Jonny

When I was a kid fishing with my parents, I didn't even know that another name for pickerel was walleye. Even when I was in my 20's I don't think I heard the term "walleye" used very much. Same goes for partridge (ruffed grouse). Everybody just called them "partridge". Most people in Northern Ontario still do, I think. "Pickerel" is still the term I hear used most commonly for walleye. I like the distinctiveness of both those terms - pickerel and partridge - and they're what I'm used to. I wonder how prevalent they are in other parts of Ontario. Just for the fun of it, I'm going to try to set up the poll feature on this board - hope it works for me...

Having caught quite a few pickerel out of water where they can't see even a foot (i.e. Lake Abitibi) I have to conclude that eyesight to a fish isn't always as important as we may think. That pickerel you released may do well enough with one eye.

About 15, and that`s too many.

Yep, like we used to say in my gun club, ``It ain`t the gun, it`s the jerk on the trigger`` (Translation - if the gun isn`t shooting straight, it`s probably caused by jerking the trigger.) We like to delude ourselves that the latest bells and whistles in rod, reel and tackle give us an advantage, when knowing how and where to use the equipment is more important. I had one of those solid glass rods. I cut it down to make a short jigging rod for ice fishing. Wish I hadn`t done that. My old Mitchell 301A `modernized`with Power Pro line... it`s caught hundreds of pickerel, pike, specks and bass and is still going strong....

Nice ones, Clofchik. Drum have earned my respect. They put up a darn good fight and the smaller ones are good to eat, if you're so inclined (from Nipissing anyway).

It all depends what you want. A deep and wide 14 to 15 footer with a tiller-handle 25 HP is probably the best all-round outfit there is. You'll see lots of this type of boat in Northern Ontario, and the type is also popular with lodges, though they generally power them with 15's - partly a cost factor I think, as well as a safety factor for people who are not necessarily real familiar with boats. (The power and speed of a 25 can get a novice in trouble a lot quicker than a 15.) Make sure that the trailer you get has large wheels --- it's easier on the bearings and they will last a lot longer --- especially important if you are trailering long distances or trailering often. I'd suggest 12" rims.

For my 1980 Johnson 2 HP it's Champion J6J. Spark plug gap is 0.030"

Yep, good setup, Clofchik, and all you really need for a "portable". Plus if you do it right, and I'm sure you did, it's completely waterproof too.

Look for an Eagle Cuda 300 --- less than $100 when on sale and can be found at Bass Pro Shops and other places. It's not a "portable" but you can make it a portable by following Dara's advice about mounting the transducer on a piece of wood and clamping to the transom. That way you can also move it around a little for the best fit. I did this with a small 12' aluminum boat with a 3 HP that I used for puddle-jumping, and it worked fine. Any 12V battery will power the depth finder. It's just that some will last longer than others. You do not need a big battery. A small 12V utility battery (about $30 - $40) from the Canadian Tire automotive dept. would work. You could set yourself up for about $150 total. Keep in mind that these machine are mostly depth finders, not fish finders. Their key use is showing you depth and underwater structure.

Eating Freshwater Drum A couple of weeks ago I posted my impressions as a result of trying fried freshwater drum. Fillets from a fresh-caught 3 pounder were mild, pleasant-tasting and coarsely flaky - altogether quite good to eat. I also filleted about a 7 pound drum and froze the fillets. Yesterday, we had a family fish fry and we fried up a mess of breaded pickerel, pike, and the fillets from that drum. Wow, was that a disappointment. The drum fillets were so tough you couldn't cut them with a fork. Even with two forks you could hardly pull the meat apart. I didn't think fish could get that tough! Whether it was the size of the fish, or the freezing, or a combination of the two, I don't know. But I thought I'd post the information, such as it is.

No I haven't been out on what I consider rough water on a pontoon. I've been out in what I'd call a chop - 1 to 1 1/2 ft waves, and there was no issue there. I can just imagine, though, how a pontoon would behave in rough water on Nipissing, slamming that flat bow into a wave that basically would bring the boat to a shuddering halt. And if you were running with the waves, you'd get a double whammy of the bow digging into the wave in front while the following wave overtakes you from behind. It could be my impression is wrong, but I would not like to be in a position to test it out. Being in a good deep mono hull is bad enough in a Nipissing blow. I've done that often enough, and more times than I wanted to. The reason I answered was because personally I would be careful about calling a pontoon a good rough water boat, every bit as good as a mono hull. To me it just doesn't seem possible. Maybe we picture two different things when we say "rough water".

