bare foot wader

nice intro, this site definitely has one of the friendlier tones going for internet forums, I moved to BC and still linger around here, one of the better forums imo I've been on lesser slave a few times, but great slave is on my to do list, I want one of those 50lb lakers....please feel free to pm coordinates of your hot spots lol that Yukon trip sounds like a pretty sweet trip, any pics, hunting or otherwise? my dream job will be 14x14 at one of the mines up there, some day hopefully cheers

full tank in the eskimo 51 will last about a month or so with heavy fishing on wknds, never counted but it's a lot of holes

I'm mostly a shimano reel guy, but I think most reels in that price point perform about the same (except rapala, they should stick to making lures)....so pick whatever can be warrantied easier (I think shimano will win that)

instructors are taking heat for that just recently, might expect things to get a bit tougher but basic common sense and the slightest knowledge of firearms will get most people passing with flying colours cbc sent in an undercover instructor to audit the testing standards in each province apparently http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/#!/content/1.2544002

interesting, same here...9'6" MH steelhead avid, brand new, first cast, 1/2 oz spoon and snap....lure and half the rod tip go flying in the river the second one lasted a few months, but again, snapped on a cast right around the same area st croix redesigned the wild river rods, picked up an 8'6" MH spinning and it holds up to casting spoons AND coho's just fine lol....cheaper than the avids as well

thanks for that link, that seems to be the article in question plus a bunch of other good material there....definitely the same Mahoney fellow, I've never read an article of his that I didn't enjoy and definitely makes you think a little harder about what hunting really means......and Dr. Randal Eaton is added to my list to look up reading material, I think I've seen a bit of his 'sacred hunt' documentary on tv before

I recall I have a conservation article bookmarked on my personal laptop by a fellow named Shane Mahoney, it wasn't about spiritual need to hunt, but was very well written...perhaps the same author?

agreed, I've noticed regular retail price is often 20-30% over BPS/wholesale sports on some items, be careful buying regular priced stuff....HT polar fire UL ice combo that is 25.99 or 29.99 at competitors was priced at 41.99 the other week but their guidewear clothing is nice, gotta give em credit for that much, and I bought a primaloft puffy jacket at 40% off competition is a good thing, so maybe the ON store will be priced more competitively....maybe I'm just being overly pessimistic, aka "early onset old man syndrome"

I like all my st Croix rods, but I snapped a brand new avid on the first cast and broke another after a couple months back in January, warranty is top shelf, but not happy that the newer avids seem to be more delicate (my rods get transported in tubes, and I don't break rods very often, just a bad year with my new avids) I'd consider a loomis rod your list as well, the GL2's, not quite as sensitive as the avid IMO but plenty sensitive enough and tougher blank STR 1263 C GL2 STR 1264 C GL2

we won't ever get the same caliber of store as in the US with selection and price points, but we'll get some impressive animal mounts at least....and with the depreciating Canadian dollar the price gap will widen again.....didn't harper's budget announce something about tackling "country pricing" with major retailers? but as for Cabelas, they still suck in Canada....Edmonton just the other day, "where is the prism tape for spoons?"....salesman, "nah, we don't carry that, go to fishin hole, that's where I get mine" they didn't even have a single pack of white tubes of any brand next at the gun counter, "do you have a loopy vx6 I can look through?"....salesman, "sure, but you'll save a couple hundred elsewhere" I'll likely visit the Ontario Cabela's but it's only good for the clearance stuff, guidewear clothing line and small stuff

I've had bad luck with plfueger, don't wanna rain down on buddy's new reel but I broke the handle on my patriarch after a week or so, easy enough to exchange, but it was a lesson I've learned repeatedly mountain biking, carbon snaps and aluminum bends before it fails, why am I such a slow learner ha (and honestly, if a reel can't survive being dropped from mid torso height, it ain't for me) then after 3 months of use I was rip jigging bucktails for walleye, drag set tight and did a fierce hookset into a musky and the gears seized up, pflueger was good on warranty, took about 2-3 weeks for a new reel...I promptly sold the new reel from warranty and kicked myself for ever doubting my stradics I don't mind the cheaper trion and president models for ice fishing, that's about it (but even then a shimano is still better!!)

I'm old school I guess, my go to is always an uncle josh pork frog, mostly the crawfrog and phantom craw but have a handful of different cuts I play around whatever fancy plastic craw looks cool at the store, but not brand loyal to anything specific except my uncle josh frogs

nice reel, be careful with that handle

shimano sahara or saros are both in your price range, I've never had a plfueger survive more than 2-3 yrs of abuse, I just don't think they stand up very well...or a few bucks more for a stradic, I still have stradics that are 7-10 yrs old and going strong

congrats, your wallet will never be fat from here on in! the addiction only grows lol I grew up in London/St. Thomas, good fishing around....shore fishing or do you have a boat or canoe?

this was not funny at the time....after work at about 10pm me and buddy were packing the truck for a brook trout trip, we planned to drive all night, fish all weekend, drive all night and back to work Monday morning...things were loaded, we drove all night, got there nice and early, canoe in the water, gear loaded, read to paddle....except we forgot the rods we had enough lures to stock a small store, extra spools of line, everything but rods and reels it was about 4 hours to the nearest store plus 4 hours back to the lake would basically eliminate day 1 on a 2 day trip so instead, we whittled down some nice limber branches that had a Y at the base to store line, made guides out of cut up macdonald's straws and electrical tape and we actually caught fish, good ones too....we were so proud of our magyver'ed rods we were going to bring them home as a keepsake...except...we also forgot those at the lake

call the resort/lodge and ask them? but I don't think there would be an issue, they usually rent out 12' aluminums with plenty of room

kind of easy, but it helps when you catch these fish year round...they should have included some bull trout vs dolly varden pics to make it really tough

Industry is booming there, any chance he's employed with Ledcor? The chinook (springs) start in mid/late may, is closed for august and cohos in sept....never targeted the other salmom species, so cant help there.....river has a no powered boat restriction so is drift boat only, many shore spots, the bait shop has a map they put out Tourism prices are outrageous, popular destination for Americans...pm sent shortly with guide info Drift boat is about 350-500 per day, salt is 700+, if he wants more salt fishing I'd drive an hour to prince Rupert, more charter options Is a beautiful area, rugged mountains, full of black bears and goats up high, great area for hiking and hunting

x2 just walk away IMO you tried to do the right thing and he's trying to rip you off, just walk away and don't pay him a penny

I firmly believe the faster you can retrieve and release a fish, the less stress you put on it and better chance at reviving after it swims off...so I tend to horse them in...as mentioned, that is relative to the tackle you are using playing a fish too much leads to lost fish IMO, the longer the fight time the more opportunity it has to throw the hook, fray the line, get wrapped up on something, run out in the main currents, etc, etc

dang, that sneaky #9... cheers to the winners, maybe we'll see the report posted here

cool looking bait, I'll probably buy a couple but wouldn't call it a new technique..."spybaiting" sounds like the marketing dept came up with that more a less a countdown/any other suspending or sinking jerkbait, with some fancy cosmetic surgery

am I missing what the bottom right stickman is doing? lol

beauty fish! I'm waiting to crack the 2lb mark, would make for a nice replica mount and cheaper than a salmon/other big fish