big guy

I think it's pretty naive to think that over-fishing isn't part of the problem, I think over-fishing is a problem everywhere in Southern and Central Ontario. As much as we like the Internet, it can be a terrible thing as well when it comes to fishing. People post their successes online, it spreads like wild fire on the Net. Head Lake west of Norland is a perfect example of this. What used to be a fairly quiet lake is a very busy one at times now and if even only 25% of the people are having success, how many more fish are being taken out of the lake compared to 15-20 years ago? Double, triple? Possession limits have changed in that time frame, slot limitations have been implemented, but have they kept pace with the increased traffic on the water. Not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me if the answer is a resounding no. And what about the people who don't obey the rules? They really tilt the scales the wrong way. The answer is not a simple one that's for sure.

A lock only keeps an honest man out.

Something tells me there will still be many walleye caught AND taken home after the new rules go into place. Enforcement is an issue everywhere and without it, closing the fishery will have little effect.

But we all start out small, could it not be a juvenile? I knew a man from Napanee who saw one near there, also scat, took it into the MNR. First thing they said to him was "where did you find this". Then of course they denied it. Pretty suspicious given their initial question.

Doom and gloom, what a depressing topic. Go fishing and forget about this crap, there isn't a damn thing any of us can do about it anyway.

More like a letter to OFC than anything.

My brother-in-law and I were fishing for pike on Mitchell, before the muskie season opened and he caught a 40" muskie. Quick measure and it swam away.

Gosh, darn it? Really?

Pretty cool

How long was your trip?

Trudeau may be a twerp, but I wouldn't consider any opinion from Suzuki, the man is a sham.

Well that post of his is very involved isn't it, interesting for sure.

She said it's on Facebook, I don't have an account. Some guy named Shawn or Sean posted it on there. Looking at the Top Bass site, the tourney was held on June 28th and the winners weighed in 18.19 pounds for 5 fish.

Wife just read me something on her phone about two Top Bass competitors from a recent tourney held on Balsam Lake. Apparently they were observed doing something suspicious the day before the tourney and after they left, about 18 pounds of bass were found hidden in a make shift holding cage. I'm sure more will come out about it.

Mike, I love your posts, the longer the better and find your information invaluable. If it wasn't for them, I would not have known about you and been able to ask you the many questions I had when planning our first fly-in with White River Air, 51 weeks to go, can't wait. Keep up the good work and next time, please make your post a 3 part one

The river/creek in question runs into Balsam, south of Coboconk. You drive over it on Hwy 35.

Canadian Tire carries these, been using them for 2 seasons, work great http://www.matzuo.com/bottombouncers video:

except Balsam AND Mitchell. They both have the same regs. Walleye S - 3 and C - 1, none between 37-55 cm (14.6-21.7 in.)

I caught one there years ago that may have reached that length, did not measure it, buddy in another boat took a picture, but I've never seen it, he said the tail was at my feet though. But like what was mentioned above, I remember the fish being very skinny. Head, near Norland, is a good lake, multi-species, walleye, muskie, large and smallmouth bass, perch, but it does receive pretty good pressure, much more than when the word started trickling out that walleye were in the lake. Walleye used to be automatic there for me, but it's been a while since I have caught one. I have a buddy who lives on the lake, he still catches some though.

Where did you get the info about a 45 pounder coming from Head?

Check the Frogg Toggs suits they sell at Bass Pro. Extremely lightweight, you barely know you are wearing them, it really is incredible, very waterproof, I have sat in a downpour for over an hour and was dry as a bone and not sweating as they are much more breathable than Gore Tex. The price is certainly much cheaper too. The suit I have I picked up for $35 a few years back, on sale and I have never had a better rain suit in my life and love the price compared to other suits. http://www.basspro.com/Brand-Frogg-Toggs/_/N-1z0xe6u?catalogId=10051&langId=-1&storeId=10151

The fact that the MNR wouldn't know there is a particular species in a lake before wasting stocking money on it is mind boggling. However, perhaps it's not either. They don't recognize or divulge that there are brookies in most of the northern Haliburton lakes either, but many of us know better.

Wunderbars, peanut butter cups, any chocolate/peanut butter combination

I remember having that edition. Man, I wished I kept those old Ontario Fisherman mags, they were good, especially the articles by Bill Rivers. I wonder where a man could get some?

I use Firefox, site not working. I use IE, which I hate, to see this topic on what the problem is. I go back to Firefox, disable Adblock Edge for this site in order for it to work properly. Pretty "crafty" programming to make sure we see all those fantastic ads.