farsider

I stumbled on these guys while out walking. Beaver on Ice Muskrat Deer Cheers, Mark

Hey guys, a lot of good advice so far. Thanks. Do you crimpers have a cup-to-cup crimper(nicely described in Mike's Link)? Or just a basic one? Regarding the loop knot, I had heard that the weakest link in the setup is not the knot itself, but where the loop abrades the snap or swivel ring. Has anyone experienced this failure? Also, good tip about the super glue. Welding rod tube is a good idea for storage. All but my trolling leaders are under 18". I have been using a 3' trolling leader. I sort of had an idea for a slim, leader storage board similar to something the Euro Carping guys might use but, it hasn't evolved beyond the idea stage. I was planning on making a small wooden case (think long matchbook case) for my quickstrike rigs to keep the line straight and the hooks at bay in my ice fishing bucket, I was just hoping to mine the vast ingenuity of OFC before settling on a design. Cheers, Mark

I just started tying my own quick-strike rigs for winter Pike. I was thinking I would try tying my Fluoro leaders for this years Muskies. I was hoping someone could impart their wisdom in this area. I have been using the Canoe/Canoeman Knot for the Quick-Strike rigs but it cinches down tight to the hook or swivel. What is the preferred Knot for above 100lb Fluorocarbon that leaves a loop? Any General do's/don'ts? Terminal tackle preferences? Also, I was wondering how everybody stored their backup tied leaders on the boat or while fishing or in the off-season. The ones I have bought before come so coiled up initially, that they don't allow some of my baits to work properly. The trolling leaders and baits with high resistance obviously straighten out fairly fast on their own. Does anybody store them straight at full length? Tight? Loose? How do you store your Quick-Strike rigs? Cheers, Mark

I have always felt that the Holiday Ride Blitz is the "Gill-Net" method of policing. The Ride-program orthodoxy is so entrenched that other forms of policing that doesn't ensnare everybody is not explored. Consider if the same man hours were applied to the small minority of habitual Drivers who Drink. Would "Think of the children's" MADD subsidize this? Cheers, Mark

My awkwardly worded post was actually trying to raise the issue of the enforcement or lack-there-of of Fishing/Hunting Regulations. Cheers, Mark Oh, I see Troutologist got it. Ignore above.

www.salmoontario.com I reccomend them and their products highly. They are a great bunch of guys. Cheers, Mark

Ignorance and racism are surely the dominant factors involved. I wonder to what degree the perceived lack of enforcement and the actual lack of enforcement of the Regulations/Laws allowed this and other situations to percolate and fester. Cheers, Mark

There have been lots of them lately. I recently saw one eating the eye of a chinny. The chinny was taking its last breaths. A neat site : http://www.greatertorontohawkwatch.com/index.php Cheers, Mark

Willie Mack? Chorus? Cheers, Mark

Usually in Bass tournaments, the fish are Live-weighed and then released right after quick pics. I would assume the same here, No?

It was around 20lbs. I was also lucky that she wasn't silver. The bail spring on my normal casting outfit broke and jammed on me Wed. morning. I dropped it off at Aikmans so all I had was my smaller bass reel to use. I can spool it when I cast a cleo. I use an 8 1/2' rod and I tightened the drag right down on the reel and that seemed to make a difference. Cheers, Mark

I don't know what to make of this. With the wind having whipped things up pretty bad, I decided to try for a decent Pike I was sight fishing to yesterday from shore. Yesterday, it had stuck its snout right on the ass of my husky jerk and followed it right up to shore. Nothing. I let it sink all the way to the bottom. It folowed it all the way down and basically hovered over the damn thing for at least half-a-minute. Nothing. I twitched it fast, I twitched it slow. One half-hearted slash at it then back to... Nothing. I gave up after I failed to even raise it anymore. Tomorrow I vowed... You will EAT! So come today, the wind having blown my morning opportunity for salmon from the pier, I planned on trying again for that Pike when I finished work. I get to the area around 3:30pm. The water was really bad with zero visibility. Fortunately this Pike area is semi-protected from the wind/waves so it wasn't as bad as the main lake. My HJ14 in Firetiger is still on and I heave it out and straight retrieve it back just to see if he will show his mug. A couple of cranks later and slam...FISH ON! It feels good too----bigger than the Pike I had been targetting. Probably just snagged one of the many huge Carp I see cruising in the area. Seconds later it becomes clear...SALMON!!!! Wait, What...What are you doing in 3 feet of water, right near shore in the middle of the day hitting my Husky Jerk? Now I have bigger problems, with the water as it is, good landing spots do not exist and I do not even have the net with me. Doh! I settle on the least bad spot and give it a go. Actually, there was some dude there with his bike. I waved, I hollered, I motioned for his help. Zip...Nada...Zero. He mumbled something about RAD, and something about Mountain Dew, but that was all he could muster. I time for in between the waves and grab her. YES! A nice, fairly dark female, and I have one-and-a-half soakers to mark the occasion. Pics, are you kidding? I hold it up to show Bike-dude---Nothing. Back in the drink for you young lady. Me and my now perma-smile amble back to the same spot and resume casting. I am still shaking. Three...maybe five casts later...Fish On! A little 2-3lb Pike. Yes! This fishing thing is OK! Repeat procedure above. Damn Bike-dude! That was it. A sweet, unexpected, and sunny late afternoon. Fish are strange. Fishermen....Ditto. Cheers, Mark

