Canuck2fan

The only solution has been posted on there before..... I can't remember who said it but all the waterways where they are have to totally sterilized of all fish stocks. Then after the cleanup of the dead rotting fish, which will be the hard part the native species will have to be reintroduced. Except for the expense it could be started on tomorrow. I think part of the petition has to include anglers pledging to pony up big dollars to pay for this massively expensive undertaking. To me I would agree to pay up to a 1000.00 bucks over say 3 yrs..... more if I could afford it.

The only other answer to eliminate the Asian carp is a very targeted virus specific to their DNA. Can that be done? Hell why limit the virus to just asian carp lets get as many carp of any variety as possible too. Although I know the carp fisherman would be upset about that. Not to mention there would need to be a massive increase in the number of other bottom feeders that are native to those waters to keep doing whatever beneficial task carp do for the enviorment if any. Which I doubt because apparently the waters were just fine before they got artifically introduced here as well.

Personally, the catfish pond owners who imported the first Asian Carp to keep their ponds "clean" should be shot for such stupidity..... But that won't put the genie back in the bottle.

I am going to be using real bait. Crayfish if they aren't totally illegal yet. A nice soft shell that I will catch myself making it OK to use as far as I read the regulations will be on my first cast. Hopefully to get the illusive smallie checked off my list of types of fish caught this year in about 20 seconds after I hit the water, if things follow the same pattern as every other year. Since some idiot decided it would be a good idea to introduce large mouth bass into my favorite fishing spot 2 yrs ago after moving about 10 ft I am fairly sure I can switch to a leech for the second cast to get large mouth struck off my list. After that is accomplished I will probably work on using some different techniques by using a modified drop shop type rig with a worm...... Work on trying a minnow under a slip float.

I voted for number 3

I fish for bass, perch, and chrome mainly. I have a favorite spot where the bass remain edible (worm free) all season. So for the first couple of outings I will keep a few for the family. After a couple of feeds though I release most of what I catch when it comes to bass. Any other spot for bass I know before I leave the house I am releasing them all that day, mainly because I can't see killing a fish I know will be wormy....

Perch, I fish for so they can be eaten. I like nothing better than getting 20 perch over 10"s an outing to come home. I am very selective in size compared to a lot of people I've seen lately.... In my case I have a number of family members who grew up eating perch and have no way of getting them unless they buy them a week old in supermarket, so I like to try get those folks a couple of meals a year, which I happily catch, clean and even cook if necessary. It is a family tradition to have fresh perch cooked breaded with smashed saltine crackers, maple baked beans and dollar fries. For many in the family this is the ultimate summer comfort food.... Having a fish fry brings back a lot of memories of when those folks were young enough and other family members were still alive who fished for them as well.

For chrome I try to release all larger healthy fish, as I feel they will be the best breeders. I do like to keep 2 to 4 lbers for the table, but never take more than 2 per trip home. If I harvest a large female for roe I get the flesh smoked so as not to waste it. I am not a great steel header by any means so if I take 10 to 12 fish during the trib season which is from Sept till June most years that is a good year in my books.

I haven't been there in about 3 weeks so I don't know about how they are biting. Generally though if you really want to get pike there all you have to do is just take some minnows under a float near the weeds along the shore lines and you should do alright. Spinners and x-rap work for some people from what I hear.

So Canuck, was the Pflueger able to handle that monster in your avatar with little trouble??!??

Oh it was a tough go with that fella.... what he lacked in size and strength he made up with cunning and determination. In all seriousness though on the Pflueger I landed about 22 salmon and rainbow, one carp about 15lbs, many many bass, perch and of course let us not over look a ton of the worlds greatest sport fish the mighty rock bass (at least 20 which went well over 12 inches long so you can see how tough they would have been to land BBR would have been proud I think.

