Rich

Yes yes, I lost 130lbs from proper diet and regular excercise and have actually put back on 10 gaining muscle mass. There were/are some problems that I was dealing with but the main reason for my absence is I simply didn't have the internet since January - and I rarely bring the camera out fishing anymore. Guess I'll start to bring it again now that I have the 'net back. Heading out right now for some carp/cat action! Thanks for the comments everyone!

More of a texture thing usually for me.. unless it's a not so bland fish like trout or salmon. A tip for freezing any species, especially salmonoids is to scrape the mucus off the skin before freezing. It will make a much milder tasting fish when thawed and keep the meat firmer.

Won't be out on the weekend, but will head out midway through next week.. a little closer to home.

Heck I rarely use 5 lures in any given day.. 1) white tandem spinnerbait - gold blades 2) clown X Rap 3) 3" white grub - unpainted jighead 4) 4" tube jig, texas rigged 5) shad color Big O crankbait Most days (bass fishing anyway) I'll only pick up the spinnerbait or jerkbait rod.

I stand in a firm belief that bass season should simply not exist, if anything only on the great lakes.. however it is lawbreaking no matter what species you catch if the season is not open. If you're willfully targetting that fish outside of it's open season, you're breaking the law. Plain and simple. Bust 'em.

I'll take a feed of smallies over a feed of walleye anytime. Bass season's too short though.

What? You thought I was beat? Done? Gone? Better luck next time 'ol karma.. With a battery of bad luck and bad times thrown at me since my birthday in January.. there remained one constant thing in my life and that is fishing. And while the camera didn't start riding with me until a few weeks ago, fishing got me through. Moved to a new place and lo and behold 50 feet down the street is a river full of brown trout. Not to mention carp to keep me interested.. though trout fishing is actually easier here. I don't have any pics of these many browns I catch, but there's a limit in the freezer and I usually go catch/release a couple every evening. Catfish and carp have been biting great, as per usual during the spring months. Haven't tossed a line for Lake Erie pike yet, but am anticipating a trip soon enough. Perch? HA! Perch. Too many! Crappies? Well how can I keep myself away from a good feed of slabs? The only thing that truly evaded me was walleye this year so far... and that leads into a report from last weekend. Sugarpacket and I headed up going into my vacation week to the kawarthas with visions of wonderful, wonderful walleye in our minds. We got to our destination and fished a dam in town.. 2nd cast - 10 inch walleye. Filled with high hopes now, we were en route to the campsite, where walleye fishing went directly downhill. Luckily there were panfish to keep us occupied - namely crappies. How about a typical Filth Hound breakfast? Followed by a KAWARTHA DAIRY stop! So after the weekend getaway was finished, we returned to our haunts to retrieve Splenda. Splenda however was very jealous that his parents got away to fish while he was at Gamma's. He forced us to immediately make up for the lack of Splenda-fishcapades with a trip to a local reservoir, where he schooled ma & pa on big bluegills. Sweet fishin' chair eh? Afterwards was a few wind down days, featuring only some minor backyard trout angling for me. I never bring the camera for those excursions.. just seems to detract from the experience. However Friday night was my night.. well sorta. A friend from work decided to head out catfishing. Within 5 minutes of fishing I had somehow busted the handle right off my Shimano Sedona. Time to quit? Heck no! I decided as long as the drag still worked, I could handline just about anything in. First hookset... odd fight... odd species. Ahh yes, the mighty GT Snowracer ski. Great start! Next up comes a feisty - unusually attractive (to me) little carp. What happens at the cat spot - stays in the cat spot. Stretching close to 1am now, things have slowed considerably... when BOOM - the busted rod doubles over with a vengeance.. she's on the run! It's time, it's time - it's 10lb cat time! Finally in an end all I put a worm on the hook and whip it out, looking for a bullhead. Quickly it's smacked, but this is no bullhead.. it's the mighty Lake Erie trib carp of modest size. My hands start to bleed after this fish, handlining a couple of fish over 10lbs tends to do that to ya. Didn't weigh this carp, but it was heavier than the cat IMO by at least 5lbs. That concludes the pictorial escapades of the week. Good to be back!

In the world of musky, the majority of the time bigger baits really do catch bigger fish.

At my work they have the PC Children's Charity. They help buy toys and put a roof over the heads of local children and their families who can't afford it. As much as I dislike the Loblaws corporation's big decisions, the children's charity actually is a good cause.

I found the abrasion resistance and stretch in the Rapala line kinda blew. Once it stretched out (which happened pretty quick) it was useless. But for 2 bucks... why not?

Yeah.. I really don't get that show. Watched it last month for the first time. Even my boss who has no clue about fishing said it was stupid and complained at the lack of fishing information or big fish.

If you've got that much tackle, obviously you're not fishing enough. I make sure to lose enough lures to REQUIRE re-stocking after every trip. Yeah.. that's why I lose lures.

I hope you put them in a garbage bag after that.. pretty funny though

Awesome man!!

Does this work for other species? I know I've used salties & bread crumbs to bring in perch and crappie.

Wow. That must be the ultimate adrenaline rush! I'd never even consider doing it, but dang it looks fun!

Get some big topwaters like Awaker or Topraider ... might take a lot of casting especially from shore, but it will be the greatest experience of your life!

Walleye are very prolific in the right conditions, under a slot protecting adult fish it's possible the stocks could have gone up already.

Personally I class crankbaits/jerkbaits/topwaters into the same rod category cuz I'm not a wealthy man and can't afford a rod for every lure. Basically you want a softer action in the tip of these rods because so many trebles tend to rip right out of the fishes' mouth with a stouter tip. Anything with a single hook Medium/Heavy or Heavy action works best for me. Need some power to ram the hook home. It takes time to see what suits you best and what works best for you. Those are just my personal preferences. Oh yeah, and I agree on the length of the rod. Totally an individual choice.

Awesome, nice pike for sure!

You'll be pleased to know the fish are filleted and in the freezer this time, lol not the dog's guts

Good stuff! I have also never heard of people ice fishing G'Bay but always wondered what it would be like. Might have to go give it a shot one time this winter.

Good work on the perch! Once you start ice fishing more and more, you'll grow to hate a stationary hut.

So much care put into bags of little plastics. I leave them in the packages they come in, mostly because I'm too lazy to seperate them into other containers.

I don't know how you guys can pause long enough from fishing to mix a drink! lol