dave524

got an old galvanized one out in the garage, it's ancient, how long has it been since Canadian Tire used the brand name " Mermaid" for their own brand of stuff?

If you want to target steelhead with it, go with a 8/9 Hardy Marquis Multiplier, be prepared to spend some coin though or you may get lucky twice . Heard good things about the newer Pflueger fly reels too, maybe give one of those a try in the 8/9 class. edit : oh the plug is a small cork attached to what looks like a tiny silver pawn from a chess set, stick it in the female end of the ferrule when the rod is broken down, keeps dirt and debris out and would offer some protection against damage.

That's good , Hardy's of that vintage usually had a silver female ferrule plug as well did you get that ?

Good score, they are collectable. Friend of mine who is a fly fisher of some notariety is after a little 7 foot 4wt I have along with a 4 Hardy Marquis reel, he knows his stuff so it must be of some value. I got mine back in the very early 70's at Eddie Bauer on Bloor St. back when they sold fishing tackle and guns and real outdoors stuff instead of yuppie clothing you might want to start your research here http://fiberglassflyrodders.yuku.com/directory It was the first quality fly outfit I bought and has sentimental value, spent a lot of time with it on Spring Creek near Caledonia NY. and for brookies up on the Rocky Saugeen.

I really haven't specifiacally targeted them, but have had a few gar strike while fishing other species, I'd say they are pretty tricky getting the hooks into them good enough to land one, haven't done it yet. Low percentage fish I'd say making them my hardest to catch.

Crazies in Toronto figure their garages are for cars, we all know they are adult toy boxes

Sorry I stand corrected, my slug gun knowledge dates from the very first controlled hunter numbers hunt in Niagara in the late 70's, when virtually everyone that went out just used the old Foster style or Brenneke slugs in the favourite smoothbore cause that was basically all there was except for an iron sighted smoothbore barrel option on some guns though till the late 90's, when the 12 gauge slug gun had been perfected with developments like sabotted slugs, rifled bores or choke tubes and various scope mounting systems. A little research shows that this technology has now been applied to the 20 and it has definitely come of age as well as a slug gun in the last 10 years. While most of the guys I hunted with used hi tech slug guns, I most often carried an also legal black powder rifle having shot deer with them previous to the start of the gun deer hunts in Niagara.

Thanks to the almighty that I retired a couple of years ago and am now a 1 vehicle family, for the past 25 or so years, my boat has always been in the garage and both vehicles sat outside. Can honestly say my single car garage has never seen a vehicle in the 26 years I've lived here.

Yes , but they are smaller of course, and the effectiveness, assortment and technology of them is way behind the 12. If you plan on big game get the 870 multi barrel combo with a dedicated slug barrel. My choice would be the one with a cantilevered scope mount over the receiver. edit : on the subject of recoil, many 20 pumps are built on the same receiver as the 12 the only weight saving is in the barrel and not as much as you think. A 12 with 1 oz 7 1/2 size shot trap loads ( an excellent choice for grouse ) may actually have less felt recoil then a 20.

If you plan on hunting nothing but grouse get the 20 and use lead, if there is any chance you may want to hunt waterfowl and that includes woodcock, get a 12 because of the steel shot regulations. Most of my hunting years were before the steel shot requirements for migratory birds, licenced first in 65, and the twenty was a more versatile gun then with lead, but now, you need the extra volume of the 12's bore for the less effective lead substitutes. also: can't go wrong with a Remington 870, with a 26 inch barrel and an assortment of screw in choke tubes, in what ever gauge you choose.

Nice Browns and Bows too, do I see another whisker again? good to see they are still popular on the river, I like traditions in gear, maybe just an old age thing

Handsome fish like the old school spinning reel too, classic on the rivers.

I vacuum package, helps to prefreeze indivually on a cookie sheet with wax paper and then when sealing freeze one layer thick so they thaw faster, seal in one portion packages.

I've got a ton of White Throated Sparrows just recently arrived at my feeder on fall migration, they are very similar to the Golden Crowned Sparrows which are a western species. Most are the tan striped variation this season or maybe just immatures. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-throated_Sparrow/id They have stopped here for a week of so everyone of the almost 30 years I've been here, got to be one of the signs of the spring and fall for me , also get a wave of White Crowned Sparrows just a little later.

Good shooting, that's a big yote, really long and lanky.

Be careful , you might have insurance issues if anything happened and it was not suitably certified. A fairly recent post seemed to indicate that this might be the case. Edit: the current TSC flyer that came a day or 2 ago had a couple of stoves that might meet your needs. http://os.pageflip3d.com/see/TSC/24240TSC9E?cpg=website edit: OOPs guess I should have read the whole thread , the TSC has already been mentioned, sorry.

Beauty , really like the big chrome HO's, way better fish than the old black chinny boots IMHO

Think salt is not as effective as an killer of organisms that start the mould fungus bacterial growth rot cycle. My theory is if the eggs are sterile as far as these organisms then spoilage will not start. I do remove all air or oxygen by vacuum packaging or placing in a sealer type jar and tossing in a lit match while applying the lid. Usually I can keep them 6 months with just refridgeration. Boric acid powder is easily available at drug store. here's the wiki on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boric_acid

With float gear you really need to define breaking the bank, could spend as little as $300 for a new outfit or quite a bit over a grand.

I do the same except I've found a quick rinse in a boracic acid solution before drying they keep a lot longer, even with just refridgeration not freezing. Boric or boracic acid is antiseptic, fungiciide , yeast killer that is used medicinally for everything from eye wash, yeast infections to a food preservative, not really a cure but kills anything that promotes spoilage before it starts.

Niagara River

there was a time when it was 150 hp. max for tournies, might be time to go back

The only ones I trust myslf with are puffballs, sliced and fried they are very good.

Very nice, think it was 82 that saw the first Chinook runs of any size in Lake Ontario, but there was Cohos for over ten years before that. To be honest, in the rivers I actually prefer fishing Cohos, they seem to get further upriver in better shape than Kings, more willing to hit especially the males and more acrobatic when hooked. Good shooting