solopaddler

Man, I would LOVE to take you up on your offer if I could swing it! (That right there is what makes this board great. )

If someone was interested in a similar business you'd be far better off building your own bungalos and doing it yourself. How do you think outfitters like this guy got into it in the first place? They're not actual lodge owners with a true stake in the lake and health of their business. Think about it. There's virtually zero overhead. Any jack- with a hammer and nail can throw together a couple of bungalos and start a winter outfitting business.

She's a beauty, congrat's! And thumbs up to Lou for helping

Really? Wow that's awesome, good job! (may have to fish the Ottawa it seems )

Check your pm's.....

They work great for lakers through the ice as well. You know I've got a pile of them! Let me know what you want...

2 major trips on tap for next month waaaay up north. Hopefully lots of lakers and more walleye then.

After chatting with my buddy Fergie we decided to make the long drive out to Quinte yesterday. I had contacted Sam at Carra Sports (DT10Sam on the board) on Wed afternoon. I didn't feel like freezing my off, so arranged to rent a portable hut for the day. We arrived at Sams bright and early at 6am, made our introductions, settled up and were quickly on our way. (Sam is a very decent guy btw, with a pretty cool store ). We were told it was no problem driving out on the bay in our vehicle. I mulled it over and decided to go for it in the end. The fear factor was pretty high at first. Not fear of drowning, but more fear of Joanne's reaction if I was faced with having to tell her the truck was on the bottom of Quinte. (Potentially drowning is much more appealing ). Anyhow here we are driving out in the pre dawn darkness. There was enough snow on the ice that you would not want to attempt this without 4WD. We were quickly set up and were fishing by 7. Don't know why Ferg chipped in for the hut...he fished outside ALL day. (Crazy hardcore bugger ). It was super toasty in the hut once I set up: Unfortunately for us the fish weren't cooperating though. We both marked good numbers of larger fish on our flashers, but only managed to ice 2 all day long. We both lost a few as well. I had 2 (one pretty decent) half way up to the hole before they shook off. We did manage to ice a bunch of these guys: Not what we were after, but hey a fish is a fish right? We brought about 30 home with us for a date with some peanut oil . About halfway through the day a C.O. stopped by to check for licences. Amazingly he was going to give me a ticket 'cause my licence was in my wallet in my vehicle 100' away from where I was fishing. Give me a break! After I plead my case with him he gave me a stern lecture and let me off with a warning. Shortly after that encounter an MNR tech showed up to do a creel census and measure our fish: Nice enough chap..... (I did find out from him where the best action has been the last week or so ). A pretty decent day indeed despite the lack of big walleye. T'was a loooong one though. Up at 2:30am, home by 10:30pm. I'm just a bit slow today LOL! Cheers, Mike

Good luck you must be stoked!

Tail down always. It interferes less with your bait if you're tipping the jig as well.

Good job boys, some nice fish there! Looks the fish were really inhaling your lures in some of those pic's.

Awesome Ben. Are you tipping the horizontal baits or running them clean?

Good for Jaden, that's great!

As a former O.R.C.A. certified canoe instructor I'd have to say no. As crazy bush whacking wilderness paddler I'd say sure why not? . If anyone's seen Bill Masons classic "Waterwalker", there's a scene where he stands up and walks back and forth in his canoe in the middle of class 3 rapids. Once when I was alone on the Albany I attempted to do the same thing. (Didn't work out too well )

They're a good reel and light, but be careful with it. You can bend the main shaft and knock it out of true by simply torquing down on a salmon. Don't ever drop it either....

Witch action? Naw I'm not a big fan of witches, they're too unreliable and frankly unpredictable. You never know when one might turn on you. I prefer to use voodoo dolls to eliminate my competition.

I couldn't bring myself to buy a cheap push button reel for my 4 year old daughter last spring, she wasn't ready for a spinning reel yet, so I bought one of these: Made by Pflueger it hangs under the rod like a spinning reel and is very easy to use with the trigger. She caught a bunch of pike and walleye using it last summer and a pile of perch last week ice fishin'. Highly recommended.

Number of bearings is not an indication of quality in a reel. Between the 2 reels you mentioned go with the Shimano.

He was the man for sure. Actually came pretty close to buying the camp when he put it up for sale. I've often wondered how that would have turned out...

I fished it for years back when Ross still owned it, always caught tons of fish. If the huts are still the same they were the best and biggest I've ever fished out of. Huge red things with a small inset wood stove at one end....

That wasn't stealth action you fool!! It was another victem of the REAPER! Oh how quickly you forget.....

Really? That's a weird date, I wonder why? (especially considering you're fishing for pen reared escapees)

Do a search online, there's all kinds available for less than that. May not be Sorel brand, but they'll fit the boot. (and might even be better)

I'll bet that laker felt exactly like I did when I came home from the Mandarin last night.

I did 100 by myself in precisely 1 hour 54 minutes last week with at least 3 beverage breaks thrown in.