basketclam

Heading to Stoney Lake this weekend to try my hand. Any word on ice conditions? Places to avoid? Or is it pretty much the standard as the rest of the Kawarthas - some places are solid, some are not, you've gotta see for yourself to be sure? Any info would be appreciated.

I had a dream the other night that I caught a really big bass - the one in my dream wasn't even that big.

Thanks for the info guys. As for access, it'll be quite a hike to get in there, but most of the land around the lake is owned by Saugeen Conservation so access isn't impossible. It's all wetland, so you'd never get in during the summer, but I was thinking of hiking over it during the winter. Access may be a moot point, though, because I'm not overly keen to make a long hike in to experience the terrible fishing and dangerous ice.

Has anybody ever ice fished on Bell's Lake near Markdale? I'm planning on heading there some time in the next few weeks. I've heard that it used to be stocked, but haven't had any of my inquiry emails returned from the MNR, so this is going to be a real shot in the dark. I'm sure that there must at least be some panfish in there. Anyhow, I've heard that the lake has lots of groundwater, so the ice can sometimes be sketchy, but wasn't able to get any information other than that. Does anyone know where these thin spots could be? Or am I going to have to try to figure it out myself? Thanks for any help that is forthcoming!

I agree with timmeh - this is not a black and white issue. Some rivers that are navigable have had portions deeded to private landowners (i.e. if there is an historic mill on a navigable watercourse, the mill pond is usually private property). Your best bet is always going to be knocking on the door of the adjacent landowner. Even if they don't own it, you can get into a pretty sticky situation if they THINK they own it. Or think they should own it. Or think they should be able to control access. Etc. Etc. Knock and make a friend.

I'll second that. I'm sure more than a few of us are guilty of needing helmets once or twice in our lives.

The long and the short of it is that you either have to be at a residence or a licensed estabilishment to drink booze. If you're camping, your campsite is considered a residence. If you're on a boat that's not moving (anchored), and it has facilities, it can be considered a residence. Your run of the mill canoe isn't a residence.

I concur. And it's darn nice to see that someone's taking some ownership of their rivers and cleaning up someone else's garbage! I can't stand fishing most of the GTA tribs because the mess just turns me right off. (That, and the crowds)

Gonna make a great bird dog, eh?

Haven't done it myself, but my dad and brother finished it last weekend at my brother's place. Rented the unit from Home Depot for the day. They're both relatively handy. Had no problems throughout the process. Figure that they saved a lot of money by doing it themselves and even more over the long run due to better insulation. Sorry that I can be of any specific help though!

It's a beautiful part of the world! Congratulations.

Well, I'll give it a go and let everyone know how it works out for me. It may end up being a bust. If that's the case, so be it. If not, so much the better.

I couldn't tell you. I know that there is at least one patch near our place on Stoney that rarely freezes. Even if it looks solid this year, I guarantee that I won't be the guy testing it out.

World's biggest marshmallow?

I'd like to get a bit of discussion going about ice fishing on Stoney Lake. What presentations are people going to be trying? Where do people think the hot spots might be? Etc. I don't want people sharing their deepest secrets, but let's hear some general discussion. I think that I'm going to start with working the shorline on the southeast side of the lake where Stoney and Clear meet. There's a good drop off along that stretch of shoreline that I think will hold fish. Not too far from there, I'm also betting that fish will be found in amongst the islands near Kawartha Park Marina - Big Island, Munroe, etc. Both of those locations will be within easy walking distance of lake access. Anybody know if any of the marinas in the area will be open to sell bait? I live in an apartment so keep a worm composter to take care of kitchen scraps. The red wigglers are so small that I've never bothered to use them open water fishing before. But I think that their small size will be just the ticket for panfish through the ice, with a really small jig head. Anybody ever tried that before? Might it work?