I was going to go for a Diawa but when I tried the pflueger I just lost all interest in the other reels. Before that I was a shimano guy too, I still collect Shimano mark reels but as for fishing it with them it is really like grinding metal retrieving them in comparison. BTW I went steelheading at least 2 times a week for about 6 hrs average from September 2nd 2006, to June 6th 2007 missing only 3 weeks when all the legal areas were frozen solid and the pflueger never let me down!!! As for maintenance I oiled twice once in October and once before opening week it is still as smooth as when I took it out of the box.

For a hundred bucks don't overlook the Pflueger Specialist BPS has them at 99.99 and for the money you won't find a smoother reel. I haven't got one of them yet but I do have the reel it replaced from last year the medalist it has been one very tough reel so far. I was at BPS on Saturday and if you try the Pflueger for feel against any 100.00 dollar Diawa or Shimano either of those others WILL feel like you are grinding silverware in your sink disposal in comparision to how smooth and true the Pflueger retrieves.

I got a hook embedded in the flesh between the thumb and forefinger on my right hand. My two buddies were too squeamish to push it through and then cut off the barb and then pull it out. I can say from personal experience if you are half snapped, your hand is frozen from the cold already, and even if you are right handed you can do it yourself, with your opposite hand as long as your side cutters will cut the hook. The coolest part of the whole deal was that it didn't even leave a scar..... Big waste of JD black to clean the wound after though. LOL

There are tons of bridges up to a 3 or 4 of insections back from highway 21 on any of the major rivers or minor rivers for that matter that flow into Lake Huron.... Once you make sure they aren't posted "no tresspassing" you can just follow the path down to the water and fish. The only trouble is you will need a recent rain to make the fishing good as mentioned before. If it has rained you could be catching chub, sunfish, rock bass and smallies. You might be able to hit the pier if there is one on any of the rivers after a rain when the water is a little dirty and clean up catching smallies. If the water is clear you will likely see tons of them they just don't bite in clear water usually.

There are already some good sounding recipes here.

If your batter you are already making isn't tasting that good for you it might just be because you aren't seasoning the flour heavily enough, think lawry's or emerils seasoning salt. As stated you can make any flour batter "crisper" by adding some corn starch to the flour. One step you didn't mention was dipping the fish in flour first. You always have to dip the fish in flour first before adding any batter or dipping it in the egg/water mixture before rolling in the breading mix to allow the batter stick to the fish better.

If you want to cheat and make the batter faster just buy any "complete" pancake mix and just enough beer so that it is the right consistency, it is usually already seasoned enough. If you want to spice this one up to be hot just add some red hot pepper sauce so you have the right amount of tang for you.

For the recipe made with crushed up potato chips you can do the same type of preparation by crushing up your favorite type of cracker as well. Seasoned bretons are awesome but you have to watch so you don't burn them....

1. There is no ban on corn. It can be harmful if ingested by certain species of fish (such as Rainbow Trout) as they have a difficult time passing it. Carp LOVE IT!

 

2. You are allowed to catch and possess up to 120 minnows at any time with a valid sport fishing license. It is not a good idea to catch minnows from one body of water and use it in another since you could be introducing new baitfish species into that system, however, it is not illegal to do this. Generally it is safe to catch bait and use it in the same watershed (eg. catching bait from creek flowing into the lake you plan on fishing with the bait)

Thanks for the reply. I was pretty sure about the corn but with respect to the bait I was starting to wonder because of the number of people and the different opinions they had. However in my defence the river where I got my bait does indeed flow in the great lake I was on....

It was interesting having the discussion as everyone was respectful, but in the end it really shows how large the lack of knowledge is out there about different things. The funny part for me was 4 of the BIGGEST complainers about what I had done with respect to my minnows were headlamping nets before dawn to get theirs.... I guess though when you see 25 to 30 other people doing that is becomes accepted practice. Although as I read the regs you may not use a dip net between sunset and dawn....

Question One. A friend of mine was fishing in a local river for carp with corn and caught a small rainbow that had been stocked. A couple of other anglers jumped on him saying he caught it illegally because corn had been banned and that it was in the regulations. A more than cursorary examination of the regs by me noticed no such ban. So has corn been banned as a bait in Ontario?

