Homer Is King

I went by Lowe's on Wednesday and pick up an adaptor. I went by again on Thursday to pick one up for my buddy (his Lowe's was sold out). It turns out mine is out of stock now as well!? I ask the guy and he checks his computer. "That's the wierdes thing" he says. "We sold 4 yesterday...We only sold 4 ALL last year!" Did this post cause a run on this adaptor?? Could that be the power of OFC!

Here a great article on how to refill your disposable bottles. It looks like the writer takes all proper precautions. http://www.instructables.com/id/Refill-Disposable-Propane-Tank-from-a-Standard-BBQ/ He's got a great point about getting empty tanks from campgrounds / parks. This saves you even more money.

That a great idea. Didn't even think you could get something like that. I'm hitting Lowe's after work!

Great multi species report. Thanks for sharing! That's some beautiful country!

Great video! Thanks for sharing. Man, that looks like a good time!

Thanks guys and WOW, those are some nice lakers! Thanks for the tips and inspiration. Next year.... Go for it. It works great. I got a 4" diameter 10 ft long sewer pipe from Home Depot for $14 and 4 end caps for $3 each. I cut the tubes to length, glue on the cap and then cut it in half, length wise, with my skill saw. I ended up with 4 - 3 footers, 2 - 2 footers, 2 - 16" long for pan fish with the kids. The stick on ruler is the most expensive part!

Nice fat brown! Congrats on your first!

Hit Lake Joseph last weekend. Here's the full report! http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=52018 Nice fish Court!

I hit Lake Joseph last weekend with a couple of buddies. The last time my buddies were up there they hammered the lakers. When I got the invite I figured it would be a great way to end the 2011 hard water season. I had never tried for lake trout and was hoping to ice my first one! We rented a cottage on the north end of the lake (GondorHall.net). It was a really nice place. Clean and tidy and the rates won't break the bank. They cater to the ice fisherman with several specialized packages. It was a warm gray day on Friday. Temps were in the +4 range and the pressure was about 101 Kpa with a constant moderate wind. There was still lots of ice (average of about 14" black ice with 4" white on top) and the shore lines were still solid. However there was some water sitting on the ice in spots and large open areas around any bubblers. By the end of the day the top of the ice was soft and slushy. I got on the lake at mid afternoon on Friday. My buddies were already out and had one fish on the ice. They were fishing a flat in 40 FOW. It's an area that had produced for them on earlier trips. My buddy then ices another good eater as I'm setting up. The bite then slowed down. We marked a few fish and lost a couple light bits but couldn't get any more out of the hole that day. Not a bad start, a 22-1/4" and 18" on the ice. Nice fish Court R! We headed out early Saturday morning. A high pressure cold front had rolled in. The temps were now -7, gentle wind, and the pressure was up to 103 Kpa. It was a clear beautiful day to be on the ice which had hardened up over night. We started at the same spot but quickly saw that there were no fish. We weren't even marking any! Clearly it was time to move. Having looked at a lake map we had a few backup locations planned so we packed up and started moving. We fished everything from 40 FOW to 140 FOW. We fished drop offs, points, shoals, and nothing! We tried minnows and plastics, jig heads, jiggin raps, clacking raps, and jiggin spoons, Big and small. We must have hiked over 5 km and drilled over 30 holes! Weren't even marking fish! It appears that the cold front had shut them down and sent them into hiding. My dream of catching my first laker was quickly turning into a nightmare! The 3 of us fished for 10 hours and only managed 2 small lakers. They were caught by casting swim baits into the open water around a boat house with a bubbler. A bit of an unorthodox method but it worked! It's not a recommended method either, a wee bit risky. My one buddy actually paid the price. He broke through! He got out safely, didn't lose any gear but his day was done early. He had to go back and get supper ready. Saturday night we had a great feed of fish sandwiches. Triple coated laker fillets, with a southwest mayo sauce and lettuce on a fresh bun. Awesome! Sunday morning saw more of the same, cold and high pressure. We hit the ice at day break (7 am). I only had about 1.5 hours before I had to leave so the pressure was on. I was the only one that still smelled like skunk! I set up my still line with a drop shot style minnow on a hook. I then hooked up my jigging line with a white jig head and a medium minnow. The transducer on my VEX had crapped out the day before so I was fishing "blind". I dropped the minnow down and started jigging, slow and gentle. I had never willed a fish to bite more in my life! And then I felt it, a gentle TAP - TAP. I set the hook, feel the weight and yell "FISH". After a short fight I ice my first Lake Trout. 17-3/4 inches, 1.6 lbs. Not a monster but still my first, a new PB, and the perfect skunk killer! Shortly after that, I packed up and headed off the ice and began the long trek home. My buddies decide to try a new point after I left. I find out later that they nail 'em. 15 fish in 2 hours! D'oh! All in all a great trip! One I plan to work into my yearly trips. Definitely worth repeating (more fish next time)!

