Rich

lol

Being addicted to fishing is like being addicted to food. It's very possible, it poses a comfort (via 'escape) that relieves stress like no other. Much like someone 'addicted' to marijuanna. There is no physical addiction, but a craving for an ultimate feeling achieved through that experience one or more times in the past. You do what you gotta do.. but without any hobby you'll suffer some major stress issues. "Cold turkey is not always the best option" doesn't just apply to smoking cigarettes. lol You say you have an 'addictive personality' .. I just hope that your cravings don't move to something different in an effort to achieve the feelings that fishing can give you. Cuz trust me - there ain't nothing else on earth that gives the same feeling or I'd be doing it right now! lol Hope it all works out for you bud. Good luck.

I've caught 20 inchers, but they sure didn't hypothetically go in any frying pans. I've seen people use the same excuse with a pile of bass on the ice next to them. I guess if you let them take the live worm in deep on those tiny trout hooks, oh sorry I mean fly..

I've thrown them in and come back an hour later and they were gone. On the other side, I threw them off my grandfather's dock once on the Burnt River and they stayed for almost 7 days before we didn't see them anymore. Whether sediment buried them, current took them away or an animal finally found them is beyond me. Thank goodness I wasn't swimming there that week.

If you do some mud tromping you can easily catch some carp from shore in that area. Not really worth trying to fish for anything else in there though.

Whatever the bass in the pads are eating that day.. lol

I'll bet it was the internet that educated you on flossing too. Perhaps that's a point we should not ignore. Yes, we can flame them and call them snaggers & flossers right off the bat, or maybe someone could give them some useful info to let them know there are other ways to catch spawning salmon. Guess what, they hit spoons and spinners and jerkbaits in the creeks too. Oh, and senkos, swimbaits and just about anything else that imitates a minnow or predatory egg eater. I don't fish migratory fish anymore, but I never used a marshmallow, earplug, roe bag or treble hook and always did well in the fall.

I always said if I lost my job, I'd work 3 part time fast food jobs to make up for it until another butcher job came up. I had to plan for that when the store manager was trying to fire me from a personal vendetta. lol Do what you gotta do buddy! Take a temp $12 job to help float until something better comes, cuz anything is better than nothing! And in the meantime Action Angling pays $50 a day for on-the-water camera work ;-)

Management at the store I work at, wages start at about $14-15/hr for the low-traffic departments. I'd say that's a fair starting point in a small retail outlet.

My wonderful girlfriend didn't feel like fishing yesterday, but was kind enough to babysit for my boss, so that the two of us could get out for a couple hours. We weren't interested in chasing down a trophy fish, just getting out and catching something. Took the 7 minute drive to the 'practice pond' where billions of little carp live. Sure enough, in an hour & a half we had caught 7, lost at least 5 more. Great times, even though the fish were tiny, they were scrappy and on the bite! Good times. I don't love musky, pike, bass, trout, carp, etc... I just love fishing.

Indeed. Change your priorities if time is an issue. Or, if you 'cant' change priorities, I guess fishing is not that important to you. Smaller boats, shore fishing, or heaven forbid walking to the fishing spot. There's more places to fish than on a boat up north. But you might have to settle for a "lesser desirable" species. But wait, how many people fish solely for food? I guess you don't love fishing if that's the case, you love cheap food.

In this world of quick rewards and utter lack of outdoor education, everybody just wants to catch exactly what they want, everytime they go, instantly. I honestly give up trying to take anyone fishing or get them interested, everybody, EVERYBODY is impatient and stupid. People still really believe there's luck involved.

I use the 40% of energy required for your constant cooking to catch more real fish, Ed!

I'm shaking my head in disapproval still, Eric.

Yessir, I stayed out fishing til 8pm. Felt kinda bad, but just couldn't stop fishing. lol Thanks everyone for the comments. It was an awesome trip as always. Can't wait to go back up.

I know what that is. I've watched enough Spider-Man cartoons. It's the venom symbiote!

Fallfish, great fighters for their size.

Forgot some:

40 degree days with no wind, 2 different lakes and 3 rivers, brought in results we will not complain about. We did our best. On the other half, we did somethin different from previous trips. Instead of camping in the cheapest possible spot, we rented a cabin for a couple nights. Well worth it. Ammenities, for very little more than a campsite with hydro. The fish: The memories: And don`t forget, ever, ever, the KAWARTHA DAIRY! This has been a photo memory journey. Hope you enjoyed a bit of the good life like we did up there.

I fly fish with a treble. You know, that way it's all skill.

lol seriously? I've had them divebomb down 2 feet and grab a jerkbait trolled behind the boat. There ain't nothing you can do to stop it if the stupid bird wants it. Bet next time that seagull won't be such an idiot.

Before bass fishermen stole the rig idea and labelled it "drop shotting" it was called a "pickerel rig"..

Christie's dam is opened up every year for winter and the reservoir is reduced to a creek. Not too many fish populations stay put there, especially of any size. I guess they fluctuate water levels a lot in spring/fall as well. There are stocker bows to be caught in the inland ponds there though. Bell sinker, snelled hook and Power Bait Trout Dough is what we used to use. Pretty close by there are some much better choices like the above mentioned. Or Valens, or Mountsberg.

Thanks very much for the help guys. Think I can properly formulate a plan with the culmination of good information provided. Awesome. If I get one, trust me you'll all see it. lol