I've spent an awful lot of time in the woods so far this fall, and haven't even had a sniff of a deer. There is a lot of sign, and there are lots showing up on the trail cam, but they've (or mostly) been out between 11:30 pm and 4:00 am. I'm currently blaming it on the neighbour, who I hear taking pot shots at geese flying by his back porch at each and every opportunity that he can. I'm sure he must have scared the deer into the night.

Yeah, it's illegal to sell Ontario wild game meat. You'll have to go out to harvest an animal yourself and have it made into pepperettes or find someone that sells pepperettes from farmed venison (or elk). I don't know the GTA at all, but I find that farmer's markets tend to be good places to find such things.

My two cents is that the "infomercial" can actually make a better fishing show (it CAN - but that's not always the case). My thoughts are thus. I hate watching a fishing show where the host just catches fish after fish, always amazed at how big it is, adrenaline rush for the entire episode, without actually showing or teaching the audience anything. I much prefer a show that teaches you something about fishing - that's what I'm watching the show for. I want to know where you're fishing, what time of year it is, what time of day are the fish biting, what are the weather conditions, what type of tackle are you using and why, what type of presentation are you using, what depth are you finding the fish at, what structure are you fishing over. This means that every episode should have some sort of plug for a few products and a location, as a minimum. That being said, I agree with you 100% that the plugs can be WAY too obvious, way to prevalent, and are especially annoying when they don't really have anything to do with fishing (i.e. insect repellant). In that case, I'd rather just watch someone catch fish over and over again. Yawn.

Sacrifice a man-made watercourse for the sake of the great lakes? I'm game. That'll solve the immediate problem. We still need much stronger legislation and enforcement if we're to have any chance against invading species as time goes on. But that would require policitcal will ... I'll leave it at that.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Looks like the general consensus is that I can get a fishfinder that does everything a flasher does. Maybe not as well, but close to it. And I may have to fiddle around to get the transducer set right. Do they make anything with an interchangable transducer, one for looking straight down through the ice and one for trolling?

I've got a question that may seem basic to some. What's the difference between a flasher and a fish finder? I don't have a whole lot of experience with either, but I am more familiar with fish finders. As near as I can tell, a fishfinder has some sort of LCD type display that identifies depth and suspended objects, sometimes may have temperature or other functions included whereas a flasher just looks like a round dial. How the heck does it work? Is a flasher specifically for ice fishing? What are the advantages of one over another? Any constructive feedback would be appreciated.

Regarding the question of fines and where does the money go to, the MNR maintains what's called a Special Purpose Account. As I understand it, the majority of funds collected go toward conservation programs. Straight from the FWCA, here's the section that addresses the account: 85. (1) All amounts received by the Crown under this Act shall be held in a separate account in the Consolidated Revenue Fund, including all fines, fees and royalties paid under this Act and all proceeds from sales under this Act, including sales of things forfeited to the Crown under this Act. (2) Money standing to the credit of the separate account is, for the purpose of the Financial Administration Act, money paid to Ontario for a special purpose. (3) The Minister may direct that money be paid out of the separate account to the Minister or a person specified by the Minister if, (a) the payment will be used for the conservation or management of wildlife or fish populations or the ecosystems of which those populations are a part; ( the payment will be used for a matter related to the activities of people as they interact with or affect wildlife or fish populations, including any matter related to safety; or © the payment will be used to refund all or part of a fee or royalty under subsection 83 (2).

My family's had a cottage on a lake in the Kawartha's since 1954. It's going to see more use this winter than ever before, to be sure!

Yeah, the last point there is a good one. Under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, crossbows ARE firearms, so make sure you are familiar with the applicable sections of the FWCA. For federal purposes (PAL, registry, etc.), the crossbow is not considered a firearm.

I agree. If you stick with an Excalibur bow, it's going to be hard to go wrong. They are really simple to maintain and operate, are tremendously accurate and are well made. Because they're a local company, they're easy to get ahold of if you have any issues, and their customer service has been really good to me so far (mind you, the only issue that I've had to deal with them for is a cracked scope cover). I don't know much about Barnett, so can't help in that regard.