Golfisher

The writing is on the wall.

I am very, very sorry to hear about your loss, lew. My deepest condolences.

Most of my pike leaders are only 12-inch long. I use crimps on 80 lb fluoro, and I found longer leaders to be too cumbersome to cast.

PP doesn't stretch... that could be one reason, if you want to feel every bump, or if you got a ton of line out in the water.

I'm heading up to Shining Tree area on Monday. Looked at the weather forecast, and it doesn't look that good. Low of minus 4, high of only 12. Oh, well. At least there is no snow in the forecast, and so hopefully I won't get snowed in like last year. Best of luck to everyone out for the opener up north; may the fish gods smile upon you all!

What Tbay said: fishing from the shore is very, very limiting. Rent a boat or a canoe for half a day; it's well worth the expense.

I had similarly bad experience with Vanish. Recently spooled up with P-Line fluoro-coated line for next week's trip, and though I haven't tried it yet, it's good to hear that it works well. Come on, walleye!

Etobicoke is a hit and miss. Some days are ok, but on other days, it's a skunk haven.

Tbay, yeah, the canoes and boats are out. I rented one of those boats with a trolling motor. I'd avoid afternoons though; it seems every time I'm at that lake, the winds always pick up in the afternoon.

I was there last Saturday, for pike opener. As always, caught a bunch of pike, most of them snot rockets, but a couple of fairly decent ones as well. A big suprise for me was a huge OSS largemouth that nailed an x-rap; I thought bass had gone almost extinct in that lake, as I had never caught one before, but it was good to see that there still were some good bass around in that pike-infested lake. Water temps were still a bit cold, ranging from 50 to 53, and there were hardly any new weed growth. Fishing wasn't as good as last year's opening in terms of number, but in terms of size, it was better. As for crappie, I didn't target them, but I heard at the dock that a couple of guys had some success.

Not as many fish as usual, but fascinating nonetheless. It's always a treat to read your stories; thanks for sharing it with us.

What do you know, you learn a new thing every day. I gotta give this sink thing a try.

Can I borrow your spring? 'Coz mine sucks big time in comparison. WTG, thanks for sharing!

Moving from a palmable carp to a 26 pounder in just a week... at this rate, you'll break the Ontario record before the end of the month. WTG.

Hey Matt, are you coming back for good or just for the summer? Great report, btw.

Is that a typo or is your friend's name really Satan, you know, the prince of darkness? What is it like to have Lucifer paddle around your canoe? A great report regardless!

Woohoo!!!

How do the world's greatest sport fish taste compared to other fish? More like walleye/perch, or closer to bass? This may come handy when I get skunked on walleye opener next week.

I lost my bet last night and now I owe a sushi dinner to my wife, a raving Sens fan. Time to catch some carp. LOL.

Refundable, I hope? If not, what's the point?

You can't boycott something whose demand is as inelastic as gas. The necessities are great while substitutes are few and far between. It'd be like boycotting air. Oil companies will charge what the market will bear, and judging from the sustained demand, they will keep screwing us for the foreseeable future. You want the prices to come down? Pray for a recession, or for greed to take over petroluem industry as it did in the 80s.

What a great report! Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

I have a phobia of things that wiggle and squarm excessively... took me a while just to get used to worms, and so eels are definitely not my cup of tea. Just thinking of them gives me creeps. Yikes.

And I bet that nice "lady" never killed a single thing in her life, not even a virus. Sheesh.

The bite is on, though the fighting is a bit sluggish.