Homer Is King

That things a beauty! Real nice fish!

Another vote for the this one! I picked up a large version (6740X) last year for about $80. Great reel. I also have a bunch of micro Trions that I use for panfish and ice fishing. I love them too. I kids are now using them. Even with the "beginner abuse" they stand up well and work great. I think I paid $40 at PBS for them. Plus they come with a spare spool (not all reels do!).

Done!

Great report! It's never too late for a report! I caught my fish lake trout on Joe this year. That lake holds a special place in my heart.

Awesome adventure! Great report! Thanks for sharing. "Trip of a lifetime" by far!

Looks like a great trip! Congrats on the successful opener!

Great report! Thanks for sharing.

Great report! Thanks for all the details. Congrats on the whities!

"Fish This" is a new show on OLN at 9:30 am on Saturdays. I've seen the first three episodes. Great show! Barry is one energetic fisherman! You can also watch it on his website: http://fishthis.ca/

I looked at eves trough when I was planning out my measurer. The cost was about the same and would have been no cross cutting (definitely a plus). I figured the sewer pipe would be a little more rugged. A little more kid friendly! Got any pictures of the eves trough model?? Geoff - Great measurer! Simple but effective! Anyone have any other styles they'd like to share??

We stayed at Bass Lake Provincial Park a couple of years ago. I fished it for a weekend. Mostly with the kids for panfish. The sunfish seem plentiful! We kept a couple for a fish fry but they were FULL of worms. The worst I have seen. Black dots on the skin and the meat was full of yellow grubs. We did get a couple of smallies. They were released but skin was covered with black dots as well. If may have been bad luck / bad time of year with all the worms? I don't know?

Thanks again for all the pointers! I've been slowly stocking up on trout spoons and lures!! Only three weekends and counting!! I figured I needed a line counter reel and a rod that can handle the dipsy divers so I picked up a Okuma Convector CV-30D Line Counter Reel and put it on a 9ft medium fast Shimano TDR. It might be a bit over kill for haliburton lakers but we'll see. I also have 7 ft one-peice medium St. Croix coming with a Abu Garcia 5500LC on it. It is probably a little more reaonable for the smaller lake trout.

Sounds good Harrison, I'll keep my eyes open! It true!! I figure it's a ratio thing. If my 3 year old (2 ft tall) catches a 7" sunfish it's the same as me catch a 25" fish!! Inch for Inch her bluegil is a MONSTER! Don't worry Oldphart! Lots 'o pannies left in the bog! LOL!

Great report. Those are very unique photos!!!

Congrats on the carp! Sorry to hear about the bad luck. At least your karma is now balanced!! LOL!

Great report FF! Congrats on the carp! I've never gone but they are definitely on my "to fish for" list! A 20 lb fish has to put up a great fight!!!

Beauty carp!! I noticed that the last carp looks different. It has a much different scale structure. I assumed that is what you guys were talking about when you said "nice mirror". A quick google seach confirmed this. My linkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_carp Congrats on nailing a rare carp!

I've been looking for a quick, easy, fish friendly way to measure fish. I saw a device on a fishing show a while ago and decided to try to copy it. Here is what I came up with. I bought a 4" diameter X 10 ft piece of white sewer pipe from Home Depot ($12.99). I also bought 5 end caps ($2.45 each). Total was about $25. I then cut the pipe into lengths, 2 and 3ft, 1 and 2ft, 2 and 16 inches. I then glued the caps onto the pipes and ripped them in half down the length. I clamped them to the workbench and used my skill saw with the blade set vary shallow, just enough to get through the pipe wall. I cut one side then rotated it and cut the other. It was a little tricky to keep the cut straight but it worked. I ended up with 4 – 3 footers, 2 – 2 footers, and 4 – 16 inchers. 10 measurers for about $2.50 each! Now the hard part (and most expensive), putting on the scale! I bought a couple of stick on scales for the 3 footers but they are about $7 each. On the smaller ones I drew the scale on by hand. They work really well. They are light but tough. They a cheap and fiarly easy to make. They are very smooth and don't hurt the fish at all. If you keep it wet the fish just slide right out and back into the water. They are way better than having them flop around on the ground next to a tape measure! Here's the 3 footer with my first Lake Trout (caught on Lake Joseph in March 2011) Here are a couple pics of the 16' modle. The pics are from our family "Simcoe Perch Derby" from March 2011.

Nice slabs! Best eating fish ever!!

Congrats!!! That's what life is all about!

Thanks guys! It's always a blast fishing with the kids. Their pure excitement is contagious. They remind me of what fishing is really all about.

There was a break in the rain on Saturday so all 6 of us headed out to our favorite pan fish spot on Scugog. I didn't know what to expect since it was walleye opener. The boat launch and parking was full but not crazy. There were a few other people shore fishing but we didn't see any fish. We got the lines set up and started fishing. It was cold, windy, and it was still spitting. We were under dressed and I didn't think the kids (or the wife) would last long. We fished for about 10 minutes in light rain with no action. The "can we go now" starting and I know I couldn't force this one. I had just started to pack up when my 3 year old yells out and pulls in this guy! Shortly after that my 5 year old pulls in this fish - awesome colours! The action then picked up but so did the rain. It really started to come down! The biggest (longest) of the day! We were soaked to the bone but I still had to drag them off the dock! We only got to fish for about 20 minutes but it's good to know our spot is starting to produce now. We're already planning our next trip!

Yep, that's a classic! It's been my happy thought all week!

Day 4 I decided to go back to Queenston for another kick at steelhead (or suckers). There were a bunch of people there. They were using a mixed bag of tricks; large spoons, large tube jigs, roe, and even a grub jig! I went back to drifting roe. I was there about an hour and no fish were caught. I'm thinking the weather was the issue. It was the hottest day of the year, bright and sunny, not very good for trout fishing. I did see my first flock of goslings for the year.

Thanks Mike! Yep, not a lot of fish but I have found some great spots. Gerry, salmon - walleye - bass, they all sound good to me!!