Question Two. The other day I was fishing in Lake Erie and a couple of other anglers saw I was using creek minnows and they became alarmed saying I was going to get a huge fine due to the bait ban. I believe the "bait" ban was recinded and even when it was in effect it only controlled the commercial bait sellers that individuals were allowed to continue doing what we had always done as long as we followed the current regs ie don't dump bait from body of water to another and the like. So was the bait ban lifted and even if it wasn't weren't we still allowed as individuals to still catch our own bait and use it on a different body of water?

I don't know if there is an answer to this one. I fish from shore so I will stick to what I go after.

I love fishing for rainbow\steelhead or salmon and from shore in the great lakes with current on light line they are certainly near the top of my list.

I also enjoy fishing for smallies for their smaller size they pack the most entertainment IMHO. Amazing tailwalking displays and the speed of their attack in clear water when you can see then nail the bait it is incredible.

The difference in tackle, tactics make comparing which is the king of my two favorite species more like comparing donuts to tires than apples to oranges.

For eating Perch are the KING though!!!!

My biggest Rainbow/Chrome skunk has been 7 trips I am very lucky and I know it. I started fishing for them 19 months ago. This year I went twice a week on average from September 2nd till last Wednesday when I "finished" the season on a winning note with a 7lb hen. Your not even close to being the longest skunk that I have heard of though a buddy of mine went 43 times before he got his first..... Then he got one each trip for the next 2 times out then got skunked and he seems to have quit all together now LOL.

After busting it all day I find myself free to go fishing tomorrow. My intent is try perch fishing from the pier in Port Bruce. Since I have never been there, but heard some wonderful things about it I am wondering if anyone on here can tell me if I am going to be wasting my time or not?

I know I can go and make my 3rd official "last" trip for rainbow of the season and probably be successful, but I really would love to get some perch and have it for supper with my Grandma.

If anyone knows if they are in Port Bruce yet please let me know?

The nerve of some of these do gooders is off the wall... One time I was on delivery and the starter went in my van. So I got lucky when I had the customer come out and try turing the ignition while I tapped the starter with the tire iron. The van fires up and I get on the cell and call the repair shop and tell them I am coming right over as soon as I finish another two deliveries. So I get to the LAST stop which is a cash call and I get in a line up behind some folks who aren't in any particular hurry... So I was in the call about 8 minutes I come out and some goomer is leaning into the door of the van and shutting it off. Which he did just as I got close enough to grab the clown and ask him what he thinks he is doing. He starts to tell me that we have a 5 minute idling by-law and he was doing his civic duty because he knew for a fact that the van had been idling for at least 6 minutes, because he was timing it while waiting for his wife to come out a shop..... I told him that was all fine and good about the law and all but that if we couldn't get the van restarted he is going to pay for the tow or wish he had of stayed in his car.... So I made him sit in the van and turn the key while I crawled underneath it again and tapped on the starter finally about 10 minutes later we got it going.....

He will never know how lucky he was that I just grabbed him from behind when I saw him "breaking" into my van.... my original thought was to just lay him out and call the cops and report him as an attempted car thief.

I bet he tells everyone about the day he single handledly saved the world from green house gas....

The hell you say?... Care to rebutt that Photoz?

Somehow I figured that my attempt at humor would not go unpunished LOL

I had to head up to the lake to visit a family member Sunday, so I thought why not leave a little early and enjoy one last kick at the steelhead this spring....

So when the alarm went off at 3AM I laid there thinking for a minute or two if I really needed to bother. Had a one of those good feelings hit me so I thought I should go with it.

