Weekend Warrior

I have moved all over the country for school, work, etc., and the biggest piece of advice I can give is to rent if it is a new place. The last several years have proven that buying a house is not the "fool proof" investment most people think it is. If you rent when you get there, it won't be a big deal if you later discover that you made the wrong choice of state, town, neighbourhood, etc. You can just leave rather than lose your shirt in transaction fees on a house. If you end up liking it, you will be able to wait out the local market and buy the house that you want without needing to wait and sell your own. A couple of times in the past few years I was almost certain that I was going to settle in a certain location, and for totally unforeseeable reasons, I had to move. Boy, was I ever glad that i rented!

You shouldn't lift big females like that out of the water. It stresses the fish.

I also have the S-10s with a similar setup to Roy's. I was surprised because my gunwales actually aren't very big. It is sort of ironic that I bought them so I could clamp them on without drilling any holes and move them wherever I wanted, and then ended up building an elaborate mounting system, but they are still the best rod holders around. No regrets!

I guess that's why it helps to get lots of different opinions Looking at the reviews, it seems more people like it than not, so you aren't alone in your endorsement. BPS online says it is on clearance. Are you sure they are getting more in? Link

I was there the other day and they had the Maina reels in a combo...there were 5 or so there. I think the combo was $150. My buddy mentioned that he bought one and it was junk - I don't have a recommendation of another reel of comparable price, but if I were in the market I would be considering other options even if BPS had the reel in stock.

I had VOIP for a while. It worked great, but I was moving and had to cancel. My girlfriend called and told them that she wanted to cancel since it was in her name. After being very aggressive & rude about it, they finally transferred her....and she waited on the phone for over an hour to speak to someone to cancel it. This person was even more rude. Almost to the point of just telling her "no". Put her on hold again, and she hung up the phone 45 minutes into being on hold the second time. She called again a while later, same thing. She got to the next "stage" and they told her it would be $40 to disconnect. She said no, argued with them some more, and got put on hold AGAIN. She hung up again. I called the next time, went through all of the Bull with them, etc. By this time a month had passed, we had already moved and been paying for service while not even using the phone. I finally negotiated paying my bill for the month that had passed and having the "deactivation" charge waved. Funny, she didn't wait on hold at all when we wanted to sign up for the service. I would never use VOIP again. Bell isn't much better, but for other (and to me, less irritating) reasons. Overall, the telecom industry is a joke. I have yet to see a company or phone service type that isn't laughable. And yes - that tinny sound is packet loss. VOIP basically works by sending "packets" of sound. If your internet connection isn't fast enough, packets get lost and the phone sounds like it's cutting in and out.

Looks like an Atlantic to me But seriously, I guess it's not too surprising to see a fish with unusual pigmentation since you see other animals with it. Having said that, I've never seen anything that extreme. Either way, nice fish!

I doubt there is much point in reporting it now since you have no way of even knowing who the guy is that you will report. In the future it would be best to report it - even if it doesn't escalate into anything serious, having the guy mentioned in a police report is always helpful in case he is involved in another more serious incident down the road.

I was just hoping to get a bit of direction from anyone that has experience on these lakes. I was looking to do some walleye and pike fishing this weekend and was interested in checking out Moira or Crowe lake. I have fished both for bass but I don't know what either is like for these species. I was wondering which of the two people would recommend. I normally fish rice but I was hoping to check out a lake with pike as well. Any recommendations of another kawartha-area lake with pike and walleye would be great as well. I fish a pretty small boat, so places like BOQ are out of the question. I'm not looking to blow any top secret locations, so hopefully this doesn't get derailed Any help is appreciated!

Various buggers and nymphs are definitely essential as mentioned. Streamers like muddler minnows and mickey finns are also a great choice. I tie my own flies 90% of the time, but when I don't I deal with www.reelflies.ca. The prices are unbeatable and the quality is quite good. It's also nice dealing with someone local. I'd highly recommend buying a kit of flies from them to get started.

This really goes to show you just how much talent goes completely unnoticed. This woman could easily have lived the second half of her life without anyone ever knowing what she was capable of. Makes you wonder just how many examples like this are out there.

Ya, it's probably angering to hear it, but I'd cut my losses on those things. I expect you are getting that suction because the guy used a $5 pair of boots. Waders come with boots already attached, or with a stocking foot that you wear a separate boot over. He probably has stocking foot waders that he glued a rubber boot onto. I've never heard of someone doing this. I would be shocked if those things didn't leak after spending some time walking around. The problem with using other boots is that they would likely leak as well after some time walking around. You can get a pair of waders for under $100. I would definitely cut my losses and buy a new pair. Maybe post those things on Kijiji and see what happens:)

I'd go with the larger Velocity reel. I use a 6.0oz Lamson Konic on my 9wt and it's great.

Ya...salary caps are an awesome way to reward hard work There are people out there making a lot of money that have actually worked for it.

That isn't even a lot of money when you look at executive pay. My opinion is that people get paid what they're worth. They worked to get into that position and deserve the reward. If making that sort of money is important to you, then put in the work and take the risk. The reason a lot of these guys aren't ashamed of their giant salaries is because they know what they did to get it. Big student loans, big risks and a lot of hard work. I just don't see why anyone would want that kind of money. I'd just retire and spend my days on the water!

I use a 3wt 6' St Croix for small creeks. A 3wt is an extremely light rod - I think you'd be surprised. In my opinion a 3wt is not too heavy for anything. You'd probably find a 2wt to be unnecessarily light and a very limiting rod to have. If you had an 8wt and a 3wt I think you'd find yourself well covered for virtually all freshwater conditions you'll face.

We were out on a Durham area creek on the weekend and the suckers were hitting the bottom of our boat while we were going down. They were all over! Also talked to an old guy who claims to have caught a Walleye. I cant confirm that one though - it sounded a bit weird to me.

I actually use a 9wt Loomis for steelhead. Part of my reason for this is because I also use the rod for fall salmon, so I need something that's a bit heavier. I like using a heavier rod for 2 reasons. The first is that I don't like to wear out spawning fish too much when bringing them in. The second is that I often throw larger flies, and sometimes multiple flies, so I find my heavier rod to be better for this. A 7wt rod in my opinion is the absolute lightest you should go for steelhead. I would choose the 8wt if it were me.

A friend of mine does. I think they recently laid off a bunch of contract workers. Something like that. No car manufacturer is safe in this economy...I wouldn't be surprised for a second, regardless of whether it has been announced or not.

You can absolutely use spinning gear for float fishing! My Dad has been doing it for 40 years... LOL I've even seen him use a baitcaster before. Are you talking fly line vs. regular fishing line or floating fly line vs. sinking fly line? You can get different fly lines...for a fly rod you'd be way better off getting a floating weight forward line. BPS sells a decent weight forward line for under $20. Just make sure to get the right weight for your rod. Sinking fly lines are harder to cast. If you're asking about using regular fishing line on a fly rod, I don't really see the benefit.

I can second the note on the cost. Very rewarding if you're willing to accept the fact that it will not be cheap and will take a lot longer than expected.

Nice fish. And good on you for heading out in the not-so-promising conditions. I headed out today and got the skunk. Still worth it!

Sorry guys, but she is gross! She looks too much like her Uncle Bob. Doesn't anyone else see the resemblance? You will, and when you do, you'll be grossed out for life.