You nailed it woodsman, Get out have fun. If my kids want to come out again it was a successful trip! Here's my plan for Success: I hope to get out with the kids for some crappie on the Kawarthas this spring. Try and up all of our PB! My buddy does a lot of Salmon fishing and I'm trying to get out for some "Spring King's". He says they put up an amazing fight! This summer I hope to hit the kawarthas for some more panfish action! I might try and get my older kids onto a bass or two. I might be headed to Lake Kennisis for a crack at my first soft water Laker. At least the kids will hammer the Rock Bass! We've got a 2 week camping trip planned for McRae point on Simcoe. I want to try and get the kids on some fast perch action. I hope to beat my PB smallie. I'm hoping to get my first Muskie in the boat. I'll have to plan a few trips to Scugog and Pigeon. I then plan to hit Simcoe for some early ice Perch.

Thanks for posting. That is much easier than going through the PDF version!

Great fish, real beauties! Looked like a great day to be fishing!

Check out Duffins this morning. It is MUDDY! Chocolate milk. Almost 0 visibility.

Thanks! We did do better on Wasaksina. About 40% of our fish came from there for only about 10% of our effort.

Thanks guys! We did have a good time. It's hopefully the "1st Annual" trip. I'm going to try and do it earlier in the season next year.

On the first weekend of March break myself and two buddies took out families out for a "Kid's Perch Derby" on Lake Simcoe. In all there were 6 adults and 15 kids! The weather forecast was doom and gloom all week and it scared off a couple of families. When the day hit it was beautiful and there was still lots of ice. We headed out from Sibbald Point Provincial Park. We drilled a test hole at about 17 FOW (2 feet of ice). We were marking fish so we set up. It didn't take too long for to get our first fish top side. My Daughter landed "First Fish" The fish continue but they were slow. We were marking lots on the Vex but you really had to work to get them to bite. We didn't catch anything on the still lines. We switched up minnows and worms as well as jigs and lures but nothing really help. The best producer was a single minnow, back hooked on a #4 red hook on a floro leader. The bite was so light that it barely registered on my UL. The Vex help me get most of my fish. We didn't kill 'em but almost everyone caught fish. It total we iced about 20 fish. Biggest being 10-1/4". We had 2 wives and 4 kids catch their first hard water fish! My wife was one of them: We could have moved to increase our luck but we were not a very mobile group! Deeper water might have worked better. One of the most exciting moments was when my boy hooked this on an UL. He thought he had a monster. So did most of the spectators. The drag was screaming as he keep reeling. Turns out he was hooked on the ice! LOL! We kept a few of the bigger ones for a fish fry. We use a self imposed slot size. We only keep perch between 8" and 12". We had enough for a bite each! Here are a couple more fish: All in all a great trip. The key to success was having lots of snacks and things for the kids to do and "beverages" for the wives!

Better late than never! Here's my report: http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=51841 It was a great trip!!

here's my report from Herridge Lake: http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=51841

I finally got my Herridge Lake report up! Here it is. My linkhttp://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=51841

This report is a little late but here it is: In September, 6 of us rented a cottage at Papa John's Place on Herridge Lake. The host were great and very helpful. The cabins were nothing fancy but they were clean and warm. Their rental boats were brand new. The weather and the fish were against us. It rained almost the whole time and the bite was sloooww. The six of us in 3 boats caught about 20 fish in three days. Mostly small pike, and little smallies. The good thing about the cold wet weather was there were no bugs. The most successful pattern was a jig head tipped with a small piece of worm. Even then you had to work it really slow, dragging bottom with it. We also caught a couple of pike on a bronze worm harness with a single blade, trolled really slowly. The highlight of the trip was the back lake trek. They have small boats with motors set up at a series of lakes back behind Heridage Lake. You drive your boat, dock it, hike over a short portage and hop in the next boat. You then repeat for the next lake. 3 boats and 4 lakes later we were in a secluded "back" lake called Wasaksina Lake. We took our time and fished our way back to the cottage. It rain on us the whole day but it was still a great experience. The fishing may have been slow but I still did OK compared to my buddies, I took "Biggest" and "Most" on the trip! Despite the weather it was a great trip. I blame the lake of fish on the weather and the time of year. I'd love to do it again only a little earlier in the season. Here are some pics of the trip! The biggest (longest) of the trip, 21" pike. My best smallie. The only walleye of the trip! It's a small one but still counted toward Most! This one was a bit of a surprise. I saw the golden colour when it rolled near the boat and thought I had a nice walleye. Turned out to be a fat 18" sucker!

Great thread. Thanks for sharing all this info!! I'm hoping to hit Lake Joseph next weekend (ice permitting) for my first laker. Definitely going to try some of these tactics!

Great report and some beauty fish! Thanks for sharing!

Awesome report. Thanks for taking the time to put it together. That looks like a great trip. What a beatiful cottage.

Great top FJ! I was thinking the same thing. I was out on Duffins today at noon. Used a pink hair jig, bobbom bouncing. No luck. I know it's a bad time of day but it's the only time I could get out. Next time I'll float some roe.

I know this is an old post but here's a fishing map of the Durham region. http://www.durhamtourism.ca/brochures/FishingMap.pdf