After seeing four O.P.P and 2 local patrol units in the front of the nearest Timmies with two more hiding in the back of the store I decided to wait until I got to the next town to get my coffee. Turned out to be a good idea as I was able to make great time on the highway knowing 90% of the law enforcement in the area were on break. LOL

I got to my spot thinking it was a little dark but at least I was the only one there, so I had my choice of which end of the pool to fish. After setting up and running the float through without being able to see it yet I made a mental note to look into where to get a system to light a float like Canadian Copper showed on here one time. As dawn hit and I could see the pool was deep and water that perfect steelhead green. I was feeling pretty good because this exact spot yielded two large hens just one short week ago. Well what a difference a week makes as no matter what I tried I couldn't rise a fish not even a chub. After an hour or so I figured it was time for a change of venue and I headed back up river a undisclosed number of concessions.

I get to the next spot and it too was vacant, I am starting to fear things might not go my way, as the absence of locals usually means the fish aren't around. However after climbing two fences one electric without incident, I figure I might as well drown some worms. So after catching 4 chub I know there are fish around. The worms though aren't working, so I put on my 3rd last roe bag and drift it on through the sweet spot. The float goes down hard and starts zig zagging. I get a good hookset and a 26" rainbow hen starts to tailwalk across the pool. She put up a good fight, but after 5 minutes or so I land her. I let her go and she gave me a bit of a splashing as she took off a little faster than I thought she could.

I am feeling pretty good now confident that there has to be at least one more stupid bow around. So I went for a walk up to the next pool, I should have called it a day at that point. I get up to the next pool and on my second cast I snag a tree branch that wasn't there the week before. I set the rod down to try to break off the line so I won't break the rod tip as I have seen more than one person do. No worries the line snaps below the swivel just like it supposed to and I pick up the rod without stepping on it. I start to retie and that is when I notice a slight problem, somehow the line when it broke shot the first BB into the bottom of my FAVORITE slip float and splittered the end. It also pushed the center plastic part up about 3/4's of an inch. So i get out my pliers and try to "fix" it. I succeed in getting the splitshot out of the bottom of the float but by now the center tube is cracked at both ends. Figuring I have nothing to lose I don't bother changing floats I just retie and leader and hook on. I fish for a bit and every cast I get more and more disgusted that I broke my favorite float as no matter what I do I can't get it to drift right. After catching about 20 chub I decide to move to another spot.

After a short drive I get there and leave my vest in the car because I just want to run a couple of drifts before heading back to the spot I was at dawn. First cast I get hung up in an under water branch on the far side and watch some kind of fish go by and slam the worm which was just dangling under the surface. When I try for a hook set the fish takes off and the hook embeds in the branch, which after a few tugs turns out to be a submerged tree, so I break off again. A quick glance and I relived to see my float is still attached, but after a quick trot back the car to get my vest, when I go to retie a leader I notice my float now has two pieces of BB in its hindend. Somehow when this line is breaking the stretch in it is shooting the BB shot into the float which unfortunately is held there by the float stops to get reamed.... So after a bunch more drifts and snags on stuff I can't see which result in two breakoffs, but no fish. I pack it in and head back to the location I was working at dawn.

I am thinking it looks prime and I can't wait to rerig, when I hear a bunch of shouting and screaming, from the other side of river. Four young kids come down to fish and start making all kinds of noise, throwing rocks red and while plastic bobbers the size of basketballs into the water I figure it will be a waste of time to fish but I am half way through retying and might as well finish. One of the boys from the group makes a daring dash across some rocks to cross under the nearby bridge. As he explains to his whining sister when she says she is going to tell there mom he went across. She is he wrong he retorts, he is allowed over there he just can't get there by crossing the highway. His parents won't let him do that alone.... but it is OK for him to walk on moss covered rocks on freezing cold water with a rippling current and a pool of water well over his head .... then climb up a sheer ten foot high cement retaining wall to teeter on the edge to try and drag a jitterbug through the water. I have my hand on my cell phone a couple of times to call 911 when the little guy stumbles around the edge precariously, luckily though he doesn't fall. The entertainment continues as I retie when the lad tangles his sister's line, lots of screaming and yelling this time involving some pretty adult name calling. During this melee the lad knocks their container of worms into the water. I am about to leave but I start thinking to myself if they leave now I could eat the lunch I have packed wait a half hour and maybe still have a chance at getting a fish if there is one around. It was not to be as the lad decided he needed to switch from his jitterbug to a worm and therefore had to go back to his trailer which was about 200 yds away to get more worms. So on his return trip he gets about a quarter of the way back under the bridge on the moss covered stones when he slips and drops his rod, he saves himself though. His nerve must be shot because he seems frozen. His friends start to raze him so he gathers up his courage and he sets his tackle box down and then reaches down to grab his rod. He slips knocks his tacklebox in and promptly follows it in to the drink. I am just about to run up and up and over the bridge to see if I can help him when he stands up and I realize he luckily he fell into the part that was only 18" deep. All ready wet he picks up his gear and scampers all the way back across..... Complaining of cold feet but otherwise just fine. The group of them leave and about 2 minutes I hear a woman screaming something about "Those better not have been your NEW SHOES! @#$%&*^ it from 200 yards away.

