basketclam

Never been there myself, but I know some people who have worked there in the past. It is (or at least was) a pretty big party park, from what I've heard. I won't be surprized if your neighbours keep up at night. Couldn't tell you anything about the facilities or the fishing.

In regard to the seizure, the choice is generally up to the CO and they'll make the decision based on the merits of the situation. Generally, if it's illegal to posess something, they're not likely to walk away leaving the person in posession of that illegal thing.

It's nice to see that the officers went the court route to set up some precedence with these cases, rather than issuing tickets. I wonder how many other guys were given tickets for similar offences, or did the CO's get the word from on high that everything was to go straight to court? Thanks for posting the article Mike.

I've caught a few nice bass close to shore in Presqu'ile Bay, but you pretty much need a boat to reach any decent areas.

It varies from conservation area to conservation area and from Authority to Authority (i.e. Hamilton Conservation Authority may run their conservation areas differently than Maitland Valley CA). Best bet is to contact the superintendent from whatever conservation area it is that you're planning on visiting.

Hey Blizzard,

I live over toward Lake Huron in the Saugeen River watershed. PM me and I can give a few hints for locating brookies a little closer to home for you. Most of the brookies around here are resident, not stocked, if that plays into your decision at all.

Give me the ads. They're easy to ignore.

Welcome to the site 3man. What are you looking to catch? Where's the cottage located?

As has been said, the lake has some nice bass in it, both numbers and size. Look for the standard spots - islands, bays, humps, any kind of structure. There is more than enough structure to keep everyone happy. On a related not, most of the rocks that you're going to run a boat into will be marked with jugs throughout the summer by the helpful locals, so avoiding them isn't too bad (but remember that most is not all).

If panfish is your game (or you have kids), you should do just fine.

I've caught a few walleye out of Stoney, and heard mixed reviews from other people (some say it's great, others are fed up) - my recommendation is that you don't set your hopes too high if you're after walleye.

I've been fishing the lake for longer than I care to admit, without catching a muskie. I've seen it done, so I know they're there, but can't provide any advice on it.

Second post about this incident. I'm not a member of that other forum, and I see that someone has suggested the contact the NRCA. If you reply to that original post, you may want to suggest that the photographer contact the DFO in Burlington. The NRCA likely has some say, but when it comes to fish habitat related issues, the DFO is the big dog on the block.

Have you contacted the DFO in Burlington? It might be worth your while to make a call.

What are you fishing for, Dave?

It makes me smile to be reminded that there are people in this world with a soul. Randy, you might have had a bad day, but you sure made mine.

Well, thanks for the tips folks.

Between the three of us, we caught 6 pike in 3 hours right on Elephant on Friday afternoon. Two nice ones getting close to 30 inches, and some smaller ones. Since it looked good, I didn't really take anyone's advice regarding other lakes, and headed back out to Elephant on Saturday. And, of course, caught nothing else.

Was a beautiful, sunny weekend, that's for sure.

Welcome Southpaw,

I'm not as seasoned an ice fishing angler as many here, so I'll leave that up to someone else.

For open water, as GBW suggested, a spinning rod is probably where you want to start. Simple to operate and maintain. A medium weight rod is likely going to suffice for now. Buy a rod and reel combo, or talk to someone at a tackle shop to advise you on which rods and reels will suit each other.

I'd suggest that you start with targetting the the more common and easy to access species - walleye, smallmouth and pike. Early success will make your time more enjoyable and make your investment seem more worthwhile. To that end, everybody on here will have their favourite baits and lures, and I'm sure you'd find people willing to fist fight to get their opinions across. Once again, the local tackle shop can probably help you out. As with the rod and reel selection, keep it simple for now. Get some crank baits, jigs and something you can hook a worm onto. Do some internet research (you'll find great info in old posts here) on different presentations, but experiment and ... you guessed it ... keep it simple for now - cast and troll (presuming you have access to a boat) to see what works.

Hope this helps.

Hey folks,

I'm heading to my buddies place in Harcourt (on Elephant Lake) this weekend. If I've done my research correctly, Elephant Lake isn't exactly an ice fishing Mecca. Since I'm pretty sure that I don't want to spend all weekend fishing without any success, has anybody got recommendations for nearby lakes in which I should try wetting a line?

I'm not picky on species. I'm happy catching anything from lakers and brookies to perch and crappie. Just looking for something that will (or at least SHOULD) come in decent numbers, with relatively easy access to the lake.

I don't want to know your honey holes, just a lake name. I can put in the leg work from there.

