Big Cliff

Sorry to hear that the day didn't turn out too productive Moe. I haven't been at all impressed with the new owners at LH as well. Wish you and the boys could have come over here to fish off the dock but with the contractors here working on the boat house it just wouldn't have been safe to have the kids around. I'm not sure if Fish and Rest rents pontoon boats or not but I have heard some nice things about the owners there and being that it is right on the river would be more protected on a windy day.

You know what? I think you have a fantastic idea here! We ended up using a website to book all our motel rooms on our receient trip to the East Coast. It was fantastic! We could read reviews, find out prices, check out locations and features and once more we knew our reservation was guarenteed so it didn't matter if we were a bit late or not getting in. Each evening we would sit down, figure out where we wanted to spend the next night and just book it. I think you have hit on a really good extension of the Motel/Hotel/B&B market (if it isn't already there). I frequently post reviews on a couple of review sites (don't want to mention names here to avoid any problems) If you want names PM me. Super idea, fantastic post!

What I found really neat was watching it flying around the house from room to room and then figuring out that there was an open path out of the house. I'm sure it was just as happy to leave as my wife was to see it go LOL. Actually I am pretty proud of Sue, she doesn't get too excited about things like that anymore. She just wakes me up tells me there is a bat in the house and goes back to sleep. Over the years we have had it happen a few times and I have tried different methods to get them out. This is by far the easiest and quickest.

I like my way much better LOL!

That is a really good point, hadn't thought about it that way, guess I was feeling a little too sorry for myself. Thanks for pointing that out because you are so right!!!

LOL no, as bad as it looks, the boat ended up being fine. The marine railway protected it. There were a few small rubs on the side of it from the kayack I was storing for a friend but I've seen lots of worse cases of dock rash. I lost a bit of gas but that was it!

Ok, so in the past couple of years; 11 years ago a storm came through here and tore some tarps off our roof when some contractors were doing renovations for us and at 3 am we were filling buckets of water from the leaks in the roof, we had a bunch of water damage. 5 years ago a storm took down a huge Manitoba maple and caused quite a bit of damage to our garage. last winter I put my ice hut out on Saturday. Saturday night 90k+ winds relocated the ice hut, I found it two days later all smashed up. This spring a storm took down a huge pine tree, unfortunatly my beautiful deer stand was attached and ended up under the pine tree in a pile of rubble. I had spent hours building that deer stand and putting a roof on it so I could finally be comfortable when I went deer hunting this fall. This summer, the first time Sue and I have had a vacation in years, a storm destroyed our boathouse. It ended up in the neighbors yard on it's side. We ended up having to cut our vacation short and coming home early. It is going to cost thousands of $ to fix (thank god for insurance). All I want to know is what the heck I did to tick her off?

We ended up with a bat in the house Friday night. Must have got in at some point when I left the door open for the dog. About 2 am Mandy (our beagle and resident watch dog) decided that there was something going on and we could hear her moving around. I thought she was chasing a bug or something, (she has been known to do that) Sue got up to see what was going on and discovered it was a bat and it was flying all over the house and Mandy was trying to catch it. (she got pretty close a few times) I got up, turned on all the lights, opened the door and within about a minute the bat let itself out again. Forget trying to catch them, just open a door, they will let themselves out no problem!

Oh I won't disagree with you on that one, we ended up paying $7.99/lb for the ones we got and they were fantastic! It was well worth the money spent! I had planned to bring a cooler full of them home with me but figured that by the time I got them home they wouldn't be much fresher than the ones I can get at Sobeys LOL. I hear you there John, the ones we did have down there were better than any I have ever had here, might be the sea air and local brew though LOL. The clams we dug were called "soft shell" bit of a trick to getting them out of the sand without breaking them and you had to make sure they were legal size ($265.00 fine for taking any under size). Cleaning them wasn't hard once someone showed you how. The butter clams were really good too especially raw but I really liked the flavor of the soft shell ones.

If you are thinking of buying any seafood down there re-think that one. I went down with a huge cooler thinking I would load up on fresh seafood and bring it back. Forget it! I can buy fresh lobster here for about half of what it costs down there. Unless you are going out and catching it on your own and cooking it up yourself it isn't going to save you any money. If you do manage to get it right off the boat, most of the time you'll be getting seconds because they need to keep the good stuff for their buyers. Best price I heard (right off the boat was $5.00 a lb. I can buy them in Sobeys on special for $4.99/lb) (I do have a 150 qt marine cooler for sale for a good price if you do want one though LOL). Even PEI potatoes were more expensive there than I can buy them right here in Lindsay. Now if you do have someone down there that can take you digging clams and show you how to cook and clean them, that is a treat you'll never forget.

