Big Cliff

Well John I can't help you much with where to fish in the Hamilton area but I use to fish at the mouth of Bronte Creek when I lived down that way. Take a drive along the lakeshore and do a bit of exploring. If trout are running you'll find people fishing there. As for needing line on your reel, that really depends on what type of reel you have and what line it is rated for. I always try to go with the lightest line I can get away with for any given situation but that is a personal choice. If you have a spinning reel it will usually give you three line weights and capacities. A good choice would be the mid range as a starting point.

I think she should make him cook her a nice dinner, wash the dishes, do the laundry, scrub the floors, chop the wood, clean the driveway, and run her a nice bubble bath. I hope you enjoy the dream and the day Monique. Happy Birthday.

Over the years I have collected quite an assortment of walleye tackle, several tackle boxes full to be exact. Last year I decided enough was enough and I decided to go back to basics. I took one of my smaller boxes and put in it a selection of some of my favorite lures. Instead of concentrating on trying to find out what they were hitting on I concentrated on presenting what I had available and learning where, when, and how to use it. I seriously think it improved my technique considerably because I easily caught as many fish as I have in previous years and most of the people I talked with had found the fishing tougher than pervious years. My suggestion is if you are going shopping, buy a nice small tackle box, spend your money on a few more fishing trips!

Since you already have the dehumidifier then the sump pump idea with the pail would work just fine for now. You will need to hook it into your septic system before next winter though if you intend to run it after freeze up otherwise you run the risk of the output line freezing. Even that could be overcome by sloping the line downwards from inside the house at just enough angle to drain the line so that no water sits in it. You will also want to make sure that it drains well away from the house so it doesn't just seep back in and make sure that the output doesn't become blocked.

I also have an inflatable (not auto) but I love it. One of the best investments I think I have made. Bought mine at CTC for under $100.00.

Opening is usually second Saturday in May for walleye on Sturgeon Lake but a week later up closer to the dams (check the regs to be sure because it might have changed due to the new zones). I have never fished the river in the spring for walleye so I can't help you there but I do know they head up there in large numbers. Only stands to reason that there should be lots around. Getting them to bite might be another story though.

Not that it matters now that you are moving but...... What about asking MNR for the name of a local trapper, find out if his licence covers the area you live in and if it does he might be happy to trap them for you. I'm not sure what a good coon pelt is worth these days but they won't be coming back again. A friend of mine has a beaver that has been destroying trees on his property so I called MNR to find out if I could shoot it. Yup, no problem, I don't even have to worry about case time is what they told me as long as I can convince any CO that shows up I am not hunting deer.

The French is a little more technical when it comes to fishing spring walleye. It depends on water levels, temp., clarity and even volume. I have often seen boats anchored within 20' of us catch nothing while we easily landed our limit and more. Knowing how and where to position yourself so that you can work a back eddy properly or how much weight to use to get your bait in the feeding zone are criticle. As Rick mentioned, we have fished the French for many years (taught him just about everything he knows) and you could fish a lot of miles of river and never get a bite but find the right pocket using the right presentation at the right time and you'll have a ton of action. I have fished BOQ also for many years, the river at Trenton has produced some big fish for us but opening weekend is the big durby down there and you can almost walk across the river on the boats. Not my idea of a fun fishing trip. We have fished further down in the Big Island area and had really good results drift fishing between Big Island Shole and marker 46. Again, it depends on the water temp. wind ....... Most years we have had no problem catching good numbers of fish the odd year we have been somewhat limited but never skunked. Now, if I could only learn where to find the walleye in Sturgeon Lake in the spring LOL.

You have just about every one of my favorite standbys. From there, the trick is presentation. One thing I like to do when fishing pike is troll in the wake about a foot below the surface or, back the boat up to a weed bed crack the throttle throwing prop wash back into the weeds then cast back along the weed edge. You'll piss off any big pike hiding in there and they'll hit almost anything they see.

Happy Birthday you old fart and many more to come. I hope MB treats you extra special today! All the best. Big Cliff & Sue.

Well, I'm getting old (I like it, I want to keep doing it for a long time) but here is my opinion on this whole issue: "God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference." A) If you feel you can not or don't want to change things, accept it and go fishing. B ) If you feel you can change things and want to, go ahead! I'll be fishing. If you aren't sure if you can change things or not go fishing and think it through then decide on either A) or B ) but I'll still be fishing.

It doesn't always take bravery in battle to be a hero!

I am not suggesting you do this but I hooked my propane BBQ to NG when I lived in Milton (Many years ago). All I had to do was drill out the orfices for the burners to a larger size ( a friend who was in the gas appliance business told me how to do it.) Talk to someone who KNOWS how to do it if you are going to try. As others have suggested though the best bet would be to buy a NG BBQ.

Happy Birthday to you both Wayne and Fishegirl. Keep em coming!

When I renovated our house I bought all my kitchen cabnets from HD. I was pleased with the quality and the price but I did the assembly and instalitation myself. It wasn't that hard to do, I took my time, followed directions, measured everything twice and it turned out quite well and I saved a pile of money on the labor to have them installed. Friends of mine are building a new house and bought all their cabnets through Direct Buy. Their cabnets came all pre assembled (except for the counter tops) and the quality is excellent. Doors & drewers work smothly, the quality isn't bad (they are composites) and buy purchasing them through Direct Buy they saved a fortune.

