ctranter

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that same Kodak plant (at Black Creek and Eglington) dumped all their waste in the Humber, hence why it might be cast as a polluted trash dum). Interesting idea about Downsview park, at first all I saw was a big, dirty, stocked, overfished, garbage-collecting, water hole, but I like the idea of clean water for public recreation more. My mom is the principal of an elementary school nearby, and I know that the community needs something more done with downsview. In my opinion, that land should be made into a "high park of the north", with trees,water, and solitude. I like what the above poster said about spending $1B on the G20. Just imagine how that money could have been spent, improving our community, or the TTC (it's a joke as is)

thanks for the interesting read. I'm not a regular on Rice lake but I was very surprised when I saw the pan fish limits compared to other lakes. Looks like you are passionate about the cause. I hope this raises a few eyebrows

I won't let my Yorkie swim in the in Kawarthas seriously though, some days I am desperate enough for a bite that I would gladly use my own foot as bait.

I can't believe all of those players agreed to be in that commercial... the payroll for that spot must have been insane. That being said I live in a predominantly Portuguese and Italian neighborhood and the shenanigans have already begun! I can't wait for the World cup to be over

The spill area looks to be about the same size as lake Ontario

I go to school in Buffalo, people like you are the reason I clinch my teeth everytime I cross the border...

I don't think it's appropriate to use this tragedy as an opportunity to spread my personal agenda on lifejacket laws. I lost my father to the water, and it changed me forever. I am very sorry and my condolences go out to everyone involved.

This is a different book, called "Le Chandail", which is required for anyone with boys , On another note, Le Chandail is a great sociological example of the collective psychology within rural French Canadian society, prior to the quiet revolution. A prof used it in a sociology class I took and decrypted it page by page, very interesting.

100% agree. Also, how do you account for newbies who put in some basic effort into regulations and seasons, but receive confusing information through the reg sheet. Of course the typical banter is "they are straight forward", which is true, but more so after a lifetime of being familiar with them. When I started fishing I became frustrated with the language and terminology used by the official documents. How hard would it be for the ministry to make a user friendly site as the first search return on google, that gave generalized information to those typically unfamiliar with reading regs, or at the very least brought people up to speed with the process of following the regulations charts? Just my 2¢

It's almost expected that non-fishing people will drop lines with no license fishing for "whatever" on a long holiday weekend, especially in nicer areas of cottage country. Also, it's a well known fact that the MNR only covers a fraction of the waterways that need to be reinforced, due to being severely underfunded. At least, for me, I take solitude in the fact that these non-fisherpeople (because many are girls too!) are probably failing to catch anything because they are noobs. That being said all you can do it make the call to report it, even it you know damn well no CO will ride in on a white horse to uphold the conservation laws. Vigilante justice isn't the solution. The family I stayed with this weekend didn't fish, but they also had a "whats the big deal?" attitude about OOS fishing. Whenever I hear this I just teach the other party specifically why they are out of season (beyond the simplistic "they're mating" explanation)

Your cottage clothes are a hell of a lot less embarrassing than my cottage clothes. Nice eye!

Nice lookin browns. The sun shines nicely on their patterns. Are the last 2 pics of a gar?

I did actually! I tracked it from Florida, at first I was going to relocate it to a cache in High Park that has given me headaches, but I think I might take it for a hike to Algonquin instead. I think trackable items are really cool, I had no idea it had changed that many hands. Do all geocoins have little piggies on them?

Hopefully the warm & dry weather will put an early dent in the bug population. Yet another post that makes me want to shine some spinners in some streams! Thanks for the story

