Big Cliff

I have a friend that swears they are the best eating fish out there. A bit of work to clean but he said that with practice, it is quite easy.

I use stabilizer in EVERY can of gas that I bring home. I have seen the mess that stale gas can make of a motor, everything from plugged jets, stuck valves, and baddly gummed up carbs. If you are't going to use it within 4 weeks add stabilizer, it will save you a lot on money in the long run. Remember that old add for (I think it was Fram) oil filters "you can pay me now or you can pay me later", I'd rather pay a little now than pay for a costly repair later.

Last time I was at a hocky rink I kept hearing this booming voice "You can't fish there" (heck, I'd only drilled three holes) I haven't bothered going back since. Silly game anyways, all that ice and they get mad if you drill a couple of holes.

I don't know what to say that others haven't already said but I am blown away, this is so fantastic. Now I am just trying to figure out how I can save it on my computer so I can send it to my kids via email (they are on dial up) can the file be zipped? I'd like to include the whole thing including pictures.

A day of fishing with my son would be the best present I could ever want!

What a beautiful heart warming story. Good on all of you; them for having the courage to go ahead and do it, you for having the patience and kindness to get them out there. Trips like those are what make lifetime memories!

I think a lot of it depends on the individual store and even who you are dealing with. When I lived in Milton, the CTC store there was really bad to deal with, long line ups at the cash, poor selection, and staff that really didn't care. After that store changed hands things really turned atound. Here in Lindsay you couldn't ask for better customer service and they usually have an excellent selection, staff seem to understand the importance of customer satisfaction, and I have never had a problem returning an item when I have needed to. When ever I have needed help with anything I have always been very pleased with the response. Glad to hear that everything worked out well for you Steve, I have been meaning to ask how your treasure hunting was going!

I almost didn't read the post based on the title then I realized who had written it and decided to take a look, boy am I ever glad I did! I was trying so hard to not laugh when I heard what had happened because I saw how upset you were by the whole thing, but when I knew Beans was OK, I just couldn't help myself. You have to be able to see the humor in things or you'd go crazy with worring. I've thought about dumping Beans overboard a few times when he outfishes me (just kidding Beans.... well, Ok I won't do it I promise!) I was so happy to read your post and hear that you were able to see some humor in it, that you took the time to go over to Bean's after the fact to make sure he was OK speaks volumes about your charactor. Good on you! Now that you know the way I hope to have a chance to get out fishing with you at some point this summer, I am nowhere near the fisherman that Beans and 2rs are but I can usually put a few in the boat (I don't target muskie though) By the way, thank you so much for the ideas you gave me for the basement kitchen, I truly appreciate them. Look forward to seeing you again! Big Cliff

What a wonderful report, felt like I was right there with you! I've had several bear encounters in the bush over the years, but I usually had a gun close at hand. Never did have to use it but it was nice to know that if I did, I could. Thanks for the report and pictures!

Isn't anything safe anymore? That was some interesting reading, thanks for the links! At least with the Listerine, you don't spray yourself with it just the area around you.

Glad to see that you finally got into some walleye. I was kind of keeping a watch on the sky and wondering if it would blow around us or not, glad to see that it did. Sinker, next time you have something like that to work on, give me a shout, I've got all the tools even a portable compressor so there isn't much I can't fix. Cliff, I thought your motor problems were sorted out after your last trip up here or I would have happly looked at it for you too. Glad to hear that Sinker was able to fix it for you. Sue and I were wondering if you might stop in after your fishing was done, we even got a new coffee maker LOL.

I wouldn't mind something like that but at my age, I'd want a motor on it LOL.

I have not tried this yet but a couple of friends have told me that it works: I am not a great fan of some of the chemicals in the commercial bug sprays. The best way of getting rid of mosquitoes is Listerine, the original medicinal type. The Dollar Store-type works, too. I was at a deck party awhile back, and the bugs were having a ball biting everyone. A man at the party sprayed the lawn and deck floor with Listerine, and the little demons disappeared. The next year I filled a 4-ounce spray bottle and used it around my seat whenever I saw mosquitoes. And voila! That worked as well. It worked at a picnic where we sprayed the area around the food table, the children's swing area, and the standing water nearby. During the summer, I don't leave home without it.....Pass it on. OUR FRIEND'S COMMENTS: I tried this on my deck and around all of my doors. It works - in fact, it killed them instantly. I bought my bottle from Target and it cost me $1.89. It really doesn't take much, and it is a big bottle, too; so it is not as expensive to use as the can of spray you buy that doesn't last 30 minutes. So, try this, please. It will last a couple of days. Don't spray directly on a wood door (like your front door), but spray around the frame. Spray around the window frames and even inside the dog house if you have one. Also can be used to dab any bites you receive. It will stop the itching quicker and go away faster.

