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Yesterday 53 FOW off Thorah Island. One whitefish 4 lbs or so between the two of us. Suspended fish caught on a williams half and half. Maybe a couple misses at the end of the day on a set line. Other huts had 0-3 whitefish. Overall slow but nice to be out in good weather. Plus 11 when I got to the car. Very sloppy out there with water and slush. Tough going if not in a tracked vehicle. Hopefully some cold weather coming to give us a week or so of perch.

Ever tried ordering the other hangover drink -the "Caesar" (vodka and clamato) in the states, gets a few blank stares. Been to Pittsburgh a few times, one of their specialties is a fish fillet on a bun with the fries on top of the fish in the sandwich. BTW that pic looks like another specialty-the chicken fried steak.

Rented one of Tim Hales huts again. Lots of fish around all day but mostly throwbacks. Lots count on how many caught (maybe 75-100) but only 4 11+in with a 13 in that I actually netted (seemed huge after the 6 inchers). Guys with a camera said bigger fish were around but spooky. Kept enough for a couple meals. Fish were not that cooperative, a number of foul hooked ones and lots of misses. Single minnow with # 10 hook, firetiger jigging rap and smallest meegs in perch with a small tube worked. 30 FOW with I guess a foot of ice. Snow (2 ft + with some drifts) on the ice for those considering walking or using ATVs without tracks or chains.

Here is an article from another site about making your own. http://www.fishontario.com/icefishing/arti...4028&page=1 They light ones work good for whitefish with the hooks and arms positioned up so the minnows are up off the bottom. One word of caution, if putting a "high hook" (5-15 ft up the line) for lakers or suspended whitefish, be careful handlining the last few feet it the fish runs-ouch.

The Rapala or any 4-5 inch blade knife is good as long as its sharp and has a flexible blade for putting downward pressure to get the skin off the meat. Fried perch-my favourite!!

I hope its cold enough to build 2+ feet of ice (not too much to get the auger through) so we can have safe ice at the end of March-start of April when the weather is nice. Dont mind walking and poking aroung for perch in those conditions (hasnt happened in a few years though)

You mean Gary Buttman (character from movie Bon Cop Bad Cop who conspires to move the Canadiens to the USA).

Yes, 4.5 inch auger hole for perch and hooked into something in about 30 ft off Sibbald Pt. that moved and took line but I couldnt bring up off the bottom up to the hole. After a few minutes of that I realized whatever it was wouldnt fit any way and cut the line (4 lb on a whippy perch rod).

If thats the 12 mile lake in Haliburton at hwys 35 and 118 (Carnarvon), there is a winter-long patch of bad ice at the narrows where Little Boshkung goes into 12 mile. Depending on how cold the winter is the bad ice can be 50-100 yards + out from the narrows due to current. My mother had a cottage around the corner from the narrows from 1985-2000 and there were approx 7-8 winter drownings on the lake, most at the narrows. Not a laughing matter-in 1989 or so three guys drowned there on a Saturday night and I watched the OPP divers bring the last one up.

Thanks for the replies, on the Cabelas site there was pretty much the same opinion-you have to drill a hole or get some water on the ice to make it work properly. Sounds like it doesnt go through any ice surface as advertised (without qualification). I have a couple of portable fishfinders that do the same thing (one less gadget is OK).

This is the digital depth finder, looks like a flashlight. Anyone use this and in your opinion is it worth picking up. Any retailers in the GTA area selling them (coudnt see it on LBs site). Maybe useful to me trying to find mid-lake structure and steep drop-offs etc. (forgot to mark waypoints last time out in the boat) without punching alot of holes.

Dont want to be negative, but thats the first whitefish Ive caught in the perch grounds in well over 10 years. Having said that, the occasional whitefish and real occasional pickerel (walleye) is caught there and I think its more likely early (now) than later in the season. Years ago the whitefish I caught shallow were first seen crusing about 10 feet down and enticed with a minnow or small silver spoon. Also used to see the herring first before trying to catch them. Good luck if you go out, Scugog is much more challenging (frustrating) for me.