Googled it and found this: Walleye, Muskie and large Perch may all be found in this lakes weedy depths. Because of it's limited access I would expect it should be fairly good fishing.

I didn't have a chance to do much exploring on our trip because I was only there for a few days. I did get out on a charter for mackerel and cod and had a blast, can't even count the number of mackerel I caught and did manage to land three cod (1) was a keeper. (I only found out after that if you ask the crew there is a good chance they can fix you up with some smoked mackerel if you want it. Crew cleaned all the fish for us, I'd go back again, cost was $45.00/person for about 3 hours. We also went digging clams on the beach and again had a wonderful time and ate fresh steamed clams until we were so stuffed we couldn't eat anymore. We did see lots of very promissing streams but we only had three days on the island and friends to visit. Sorry I couldn't be more help but I bet if you just ask a few of the locals they would be happy to point you in the right direction. Where are you going on the island?

I have found some really good fishing in spots you wouldn't expect to find fish at all. If the lake is spring fed or has a good curent, it could be loaded with trout! There are a lot of factors to consider, is there a lot of brush along the shore line to provide shade and cover? Water temperatures and clarity will also play a big role in what could be in the lake. I know several very small shallow lakes that produce some huge bass and one of my favorite rainbow fishing holes is very shallow except for one deep hole. It consistantly produces rainbows over two lbs. Go give it a try, worst thing that can happen is you had a good day fishing!

I too have seen some real abuse with items being returned to CTC since I worked in small engine repairs. Chain saws being returned because they wouldn't start; piston and rings blown out of it from lack of oil in the gas. Lawn mowers that wouldn't run. Crank shaft and blade bent from hitting a steal post or something. More than half of the stuff that CTC sent us for repair had been damaged by improper use. I don't blame them for being a bit hard core on the return of items. My personal experience has ALWAYS been positive!

This is probably one of the best "fishing" related posts I have ever read! Any kid would be proud to have you for his dad. Any dad would be proud to have a kid like Brendan for a son. Good for both of you and If I was booking a fly in trip my first call would be to Hearst Air.

You can add me to the list of satisified CTC customers. I have had to ask for the manager once or twice when the clerk was just following store policy (I don't blame them for that) but always walked away satisified!

This is wonderful news, so glad you shared it with us! Thank you my friend!

Milk, Rat, and Massasauga are all very close in appearance. Just because it didn't have rattles doesn't mean it isn't one. Better to err on the side of safe. A Massasauga won't likely kill you but it could make you quite sick and if bitten you should seek medical attention ASAP. I do know of one woman who died from a Massasauga bite in French River several years ago. She thought it was just a rat snake that bit her. She died a few days later.

One touched down in the Kawarthas. Actually I can be more precise, at 313 Snug Harbour Rd. My neighbor now has a new boat house on his property, unfortunatly it was mine. He watched as it picked it up three seperate times then just threw it sideways and on it's side. Lifted the boat right off the marine railway and dumped it on it's side. Boathouse is a write off, he isn't sure but doesn't think there is too much damage to the boat. I guess Sue and I will be cutting this vacation short and heading for home Sunday morning.

Had a bit of trouble getting the link to work but I got it. Looks like we'll be stoping in for a visit LOL. I'm getting so excited I want to leave now!

Anything I want LOL This is a little more indepth than that though. No kidding!!!!! If I can get this to work out the way I am thinking it will do a lot more than you can with your water proof matches.

I am looking for a bunch of rear projection TV screens any size any resolution. If you have a rear projection TV that is no good or know of any I would really appreciate getting them (just the screen) I am working on a project and if this works out I will have some very helpful information for any of you outdoor types.

Thanks everyone, as always some excellent information and advice here and as always it is much appreciated!

My intention is to bring home a BIG ( picked up an Igloo 150 Qt. Marine at CTC this morning Reg. $199.00 on special for $99.00) cooler of lobster when we return from our trip the end of July. One thought was to try to pick them up somewhere around Bar Harbour Maine and come up from there because it would cut my driving time by quite a bit but I can't seem to find any diffinitive answer about bringing live lobster from the US into Canada. The other option would be to load up with them in St. John NB (Lobster season will be in full swing there at the end of July) and come all the way up and back through Quebec and Montreal. That would be about 19 hours of driving even if we did it on a Saturday to avoid rush hour traffic. Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Whatever works for you Peter! I am around all weekend except for this evening. My cell is 705-928-8899