My typical May 24 weekend usually consist of this: Open the cottage, find out there are huge trees blocking the road so walk in ~2k, be swarmed by black clouds of blackflies and mosquitoes, discover that the dock has been distributed all over the lake after the ice out, clear out bird/mammal nests from various crevasses in and around the cottage, and finally fall asleep to the gentle humm of mosqutio's in the pitch black. Words barely describe how happy I am that this was not the case for 2010. My weekend began early on Friday. After a self-proclaimed "perfect pack", we were ready to roll before lunch. The rest of the family wouldn't arrive until the evening so we decided to stop at a local dock along the way for some fishing and sun. The girls were prepared with a well stocked mobile library of celebrity literature. My girlfriend Ada and my niece Kayla watched on, hoping to see some big fish. Fishing was slow at first with eager rock bass going after jerkbaits that were longer than the fish. After watching helplessly as a PB pike turned away 4 feet from the shore, I made sure the next one would count. Unfortunately, it was only a baby. The plan was to head to our cottage on Saturday morning to open it up, but to stay the weekend with some friends on Big Whitefish Lake instead. The opportunity to fish a different body of water (on a nicer boat too!) was hard to pass up. On the way to our destination we saw a moose relaxing in a swamp by the side of the road. My cottage is one of two properties on a small secluded lake (no power, no running water, true Canadian cottaging). We see enough wildlife that the odd moose is no longer such a thrill. However, we found it funny that the "summer-house" cottagers we stayed with had never seen a moose before I snapped a few pics before he vanished into the jungle. On Saturday morning we arrived at our own cottage, relieved to find only a single, hand-movable tree on the road. Everything else was in good shape, including the dock. Saturday night produced a gorgeous sunset that tickled my photographic side A little later on, with the sun lower on the horizon: Sunday was a little cloudy in the morning, but it cleared by lunchtime. We cooled off in the lake, and practiced doing the breaststroke while holding a beer. After literally everyone else turned in for a nap, I tried my luck for some pike off the rock. I tied my line, tossed it over the side, rinsed my dirt off my hands in the water, and looked back 2 seconds later for a bonus OOS smallie. I snapped a quick pic, and it was back in the water within seconds. I actually caught a decent ~25" pike later on, but my cameragirl/girlfriend was MIA Once people woke up, we head out on an afternoon geocache to a place called Monteith Mansion. It's a half-finished luxurious house, or at least it was in 1965. I didn't do any serious research but I heard someone built it to try to be completely off the radar, but it was too ambitious and he ran out of money. I lead the team through the bush with the GPS guiding the way. Later we found out that a well kept road exists, and I accepted my failure as a guide. This is the view from the outside: The cache was a pretty easy find. We took a cute butterfly for Kayla, and left a small scarab bead from my travels to Egypt. This was definitely our most hardcore cache this far, forcing us to dangle some pretty risky obstacles: The inside was filled to the roof with unused building materials. We headed back just in time for another perfect sunset. Sunday night was calmer, and 100% clear. I love how this next pic captures the tranquil beauty of Muskoka. Once it was dark we had some fun with slow shutter speeds and fireworks. This one is a little too blurry (damn my lost tripod!), but I like the timing of it. My brother, Tim, experimented with some air caligraphy (it's funny because that how his writing looks on paper). I think he just made a new display pic. "A burnin' ring of fire": We turned in for night to watch a movie, but after all the door-opening and general cottage traffic, many mosquito's now shared our living space. It was up to me to go on the hunt and practice my backhand at the same time. This is just the pile that was next to my chair (I think I counted 30 here) Overall the surprisingly midsummer-like weather lured me away from the boat, keeping me within short distance from the beer fridge. Regardless we did get out to troll Sunday night, catching nothing but with little ill-effect. I got a chance to break the seal on my first baitcaster, got a hard lesson from the little birdie inside my reel that wanted to have a bigger cage, and finally got the hang of it to land the combo's first pike. I am really excited to use Live Target hard plastic lures more and in different water. I love the attention to detail, especially the florescent perch. It's a real beauty in the water. PS: if anyone knows where I can find a small Canadian flag sticker that will stick to my rod let me know! I hope you enjoyed the pics! Next time I hope to post some new PB's. I can't wait to get my trailer in road shape to hit up some more familiar bodies of water.

I don't compare hockey to fishing. Hockey is my winter obsession, fishing has to compete with golf but fishing always wins. In high school, I used the hockey team as an excuse to skip the afternoons of many schools days. If I did a fishing club in the morning, I would eliminate classes completely. What kind of teacher would that make me now lol? I went to Runnymede Collegiate, at Jane and Dundas. If I could have gone to the old mill to Salmon fish as part of a fishin club, I would have without hesitation. Pack to the original topic, students (especially secondary) are all "blinged out gangsta's", with little regard for the natural beauty that surrounds them as Canadians. Seeing teenagers dedicated to conservation and fishing makes me reconsider my dark view of Canadian youth.

Looks like fun, if I had a single day in high school that wasn't reserved to hockey I would jump all over that club in a second It's nice to see members of the community volunteering their time to keep the art of fishing alive in today's youth. As a teacher, I am always looking for ways to integrate conservation and respect for the environment in creative ways. I heard about a salmon program in Ontario where the ministry will set your classroom up with a filtration equipment, a tank, and salmon minnows. The kids get to see everything from life cycles to more complicated scientific subjects like migration and imprinting. Top it off with a field trip to a local trib to watch the salmon run. Does this club run through steelehead season? I'm sure the kids would develop an even stronger appreciation of fishing after watching you at your most skilled craft.

Thanks for the advice, in the mean time I am using Topo Canada v4 and it does the trick, I like how it has extensive details for small cottage country roads, trails and lakes. The waterway information could be better suited for fishing, but for now this will do the trick. I downloaded a BlueChart, unlocked it with the unlock code via Map Source, but when I move maps from MS my handheld says "can't unlock maps" upon bootup. Anyway I went 3 for 4 today in high park geo caches with it so I am pretty satisfied!

I can definitely relate to this part. Great post!

Hey Everyone, http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442624570&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302885714&bmUID=1274241918285 I recently picked up a Garmin Colorado 300 handheld GPS (via a good deal through the link above + a leftover Christmas gift card) and have been having a blast with beginner GeoCaching around the GTA. I have removed the base maps and added a decent street map pack which works great around urban centers, but for waterways and rural areas, its pretty weak. I have successfully found all my maps via torrent , but I am willing to pay a reasonable amount for a comprehensive map pack that includes Muskoka and Almgaguin roads and lakes. Does anyone have any recommendations? ------------------------ I have read that the "Ontario Island Lakes" map pack is embarrassing, leaving out information for many critical lakes (Simcoe, large muskoka lakes...). As well, the BluChart pack seems like it leaves out lots of into in Ontario.

Oops I misread your question!

just a 5 foot, 200 pound trout... no big deal

TLDR

moreover these "gangsta" introduce the same moral fabric that people on this site tends to promote (anti-govt corruption, pro environment, pro "people", to a younger generation. I dont get it... you carp that "kids these days _______________", and then mock the mediums that promote your shared message? I love classic, and contemporary rock, but put your bias aside. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it annoying when your parents (Grandparents to my generation) failed to grasp the "new" music, 40-50 years ago? That being said the vast majority of Rage listeners have no clue what they are talking about.

Leave it to Bubba Redneck to find a solution: http://wimp.com/solutionoil/ In all seriousness, why haven't they tried ANYTHING?