jayess

I've used most of the techniques outlined here... The 3-way swivel method is a pain in the ass, to be honest. Try using that on a windy day, by yourself, without tangling up your spoon or dealing with line twist. That's PURELY my experience though... The easiest method I've come across for catching deeper (20'-30') lakers is using the Rapala deep divers -- the Trolls-To series and the Deep Tail Dancers. They go to 15-20' and 30' respectively, depending on what you end up buying. Go for natural colors (simulate their food). They performed well for me in Algonquin Park this year, they were hitting at 20' down in 60-80' of water. No line twist as you would get from spoons, lure action at almost any speed, and if you have to stop your canoe for one reason or another, the lure will not sink to the bottom and get stuck as it would (possibly) with weighted setups. Another easier alternative to the 3-way swivel method is to use snap-weights: http://www.offshoretackle.com/weights.htm You can buy two snap weights for ~$10, and hopefully you have a few bell sinkers around. You clip the snapweight-with-sinker about 3 ft up from your spoon/lure of choice. The benefits -- none of this 3-way swivel tangling nonsense, and you can easily switch back to a non-weight setup by unclipped the snapweight. When landing a fish, you can easily remove the snap weight and you are good to reel in as much as you'd like. Admittedly, my line liked to twist between the snapweight and the spoon, but I'm still very much in the experimental stages with this rig. Best of luck!

put your cell phone away if you're camping!!!

sounds like others already said it and you have confessed to the sin yourself, but don't try to let Google be your doctor. it only brings about more-often-than-not needless worrying. Just worry about your next fishing trip

fwiw, the store in burlington is much smaller than other locations. mec is far from a "big box" store, at last the type of store that i refer to by that label. i won't go on about it, but the community feel and amount of say that each and every member has is really nice. i don't admire their organic cotton. but the prices on their down-filled items and merino wool base layers are great. i also can't think of a better place to buy one's first down-filled sleeping bag. their prizes are hard to beat. tents are well-built as well... gah, i am a MEC junkie

Hey Dr Hook, try Gagnon Sports in Oshawa. 385 Bloor St. West Oshawa, ON L1J 5Y5 905-725-5798 Give them a call first to check stock on the model you want, but I bought mine there. They are good people. And the Triumph is a fine rod... if it meets your needs, that's all that matters. I've been using it for years now and love it. I do a lot of canoe tripping so the best part is that if something ever happens to it, I don't have to fork out a lot of coin to replace it. Cheers!

I do a lot of camping in the south Algonquin region and have spoken to many locals who'd sworn by their presence. It's very cool to finally hear confirmation. Thanks for sharing this!

for sure, i wouldn't let that stop me from getting out with my old man... tell him to nut up just kidding. in all seriousness, if you don't mind helping the lad out i'm sure he can still manage.

i'd say flatline a flat-finished gold and silver williams wabler. my go-to lure for any lake and it never seems to fail me.

agreed... too many bass in those lakes, get a few out for me too. oh ya, and the pike!!!

I have the 2pc MH Triumph and Premier. I prefer the Triumph far more... i find it has a better feel to it, better sensitivity. i feel the action much better. just meaning to say that Triumphs are definitely worth considering.

general use is crown! no permit required (unless you're not a resident? might have to check that out if it applies...). what i do is find a crown camping spot and then branch out from there. you hear/read about nearby stocked lakes, say, and want to figure out if you can camp on them. old logging roads (forest access roads) are your friends for this. one nice thing about the Ontario Crown Land Use Atlas is that you can search by township. this is especially good for searching stocked lakes as in my experience they list the lake townships

great report... looks like a blast!

very cool. were you guys wading for lakers during your whole outing? i've never seen that before

what a hog!!! erie has an incredible walleye fishery... if anyone's looking for a guide, i highly recommend Jimmy Riggin (http://www.jimmyriggin.com/).

success if i ever seen it! good stuff!

A friend and I hit a splake-stocked lake the past couple of weekends, and found a new (new to us) natural brookie lake in the area. Splake were loving EGBs in gold/black striped pattern. Brookies were tough to nail but eventually got a nice specimen on a gold-bladed mepps. Hoping to a hit a few more lakes before the blackflies are out in full force!

the most beautiful fish hands-down. nice pics!

Congrats!!! keep at 'er, you've pretty much beaten it!

outta curiousity, do you have a dog? not a solution at all, just curious how adaptive are these beavers. being under a place where boats and footsteps are plentiful is surprising to me. to have a dog barking at you from time to time seems even more risky

Emails sent. Thanks for coordinating this.

Every time I look at a catfish, they never seem to get any prettier... Nice catches!

argh that's frustrating. appreciate the efforts you're putting in here. if at some point you need some form of written complaints/concerns to the powers that be, let us here at OFC know. looks like we'd have a good amount of support.

i recommend AlgonquinAdventures.com for Algonquin advice. Fishing information is hit or miss, but trip-logs, recommend websites, things to check out, etc. can all be found there. Sounds like you're all set. I'm jealous!

absolutely adorable... i imagine you can't wish for a better fishing buddy than that! thanks for the laugh!

Hmm, seems like something that would have legal repercussions. I've heard many stories of cottage owners getting charged for modifying their shoreline.