A piece of red wool dipped in a bit of cod liver oil and tied directly on to the line (no hook). Fantastic for catfish.... we would put a pail in the boat, drop our line over the side, the catfish would bite and hold on until they touched something solid (the inside of the pail). Caught hundreds of them like that. This one was from a CO that was a very good friend of mine: Sucker fillet (skin on) cut into strips and frozen. When you want to go lake trout fishing, take enough strips out of the freezer about three days before you want to go. Coat the strips really well with salt and put them in a jar with a lid on it and place it outside in an area where it will get a lot of sun. This toughens up the strips. Use these strips on your jig (he liked using a williams). He claimed that he could consistantly fish lake trout in an area where others were finding the bite slow and he could have his limit while the others where having trouble getting a hit. whats his name mellows; for rainbows in the fall. Corn nibblits tied in a roe sack and dipped in a bit of sardine oil for rainbows when I ran out of roe one spring. I caught more than my buddies and they were using roe.

I'm not to sure where I fit into the mix but I'm just happy being me. Wouldn't hurt my feelings a bit to be called a hick (or just about anything else for that matter)!

Thanks Nipissing & Phat Bassturd, Much appreciated! Roy, those are amazing!

Now this post really sparked my intrest, thanks for posting and for the pictures. I have always wanted to make my own jigs and sinkers but just never got around to doing it. I do have a mold for round head jigs and about 1/2 a 5 gal. pail of old wheel weights that we use to use for casting bullets. Would they be OK for making Jigs? Does anyone have any molds or other equipment they might be willing to part with at a reasonable price? I'd really like to get a mold for flat sinkers, 2 and/or 3 oz. Please PM me if you do have equipment or supplies you would like to find a new home for. Further to this; does anyone know what would be required to make your own plastics?

I think you did it the right way but I would mention it casually to his cousin that you had gone to ask permission but were turned down. Give him the opportunity intervien on your behalf. If some stranger showed up here and asked to fish off my dock I'd I might say yes but If they introduced themselves as a friend of (someone that I knew and liked) I would be more likely to say yes. Now, as far as taking other people there to fish, did you ask permission to do that? I recently got a person permission to hunt a piece of property that I and my friends have been hunting for years, next thing I know he is bringing his buddies hunting there. It's only a small piece of property (about 3 acres) Didn't go over very well!

Way tp go Eddy Just remember to take some time for yourself in between the painting! Looking forward to seeing some of those pictures when you get the chance.

Steves post got me thinking, instead of just sitting here shaking my head in agreement, try to do something..... anything! I couldn't find an email for Mark Bonoski so I sent this off to the editor. We'll see if it was worth the effort. Subject: RE: Mark Bonoski's colum "Survivor Wasted" March 18/07 Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2007 You have to admire Bryan Maude for trying to do some good! In reading the article it sounds like they went around picking up others garbage and accumulating it so that it could be removed, an excellent example for his young charges. If we had more people like him, perhaps we'd have less kids in trouble! It says he took a trailer load of garbage with him and arranged for the rest to be hauled away. It is too bad he put his trust in someone and they let him down. I think the fine should have been paid by the person that left the garbage behind because they were ultimately responsible for it being left there. The article leaves a number of unanswered questions though: Where is the garbage now? Did MNR clean it up? What did it cost MNR in time & resources to prosecute this case (I'll bet it was well in excess of the $1000.00 fine that was collected). Was Mr. Maude made to go back and clean it up? Did the fine go toward the cost of cleaning it up? I'd like to know? As an avid fisherman I often see the garbage left behind by a few, making it look bad for the rest of us. On many occasions I and many of my friends have taken the time to clean it up and haul it away. A week later or sometimes even the next day, there is more. In many cases there are even garbage cans right there but some people are just too lazy to use them. Is it any wonder why so many places are being posted off limits for shore fishing? I am a member of the www.ofncommunity.com , a website dedicated to people who enjoy fishing and hunting but our common bond is fishing. Our membership is mainly Canadian but we do have quite a few members in the US and even a couple from outside North America. Many of our members volunteer to do clean up days on local rivers and streams, most of our members pride themselves in leaving a place cleaner than what they found it. Woe be the member who leaves a mess behind him because they would have the rest of us to contend with. I would like to invite you and Mr. Bonoski to visit our website, and pose a few "where, when, why, who, and how questions". I am sure that you would find a wealth of assistance from our members. To be very honest with you, if we had some help from you and Mr. Bonoski, we just might be able to make a difference. Care to be part of the solution? Cliff Bignell (AKA Big Cliff) 323 Snug Harbour Rd. Lindsay, ON K9V 4R6 705-328-0750 [email protected]

You have to admire the man for trying to do some good! In reading the article it sounds like they went around picking up others garbage and accumulating it so that it could be removed, an excellent example for his young charges. It says he took a trailer load of garbage with him and aranged for the rest to be hauled away. It is too bad he put his trust in someone and they let him down. I think the fine should have been paid by the person that left the garbage behind because they were ultimatly responsible for it being left there. Here is the actual link to the article: Garbage left behind I agree with Steve, there is no excuse but my question is; where is the garbage now? Did MNR clean it up? Was Mr. Maude made to go back and clean it up? Did the fine go toward the cost of cleaning it up? I'd like to see Mark do a follow up on it and perhaps even get a chance to see what many of us see every time we go fishing. Hey Lew, why don't you send him some pics of the stuff you run into when trying to launch your boat. Might give mark a chance to see it from our perspective.

A few years ago some friends went out on Simco about this time of the year. They fished until about noon then headed in. By 2:00 pm the ice where they had been fishing was gone, broken away and floated out. They were lucky. If this warning even makes one person be extra careful out there then it was worth posting true or not. I just don't want to read about any of you other than on here.

When I worked for EZ Loader building boat trailers we built both types, only problem I ever saw with the oil filled ones was caps getting broken when people hit something. Never did see one come back with a blown seal. Greese filled; as Tybo said over fill, blow the seal. As far as converting from one to the other, you have to change the hubs either way.