Jonny

I've been told that oiling the eggs would be a good way to get rid of them. Destroy the eggs and they would just lay more, but if they're oiled they'll sit on them but they won't hatch. Anybody else heard that?

Don't get me started on the ways our system doesn't work. But it's the best we've got. I think human nature prevents us from getting anything better. People are just too happy to think that a Stanley Cup playoff game is important. They're too happy doing their own little thing. They're too preoccupied with their own lives. They're too prone to carp to a circle of friends and co-workers and leave it at that. They're too complacent. They're too apathetic. They're too insular and opinionated. They're too gullible. They're too happy to let others do the work and take the responsibility unless they screw up bigtime. They're too eager to jump on bandwagons, and then jump off them again, thinking they have made a difference. Big government and big business know how to play on those things. And people who rise into the ranks of those who have the power to make a difference forget where they came from and become part of a circle of entitlement as long as they have that short memory. They lose their honesty and integrity because they see what politics and knowing the right people can get them. Latest case in point - that woman who was CEO of "eHealth Ontario" (whatever the hell that is) - feather-bedding, corrupt, and now kicked out because she was too stupid about it, and now eligible for a severance package (despite the fact that she was caught red-handed with her fingers in the cookie jar) to the tune of some $300,000+ !!! Now that paints a pretty black picture. We do have honest people with integrity, and we do have enough openness to catch the dumbest and or greediest criminals. We do have a media that can be effective in exposing things. But I get the feeling that we just see the tip of the iceberg, maybe just enough to feel that the system really does work well enough, while underneath that, in the big picture, things are being arranged to benefit people who stay as invisible as they can. My Monday morning rant.

For the edification of the younger members here... us old geezers are plenty familiar with the code language... It's amazing how much of this is true... i.e. ALL OF IT! NINE WORDS WOMEN USE (1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up. (2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house. (3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine. (4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It! (5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.) (6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake. (7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome' . that will bring on a 'whatever'). (8) Whatever: Is a woman's way of saying SCREW YOU! (9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to # 3.

I know that technically cormorants were "native" to Lake Nipissing. There were supposedly a few breeding pairs here in the 40's or 50's. So that's the excuse for letting them proliferate on the lake and do nothing. The MNR has totally dropped the ball on this. Personally I think they just can't be bothered to address the problem and so turn a deaf ear, even though they know with absolute certainty that the cormorants are impacting the fish population and they are despoiling islands which now look like a forest fire has scorched the trees dead. Cormorants are VERMIN... they should be treated as such. This lake had a perfectly good natural balance when there were NONE of them to be seen. There wouldn't be a single reason to miss them if they were gone. Not a one! If they were rats infesting a town, we'd see some action soon enough, but their impact is underwater and on often remote islands. Out of sight, out of mind, the MNR must figure. On this issue they have ZERO respect from me. And it sounds like the MNR is similarly inactive, or actually obstructive, on the issue of cormorants in other areas as well.

It could be hard to get close enough. I know from the experience of trying to approach a fishing flock at 35-40 kph. It's a good thought ... ...but it'd be breaking all kinds of regulations even IF you could get close enough.

I've avoided Spiderwire ever since spooling it onto one of my spinning reels. It wasn't a braided line (like Gorilla Braid) but more like one continuous greenish filament, so maybe the braid is different. But I found that on my reel the stuff I had would slip in underneath itself, bind a little, and make coming off the spool not smooth at all. I've tried Gorilla braid and it doesn't have the binding problem, but I find that it must have extra water resistance because my trolls don't seem to go as deep. The best choicce for me still seems to be plain old monofilament - i.e. Berkeley Trilene, Shakespeare Sigma.

Where we live, on the shore of the Great North Bay, Lake Nipissing, we are regularly treated to a sight we would rather do without. Every summer there are numerous days when we see cormorants winging in from the south side of the lake. When whatever triggers them to come fishing up here on the north side, you can watch them with a pair of binoculars, winging in from a distance and stacked up in flights looking like nothing as much as squadrons of WWII bombers, in wave after wave. When they land they start moving parallel to the shore like a rolling carpet, the ones at the front of the flock diving, the ones at the rear taking off and leap-frogging over the seething mass of other birds. It's like a giant vacuum cleaner moving along the bay, and it can go for miles before they've had enough. At times when the flock is the largest, I've done counts on them, and I have seen flocks that easily top a thousand birds. Once I estimated 1500. I've contacted the MNR about controlling them and the answer is twofold: 1) We're monitoring them (whatever that means) and 2) Cormorants are native to Lake Nipissing. Native, my foot. When I was a kid, I fished Lake Nipissing with great regularity with my parents in the 50's and 60's and we didn't even know what a cormorant looked like. With all the other fishing pressure on this lake, summer and winter, we (as the expression goes) "don't need no stinkin' cormorants"! I know they're a problem elsewhere too. Is there anywhere where they are being controlled?

