that neck of the woods. I know when we visited my college friend he told us about a place called the "Snake Pit" along with a couple stories. We don't shy away from alcohol or public places but he expressed no need to go there lol. Maybe a fight on the t.v. is the last thing they need.

Terrace Bay is off HWY 17 along the north shore of Superior, between Schreiber and Marathon. My guess is it's about a day's drive from Ear Falls Your best bet might be someplace in Red Lake or Ear Falls itself?? Not much up there. Was visiting a college buddy in Red Lake in the fall and he was telling us about their soccer team. Our response was "Oh yeah? Who do you play? Ear Falls!?" He didn't find it as funny as us The man asked for assistance. Apparently some people are so hung up that they need to express their personal disagreement with another's extracurricular activites on his fishing trip over an internet message board rather than realize they can't answer the question and move on. I wonder how many would skip the trip altogether if the Leafs actually made it near the cup

Nipissing - Ramakko's in Sudbury sells the paint you use if you're ever in the city. They might charge a little more than down south? but seemed to have a good selection last time I was there. HeyBud - for paint I would check any tackle shops that sell lure making stuff (wire, spinner blades, etc.).

I got dis one Casio Exilim. 6.0 megapixels, 2.5" screen. About the size of a credit card and half an inch thick. I have big hands but the size doesn't make it hard to use. I know some people are probably thinking Casio? but it's an awesome camera. My model only has 3x optical zoom, but the newer ones go higher. Has image stabilization, all kinds of colour/brightness/contrast settings as well as a "Best Shot" button for "point and click". Definetly go with lithium batteries. I put a 2gig memory card in mine and can take close to 30mins of HQ video without swapping for the spare. They charge in under an hour. I picked it up last June and think it was about 300 bones or a bit more? But it came with a bunch of throw-ins so was a pretty good deal.

Standings and points are two entirely different things. Because the western teams have more points does not mean they are better. They play in a different conference. Toronto played the other 4 teams in their division 32 times. Eight against Buffalo, 8 against Montreal, etc. and vice versa. Did they ever see Anaheim? Dallas? Did Vancouver play Philly? Montreal? Maybe once in 82 games. Western teams went past regulation 134 times. Eastern teams: 147. If you look at the 9-12th seeded teams in each conference they combine for 355pts (East) vs. 320pts (West). 35 points is a pretty big difference. The stats would support that while the Eastern Conf. is more closely matched and more competitive, the playoff teams in the west were simply feeding off the weaker non-playoff teams. There are some very skilled teams in the west, but only one can make it to the finals and they better be damn afraid of who comes out of the east, whoever that may be. And please drop the "Leafs Bashing" thing. Specktacklure's post did not mention the Leafs once, but because he's a Sens fan you felt compelled to bring it back up?? There may be a few Sens/Habs followers giving some ribbing, but that's only because we get it 10x worse from "Leaf Nation / Center of the Universe" about 300 days a year.

24 of 30 NHL teams had more PP opportunities at home than on the road. 25 of 30 NHL teams were shorthanded less at home than on the road. The officiating almost always goes to the home team. That seems to hold especially true when in Toronto. I was told that in Saturday's game one ref made every single call ?? Going by memory here, but in the past couple seasons the Leafs have won more than a couple games against Montreal late in the 3rd or in overtime on power play goals

Don't be knockin' Koivu. His rookie training camp they had to tell him not to hit his teammates so hard. He's only 5'10". We all know about the cancer ordeal - missed 80 games, came back and they clinched a playoff spot on his return. I believe that was the year he lead them to an upset Over Boston after being down 3-1. The team was on the way to a 3-1 lead but folded last year after he was taken out in game 4 of the Carolina series by a high stick. Despite the blind spot it caused and playing a defensive system under Carbo, he put up the best point total of his career, including 15 points in the final 8 games. He's stated he would play a season without a paycheck if it meant a chance at the cup with the Habs. Yeah, dump him. He sucks

I've been quiet since last night for obvious reasons (my freakin' team lost!! lol). I said I was worried the game was in Toronto and in the end it may have been the difference. Seven power plays to Montreal's 4, and three 5 on 3's in what was the most important game of the year. Koivu's call early in the 3rd was tough to take - one hand on the stick reaching for the puck and Wellwood dives. Kubina knocked a net off as well. I can't bring myself to cheer for another Canadian team just because they are Canadian. Of the six I am only fond of two (Montreal and Edmonton), and they are both out. I'd like to see what kind of damage Minnesota will do. Will probably keep an eye on Dallas as well. Dallas - Vancouver should be a good one!