I managed this one last Friday morning using a Moonshine Lures glow spoon. So far there hasn't been any real numbers seen or caught. Special thanks to Dave-the-net-man who took these pics and was cool enough to email them along to me. Cheers, Mark

I was thinking about this thread over the long weekend while I was up north. Plenty of cached boats about. I was wondering if someone couldn't have printed up the stickers and applied them hoping to cut down the "competition" on "their" lakes. Also, there is one guy on craigslist that I have noticed always seems to have a new supply of 12 footers for sale. hmmn... Cheers, Mark

Hungry, hungry, hippos!

Big Al's on Dundas used to have them Cheers, Mark

With thanks to Dan Bouck's last thread on the Hair Rig and all those who posted therein, I had tried to use a hair rig with some nasty boilies that I had picked up from some shop on Jane St. without success. I lacked confidence in the method and didn't catch anything with it so I went back to basic canned corn on a plain hook with an egg sinker, thinking there must be more to this Hair Rig thing. Sure I caught some fish, but mostly I failed to hook-up the vast majority who tried the corn. Then some time ago I read Dan's thread on the Rig and discovered that you could literally "thread" other loose(particles) baits onto the hair rig and in so doing, improve your chances. With renewed zeal, I set about picking up some maize and quickly made my way back to my spot. I still had some canned corn leftover so I chummed the spot with that (as I had usually done) and set my newly-threaded maize in amongst it. Less than 15 min. later I had my first taker. It was only around 10lbs but, there is something truly sweet about trying a new technique and having it pan out for you. I also managed this one about a half-hour later: Around 12-15 lbs I would guess. I put my boot in the shot for a length comparison so I could get him back in sooner. All-in-all, a productive couple of hours. I have also managed to repeat this a few times since. The one noticeable drawback to this conversion is that I have started eyeing some more tackle; a baitrunner reel perhaps, something to replace my stick-in-the-mud rod rest, etc. And so it begins... Cheers, Mark

I stumbled across this scene when I was out walking along the Lake O. waterfront in the GTA two days after the storm hit. There was actually 5 of them trapped there and one dead possum in the basin. Mark

If you start targetting them, you would be well advised to use a 80lb fluorocarbon leader with appropriate snaps and swivels. After being bitten off with 30lb and then 50lb braid like it was cotton candy, I started using the fluoro and haven't been broken yet(fingers crossed). Cheers, Mark

I had to go and recheck the regs for myself (after I posted, doh!). Sure enough, I was mistaken. It states in the exceptions on p.65 regarding zones 13 & 14, although this is clearly marked as an exception for zone 13 listed under waterbody listed under exception details Why even bring up Georgian Bay or the North Channel(zone 14)? Just cite Zone 13 and exclusions therein. On a totally different bent, why can't you run two lines on Georgian Bay? Its allowed on most of the Great Lakes and even the Lower Niagara. It just seems so arbitrary. Ain't government grand. Cheers, Mark

And correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you can run two rods per person if you are trolling. Cheers, Mark

Nice design. Killer paint job! The only thing I worry about is if you carved out that lip from the same piece of wood, it will be terribly weak and quickly break off. I also know that a lot of Musky guys make their own lures. For lures and fish of that size, they plow out a groove on the bottom to interconnect the hooks with a "through-wire" for strength, then refill the groove with epoxy. If you are interested, they have many discussion forums on various Musky sites about Lure Making. Hopefully your postings will inspire a whole new forum section. Cheers, Mark

I realize he dosen't post on here about Carp too much, but apparently Troutguy guides for Carp as well. His Trout reports are decent.

The Versa is a nice compact car.

Actually, a lot of contractors(especially electrical) use the same Pipe strapped to the roof of their White vans to carry some of their longer drill bits and fish tape, etc. The ones I have seen use the white PVC and they use a screw on cap fitting on the end(much like a clean-out). I would assume it adds a little security and keeps the weather out. I have been mulling over the same idea so I could finally get some longer 1 piece musky rods. Cheers, Mark