"Millions in Nip". Could be, but they don't get caught much, it seems, except in the spring when they come in to shallower water and rivers to spawn. I've been checking my reference book (mentioned above) and it says they are schooling fish, stay in deep water areas during the summer, but they tend to stay in the upper 20 feet of water. If they tend to suspend that might be the reason they are less likely to be caught in the summer. Mayflies are mentioned as a favourite food. They also move a lot, according to studies which show they move up to 7 miles a day. Who knows, at times when you're making a hi-speed run with the boat and the depth finder shows a "cloud", you might have passed over a school of white bass?

If you do some fishing by yourself, you can't beat a Sportspal for ease of getting on and off a vehicle, and avoiding the hassle of a trailer. But if that's not important and you want to fish medium size lakes with wide-open areas, you'd be better off with a cartopper 12', in my opinion. A 15 HP seems like a lot of motor for a 12, at least for many of them. But my brother has a deep, stable 12 with a 15 HP on it and he's happy with the combo. A regular 12 is definitely more comfortable to fish out of than a Sportspal. It really boils down to what's convenient for you to handle, what the majority of the fishing you do requires, and what it takes to make you feel safe and comfortable. No one outfit can do it all. I know that's kind of a non-answer but those considerations about sum it up. One other unusual thing. Something that REALLY improves any canoe for fishing out of is a detatchable outrigger, easy to make yourself out of laminated and carved blue SM styrofoam and wood. On a v-stern canoe, mount your motor on the same side as the outrigger, and you probably won't be able to tip the canoe even if you try.

They taste is fine! We fried one up and enjoyed it. I checked a resource I have - a book called "Freshwater Fishes of Canada" by WB Scott and Ed Crossman (Ed was a director of the OFAH during some of the same years that I was, very knowledgeable gentleman) - and there was a commercial fishery in Ontario for white bass. In 1965 the total catch, mostly out of Lake Erie, was 2,700,000 pounds! By 1968 that had dropped to 800,000 lb. I have no idea whether the fishery still exists.

Yes, Catholic high schools have more money from the general tax pool than public schools. In Northern Ontario with the extra French grants some of them have a lot more. Yet in the public schools I am familiar with, they're doing fine. In one particular middle school the computer lab gets new computers every 2 or 3 years, there's a dedicated computer teacher and you'd be amazed what Grade 7's and 8's can do - they can navigate Excel spreadsheets, turn out polished Power Point presentations, etc. etc. All places are not the same - it depends on the local base and the allocation of resources. But back to car manufacture and the basic question... The federal and Ontario governments had little choice but to ante up some bail-out money after the US government did so. You might note that the German government threw money at the problem too, afraid to let its auto industry take a big hit. Again, I am not happy about tax money going to corporations, but I can't see that there was much choice in Canada once the American government committed to that course. A lot of people feel that it was necessary, and the better of two unpleasant choices.

He looks like a pro already...

Good for you! Square stern or wide stern?

No doubt gravel, sand and rock are good indicators of a speckled trout stream, but I've been on a few where those are scarce commodities, from what you can see from above the water. The one that sticks out in my mind the most is the Dunrankin River, west of Foleyet along the CNR line. A friend and I had the "milk run" train drop us off there with our canoe and camping gear a number of years back. The stretch of river we fished for two full days was basically about 5 miles of slow water flowing through swampy flatlands, bordered with bulrushes cattails and lily pads. The bottom was mud. To look at the scenery would have gladdened the heart of a duck hunter but not a trout fisherman, and the specks were insane! We kept count (just for the hell of it) and caught 96, most of which, of course, were returned to the river. Maybe the swampy environment was filtering the water as well as sand and gravel normally do? The Shawmere River between Foleyet and Chpleau is much the same. To look at it you'd think it prime habitat for perch and hammer-handle pike, but it's a speckled trout stream, and a good one.

If you can get a good used one, get the 2.5 HP, hands down. You won`t be sorry. The weight won`t be a problem and as long as you can jury-rig a transom attachment, you`ll be fine, I think. You can troll as slow as you want, and whether you steer with a wheel or with the tiller, you can leave the 40 HP down and steer with it. Just snug the 2.5 so it`s hard to turn and it should hold position. You`ll save gas, maybe quite a bit, and you`ll have an emergency motor if you have problems with the 40. I use a 2 HP as a kicker interchangeably on an aluminum Princecraft 15`and a fibreglas Crestliner 16` bowrider, and I wouldn`t be without it.

I`m all for letting a company go teats up if they mess up. But the US gov`t and the Canadian gov`t decided that this just couldn`t be allowed to happen to GM. They had their reasons, and I don`t think it all had to do with being in big business`s pocket. Call me gullible, but I buy some of those reasons, much as I dislike seeing public money bail out private enterprise. Kids in the classroom DO have computers, by the way. I know that first-hand, and you should see what they can do with the help of a good computer teacher. Things that most of us, even as adults, took years to learn, or never learned, just scratching the surface with internet, word pro, and email.

