Weeds

If one or two beers gets you stupid drunk you probably should not be drinking anywhere. One or two beers don't tip canoes.

Good move Lew! I left East York about 3 years ago and while it was a nice place to live and grow up I have no regrets about relocating to the Peterborough/Kawarthas. You've got Musky at your doorstep and one heck of a garage; what more could a man ask for?

From a guy who really does not not better, are survival suits much better/expensive than floater suits?

Hard to choose. Been thinking about it for a couple days and while it's a tough choice I'm thinking Musky. It was either Musky or Largemouth and the more I think about it the less different the pursuit of the 2 species becomes. Ambush predators, big baits (if you choose) short but wild fights. Big difference is that fishing for Largemouth is kind of like Flag football whereas Musky fishing is more of a full contact sport, except it involves giant treble hooks too. Largies are fun and games, no one gets hurt and everyone goes home happy and tanned. Muskies? Countless hours, a million dollars invested in gear, cold if not frostbitten, generally no fish and if you are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, a good possibibilty of bloodshed. So I'd have to say Musky. Why I have no idea. When I think about it, a Bass fisherman can be contented. I don't think you will ever find a contented Musky fisherman.

I want Lews stuff. All of it. But I'd settle for a spool of 100 pound test braid and maybe a few Spro Frogs. Other than that I'm good...for today at least.

Gary, thanks for the report. I always enjoy reading your posts, both those from sunny Arizona and here in the Kawarthas. Keep them coming. And just to keep you up to date about things in these parts the weather has been pretty sweet here too, had the new regs come into effect this year instead of next I would've been fishing for musky today in a t-shirt.

It's kind of funny Lew but I actually found that I prefered my Cheap 7'6 Spence Petros Reaction Strike Rod in a medium action to the 7'6 MH St. Croix for throwing smaller bucktails and cranks up to an ounce and a half, maybe even 2. Anything 4 ounces and over felt too heavy for the 7'6 St. Croix and the 6'9, although good for Jerbaits, was never really a joy to cast anything with, just to short. Definately a roll of the dice going with an unknown/unproven manufacturer but what the heck.

Thanks for the link Spiel, that's the stuff. That's the other thing that I'm not sure I'd have confidence in, the two piece handle.

Well, I may have completely lost my mind as I sold off a pair of St. Croix musky rods which have been nothing but good to me and ordered something from a manufacturer that I really know nothing about. I sold the St. Croixs because I wanted a rod that could comfortably work/cast any lure, no matter how rediculously oversized it might be. In a moment of utter insanity I ordered over the net a Tackle Industries 8 foot Mega heavy rod for baits between 8 and 36 ounces. The only other time I've ever ordered anything over the internet/ebay it was for some tacklebooty Magnum Super D's (basically a BullDawg knock off) but I was impressed with their quality. Anyone have any experience with these rods, or any of the other xxxh rods out there? In retrospect I'm thinking they may be more of a Gimmick type of thing than very useful but I guess we'll see. I'm hoping to get the rod this week.

Leechman, those look awesome. I've long considered trying to make a few lures of my own. What kind of wood did you use?

Maybe no one cares other than me but, I was hoping for some confirmation, come 2010 Carp becomes open year round, right?

Wow!! I'm blown away! Mid November has always been one of the bleakest of times for me since I moved to Peterborough. No longer I guess. If I understand correctly, come 2010, Carp would also become open year round too, right?

Beautiful fish. I'm hoping to take one last kick at the musky can this morning.

A quick google search shows the Ontario record Smallmouth to be 9 plus pounds. Presumably it took it a few years to go from 7 plus to 9 plus. What makes you certain this fish would not make it through the winter?

I think people can disagree with a guys choice to keep a fish without it being seen as bashing him. Some folks are passionate about catch and release; they are just as entitled to speak their opinion as anyone else. When you decide to excercise your right to keep a trophy fish you are inviting others to excercise their right to disagree with you. That's how it works. And that once in a lifetime fish thing becomes especially true if you decide to keep it, once in the anglers life who keeps and it and denies anyone else a future shot at that fish getting any bigger. But, sure, it's within his rights to do so. It's within my rights to fart in a crowded elevator too but...well...I've probably already said too much.

Why? What's up with your Aunts tomato garden? Darn. Dan beat me to it.

Wow, loads of good information and differing opinions. I'll have to google half the baits mentioned. Smalliefisher, that sounds great; looking forward to it. I almost bought one of the Airrus Rods you were selling a while back.

I have to agree with Harrison. You can get alot further away from the city should you choose to move East of it and still spend the same time commuting as people who are much closer, say those in Mississauga. Naturally it all depends on where and when you work. I was commuting from Peterborough for awhile but that was a bit of a stretch. Newcastle would be a good distance.

Congratulations. So peaceful and sweat. Enjoy it while you can because before you know it she'll be big enough to be breaking your favourite fishing rods....

Thanks JP, wish I'd seen the show, sounds like it would have been a good one. I'd like to pick up a few different frogs and see what I like best but I'll probably wait till next season. At 4.99 the Strike King King Rat seems alright for a cheapie, although not technically a frog I guess. I was actually using spinning tackle for the scum frogs, them being so light, a 7 foot medium light St. Croix but it did't have enough backbone for any kind of vegetation. It was probably the closest thing I've ever used to a really good all around rod; I loved it but my son snapped the tip off it a couple weeks back. Rizzo, you pulling my leg, right?

I just got into throwing topwaters for bass this season; actually I spent most of the season throwing Senkos and discovered how cool frogs were about the same time the weather turned cold. But, as there's always next year and I happened to have a few "spare" dollars burning a hole in my pocket I splurged and picked up a used Quantum Signature Series Dean Rojas Frog Rod. Now, I have not actually caught anything on it yet but it seems to be a pretty slick stick. There seems to be quite a broad range of so called frog rods, ranging from Medium actions to heavy and I believe I've even seen extra heavy. I imagine the heavier action rods might excel at hauling fish out of the thickest slop but I can't imagine they'd be particularly effective at actually casting fairly light frogs (say a scum frog). I'm guessing a good flipping stick could do double duty working frogs in thick weeds and pads (so I picked up a used Quantum 7'6 Tommy Biffle Heavy flipping stick for good measure just in case the frog rod left me feeling under powered). Anyways, love the frog rod but can't flip worth a Damn. So...anybody got a favourite frog stick?

Dude, 5 hours later that's still funny.

Awesome! The leafs are going to kick so much rear this year that they are sure to Bring home the cup!! They are still awarding it to which ever team is the best at compiling penalty minutes and winning scraps, right? Waaa-hooooo!

When I think about it I'd say Spinnerbaits are most effective in areas that receive minimal fishing pressure. Obviously all baits are but I don't have alot of confidence throwing spinnerbaits in an area that gets fished intensly. I think in more remote areas a Spinnerbait is a great bait. Largemouth, in my limited experience, are neither line, lure or leader shy so spinnerbaits will probably work, although not optimally, even in situations where they are fished somewhat heavily. If I'm fishing Bass I like the cheapies too.

I like Slopmasters. Can't remember ever actually catching a bass with it but did get my first Musky on one.