Weedman

Hey all. Think I can help with the question about duty charges on cross border shopping for fishing gear. I've been doing some shopping the past while with a couple outfitter type stores out of Minnesota and getting some great deals on St. Croix rods, Team Daiwa and Shimano reels. Here's the scoop as explained to me by the Brokerage folks at the border. Thanks to the free trade agreement, there is no longer any duty on North American made merchandise when bringing it across the border (attention boat shoppers). With the dollar at parity, don't even think about buying your boat on this side of the border right now. You will save 20 - 30 points on new if you buy Merc/Evinrude motors and American made boats. As long as you have the correct paperwork, you can drive down, pick up your craft and only be responsible for GST (possibly PST) when you cross the border. It will take a year to two years before pricing adjusts on this side of the border to the new world we live in. Ok, back to the fishing gear. You may be responsible for some brokerage fees when your shipment comes across but again, as long it's North American made, no duty. If your purchase is made outside the U.S., technically, duty can be assigned. There is so much merchandise moving back and forth across the border right now, that Customs may NOT assess duty if the shipment originated in the U.S. I'm pretty sure it's hit and miss merely because they can't be dissecting every waybill, looking for what brand the gear is and where it was made. Hope this helps you guys, I'm doing some more shopping in the next couple weeks. Definitely, going to check out that reeldeals site, sounds interesting..... Tight lines,

The gulp leeches do work very well for bass, I like to drop shot them in the weed pockets for largies as well. They're fantastic just rigged with a small worm hook, but they can get damaged after just one or two fish. Gotta let you all in on a little secret though. The 4 inch gulp minnows are unbelievable!! They were just deadly rigged on a 1/4 oz jighead, with a stinger treble and dropped down on the deep side of the humps in various areas of our lake this summer. The smallies hit them like no tomorrow. One evening, my 7 year old son caught 3 nice 2+ lb. fish on 3 consecutive casts. I just sat back and watched him as the fish took the bait and wham, set the hook home. We turned one into a double header. Also tried June Bug with excellent results....

Hey all, there's been some good advice offered here regarding various tactics for salmon and trout, once they run the tribs. I have to comment though, about most salmon being caught in tribs being lined or flossed....this is simply NOT TRUE! I keep hearing comments to this effect by certain fisherman, who feel the fish should be left alone once they're in the streams. Unfortunately, there are some fisherman out there who use all kinds of tactics to intentionally line or floss salmon, which taint the experience for the rest of us who utilize finesse methods, and they really do work. I can count hundreds of salmon landed who've ventured out of the their resting places to engulf a well presented roe bag or single egg, or a perfectly positioned kwikfish or spinner. I will agree that most of these fish hit out of aggression, but that's all part of the cycle. Do not pay any mind to these naysayers who try to justify their bad behaviour, or say you can't coax these salmon to hit. They will, and once you get them on your line, hang on because they offer some great battles which often are won by the fish. Release those large females so they can continue their journey upstream to spawn. Most Ontario tribs have naturally reproducing fish in them these days too, which is very exciting. A bunch of us are involved in the egg collection operations with the MNR and Metro East Anglers out at the Credit starting next week. Keep trying different things, your patience will pay off. Tight lines all!

Hey, I have some great memories of the heydays when they stocked 20K fingerlings per year for about 5 years, and yes, the browns used to come right up the ramps after heavy storms and the water would funnel down the ramps off the big parking lot. That goes back about 10 years or so mind you. Man, there were some big browns we caught back in the day. Fish over 18 lbs. were fairly common on the cooler nights in late October, early November. You had to get used to the nightly rising of the sewer rats after dark scurrying around the rocks that surrounded the harbour. There was also these two gentlemen who would arrive some evenings in the fall to "snare" a few geese using some coat hanger contraption. After slipping on goose grease a couple times, I wasn't gonna say anything about it. They were doing us fisherman a favour!! Tight lines.....

Well, at least a couple of you caught the fact that the guy's fingers are the envy of any proctologist in the picture. It's a classic case of camera trickery. Matter of fact the fish is so far out from the guys body, I don't even think his elbows are bent. The fish is 6 1/2 to 7 pds. max!! But, a very nice fish none-the-less. It looks just a little bigger than my PB of 6 1/4 caught on a spinnerbait from an island saddle in Chemung 3 summers ago. Can't believe the reporter getting snookered into printing that story.....

I agree with Lookinforwalleye, the Sedona is a good reel. Depending on your budget though, the Sahara or Symetre are both excellent quality reels for $$. Both of my kids are using Sahara's and they love them!!Smooth retrieve and very dependable drag. Gotta have both to drag a 30LB Chinny out of the rivermouth. Good luck.....

HI all, We have some friends heading up to Sandy Lake for week with their kids, rented a cottage. It's that pretty spring fed lake with the turquoise water near Buckhorn. I've never fished the lake, although we've driven past it a few times. Does anyone know of what fish call the lake home, or have any experience fishing the lake. Any general knowledge would be appreciated. Thanks!

Superdad, great to see you posting here as well as all the contributions you make to the Quinte site. Glad to see you've had the opportunity to experience some fabulous inshore fishing this spring. Two great outings back to back like that is rare indeed. You just gotta love the feeling of great timing like that. We treasure those days! We've got a warm water outflow down the road from us, and we've been taking full advantage. The brown's are not quite as plentiful as in your case, but we've been averaging 4 to 5 fish an outing, with the odd sheepie, pike, walleye and laker mixed in. If we want to concentrate on the lakers we just move out about 1/4 mile and they're there. Our PB's thus far are 14 lb. laker, 11 lb+ brown, 9 lb. pike, and 7 lb. sheepie. A couple nice eating sized walleye have been the bonus fish. Keep up the great fishing.....we'll be down for the walleye opener too!