Solo mission yesterday to Simcoe, just to get out. Rented a hut from Tim Hales just north of Beaverton, 6-8 inches of ice in 22 FOW. Morning was very good, started out with a flury of 8 perch (6 keepers) and a herring (released). Steady perch until 1:30 pm then slow for the rest of the day. Caught a small whitefish (22 inch) at around 1:40 pm. Ended up with 36 keepers (9-11 inch plus one 13 inch) and released over 20, including many keepers thinking the morning bite would last all day. Perch caught on smallest EBG spoon tipped with a minnow and a single minnow deadstick rod with a spring tip. Whitefish caught on the smallest jigging rap in firetiger (glad I upsized the treble hook). Maybe one perch caught on the jig, rest hit (tapped)when stopped. Two other huts had a whitefish each, both bigger than mine.

This is from a recent post about splake fishing up at Burks Falls. These fish were all caught using light to medium action ice rods rigged with a single split shot, a size 4-6 octopus style hook and 4-6lb monofilament line. The bait of choice were pinhead shiners or a small fly rigged with the same. I would also try lake trout lures-silver or gold spoons or tube jigs-scaled down a bit.

I have a place in the north end of Haliburton and have been up there for many years with temporarily living there, a family cottage and now my own cottage. So my bias is Haliburton. The north end is hilly, rocky, mostly coinferous with some mixed forests and deep lake trout lakes. Pretty good deer population with the odd moose. Even a few wild turkey have made it up that far north. Going south it flattens out with more mixed forest and better bass lakes. The north end would be a long haul from Oakville. Fairly good drive up if you are starting north or east of Toronto. Dont know about the trip from Oakville. Real estate prices are high in the area I am in-Redstone-Kennisis if you want to be on a big lake. You may want to check out the Bancroft area, I am not familiar with it but real estate prices seem lower in comparison.

I marinate the roast for 24-48 hours in mostly red wine with some red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, black pepper and soy sauce (you would want to leave the soy out). I sear the roast all around in a hot pan then wrap with side bacon. I then cook the roast with the marinade in the pan in a 350 degree oven for 15 (rare) to 20 (well done- max for me) minutes per pound. Turns out moist, but dont overcook. I tried the crock pot slow cook method as well but prefer the above.

I saw the documentary and have been around long enough to experience much warmer winter temps and alot less snow in the last 10-15 years. Whether the current warmining trend is the fossil fuel-CO2 induced spike that Gore says or part of a natural cycle that others (scientists funded by oil companies) say, no one knows for sure. One thing is clear is mans imprint on the earth is really only in the last few hundred years, most of it in the last fifty. Up to recent times man didnt have any real impact on the environment. It would be wise to deal with pollution now and not not take the chance that this "trend" really is natural and not caused by man.

I was up there at my cottage on the weekend. No ice on the main lake and maybe 4 inches (augered a hole for water) on the bay we are on. That was Saturday. By Monday morning the bay didnt look too promising, snow cover had melted with the warm weather and rain showing open areas. On the way out even the ice on the beaver dams was starting to melt with lots of flow for ths time of year. Looked really unsafe Monday.

Years ago I saw people netting smelt there (as well as at the mouths of the Humber and the Rouge).

Thanks for the info.

I am on a bay of a larger lake trout lake where the MNR did some PGT brook trout stocking. I fish the lake trout once the main lake freezes but havent tried fishing for brookies. The bay is at most 50 ft with a good part less than 20 ft. A couple small creeks run into it. Lots of wood on the bottom. I am thinking fishing closer to shore and the wood, maybe in the creek mouths (providing safe ice) and using small spoons and jigs. Because of the hike into the cottage a pail of minnows is not an option. Any advice on bait (would salties work) or how to fish the stocked brookies.

Unfortunately for their families. some of these guys have kids and the gene passes on. I was on a lake in Haliburton for 15 years and there were seven winter drownings, three in one incident. My cottage was about 300-400 m from the narrows where they went through the ice. Always at night and mostly with mr. booze on board.