See if one of your local schools teaches anything about body repair, fiberglass, and offer to donate it to them so their students can practice on it. Put it out on your lawn with a "for sale" sign on it $250.00 or best offer. Someone will either swipe it on you thinking it must be worth something or someone will offer you $50.00 for it thinking they just got one heck of a deal. That way you won't have to pay to get rid of it.

Well, if you are towing a 16' boat then a lot of the lakes I can help you with won't be of much use, remote in my books is somewhere you have to hike into and you aren't likely to see anyone else in a weekend except perhaps a few locals. Launches usually consist of a rock or clearing that you slide the boat over and into the water LOL. Best bet would be to head up to Hartley Bay on the French. From there you can access all kinds of water and fishing; many beautiful remote bays holding some huge pike, bass, and walleye; stretches of river, and lots of crown land for you to camp on. If that sounds like something you would be interested in let me know and I'll go over my charts and give you some good spots to start you off. I used to guide up there many years ago and a lot of the names I knew bays and places by were local names and probably don't show up on the charts by those names but I can sort that out easily enough for you.

Our place hasn't been too bad but we are on the East shore and it has been quite windy with winds off the lake most of the time, that tends to keep them down and there isn't a lot of bush around our place.

Well, I'm very partial to the French River area and know a couple of lakes up there that have some good pike and bass but I need to know more about what you are expecting. There are some that you can drive right to and others that you might have to use an ATV or hike into. Do you have a boat or canoe or do you just want to fish from shore? Are you happy roughing it or do you expect out houses and showers? Driving time from Lindsay about 3.5 hours but if you want back lake fishing..... don't mind the odd bear, there is a few that I would consider sharing with you.

It's Ok Steve, I can't make it any day that you two can so it's all good to go!

You can contradict all you want, I don't fish Stoney but I do fish Sturgeon lake and so far all the walleye I have caught this year have come from shallow water, mind you, I haven't tried deeper water. I haven't really kept track but I think I am averaging about two walleye per hour of fishing so far this year but I haven't fished for about a week now so things might have changed, I do know that the water level has dropped about 6" below normal, that may change things a bit too.

Well, lets see, it is against the law to: Have an un regestered hand gun Transport a restricted weapon without a special permit Carry a concelied weapon without a special permit Use a gun in the comission of a crime There are many, many more..... Unsafe storage, size restrictions, unsafe handling. To legally own a hand gun in Canada you must: Take the Canadian Firearms Safety Course Pass the the CGSC test Apply for a posession permit where you have to provide references. And again, the list is long. The people using guns to commit crimes are already in violation of so many laws that they don't care if you make more laws or not. If you don't enforce the laws we already have what makes you think more laws are going to work. Do you really think that banning hand guns is going to stop the criminals from carrying hand guns? If you do.... well never mind, I don't want to insult anyone! Time after time, after time, we see people getting out on bail and commiting more crimes, some of these people have been charged 10-20-or more times for crimes but they still get out on bail. Our laws are good, the enforcement of our laws are a joke. The idea of banning hand guns is a farce!

Sinker is right on the money, think shallow, cranks or jigs tipped with a minnow, silver meps, #2 or 3, I like to tip mine with 2 white twister tails but the key is shallower than normal for this time of the year. There is some weed growth just starting to form and if you can find that, you will find walleye. My best results have been in 3-4' of water so far with a few fish coming from a little deaper.

I work on small engines every day and most of the repairs I see are as a result of stale gas. EVERY can of gas that comes to my house has stabilizer put in it.

So Sorry! I didn't realize that tourny fishermen weren't allowed to talk to any locals about the fishing or I would never have made that comment. I stand corrected! I apologize if I offended anyone! Hope everyone had a good day, the weather sure was perfict!

Watched between 40 and 50 boats head out this morning from just about in front of our place. Not one of them pulled up to our dock and asked for any information. Too bad unless you were the winner LOL. It always amazes me that the tournament fisherman will spend so much money on gear then not bother to work the basics, the locals! Anyway hope you all had fun , it was a picture perfect day, now I have to go catch some walleye for supper. Big Cliff

Well, here is one that always brings a smile when I think that he actually was able to get up and go fishing the next morning LOL.