Governator

I've never been much of a camper, excep the usual family camp grounds around with friends. I know we don't really like to talk about our fears (lol) but when you go in the back country by yourself in Algonquin, doesn't the thought of bears or moose freak you out? I think my first solo trip would be very intimidating. Does anyone have any "close call" stories?

That is the coolest portable bbq ever...

Ovechkin has scored over 50 goals 3 out of his first 4 seasons in the NHL (46 goals in the other one). He's by far the most skilled player in the league and if I were a GM looking to add a forward and it was between those 2 players, there is no doubt in my mind which one I would choose.

One step further, since my buddy tends to video everything I actually have a video clip of catching a pike then talking about the lure lol. watch the vid

Thanks! Well I started with a smaller white & red 3/16oz spinnerbait (bleeding bait). I caught a few and switched things up but nothing else was producing over the next hour so I went back to that spinner and caught every single fish on it lol!! It was an easy day and my new rod/reel held up well (7' MH with Abu Garcia). I was also using braid & flourocarbon for the first time. What a great combo.

Thanks lol... we weren't planning on staying out through the rain but I was having too much fun. Look at my pants in the first pic, you'll see just how wet I was but not caring at all lol.

Well thanks everyone here for being understanding. I didn't think this post would cause such a controversy so quickly (OOS thread) and I feel like I need to save face. The bass were obviously complete accidents, the lake has them and sometimes you can't avoid them. Both were caught in completely different areas of the lake. The first one was smaller and it was a real quick release, infact it's on video but I don't feel I need to prove this to anyone (however if needed, I will post it). I had a total blast yesterday, catching 8 pike in a day was double what I had done before so I was on a high regardless. If I'm going to post a report, it's going to include the truth of what I caught because that's what a good report does. I'm not advocating catching OOS fish by posting a pic but I do see the controversy. So please forgive me for wanting a pic of the first ever 5lber I ever felt on my line. In the future if something like this comes up, I'll avoid posting my memories.

So my buddy comes up last night (Friday), we're having a few beers and realize that it's suppose to start raining by 9:00-9:30AM. So we make a plan to launch for 5:30AM to get a few solid hours in. We were anxious to get on the water and test out my friend's "new" tin boat with a 9.9 - Quite the upgrade from the zodiac w/ 2.5hp we used all last summer. With some minor issues, it was a good buy. A small leak in the boat but it's fixable & overall it held up well. Our destination today was Little Lake in Barrie, it's only a few min drive and the most likely place to avoid getting skunked albeit smaller fish. All together today was my best outing yet (just started fishing last summer). I landed 10 fish - 8 pike and 2 accidental bass (including my personal best, just shy of 5lbs). Felt great to start the season off with a bang. Even though we were soaken wet, it was so hard to call it a day. FYI- Proud to say that all fish had healthy releases. The biggest pike of the day was 5lbs but built solid: The surprise catch of the day & PB:

That is the most awesome hold I've ever seen on a pike. Now where's the pics with the bandaids?

I'd recommend GMAIL over Hotmail if you're looking for a free address online. I send out mass newsletters for companies often and I find Hotmail's servers are by far the slowest at receiving the mail from my bazillion tests. Sometimes even a day behind when sending mass emails, I don't understand why but quite frankly don't care either lol.

Well I only started fishing last summer so I don't know if this is common or not. Anyway I had a pike on that broke my line. I sat there for probably 30sec+ retying and in disbelief. Suddenly this big splash happens and the pike leaps in the air 1-2ft thrashing left and right with the spinnerbait stuck in it's mouth. I felt soo terrible and have since upgraded all gear for pike. Lesson well learned after seeing him leap in discomfort.

very cool thanks, I asked about this earlier and someone mentioned to use surgical tubing over it to create a closed eye as well.

This is right but wrong zones. May 2nd - Zone 20 opens (L. Ontario) May 9th - Zone 16 opens (basically southern ontario)

Yea this is correct. Zone 16 opens 2nd saturday in May. http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR_E001335.pdf

I learned my lesson about Canadian Tire 5 or 6 years ago. Got them to put my winter tires put on, two days later driving home on the 404 all I hear and feel is "wobble, wobble, wobble wobble"..... lucky I was near a dealership and stopped there. "You are very lucky sir. Whoever put on your wheels didn't actually torque them. If I were you, I would raise hell". Yea... I don't trust any service from them.

Dad's 60th is this saturday.... Planning an outing for the pike opener though.

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. Does everyone tie directly to their spinnerbaits? I only ask this stuff as I got to pick up a few spinners now.

That is awesome... Hey I got a question: What's the purpose of spinnerbaits having an open eye? If it's open, do you always have to tie to it in order to keep it from sliding? I find a snap swivel is useless with them unless they are a closed eye. I don't get the point of having it open but practically every single spinnerbait at basspro is open eyed.

Nice collection!!! I love how everyone is so organized. Perhaps it's because we've had a long winter to keep things organized, but usually my boxes are a mess lol. Would like to fix that this year. Here are my (limited) plastics... I do have some nicer plyers lol but got this ancient old deep hook remover from my uncle (Probably time to update lol). I like the idea of a hook sharpener, is that something that would sharpen trebles as well? And my boxes more up close. I think I might have to get more x-raps and more topwater which I haven't really played with. Right now bucktails are my favourite to throw too bad they are a bit pricey. I do fish a lot of shallow water as well.

You guys are awesome, thank you!!!

WOW... that is incredible! Hopefully one day I'll have that collection. Mind if you I did, my wife would probably threaten to kill me.

Pike & Bass, I've yet to try Walleye Fishing but don't know what I need for that. lol!! That's a good call indeed.

Yea I don't really have those, I have some of the Gulp & Power Baits in the top drawer but that's about it. Yea I just picked up a hula popper to try topwater, little more basic for me. Can walking the dog be done with a spinning reel? I haven't advanced myself to the baitcaster yet hehe.

The worm on a bobber guys.... lol.... Gold/Silver wobbler eh, that's a classic I think I should get that.

So I'm new to fishing, just started last summer but since have spent a crap load of money for a so called "cheap hobby" and wondering what I should add to it now that I'm super addicted lol. I have to replace spinnerbaits as I threw them out. I'm an idiot and didn't clean them off before storing away, so they went orange and rusted on me. This is what it looks like now, anything you think I should add? This is just for fishing for pike, bass, etc... I also picked up a new 7' MH Fast Action Bass Pro Rod and an Abu Garcia Reel (Just the 100 series).