I decided to call it a day at that point myself, as any fish within 5 miles would be spooked till next weekend. Other than the broken float it was a great day, to tag one on my last trip of the spring!!!!

Bring on bass season!!!

I got one last Saturday afternoon fishing for pike. Had to go well over 10lbs. I was using a 7' Shimano Bullwhip Fighting rod with Raven 6lb test, Southbend Number 6 shelled hook, 2ft of line under my pencil thill float with a worm. I had been tossing spoons for an hour or so with no pike when I saw some water pigs basking in the sunlight. So I figure any idiot can catch a carp, so I rigged up what I had with me as described above and one of them on in about 5 minutes. Proving since I landed it that any idiot can really catch carp.... I really thought it would fight better but when I put the screws to it with the ole trusty bullwhip it just couldn't fight back I guess LOL.

Give a smallie in current or a rainbow ANYDAY!!!!

I was pike fishing tonight and decided before going to just grab two dozen minnows, from the local bait guy. For as long as I could remember if you used minnows in this spot you would catch either perch or pike. Since some idiot introduced carp to this area the perch are few and far between for some reason, so I wasn't concerned about them stealing bait.

So I get there after a long trudge from the closest parking area and beging to fish. On my second cast using a minnow under a float. I caught this HUGE 12" rock bass. Which was OK because it put me on the board for 07 with the worlds greatest sport fish. I see a pike surface which was good even though it was too far away for me to get my line near. I select another minnow cast out and the float starts to go under but whatever it is can't quite pull it completely under. I slowly tighten up the line and feel a tug so I go for a light hookset due to the fish being small. I can feel something very light and imagine my surprise when I get it in and there is a catfish about 2" longer than the minnow trying to swallow the 4" minnow. The catfish isn't on the hook at all it just has the minnow in it's mouth. One quick shake and it is off.

I have NEVER seen a catfish take a minnow before tonight that I can remember. Now it wasn't a fluke because except for having on two pike, all the rest of the minnows were eaten or mangled beyond recognition by catfish the biggest of which went about 2lbs..... A lot of the catfish I reeled in where less than twice the length of the minnows. Must be a lot of competition for very little food there now I guess?

I think you are right about keepin fishing.

Look at a tournament you catch a limit and then keep fishing to cull up more weight

Same rule applies to catch and keep I would think

Technically, anytime a tourney angler keeps their full limit and then starts culling they are breaking the law. It states that once you have your limit in possession which specifically includes what is in your livewell you must IMMEDIATELY return the next fish of that species to the water. Those anglers can't be doing that if they are rooting through their live well tossing out a smaller fish and then putting the latest fish in the livewell. I thought that is why bass tourneys generally have a limit of one less than the max allowed for the area they are in so the pros can't be charged which could tarnish the "sport":....

Also according to the regs you must NEVER put a fish on a stringer that you are planning on releasing, which makes culling from shore illegal as I read it and I constantly have to keep explaining that one to anglers every summer, who catch something small then say I will just keep it on the stringer till a bigger one comes along....