Hi all, We've been enjoying our '05 Crestliner Sport Angler that we bought slightly used last spring......great boat, handles extremely well....especially pleased with the performance of the 90hp Mercury Optimax that it came with the package. Just fires up and runs smooth on every outing. Also been running the standard aluminum prop, as was recommended for the first while, to get a feel for the handling of the boat. If I was to buy a quality stainless prop, to maximize all around performance (fishing, cruising, tubing), what should I be looking for. There seems to be a number of excellent choices out there, but not sure where to start......certainly, with the boat being a bit smaller and lighter, I'd like something with enuff bite to get the boat on plane quickly and also hoping not to break the bank......does anyone have some thoughts and/or experiences to share. Thanx in advance.....Paul

Hey, those are nice Rockies. Hit like a ton of bricks, then roll over and play dead! I have frequently caught them up to 12 inches with big, fat bellies. The bigger ones are good eating too. I was curious to see your comment about expectations of the bite being slow due to the onset of the storm. Some of my best outings have been in the hours prior to a frontal system blowing through. One example, two years ago on the Bass opener fishing Lake Seymour. Around 9am, we had a frontal system setting in on us (we could see it's approach on the horizon), and up to that point we had landed 5 or 6 nice fish. But suddenly, all hell broke loose and for the hour and a half leading up to the first drops of rain, the bass went nuts, hitting everything we threw at them. Several double headers, fish lost, even a triple of 2 to 3 pounders. We were laughin' our heads off, and whoopin' it up because we'd never seen action like that. As soon as the rain started, the frenzy was done. We landed 16 more largies up to 4 lbs. and a bonus smallie around 4 1/2. One of those outings to remember.....keep up the good fishing!

Wow, all this discussion regarding the seat bases had me out ripping the tarp off my boat this afternoon to check mine. I've got a 1650 Sport Angler and sure enough, both of my bases have got the same symptoms, although I think the damage isn't as serious as the original poster. My Crestliner is only two years old, so I'm going after them for new bases. I don't care how moist my floor gets, those seat bases (especially aluminum) shouldn't be doing that after only two seasons of use. I appreciate the comments though on how the stainless screws can contribute to the corrosion problem. I left my batteries connected, but kept them topped up. Is that a no no? I keep my garage at 40 deg fahrenheit all winter so it stays relatively dry in the boat. Would appreciate any feedback on the battery issue or storage tips. We'll let you know how we make out with support at Crestliner. Cheers!

And perhaps most importantly about the hitch locks.....if you are not using one and your boat gets stolen, most marine insurance underwriters will not pay out. Check the fine print of your policy....it's front and center on mine. I'm insured with ELCO....I use the Master Lock kit combo too, although I think I'm gonna invest in the stainless version next go 'round. Tight lines.....

Yep, I gotta side with Daiwa.....I love Shimano too, have a beautie ChronarchB but I think Daiwa has them beat on braking and drag. I fell in love with the new Daiwa Zillion the first moment I held one in my hand. Guess I'm becoming a bit of a tackle junkie. I managed to pick up both a high speed retrieve and regular at the BPS sale too. At $210 each with a reel trade, the price was right! Couldn't get anyone talked down below $280 at the Sportsman's Show. Daiwa invented the first super free spool on baitcasters, and the Zillion is just a masterful reel for the price. At 8.6 ounces for the 6.3:1 model and 8.8 for the 7.1 high speed model, they're light enough to cast all day with little fatique and we're ready to throw whatever those bass are in the mood for. I've got some line on one, and couldn't help but make a few tosses out in the yard. The dog is a good test for the drag.....kidding! Tight lines, Paul

Hmmm.....Sticky, I think perhaps you just got stung by a defective reel. Although $75 is not alot to spend on a decent rod 'n reel combo, you should have gotten something that worked ok for your investment. I purchased two combos last year for my kids in that price range, and they worked fine all summer for them. Even got them at CT, and the price was right on sale for $36 bucks. Problem in our case was the rods were really poor quality. Good news is that for $50 more, you can get a really decent outfit from LB's or BPS. For my money, you can't go wrong with Daiwa, Shimano or Quantum. Try a reel in and around the $70 range and rod around $50. For a good all around rod, go 6' 6" medium heavy with fast action or 7' Med with fast action. My kids new combos are Shimano Sahara's on Berkeley Lightning rods. Combo was $90 bucks on sale.....reg $130. My kids thought they'd died and gone to heaven. I just don't believe in buying super cheap stuff for the kids. Time with them on the water is too precious. Although they're equipment gets beat up a little faster, nothing turns a kid off fishing faster than crappy equipment, line that messes up and lost fish. Hope this helps! Tight lines....

Well, I think a couple posters here figured out the common denominator in this debate of quality with the Fenwick Rods going downhill after they moved production offshore. Quality control just hasn't been one of the strengths since Fenwick stopped manufacturing the rods here in Canada and the US. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. I just traded up from my Fenwick HMG's, which I had 4 of and really enjoyed using. They are a very nice rod for 100 bucks a pop. No issues whatsoever. My suggestion is to get away from 2 piece unless it's necessary for car travel. You just don't want a weak point in the middle of your rod if you can avoid it. I switched to all one piece rods about 5 years ago and haven't looked back. Haven't had a single break, or even crack in any of my rods since then. Over the years, I've used Shimano Compres & Crucials, G.Loomis, HMGs and now St. Croix Premiers. I've been very happy with my Fenwick's over the past while but I do think some of the blanks are a little thinner than others to minimize weight. I'm now moving up to St. Croix Avid's to match up with my Team Daiwa reels and can't wait to give them a go on the boat this spring. They're so light but incredibly strong. Soft water fishing is just around the corner, need another couple weeks of milder weather to get the spring panfishing going. Tight lines, Paul