It depends on what you mean by rough. I don't think I'd want to be out in Nipissing rough on a pontoon.

I signed up because my nephews and nieces asked me to, but I don't use it much, practically not at all. Email is my thing.

If I were starting again, I would go with, at a minimum, a plain-jane deep 14' aluminum (not a V-hull necessarily but flat at the back), broad beam, and a 15 to 18 HP motor with tiller handle, definitely up it to 25 HP if it can be comfortably accomodated by the design. That kind of an outfit can take 2 or 3 people in comfort and can get you to where you want to fish (and home again) at a good clip. I'm thinking particularly of a deep and wide 14' aluminum Crestliner a friend had. Great boat, but he always regretted getting an 18 HP Merc for it instead of a 25 like I had on my 15' Princecraft. Such an outfit has a good resale value, but you might find that it's all you ever need. As one of the earlier replies said, you can also "customize" to suit your own taste, and you can do it a LOT cheaper than buying a boat that's already "fancied up". Of course it all depends on what you want to spend in the first place.

Nice shot! It captures that moment just before you get to shore, fight the mosquitoes a bit, and clean your catch by the light of a coleman lamp or a bare electric bulb.

Don't go assuming too much by the start date. I only started regularly reading and posting in this forum a few weeks ago. I had a total of six posts from my join date til June 1st, and rarely visited the site. There seems to be enough leeway in the rules, judging by what I've seen here on EI, Welfare, the GM bailout, trashing unions, etc. The difference between principle and practice. NP, then. I imagine your skin is as thick as mine. I don't mind people holding a different opinion from my own. And I don't expect every person to be a friend, or friendly, just as I wouldn't expect it in real life.

Here ya go, cowboy... I haven't used them myself, so I would call ahead to confirm...

Being the originator of this thread I respectfully disagree. I also understand that if you hold that opinion I'm not likely to change your mind. Here's a thread that fits the "confrontational" idea better IMO --- http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=33540 But anyway, it's your call whether to lock the thread. I'll respect that. It's a bit of a learning curve knowing what's acceptable to the moderators.

I expected that my post would get some negative response. I stated it more negatively than I feel; at least people are showing their pride, though IMO in sometimes odd ways. Please don't jump to the conclusion that I'm unpatriotic because I question how the flag is used. I'm as proud as the next Canadian of that flag. I was around when it was first adopted and even drew a picture in grade school of what I thought the new flag should look like (that was a big thing for kids to do at that time). I also remember that it seemed most people thought the new flag would never catch on. Well, it sure has --- a classy emblem for a classy country. "Am I even Canadian?" "Am I narrow-minded?" I liked the responses better that just disagreed.

When you order from Cabela's what charges do you end up paying? I see $22.95 + 3.50 broker's fee. Then I think there's a Canada Post handling charge ($5) plus Canadian GST. Is that it, or is there anything else?

All good advice. Especially the strategy of freezing as much as possible of the contents before putting in the cooler. I would add that draping a wet towel over a cooler will help. Evaporation helps the cooling.

We see pictures like the ones below all over the news. Why do people have to dress so goofy for Canada Day? It makes us look like a bunch of clowns. And it reduces the status of the Maple Leaf to that of a logo for a hockey or baseball team. Want to celebrate Canada Day? Fly a flag on your boat, your vehicle, on a stick, whatever. By all means, join in the festivities but do so with some taste.

One of those little flat 5-LED lights that slip onto the brim of your hat with two clips. Gotta be one of the handiest things going - great for fishing after dark and around the campsite. The #2032 batteries last quite a while but you can buy spares at a Dollarama. You've probably got all the regular stuff covered.

Don't know about the majority, but here (for pickerel/pike/bass/perch) it's straight bread crumbs. Or Panko. For salmon or trout, nothing at all. A friend of mine says I should try BBQ potato chips (crushed fine).

Thought I'd help out a little...