I can't find in the regs where it says you cannot continue fishing once you have your limit. Anyone else see it , or is it just me. I'm pretty sure you can keep fishing, but all fish must be released immediately........?? There is a law about KEEPING too many fish in your possesion, but I can't find anything on stopping fishing once you have a limit in your possesion. It would be a waste of a trip if I was to leave after one person in my group caught a limit........thats no fun at all.

Regardless, if the warden had of charged me, I'd be going to court for sure, because that's a Bull charge if I ever did see one........

 

I don't mind an overzealous CO either, but that's a little too far IMO.

 

Sinker

You are right the regulations don't say you have to stop fishing after catching and keeping your limit, which I always thought was the implied spirit of the regulations. I am sorry if you got the impression I was singling you out I just mentioned about the CO charging you because I had heard second hand and read on a couple different message boards that on Lake Simcoe CO's were making anglers who had 2 whitefish stop fishing/leave last winter. I wonder now if they actually had the authority to do that..... I wouldn't want to be the volunteer to try and fight it out in court, even if it is technically possible to keep going after an angler has their limit.

It is legal for my son to continue fishing if I have my 2 whities. As I mentioned, it was my sons line, I just set the hook and handed it to him.

 

Sinker

I am not critizing you or your actions I was just trying to point out that even picking up your son's tackle (which by the strictest definition is FISHING) could have led to a TA'ed CO charging you if they were in that mindset.... Hopefully it would never happen but the law is pretty clear once you have your limit of a target species you are supposed to be DONE for the day. Which is the reason I usually insist that if someone in the group limits out early we all LEAVE if possible (ie not waiting for a ride back on the ice) just to avoid the temptation of party fishing by the rest of the group....

I am all for OVER ZEALOUS CO's so I don't like to give them a reason to even question what I'm doing when fishing.

Just keep in mind, the kids have to catch their own fish. You can't catch their limit for them. That would be party fishing, and its illegal. I had a warden give me a real hard time on simcoe when I set the hook on a whitie, on my sons set line, and handed it to my son......we had to release it, even though my son brought it in, and it was his line...........I already had my 2 fish on the ice. My son was a little miffed, it was his first one, and he really wanted to show mommy.

 

 

Sinker

Actually you dodged a bullet there because the CO could have charged you for continuing to fish after you had your daily limit on the ice.... But you could have said you fishing for lakers I guess LOL.

For chrome I have switched from Trilene XT to Raven's Main line in 6lb test it is 40% cheaper and IMHO outshines XT in almost every way except the high price. I also really like the fact that is bright lime green so I can see it. I have tried 5 different kinds of flourocarbon 4lb leaders and have gone back to good ole XT trilene 4lb. Catches just as many fish as everyone around using fluorocarbon and doesn't break off nearly as much. Costs about 80% less too!!!

For bassing 6lb Raven main line again. (the bass were I fish are pretty shy but if you have a 6" snell they will still blast the green line.

For carp I like the 6lb Raven again only because I caught I nice 10 lber pike fishing last Saturday and it handled that carp no worries. LOL

For the toothy critters 30lb spider wire if they are in muck and weeds.

For the fall run salmon I got some 8lb Mustad Ultra that really did the trick with a 6lb XT leader.

Something I don't like to admit since I started spending more on line is that the good ole Red Wolf line from Canadian tire I used to use caught a ton of fish too. It was just not every limber and if you got a CF it was line cutting time....

Lastly I really miss golden stren it was pretty awesome stuff back in the day.

Great story, thanks for taking the time! Where's the pics? LOL

HH

I keep meaning to get a digital camera.... But everytime I think about it I stop because I know if I get one it is going in the water at some point. So I know I should buy one that will take a dunking with no ill effects. That means either a Pentax or Olympus and all of the water line camers have a fatal flaw in that the LCD screens tend to wash out "bright" sunlight making the whole thing useless. I keep hoping someone will make one that works though....