Well, you're asking for opnions, so here's mine. I would not shy away from a "cheap" rod-and-reel combo as long as the drag on the reel can be nicely adjusted and is smooth. When you set the drag to just about fishing pressure (where a good-sized fish would be stripping off line) it should feel nice and smooth and not feel jerky. Unless you get a bum rod, you`re not likely to ever hook into anything that can break the rod, even if it`s cheap. That said, there`s nothing wrong with spending a little extra for a mid-grade outfit. 10 to 12 Berkeley Trilene sounds great for pickerel, pike and bass.

And the camera savvy - hold the fish closer to the camera so it looks bigger. You sure Bob Izumi isn't his dad?

I had a 14' square stern for over 25 years, used mainly for duck hunting and fishing speckles on kettle lakes and small rivers, pushed by a 3 HP. Couldn't beat it for portability and with a little care it lasted me a long time. I would not have put myself and wife and two kids in it except for anything but a short jaunt not too far from shore. For fishing you are definitely best with only two people in the canoe unless you're on a small lake --- just in my opinion, having had one. With two people in it, it's very safe, much more stable than most regular canoes. Paddling is do-able but a little awkward with the wide beam and the side sponsons. You NEVER run one of these up on a rock or gravel shore with anyone in it. It's a sure way to sooner or later slice open the thin-gauge aluminum bottom. If you want your wife and kids with you, I would definitely recommend the wide stern. It would also be easier to handle a small motor as the reach backwards to steer with a square stern is awkward if you're sitting on the foam seat. For duck hunting, with a partner in the bow and with gear in the middle, I used to put a board across to sit on so I could steer more comfortably. It raised raised the center of gravity but not dangeously so. If wide sterns would have been available at the time I bought mine, I would have gotten one of those. I'm not sure what you mean by "crossbars" - roof racks? Measurement with a cou[ple inches extra on each side, like Johnnyb said, is what you'd have to do, unless you have good end pieces where it can't slip sideways. The canoe of course is very lightweight and can sit on almost any roof rack without a problem as far as the weight is concerned. Hope this helps. It would be nice to know what you go with. -- EDIT - I have seen some new ones around --- apparently someone bought the rights and the jigs, and they are still being made (up to a year or two ago anyway). If you buy a used one you won't know whether it leaks until you put it in the water. Some of the damage or cracks might be so fine that you can't see them.

I have a big Penn Super Mariner #49 loaded with about 3-400 ft of steel line. It has caught some very nice lakers in its day, from way down deep. I haven't wire-lined for lake trout in years, I almost exclusively fish Lake Nipissing now. So my question is, do you think there's any other use for it (with or without the steel line)? Keep in mind it's not a level-wind. You have to guide the line back and forth up onto the spool with your thumb, no big deal for lakers once you get used to it, but I wonder if anyone has used this kind of reel differently than I have?

Very nice work, Bushart! Like, for example a mount I have of a 20 lb. pike. I had it done years ago, and it doesn't fit anywhere in my (downsized) retirement home. Nobody in my family wants it. So it sits in my attic and I toy with the idea once in a while of selling it to a logde or something like that. Could I get in trouble for doing that?

Probably a number of reasons, two of which might be: 1. The money is not likely being paid specifically to the pensions; it's being paid to cover the GM shortfall, of which the pensions are a part. Would it sound better if that money was earmarked for other areas (though still part of the same pot)? 2. GM screwed up bigtime, no question. Part of the screw-up, if I recall correctly, was raiding the pension plan so there was an unfunded shortfall. That's the company's fault, not the workers'. The GM workers are lucky that their pensions are bound up in the much bigger issue of the failure of the company and the loss of a large chunk of our industrial base, or else the gov't probably would have done the same as it has done when other companies used pension funds greedily or unwisely --- nothing. In Northern Ontario I've seen too many workers in the mines and resource industries lose pensions, or part of them, because of shady, unethical dealings by the companies they worked for. "Spoiled union workers" sounds a little harsh. It sounds a little like clawing at someone who has managed to gain a good living and drag them down to that oh-so-desirable subsistence level. Can't there be some good-paying jobs in this country, even if we ourselves don't have them, without calling the workers undeserving?

Once the $3K car from India gets here and is upgraded for Canadian conditions and certified for Canadian roads, it'll cost $12K.

I'm in agreement with Fishnwire in just about everything he says. As far as GM is concerned (and Ford and Chrysler too), I think that what they should do is start offering a manufacturer's warranty for their vehicles the same as Toyota and some of the other foreign makes --- a three-year bumper-to-bumper warranty. Never mind just the power train (with exceptions). Offer the bumper-to-bumper, and build to that quality. That would do more IMO than other fancy gimmicks to gain them sales.

Well put, Fishnwire. --- One thing for everyone to keep in mind is that industrial jobs are hard to come by, and there's a multiplier effect... every industrial job spins off many jobs in other industries and in the service sector. So you're not talking, say, 10K jobs at GM, you're talking a whole lot more (i.e. like those car haulers mentioned above). The impact of losing whole factories (for good!) would be devastating in the short term and hard to overcome in the long term. I wouldn't expect Frank Stronach to come riding to the rescue just yet by buying moth-balled factories.