And a reminder (as if anyone needs one) - it's starting to warm up out there. Be safe.

That's a pretty cool video. Thanks for posting. I got a good laugh.

http://www.myccr.com/

Try that. It's a canoeing forum with lots of good information.

Thanks for passing this along Mike.

I've found that contacting the local MNR bio directly can lead you to a real wealth of information.

Ask nicely and you might be amazed what information is out there!

I've looked into the same issue and had a very difficult time finding a left handed baitcaster. I've often seen people cast left handed with the baitcaster and switch hands to retrieve right handed. Seemed illogical at first, but when I started picking up rods and trying it myself, it seemed to work alright. Pick some right handed rods up and try it for yourself.

Like scissors - when's the last time you saw a left handed pair? Even though I use my left hand, I can't use left handed scissors (on the rare time that I find them) because I'm so used to the feel of a right handed scissor in my left hand. That's clearly beside the point.

Hey folks, anyone have experience trying to stock a pond?

I've got a pond that's just under an acre in size, deepest part is about 12 feet. It gets surface flow in the spring and early summer, but other than that is groundwater fed. It drops down maybe by a foot or two in the driest of summers. I'm considering trying to stock it, and would appreciate any tidbits of advice.

Haven't found minnows in there yet, so I'm presuming that the habitat isn't ideal for fish. Due to very little flowing water coming in, I suspect that I'll likely have to aerate it. Anybody with experience using a windmill aerator who'd care to comment?

Also, it's my understanding that because it is a private pond that is not online (i.e. a watercourse does not flow into or out of it, and it is not connected to a watercourse in any direct way), I don't need an MNR permit to stock it. Yay or nay?

The bottom is very muddy without a lot of structure or weeds, so I've been sinking rocks to make piles and will sink some old skids when the pond thaws.

I'd like to start with trying to establish a baitfish population before putting in any "real" fish, because ideally I want the pond to be as maintenance free as possible (i.e. no feeding the fish). I've heard that golden shiners, fathead minnows and central mudminnows are the most suited to my conditions. I've found one farm nearish to Cambridge that sells fatheads, but they're not available until the middle of the summer (I'd like to get them put in there sooner if possible). There's one place out toward Kingston with goldens and mudminnows for sale, but that's a long way out of the way. Anybody know where I might try looking to pick these up the minnows that I want now? Farms, baitfish shops, etc? I've emailed a bunch of bait shops and thus far everyone's told me that their minnows are all mixed together and there is never a guarantee that I will get any of the species that I'm looking for.

As for the real fish that I want to stock, I haven't decided if trout or bass/crappie are the way I go. But baby steps. I'll consider this dilemma when I get to it.

Any constructive comments would be appreciated.

Yeah man, good luck.

As with some other posters so far, I've found that you can't get out without paying your way or signing the contract over. I didn't sign up for a contract, but the person at the Bell World must have "hit the wrong key" when they processed my account. "We're sorry sir. You're on a contract and we can't do anything about that now. You should have paid closer attention to your receipt." But wait ... this was a Bell employee who screwed me. Doesn't that count for something? Nope - Bell Worlds are franchises, so employees there are not not actually employed by Bell, so to speak.

Took me three years to get rid of that phone because, dammit, I wasn't about to pay a disconnection fee and give them my money for nothing.

Worst customer service I've ever experienced and I'd gladly pay higher fees to any other company rather than deal with Bell again.

I've got a question for you maksuttt, regarding your portable hut. How do you fit it into the Echo? Back seat? Trunk? I was looking into getting a portable hut and decided against it because of the difficulty of transporting some of the "portable" models. I also happen to drive an Echo.

Spent the weekend with a buddy drilling holes on Stoney Lake. Tried everything from 3 fow to 20, hard bottom, muddy bottom, weeds, no weeds, drop offs, lots of different presentations. On my second hole I had a bite from a perch that was no bigger than my thumb (3 fow, lots of weeds), but he spit me at the hole. Sadly, that's the closest we came to icing any fish all weekend. I'll be out there again, as I'm sure I haven't exhausted the possibilities (not even close) yet.

On another note, I got a Humminbird 565 for Christmas and was trying to get it sorted out. Couldn't. I see guys using transducers made for boat mounting, but they have them attached to an old hockey stick or something. Is this to get them to hang straight down? Is this likely my issue?

Probably no prices because they're expecting you to buy from a retailer rather than direct from the manufacturer?

I bought a Humminbird 565 (portable) the other day and am going to test it out this weekend.